Adventistische Schriften über: "“Of this tree the Lord commanded our first parents not to eat, neither to touch it, lest they die.” 3SG 35 (1864) / “In Eve’s controversy with the serpent, she added the clause, ‘Neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’” RH February 24, 1874. Can this contradiction be clarified?"

The documents confirm that Ellen White refined her presentation of this event over time. While she initially wrote that God had prohibited touching the fruit, she later explained that Eve had autonomously expanded God's command in her confrontation with the serpent. This circumstance is cited in Adventist scholarship as evidence that Ellen White was not infallible and that her writings are based on the concept of thought inspiration rather than literal inspiration.

Eve's Expansion of the Command

»Eve had exaggerated the words of God's command. He had said to Adam and Eve: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for on the day you eat of it you will surely die.” In Eve’s confrontation with the serpent she added the clause: “You also shall not touch it, so that you may not die.” Here the serpent’s cunning was revealed. This statement by Eve gave him an advantage.«

1 - Ellen Gould White, The Truth About Angels (TA 54.4)

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Ellen White and the Question of Infallibility

»Ford says that Ellen White miscounted Abraham’s allies; she once said that God had commanded Adam and Eve not to touch the fruit, and later wrote that these were Eve’s own words and not God’s; [...] Did Ellen White make errors of this kind, and if so, what do such inconsistencies teach us? Ellen White did not always portray biblical events with absolute accuracy, thereby demonstrating that she was not infallible. In this respect she had much in common with the biblical prophets, who were also not infallible.«

2 - Robert W. Olson, 101 Questions on the Sanctuary and on Ellen White (QSEW 52.4)

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Thought Inspiration versus Word Inspiration

»Recognize that the Bible and Ellen White’s writings are the product of thought inspiration, not verbal inspiration... Those who believe in thought inspiration understand the prophet as God’s “scribe” [Penman], not as His pen. God works through the mental processes of His messenger and inspires the thoughts, but allows the messenger, under the guidance of the Spirit, to choose how the thoughts are expressed.«

3 - Herbert E. Douglass, Basic Rules of Interpretation-Internal and External (BRIIE 4.1)

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• Difference between thought inspiration and word inspiration
• Ellen White's statement on her own infallibility
• Interpretation of Eve's temptation and the serpent's cunning