James White helped build the Seventh-day Adventist Church from a scattered, post-Millerite remnant into an actual movement with institutions, structure, and mission. Adventists believe God was guiding the whole process — but the humans He worked through were, at times, a lot. And James White may have been the most “a lot” of them all. Brilliant, visionary, tireless… and—let’s just be real—sometimes a jerk.
Ellen White’s letters don’t sugarcoat it. After his strokes—especially the major one in 1865—James became irritable, suspicious, and often harsh. She writes about his “morbid imaginings,” his tendency to misread motives, and his abruptness toward colleagues. At points, she even admits she withheld some of his sharper letters because they would have caused more damage than good. When Ellen White has to hide your emails for the sake of church unity… you’re having a rough season.
And if you were one of his Review & Herald coworkers? You needed prayer. Staff remembered James as “exacting,” “sharp of speech,” and “easily provoked.” One colleague said he could be warm and brotherly one hour and “cutting as steel” the next. This wasn’t malice so much as a combustible mix of brilliance, neurological trauma, and a workload that could break today’s entire General Conference office.
But here’s the other side: James’s intensity was one of the tools God used to keep this fledgling movement from falling apart. He rescued the publishing work when it slipped into deep debt, reorganizing the Review & Herald, restoring stability, and sometimes contributing from his own pocket. This preserved the communication system, evangelistic engine, and theological backbone God was growing through the Adventist movement.
Yes: James could be difficult. Very difficult.
But he was also indispensable in the way flawed, fiery, deeply human people often are in stories where God seems determined to move history forward through imperfect vessels. Honoring him doesn’t require pretending he was perfect. It means telling the truth: God built this church — and sometimes He used James’s sheer force of will to do the heavy lifting.
And honestly? That mix of divine leading and human chaos is extremely on-brand for Adventist origins.
Share
Read more