Walter T. Rea

Walter T. Rea (June 12, 1922 - August 30, 2014) was a former Seventh-day Adventist pastor, known for his criticisms of the inspiration of Ellen G. White, co-founder of the church.

Rea was born in 1922. He died in August 2014. He had been the pastor of the Adventist church in Long Beach, California.

In 1980, the Ellen G. White Estate and the Biblical Research Institute decided to begin a study of White's inspiration and other topics. A scholarly committee met at the Glendale Adventist Hospital on January 28 and 29, to discuss Rea's studies into White's use of sources. A Roman Catholic lawyer, Vincent L. Ramik, undertook a study of Ellen G. White's writings during the early 1980s, and concluded that they were "conclusively unplagiaristic."

Rea's employment by the church was terminated. He claimed that up to 80 or 90% of White's writings were plagiarized, a claim which formed the basis of his book, The White Lie.

Rea was the first to document such large scales of borrowing, citing 75 books White depended on. He was one of the key figures who introduced new views of White to the church.

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