Early Writings is a
work of lasting and special interest to Seventh-day Adventists, for it embodies
the earliest Ellen G. White books. These were written and first published in
the 1850's for the edification and instruction of those who with the author had
passed through the experiences of the Sabbathkeeping Adventists in the 1840's
and the early 1850's. This being so, the author assumed on the part of the
reader a familiarity with the history of the Advent Awakening and the
development of the Seventh-day Adventist movement that emerged in 1844.
Consequently experiences well understood at the time are in some instances
merely alluded to, and expressions are employed which to be correctly
understood, must be thought of in the framework of the history of the
Sabbathkeeping Adventists in those early years.
In 1858, in writing of the sounding of the messages of the
three angels of Revelation 14, Ellen White deals with the experiences of those
who participated in the work and draws lessons from these experiences, rather
than giving as one might expect, a clear-cut presentation of the character of
these messages. See pages 232-240; 254-258. She at times employs such now
unfamiliar terms as "nominal Adventist," "shut door,"
"open door," et cetera.
Today we are removed by more than a century from those
heroic times. The reader must keep this clearly in mind. The history which was
so well known to the contemporaries of Ellen White we shall now review,
touching some of the high points of the experiences of the Sabbathkeeping
Adventists during the decade or two preceding the first publication of the
materials that appear here.
viii
In the opening paragraphs Mrs. White makes brief reference
to her conversion and her early Christian experience. She tells also of hearing
lectures on the Bible doctrine of the expected personal advent of Christ, which
was thought to be near at hand. The great Advent Awakening to which such brief
reference is here made was a movement worldwide in its outreach. It emerged as
the result of careful study of the prophetic scriptures on the part of many,
and the acceptance of the good news of the coming of Jesus by large numbers of
people throughout the world.
But it was in the United States that the Advent message was
most widely proclaimed and received. As Bible prophecies relating to the return
of Jesus were accepted by able men and women of many religious faiths, a large
following of earnest Adventist believers resulted. It should be noted, however,
that no separate and distinct religious organization was formed. The Advent
hope led to deep religious revivals that benefited all the Protestant churches
and led many skeptics and infidels to publicly confess their faith in the Bible
and in God.
As the movement neared its high point in the early 1840's,
several hundred ministers united in proclaiming the message. In the lead was
William Miller, who lived in the eastern edge of New York State. He was a man
of prominence in his community and engaged in farming as a livelihood. In spite
of a rich religious background, he had grown skeptical in his youth. He lost
faith in the Word of God and adopted deistic views. While reading a sermon in
the Baptist church one Sunday morning, the Holy Spirit touched his heart, and
he was led to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour. Miller set about to study the
Word of God,
ix
determined to find in the Bible a satisfactory answer to all
his questions, and to learn for himself the truths set forth in its pages.
For two years he devoted much of his time to a
verse-by-verse study of the Scriptures. He determined not to take up the next
verse until he felt he had found a satisfactory explanation of the one he was
studying. He had before him only his Bible and a concordance. In time he came
in his study to the prophecies of the literal, personal, second coming of
Christ. He grappled also with the great time prophecies, particularly the
2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8 and 9, which he linked with the prophecy of
Revelation 14 and the message of the angel proclaiming the hour of God's
judgment (Rev. 14:6, 7). In this volume, on page 229, Mrs. White states that
"God sent His angel to move upon the heart" of William Miller,
"to lead him to search the prophecies."
In her girlhood Mrs. White heard Miller deliver two series
of lectures in the city of Portland, Maine. A deep and lasting impression was
made on her heart. We will let her set before us the reckoning of the
prophecies, as Elder Miller presented them to his audiences. For this we turn
to Mrs. White's later book, The Great Controversy:
"The prophecy which seemed most clearly to reveal the time of the second advent was that of Dan. 8:14: 'Unto
two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.'
Following his rule of making Scripture its own interpreter, Miller learned that
a day in symbolic prophecy represents a year [Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6.]; he saw
that the period of 2300 prophetic days, or literal years, would extend far
beyond the close of the Jewish dispensation, hence it
x
could not refer to the sanctuary of that dispensation.
Miller accepted the generally received view, that in the Christian age the
earth is the sanctuary, and he therefore understood that the cleansing of the
sanctuary foretold in Dan. 8:14 represented the purification of the earth by
fire at the second coming of Christ. If, then, the correct starting-point could
be found for the 2300 days, he concluded that the time of the second advent
could be readily ascertained. Thus would be revealed the time of that great
consummation, the time when the present state, with 'all its pride and power,
pomp and vanity, wickedness and oppression, would come to an end;' when the
curse would be 'removed from off the earth, death be destroyed, reward be given
to the servants of God, the prophets and saints, and them who fear His name,
and those be destroyed that destroy the earth.' [Footnote: Bliss, Memoirs of
Wm. Miller, p. 76.]
"With a new and deeper earnestness, Miller continued
the examination of the prophecies, whole nights as well as days being devoted
to the study of what now appeared of such stupendous importance and
all-absorbing interest. In the eighth chapter of Daniel he could find no clue
to the starting-point of the 2300 days; the angel Gabriel, though commanded to
make Daniel understand the vision, gave him only a partial explanation. As the
terrible persecution to befall the church was unfolded to the prophet's vision,
physical strength gave way. He could endure no more, and the angel left him for
a time. Daniel 'fainted, and was sick certain days.' 'And I was astonished at
the vision,' he says, 'but none understood it.'
"Yet God had bidden His messenger, 'make this man to
understand the vision.' That commission must be fulfilled. In obedience to it,
the angel, some time afterward, returned to Daniel, saying, 'I am now come
xi
forth to give thee skill and understanding;' 'therefore
understand the matter, and consider the vision.' [Dan. 9:22, 23, 25-27.] There
was one important point in the vision of chapter eight which had been left
unexplained, namely, that relating to time,--the period of the 2300 days;
therefore the angel, in resuming his explanation, dwells chiefly upon the
subject of time:
"'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon
thy holy city. . . . Know
therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven
weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah
be cut off, but not for Himself. . . . And He shall confirm the covenant with
many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice
and the oblation to cease.'
"The angel had been sent to Daniel for the express
purpose of explaining to him the point which he had failed to understand in the
vision of the eighth chapter, the statement relative to time,--'Unto two
thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.' After
bidding Daniel 'understand the matter, and consider the vision,' the very first
words of the angel are, 'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon
thy holy city.' the word here translated 'determined,' literally signifies 'cut
off.' Seventy weeks, representing 490 years, are declared by the angel to be
cut off, as specially pertaining to the Jews. But from what were they cut off?
As the 2300 days was the only period of time mentioned in chapter eight, it
must be the period from which the seventy weeks were cut off; the seventy weeks
must therefore be a part of the 2300 days, and the two periods must begin
together. The seventy weeks were declared by the angel to date
xii
from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build
Jerusalem. If the date of this commandment could be found, then the
starting-point for the great period of the 2300 days would be ascertained.
"In the seventh chapter of Ezra the decree is found.
[Ezra 7:12-26.] In its completest form it was issued by Artaxerxes, king of
Persia, B.C. 457. But in Ezra 6:14 the house of the Lord at Jerusalem is said
to have been built 'according to the commandment [margin, decree] of Cyrus, and
Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.' These three kings, in originating,
re-affirming, and completing the decree, brought it to the perfection required
by the prophecy to mark the beginning of the 2300 years. Taking B.C. 457, the
time when the decree was completed, as the date of the commandment, every
specification of the prophecy concerning the seventy weeks was seen to have
been fulfilled.
"'From the going forth of the commandment to restore
and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and
threescore and two weeks.'--namely, sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years. The decree
of Artaxerxes went into effect in the autumn of B.C. 457. From this date, 483
years extend to the autumn of A.D. 27. At that time this prophecy was
fulfilled. The word 'Messiah' signifies 'the Anointed One.' In the autumn of
A.D. 27, Christ was baptized by John, and received the anointing of the Spirit.
The apostle Peter testifies that 'God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
Ghost and with power.' [Acts 10:38.] And the Saviour Himself declared, 'The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel
to the poor.' [Luke 4:18.] After His baptism He went into Galilee, 'preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled.' [Mark 1:14, 15.]
"'And He shall confirm the covenant with many for
xiii
one week.' The 'week' here brought to view is the last one
of the seventy; it is the last seven years of the period allotted especially to
the Jews. During this time, extending from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34, Christ, at first
in person and afterward by His disciples, extended the gospel invitation
especially to the Jews. As the apostles went forth with the good tidings of the
kingdom, the Saviour's direction was, 'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and
into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel.' [Matt. 10:5, 6.]
"'In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice
and the oblation to cease.' In A.D. 31, three and a half years after His
baptism, our Lord was crucified. With the great sacrifice offered upon Calvary,
ended that system of offerings which for four thousand years had pointed
forward to the Lamb of God. Type had met antitype, and all the sacrifices and
oblations of the ceremonial system were there to cease.
"The seventy weeks, or 490 years, especially allotted
to the Jews, ended, as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At that time, through the
action of the Jewish Sanhedrim, the nation sealed its rejection of the gospel
by the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of the followers of Christ.
Then the message of salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen people, was
given to the world. The disciples, forced by persecution to flee from
Jerusalem, 'went everywhere preaching the word.' 'Philip went down to the city
of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.' Peter, divinely guided, opened the
gospel to the centurion of Caesarea, the God-fearing Cornelius; and the ardent
Paul, won to the faith of Christ, was commissioned to carry the glad tidings
'far hence unto the Gentiles.' [Acts 8:4, 5; 22:21.]
"Thus far every specification of the prophecies is
xiv
strikingly fulfilled, and the beginning of the seventy weeks
is fixed beyond question at B.C. 457, and their expiration in A.D. 34. From
this data there is no difficulty in finding the termination of the 2300 days.
The seventy weeks--490 days--having been cut off from the 2300, there were 1810
days remaining. After the end of 490 days, the 1810 days were still to be
fulfilled. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. Consequently the 2300 days
of Dan. 8:14 terminate in 1844. At the expiration of this great prophetic
period, upon the testimony of the angel of God, 'the sanctuary shall be
cleansed.' Thus the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary--which was almost
universally believed to take place at the second advent--was definitely pointed
out.
"Miller and his associates at first believed that the
2300 days would terminate in the spring
of 1844, whereas the prophecy points to the autumn of that year. The misapprehension of this point
brought disappointment and perplexity to those who had fixed upon the earlier
date as the time of the Lord's coming. But this did not in the least affect the
strength of the argument showing that the 2300 days terminated in the year
1844, and that the great event represented by the cleansing of the sanctuary
must then take place.
"Entering upon the study of the Scriptures as he had
done, in order to prove that they were a revelation from God, Miller had not,
at the outset, the slightest expectation of reaching the conclusion at which he
had now arrived. He himself could hardly credit the results of his
investigation. But the Scripture evidence was too clear and forcible to be set
aside.
"He had devoted two years to the study of the Bible,
when, in 1818, he reached the solemn conviction that in about twenty-five years
Christ would appear for the
xv
redemption of His people."--The Great Controversy, pp. 324-329.
It was with keen anticipation that the Advent believers
neared the day of the expected return of their Lord. They saw the fall of 1844
as the time to which the prophecy of Daniel pointed. But these dedicated
believers were to suffer severe disappointment. As the disciples of old failing
to understand the exact character of events to take place in fulfillment of
prophecy relating to the first advent of Jesus suffered disappointment, so the
Adventists in 1844 were disappointed concerning the development of prophecy
relating to the expected second coming of Christ. Of this, Ellen White wrote in
this volume:
"Jesus did not come to the earth as the waiting, joyful
company expected, to cleanse the sanctuary by purifying the earth by fire. I
saw that they were correct in their reckoning of the prophetic periods;
prophetic time closed in 1844, and Jesus entered the most holy place to cleanse
the sanctuary at the ending of the days. Their mistake consisted in not
understanding what the sanctuary
was and the nature of its cleansing."--Page 243.
Almost immediately following the disappointment of October
22, many believers and ministers who had associated themselves with the Advent
message dropped away. Some of these joined the movement largely from fear, and
when the time of expectation passed, they abandoned their hope and disappeared.
Others were swept into fanaticism. About half of the Adventist group clung to
their confidence that Christ would soon appear in the clouds of heaven. In the
experience of the derision and ridicule heaped upon them by the world, they
thought they saw evidences that the day
xvi
of grace for the world had passed. These people believed
firmly that the return of the Lord was very near. But as the days moved into
weeks and the Lord did not appear, a division of opinion developed, and this
group divided. One part, numerically large, took the position that prophecy was
not fulfilled in 1844, and that there must have been a mistake in reckoning the
prophetic periods. They began to fix their attention on some specific future
date for the event. There were others, a smaller group, the forefathers of the
Seventh-day Adventist church, who were so certain of the evidences of the work
of the Spirit of God in the great Advent Awakening that to deny that the
movement was the work of the Lord would, they believed, do despite to the
Spirit of grace. This they felt they could not do.
The experience of this company of believers, and the work
they were to do, they found portrayed in the last verses of Revelation 10. The
Advent expectation was to be revived. God had led them. He was still leading
them. In their midst was a young woman, Ellen Harmon by name, who in December,
1844, barely two months after the Disappointment, received a prophetic
revelation from God. In this vision the Lord portrayed to her the travels of
the Advent people to the new Jerusalem. While this vision did not explain the
reason for the Disappointment, which explanation could and did come from Bible
study, it gave them assurance that God was leading them and would continue to
lead them as they journeyed toward the heavenly city.
At the beginning of the symbolic pathway revealed to
youthful Ellen was a bright light, identified by the angel as the midnight cry,
an expression linked with the climactic preaching in the summer and autumn of
xvii
1844 of the imminent Second Advent. In this vision she saw
Christ as leading the people to the city of God. Their conversation indicated
that the journey would be longer than they had anticipated. Some lost sight of
Jesus and fell off the pathway, but those who kept their eyes on Jesus and the
city reached their destination in safety. It is this that we find presented in
"My First Vision" on pages 13-17.
At first only a few were identified with this group who were
moving forward in advancing light. By the year 1846 they reckoned their numbers
as about fifty.
The larger group who turned from confidence in the
fulfillment of prophecy in 1844 numbered approximately thirty thousand. Their
leaders came together in 1845 in a conference in Albany, New York, April 29 to
May 1, at which time they restudied their positions. By formal action they went
on record as warning against those who claim "special illumination,"
those who teach "Jewish fables," and those who establish "new
tests" (Advent Herald, May 14,
1845). Thus they closed the door to light on the Sabbath and the Spirit of
Prophecy. They were confident that prophecy had not been fulfilled in 1844, and
some set time for the termination of the 2300-day period in the future. Various
times were set, but one after another they passed by. These people, held
together by the cohesive element of the Advent hope, at first aligned
themselves in several rather loosely knit groups with considerable variation in
certain doctrinal positions. Some of these groups soon faded out. The group
that survived became the Advent Christian church. Such are identified in this
book as the "first day Adventists" or "nominal Adventists."
xviii
But we must now turn back to those who tenaciously clung to
their confidence that prophecy had been fulfilled on October 22, 1844, and who
with open minds and hearts stepped forward into the Sabbath and the sanctuary
truths as the light of heaven illuminated their pathway. These people were not
localized in any one place but were individuals or very small groups here and
there throughout the north central and north-eastern part of the United States.
Hiram Edson, one of this group, lived in central New York
State at Port Gibson. He was the leader of the Adventists in that area. The
believers met in his home on October 22, 1844, to await the coming of the lord.
Calmly and patiently they awaited the great event. But as the hour of midnight
came and they realized the day of expectation had passed, it became clear that
Jesus would not come as soon as they had thought. It was a time of bitter disappointment.
In the early morning hours Hiram Edson and a few others went out to his barn to
pray, and as they prayed, he felt assured that light would come.
A little later, as Edson and a friend were crossing a
cornfield to visit fellow Adventists, it seemed as if a hand touched his
shoulder. He looked up to see--as if in a vision--the heavens opened, and
Christ in the heavenly sanctuary entering into the most holy place, there to
begin a work of ministry in behalf of His people, instead of coming forth from
the most holy place to cleanse the world with fire, as they had taught. Careful
Bible study by Hiram Edson; F. B. Hahn, a physician; and O. R. L. Crozier, a
schoolteacher, soon revealed that the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of
the 2300 years was not the earth but the tabernacle in heaven, with Christ
ministering in our behalf in the most holy place. This mediatorial work of
Christ
xix
answered to the "hour of God's judgment" call
sounded in the message of the first angel (Rev. 14:6, 7). Mr. Crozier, the
schoolteacher, wrote out the findings of the study group. These were printed
locally, and then in fuller form in an Adventist journal known as the Day-Star, published in Cincinnati, Ohio. A special number
dated February 7, 1846, was devoted entirely to this Bible study on the
question of the sanctuary.
While this study was in progress, and before their work was
made known, far to the east in the State of Maine, a vision was given to Ellen
Harmon in which she was shown the transfer of the ministry of Christ from the
holy place to the most holy place at the end of the 2300 days. The record of
this vision is found in Early Writings,
pages 54-56.
Of another vision shortly after this, as referred to by Mrs.
White in a statement written in April, 1847, she records that "the Lord
showed me in vision, more than one year ago, that brother Crozier had the true
light on the cleansing of the sanctuary, etc.; and that it was His will that
Brother Crozier should write out the view which he gave us in the Day-Star
Extra, February 7, 1846. I feel fully
authorized by the Lord to recommend that Extra to every saint."--A
Word to the Little Flock, p. 12. Thus the
finding of Bible scholars was confirmed by the visions of God's messenger.
In subsequent years Ellen White wrote a great deal
concerning the sanctuary truth and its significance to us, and there are many
references to this in Early Writings.
Note especially the chapter beginning on page 250 entitled "The
Sanctuary." The understanding of the ministry of Christ in the heavenly
sanctuary proved to be the key that unlocked the mystery of the great
Disappointment. Our pioneers saw clearly that
xx
the prophecy announcing the hour of God's judgment at hand
had its fulfillment in the events that took place in 1844, but that there was a
work of ministry to be accomplished in the most holy place in the heavenly
sanctuary before Jesus should come to this earth.
The message of the first angel and the message of the second
angel had been sounded in the proclamation of the advent message, and now the
message of the third angel began to sound. Under this message the significance
of the seventh-day Sabbath began to dawn.
As we trace the story of the beginning of Sabbathkeeping
among the early Adventists, we go to a little church in the township of
Washington in the heart of New Hampshire, the State that adjoins Maine on the
east and whose western boundary is within sixty miles of the New York State
line. Here the members of an independent Christian church in 1843 heard and
accepted the preaching of the Advent message. It was an earnest group. Into
their midst came a Seventh Day Baptist, Rachel Oakes, who distributed tracts
setting forth the binding claims of the fourth commandment. Some in 1844 saw
and accepted this Bible truth. One of their number, William Farnsworth, in a
Sunday morning service, stood to his feet and declared that he intended to keep
God's Sabbath of the fourth commandment. A dozen others joined him, taking
their stand firmly on all of God's commandments. They were the first
Seventh-day Adventists.
The minister who cared for this church group, Frederick
Wheeler, soon accepted the seventh-day Sabbath and was the first Adventist
minister to do so. Another of the Advent preachers, T. M. Preble, who lived in
the same State, accepted the Sabbath truth and in February, 1845, published an
article in the Hope of Israel, one of
xxi
the Adventist journals, setting forth the binding claims of
the fourth commandment. Joseph bates, a prominent Adventist minister residing
in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, read the Preble article and accepted the
seventh-day Sabbath. Shortly thereafter, Elder Bates journeyed to Washington,
New Hampshire, to study this new-found truth with the Sabbathkeeping Adventists
residing there. When he returned to his home, he was fully convinced of the
Sabbath truth. Bates in time determined to publish a tract setting forth the
binding claims of the fourth commandment. His 48-page Sabbath pamphlet was
published in August, 1846. A copy of it came to the hands of James and Ellen
White at about the time of their marriage in late August. From the scriptural
evidence therein presented, they accepted, and began to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.
Of this Ellen White later wrote: "In the autumn of 1846 we began to
observe the Bible Sabbath, and to teach and defend it."--Testimonies, Vol.
1, p. 75.
James and Ellen White took their stand purely from the scriptural
evidence to which their minds had been directed in the Bates tract. Then on the
first Sabbath in April, 1847, seven months after they began to keep and teach
the seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord gave a vision to Mrs. White at Topsham,
Maine, in which the importance of the Sabbath was stressed. She saw the tables
of the law in the ark in the heavenly sanctuary, and a halo of light about the
fourth commandment. See pages 32-35 for the account of this vision. The
position previously taken from the study of the Word of God was confirmed. The
vision also helped to broaden the believer's concept of Sabbath observance. In
this revelation, Mrs. White was carried down to the close of time and saw the
Sabbath as the great
xxii
testing truth on which men decide whether to serve God or to
serve an apostate power. Looking back in 1874 to this experience, she wrote:
"I believed the truth upon the Sabbath question before
I had seen anything in vision in reference to the Sabbath. It was months after
I had commenced keeping the Sabbath before I was shown its importance and its
place in the third angel's message."--E. G. White Letter 2, 1874.
In the providence of God the several Sabbathkeeping
ministers who led out in teaching these new-found truths in company with a
number of their followers, came together in 1848 in five Sabbath conferences.
Through periods of fasting and prayer they studied the Word of God. Elder
Bates, the apostle of the Sabbath truth, took the lead in advocating the
binding claims of the Sabbath. Hiram Edson and his associates, who attended
some of the conferences, were strong in their presentation of the sanctuary
light. James white, a careful student of prophecy, focused his attention on
events that must take place before Jesus comes again. At these meetings the
leading doctrines held today by Seventh-day Adventists were brought together.
Looking back to this experience, Ellen White wrote:
"Many of our people do not realize how firmly the
foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father
Pierce, [Older brethren among the pioneers are here thus reminiscently referred
to. "Father Pierce" was Stephen Pierce, who served in ministerial and
administrative work in the early days.] Elder [Hiram] Edson, and others who
were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time
in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we
studied and prayed earnestly. Often
xxiii
we remained together until late at night, and sometimes
through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word. Again and
again these brethren came together to study the Bible, in order that they might
know its meaning, and be prepared to teach it with power. When they came to the
point in their study where they said, "We can do nothing more,' the Spirit
of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear
explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me, with
instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to
understand the scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood.
A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the
city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that
the Lord had given me.
"During this whole time I could not understand the
reasoning of the brethren. My mind was locked, as it were, and I could not
comprehend the meaning of the scriptures we were studying. This was one of the
greatest sorrows of my life. I was in this condition of mind until all the
principal points of our faith were made clear to our minds, in harmony with the
Word of God. The brethren knew that when not in vision, I could not understand
these matters, and they accepted as light direct from heaven the revelations
given."--Selected Messages, Book 1,
pp. 206, 207.
Thus the doctrinal foundation of the Seventh-day Adventist
church was laid in the faithful study of the Word of God, and when the pioneers
could not make headway, Ellen White was given light that helped to explain
their difficulty and opened the way for the study to continue. The visions also
placed the stamp of God's approval upon correct conclusions. Thus
xxiv
the prophetic gift acted as a corrector of error and a
confirmer of truth. (See Gospel Workers,
p. 302.)
It was shortly after the fifth of these Sabbath conferences
held in 1848 that another meeting was called at the home of Otis Nichols in
Dorchester (near Boston), Massachusetts. The brethren were studying and praying
concerning their responsibility to herald the light that the Lord had caused to
shine upon their pathway. As they studied, Ellen White was taken off in vision,
and in this revelation she was shown the duty of the brethren to publish this
light. She recounts the incident in Life Sketches.
"After coming out of vision, I said to my husband: 'I
have a message for you. You must begin to print a little paper and send it out
to the people. Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send
you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first. From
this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that went
clear round the world.'"--Page 125.
Here was a call to action. What could James White do? He had
little of this world's goods. But the vision was a divine directive, and he
felt the compulsion to move forward by faith. So with his seventy-five cent
Bible and concordance with both covers torn off, James White began to prepare
the articles on the Sabbath truth and other kindred topics to be printed in a
little paper. All this took time, but eventually he presented the copy to a
printer in Middletown, Connecticut, who was willing to trust him for the
printing order. The type was set, the proofs were read, and one thousand copies
of the paper were printed. James White
transported them from the Middletown printing office to the Belden home
where he and Ellen had found a
xxv
temporary refuge. The little sheet was six by nine inches in
size and contained eight pages. It bore the title The Present Truth. The date was July, 1849. The little pile of papers
was laid upon the floor. Then the brethren and sisters gathered about them and
with tears in their eyes pleaded with God to bless the little sheet as it
should be sent out. Then the papers were folded, wrapped and addressed, and
James White carried them eight miles to the Middletown post office. Thus the
publishing work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church began.
Four issues were sent out in this manner, and each was
prayed over before the papers were taken to the post office. Soon letters were
received telling of people who had begun to keep the Sabbath from reading the
papers. Some of the letters contained money, and James White, in September, was
able to pay the Middletown printer the $64.50 due for the four issues.
As James and Ellen White traveled from place to place,
staying a few months here and a few months there, they arranged for the
publishing of a few issues of the paper. Finally the eleventh and last issue
was published at Paris, Maine, in November, 1850. Mrs. White contributed
several articles to The Present Truth.
Most of these are to be found in the first part of Early Writings. See pages 36-54.
Also in November, a conference was held in Paris, and the
brethren gave study to the growing publishing work. They decided to enlarge the
paper and they changed its name to The Second Advent Review and Sabbath
Herald. It was published for a few months
at Paris, Maine, then at Saratoga Springs, New York. It has been published from
that day to this as the church paper of the Seventh-day Adventists.
xxvi
While living at Saratoga Springs, James White arranged in
August, 1851, for the printing of Mrs. White's first book titled A Sketch of
the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White, now pages 11-83 of this work. With its 64 pages, it was only a
pamphlet.
In the spring of 1852, the Whites moved to Rochester, New
York, and there established an office in which they could do their own
printing. The brethren rallied to the appeal for money with which to purchase a
printing press and six hundred dollars was raised to secure the equipment. How
happy the early believers were when our papers could be issued on a
Sabbathkeeping press! For a little more than three years, they lived in
Rochester and published the message there. In addition to the Review and
Herald and the Youth's Instructor begun by James White in 1852, they also, from time
to time, published tracts. Mrs. White's second pamphlet, Supplement
to the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White, was published in Rochester in January, 1854. This
is now in Early Writings, pages
85-127.
In November, 1855, James and Ellen White and their helpers
moved to Battle Creek, Michigan. The press and other pieces of printing
equipment were placed in a building erected by several of the Sabbathkeeping
Adventists who had furnished the money with which to establish their own
printing office. As their work developed in that little city, Battle Creek
became the natural headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist church. But it was
with difficulty that James White maintained the publishing work.
xxvii
As we study the background of Early Writings, it should be noted that the early Sabbathkeeping
Adventists at first had a burden to reach with the Sabbath truth only their
former brethren in the great Advent Awakening; that is, those who had been with
them in the first and the second angels' messages. Consequently for about seven
years after 1844, their labors were very largely for Adventists who had not yet
taken their stand on the third angel's message. To one familiar with the
circumstances, this is understandable.
In the special efforts which were made to proclaim the
Advent message in the summer of 1844, the leaders in the movement had seen
their own experience in the parable of the ten virgins recorded in Matthew 25.
There had been a "tarrying time" followed by the cry, "Behold
the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." this was commonly referred
to as "the midnight cry." In her first vision, this was shown to Mrs.
White as a bright light set up behind the Adventists at the beginning of the
path. In the parable, they read that those who were ready went in with the
bridegroom to the marriage, "and the door was shut." (See Matthew
25:10.) They therefore concluded that on October 22, 1844, the door of mercy
was closed to those who failed to accept the message which had been so widely
proclaimed. Some years later Ellen White wrote of this:
"After the passing of the time when the Saviour was expected,
they [the Advent believers] still believed His coming to be near; they held
that they had reached an important crisis, and that the work of Christ as man's
intercessor before God, had ceased. It appeared to them to be taught in the
Bible, that man's probation would close a short time before the actual coming
of the lord in the clouds of heaven. This seemed evident
xxviii
from those scriptures which point to a time when men will
seek, knock, and cry at the door of mercy, and it will not be opened. And it
was a question with them whether the date to which they had looked for the
coming of Christ might not rather mark the beginning of this period which was
immediately to precede His coming. Having given the warning of the judgment
near, they felt that their work for the world was done, and they lost their
burden of soul for the salvation of sinners, while the bold and blasphemous
scoffing of the ungodly seemed to them another evidence that the Spirit of God
had been withdrawn from the rejecters of His mercy. All this confirmed them in
the belief that probation had ended, or, as they then expressed it, 'the door
of mercy was shut.'"--The Great Controversy, page 429.
Then Mrs. White continues to show how light began to dawn on
this question:
"But clearer light came with the investigation of the
sanctuary question. They now saw that they were correct in believing that the
end of the 2300 days in 1844 marked an important crisis. But while it was true
that that door of hope and mercy by which men had for eighteen hundred years
found access to God, was closed, another door was opened, and forgiveness of
sins was offered to men through the intercession of Christ in the most holy.
One part of His ministration had closed, only to give place to another. There
was still an 'open door' to the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ was
ministering in the sinner's behalf.
"Now was seen the application of those words of Christ
in the Revelation, addressed to the church at this very time: 'These things
saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that
openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy
works: behold, I have set
xxix
before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.' (Rev.
3:7, 8.)
"It is those who by faith follow Jesus in the great
work of the atonement, who receive the benefits of His mediation in their
behalf; while those who reject the light which brings to view this work of
ministration, are not benefited thereby."--Ibid., pp. 429, 430.
Mrs. White then speaks of how the two groups of Advent
believers related themselves to the experience of the disappointment of October
22, 1844:
"The passing of the time in 1844 was followed by a period of great
trial to those who still held the advent faith. Their only relief, so far as
ascertaining their true position was concerned, was the light which directed
their minds to the sanctuary above. Some renounced their faith in their former
reckoning of the prophetic periods, and ascribed to human or satanic agencies
the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit which had attended the Advent
Movement. Another class firmly held that the Lord had led them in their past
experience; and as they waited and watched and prayed to know the will of God,
they saw that their great High Priest had entered upon another work of
ministration, and following Him by faith, they were led to see also the closing
work of the church. They had a clearer understanding of the first and second
angels' messages, and were prepared to receive and give to the world the solemn
warning of the third angel of Revelation 14."--Ibid., pp. 431, 432.
Certain references occur in this work, on pages 42-45, to
the "open door" and the "shut door." This is correctly
understood only in the light of the background of the experience of our early
believers.
xxx
Not too long after the Disappointment the pioneers saw that
while there were those who through the definite rejection of light had closed
the door to their salvation, there were many who had not heard the message and
had not rejected it, and these might benefit from the provisions made for man's
salvation. By the early 1850's these points stood out clearly. Then too,
avenues for the presentation of the three angel's messages were beginning to
open up. Prejudice was dying away. Ellen White, looking back to their
experience following the Disappointment wrote:
"'It was then next to impossible to obtain access to
unbelievers. The disappointment in 1844 had confused the minds of many, and
they would not listen to any explanation of the matter.'"--Review and
Herald, Nov. 20, 1883.
But in 1851 Elder White was able to report: "'Now the
door is open almost everywhere to present the truth, and many are prepared to
read the publications who have formerly had no interest to
investigate.'"--Review and Herald, Aug. 19, 1851.
But with these new opportunities, and with a larger number
of people accepting the message, a few discordant elements came into their
midst. If these had not been checked, the work would have been greatly injured.
But here again we see the providence of God in guiding His people, for on
December 24, 1850, in a vision given to Ellen White, she tells us:
"'I saw how great and holy God was. Said the angel,
"Walk carefully before Him, for He is high and lifted up, and the train of
His glory fills the temple." I saw that everything in heaven was in
perfect order. Said the angel, "Look ye, Christ is the head, move in
order, move in order. Have a meaning to everything." Said
xxxi
the angel, "Behold ye and know how perfect, how
beautiful, the order in heaven; follow it."'"--Ellen G. White
manuscript 11, 1850.
It took time to lead the believers generally to appreciate
the needs and value of gospel order. Their past experiences in the Protestant
churches from which they had separated led them to be cautious. Except in those
places where the practical need was very evident, fear of inviting formality
held the believers back from church organization. It was not until a decade
after the vision of 1850 that more mature plans for organization were finally
effected. Undoubtedly a factor of primary importance in bringing the efforts to
fruition was a comprehensive chapter entitled "Gospel Order,"
published in the Supplement to the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen
G. White. This appears in this work as
pages 97-104.
In 1860, in connection with the organizing of the publishing
work, a name was chosen. Some thought that "Church of God" would be
appropriate, but the sentiment prevailed that the name should reflect the
distinctive teachings of the church. They adopted "Seventh-day
Adventist" as their name. The following year some companies of believers
organized themselves into churches, and the churches in Michigan formed a State
conference. Soon there were several State conferences. Then in May, 1863, the
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was organized. This takes us five
years beyond the time of Early Writings.
Reference has been made to the moving of the publishing work
from Rochester, New York, to Battle Creek, Michigan, in November, 1855. Elder
and Mrs. White made their home in Battle Creek and after the work was well
established there, they were able to
xxxii
continue their travels in the field. It was in connection
with a visit to the State of Ohio in February and March, 1858, that the
important great controversy vision was given to Mrs. White in the public
school-house at Lovett's Grove. The account of this vision which lasted two
hours is found in Life Sketches, pages
161, 162. In September, 1858, Spiritual Gifts, Volume 1: The Great Controversy Between
Christ and His Angels and Satan and His Angels,
was published. This little book of 219 pages constitutes the third and last
division of Early Writings.
The small publications of the first fifteen years of Mrs.
White's work were to be followed by many larger books dealing with many
subjects vital to those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of
Jesus Christ. Nevertheless the earliest writings will always be especially dear
to the hearts of all Seventh-day Adventists.
Trustees of the Ellen G. White Estate.
Washington, D.C.
March, 1963.