Abstract:
The present research addresses historically the construction and development
of practical and theoretical holistic theology of Ellen White bequeathed to the
Seventh Day Adventist Church. Ellen White lived at the time in which her
country, the United States of America, were firmed while nation and died
precisely when it sought the world hegemony. Thus, passing through turbulent
years of Secession and incorporating the spirit pragmatic American she grew
and lean on with her homeland. Self-taught, she helped to found one of the
original churches of this country, the fruit of the union of heterogeneous thought
of various protestant congregations. Her work stands for affirmation and
experience of biblical beliefs that comprise the Adventist brazen faith. However,
her compendium, extracted from thousands of pages produced over the course
of seven decades devoted to church, stands out clearly the inseparable
intercorrelation between body and spirit. From this paradigm, for her, these two
bodies form the soul, that having body portion is deadly. This is then what is the
human being: a mortal soul in search of immortality, only achieved by
redeemed after the coming of Jesus, a literal event to be soon perceived - the
greatest hope of the Adventist still today. In Ellen White, as should be perceived
along the work, since the serene and balanced relationship between body and
spirit, there is a fervent defense and at the same time thrilled attack to those
who unlike this perspective taken by her Christian, call for classical philosophy.
It is in the scope of this carnal theology dictated by her biblical that it must be
the human being aligned. Thus, to maintain a healthy diet, doing regular
physical exercises, ensure the integral education and experience the nature,
configure exercises in search of full spirituality which allied to the life of piety
and prayer lead to sanctification - central theme of her writings. The first chapter
of the thesis analyzes historically the United States and Europe at the time of
Ellen White; the second deals with the historical and social construction of the
belief in the mortality of the soul - center of this work, while the third and last is
the holistic whitean approach of body and spirit with views to the fullness of
soul.
