I am a language scholar with two degrees in linguistics. I teach English and Linguistics in college, and I am familiar with plagiarism software like Turnitin, EVE, MyDropBox (a plagiarism engine provided by Pearson Education for English faculty), and WCopyfind. I use MS Word to compare documents with sources. All these tools, though, cannot replace the skills of an expert in the English language. They are simply adjuncts, supporting devices. There are dozens of articles which discuss such plagiarism engines with their strengths and weaknesses.
At the beginning of each semester I ask my students to produce short, impromptu samples of their writing, and I keep those samples in my files. Those documents allow me to get acquainted with my students' writing styles. From then on I know if the papers they turn in are original or borrowed, even if I don't know the original sources. Experienced language instructors can identify borrowing even in the middle of a sentence. It seldom fails.
David's "research" on Ellen White's "writings" is bogus, and his claim that during Ellen White's time authorship was not recognized is pure nonsense. If books written during her time were common domain why did the SDA printing houses copyright the books listed under her name, instructed those who cited from those books to credit the sources, and threatened those who failed to comply?
Rea's research on Ellen White's "writings" in the 80s and his conclusions that the books published under her name had been stolen from other authors was just the tip of the iceberg. We have found out in the meantime that Prescott, Kellogg, Uriah Smith, and Daniels knew that those books were written by her "eleven people team," and that she seldom had a chance to even look at them before they were published. Prescott even heavily edited "her books" to make them intelligent.
Graybill, Mc. Adams, and Numbers provided further evidence of lack of originality in the writings published under E.G. White's name. Mc. Adams confirmed that the historical sections from The Great Controversy had been "borrowed" from Uriah Smith with errors and all, Graybill stated in a meeting of the GC committee that he could not even know if anything published under her name belonged to her, while Numbers showed that the "health reform" documents claimed to be pure Divine revelation, had been stolen from the health reformers of her day.
Ellen White is not a prophet, but a Seventh-day Adventist LEGEND. We don't know who she was. Some men in the upper echelons of the SDA Church produced a whole collection of myths about a woman nobody truly knew, and who could not be approached. Everything has been filtered through her body guards, especially her son W.C. White, and all damaging material has been locked away or destroyed. Go to the Ellen White Estate and ask for unlimited access to "her writings" and you will see what happens. Graybill knows. He was fired from the Estate when he looked in the forbidden file cabinets.
It is time to close this chapter and move on. Maybe the younger generations of Seventh-day Adventist will forget the immense "prophet" deception perpetuated by the leaders of this church and imposed on its membership, and will return to the Bible as the basis of their faith.
Eduard