Ellen White Versus Geology

By Dirk Anderson, April, 2025

Volcanoes

Among Ellen White's many statements defying known scientific facts are her statements describing the cause of earthquakes and volcanoes. She wrote:

Before the flood there were immense forests. The trees were many times larger than any trees which we now see. ... At the time of the flood these forests were torn up or broken down and buried in the earth. In some places large quantities of these immense trees were thrown together and covered with stones and earth by the commotions of the flood. They have since petrified and become coal, which accounts for the large coal beds which are now found. This coal has produced oil. God causes large quantities of coal and oil to ignite and burn. Rocks are intensely heated, limestone is burned, and iron ore melted. Water and fire under the surface of the earth meet. The action of water upon the limestone adds fury to the intense heat, and causes earthquakes, volcanoes and fiery issues. The action of fire and water upon the ledges of rocks and ore, causes loud explosions which sound like muffled thunder. ...

Coal and oil are generally to be found where there are no burning mountains or fiery issues. When fire and water under the surface of the earth meet, the fiery issues cannot give sufficient vent to the heated elements beneath. The earth is convulsed—the ground trembles, heaves, and rises into swells or waves, and there are heavy sounds like thunder underground. The air is heated and suffocating. The earth quickly opens, and I saw villages, cities and burning mountains carried down together into the earth.¹

To summarize:

• Forests from before the flood were buried and turned into coal
• Coal produces oil
• God ignites coal and oil
• Heated limestone and iron cause earthquakes and volcanoes
• Fire and water cause loud explosions
• Ancient trees were many times larger than current trees

This statement contains multiple scientific inaccuracies related to geology, paleontology, and physics. Those falsehoods will be examined below.

Coal Formed by Petrification

False Statement:"Before the flood, there were immense forests... At the time of the flood these forests were torn up or broken down and buried in the earth... They have since petrified and become coal."

Scientific Truth: Coal is formed by carbonization not petrification.²

It is important to distinguish between "petrification" and the process that forms coal. They are distinct geological processes. Petrification is a form of fossilization where organic material is replaced by minerals. This process typically involves mineral-rich water seeping into the pores of organic material (like wood, bone, or shells). The minerals gradually replace the original organic matter, essentially turning it into stone. The result is a fossil that retains the original shape of the organism but is now made of minerals like silica, calcite, or other compounds. A classic example is petrified wood.  

Coal formation is a different process, involving the transformation of plant matter into a carbon-rich substance. This process, known as "coalification," involves large accumulations of plant material (like those in ancient swamps) being buried under layers of sediment. Heat and pressure over long periods of time cause the organic matter to decompose and transform. The resulting substance is primarily carbon, with varying amounts of other elements.

Coal does not form by petrification. Petrified wood is formed when organic material is mineralized, whereas coal results from carbonization under pressure.

Oil Formed from Coal

False Statement: "This coal has produced oil."

Scientific Truth: Oil Does Not Come from Coal.³

Oil (petroleum) forms from marine microorganisms such as plankton and algae, which accumulate on the seafloor, get buried, and undergo chemical transformation under heat and pressure over long periods of time. Coal, on the other hand, is formed from terrestrial plant material and is not a precursor to oil. Coal and oil form in different environments: Oil forms in marine sedimentary basins, while coal forms in swamps and peat bogs. Oil does not come from coal.

Spontaneous Ignition of Coal and Oil by Divine Action

False Statement: "God causes large quantities of coal and oil to ignite and burn."

Scientific Truth: Coal Fires Have Natural Causes and Oil Fires Do Not Occur Underground.⁴

While God could cause anything to burn, underground coal fires occur naturally. They are typically caused by spontaneous combustion from oxidation in highly exposed coal seams. For example, they may be caused by lightning strikes, forest fires, or human activity such as mining accidents.

Oil reservoirs do not ignite spontaneously under normal conditions because they are located under impermeable rock layers that prevent oxygen from reaching them. Fire is impossible without oxygen.

Limestone and Iron Ore Cause Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions

False Statement: "Rocks are intensely heated, limestone is burned, and iron ore melted. Water and fire under the surface of the earth meet... This causes earthquakes, volcanoes, and fiery issues."

Scientific Truth: Earthquakes and Volcanoes Are Caused by Tectonic Activity, Not Chemical Reactions.⁵

Earthquakes occur due to the movement of tectonic plates along fault lines, not because of chemical reactions between limestone, water, and heat.

Volcanoes form from magma rising due to mantle convection, pressure changes, and tectonic activity—not from limestone burning or iron ore melting. While water can contribute to volcanic eruptions (by increasing pressure in magma chambers), it is not the fundamental cause of either earthquakes or volcanic activity.

Explosions Due to Fire and Water on Rocks and Ore

False Statement: "The action of fire and water upon the ledges of rocks and ore, causes loud explosions which sound like muffled thunder."

Scientific Truth: Explosions Occur Due to Gas Expansion, Not Fire and Water on Rocks.⁶

Explosions in volcanic activity are caused by the rapid expansion of gases (CO2, H2O, SO2) trapped in magma—not fire reacting with ore. Water can contribute to explosions if it turns into steam rapidly (phreatomagmatic eruptions), but this does not happen just from fire touching rocks.

Trees Many Times Larger Than Any Trees Today

False Statement: "The trees were many times larger than any trees which we now see."

Scientific Truth: No Evidence That Trees Were Many Times Larger.⁷

While some ancient trees may have been large, there is no evidence that trees were "many times larger" than today’s tallest trees. Fossil evidence from the Cerro Cuadrado Petrified Forest indicates that A. mirabilis trees could grow to around 100 meters (330 feet) in height. The tallest living trees are Coast Redwoods (like Hyperion), reaching heights of over 115 meters (380 feet). Ancient trees were not many times larger than today’s trees. The largest trees today are comparable to the largest ones that existed in ancient times.

Conclusion

In the 1800s, many Christians believed that coal and oil were direct remnants of Noah's Flood. The belief that forests were uprooted and rapidly buried by the flood was a common speculation in Christian literature of the time. They assumed that Earth's geological features (coal, oil, volcanoes, earthquakes) were caused by the Flood rather than long-term processes. The 1800s were full of folk explanations (myths) for natural phenomena. Many people at the time believed that earthquakes and volcanoes were caused by fire and water reacting underground. This pre-scientific view was not based on plate tectonics (which were not fully understood until the mid-20th century). The idea that trees were far bigger and lived longer before the Flood came from Christian imagination rather than evidence.

Where did Ellen White get these false ideas? Most likely they came from common 19th-century myths. For example, George Fairholme, in his 1833 work General View of the Geology of Scripture, argued that coal formations were deposited during Noah's Flood. George Bugg, in Scriptural Geology (1826–1827), contended that the geological strata, including coal beds, were the result of the Flood. Thus, Ellen White was repeating myths in books entitled "Spiritual Gifts" and "Spirit of Prophecy—. These myths seemed plausible in her time. However, modern science has disproven these myths, showing that coal, oil, and earthquakes have natural explanations not linked to a recent flood event.

Mrs. White's statement was entirely mistaken. This indicates she did not receive her writings by vision from God or communications from heavenly messengers. Her messages were copied from others, and were of no better quality than the people she copied from.

Citations

1. Ellen White, Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4 (1864), 79-80. This same statement appears in Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1 (1870), 81-82, and Signs of the Times, Mar. 13, 1879. An abbreviated version appears in Patriarchs and Prophets (1890), 108.

2. C. F. K. Diessel, Coal-bearing Depositional Systems (Springer-Verlag, 1992). R.A. Gastaldo, H.W. Pfefferkorn, and W.A. DiMichele, W. A., "Plant Taphonomy: The Process and Nature of Fossilization," Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 90(1-2) (1996), 113-147. See also, "Coal Explained," EIA, Oct. 24, 2023, https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/ and Holly Spanner, "How Coal is Formed," BBC, June 30, 2022, https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/how-is-coal-formed.

3. B.P. Tissot and D.H. Welte, Petroleum Formation and Occurrence, (Springer-Verlag, 1984). See also, "Oil and Petroleum Products Explained," EIA, June 12, 2023, https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/.

4. G.B. Stracher, T.P. Taylor, and A. Prakash, "Coal Fires Burning Out of Control Around the World: Thermodynamic Recipe for Environmental Catastrophe," International Journal of Coal Geology, 59(1-2) (2004), 7-17.

5. D.L. Turcotte and G. Schubert, Geodynamics (Cambridge University Press, 2002). See also: "What is an Earthquake and What Causes it to Happen?" USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-earthquake-and-what-causes-them-happen, and "How Do Volcanoes Erupt?" USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-do-volcanoes-erupt.

6. H. Sigurdsson, Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, (Academic Press, 2000).

7. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_mirabilis and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadendron_giganteum.