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Table of Contents
1888 Re-Examined ....................................................................................................................... 1 This document was written by Elder R. J. Wieland and Elder D. K. Short and submitted to the officers of the General Conference in Fall of 1950 as containing an elaboration of their views as previously outlined in different letters and papers. DEFENSE LITERATURE COMMITTEE REPORT ............................................................. 245 This constituted the official answer to Wieland and Short on the evaluation which the officers of the General Conference made on their representation. It was issued in December, 1951. FURTHER APPRAISAL OF THE MANUSCRIPT "1888 RE-EXAMINED" ....................... 256 This is the second report of the officers of the General Conference on the Wieland-Short representations. It was issued in September, 1958. AN ANSWER TO FURTHER APPRAISAL OF THE MANUSCRIPT 1888 RE-EXAMINED " ................................................................................................................................................ 306 This paper is the answer which Elder Wieland and Elder Short made to the second report of the officers of the General Conference on their original document, 1888 Re-Examined. It was submitted in October, 1958. WIELAND-SHORT MANUSCRIPT COMMITTEE REPORT ............................................. 381 This is the third report of the officers of the General Conference on the Wieland-Short representations. It was released in the early part of 1959. FINAL LETTER OF COMMITMENT ................................................................................... 396 This letter was written by Elder Wieland and Elder Short to the officers of the General Conference on January 21, 1959.

Preface
The collection of documents contained herein has been prepared specifically for the study and guidance of the members of the Executive Committee of the North Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists pursuant to a Motion lodged with this Committee on February 3, 1959, by the undersigned. It is not intended that this collection shall have extensive circulation among all classes of our church membership but neither is it contemplated that it will be confined to the members of the Union Committee. Our Motion requests the Committee to make the documents contained herein available to the membership of the North Pacific Union Conference and provide for an open, proper, just and sufficient examination of this matter in this field. Obviously, this Committee cannot reach an intelligent decision and take a proper action upon the Motion until it has read the documents in question. These are not readily available otherwise hence the preparation of this collection. Also, the preparation of this collection will make it easy for the Committee to act favorably upon our Motion insofar as the physical availability of the material is concerned. Since the officers of the General Conference are opposed to having the church become informed on the matter, it would be somewhat embarrassing to have this material published in one of our regular publishing houses. But with the plates already made and the printing facilities under our personal ownership and operation it would be simple to furnish the Union Committee with sufficient copies at a reasonable price to comply with the request at hand. Inasmuch as it may happen in time that this book shall fall into the hands of some who are not familiar with the facts of the controversy involved we are presenting herewith the Motion Lodged with the Committee and the remarks preceding the Motion. At the time we made the Motion it was our opinion that the documents enumerated therein were all that would be necessary to a consideration of the subject matter involved. However, at the time of the filing of the Motion the General Conference president who was present represented to the Committee that the third report of the General Conference on the Wieland-Short presentations and the final letter of commitment written by Wieland and Short under date of

January 21, 1959, would considerably alter the picture as contained in the documents previously mentioned. We are, therefore, including [i] herein the third report of the General Conference entitled WielandShort Manuscript Committee Report and the letter mentioned above. A Preliminary Memorandum of 81 pages previously presented to the Committee contains other documentary material relative to the WielandShort representations covering the period preceding the manuscript, 1888 Re-Examined. PRESENTATION TO UNION COMMITTEE On February 3, 1959, this Petitioner appeared in person before this Committee making the following representations and Motion. Preface to Motion Mr. President: Comes now this Petitioner, A.. L. Hudson, appearing in person and makes the following allegations and representations. I am a lay member of the Seventh-day Adventist church with membership in the Baker, Oregon, body. I was born in the message, as we say, in this same church body and have served it in many different capacities from my childhood. I am now, and for many years past have been, first Elder of this church. In common with all my brethren of our communion I believe the Seventh-day Adventist church corporation in all its various affiliated associations and corporations to be the legal and corporate vehicle for the promulgation of the three angels messages of Revelation 14. I believe that unmistakable evidence in both the secular world and the religious world, including our own beloved church, indicates beyond a doubt to those holding the prophetic tenets of our faith that the good ship Zion is nearing the Harbor. We are now sailing between the reefs of infidelity and materialism in full sight of Home. If we are to fulfill the purpose of God in our existence, we must now take aboard the Harbor Pilot and complete the journey. More than a hundred years ago a handful of God-fearing and

Christ-loving men and women joined together in holy fellowship to establish what later came to be known in the world as the Seventh-day Adventist church. In humble dependence upon God for the accomplishment within them and through them of a humanly impossible task they fulfilled the prayer of the Divine Pilot, That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. John 17:21 With the passing of years and the accession of membership encircling the globe this unity of heart and mind has been lessened until in 1952, Elder R. A. Anderson, speaking at the Bible Conference in Washington, D. C., publicly expressed the apprehension of the leaders of our church to hold such a conference lest the meeting be broken up with adverse factions. Today the bond of unity and fellowship within our ranks on the basis of unity with the same Christ and Lord is so weak that ecclesiastical authority and intellectual and spiritual despotism have largely taken the place of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [ii]

The issue at hand today is the matter of religious liberty within the Seventh-day Adventist church. Elder H. L. Rudy, Vice-president of the General Conference, has made the following pertinent observations in his article, The Gift of Freedom, which was presented in pamphlet form to church elders for Religious Liberty Day, Sabbath, January 17, 1959: Among all the freedoms men cherish and have struggled to obtain is freedom of conscience. This freedom gives dignity to man when he is in possession of it. Without it the quality of human living is absent. Man cannot refuse freedom for himself if he wishes to maintain his own dignity as a creature made in the image of God. Neither has he the right to deny it to others. Psychological compulsions brought to bear upon him by mass propaganda have caused him to cease thinking for himself, to cease thinking creatively. He has not been educated to freedom. Freedom is dear only to those who are not satisfied to think

as they are told. Too many people have not become aware of themselves as free beings, bearing within themselves the dignity and aristocracy of freedom. The free man not only loves freedom but also affirms it for others. Truth demands freedom, both for him who reveals it and for others as well. Religious tolerance accepts the fact that truth is without limit, and is capable of opening boundless perspectives before the mind. In direct and distinct contradiction of these noble and lofty sentiments just expressed the facts I would like to present indicate that the Officers of the General Conference are violating the principles of religious liberty and vitiating the glorious propositions outlined by this vice-president. Brief Resume of Wieland-Short Representations Since you brethren have previously received copies of my letters to the General Conference Officers under dates of November 21, 1958, and January 9, 1959, and because of the shortness of the time which I have requested before you, I shall not make any lengthy recitation of the facts contained in those letters but merely take recourse to a short resume to lead up to the point of my appearance before you. In June (July) of 1950, Elder H. J. Wieland and Elder D. K. Short made written representations to the Officers of the General Conference at the time of the General Conference session in San Francisco. On July 11, 1950, these brethren wrote in part as follows: The President s stirring address last night, calling upon us to guard the faith once delivered to the saints, and to speak forthrightly in defense of it, presents a challenge. With this in mind, it is imperative that we know exactly what it is that should be guarded, for certainly there is great confusion in our ranks today. This confusion was evident in the Christ-centered preaching urged upon us repeatedly in the Ministerial Association meetings of the past four days. These meetings were supposed to set the stage for a mighty revival among God s people at this General Conference session. This Christ-centered preaching

[iii] is expected by its proponents to bring great reformation among Seventh-day Adventist workers the world around. No one for a moment would disparage the preaching of the true Christ as the center and substance of the three angels messages. However, in this confusion, it has not been discerned that much of this so-called Christ-centered preaching is in reality merely anti-Christ centered preaching. It vitally affects the outcome of this General Conference session. To make such a statement to the General Conference Committee sounds fantastic. But startling things are not unexpected by the church In the last days. At the time of the General Conference session no official consideration was given to the subject matter of the WielandShort representations. Subsequently in Washington, D. C. these men appeared before a committee at which time both written and oral material was presented. Wieland and Short were asked to further write out their contentions and the manuscript, 1888 Re-Examined was the result. They returned to their mission field in Africa and the Defense Literature Committee was asked to make an official report on the representations of Wieland and Short. In this report which was released in 1951, the Officers of the General Conference rejected the analysis of the 1888 Minneapolis Conference episode which Wieland and Short had made in their manuscript and also rejected the false christ allegations of these men by labeling them as slander against the Adventist ministry. In this report by the General Conference silence on the subject matter was enjoined upon Wieland and Short by the Officers. Much to the annoyance of the brethren in Washington, copies of the manuscript were sold by Wieland and Short to some of their immediate friends before they left for their mission field and before he Committee had time to render its official report. When the official decision was communicated to the authors they complied fully and desisted from any agitation of the subject. However, the few existing copies were multiplied many times

in the ensuing years by substantial, loyal Seventh-day Adventists sometimes even under the noses of disapproving administrators and the message of the document got around. Its reception was varied, but at least a sizeable minority in the church have believed it to be a message of truth sent by God at a critical hour. Concerning this document the Secretary of the General Conference wrote on January 16, 1959: Many in the field and in our institutions have considered this matter and numerous opinions have been expressed to us. Relationship of Petitioner to the Problem Some four years ago the paper came into my possession from a minister friend. Since that time I have been contending with the officers of the General Conference that their evaluation of the representations of Wieland and Short is erroneous and the first official report completely untenable. On February 28, 1958, I filed a formal Complaint and Request with the officers of the General Conference relative to the matter of [iv]

the Barnhouse-Martin episode and supported the Complaint with a short Brief. In this Brief I made reference to the WielandShort manuscript on p. 30 as follows: This manuscript was written some seven years ago and presented to the officers of the General Conference. The manuscript, the letters preceding it and the personal representations connected therewith were a potion too big for the officers of the General Conference to swallow; even as this statement of Jesus to Peter was too big for him to swallow. He could not deny the truth of the Saviour s words, but he did not understand them and thus did not believe nor profit by them. In like manner, the officers of the General Conference have not been able to deny the truth of the positions taken by Wieland and Short; they have not been able to correctly evaluate them and have thus refused to believe them and profit by them. The officers refused any type of hearing upon the Complaint but did essay to write a reply to the Complaint without giving an opportunity to plead my cause at all. Some of you have a

copy of this alleged answer to certain points appearing in the Brief supporting my Complaint. This purported answer, however, was only half the reply of the officers. The other half was to consist of a second consideration of the Wieland-Short manuscript. In September, 1958, this second report was released and a copy was sent to me. It was entitled, Further Appraisal of the Manuscript, 1888 Re-Examined. The second report was as unsatisfactory as the first, coming to some of the same conclusions as the first report and coming to other conclusions even less tenable. Officers Refuse to Answer Questions On November 21, 1958, I requested from the officers of the General Conference an official answer to the following threepart question: Is it the purpose of the General Conference (a) to suppress by considering improper, illegal and undesirable an open discussion of the Wieland-Short manuscript and its contents in the world field; (b) to force Elders Wieland and Short to abandon their positions or to keep silent concerning them by the weight of your ecclesiastical authority when you have not been able in eight years to sustain any substantial error in the same; (c) knowing that the statement referred to above from Appraisal is false, to force brethren Wieland and Short to take an open stand against the officers of the General Conference, their hiring agency, and to publicly state their true position? The officers have twice refused to answer this question as asked and the only pertinent comment they have been willing to make is this: The brethren feel that under present circumstances their dealing on this matter should be with Brethren Wieland and Short. This is, of course, a polite and diplomatic way of saying to us laymen in the field that it is none of our business what is going on in Washington and that a determination of truth and error will be made by men allegedly qualified to make such determinations and that henceforth we are to accept their decisions without question or protest. This position is unacceptable to us in the field. In the words

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of Elder Rudy: 'Freedom is dear only to those who are not satisfied to think as they are told. Leadership does not Employ Flattery nor Coercion In reply to our suggestion that coercion or flattery might be used upon Wieland and Short by the officers, they made the following significant reply: The leadership of God s cause does not employ flattery nor coercion in dealing with workers. Such an attitude is entirely foreign to our understanding of leadership responsibility. Brethren Wieland and Short are workers of experience and they will make their decisions as they feel they should. The field that employs them may want to come to some understanding with them, but this is in no way related to flattery nor to coercion. I do not believe the members of this Union committee would want any specific comments upon this statement by way of concrete illustrations contradicting it, but you are all aware that such evidence could be Introduced. There are at least three conferences in this Union which have attempted to suppress discussion of vital truths relative to the matter at hand by coercion. Now, by way of summarizing this short resume, we have the following situation. Ordained ministers of recognized worth and integrity have charged the Remnant church with worshipping in a substantial measure a false Christ. The officers of the General Conference are determined to ignore and discredit this allegation all the while under the pretense of considering it, in the darkness of camouflage, in the secrecy of private conference and committee meetings in Washington and submit the results for us laymen to accept without question. This we cannot do. Motion The representations of Elders Wieland and Short are sufficiently contained in two documents: (1) Their manuscript, l888 ReExamined, and (2) their Reply to the second report of the

General Conference on their manuscript. The official stand of the General Conference is contained in two documents: (1) The first report rendered by the Defense Literature Committee in 1951; (2) Further Appraisal of the Manuscript, 1888 Re-Examined, released in September, 1958. WHEREFORE, believing that the prohibition of discussion and investigation of this material which is believed by a considerable minority to be a message from God constitutes departure from the principles of religious liberty in the Remnant church, I MOVE this Committee make the above enumerated documents available to the membership of the North Pacific Union Conference and provide for an open, proper, just and sufficient examination of this matter In this field. Respectfully submitted,

A. L. Hudson, First Elder Baker Seventh-day Adventist Church Baker, Oregon

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1888 Re-Examined
By R. J. WIELAND and D. K. SHORT CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Advent Movement has thus far not made progress consistent with its prophetic destiny. The world has not as yet been truly stirred by the threefold message of Revelation 14. Though we may boast of our achievements, regaling ourselves with statistical appraisals of our phenomenal progress , we cannot escape the conviction of our better, soberer judgment that the Advent movement has so far fallen far short of the divine ideal for it. The conviction is deepening within the movement that its failure is assuming truly vexing proportions. This thought, though increasingly difficult to repress, is not openly confessed, simply because no one seems to know what would be the next step to take following such a confession. It must be said, sooner or later, to our shame and confusion, that we have not yet understood very clearly the reasons why the movement has fallen so far short of its ideals. To say helplessly that the reason is that we have failed to do our duty is merely an expression of the unanswered question in different terms. Why haven t we done our duty, and when will we do it? On the other hand, to say helplessly that God will soon arise and do something is merely to state the unanswered question in still another form: Why hasn't He already done what He will eventually do? We would not dare to charge God with any negligence or reluctance to bring about the complete fulfillment of prophecy, for: we know that He has been ready to bring the Advent movement to its ultimate triumph long ago. The question remains, and now insists on being answered: What is the reason for our failure, and how can the difficulty be rectified? For the greater portion of a century this question nas been awaiting its answer. In recent decades, it has been vainly hoped that each succeeding 1888 Re-Examined - 1 resolution, program, policy, and revival would make the answering of the question unnecessary. We have assumed that the embarrassing show-down may somehow be obviated. If only some supernatural power could be attained which would render the propagation of Seventh-day Adventism universally and indisputably phenomenal, there would be no need for an unsavoury and humiliating investigation into Seventh-day Adventist history. The church and its leaders would thus be vindicated before the world and the universe, and In that vindication , the long-awaited triumph of the movement would be realized.

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This vain hope does not take into account the fact that such a vindication before the world and the universe of an unfaithful church could not by any means be a vindication of God s truth. God could never bring the movement to a triumph without the making of past denominational wrongs right, unless He should back down to the point of surrendering His century-long insistance on the following of right principles, as communicated to His church through the ministry of the Spirit of Prophecy To do so would be for Him to admit defeat, such a defeat being virtually that of the entire plan of redemption. It would be an admission that His standards had been too high, and that He never seriously expected that they would indeed be followed. Such a lowering of the standard in order to vindicate an unrighteous people would be a complete travesty of divine justice. It would mean the establishment of Old Jerusalem, continually backsliding, unrepentant, and disobedient, in the New Earth, in place of the spiritually triumphant and thoroughly repentant New Jerusalem. It would be a complete disappointment of the hopes of Abraham, who looked for a City which bath foundations, whose builder and Maker is God, and which city was to comprise a finally victorious community of his spiritual descendants, victorious in that they had attained to the maturity of Christian experience and faith, of which he was the true spiritual ancestor. Such a denouement to the drama of the ages is unthinkable. Every failure of God s people to follow the light shining upon their pathway for the past century must be completely rectified by the present generation before the remnant church can be granted any divine vindication before the world. Absolutely nothing which does not bear the test of truth will be triumphant in the Judgment. As Judge, God simply cannot and will not clear the guilty, whether *(NOS. IN MARGIN INDICATE PAGING IN ORIGINAL MSS.) 1888 Re-Examined - 2 it be an individual or a movement. If this is true, it follows that there is before the remnant church a heavy account to settle. And the sooner the issue is faced squarely and candidly, the better. The findings of this essay indicate that there has been some serious misunderstanding of the significance of our history. A closer investigation is absolutely necessary. Truth will lose nothing as a consequence. The following quotation is primarily concerning doctrinal positions, with which the first section of this essay is not concerned; but the principles stated apply equally to any interpretations of our history that will not bear the closest scrutiny: The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation. We are living in perilous times, and it does not become us to accept everything claimed to be truth without examining it thoroughly; neither can we afford to reject anything that bears the fruits

of the Spirit of God; but we should be teachable, meek and lowly of heart . . . The Lord designs that our opinions shall be put to the test. (R. & H., Dec. 20, 1892.) If we ourselves do not put to the test our opinions concerning both doctrinal matters and historical interpretations, we may be sure that keen minds among our opponents will eventually do the work for us: If God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when we shall be brought before councils and before thousands for His name s sake, and each one will have to give the reasons of his faith. Then will come the severest criticism upon every position that has been taken for the truth. We need, then, to study the word of God, that we may know why we believe the doctrines we advocate. (R & H. Dec. 18, 1888.) When the above words were written, denominational history was in the making. To-day it lies buried in the archives, and certain interpretations of it very current amongst us have assumed almost the form and authority of doctrines , it being considered as serious a matter to question these official interpretations of our past as to question our fundamental doctrines. Hence the need for thorough investigation, that true history may be distinguished from the tradition of the elders . For various reasons to be named later, the Minneapolis episode of our history has been enveloped in the foggy mists of that tradition. Fact must be separated from fancy. The cleansing of the sanctuary can never be complete until the Minneapolis incident of our history is fully understood, and the tragic mistake rectified:
*(NOS. IN MARGIN INDICATE PAGING IN ORIGINAL MSS.)

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1888 Re-Examined - 3 The sin committed in what took place at Minneapolis remains on the record books of heaven, registered against the names of those who resisted light, and it will remain upon the record until full confession is made, and the transgressors stand in full humility before God. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, Sept. 1, 1892, 0. 19, d 92.) That generation has gone to their rest, and a new one is now faced with the duty of correctly interpreting the significance of what happened. It will be seen that we are being tested just as truly as they were tested. Minneapolis, like Calvary, is much more than a mere historical event; it represents the outworking of principles. In a certain sense, we. are each one at Calvary. We are also at Minneapolis. That we shall .be called upon to do what a past generation failed to do is evident in the following quotation from unpublished portions of the serious testimony given Nov. 3, 1890:

We should be the last people on the earth to indulge in the slightest degree the spirit of persecution against those who are bearing the message of God to the world. This is the most terrible feature of unchristlikeness that has manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis meeting. Sometime it will be seen in its true bearing, with all the burden of woe that has resulted from it. (G.C.B. 1893, p. 184, emphasis supplied.) A former president of the General Conference recognized that the Minneapolis issues will remain a perennial test among us, until we fully overcome: Some may feel tried over the idea that Minneapolis is referred to. I know that some have felt grieved and tried over any allusion to that meeting, and to the situation there. But let it be borne in mind that the reason why anyone should feel so is an unyielding spirit on his part. Just as quickly as we fully surrender, and humble our hearts before God, the difficulty is all gone. The very idea that one is grieved, shows at once the seed of rebellion in the heart. . . If we fail at one time, the Lord will take us over the ground again; and if we fail a second time, he will take us over the ground again; and if we fail a third time, the Lord will take us over the same ground again. . Instead of being vexed over the idea that the Lord is taking us over the same ground, let us thank Him, and praise Him unceasingly, for this is God s mercy and compassion. Anything else than this is our ruin and destruction. (Ibid., p. 188.) A prediction made by A. T. Jones in 1893 is also worthy of serious consideration in this connection: That, however, is but a sample. There will be things to come that will be more surprising than that was to those at Minneapolis, more surprising than anything we have yet seen. And, brethren, we will be required to receive and preach that truth. But unless you and I have every fiber of that spirit rooted out of our hearts, we will treat that message and the messenger by whom it is sent, as God has declared we have treated this other message (Ibid., p. 185.) Until we recognize the facts of our past more candidly, all our attempts 1888 Re-Examined - 4 to secure a supernatural display of spiritual power proportionate to the promised latter rain must be, of necessity, doomed to failure. There are two reasons for the necessity of this failure: (1) The true God has promised that He will not add His blessings to

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confusion, for His name and the cause of truth could not thereby be glorified. (2) The false God of the modern religious world is powerless to make final and effective use of advantages gained by him already in his efforts to fasten the remnant church in his relentless grasp. He cannot bestow a supernatural power upon the Seventh-day Adventist church as a whole, as he is doing with other religious bodies, because of the presence within Israel of many thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Even he cannot add his supernatural blessings to a divided people, halting between two opinions! The residual strength of the honest in heart who still constitute a great proportion of modern Israel renders impotent Baal s final attempt to subjugate the Israel of God. The next step will obviously be for Israel to take stock of her situation, and decide to follow in the sense of utter devotion one Lord or the other. The implications of such a decision are staggering to contemplate. 1888 Re-Examined - 5 CHAPTER 2 LEAVING THE FIRST LOVE

it is now clearly evident that very soon after the passing of the time in 1844 and the establishment of the little flock who were to constitute the remnant church, there was a manifest deficiency in the understanding of the three angels messages that resulted in spiritual weakness and immaturity. This weakness was not seriously enough apparent to call forth a rebuke from the Spirit of Prophecy, until the basic essentials of the message as we know it became understood. In other words, the deficiency in the understanding of the message was not doctrinal. It was spiritual, and affected adversely the Christian experience of the early Seventh-day Adventists. No one can deny the genuineness of the Christian experience enjoyed by those who passed through the 1844 movement. Jesus was precious to the saints who looked for His soon coming. They were in love with Him, and their hearts were undivided in deep, sincere devotion. Numerous statements from Mrs. E. G. White and other of the early Adventist pioneers attest their solemn conviction that the Spirit of God was unmistakeably in that movement. Indeed, it was this conviction that the Spirit of God was in the movement (rather than their reliance on the doctrinal correctness of their positions) which preserved the little flock faithful through the time of the Great Disappointment. The Seventhday Adventist church was conceived in a time indicated by prophecy to be an experience of genuine love and was born in a travail of soul on the part of the little flock who recognized, and would not surrender their faith in a genuine

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manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Thus she was well born . In her early years, she loved her precious Jesus with a true heart, and the genuine work of the Spirit of God was recognized. Her later difficulties stern from the tragic experience of leaving that first love , and a consequent failure to recognize the true Holy Spirit. As early as 1850, it was evident that the warmth of devotion and true love for Jesus manifest in the l844 movement had been replaced in the hearts of 1888 Re-Examined - 6 some by a stupid and dormant , half awake condition, caused by a love of self taking the place of a true love for God. One of the first testimonies of reproof from the Spirit of Prophecy presented the sufferings of Jesus in behalf of His people in an effort to stir their languishing love. (EW 48-50) Pride and complacency in the profession of a system of truth so obvious ..as the Advent message gradually began to crowd out the simple, heart-felt love for Jesus which led to its acceptance originally. The truth being found invincible in debate and argument, Adventists found it difficult to resist the subtle and unconscious temptation to indulge a spiritual pride that they had seen and accepted it, Opposition led them to cherish the hope of vindication at the time of the Second Advent. Gradually, and unconsciously, this hope of vindication in the Judgment at the Second Advent absorbed their thoughts more than Love s anticipation of the meeting with the Beloved, whether such a meeting included any vindication or not. Their faith became to them more an act on their part of belief and obedience, than a heart-felt love of Christ through a belief of the truth. Instead of continuing to walk humbly with God in utter dependence upon Him, we began to walk proudly with the indisputable doctrinal evidences of the truth . The result was inevitably a form of legalism. The same experience has been repeated almost invariably in the individual lives of new Adventist converts, ever since. Rightly understood, the history of the Advent movement is the story of our own poor, individual hearts. In all that we say about the brethren of past years, we must remember that we are no better than they. We, as Paul informed the believers at Rome (Romans 2:1), do the same things. Only through such an insight can the mysteries of our denominational history be resolved into present-day significance. Mrs. E. G. White early recognized that the real root of the spiritual weakness of the young movement was that the church had left her first love. Mrs. White herself, however, never lost that first love for Jesus. She was always keen and quick to recognize manifestations of the true Spirit 6f God. The miraculous demonstrations of the power of the Spirit of God attending her ministry forced the church to recognize the divine authority of her messages, although the church as a whole was seldom in heart-sympathy with their deep spiritual

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1888 Re-Examined - 7 import. The almost continual neglect of the church to heed her earnest appeals to return to that first love constitute the most shameful and embarrassing portions of our denominational history. The reason lay in the increasing selflove of ministers and believers. It was inevitable that love for Jesus should be crowded out, and as a consequence, that the ability to discern the working of the Holy Spirit became less keen. Had it not been for the continued ministry of the Spirit of Prophecy, the movement could not have survived. This in itself usually recognized amongst us as true is a strikingly plain commentary on the nature of our deep seated unbelief. We were repeating in a few decades history that which ancient Israel occupied centuries in traversing. No Seventh-day Adventist would deny that the denomination was Jerusalem . But she was still the old city, not yet the New. This deficiency in the understanding of the three angel s messages was no fault of God. The Advent message itself was complete. But it was self which blinded the workers and believers to a proper discernment of the third angel s message in verity, just as the blindness of the Jews prevented them from discerning the message of Judaism in verity. That verity to which the Jews were blind was the place of the Cross in the services of their sanctuary, and in the ministry of their expected Messiah. Likewise, the place of the Cross in the third angel s message was not discerned. The deficiency was tragic. As early as 1867, Mrs. White said: In the acceptance of the Cross, we are distinguished from the world. We have been so united with the world that we have lost sight of the Cross, and do not suffer for Christ s sake. (1 T 525.) In 1879, she wrote: My ministering brethren, seek Jesus with all lowliness and meekness. Do not try to draw the attention of the people to yourselves. Let them lose sight of the instrument, while you exalt Jesus. Talk of Jesus; lose self in Jesus. There is too much bustle and stir about our religion, while Calvary and the Cross are forgotten. (1 T 133.) Unnumbered times, the messenger of the Lord decried the love of self that was so painfully evident in those who professed to love Jesus. Every species of self-love prospered within the church, resulting in a settled lukewarmness. To re-read the burning messages of reproof and entreaty that were sent to the church over a period of nearly twenty years preceding the l888 meeting is to 1888 Re-Examined - 8

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recognize that deep, heart-felt love for Jesus was all too lacking in the Seventh-day Adventist church. Growth Vs. Progress The spiritual difficulty which obstructed the real progress of the Advent movement was only rendered more complex by the fact that the church was enjoying a prosperous growth numerically, financially, and in prestige. This growth was reflected in a steady increase of institutional and evangelistic strength. The movement had now assumed the form of a permanently established denomination, well respected. There was, of course, nothing whatever wrong with the fact that the denomination was growing thus, and increasing In such forms of strength. Most of the advances made were at the insistent exhortation of the Spirit of Prophecy. It was right and. proper that institutions should be established, and that the work spread into new regions, and churches everywhere be raised up. What was not right and proper was that this growth should be mistaken for the real end and purpose of the Advent movement, namely, a spiritual progress. But confusion did result, and self-esteem and self-complacency were but thinly veiled in the weekly reports of the advance of the cause , as published in the Review and Herald. It is interesting to compare the spirit evident in those reports of progress , which were the order of the day, with the burning messages of reproof and counsel which were sent out by the agent of the gift of prophecy at the same time. Most alarming discrepancies are evident between Mrs. White s appraisal of the condition of the church and the self-congratulatory spirit of many of the reports History has not upheld as wholly warranted the almost incessant optimism of many of the brethren as regards the results of their work. True, God was leading, and the movement was His. But the judgment of history must be that the most significant and remarkable aspect of the work was not its progress , as reported, but its tragic lack of progress compared with what, under God, it should have been had it not been for the prevalence of selfish unbelief. The primary end and purpose of the Advent movement in world history was 1888 Re-Examined - 9 the attainment by a remnant church to a perfect character which would completely vindicate the sacrifice at Calvary. No other community of saints in all history had attained to such a maturity of experience. This last community of saints should become fully worthy to constitute the population of a New Jerusalem , having overcome all the mistakes of all previous generations of the professed people of God. In their characters was to be seen the practical result of the cleansing of the sanctuary. In them the plan of salvation was to reach its culmination, and the doubts and objections of Satan and his hosts

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forever answered. The unfallen universe itself was to be reassured by beholding this perfect demonstration of the absolute success of the, plan of redemption. Consequent on the attainment of this primary objective, and bound up with it, was the realization of a secondary purpose: the finishing of the gospel program of world evangelization. It was inevitable that the attainment of the first and primary goal of the remnant church would include the attainment of this secondary goal. It follows, therefore, that for the Advent movement to have made genuine progress, there would have to be definite advancement toward the attainment of that primary goal of spiritual character development. Can anyone successfully maintain that the remnant church is closer to the attainment of that goal in 1950 than she was in 1850? Rather, it would be difficult to prove that there has not been some progress in reverse! It is neither a pleasing nor an encouraging aspect of our history to dwell upon. The longer we delay facing the fact, however, the more difficult will our position become. Had we not been blinded by self-love, a true understanding of the verity of the three angels messages would have insured genuine progress long ago toward the attainment of that primary goal. However, the imagined fulfillment of the secondary goal, namely, the growth and establishment of a world-wide missionary endeavor, together with increased numerical, and financial strength, has enticed us into assuming that the Advent movement has made real progress . Oblivious of the fact that many other denominations are making the same kind of progress which proves that such growth in denominational strength means nothing so far as Heaven s real blessings upon our work are concerned we 1888 Re-Examined - 10 have largely lost sight of the attainment of our primary goal, in an illusory arid imagined fulfillment of the secondary goal. Indeed, we no longer repress the language of our hearts, but unashamedly declare how rich and increased with goods we are, such goods being our works. Statistical reports bulge with ill-advised conclusions based on financial or numerical advancement. A few samples follow: All records of performance both at home and abroad during the past four years show clearly that God s work is advancing rapidly. . . The message of truth is moving steadily forward. The urgency of the world s need beckons on to higher attainments (S. D. A. Statistical Summary, l946l949, by Claude Conard.) The financial success of this vast denominational undertaking cannot be stronger than the faith and zeal which animate God s chosen people. These combined resources, under the generalship of the Captain of the Lord s (9)

Hosts, will lead to the early triumph of the great Second Advent Movement in all the world. (Thirty-seventh Financial Report, General Conference, Year ending Dec. 31, l948, p. 9.) Here is unashamed boasting that the faith and zeal which animate God s chosen people are measured by their statistical records! Since our faith and zeal cannot be less than our works, it must follow that it is now impossible to be rich and increased with goods and still remain in need of anything! The Author and Finisher of our faith declares just the opposite, however. We may take pride in this greatly expanding work, and feel that it is marching to victory certainly, while the truth is that we are approaching a spiritually bankrupt condition, unless help is forthcoming. Such, in fact, was the spiritual condition of the church in the decade preceding the 1888 General Conference Session. There is this difference, however, that today, in l950, with a more ponderous world-wide machinery of organization, the difficulty of rectifying the unfortunate condition appears to be even more perplexing. We face to-day the fact of our spiritual impotency, serious beyond any previous experience of the church. Self-love. self-regard, still being our basic sin, its incidence all over a vastly increased world work among our workers and people in many nations and tribes presents staggering problem. It can no longer be hoped that the mere passage of time can provide a remedy. Time enough has now gone by to satisfy anyone s reasonable patience. Even God s patience may soon be at an end. The nauseating effects of our 1888 Re-Examined - 11 wretched lukewarmness will not, cannot, be tolerated by the Lord Himself forever. The key to the understanding of our present baffling position lies in a true appraisal of what happened at the 1888 General Conference Session, and its aftermath. That fateful meeting is now more than history it is a parable. 1888 Re-Examined - 12 CHAPTER 3 THE LOUD CRY TO COME IN A SURPRISING WAY

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Earnest messages came from the agent of the gift of Prophecy to the remnant church during the years preceding the fateful Minneapolis Genera]: Conference Session of 1888. There is no need to repeat here a resume of those messages, for they are adequately summarized in the little book, Christ Our Righteousness, by A. G. Daniells. Those inspired appeals pointedly called attention to the lukewarm, legalistic, Christ-less, unspiritual, and formalist

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conditions prevailing in the church. In spite of the prevailing declension of faith, the church and its leadership looked forward to the times of refreshing , when a change would take place. This long-expected advent of the latter rain and the loud cry was as much a cherished expectation among Seventh-day Adventists of seventy years ago, as the long-awaited coming of the Messiah was to the Jews of Christ s day. However, it seemed not to be recognized that the outpouring of the Spirit in the loud cry would be primarily light to lighten the earth with glory, and that the expected miraculous demonstrations of supernatural power would be consequent upon the acceptance by the church of that light. From our vantage point seventy years after, we may observe how apparently none of the responsible brethren of that day recognized the seriousness of Mrs. White s warning that they might disparage and spurn the loud cry when it should finally begin, because of their inability to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit. In 1882, Mrs. White wrote: The minds of many have been so darkened and confused by worldly customs, worldly practices, and worldly influences, that all power to discriminate between light and darkness, truth and error, seems destroyed. Many of you cannot discern the work and presence of God. . . . . . . self, important self, appears everywhere. . . . There are men among us in responsible positions who hold that . . . Such a faith as that of Paul, Peter, or John, is . . . old fashioned, and insufferable at the present day. It is pronounced absurd, mystical, and unworthy of an intelligent mind. (5 T 62, 74, 74, 79.) 1888 Re-Examined - 13 Mrs. White pointed out that a false optimism prevailed among the brethren ( I know that many think far too favorably of the present time ,) (5 T 80) and warned that in the mighty sifting soon to take place , leading workers would be found unfit for crisis-era leadership: Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent, will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. (S T 80) (12) As far back as l880, Mrs. White had looked forward to the time when the Lord would take things in His own hands, and raise up human instrumentalities whom He could trust with such responsibilities:

When we have men as devoted as Elijah, and. possessing the faith which he possessed, we shall see that God will reveal himself to us as He did to holy men of old. When we have men, who, while they acknowledge their deficiencies, will plead with God in earnest faith, as did Jacob, we shall see the same results.1 (4 T 402.) In a message addressed to the President of the General Conference, dated October 1, 1885, Mrs. White warns him that unless he and some others . . . are aroused to a sense of their duty, they will not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel shall be heard. When light goes forth to lighten the earth, instead of coming up to the help of the Lord, they will want to bind about His work to meet their narrow ideas. Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning . . . The workers will be surprised by the simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness. (T. M. 300.) Thus it was evident that the Lord would be forced to pass by experienced workers in the cause, to use younger or more obscure men for this work: The Lord often works where we least expect Him; He surprises us by revealing His power through instruments of His own choice, while He passes by the men to whom we have looked as those through whom light should come. . . . Many will reject the very messages God sends to His people, if these leading brethren do not accept them . . . Even if all our leading men should refuse light and truth, that door will still remain open. The Lord will raise up men who will give the people the message for this time. . . . Young men should search the Scriptures for themselves. They are not to feel that it is sufficient for those older in experience to find out the truth; that the younger ones can accept it from them as authority. (G. W. old edition, 126.) Again, in 1882, the church was informed: Elijah took Elisha from the plough, and threw upon him the mantle of consecration. The call to this great and solemn work was presented to men of 1888 Re-examined - 014 learning arid position; had these been little in their own eyes, and trusted fully in the Lord, He would have honored them with bearing His standard in triumph to the victory. . . But . . . the Lord rejected them.

God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit, than by the outward training of scientific institutions. (5 T 82.) It may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. (5 T 81.) The Divine Choice of Messengers It is significant that in that very year, 1882, a young man in the West began a course of training under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that prepared him to be the agent of a special work for God. An experience came to E. J. Waggoner of which he later wrote as follows: Christ is primarily the Word of God, the expression of God s thought; and the Scriptures are the Word of God simply because they reveal Christ. It was with this belief that I began my real study of the Bible, thirtyfour years ago (1882). At that time Christ was set forth before my eyes evidently crucified before me. I was sitting a little apart from the body of the congregation in the large tent at a camp meeting in Healdsburg, one gloomy Sabbath afternoon. I have no idea what was the subject of the discourse. Not a word nor a text have I ever known. All that has remained with me was what I saw. Suddenly a light shone round me, and the tent was, for me, far more brilliantly lighted than if the noon-day sun had been shining, and I saw Christ hanging on the cross, crucified for me. In that moment I had my first positive knowledge, which came like an overwhelming flood, that God loved me, and that Christ died for me. God and I were the only beings I was conscious of in the universe. I knew then, by actual sight, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself; I was the whole world with all its sin. I am sure that Paul s experience on the way to Damascus was no more real than mine . . . I resolved at once that I would study the Bible in the light of that revelation, in order that I might help others to see the same truth. I have always believed that every part of the Bible must set forth, with more .or less vividness, that glorious revelation (Christ crucified): ( The Last Confession of Faith, E. J. Waggoner, written shortly before his death, which occurred May 16, 1916.) In those same years preceding 1888, the Lord was preparing another human agent whose labours providentially were destined to join in the special work. The message of truth found A. T. Jones as a private in the U. S. Army. He was not a product of the schools, but studied night and day, amassing a great store of historical and Biblical knowledge. Best of all, he was a humble, earnest, deep-feeling man, who came to have a genuine and unusual experience in knowing the Lord. He was a man of keen intellect, but of warm, simple, child-like faith. (13)

In the days when he was used of God, he was a mighty power in preaching and 1888 Re-Examined - 015 in personal ministry. In the years immediately following the 1888 Session, there were numerous demonstrations of the Spirit of God in unusual miracle-working power which attended his preaching of the gospel. It is impossible to deny that the Spirit of God was preparing these two young men to be the agents in heralding to the remnant church that message which was to have been the beginning of the long-awaited loud cry : The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Jones and Waggoner. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world . . . God gave His messengers just what the people needed. (T.M. 91, 92.) For several years following the 1888 meeting, Mrs. White repeatedly referred in a special sense to Elders Jones and. Waggoner as the Lord s messengers . There were no others, save the prophet herself, who fully shared their burden. In 1890 she said: Suppose that you blot out the testimony that has been going during these last two years, proclaiming the righteousness of Christ, who can you point to as bringing out special light for the people? (R. & H., March 1., 1890.) In 1888 she said: God is presenting to the minds of men divinely appointed precious gems of truth, appropriate for our time. (Unpublished Minneapolis Sermons, 1888, quoted by N. F. Pease in Seminary Thesis, p. 60.) The message given us by A. T. Jones and E. J.Waggoner is the message of God to the Laodicean church. (E. G. W. Letter S-21-1892) Mrs. White, when she heard the teaching of E. J. Waggoner, perceived immediately its true significance as being a special revelation of light from God, for the church first, and ultimately for the world: At this meeting (Minneapolis, lP8R) I have heard for the first time Dr. Waggoner s reasons for his position.~ (MS. l~, 1888, p. 3.) When Brother Waggoner brought out these ideas at Minneapolis, it was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard, excepting the conversations between myself and my husband. (Sermon delivered

at Rome, N. Y., June 17, 1889. Ms. 5, l889, pp. 9, 10.) Loud Cry Not Recognized In the year 1892, Mrs. White clearly stated that the message which these two brethren presented at the Minneapolis Conference and immediately thereafter was the beginning of the long-awaited loud cry : 1888 Re-Examined - 016 The loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin..pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. (R.& H., Nov. 22, 1892.) The caviling, fault-finding, critical, and opposing attitude of the leading brethren tragically fulfilled the pointed warning sent to the President of the General Conference in l885, quoted above, as well as many other testimonies sent to workers and people in general. Indeed, the brethren did not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel was heard . When the light went forth to lighten the earth, instead of coming up to the help of the Lord, they tried to bind about His work to meet their narrow ideas : That light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth. I can never forget the experience which we had in Minneapolis, or the things which were then revealed to me in regard to the spirit that controlled men, the words spoken, the actions done in obedience to the powers of evil . . . They were moved at the meeting by another spirit, and they knew not that God had sent these young men to bear a special message to them which they treated with ridicule and contempt , not realizing that the heavenly intelligences were looking upon them. I know that at that time the Spirit of God was insulted.1 (TM 89; MS 24, l892.) Later, in consequence of the insult of that time, the prophet declared that: Injured and insulted Deity will speak, proclaiming the sins that have been hidden. (Spec. T., Series A, No. 7, p. 54.) Thus did modern Israel, fondly expecting to be vindicated before the world by a display of supernatural power in the long-expected loud cry , actually do despite to the Spirit of grace, and despise the riches of His goodness. (15)

The most responsible officer of the church was foremost in his opposition to the actual manifestation of the light which was to lighten the earth with its glory: I see no reason for the wrought up state of feeling that has been created at this meeting (Minneapolis, 1888). . . . The messages coming from your president at Battle Creek are calculated to stir you up to take a decided position; but I warn you against doing this. . . . Excited feelings will lead to rash moves. (MS l5, 1888, p. 3.) No one should feel at liberty to give loose rein to the combative spirit. There are some who have a desire to have a decision made at once as to what is the correct view in the point under discussion. As this would please Elder Butler, it is advised that this question should be settled 1888 Re-Examined - 17 at once. But are minds prepared for such a decision? I could not sanction this course. . .They are not prepared to make safe decisions. (Ibid., p. 2) In Elder Butler s opposition to the loud cry when it was beginning to sound, we may see the sad fulfillment of the inspired warning sent him on Oct. 1, 1885, that he might not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel shall be heard. (TM 300) This sad experience is more than history. It is a parable, written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. The lesson applies to all of us who bear responsibilities in modern Israel in this mid-twentieth century. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. So-called faults of messengers no excuse The sin committed at Minneapolis and thereafter was the sin of unbelief, for which no reason or excuse can be offered. The rejection of light by God s appointed trustees on earth is forever inexcusable. But the brethren who opposed the light of the loud cry thought their course was justifiable, because the agents whom the Lord employed seemed faulty. For our admonition, it would be well to note how the prophecy that the Lord would work in a way out of the ordinary was fulfilled in the manners and personalities of His chosen messengers for the time. The only reason which can possibly be given for the opposing attitude of responsible brethren is simply that the Lord surprised them by the way He worked: In the manifestation of the power that lightens the earth with its glory,

they will see only something which in their blindness they think dangerous, something which will arouse their fears and they will brace themselves against it. Because the Lord does not work according to their expectations and ideas, they will oppose the work. (R. & H , Nov. 7, 1918; Bible Training School, May, 1907.) Satan will so work upon the unconsecrated elements of the human mind that many will not accept the light in God s appointed way. (MS 1888, p. 5) Mrs. white challenged the brethren who were so surprised at the means which God employed, Can you tell in what way God is going to give us new truth? (Sermon, Oct. 24, 1888, Minneapolis.) Older, experienced brethren were piqued at the prospect of Mrs. White 1888 Re-Examined - 18 so decidedly supporting the two comparatively young and obscure men against practically the entire assembly of workers. If Sister White was right, it seemed that God had passed them by: Those whom God has sent with a message are only men, but what is the character of the message which they bear? Will you dare to turn from, or make light of, the warnings, because God did not consult you as to what would be preferred? (R. & H. December 27, 1890) God . . . gave you opportunity to come up armed and equipped to the help of the Lord . . . But did you make ready? . . . You sat still, and did nothing. You left the word of the Lord to fall unheeded to the ground; and now the Lord has taken men who were boys when you were standing at the forefront of the battle, and has given to them the message and the work which you did not take upon you . . . Will you criticize? Will you say, They are getting out of their place? Yet you did not fill the place they are now called to fill. (TM 413) Human nature being what it is when self is very much alive it would be inevitable that the brethren should seek for some pegs on which to hang their doubts. The fact that the Lord s chosen messengers were only men seemed to supply the need: Those whom God has sent with a message are only men. . . . Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticize the men. (R. & H., Dec. 27, l890) How long will you hate and despise the messengers of God s righteousness? (TM 96) (16)

In a recently published book (in an attempt to show that the opposition was justifiable ), the faults of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner are emphasized as follows: Not only was he (A. T. Jones) naturally abrupt, but he cultivated singularity of speech and manner . . . was at times obstreperous, and he gave just cause for resentment . . . . occasional crudities (forgivable). (A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner) shouting, Christ is all , . . . gave evidence that they were not wholly sanctified. (Incorrectly quotes Mrs. White as supporting idea that Jones and Waggoner contributed a contentious spirit to the terrible experience at the Minneapolis Conference ). They bore almost exclusively upon faith as the factor in salvation . . . (were) not disposed to consider the other side calmly . . . Were not wholly without fault in conceit and arrogance . . . Failed to show the humility and love which righteousness by faith imparts . . . Extreme teaching of Jones and Waggoner is observable still in the mystical pronouncements of those who make faith all and works nothing. . . . imperfect channels. . . . As we look back on the controversy we perceive that it was the rancors aroused by personalities, much more than the differences in beliefs, which caused the difficulty. (A. W. Spalding, Captains of the Host, pp. 591-602.) 1888 Re-Examined - 19 This is a confused analysis of the position and spirit of the men whom inspiration designated as the Lord s messengers . While the men whom the Lord chose were indeed only men , it is difficult to understand why the Lord who abhors a self-righteous, contentious spirit should choose for a very special work men who were notably imperfect channels , unsanctified (in comparison with others), extreme , proud and harsh, conceited and arrogant, abrupt, obstreperous , arousing resentment and rancors , crude and mystical . While it is true that Mrs. White rebuked A. T. Jones for being too sharp on Uriah Smith in the controversy on the ten horns, and did not wholly support E. J. Waggoner s views on the two laws, she nevertheless unequivocally defended the two brethren as being Christians and gentlemen , while more than hinting that their opposing brethren did not evidence such heavenly credentials. It is to be feared that some modern writers are looking back upon the message and temperament of both Jones and Waggoner during the period from 1888-1892 through the colored or smoked glasses of their subsequent apostasy, forgetting Mrs. White s clear instruction that their later defection from the faith in no way affected the validity of their message at Minneapolis, or the fact that they were then the Lord s delegated messengers. Such an appraisal of their position from 1888-1892 is virtually identical with the caviling criticisms of their

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contemporary opponents, and justifies the spurning of the light which then came from heaven. That Mrs. White regarded Jones and Waggoner as showing a Christian spirit during and immediately after the Minneapolis conference is shown by the following quotations: Doctor Waggoner has spoken to us in a straight forward manner . . Of one thing I am certain, as Christians you have no right to entertain feelings of enmity, unkindness, and prejudice toward Dr. Waggoner, who has presented his view in a plain, straight forward manner, as a Christian should. I believe him to be perfectly honest in his views, and I would respect his feelings and trust him as a Christian gentleman. I have no reason to think that he is not as much esteemed of God as any of my brethren, and I shall regard him as a Christian brother, so long as there is no evidence that he is unworthy. The fact that he honestly holds some views of Scripture differing from yours and mine, is no reason we should treat him as an offender, as a dangerous man, and make him the subject of unjust criticism. (Ms l5, 1888, pp. 2, 3.) 1888 Re-Examined - 20 A worker who came to the Minneapolis meeting with prejudiced mind has left on record his impressions of the spirit which E. J. Waggoner showed: Being decidedly prejudiced in favor of Elder _______, and against E. J. Waggoner, I went to that meeting (Minneapolis) with a prejudiced mind . . . With pencil and notebook in hand I listened for heresy and was ready to see flaws and find fault with whatever was presented. As Elder Waggoner started in, it seemed very different from what I was looking for. By the close of his second lesson I was ready to concede that he was going to be fair and his manner did not show any spirit of controversy, nor did he even mention any opposition that he was anticipating. Very soon his manner, and the pure gospel that he was setting forth materially changed my mind and attitude, and I was an earnest listener for Truth . . . At the close of Elder Waggoner s fourth or fifth lesson I was a subdued, repenting sinner . . . . . . . After Elder Waggoner had finished his eleven studies, the influence of which had in quite a measure taken out of a good many the debating spirit. (C. McReynolds, Experiences While at the General Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1888. E. G. White Estate, D File, 189.) Mrs. White even defended the bold teaching and apparently iconoclastic spirit of Jones and Waggoner:

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There are many today who feel indignant and aggrieved that any voice should be raised presenting ideas that differ from their own in regard to points of religious belief . . . But we see that the God of heaven sometimes commissions men to teach that which is regarded as contrary to the established doctrines . . . The Lord chose others who would . . . advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders. (TM 69, 70) Men will go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way for the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. it is their work to make crooked things straight. Some things must be torn down; some things must be built up. (MS 15, 1888, p. 9.) Let no soul complain of the servants of God who have come to them with a heaven sent message. Do not any longer pick flaws in them, saying, They are too positive; they talk too strongly. They may talk strongly; but is it not needed? God will make the ears of the hearers tingle if they will not heed His voice or His message. . . Ministers, do not dishonor your God and grieve His Holy Spirit, by casting reflections on the ways and manners of the men He would choose. God knows the character. He sees the temperament of the men He has chosen. He knows that none but earnest, firm, determined, strong-feeling men will view this work in its vital importance, and will put such firmness and decision into their testimonies that they will make a break against the barriers of Satan. (TM 410, 412, 413.) With obvious reference to the crude , unpolished and unlettered A. T. Jones, a towering, angular man, with a loping gait and uncouth posturings and gestures, (Spalding, op. cit., p. 591) Mrs. White wrote: There are Christian workers who have not received a collegiate education because it was impossible for them to secure this advantage; but God has given evidence that he has chosen them . . . He has made them effectual 1888 Re-Examined - 21 co-workers with Himself. They have a teachable spirit; they feel their dependence upon God, and the Holy Spirit is with them to help their infirrnities. . . There is heard in hi~s voice the echo of the voice of Christ. It is evident that he walks with God; that he has been with Jesus and learned of Him. He has brought the truth into the inner sanctuary of the soul; it is to him a living reality, and he presents the truth in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The people hear the joyful sound. God speaks to their hearts through the man consecrated to His service. . . He becomes really eloquent. He is earnest and sincere, and is beloved by those for whom he labors.

What a sin would rest upon any one who should listen to such a man merely to criticize, to notice bad grammar, or incorrect pronunciation, and hold these errors up to ridicule. The Pharisees scoffed at Christ; they criticized the simplicity of His language, which was so plain that the child, the aged, the common people heard Him gladly, and were charmed by His words. . . The speaker who has not a thorough education may. sometimes fall into errors of grammar or pronunciation; he may not employ the most eloquent expressions or the most beautiful imagery, but if he has himself eaten of the Bread of Life; if he has drunk of the Fountain of Life, he can feed the hungry souls; he can give of the Water of Life to him that is athirst. His defects will be forgiven and forgotten. His hearers will not become weary or disgusted, but will thank God for the message of grace sent them through His servant. They (opponents) can hold the objectionable atom under the magnifying glasses of their imagination until the atom looks like a world, and shuts out from their view the precious light of heaven . . Why take so much account of that which may appear to you as objectionable in the messenger, and sweep away all the evidences that God has given to balance the mind in regard to truth? ( Christian Education, 1893, quoted in F. E. 242, 243; and R. & H. April 18, 1893.) Mrs. White herself, with all her respected experience and age, and conscious of her exalted position as special messenger of the Lord, felt it to be an honor to support the work of Brethren Jones and Waggoner during that period: I have traveled from place to place, attending meetings where the message of the righteousness of Christ was preached. I considered it a privilege to stand by the side of my brethren, and give my testimony with the message for the time. (R. & H., March 18, 1890.) The true reason why the message was rejected As we to-day re-read the gracious, warm, appealing messages sent to the brethren for some years following the 1888 Conference urging them to accept the message of Christ s righteousness, we cannot understand reading on the surface why there could be any failure to do so. We have therefore made the mistake of assuming that the brethren did indeed come to accept wholeheartedly that wonderful message. We must not overlook the fact that there was constantly on the part of 1888 Re-Examined - 22 convicted readers of Mrs. White s appeals the consciousness that the acceptance

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of the message of l888-90 as being specially of God, would require the acceptance also of the living messengers who brought it as being men specially chosen of God. How could the brethren accept the message God should send, and continue to hate and despise the messengers whom He should employ? But the fact that the messengers were only men , were very positive and bold, and were, unfortunately for the prestige and peace of the brethren, right, made the Lord s chosen agencies of deliverance to the brethren, because of their unbelief, objects of stumbling, and stones of offence. That which the Lord intended as a savor of life unto life, became a savor of death unto death. What God ordained to the vindication of the brethren, they twisted to be the means of their condemnation. So far as the purpose of the special message was concerned the bringing about of the finishing of the work that which God sent to save they seized upon for their ruin: That light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth . . . I know not but some have now even gone too far to return and to repent. Many have entered into dark, secret paths, and some will never return. They will continue to stumble to their ruin. They have tempted God, they have rejected light. (TM 89, 90.) Self was the ultimate reason for their refusal to humble their hearts and to accept the gracious message in God s appointed way. It was too much humiliation to accept the ministry of Jones and Waggoner: the implications were that God was displeased with the spiritual condition of the responsible brethren who were the proper channels for any special light from heaven: Even Seventh-day Adventists are in danger . . . Let all be very modest and seek most earnestly to put self out of the question, and to exalt Jesus. In most of the religious controversies the foundation of the trouble is that self is striving for the supremacy. (TM 70, 71.) If the rays of light which shone at Minneapolis were permitted to exert their convincing power upon those who took their stand against light, if all had yielded their ways, and submitted their wills to the Spirit of God at that time, they would have received the richest blessings, disappointed the enemy, and stood as faithful men, true to their convictions. They would have had a rich experience; but self said, No. Self was not willing to be bruised; self struggled for the mastery, and every one of those souls will be tested again on the points where they failed then. . . . Self and passion developed hateful characteristics. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, O.. 19, d 92, Sept. 1, 1892.) 1888 Re-Examined - 23 Satan takes control of every mind that is not decidedly under the control

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of the Spirit of God. Some have been cultivating hatred against the men whom God has commissioned to bear a special message to the world. They began this satanic work at Minneapolis. Afterward, when they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit testifying that the message of God (was), they hated it the more, because it was a testimony against them. (TM 79, 80.) They heard not, neither would they understand. Why? Lest they should be converted and have to acknowledge that all their ideas were not correct. This they were too proud to do, and therefore persisted in rejecting God s counsel and the light and evidence which had been given. . . . This is the ground which some of our leading brethren are travelling over now. (MS 25, 1890.) The Holy Spirit will, from time to time, reveal the truth through its own agencies; and no man, not even a priest or a ruler, has a right to say, You shall not give publicity to your opinions, because I do not believe them. That wonderful I may attempt to put down the Holy Spirit s teaching. (TM 70.) Is it not time, in this serious hour when we are half-way through the twentieth century, a century God s original plan never intended should be added to the sad annals of time, save for the unbelief of Israel, that we recognize that the trouble at Minneapolis was simply that wonderful I ? And, further, that until we shall learn the only truly effectual way of dealing with that wonderful I , the self, we shall remain spiritually imprisoned by the bonds of our pitiable selfishness at Minneapolis? We may think we have no self-righteousness. We do well to ponder the parable of the 1888 meeting and its aftermath. Speaking of the conditions of that time, Mrs. White said: When the Holy Spirit works the human agent, it does not ask us in what way it shall operate. Often it moves in unexpected ways. Christ did not come as the Jews expected. He did not come in a manner to glorify them as a nation. . . The Jews refused to receive Christ because He did not come in accordance with their expectations . . . This is the danger to which the church is now exposed that the inventions of men shall mark out the precise way for the Holy Spirit to come. Though they would not care to acknowledge it, some have already done this. And because the Spirit is to come, not to praise men or to build up their erroneous theories, but to reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, many turn away from it. They are not willing to be deprived of the garments of their own self-righteousness. They are not willing to exchange their own righteousness, which is unrighteousness, for the righteousness of Christ, which is pure unadulterated truth . . . When it shall come as

a reprover, through any human agent whom God shall choose, it is man s place to hear and obey its voice. (TM 64, 65 ) 1888 Re-Examined - 24 CHAPTER 4 WAS THE MESSAGE OF 1888 ACCEPTED? Contradictory views Statements are being published to-day under responsible auspices that the message of 1888 was joyfully and enthusiastically received by the church, and that the General Conference Session of that year marked a great victory in the advance of this movement. There are statements in other books also published by the denomination which as emphatically say that the message of 1888 has never to this day been properly (and therefore truly) received by the leadership of the movement. Such contradictory confusion regarding a most important matter is very unfortunate, especially when in print. The result of publishing such conflicting views is to encourage perplexity and confusion in the minds of workers and believers. A dark cloud of apparently inscrutable mystery enshrouds the Minneapolis history in the minds of most of our ministers to-day. What is it all about? What really happened? are questions frequently asked when the subject becomes a topic of conversation between workers. Even elderly ministers who passed through that epochal period of our history wonder what the controversy really was. No loyal minister of this denomination will admit to-day that the doctrine of justification by faith was ever denied officially by the denomination, and surely is not to-day. Why, then, the perennial interest in the history of l888? Has God so ordained our Seventh-day Adventist human nature that we as a people can never forget that strange part of our history, and seek to understand it better? The subject holds all the thrilling interest of an unsolved mystery. Younger workers especially, as we near the end, will insist on knowing the facts. It is the deep-seated conviction of many that that phase of our history constitutes to this generation a parable of profound importance. A former president of the General Conference recognized that any designing equivocation in dealing with the subject could only add to the present mystery. It would be far more agreeable to eliminate some of the statements given by the Spirit of prophecy regarding the attitude of some of the leaders toward the message and the messengers. But this cannot be done without giving one 1888 Re-Examined - 25 (21)

a partial presentation of the situation which developed at the (Minneapolis) conference, thus leaving the question in more or less of mystery. (A. G. Daniells, Christ Our Righteousness, p. 43.) After these many years, that mystery still prevails. Some say that the Minneapolis Conference was a time of defeat; others insist that it was a time of victory. Some say we lost our way at Minneapolis; the other school maintain that we found our way there. Some say that we have been wandering in a wilderness since 1888; others, that we have been marching triumphantly to victory ever since. No genius has arisen as yet who has been able to reconcile successfully the two conflicting views into a believable synthesis, the reason being that Seventh-day Adventist minds being trained to accept and believe logical truth, they find it difficult to believe self-contradictory views. A few examples of the view that the 1888 message was accepted follow. The first is taken from one of the reports rendered at the recent General Conference Session: As an illustration of God s watchcare over His remnant church and how, through the prophetic gift, He corrects our thinking and leads us to (plains of) higher achievement, I refer to the session of the General Conference in 1888, held at Minneapolis, Minnesota. This conference really marked a crisis in the history of this church, involving the great truth of salvation through faith in Christ alone. It proved to be the beginning of a re-emphasis of this glorious truth, which resulted in a spiritual awakening among our people. (M. E. Kern, R. & H., Aug. 3, 1950, p. 294.) This re-emphasis view of the effects of the 1888 message is also presented in some mimeographed lessons used in the Theological Seminary: As a body of workers, we are familiar with the crisis on this matter which occurred in 1888 at the General Conference in Minneapolis. The two outstanding instruments were young men from the West Waggoner and Jones. Mrs. White approved and supported their work, and a denomination-wide revival among Seventh-day Adventists was seen . . . In the early 1920 s Elder A. G Daniells, former president of the General Conference, with several associates, revived the revival of the 90 s . . . Perhaps the clearest picture of the movement is given by L. H. Christian in his book Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts. (G. E. Vandeman, Mimeographed lessons, Pastoral Counseling, Winter Term, 1949-50, S. D. A. Theological Seminary.) Very clear statements of this re-emphasis view are presented in the book referred to above:

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The General Conference at Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1888 is a notable landmark in Seventh-day Adventist history. It was really like crossing a continental divide into a new country. Some smiters of the brethren calling 1888 Re-Examined - 26 themselves reformers have tried to make out that the session was, a defeat; whereas, the truth is that it stands out as a glorious victory and the occasion and the beginnings of larger and better things for the advent church . . . We all need to know what happened at Minneapolis. . . (a session of) deep and solemn spiritual tone and revival. The Minneapolis session stands out like some towering mountain above all the other conference sessions of this advent movement. . . It introduced a new period in our work a time of revival and soulsaving. . . In every conference and in many churches and, above all, among the young people of this denomination those days were a time of happy spiritual experience. . . (The Minneapolis session was a stormy one, but the final outcome was good.) Some have spoken of the Minneapolis conference as though it ended in apostasy. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Lord gave His people a marvelous victory. It was the beginning of a great spiritual awakening among Adventists. (It) became the dawn of a glorious day for the Adventist church. The blessed consequences of the great awakening at and after the twentyseventh session of the General Conference are with us yet. That great spiritual revival led our people . . . nearer to God . . . rallied our people everywhere to greater things for God. Thus the aftereffect of the great Minneapolis revival was the beginning of another era for the advent movement. This blessed period of revival beginning in 1888, . . . rich in both holiness and mission fruitage. (L. H. Christian, Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, pp. 219, 223, 224, 233, 237, 244, 245.) Another recent history of the Advent movement likewise follows the r e-emphasis view: The greatest event of the eighties in the experience of Seventh-day Adventists was the recovery, or the restatement and new consciousness, of their faith in the basic doctrine of Christianity (justification by faith) ... It became an inspiring message which rescued the church from the danger of legalism, and opened minds to the sublime reaches of the gospel. The last decade of the century saw the church developing, through this gospel, into a company prepared to fulfill the mission of God . . . The church was aroused by the revival message of justification by faith. (A. W. Spalding, Captains of the Host, pp. 583, 602.)

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According to one of the above quotations, any one seeking to revive the revival of the 90 s , and by so doing, counting the 1888 history a defeat , would be a smiter of the brethren . A. G. Daniells led out in the 1920 s in a work which at the time was almost universally acknowledged to be a revival and reformation . He has left on record the following appraisal of the reception of the 1888 message: How sad, how deeply regrettable, it is that this message of righteousness in Christ should, at the time of its coming, have met with opposition on the part of earnest, well-meaning men in the cause of God! The message has never been received, nor proclaimed, nor given free course as it should have been in order to convey to the church the measureless blessings that were wrapped within it. . .The division and conflict which arose among the leaders because of the opposition to the message of righteousness in Christ, pro1888 Re-Examined - 27 duced a very unfavorable reaction. The rank and file of the people were confused, and did not know what to do. . . Back of the opposition is revealed the shrewd plotting of that master mind of evil, the enemy of all righteousness. The very fact of his determination to neutralize the message and its inevitable effects, is evidence of its great value and importance; and how terrible must be the results of any victory of his in defeating it! (A. G. Daniels, Christ Our Righteousness, pp. 47, 50, 53, 54. Emphasis supplied.) Throughout his little book Christ Our Righteousness, A. G. Daniells emphasizes the thought that there was not a denomination-wide revival and recovery of this lost doctrine of Christ s righteousness. He considered the revival to be yet future: Through the intervening years (since 1888) there has been steadily developing the desire and hope yes, the belief that someday the message of Righteousness by Faith would shine forth in all its inherent glory, worth, and power, and receive full recognition. (Ibid., p. 43.) The mighty revival which other authorities speak of so assuringly as having taken place, Elder Daniells placed in the category of a what might have been : What a mighty revival of true godliness, what a restoration of spiritual life, what a cleansing from sin, what a baptism of the Spirit, and what a manifestation of divine power for the finishing of the work in our own lives and in the world, might have come to the people of God if all our ministers had gone forth from that Conference as did this loyal, obedient

servant of the Lord (Ellen G. White)! (Ibid., p. 47.) Before closing this section on contradictory published views concerning the 1888 message and its reception, in order to consider factual statements of the Spirit of Prophecy, A. T. Jones idea of how the message was received should be carefully considered. He was the Lord s chosen messenger at the time, and it is doubtful if any of us living to-day could have endured the test and trial any better than he did. While no one can accord to his words the authority of inspiration in the sense of a prophetic gift, his opinion as expressed early in 1893 is worthy of serious consideration: When it (the message) was presented four years ago, and all along since, some accepted it just as it was given, and were glad of the news. . . They received it gladly just as God gave it, and heartily thanked the Lord for it. Others would not have anything to do with it at all; but rejected the whole thing. Others seemed to take a middle position. They did not fully accept it, neither did they openly reject it. They thought to take a middle position, and go along with the crowd if the crowd went that way . . . And, so, all the way between open and free deliberate surrender and acceptance of it, to open deliberate surrender and positive rejection of it all the way between the compromisers have been scattered ever since; and those who have taken that compromising position are no 1888 Re-Examined - 28 better prepared to-night (1893) to discern what is the message or the righteousness of Christ than they were four years ago. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., 1893, p. 242.) Many years later A. T. Jones wrote a letter which apparently presented a somewhat different appraisal of the spirit which prevailed at Minneapolis: (I) can t now name anyone who accepted the truth at that 1888 meeting openly (besides Ellen G. White, of course). But later many said they were greatly helped by it. One Battle Creek man said at that meeting after one of Dr. Waggoner s meetings: Now we could say amen to all of that if that is all there were to it. But away down yonder there is still something (else) to come. And this is to lead us to that. . And if we say amen to this we will have to say amen to that, and then we are caught . . . There was no such thing, and so they robbed themselves of what their own hearts told them was the truth; and by fighting what they only imagined, they fastened themselves in opposition to what they knew that they should have said amen to. (A. T. Jones letter to C. E. Holmes, May 12, 1921.) The apparent discrepancy between the previously quoted admission of some who accepted the message gladly, and the above statement that he could not then remember anyone who accepted it openly, can possibly be reconciled (24)

by considering the following quotation from A. T. Jones, 1893: Others would favor it, but when the spirit of persecution* was strong, instead of standing nobly in the fear of God, and declaring in the face of the attack, it is the truth of God, and I believe it in my soul , they would begin to yield and in an apologetic way offer excuses for those who were preaching it, as though it were a matter only of men s persons, to be held in advantage because of admiration. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., 1893, p. 145.) A. T. Jones has also left on record his opinion of the extent of the world-wide denominational revival which followed the 1888 meeting. The following paragraph from the A T. Jones letter is quoted in a Theological Seminary thesis written in support of the re-emphasis and revival view of the 1888 results: Then when camp-meeting time came we all three (A. T. Jones, E. J. Waggoner, and E. G. White) visited the camp-meetings with the message of righteousness by faith . . . sometimes all three of us being at the same meeting. This turned the tide with the people, and apparently with most of the leading men. (N. F. Pease, S. D. A Theological Seminary Thesis.) The next sentence from the letter was not included in the thesis quotation: But this latter was only apparent, it was never real, for all the time in the General Conference Committee and amongst others there was a secret antagonism always carried on; and which . . . finally gained the day in the denomination, and gave to the Minneapolis spirit and contention and men the supremacy. 1888 Re-Examined - 29 Spirit of Prophecy Statements Candidly investigated, the writings of Ellen G. White do not blow hot and cold on this issue of the reception of the 1888 message, supporting both sides of two wholly contradictory views. While the quotations from A. T. Jones are fresh in the reader s mind, the following statements from Mrs. White should be considered, as throwing light on his statements. His statement about the tide being turned only apparently is substantiated as follows: For nearly two years, we have been urging the people to come up and accept the light and the truth concerning the righteousness of Christ, and they do not know whether to come and take hold of this precious truth or not. They are bound about with their own ideas. They do not let the Saviour in. (Loc. cit.)

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In the next week s issue of the Review and Herald, Mrs. White stated the reason why the people were so reticent and perplexed: Our young men look to our older brethren, and as they see that they do not accept the message, but treat it as though it were of no consequence, it influences those who are ignorant of the Scriptures to reject the light. These men who refuse to receive truth, interpose themselves between the people and the light. (R. & H., Mar. 18, 1890.) Mrs. White also had difficulty finding one to take a decided stand at and soon after the Minneapolis meeting: Again and again did I bear my testimony to those assembled in a clear and forcible manner, but that testimony was not received. When I came to Battle Creek, I repeated the same testimony in the presence of Elder Butler, but there was not one who had the courage to stand on my side and help Elder Butler to see that he, as well as others, had taken wrong positions . . . The prejudice of Elder Butler was greater after hearing the various reports from our ministering brethren at that meeting in Minneapolis. (Washington, D. C., January 2S, 1889, U-3-1889, Ellen G. White.) The men who interposed themselves between the people and the light were very responsible men, and were thus false guideposts, pointing the wrong way (TM 97). They began this satanic work at Minneapolis . . . Yet these men have been holding (1895) positions of trust, and have been molding the work after their own similitude, as far as they possibly can . . . . . . blind leaders of the blind. (TM 80, 81.) A brief resum of clear Spirit of Prophecy statements made at different 1888 Re-Examined - 30 times from 1888 to 1900 should make it evident that the 1888 message was not (26) received by the leadership of this movement, and consequently not by the laity; and that the revival which followed the Minneapolis Conference was more of a laboratory test-tube proof of the truth of the message rather than a denomination-wide application of the full message of 1888 to our spiritual needs: In Minneapolis God gave precious gems of truth to His people in new settings. This light from heaven by some was rejected with all the stubbornness the Jews manifested in rejecting Christ. The work for this time has certainly been a surprising work of various hindrances, owing to the false settings of matters before the minds of

maw of our people. That which is food to the churches is regarded as dangerous, and should not be given them . . . While in this condition of things, building up barriers, we not only deprive ourselves of great light and precious advantages, but just now, when we so much need it, we place ourselves where light cannot be communicated from heaven that we ought to communicate to others. (MS 13, 1889.) During the Minneapolis meeting, I passed through a painful experience, because of the attitude of our ministering brethren, which I knew was not in harmony with the Spirit of God . . . I wish prosperity to my brethren, every one of them; but I tremble for their souls when I see them following their own wisdom and their own judgment, and receiving impressions one from another that is wrong, which I know will lead them into difficulties and separate them from God. (Letter U-23-1889, Feb. 8, 1689.) Because of their blindness, they have lost an experience that would have been more precious to them than silver and gold.. Some, I fear, will never recover that which they have lost. (Battle Creek, Feb. 27, 1891; MS 6, 1903, Mar. 13, 1903.) Since the time of the Minneapolis meeting, I have seen the state of the Laodicean church as never before. I have heard the rebuke of God spoken to those who feel so well satisfied, who know not their spiritual destitution . . . Like the Jews, many have closed their eyes lest they should see; but there is as great peril now, in closing the eyes to light, and walking apart from Christ, feeling need of nothing, as there was when He was upon earth. I have been shown many things which I have presented before our people in solemnity and earnestness, but those whose hearts have been hardened through criticism, jealousy, and evil surmisings, knew not that they were poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked . . . This great spiritual destitution is not caused by any failure on the part of Christ doing all that is possible for the church. (R. & H., Aug. 26, 1890.) Indeed, this is not a pleasant phase of our history to investigate, It would be far more agreeable to eliminate some of the statements given by the Spirit of Prophecy regarding the attitude of some of the leaders toward the message and the messengers. But this cannot be done without giving only a partial presentation of the situation, . . . thus leaving the question in more or less of mystery. (A. G. Daniells, op. cit., p. 43.) The less mystery 1888 Re-examined - 31 the better in this late and perilous hour when God expects and will require righteous judgment. Therefore the following citations, as brief as possible, but verbatim, are presented from Testimonies to Ministers, as found in a chapter

Rejecting the Light , written in 1895 concerning the reception of the message of 1888: Many . . . treat it with disdain. You have turned your back, and not your face, to the Lord. That light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised. Beware how you . . . pour contempt upon the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. I know not but some have even now gone too far to return and to repent. These great and solemn realities are unappreciated and spoken against. Men . . . stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of the scornful. Many have entered dark, secret paths, and some will never return. They have tempted God, they have rejected light. They have chosen darkness rather than light, and have defiled their souls. They have not only refused to accept the message, but they have hated the light. These men are parties to the ruin of souls. They have interposed themselves between the heaven-sent light and the people. They have trampled upon the word of God, and are doing despite to His Holy Spirit. Have stood for years resisting light and cherishing the spirit of opposition. How long will you hate and despise the messengers of God s righteousness? They have taunted them (the messengers) with being fanatics, extremists, and enthusiasts. You will, when it is too late, see that you have been fighting against God. Your turning things upside down is known of the Lord. Go on a little longer as you have done, in rejection of the light from heaven, and you are lost. So long as false guideposts, pointing the wrong way. If you reject Christ s delegated messengers, you reject Christ. Despise this glorious offer of justification through the blood of Christ., I entreat you . . . cease your stubborn resistance of light and evidence. (TM 89-98; 1895.) This was the notable landmark in Seventh-day Adventist history, the crossing of a continental divide into new country, the glorious victory and the occasion and the beginnings of larger and better things for the advent church , the time of revival and soul-saving , the time of happy spiritual experience , the beginning of a great spiritual awakening among Adventists , a denomination-wide revival ! Ellen G. White wrote better than she knew in 1895: Your turning things upside down is known of the Lord . The statements quoted above were written seven years after the Conference, when there had been ample opportunity for repentance, confessions, and a hearty participation in a denomination-wide revival . It should not be necessary to examine other statements made previously, but a few are herewith quoted which give a more complete picture: In 1890, Mrs. White said: 1888 Re-examined - 32

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Instead of pressing your weight against the chariot of truth that is being pulled up an inclined road, you should work with all the energy you can to push it on. Our older brethren . . . do not accept the message, but treat it as though it were of no consequence. (R. & H., Mar. 18, 1890.) I cannot express to you my burden and distress of mind as the true condition of the cause has been presented before me . . . It was shown to me that on the part of the ministers in all our conferences, there is a neglect to study the Scriptures, to search for the truth . . . Faith and love, how destitute are the churches of these! . . . Bible religion is very scarce, even among our ministers . . . The standard of the ministry has been greatly lowered. . . . There is a sad neglect of reading the Bible and searching it with humble hearts for yourselves . . . . Coldness, heartlessness, want of tender sympathy, are leavening the camp of Israel. If these evils are permitted to strengthen as they have done for some years in the past, our churches will be in a deplorable condition! (TM 142-156.) There follow a few quotations regarding the progress of the great spiritual revival which led our people nearer to God, as it appeared to Mrs. White in1892: The atmosphere of the church is so frigid, its spirit is of such an order, that men and women cannot sustain or endure the example of primitive and heaven-born piety. The warmth of their first love is frozen up, and unless they are watered over by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, their candlestick will be removed out of its place. Cannot some renovating power take hold of them? Have they fallen a prey to a moral disease which is incurable because they themselves refuse to be cured? (TM 167, 168, 161.) There were always some whose hearts were in tune with God, and who enjoyed a constant, day-by-day revival. There have always been such, in all ages of the history of the church. But in 1893, they were greatly in the minority ~n the remnant church: O how few know the day of their visitation! . . . We are convinced that among the people of God there is blindness of mind and hardness of heart, (28)

although God has manifested inexpressible mercy toward us . . . Today there are few who are heartily serving God. The most of those who compose our congregations are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. . . The sweetest melodies that come from God through human lips justification by faith, and the righteousness of Christ do not bring forth from them a response of love and gratitude . . . They steel their hearts against Him (the Heavenly Merchantman) . . . If they continue in this state God will reject them with abhorrence . . . Awake, awake, before it is everlastingly too late! (R. & H. April 4, 1893.) 1888 Re-examined - 33 The blessed consequences of the great awakening of 1888 were not apparent to one of the ministers who, according to his confession, had spurned the light at Minneapolis, and later repented. In his third study on the Holy Spirit , presented at the 1893 General Conference session, W. W, Prescott recounted how God had been sending reproof, and waiting. He said, It is a wonder to me, that instead of impatiently waiting, N0 does not sweep us out of His sight, and take a people that will be ready to cooperate with Him . (W. W. Prescott, G. C. B., 1893, p. l05.) Conditions had evidently not improved by 1895: Because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold. There are many who have outgrown their advent faith, . . . while saying in their hearts, as they desire it shall be, My Lord delayeth His coming. . . . Warnings have come from God again and again for these men, but they have cast them aside and ventured on in the same course. . . If God spares their lives, and they nourish the same spirit that marked their course of action both before and after the Minneapolis meeting, they will fill up to the full the deeds of those whom Christ condemned when He was upon earth. There had been no change by 1896: That men should keep alive the spirit which ran riot at Minneapolis is an offense to God. All heaven is indignant at the spirit that for years has been revealed in our publishing institution Vat Battle Creek . . . A voice has been heard pointing out the errors and, in the name of the Lord, pleading for a decided change. But who have followed the instruction given? Who have humbled their hearts to put from them every vestige of their (29) wicked, oppressive spirit? I have been greatly burdened to set these matters before the people as they are. I know they will see them. I know that those who read this matter will be convicted. (Testimony

addressed to the Battle Creek Church). (TM 76, 77.) The revival had not succeeded in capturing the hearts of the leaders by 1897: God gives men counsel and reproof for their good. He has sent His message, telling them what was needed for the time 1897. . . . He gave you opportunity to come up armed and equipped to the help of the Lord. And having done all, He told you to stand. But did you make ready? Did you say, Here am I; send me ? You sat still, and did nothing. You left the word of the Lord to fall unheeded to the ground . . . O, why will men be hindrances, when they might be helps? Why will they block the wheels, when they might push with marked success? Why will they rob their own soul of good, and deprive others of blessing that might come through them? These rejecters of light will remain barren deserts. (TM 413.) 1888 Re-examined - 34 The revival meetings which followed 1888 There are numerous references in the writings of Mrs. White from 18881890 regarding the revival meetings which she held in company with A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner. A. T. Jones said that those meetings turned the tide with the people. It must be pointed out, however, that there never was an issue or tide to be turned with the people; the issue or the tide was entirely with the leaders and the ministry of the movement. The people would gladly have accepted the light had the leaders permitted it to come to them undistorted and unopposed, or rather, had the leaders joined heartily in presenting it. There were many among the younger ministers, even, who were keenly interested in the message presented. They investigated their Bibles, and the message was doubtless a common topic of conversation. But the continually noncommittal attitude, or outright opposition, originating with responsible leaders in Battle Creek and elsewhere, quenched the movement. At Minneapolis, Mrs. White earnestly appealed to the delegates not to look to the older, experienced men to see what they would do with the light. But they evidently failed to follow her counsel. She warned them that the ministry would prevent the light reaching the people: I entreat you to make God your trust; idolize no man, depend upon no man. Let not your love of men hold them in places of trust that they are unqualified to fill . . . You need greater light, you need a clearer understanding of the truth which you carry to the people. If you do not see (the) light yourselves, you will

close the door, if you can, you will prevent the rays of light from coming to the people. Let it not be said of this highly fav6red people, They would not enter in themselves, and those who were entering in they hindered. All these lessons are given for the benefit of those upon whom the ends of the world are come . . . No one must be permitted to close the avenue whereby the light of truth shall come to the people. As soon as this shall be attempted, God s Spirit will be quenched. (Sermon at Minneapolis Conference, MS 15, 1888.) Now our meeting is drawing to a close and not one confession has been made, (30) there has not been a single break so as to let the Spirit of God in. Now I was saying what was the use of our assembling here together and for our ministering brethren to come in if they are here only to shut out the Spirit of God from the people? (Ibid., Oct. 24, 1888; MS 9, 1888.) One writer admits that it was Mrs. White s support alone which was responsible for the message being carried to the people after 1888: She championed the cause of reform, and it was chiefly this support, indeed, which won for it the hearts of the people. (A. W. Spalding, op. cit., p. 597.) 1888 Re-examined - 35 Mrs. White determined not to wait for any of the responsible brethren to encourage the preaching of the message: Some of our leading brethren have frequently taken positions on the wrong side, and if God would send a message and wait for these older brethren to open the way for its advance, it would never reach the people . . . The rebuke of the Lord will be upon those who would be guardians of~ the doctrine, who would bar the way that greater light shall not come to the people . . . Let no one run the risk of interposing himself between the people and the message of heaven. The message of God will come to the people; and if there were no voice among men to give it, the very stones would cry out . . . It is the coldness of heart, the unbelief, of those who ought to have faith, that keeps the churches in feebleness. (R. & H. July 26, 1892.) The very men who ought to be on the alert to see what the people of God need that the way of the Lord may be prepared, are intercepting the light God would have come to His people and rejecting the message of His healing grace. (Letter of E. G. White to Miller Brothers, July 23, 1889.)

This context of the glowing reports of the revivals must be borne in mind. Both A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner were very unpopular with the responsible brethren at the time. By championing their message, Mrs. white drew upon herself the criticism and virtual persecution of the leading brethren also (as will be shown in a later chapter). The leading brethren manifested no more sympathy with the message of righteousness by. faith than they did for the messengers. Therefore, human nature being what it is when it is on the wrong side, it was only natural that opposing brethren should expect, and very likely hope, that the unwelcome message should take no better with the common people than it did with the elders and authorities at Minneapolis. But when the reports came in of the wonderful results of the preaching of the inspired trio, they were chagrined. The Holy Spirit s approval of the work discomfited them: Afterward, when they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit testifying that the message was of God, they hated it the more, because it was a testimony against them. They would not humble their hearts to repent, to give God the glory, and vindicate the right. (TM 80.) The revivals held at South Lancaster, Chicago, Ottawa, Kansas, and in the Battle Creek church itself, were a powerful witness that God had set His seal to the message being borne. The experiment testing the light was being made in the laboratory of the churches. It worked never had such manifestations of heavenly glory attended any message since the midnight cry. 1888 Re-examined - 36 Now although there has been a determined effort to make of no effect the message God has sent, its fruits have been proving that it was from the source of light and truth. Those who have cherished unbelief and prejudice, who in place of helping to do the work the Lord would have them do, have stood to bar the way against all evidence, cannot be supposed to have clearer spiritual eyesight for having so long closed their eyes to the light God sent to the people. If we are to bear a part in this work to its close, we must recognize the fact that there are good things to come to the people of God in a way that we have not discerned; and that there will be resistance from the very ones we expected to engage in such a work. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, O. 19, d 92) Mrs. White looked upon this work as an experiment being made, but continued to hope for a change of heart in the leaders once they recognized the incontrovertible proof. The following paragraph is found in Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts: I saw that the power of God attended the message wherever it was spoken. You could not make the people believe in South Lancaster that it was not a message of light that came to them . . . God has set His hand to do this work. We labored in Chicago; it was a week before there was a break in

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the meetings. But like a wave of glory, the blessing of God swept over us as we pointed men to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. The Lord revealed His glory, and we felt the deep movings of His Spirit. (Quoted by L. H. Christian, op. cit., p. 238.) The same article in the Review and Herald of March 18, 1890, also contains the following pointed question, which makes plain the reason for writing these reports of wonderful blessing: I have tried to present the message to you as I have understood it, but how long will those at the head of the work keep themselves aloof from the message of God? (R. & H., Mar. 18, 1890.) The saddest annal in Seventh-day Adventist history is that a greater sin was added to the unbelief of 1888 at Minneapolis: The incontrovertible evidences of the Holy Spirit s approval of the message, demonstrated in the wonderful revivals, only confirmed the stubborn opposition of the leading brethren. When they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit testifying that the message was of God, they hated it the more! Mrs. White pathetically appealed for unity with the messengers: For nearly two years we have been urging the people to come up and accept the light and truth concerning the righteousness of Christ, and they do not know whether to come and take hold of this precious truth or not. . . . I have done what I could to present the matter . . . Shall we not arise and 1888 Re-Examined - 37 get out of the position of unbelief? (Article entitled, Christ Prayed for Unity Among His Disciples, R. & H., Mar. 11, 1890.) The light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light. We entreat of you who oppose the light of truth, to stand out of the way of God s people. Let heaven-sent light shine in clear, steady rays. God holds you to whom this light has come responsible for the use you make of it. Those who will not hear will be held responsible, for the truth has been brought within their reach, but they despised their opportunities and privileges. (R. & H., May 27, 1890, in The Time of Test, p. 4.) Wonder, O heavens! And be astonished, O earth! Never since the rejection by Israel of her King of glory has the heavenly universe witnessed a more inexcusable and shameful failure on the part of the chosen people of God, led by their leaders. Mrs. White did not hesitate to apply to the leading brethren the famous woes upon the Pharisees , and emphasize their present (1896) application. Read these Scriptures to the people . . . If God has ever spoken by me, these scriptures mean very much to those who shall hear them: (TM 76.)

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The blood of au the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. (Luke 1l:50-52, referred to above.) Such is the true picture of the great revival which followed the 1888 meeting. Many lay members and younger ministers began to enter in ; but the elders at Jerusalem verily hindered them. Thus the revival proved abortive, and the Spirit was grieved and quenched. There is no desire to make this sad recital tedius, but facts are clamoring for recognition. Therefore the following serious words are quoted in this connection. No one can say why they were penned, unless for our admonition who are living in this mid-twentieth century. They have been buried in the archives since 1893: The Lord is at work seeking to purify His people, and this great work is retarded by unbelief and stubbornness. Many think that if they had lived in Christ s day, they would have been among the believing followers; but if all the miracles of Christ were presented before those whose hearts are not subdued by the Spirit of God, their convictions would not be followed, nor their faith increased. Light has been shining upon the church of God, but many have said by their indifferent attitude, We want not thy way, O God, but our own way. The Kingdom of heaven has come very near, and they have caught glimpses of the Father and the Son, but they have barred the door of the heart, and have not received the heavenly guests; for as yet they know not, the love of God. (Continues comparison with light the Jews had). 1888 Re-Examined - 38 . . . There is less excuse in our day for stubbornness and unbeief than there was for the Jews in the days of Christ. They did not have before them the example of a nation that had suffered retribution for their unbelief and disobedience . . . In our day greater light and greater evidence is given . . . Our sin and its retribution will be the greater, if we refuse to walk in the light. Many say, If I had only lived in the days of Christ, I would not have wrested His words, or falsely interpreted His instruction. I would not have rejected and crucified Him, as did the Jews ; but that will be proved by the way in which you deal with His message and His messengers to-day. The Lord is testing the people of to-day as He tested the Jews in their day. When He sends His messages of mercy, the light of His truth, He is sending the spirit of truth to you, and. if you accept the message, you accept Jesus . . . Those who live in this day are not accountable for the deeds of those who crucified the Son of God; but if with all the light that shone upon His ancient people, delineated before us, we travel over the

same ground, cherish the same spirit, refuse to receive reproof and warning, then our guilt will be greatly augmented, and the condemnation that fell upon them will fall upon us, only it will be as much greater as our light is greater in this age than was their light in their age. (R. & H., April 11, 1893.) One week later Mrs. White added: Will those who profess to believe the truth listen to the words of Jesus? ... Those who in sincerity and truth believe the words of Christ sent to them through His ambassadors will understand what is the import ol those words (woes on the Pharisees, Mt. 23:34-38); but those who have intrenched themselves in unbelief will be as were the Jews, blinded to the light. (33) By rejection of evidence, they lost their spiritual eyesight, and could not discern . . . Those who are filled with unbelief can discern the least thing that has an objectionable feature. They can lose sight of all the evidences that God has given . . . in revealing precious gems of truth from the inexhaustible mine of His word. They can hold the objectionable atom under the magnifying glasses of their imagination until the atom looks like a world, and shuts out from their view the precious light of heaven . . . Why take so much account of that which may appear to you as objectionable in the messenger (A. T. Jones or E. J. Waggoner) and sweep away all the evidences that God has given to balance the mind in regard to truth? With the history of the children of Israel before us, let us take heed, and not be found committing the same sins, following in the same way of unbelief, and rebellion. (Quotes in closing Heb. 3:7-14; 1 Cor. 10:5-15.) (R. & H., April 18, 1893.) The message of 1888 called not only for a. revival , but also for a reformation. The light given was to work a change in ideas, concepts, plans: It is their work (Jones and Waggoner) to make crooked things straight. Some things must be torn down; some things must be built up. The old treasures must be reset in the framework of truth. (Sermon Minneapolis Conference, MS 15, 1888.) We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. (TM 30.) If through the grace of Christ His people will become new bottles, He will fill them with new wine. God will give additional light, and old truths will be recovered, and replaced in the framework of truth; and wherever the laborers go, they will triumph. (R. & H,, extra, Dec. 23, 1890.) 1888 Re-Examined - 39

What should have taken place, but what didn t, was made plain in a statement made at the 1901 General Conference session, when Mrs. White referred back to the 1888 crisis as follows: I feel a special interest in the movements and decisions that shall be made at this Conference regarding the things that should have been done years ago, and especially ten years ago, when we were assembled in Conference, and the Spirit and power of God came into our meeting, testifying that God was ready to work for this people if they would come into working order. The brethren assented to the light God had given, but there were those connected with our institutions, especially the Review and Herald office and the (General) Conference, who brought in elements of unbelief, so that the light given was not acted upon. It was assented to, but no special change was made to bring about such a condition of things that the power of God could be revealed among His people. (G. C. B., at opening of 1901 meeting.) The difference between a revival and a reformation is further made plain by the following quotation: God calls for a spiritual revival and a spiritual reformation. Unless this takes place, those who are lukewarm will continue to grow more abhorrent to the Lord. . . A revival and a reformation must take place under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices . . . Revival and reformation are to do their appointed work, and in doing this work they must blend. (R. & H., Feb. 2, 1902.) Intrinsic in the divine call to a reformation in l888 and thereafter was the revival of which some speak. The call to a reformation sounded insistently in the revival, and the success of the revival wherever the message of Jones and Waggoner penetrated was the heavenly credentials which attested the truth of the call to reformation. But the reformation was refused, and therefore the revival died out, leaving the rejecters in a worse state than they were in before. The Lord has sent a message to arouse His people to repent, and to do their first works; but how has the message been received? While some have heeded it, others have cast contempt and reproach on the message and the messenger. Spirituality deadened, humility and child-like simplicity gone, a mechanical profession of faith has taken the place of love and devotion. Is this mournful condition of things to continue? (R. & H., extra, Dec. 23, 1890.) Some of the brethren recognized in 1893 that the reformation had been re-

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fused, and that the revival had consequently failed. A. T, Jones said: Brethren, the time has come to take up~ tonight what we there (Minneapolis four years before) rejected. Not a soul of us has ever been able to dream yet the wonderful blessings that God has for us at Minneapolis, and which 1888 Re-Examined - 40 we would. have been enjoying these four years, if hearts had been ready to receive the message which God sent. We would have been four years ahead, we would have been in the midst of the wonders of the loud cry itself, tonight. Did not the Spirit of Prophecy tell us there at that time that the blessing was hanging over our heads? (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., 1893.) The following letter from Mrs. White, read at the same General Conference session, clearly supports A. T. Jones statement to the effect that the brethren turned the Minneapolis meeting into a defeat: The opposition in our own ranks has imposed upon the Lord s messengers a laborious and soul trying task; for they have had to meet difficulties and obstacles which need not have existed. While this labor had to be performed among our own people, to make them willing that God should work in the day o f His power, the light of the glory of God has not been shining in clear concentrated rays to the world. Thousands who are now in the darkness of error might have been added to our numbers. All the time and thought and labor required to counteract the influence of our brethren who oppose the message has been just so much taken from the world of the swift coming judgments of God. The Spirit of God has been present in power among His people, but it could not be bestowed upon them, because they did not open their hearts to receive it. It is not the opposition of the world that we have to fear; but it is the elements that work among ourselves that have hindered the message Love and confidence (in the messengers) constitute a moral force that would have united our churches and insured harmony of action; but coldness and distrust have brought disunion that has shorn us of our strength . . . The influence that grew out of the resistance of light and truth at Minneapolis tended to make of no effect the light God had given to His people through the Testimonies . . . because some of those who occupy responsible positions were leavened with the spirit that prevailed at Minneapolis, a spirit that beclouded the discernment of the people of God. The work of opponents to the truth has been steadily advancing while we have been compelled to devote our energies in a. great degree to counteracting the work of the enemy through those who were in our ranks. The dulness of some and the opposition of others have confined our strength and means

largely among those who know the truth, but do not practice its principles. (Letter read from E, G. White, eleventh meeting 1893 G. C. Session, Feb. 27.) Anyone who is courageous enough to term the 1888 period a defeat is spoken of to-day as a smiter of the brethren , an opprobrius appellation indeed. An army that loses a battle will invariably discuss afterwards the reasons for their failure, in an attempt to discover why the defeat took place. They will then speak of victory only in the conditional, subjunctive mood of the verb, as a thing which might have been . It is interesting and significant to note that the oft-quoted passage published in 1909, and found in Testimonies, Vol. 9, page 29, which begins with a tragic if , was written by Mrs. White concerning the results of the Minnea1888 Re-Examined - 41 polis meeting. It is the very next sentence which follows the end of the above quotation from the letter read at the 1893 General Conference session: If every soldier of Christ had done his duty, if every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. What account will be rendered to God for thus retarding the work? . . . While men slept, Satan has been stealing a march upon us, working up the advantages given him to have things after his own order. 9 C.B. op. cit. [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 6] Human language could hardly make more plain the fact that the glorious victory gained at the notable landmark in Seventh-day Adventist history at Minneapolis was Satan s. When the vanquished (the prophet speaking for the church in God s name) concedes the victory, we ought not to doubt the facts. We have here, however, a most intriguing situation. A few paragraphs later in the same letter, Mrs. White predicted that as a consequence of our failure, Satan would work up his advantage most skillfully. The deep plotting of Satan will reveal its working everywhere, she said. He would be far too keen to make the stupid blunder of assuming the livery of the devil; he would pretend to be the Christ! The appearance of a false Christ will arouse delusive hopes in the minds of those who will allow themselves to be deceived. The following thoughts are painful to contemplate, but too serious to ignore. Satan is a liar, and the father of liars. It is his very nature to lie. He is too keen-minded to claim his victory before it complete even though the partial victory is true. Such boasting would drive the remnant church to her knees in the Repentance of the ages, for she is honest in heart. Telling her the truth will never work she must be kept in deception until the very

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last! Therefore, Satan knows far too well the folly of claiming his victory gained in 1888 it is his great desire that we should be deceived about it. He will slyly admit defeat, and concede the victory to the church, pretending to lie prostrate at our feet. No more skillful subterfuge has ever been perpetrated on Israel. The heavenly universe will hardly condone our deception, however, for there could be no greater folly that for those who, for the sake of justifying self, are willing to be caught in such a trap of satanic strategy The deception, if cherished, can lead only to an infatuation with the false 1888 Re-Examined - 42 Christ, due to cur blind confusion. If we cannot read the past aright, how will we be able to interpret the future correctly as it unrolls before our eyes? While we think Satan is lying prone and prostrate at our feet, he will enter another door clothed in the garments of Christ. May the true God be merciful to His foolish people! Conclusion It must be said that those who have portrayed the 1888 period of our history as a great and glorious victory have done so with the desire to preserve the unity and existence of the remnant church. Critics have arisen from within who have gone without, claiming that the victory gained by Satan in 1888 and thereafter was complete, and that the church is now in a hopeless condition. Some have maintained that the mistake made at Minneapolis transformed Israel into Babylon. Nothing could be further from the truth. Israel will never become Babylon, though she may have her periods of captivity. The Lord will bring her again, to her own borders. And when she comes back to her own land again, she will be chastened and repentant thoroughly and sincerely. But in seeking to counteract the message of heretics who condemn the church as being in a hopeless state, we must not make the equally grave mistake of denying truth. We have somehow thought that the church must be vindicated, in order for the Lord to be vindicated. But the church is ourselves, and therefore in the process of vindicating her, we twist the truth in vindicating self. That is not right there will be no glorious victory for the church at last if we insist on that glory being in us. The glory and the victory are all of God; let us ascribe glory and honor to whom it is due. That, in the light of our past history, is going to require that we be greatly humbled! There will be great humbling of heart before God upon the part of everyone who remains faithful and true to the end. (Sermon at Minneapolis Conference, MS 1588.) Unless the church, which is now being leavened With her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. (8T 250.)

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We must remember that that experience is not any more an evidence that God will have cast off His church than that He had cast off Job (Job 42:6) 1888 Re-Examined - 43 or Isaiah in the times of their repentance (Is. 6:5), or Peter, when he threw himself on the ground in Gethsemane and wished that he might die (Matt. 26:75; DA 713). It was then that the dear disciple was converted. And it will be when the above words of the prophet are fulfilled, that the remnant church will likewise be converted. Her Pentecost will be no further away at that time than Peter s was when he came to know himself, and in so doing, found His Lord s forgiveness. That a true understanding of the Minneapolis debacle will figure largely in our coming to know ourselves, is evident from these rarely (if ever) quoted words: We should be the last people on the earth to indulge in the slightest degree the spirit of persecution against those who are bearing the message of God to the world, This is the most terrible feature of unchristlikeness that has manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis meeting. Sometime it will be seen in its true bearing, with all the burden of woe that has resulted from it. (G. C. B. 1893, p. 184.) There was a certain prescience evident in some of the utterances of A. T. Jones at that 1893 meeting, which ran in the same channel as the words of Sister White just quoted. He also referred to that long-delayed sometime of reparation: That, however (Minneapolis) is but a sample. There will be things to come that will be more surprising than that was to those at Minneapolis, more surprising than anything we have yet seen. And, brethren, we will be required to receive and preach that truth. But unless you and I have every fiber of that spirit rooted out of our hearts, we will treat that message and the messengers by whom it is sent, as God has declared we have treated this other message. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B. 1893, p. 185.) Were none of the historical references and quotations presented in this chapter available to us, common sense and simple reason would still force us to recognize the following three points: (1) The latter rain and the loud cry was to have an effect on the closing of the work like fire that goes in the stubble. (R. & H., Dec. l5, 1885.) The final movements will be rapid ones . The loud cry had its beginning with the revelation of the 1888 message, we are plainly told (see previous chapter). But instead of going like fire in the stubble, the work has dragged on for over (37)

half a century of protracted smoldering and smoking, inching along, while human souls are being born faster than we reach them with this message. The only 1888 Re-Examined - 44 reasonable conclusion is that the fire was put out by human, not divine, instrumentality. (2) Then the loud cry comes, says John the Revelator, it is to be a light which will lighten the earth with its glory a blaze of glory superceding all previous displays of heavenly power since sin entered the world. The advent message is hardly known in the world to-day, though we as a people may be better known than we were in 1888. But it is our works rather than our faith that are thus known through our self-congratulatory reports. The kings of the earth have not yet stood afar off, with the merchants of the earth, bewailing the fall of great Babylon, brought to nought in one brief hour by the mighty preaching of the true loud cry . A work is to be done for this world which we, in our blindness, have not begun to comprehend. The whole of Revelation 18 will be fulfilled in the glorious closing of this work. It hasn t yet been fulfilled, and yet the light of the fourth angel s mighty message began to shine in that strange and Impressive way at Minneapolis. The only reasonable conclusion Is that the light was put out, by human instrumentalities. (38) (3) When the message of righteousness by faith is accepted, there will be seen in the remnant church itself a revival of primitive godliness heretofore unknown upon this sinful earth. The enemy of God and man is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken. (GW 103, old edition.) No one but a willfully b1ind optimist would maintain to-day that the power of Satan as yet is broken in a spiritual sense over the ministry and members of the remnant church. There are far too many tell-tale signs of spiritual vanity, futility, lukewarmness, hypocrisy, and apostasy, to make such an assumption acceptable to a candid and reasoning mind. The only conclusion possible is that the message of Christ s righteousness was not received. Again, in the light of the quotations presented in this chapter, intellecual honesty requires that we recognize the following three conclusions: (1) The leaders in general of the advent movement, and the spokesmen in 1888 Re-Examined - 45 particular, refused to accept the gracious message brought to us at the 1888 meeting by A. T. Jones, E. J. Waggoner, and E. G. White. Concerning what they did, it can be truthfully said, You did not mean to do this, but you have done it. (2) No deep-seated repentance and denomination-wide, extensive revival

and reformation, consistent with the impressions conveyed in books quoted at the beginning of this chapter, took place. Rather, the revivals which did follow the 1888 meeting were experimental, laboratory tests proving to the " responsible brethren that the message was indeed of God, and ought to be accepted. The revivals had the unfortunate effect, therefore, of fastening the leaders of the church in a deeper and more inexcusable condemnation. (3) The message being of God in a special sense, the authoritative, responsible, and persistent opposition to it constituted a spiritual defeat for the Advent movement, which defeat must be recognized merely to be a battle in a larger war, and not the losing of the war itself. Such a view of the matter will require that this generation recognize the facts of the case, and thoroughly rectify the tragic mistake, This can be done, and the living, righteous God will help us. 1888 Re-Examined - 46 (39) CHAPTER 5 WHAT WAS THE MESSAGE PRESENTED IN 1888? Contemporary Published Views The error of assuming that the church accepted the message of 1888 victoriously is in consequence of a still more basic error of misunderstanding, viz., what the message of Jones and Waggoner really was. The contemporary views of what that message was must be considered in the light of reason, and Spirit of Prophecy revelation. In the book Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, the following quotation is found in the chapter entitled The Minneapolis Conference and the Great Revival : Some may well ask, What was this teaching of righteousness by faith which became the mainspring of the great Adventist revival, as taught and emphasized by Mrs. white and others? It was the same doctrine that Luther, Wesley, and many other servants of God had been teaching. (L. H. Christian, Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, p. 239. In some lessons on the subject presented in the Theological Seminary, the views presented in that book are recommended as perhaps the clearest picture of the (1888) movement, and the idea that the message then presented was justification by faith as taught by the Protestant Reformers emphasized as follows: This plan righteousness by faith was emphasized anew to our people. A bit of the history of the development of this doctrine in our midst would help us to understand why many of the early brethren reacted unfavorably to the reception of this message.

Justification, or righteousness by faith, is defined as that judicial act of God by which, on account of Christ, to whom the sinner is united by faith, he declares that sinner to be no longer exposed to the penalty of the. law but to be restored to His favor. (Systematic Theology, by H. A. Strong, p. 649). The same idea is expressed in different words in the Westminster Catechism. ... Righteousness by faith was a vital part of the religious teaching of the reformers. . . In the early days of our movement, under the guidance of the Spirit of Prophecy, the Wesleyan interpretation became ours. This interpretation was understood before 1888, but our lack of attention to it was understandable enough. . . . Righteousness by faith was taken for granted and, in those days, taking such a thing for granted was not nearly so serious a matter as it is today, for the majority of Christian people were Christians indeed (G. E. Vandeman, A Transforming Friendship, mimeographed lessons used in Pastoral Counseling Class, S.D.A. Theological Seminary, Winter Term 49-50, pp. 1, 2.) The acceptance of this view that the message of 1888 was the historic Protestant doctrine of justification by faith raises some serious problems 1888 Re-Examined - 47 difficult for the Adventist mind to comprehend clearly. The fact that we have not previously been disturbed is merely indicative that the matter has not been thought through very thoroughly. If the findings of the previous chapter of this essay are correct, then the idea that the message of 1888, the mainspring (40) of the great Advent revival, was the same doctrine that Luther, Wesley and many other servants of God had been teaching makes it exceedingly difficult for the church to parry the thrusts of those who accuse her of having become Babylon. This will be evident as follows: (1) If the Seventh-day Adventist church rejected, spurned, or to use the mild expression quoted above reacted unfavorably, to the same doctrines that Luther and Wesley taught concerning justification by faith, her unfavorable reception would be no more justifiable than Rome s rejection of Luther s teaching, or England s rejection of Wesley s teaching. Since it would be most embarrassing to try to counter the charge that the Adventist church suffered a fall comparable to that of the Roman and English churches, it is evident that it becomes necessary to assume that she accepted the message of 1888, and had a great revival. But to say that the message was accepted also raises questions again as serious, in no way obviating the cruel dilemma: (a) If the message was accepted, why wasn t the work finished decades ago, inasmuch as in the time of the loud cry, the work will spread like fire in

the stubble ? (R. H., December 15, 1885.) (b) Thy wasn t the earth lightened with the glory of that other angel, and mightily shaken by the message, resulting in the complete fall of Babylon as depicted in Revelation 18? (c) Why hasn t the power of Satan been broken over us as a people, in a spiritual sense, as inspiration has promised it will be if the people receive it fully ? ( G. W. old edition, 103.) (2) That the message of 1888 was spurned and rejected, cannot be denied without denying all the clear intent of abundant Spirit of Prophecy statements. Therefore, the proposition that the message of 1888 was the same doctrine that Luther, Wesley . . . had been teaching requires that we confess our rejection of the historic Protestant position, which would be tantamount to admitting a 1888 Re-Examined - 48 spiritual fall identifiable in principle with the fall of Babylon. (3) Again, if the view is true, that the message of 1888 was the doctrine of the Reformers, it would require our belief that Luther and Wesley and many other servants of God of pre-1844 times preached the third angel s message, as the following quotation from Testimonies to Ministers will show: The Lord in His mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Jones and Waggoner . . . It presented justification by faith through the surety. . . . This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel s message, ( T. M. , 91, 92.) Some years ago there arose a heretical movement in Europe which maintained that Martin Luther preached the third angel s message in his day. What true Seventh-day Adventist would wish to be so muddled and confused in his thinking as to revive the idea that either Luther, Wesley, or any other of the many servants of God of pre-l844 times preached the third angel s message? Such a view would inevitably rob us of any distinctive message to be presented to the world. Another contemporary view of the 1888 message was that it was a reemphasis of that which the Adventist movement had believed from its very beginning, a mere recovery of a homiletical balance in doctrine and preaching temporarily lost. This view has come to be very widely believed by Seventh-day Adventist workers to-day. A few illustrations of this view must suffice: This conference (1888) . . . proved to be the beginning of a re-emphasis of this glorious truth, which resulted in a spiritual awakening among our people. (M.. E. Kern, R. & H., August 3, 1950, p. 294.)

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The greatest event of the eighties in the e:.Terience of Seventh-day Adventists was the recovery, or the restatement and new consciousness, of their faith in the basic doctrine of Christianity, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. (A. W. Spalding, Captains of the Host, p. 583.) Many of our elderly workers will aid their testimony that they knew of no denominational rejection of the doctrine of justification by faith previous to 1888, and that therefore the message of that time was merely a new underscoring or new emphasis of the old doctrine always believed. If this reemphasis view is correct, the following questions address themselves to our reason: (1) How could intelligent, conscionable leaders resist, neglect, or 1888 Re-Examined - 49 spurn that which they themselves had always understood and believed? How could consistent men react unfavorably to the re-emphasis of a glorious truth which they had themselves preached some twenty, thirty, or forty years before? Or if this session of 1888 included a new generation of Adventists preachers, how could they react unfavorably to the preaching of a glorious truth their immediate forbears had been preaching, many of whom were still living at that time? (2) Again, how could we successfully defend ourselves against the charge that the Adventist church did not suffer a moral fall very unpleasantly similar to the fall of Babylon in principle, if we accept the view that the brethren of the 1888 epoch rejected or spurned or even reacted unfavorably to what they believed at the beginning of the Advent movement? When one is climbing upwards, and suddenly goes backwards, human language calls the descent a fall. This chapter will present evidence to show that the message of 1888 was neither a restatement of the doctrines of Luther and Wesley, nor a mere reemphasis of the teaching of the Adventist pioneers; but that it was rather a more mature conception of the everlasting gospel than had ever been perceived by any previous generation of human beings, a preaching of righteousness by faith more mature and developed, and more practical than had been preached even by the Apostle Paul. This is not to say that the messengers of 1888 were greater than Paul, Luther, Wesley, or any one else, nor that they were keener, brighter students. It is to say that the message which they brought was the third angel s message in verity and, therefore, an understanding of righteousness by faith parallel to and consistent with the Adventist doctrine of the cleansing of the sanctuary, a message which, if allowed free course for acceptance and development, would have prepared a people to meet the Lord, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, and without fault before the throne of God, a message intended by its Divine Author to ripen the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb, the 144,000.

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Further, this chapter is to present evidence that the rejection of that message did not, therefore, constitute a moral or spiritual fall of the remnant church involving a repudiation of her character as honest-in-heart. It constituted 1888 Re-Examined - 50 rather a stupid and inexcusable, verily foolish, arresting of her spiritual development, occasioned by a pitiful blindness and inability to recognize the love and the call of her true Lord. Such blindness is better termed foolishness than wickedness. The rejection of that message resulted in a virtual eclipse of an ethical, spiritual, and practical understanding of the doctrine of the cleansing of the sanctuary, leaving only the outward shell of doctrinal structure, such as the chronological proofs of the 2300 years, and the factual concept of the investigative judgment, as preached by us before 1888. No significant advance whatever in the comprehension of the cleansing of the sanctuary, the verity of the Adventist message, has been made since 1888. How Mrs. White Considered the Message of 1888 As soon as Mrs. White had heard a little of Dr. Waggoner s views at Minneapolis (for the first time, incidentally), she recognized it to be precious light in harmony with what she had been trying to present all along. The thought she expressed was that the light presented was a further development in full harmony with past light, but never clearly preached before: Doctor Waggoner has spoken to us in a straight forward manner. There is precious light in what he has said. . . I see the beauty of truth in the presentation of the righteousness of Christ in relation to the law as the Doctor has placed it before us. You say, many of you, that it is light and truth. Yet you have not presented it in its light heretofore. Is it not possible that through earnest effort, prayerful searching of the Scriptures, he has seen greater light on some points? . . . That which has been presented harmonizes perfectly with the light which God has been pleased to give me during all the years of my experience. If our ministering brethren would accept the doctrine which has been presented so clearly . . . the people would be fed with their portion of the meat in due season. . . This is the first time that I have had opportunity to listen to anything in reference to this subject. I have had no conversation in regard to it with my son W. C. White, with Dr. Waggoner, or with Elder A. T. Jones. At this meeting I have heard for the first time Dr. Waggoner s reasons for his position. (MS. 15, 1888.) I have had the question asked, what do you think of this light which these men (A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner) are presenting? Thy, I have been

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presenting it to you for the last forty-five years, the matchless charms of Christ. This is what I have been trying to present before your minds. When Brother Waggoner brought out these ideas at Minneapolis, it was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard, excepting the conversation between myself and my husband. (MS 5, 1888.) It will be evident from these quotations that Mrs. White regarded the message of Jones and Waggoner as something not preached clearly before. That 1888 Re-Examined - 51 the brethren at Minneapolis themselves understood the message to be a revelation of new light, rather than a re-emphasis of what they had all along been preaching, is shown by the following quotation: If Elder Waggoner s views were wrong, what business has anyone to get up and say what they did here yesterday? If we have the truth, it will stand. These truths that we have been handling for years, must Elder Butler come and tell us what they are? . . . One brother asked me if I thought there was any new light that we should have, or any new truths? . . . Well, shall we stop searching the Scriptures because we have the light on the law of God, and the testimony of His Spirit? No, brethren. . . . How can you listen to all that I have been telling you through all these meetings (at Minneapolis), and not know for yourselves what is truth? If you will search the Scriptures on your knees, then you will know them, and you will be able to give to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is within you. ( General Conference Bulletin, Oct. 26, 1888, p. 3.) The message of 1888 was something which the brethren had not previously comprehended. This incomprehension was actually a failure to understand the heart and verity of the message, the outward forms of which alone the brethren knew: There are but few, even of those who claim to believe it, that comprehend the third angel s messages and yet this is the message for this time. It is present truth. But how few take up this message in its true bearing and present it to the people in its power. With many it has but little force. Said my guide, There is much light yet to shine forth from the law of God and the gospel of righteousness. This message understood in its true character, and proclaimed in the spirit will lighten the earth with its g1ory. (MS. 15, 1888.) The peculiar work of the third angel has not been seen in its importance. God meant that His people should be far in advance of the position which they occupy to-day. But now, when the time has come for them to spring into

action, they have the preparation to make . . . It is not in the order of God that light has been kept from our people, the very present truth which they needed for this time. Not all our ministers who are giving the third angel s message, really understand what constitutes that message. . . The watchmen are asleep. We are years behind. . . If the leading men in our Conferences do not now accept the message sent them by God, and fall into line for action, the churches will suffer great 1oss. (5 T, 7l4, 715.) (44) There is no hint whatsoever in the following quotation that the message of 1888 was a re-emphasis of a glorious truth either previously, or at the time, believed by the brethren: There are many today who feel indignant and aggrieved that any voice ~should be raised presenting ideas that differ from their own in regard to poInts of religious belief. . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 52 We see that the God of heaven sometimes commissions men to teach that which is regarded as contrary to the established doctrines. Because those who were once the depositaries of truth became unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who would receive the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness, and would advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders. Even Seventh-day Adventists are in danger of closing their eyes to truth as it is in Jesus, because it contradicts something which they have taken for granted as truth but which the Holy Spirit teaches is not truth (T.M., 69, 70, 76.) Let not men feel that it is their prerogative to give to the world what they suppose to be truth, and refuse that anything should be given contrary to their ideas. . . .Many things will appear distinctly as truth which will not be acceptable to those who think their own interpretations of the Scripture always right. Most decided changes will have to be made in regard to ideas which some have accepted as without a flaw. (T.M.., 69, 70, 76.) The principle which made an advance revelation of new light necessary in 1888 is stated as follows in one of Mrs. White s sermons at the Minneapolis session: The message Go forward! is still to be heard and respected. The varying circumstances taking place in our world call for labor which will meet these peculiar developments. The Lord has need of men who are spiritually sharp

and clear sighted, men worked by the Holy Spirit, who are certainly receiving manna fresh from heaven. Upon the minds of such, God s word flashes light. . . . The time has come when through God s messengers the scroll is being unrolled to the world. Instructors in our schools should never be bound about by being told that they are to teach only what has been taught hitherto. Away with these restrictions. . . That which God gives His servants to speak to-day would not perhaps have been present truth twenty years ago, but it is God s message for this time. (Sermon at Minneapolis, Oct. 21, 1888.) There was a distinct difference in Mrs. White s mind between the message of righteousness by faith as presented in 1888, and the past message. Whi1e there was to be no contradiction, there must be a further development: God does not want any man to think that no other message is to be heard but that which he may have given. We want the past message and the fresh message. Let the Spirit of God come into the heart. (Review and Herald, March 18, 1890.) The idea that Seventh-day Adventists should confound with the light which was to lighten the earth with its glory doctrines, (however true for their day) held by Luther and Wesley and others is clearly disparaged in the following words: It is not safe for us as reformers to repeat the history of the Reformers in every particular; for after those to whom God gave light advanced to a certain knowledge, many of then ceased to be reformers. We must not for a moment think that there is no more light and truth to be given us, and become careless and let the sanctifying power of the truth leak out of our hearts by our attitude of satisfaction in what we have already attained. (Review and Herald, Aug. 7, 1894.) In a series of Review articles in 1890, Mrs. White discussed the cleansing 1888 Re-Examined - 53 of the sanctuary truth in connection with the controverted message of righteousness by faith. Our ignorance was appalling (and still is): The mediatorial work of Christ, the grand and holy mysteries of redemption, are not studied or comprehended by the people who claim to have light in advance of every other people on the face of the earth. Were Jesus personally upon earth, he would address a large number who claim to believe present truth, with the words he addressed to the Pharisees: "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." (Review and Herald, Feb. 14, l890.) There are old, yet new truths still to be added to the treasures of our knowledge. We do not understand or exercise faith as we should. . . . We are not called to worship and serve God by the use of the means employed in former years. God requires higher service now than ever before. He (45)

requires the improvement of the heavenly gifts. He has brought us into a position where we need higher and better things than have ever been needed before. (Review and Herald, Feb. 25, 1890.) A brief analysis of the points already presented in these quotations will be helpful: 1. The message of 1888 was said to be light which the brethren had not presented heretofore. It was greater light. 2. It was our portion of meat in due season manna restored from yesterday. food for today, and not

3. Mrs. White heard at Minneapolis for the first time a doctrinal unfolding of that which she had been trying to present all along the matchless charms of Christ. No other human lips had preached it. 4. Mrs. White recognized in E. J. Waggoner an agent being used by the Lord for an advanced revelation of truth to His people, and for the world. 5. The verity of the third angel s message had not been comprehended by our people because they had not advanced to the position in understanding which they should have occupied by that time forty-four years after the beginning of the cleansing of the sanctuary. Instead, advance light had been kept from the people. 6. The brethren at the time understood Mrs. White s support of Waggoner and Jones to be a recommendation of the new light which they brought, rather than a call to return to their original understanding of the established doctrines. It was a call diametrically opposed to a return to a re-emphasis of old understandings. Had Brethren Butler and Smith so understood it, they would have been 1888 Re-Examined - 54 strong to champion it, instead of opposing it as they did. 7. Therefore, what the brethren rejected was the call for most decided changes in regard to ideas which had been accepted. They did not refuse to go back; they refused to go forward. Thus they tried to stand still a difficult thing for any army on the march. The Light of 1888 to have been the Beginning of Greater Light (46) We have already had a little glimpse, with A. T. Jones, into the realm of the what might have been, as he saw it in 1893: Not a soul of us has ever been able to dream yet the wonderful blessings

that God had for us at Minneapolis, and which we would have been enjoying these four years, if hearts had been ready to receive the message which God sent. We would have been four years ahead. We would have been in the midst of the wonders of the loud cry itself, tonight. Did not the Spirit of Prophecy tell us here at that time that the blessing of God was hanging over our heads? Wel1, brethren, you know. (General Conference Bulletin, 1893.) Mrs. White often spoke of the need of new light, and the certainty of God sending it, if and when His people were willing to receive it. The tragic if and when are necessary only because the new wine always requires new bottles, and that means a crucifixion of self: If through the grace of Christ His people will become new bottles, He will fill them with the new wine, God will give additional light, and old truths will be recovered, and replaced in the framework of truth; and wherever the laborers go, they will triumph. As Christ s ambassadors, they are to search the Scriptures, to seek for the truths that have been hidden beneath the rubbish of error. (Review and Herald Extra, Dec. 23, 1890.) We have only just begun to get a little glimmering of what faith is; for it is hard for those who have been absorbed in looking at dark pictures of unbelief to see anything else save darkness, (Review and Herald, Mar. 11, 1890.) I have been shown that Jesus will reveal to us precious old truths in a new light, if we are ready to receive them; but they must be received in the very way in which the Lord shall choose to send them. With humbled, softened hearts, with respect and love for one another, search your Bibles. The light may not come in accordance with plans that men may devise.(MS. 15, 1888.) New light may ever be revealed on the word of God to him who is in living connection with the Son of Righteousness. Let no one come to the conclusion that there is no more truth to be revealed. (Review and Herald, Mar. 25, 1890.) A great work is to be done, and God sees that our leading men have need of greater light, that they might unite harmoniously with the messengers whom He will send to accomplish the work that He designs they should. (Review and Herald, July 26, 1892.) A. T. Jones, in his plain-spoken way, reminded us that the light which E. J. Waggoner brought was but the beginning, Greater tests would follow, and 1888 Re-Examined - 55 each time the ultimate test would be on the battleground of self: That, however, is but a sample. There will be things to come that will be more surprising than that was to those at Minneapolis, more surprising than

anything we have yet seen. And, brethren, we will be required to receive and preach that truth. But unless you and I have every fiber of that spirit rooted out of our hearts, we will treat that message and the messengers by whom it is sent, as God has declared we have treated this other message. (General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p. 185.) The message of 1888 was neither a re-emphasis of the views of the pioneers of the Advent movement on justification by faith, Wesleyan or whatever they were; nor was it the same doctrine that Luther, Wesley, and many other servants of God had been teaching : It was the beginning of the work of that fourth angel who was to join his mighty voice with the proclamation of the third angel. It is most regrettable that neither The Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts nor Captains of the (47) Host give a single allusion to that fact in their respective chapters on the Minneapolis revival ! The omission will be seen, however, to be very significant. The following statement by Mrs. White, made in 1892, is well known to us all, and must never be ignored in the history of 1888 and thereafter: The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sinpardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. (Review and Herald, Nov. 22 1892.) That light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe what is present truth. Be careful how you treat it. Take off the shoes from off your feet; for you are on holy ground. (T.M.. 89, 90.) Light has been shining upon the church of God . . . The kingdom of heaven has come very near, and they have caught glimpses of the Father and the Son, but they have barred the door of the heart, and have not received the heavenly guest; for as yet they know not the love of God: (Review and Herald, April 11, 1893.) It is necessary for those who will maintain that the message of 1888 was joyfully accepted by the church resulting in a great revival to ignore the fact that the message was the beginning of the loud cry. Otherwise, they would be obliged to explain how it could be that a work which was to have gone like fire in the stubble has been dragging on for sixty-two years, when the servant of the Lord declared it could have been finished by 1893 had all the brethren joined with the chosen messengers in proclaiming it! (General Conference Bulletin, Ellen G. White Letter, read Feb. 26, 1893.) 1888 Re-Examined - 56 The Light of the Loud Cry Turned Off Our God is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and ready to forgive.

We are prone to emphasize that thought in speaking of the opposition to the message of 1888, leaving the impression, implicitly if not explicitly, that the Lord graciously forgave the erring, well meaning men who later confessed their sad mistake in spurning the beginning of that greatest light ever to shine upon this world since the days of Christ. No Christian will deny that God will forgive, and will restore that which was lost, on condition of repentance. But we must not allow confusion to neutralize and obscure the parable of 1888. It is stated frequently that most of the men who opposed the light at Minneapolis later repented, confessed their mistake, and joined heartily in proclaiming the message. In a later chapter, it will be necessary to examine those confessions of repentance more carefully. But for the present it should suffice to ask one question: If the brethren repented of their mistake, confessed it, and God forgave it in the sense of restoring that which was otherwise lost, why was not the original purpose of the 1888 message fulfilled in a speedy finishing of the work? It is most obvious that whatever transactions passed between erring brethren and their merciful and long-suffering God after 1888, there was certainly no revival and reformation which can be considered at all consistent in scope and effect with what was to come had the light been allowed to shine in clear rays after Minneapolis. Whether or not God forgave the sins of the blind and opposing brethren to whom He addressed the woes upon the Pharisees (and there is no desire to draw aside that curtain), it is certain that He did not send any more light after 1888 such as was brought at that time. We may ask, Why?

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There is no evidence that Mrs. White wrote out in her books after 1888 the light, doctrinally, which A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner were commissioned by God to bring. What she wrote out was in full harmony with that revealed light, but was the light that she had had from the very beginning on the matchless charms of Christ. The 1888 message did not open her eyes to a new truth, causing her to plunge into a course of writing she would not otherwise have done, as is so often represented to-day. In fact, much of Steps to Christ was written well before 1888, and compiled later. Following the light in her books will lead us to the latter rain; but Mrs. White never claimed that her books contained the light of the latter rain. It cannot be successfully maintained that the blessings of the great revival are preserved for us in her books written after 1888, any more than it could be maintained that the blessings of Israel s unbelief at Kadesh-Barnea were preserved in the writings of the Pentateuch, which books Moses wrote after the Kadesh-Barnea crisis. 1888 Re-Examined - 57 The Holy Spirit is a Person, and can be grieved. The Light which He gives can be quenched: Grieve not the Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Quench not the Spirit. I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known My ways. So I sware in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:17; Heb. 3:10-12.) If there is any lesson at all to be learned from the millenniums of history of God s dealings with His chosen people, it is that they may not safely presume upon His mercy by provoking Him to His face. There is no wrath like the wrath of the Lamb, and there is no greater reticence than that of Love to return when it has been cruelly, unjustly, and spitefully scorned. The resume of Spirit of Prophecy statements presented in the last chapter give evidence that there was no time between 1888 and 1900 when the responsible leadership of the church manifested even a half-hearted purpose to rectify the tragic mistake of 1888. Doubt, suspicion, mistrust of the message and the messengers continued for years. Repeated statements occur that there was but little genuine love for Jesus, and that the greatest lack of it was evident in the ministerial leadership of the church. If you were God, would you force yourself in the tender capacity of a Lover upon a cold, and unfeeling church who resisted and scorned your every loving appeal? Jesus knows our human nature; He Himself partakes of it. He, too, knows some self-respect.. He came very near to us in l888; not a soul of us dreams of what might have been in the sweet days that would have followed had we walked with Him in Heaven s glorious light. We often speak of 1844 as the Great Disappointment. 1888 was His great disappointment, for we can read of how He loved us. That love we would not have. Why should we marvel if He did not force it upon us? We were told at Minneapo1is itself: It will grieve the Spirit of God if you close your understanding to the light which God sends you . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 58 No one must be permitted to close the avenue whereby the light of truth shall come to the people. As soon as this shall be attempted, God s Spirit will be quenched. . . . Let the love of Christ reign in hearts here . . . When the Spirit of God comes in, love will take the place of variance, because Jesus is love; if His Spirit were cherished here, our meeting would. be like a stream in the desert. (MS. l5, 1888.) No more tender calls, no better opportunities could be given them in order that they might do that which they ought to have done at Minneapolis. . . No one can tell how much may be at stake when neglecting to comply with the call of the Spirit of God. The time will come when they will be willing

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to do anything and, everything possible in order to have a chance of hearing the call which they rejected at Minneapous. . . Better opportunities will never come, deeper feelings they will not have . . . God will not be trifled with. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, Sept. 1, 1892,O 19 d 92.) Alas, end shame be upon us, we did not appreciate that love! Cold, hard hearts continued to tease and trifle with the tender love of One Who gave His life for us. Finally the selfish and stupid trifling changed to hatred. In l895 the prophet said: You have turned your back, and not your face, to the Lord. . . The Spirit of God is departing from many among His people. Many have entered into dark, secret paths, arid some will never return. They will continue to stumple to their ruin. They have tempted God, they have rejected light. All the evidence that will ever be given them they have received, and have not heeded. . . They have not only refused to accept the message, but they have hated the light . . . They are doing despite to His Holy Spirit. (T.M.., 89-91.) Heaven was indignant (T. M., 76). At Minneapolis, Mrs. White said: If you only knew how Christ has regarded your religious attitude at this meeting! (MS. 8a, 1888.) There is sadness in heaven over the spiritual blindness of many of our brethren. (Review and Herald, July 26, 1892.) Speaking years later of those who resisted the Spirit of God at Minneapolis, Mrs. White said: All the universe of heaven witnessed the disgraceful treatment of Jesus Christ, represented by the Holy Spirit. Had Christ been before them, they would have treated Him in a manner similar to that in which the Jews treated Christ. (Spiritual Testimonies, Series A, No. 6, p. 20.) The scenes which took place at that meeting (Minneapolis) made the God of heaven ashamed to call those who took part in them His brethren. All this the heavenly Watcher noticed, and it was written in the book of God s remembrance . (Special Testimony to the Review and Herald Office, 1896, p. 16, 17.) (50) This is to say that God withdrew the Holy Spirit from His people as a convicting, converting agency of blessing in the capacity of the former rain. Unnumbered souls have been led to God through various outpourings of the Spirit manifested in the remnant church from 1888 until now. God has not forsaken His 1888 Re-Examined - 59 people. But this is to say that our attitude tied God s hands, as it were, making it impossible for Him to send any further showers of the latter rain. God could not, would not cast His choicest, long-reserved pearls of heavenly truth before unfeeling souls who would only turn and rend Him, as the above

quotation implies. Therefore, those gracious, long-awaited showers of heavenly blessing known as the latter rain ceased after the initial outpouring at Minneapo1is was so rudely and persistently repulsed. No self-respecting God would drown us with something we didn t want. Why must we think of Him as being beyond the capacity of being grieved? Is Jesus indeed like a rude swain who forces his unwelcome attentions upon the unfeeling, unsympathizing object of his affections? That the blessings which might have been were not, and are not yet, is evident from the following quotation: In Minneapolis God gave precious gems of truth to His people in new settings. This light from heaven by some was rejected with all the stubbornness the Jews manifested in rejecting Christ. . . Now at the present time God designs a new and fresh impetus shall be given to His work. Satan sees this, and he is determined it shall be hindered. . . The work for this time has certainly been a surprising work of various hindrances, owing to the false setting of matters before the minds of many of our people. That which is food to the churches is regarded as dangerous, and should not be given them. . . Heaven is looking upon us all, and what can they think of recent developments? While in this condition of things, building up barriers, we not only deprive ourselves of great light and precious advantages, but just now, when we so much need it, we place ourselves where light cannot be communicated from heaven that we ought to communicate to others. (MS. 13, 1889.) In a deeply thought-provoking, almost cryptic sermon delivered at Minneapolis Sabbath, October 20, 1888, Mrs. White spoke of Elijah being fed by a widow outside of Israel because those in Israel who had light hadn t lived up to it. She dwelt upon the thought of Naaman being cleansed from his leprosy, while Israelitish lepers remained defiled. Then she spoke of the inhabitants of Nazareth rising up against the son of Joseph and Mary, offended that the lowly One whom they had known as a humble carpenter in their midst should instruct them: But here a state of unbelief arises, Is not this Joseph s son? . . . What did they do in their madness? They rose up and thrust Him out of the city. Here I want to tell you what a terrible thing it is if God gives light, and it is impressed on your heart and spirit . . . why, God will withdraw His Spirit unless His truth is accepted. But God was accepted (at Nazareth) by 1888 Re-Examined - 60 some; the witness was here that He was God; but a counter influence pressed in, and the evil angels were working through the congregation to raise doubts that would cause the hearts to disbelieve so that it would shut out every ray

of light that God would permit to shine. No more could He do in such a place. You can see . . . what mistakes the people had made; they had riot advanced, and because they had not advanced, they had been working under the generalship of Satan, and yet claim(ed) that they were working under the generalship of God. But God had nothing to do with their unbelief and raising up against Jesus Christ. I wish you could see and feel that if you are not advancing, you are retrograding. (Then enlarged upon the idea that Satan enters in to shut out light when it is not received) (MS. 8, 1888. Sermon at General Conference Session, Sabbath, Oct. 20, 1888.) Two days before, Mrs. White had solemnly warned that, so far as advanced light commensurate with the latter rain was concerned, the steps of unbelief being taken would be fatal: We have a great and solemn truth committed to us for these last days, but a mere assent to and belief in this truth will not save us. . . We are losing a great deal of blessing we might have had at this meeting (Minneapolis), because we do not take advance steps in the Christian life, as our duty is presented before us; and this will be an eternal loss. (MS. 8, 1888, Sermon delivered Oct. 18, 1888.) The fatal consequences to that generation cherishing the wonderful I during and after the Minneapolis Conference are set forth in two other quotations which follow: (The American Sentinel controversy was mingled with the righteousness by faith controversy, because the Lord had ordained A. T. Jones should lead out in both movements, simultaneously. Some of the light of the loud cry was evident in his presentations of religious liberty as the essence of the third angel s message. Consequently, we find the brethren opposing the religious liberty work along with the gracious message of Christ s righteousness.) What is the message to be given at this time? It is the third angel s message. But that light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth. Be careful how you treat it. . . . Beware how you indulge the attributes of Satan, and pour contempt upon the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. I know not but some have even now gone too far to return and repent. (T.M., 89, 90.) Stand not in the way of this light; let it not be disregarded or set aside as unworthy of attention or credence. If you wait for light to come in a way that will please every one, you will wait in vain. If you wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light will be withdrawn, and you will be left in darkness. Accept every ray of light that God sends. Men who neglect to heed the calls of the Spirit and Word of God, because obedience involves a cross, will lose their souls. When the books

are opened, and every man s work, and the motives that prompted him, are scrutinized by the Judge of all the earth, they will see what a Loss they have sustained. (5 T, 720.) 1888 Re-Examined - 61 Conclusion In conclusion, it is necessary to examine another statement from Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts: Righteousness by faith (was) not new light. There are those who have entertained the mistaken idea that the message of the righteousness of Christ was an unknown truth to the advent movement up to the time of the Minneapolis meeting, but the fact is that our pioneers taught it from the very beginning of the advent church. As a young preacher, I often heard our veterans, such as J. G. Matteson and E. W. Farnsworth, declare that justification by faith was not a new teaching in our church. Some of the best and most godly preachers we ever had told us that they had always preached forgiveness of sin through the merits of Christ alone, and salvation by grace alone. (L. H. Christian, Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, pp. 22S, 226.) In. the light of the quotations presented in this essay, it is evident that Mrs. White regarded the message of 1888 as advanced light, the beginning of the latter rain and loud cry. The insistence that the doctrine of righteousness by faith was not new to the Seventh-day Adventist church was the familiar hall-mark and insignia of the unfortunate opposition to the message of 1888. Not long after the Minneapolis meeting, Elder R. F. Cottrell wrote an article attacking the 1888 movement, entitled Where is the New Departure? This article, says a Theological Seminary Thesis on the subject, is an index to the thinking of those who did not fully understand the revival movement. Another writer who was a welcome contributor to the Review and Herald in those days when the church paper was opposed to the message was Elder Wolcott H. Littlejohn. In the issue of January 16, l894: Littlejohn attacked directly the revival movement (with his article) Justification by Faith Not a New Doctrine. He quoted Smith with pleasure, maintaining that the denomination had always held the doctrine, and only a few had failed to accept it. He refused to admit that we as a people have relied for justification upon our own works instead of the righteousness of Christ. A few weeks later, an article by Mrs. White, perhaps by coincidence, neatly met Littlejohn s objections. (N. F. Pease, Justification by Faith in the S. D. A . Church Before 1900, S. D. A. Theological Seminary Library; p. 83.) No matter how many godly preachers of a past generation maintained that the message of 1888 was a mere re-emphasis (and an implied unnecessary one) of what

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the church had always believed, the writings of Mrs. White have as neatly met their objections as her article referred to above met Littlejohn s objections. When will we be ready to desist following the line of the opposition to the gracious message of 1888? The publication to-day of such confusing sentiments 1888 Re-Examined - 62 in accord with the opposition to that heavenly light is a serious matter. In support of the idea that the message of 1888 was not advanced light, but what was taught from the very beginning of the advent church, the following quotation from Mrs. White is used: Laborers in the cause of truth should present the righteousness of Christ, not as new light but as precious light that has for a time been lost sight of by the people: (Review and Herald, Mar. 20, l894. Quoted in Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, p. 226.) The context of this statement from a Review and Herald article shows that Mrs. White was speaking of public evangelism for the world. Our ministers must not present the cold, legal doctrines as heretofore, devoid of their verity; the great center of attraction, Jesus Christ, must not be. left out. Likewise, the Sabbath truth must never be presented as new light, but as precious light that has for a time been lost sight of by the people. Seventh-day Adventists are to be repairers of the breach, the restorers of paths to dwell in, the discoverers of (53) the old ways. Such a presentation will disarm prejudice, whereas the presentation of old truth as something new and novel will arouse opposition. Discoverers usually unearth old things that were known before; inventors usually concoct new things, which in the realm of theology, they obtain from their imagination. It would be fatal for Seventh-day Adventist ministers to try to present salvation by faith as a new invention. Although this statement tells us how to present to the world the message of Christ s righteousness, it does not tell us that the message of 1888 was not an advanced revelation to the church. Let a few other statements follow, which will harmonize perfectly with Jones and Waggoner s position that the third angel s message is the everlasting gospel, preached to Abraham in embryo, and continually unfolding through the ages: In Minneapolis God gave precious gems of truth to His people in new settings. (MS. 13, 1889.) Some of our brethren . . . appear to be anxious that none of our ministers shall depart from their former manner of teaching the good old doctrines. We inquire, Is it not time that fresh light should come to the people of God, to awaken them to greater earnestness and zeal? The exceeding great and precious promises given us in the Holy Scriptures have been lost sight of to a great extent.

(Review and Herald, Apri1 1, 1890.) A bright light shines upon our pathway to-day, and it leads to increased faith in Jesus. . . Our duties and obligations become more important as we obtain more distinct views of truth. Light makes manifest and reproves the errors that were concealed in darkness. . . As increased light is given, men must be reformed, 1888 Re-Examined - 63 elevated, and refined by it, or they will be more perverse arid stubborn than before the light came.( G.W. old edition, 104, 105.) In the same year in which the quotation referred to above was made, Mrs. White wrote about Jesus methods of teaching, as an example to the ministers who were to preach the third angel s message to the world. She said: He introduced old truths in a new and precious light. (MS. 44, l894.) It should be superfluous to add that the messengers whom Jesus sends in different ages to His people always do the same work. They are continually introducing the everlasting gospel in a new and precious light. The conflict between truth and error, light and darkness, waxes fiercer as we near the end. New revelations of the mystery of iniquity arise, necessitating new revelations of the age-old mystery of godliness to shine merciless light of truth upon them. The light is old, shining from eternity; the revelation is new. One more reference to Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts must be made in closing, to make this point clear: As to whether righteousness by faith was new light, Mrs. White spoke as follows: I have had the question asked, What do you think of this light that these men (A. T. Jones and E. J.Waggoner) are presenting? Why, I have been presenting it to you for the last forty-five years, the matchless charms of Christ. This is what I have been trying to present before your minds. Sermon delivered at Rome, N. Y., June 17, 1889; MS. 5, 3889. (L. H. Christian, op. cit., p. 227.) The next sentence of MS. 5, 1889 reads as follows: When Brother Waggoner brought out these ideas Minneapolis, it was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard, excepting the conversations between myself and my husband. (MS. 5, 1889.) 1888 Re-Examined - 64 CHAPTER 6

THE GRAVE SERIOUSNESS OF THE 1888-92 REACTION (54) Many assertions of the Spirit of Prophecy concerning the reaction to the 1888 light sound incredible. We may be tempted to discount (unconsciously, of course) much of their import as we read them. The reason they sound incredible is precisely that they are that to us our unbelief acts as a veil over our eyes and upon our heart. Hence it is that we can rationalize ourselves into a position of wishful thinking regarding 1888 such as has been examined in the previous chapters of this essay. What was a defeat we can blandly term a glorious victory ; where we lost the way we can speciously assume that we found it; our weary, protracted wandering in a mental, foggy wilderness, we can complacently assure ourselves, is the double-quick, triumphant march to victory. Such credulity is more extreme than any sharp-pointed statements to be found in the Spirit of Prophecy writings. A candid investigation of Mrs. White s writings, laying aside this vail upon our heart , will bring the picture of the mysterious 1888 epoch sharply into focus. Some of the quotations to be presented herewith have been considered in earlier chapters. They are repeated in connection with others for the purpose of focusing to as near pin-point accuracy as possible the truly alarming picture presented therein. Hazy, indistinct impressions should be further clarified. A few lightning flashes of stark truth should dispel the cloudy mist that envelopes Minneapolis in our thinking, and stab our minds into realizing that we are still there; or at least are in the suburbs yet. We are a spectacle unto angels, and will soon be unto men. It is bad enough to play the fool on the stage of Time; but it is even worse not to realize our role! What the inhabitants of heaven already realize that we truly did at Minneapolis, and what the inhabitants of the world will soon themselves know, is as fo1lows: 1888 Re-Examined - 65 The Holy Spirit Was Insulted We rightly consider that Seventh-day Adventism should render its adherents kind and courteous to all mankind. The Bible enjoins courtesy, and it presents many illustrations of the unselfish spirit, the gentle grace, the winsome temper, that characterize true politeness. These are but reflections of the character of Christ. (Ed. 241, 242.) But ought we not to be courteous to the Spirit of God, as well as to our fellow man? It appears we have not been courteous: (The brethren) were moved at the meeting (Minneapolis) by another spirit,

and they knew not that God had sent these young men to bear a special message to them, which they treated with ridicule and contempt (not realizing that the heavenly intelligences were looking upon them). . . . I know that at the time the Spirit of God was insulted, and now when I see anything approaching to the same course of action, I am exceedingly pained. (Letter S 24, 1892.) If men would only give up (1896) their spirit of resistance to the Holy Spirit, the spirit which has long been leaving their religious experience, God s Spirit would address itself to their hearts . . . But the Holy Spirit has been insulted, and light has been rejected. (TM 393.) Now our meeting is drawing to a close and . . . there has not been a single break so as to let the Spirit of God in. Now I was saying what was the use of our assembling here together and for our ministering brethren to come in if they are here only to shut out the Spirit of God from the people? (Sermon, Oct. 24, 1888, MS 9, 1888.) Let us pray that when it (the Holy Spirit) shall be graciously bestowed our cold hearts may be revived, and we may have discernment to understand that it is from God, and receive it with joy. Some have treated the Spirit as an unwelcome guest, refusing to receive the rich gift, refusing to acknowledge it, turning from it, and condemning it as fanaticism. (TM 64.) It should be clear that trifling with the Holy Spirit is a much more dangerous undertaking than is meet for Seventh-day Adventist ministers. Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost . . . (Mark 12:32). After Minneapolis, the great yearning heart of God beheld the youth at Battle Creek, and beholding them, loved them. But, alas, Are not the teachers in our schools in danger of blasphemy, of charging the Holy Spirit of God with being a deceiving power, and leading into fanaticism. . . . A succession of showers from the living waters has come to you at Battle Creek. Each shower was a consecrated inflowing of divine influeuce; but you did not recognize it as such. Instead of drinking copiously at the streams of salvation, so freely offered through the influence of the Holy Spirit, you turned to common sewers, and tried to satisfy your soul-thirst with the polluted waters of human science. The result 1888 Re-Examined - 66 has been parched hearts . . . If they are again visited by the Holy Spirit, I hope they will not call righteousness sin, and sin righteousness. (FE 434, 435.)

Let us permit no cloud to befog the reality of those words. The spirit of man which is in him must be guided by some spirit. If we turn away from the Holy Spirit, there is but one other to which we can yield. Some of our brethren . . . are full of jealousy and evil surmising, and are ever ready to show in just what way they differ with Elder Jones or Waggoner. The same spirit that was manifested in the past (1888) manifests itself on every opportunity (1892); but this is not from the impulse of the Spirit of God . . . I can never forget the experience which we had in Minneapolis, or the things which were then revealed to me in regard to the spirit that controlled men, the words spoken, the actions done in obedience to the powers of evil . . . They were moved at the meeting by another spirit. (Letter S 24, 1892.) The Holy Spirit of God has every right to His revenge, and it is not inconsistent with His divine character that He take it when the time comes. And how can He seek His revenge, consistent with His character, which is Love? We shall see, when the time comes, that Love s revenge is more poignantly painful to endure than any other; for it will still be the voice of Love that speaks: There will be messages borne; and those who have rejected the message God has sent will hear most startling declarations. The Holy Spirit will invest the announcement with a sanctity and solemnity which will appear terrible in the ears of those who have heard the pleadings of infinite love, and have not responded to the offers of pardon and forgiveness. Injured and insulted Deity will speak, proclaiming the sins that have been hidden. As the priests and rulers, full of indignation and terror, sought refuge in flight at the last scene of the cleansing of the temple, so will it be in the work for these last days. (Special Test., Series A, Mo. 7, pp. 54, 55.) Jesus Christ Spurned and Insulted The meek and lowly Jesus still condescends to identify Himself with His brethren, who are always, it seems, only men . Strange, how He so often chooses those who are roots out of a dry ground : How long will you hate and despise the messengers of God s righteousness? God has given them His message . . . Here was evidence, that all might discern whom the Lord recognized as His servants . . . These men whom you have spoken against have been as signs in the world, as witnesses for God ... If you reject Christ s delegated messengers, you reject Christ. (TM 96, 97.) To accuse and criticize those whom God is using is to accuse and criticize

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the Lord who has sent them . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 67 It is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give place to skepticism. With many the cry of the heart has been, We will not have this man to reign over us. . . . The true religion, the only religion of the Bible, that teaches forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, and rejected. It has been denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism. But it is the life of Jesus Christ in the soul. (TM 466, 467, 468.) How painful it is to see in what way that glorious message given at Minneapolis is represented by contemporary writers to have been the cause of a theological bush fight, a contentious message of verbal pugilistics arousing justifiable resentment! We have already had occasion to note Mrs. White s and others testimonies to the effect that E. J. Waggoner s eleven or twelve studies at Minneapolis on righteousness by faith were delivered in a calm, straight forward manner free from combative excitement, presented as a Christian gentleman should present them. They quite took away the spirit of debate, and left souls that were susceptible to the Spirit of God as subdued, repentant sinners . Note how the following quotation still casts contempt upon the messenger , if not upon the message itself: As we look back on the controversy we perceive that it was the rancors aroused by personalities, much more than the differences in beliefs, which caused the difficulty. The party of Butler, Smith and Morrison believed in the theory of justification by faith . . . The party of Waggoner and Jones believed in the performance of good works; but . . . bore almost exclusively upon faith as the factor in salvation. Minds which could Calmly reason could harmonize these views, but neither side was dispose4 to consider the other side calmly. (A, W. Spalding, Captains of the Host, p. 599.) Was the issue there indeed a mere matter of personalities? Did those who were declared to be representing our Lord arouse the rancors that made heaven turn from the scene with shame? Were the Lord s messengers, in the capacity of agents for the proclamation of the righteousness of Christ, indisposed to calmly reason ? Why should the prophet recognize precious light in their unsanctified shouting (Ibid., p. 593), unreasonable, ranting extreme teaching (Ibid., p. 601)? Was the most gracious call Heaven ever extended to the church a mere matter of men s persons, in admiration because of advantage ? No. Back of the shameful scene at Minneapolis, and back of the confusing shadows caused by men s unbelief to-day, stands the Figure who was the Rock of

1888 Re-Examined - 68 offence and the Stone of stumbling at that fateful meeting. Is His ear pleased to hear us add to our sin of discourtesy to Him a stubborn denial of it? Men professing godliness have despised Christ in the person of His messengers. Like the Jews, they reject God s message. The Jews asked regarding Christ, who is this? Is not this Joseph s son? He was not the Christ that the Jews had looked for. So to-day the agencies that God sends are not what men have looked for . . . Men may not be able to understand why God sends this one or that one. His work may be a matter of curiosity. God will not satisfy this curiosity; and His word will not return unto Him void. (FE 472.) I want to tell you, dear friends, that we have done great dishonor to our Master. . . . We are not polite to Christ. We do not recognize His presence. We do not realize that He is to be our honored Guest, that we are encircled by His long human arm, while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite . . . We are to recognize Christ. (G. C. B., 1901, p. 36.) Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticize the men and their imperfections, because they do not speak the message of truth with all the grace and polish desirable. . . . Christ has registered all the hard, proud, sneering speeches spoken against His servants as against Himself. (R. & H., May 27, 1890.) We must learn at last the one great lesson of history: that the true Christ has always been misapprehended. As often expected, He is as often rejected. Modern Israel must overcome at last all past failures of ancient Israel. No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Flesh and blood can never reveal to us the true credentials of the root out of a dry ground which may stand before us. Minneapolis teaches us that the ancient Jews will have to make room in history for us to kneel down beside them: Many think that had they lived in Christ s day, they would have been among His believing followers; but if all the miracles of Christ were presented before those whose hearts are not subdued by the Spirit of God, their convictions would not be followed, nor their faith increased. Light has been shining upon the church of God, but many have said by their indifferent attitude, We want not Thy way, O God, but our own way. The kingdom of heaven has come very near, and they have caught glimpses of the Father and the Son, but they have barred the door of the heart, and have not received the Heavenly Guests; for as yet they know not the love of God. . . . There is less excuse in our day for stubbornness and unbelief than there was for the Jews in the days of Christ. They did not have before them the example of a nation that had suffered retribution for their unbelief and

disobedience . . . In our day greater light and greater evidence is given . . . Our sin and its retribution will be the greater, if we refuse to walk in the light. Many say, If I had only lived in the days of Christ, I would not have wrested His words, or falsely interpreted His instruction. I would not have rejected and crucified Him, as did the Jews. But that will be proved by the way in which you deal with His message and His messengers today. When He sends His messages of mercy, the light of His truth, He is sending the spirit of truth to you, and if you accept the message, you accept of Jesus. Those who declare that if they had lived in the days of Christ they would not do as did the rejecters of His mercy, will to-day be tested. (R. & H., April 11, 1893.) 1888 Re-Examined - 69 Men (among us) can become just as were the Pharisees wide-awake to condemn the greatest teacher that the world ever knew . . . Oh, the foolishness of men! the weakness of men! (TM 294.) Let us hope there is still a remnant of gracious opportunity left to answer the following questions properly: The same disobedience and failure which were seen in the Jewish church have characterized in a greater degree the people who have had this great light from Heaven in the last messages of warning. Shall we let the history of Israel be repeated in our experience? Shall we, like them, squander our opportunities and privileges until God shall permit oppression and persecution to come upon us? Will the work which might be performed in peace and comparative prosperity be left undone until it must be performed in days of darkness, under the pressure of trial and persecution? There is a terrible amount of guilt for which the church is responsible. (5T 456, 457.) A serious misconception has come to be patent to-day amongst us. It is supposed that the controversy of 1888 and thereafter was over a doctrine, a tenet of faith. Inasmuch as that tenet of faith appears in our present Year Book, and has appeared in our denominational literature for a century, it is further assumed that the entire issue of 1888 was simply that of how much emphasis to put on the preaching of this doctrine. Theses in the Theological Seminary have been written to inquire what place the teaching of justification and righteousness by faith has been accorded alongside the distinctive tenets of Seventh-day Adventists. (See Bruno Steinweg, Justification By Faith in the S. D. A. Church After 1900 , S. B. A. Theological Seminary Thesis, p. 4.) The issue was not over a doctrine or a tenet . No. It was rather: What think ye of Christ? Time and the Spirit of Prophecy writings prove the truth of the following words spoken over forty years ago:

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Twenty years ago God sent to the Seventh-day Adventist denomination the message of the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ to deliver them from any appearance of liability to the charge of legalism. This righteousness of God, which is by faith, was then treated with contempt by the administration of the organized work of the denomination. By the then president of the General Conference it was flouted as the much vaunted doctrine of justification by faith . At Minneapolis, in 1888, the General Conference administration did its very best to have the denomination committed by a vote of the General Conference to the covenant of Obey and Live , to righteousness by works. The attempt failed then; but from that day till this, that spirit and that element have never ceased that endeavor; though when they found that they could not accomplish it just then, they apparently and professedly accepted righteousness by faith. But they never did accept it in the truth that it is. They never did accept it as life and righteousness from God; but only as a doctrine to be put on a, list of strung on a string with other doctrines , and preached as 1888 Re-Examined - 70 a subject , with other doctrinal subjects . (A. T. Jones, The Everlasting Gospel of God s Everlasting Covenant, p. 31.) (59) While the Son of God hangs upon His Cross, must we continue to cast lots in various inquiries to see how to divide His vesture, this doctrine or tenet of righteousness by faith, among and alongside of the distinctive tenets of Seventh-day Adventists ? Confusion has paralyzed our thinking when we suppose that the righteousness of the Son of God is a doctrine or tenet of faith to be emphasized in the intricate and homiletical balance of our preaching. How this confusion over a doctrine reared its head amongst us will be seen in the following quotations: Whenever the Lord has a special work to do among His people, when He would arouse their minds to contemplate vital truth, Satan will work to divert the mind by introducing minor points of difference, in order that he may create an issue concerning doctrines that are not essential to the understanding of the point in hand, and thus bring about disunion, and distract attention from the essential point. When this occurs, the Lord is at work making impressions upon the hearts of men, concerning that which is necessary to their salvation. Then if Satan can draw the mind away to some unimportant issue, and cause the people to divide on some minor point, so that their hearts are barricaded against light and truth, he exults in malicious triumph. This he has done in the past, and this he purposes to do still, in order that he may cast his hellish shadow between the people and their God, and cut off the light that the Lord would have shine upon His children. (R. & H., Oct. 18, 1892.)

The crying baby which distracted the attention of nearly all the brethren at the Minneapolis meeting was the doctrinal point of the law in Galatians . Many fell for Satan s trap, and attention was successfully drawn away from the precious light being presented in Waggoner s eleven or twelve studies. It wasn t a doctrine that was being torn in pieces before it ever reached the bottom of the den it was the glorious offer of righteousness through the faith of Christ, a living and real heart experience with Him, that was being despised. (Compare TM 97 and 292.) A month before the Review article quoted above appeared, Mrs. White wrote a long letter to the President of the General Conference, in which she touched upon the same point of doctrinal distractions versus the heart experience of knowing Christ in the more intimate way that was lovingly offered us in 1888: When men listen to the Lord s message, but through temptation allow prejudice to bar the mind and heart against the reception of truth, the 1888 Re-Examined - 71 enemy has the power to present the most precious things in a distorted light. Looking through the medium of prejudice and passion, they feel too indignant to search the Scriptures in a Christlike spirit, but repudiate the whole matter because points are presented that are not in accordance with their own ideas. When a new view is presented, the question is often asked, Who are its advocates? What is the position or influence of the one who would teach us, who have been students of the Bible for many years? God will send His words of warning by whom He will send. And the question to be settled is not what person is it who brings the message; this does not in any way affect the word spoken . . . In regard to the testimony that has come to us through the Lord s messengers (Jones and Waggoner) we can say, We know in whom we have believed ; we know that Christ is our righteousness, not alone because He is so described in the Bible, but because we have felt His transforming power in our hearts. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, Sept. 1, 1892, O 19, d 92.) (60) Ever since Minneapolis, the doctrine attitude has absorbed our attention. Dry, stale homilies have been repeatedly presented by those who have imagined that they were resurrecting the message of 1888, splitting hairs over the difference between imputed and imparted righteousness, justification and sanctification, expiation, propitiation, until the whole subject of righteousness by faith has become almost nauseating to our people. The same trouble prevailed soon after 1888: Many commit the error of trying to define minutely the fine points of distinction between justification and sanctification. Into the definitions of these two terms they often bring their own ideas and speculations. Why

try to be more minute than is Inspiration on the vital question of righteousness by faith? Why try to work out every minute point, as if the salvation of the soul depended upon all having exactly your understanding of this matter . . . You are in danger of making a world of an atom and an atom of a world. (Battle Creek, February 27, 1891, Diary, MS 6, 1903.) Now that men know how to split the atom, which they didn t know then, the plague is worse. The doctrine or tenet of faith has been greatly emphasized, while the Cross and the broken hearted sinner kneeling before it has been quite forgotten. May we come to see that it was the living, loving Christ who was insulted at Minneapolis, and not the cold doctrine that was misunderstood ! We distrusted those swellings of the heart which were His drawings, and cast contempt upon Him who was drawing us by terming His tenderness fanaticism . The mysterious attraction of the uplifted Cross drew from us zealous declaiming against enthusiasm and fanaticism. (See TM 80, 81.) Oh, what a Saviour do we have, who can forgive us! These words, written in 1867, by George MacDonald, seem almost prophetic 1888 Re-Examined - 72 of what happened in 1888 amongst us: He would come and dwell with us, if we would but open the chambers to receive Him. How shall we receive Him if, avoiding judgment, we hold this or that daub of authority or tradition hanging upon our walls to be the real likeness of our Lord? Is it not possible at least that, judging unrighteous judgment by such while we flatter ourselves that we are refusing to judge, we may close our doors against the Master Himself as an imposter, not finding Him like the picture that hangs in our oratory? (George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons, pp. 69, 70. London: Alexander Strahan, Publisher, 1867.) Mrs Waite s Ministry Was Seriously Questioned It was a puzzle to the brethren of that era how Mrs. White could persist in supporting two young men against the calm, stolid judgment of the established brethren. It remains a puzzle to many of us to-day (perhaps unconsciously) how she could support two ranting extremists whose very extremism, so we suppose, led them into apostasy. If balance was what was needed, why did she so decidedly support the apparently unbalanced? In recent books, her position at Minneapolis is represented as being middle ground between Jones and Waggoner (61) on the one hand and the brethren on the other. The Lord s messengers whom Mrs. White faithfully upheld are thus represented to be on the verge of being carried away by their extreme views of certain points , viz., salvation by

faith in Jesus Christ. The resulting synthesis is unsatisfying to reason. If she was afraid, as L. H. Christian in Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts more than implies, that Jones and Waggoner s teaching on Christ s righteousness contained extreme views calculated to carry away their adherents, why did she so unequivocally support that teaching and experience? Way did she go so far as to liken the brethren s reaction to Jones and Waggoner s message to the Jews reception of Christ? One author refers disparagingly to the party of Waggoner and Jones , forgetting for the moment that there was no such party, except as Mrs. White herself joined them. Later he admits her support: The party of Waggoner and Jones believed in the performance of good works; but . . . they bore almost exclusively upon faith as the factor in salvation . . . Neither side was disposed to consider the other side calmly . . . The fact that they could not be downed, and that they had the support of Mrs. White, intensified the animosity of their critics . . . Jones and Waggoner had caught a vision of this supreme glory of Christ, and they were sent of God to reveal it. Yet the vividness of the truth at times led them to meet the opposition with extreme statements . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 73 Extreme teaching of Jones and Waggoner. (A. W. Spalding, op. cit., p. 599, 601.) Here is a puzzling problem to reconcile in our minds to-day, how Mrs. White could indorse extreme teaching , even though there was some good in it. The prophet of the Lord was always quick to recognize that the most subtle form of evil possible is that which contains good mixed with embryonic evil. The third paragraph of the citation above goes so far as to admit that the vividness of the vision of Christ leads to extremism! Was that not precisely the fear that the opposition entertained at and following Minneapolis? And was that not precisely the caviling type of opposition that Mrs. White so boldly denounced? It is impossible to work out a modern historical balance between Mrs. White s position and that of the opposing brethren of that era, without perpetuating the very evils the following quotations condemn: Here was evidence, that all might discern whom the Lord recognized as His servants. But there are those who despised the men and the message they bore. They have taunted them with being fanatics, extremists, and enthusiasts. (TM 97.) They (the opposition). have been zealously declaiming against enthusiasm and fanaticism. Faith . . . that God has enjoined upon His people to exercise, is called fanaticism. But . . .

If there is anything in our world that should inspire enthusiasm, it is the cross of Calvary. (TM 80, 81.) The true religion, the only religion of the Bible, that teaches forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, and rejected. It has been denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism. (TM 468.) The doctrinal differences over the ten horns and the law in Galatians were Satan s distractions to divert attention from the presence of our Lord at that meeting. Mrs. White did not consider the presentation of the righteousness of Christ by Jones or Waggoner to be either extreme or radical , but pointedly rebuked the caviling brethren because they thought it was! Witness the following from Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, which follows the critical attitude of the opposition of long ago: Danger of Extreme Positions. Eagerness for debate was not the only peril that threatened the Adventist Church at the time of the Minneapolis session. Some were strongly inclined to take radical positions, as though it were a sign of strength to be extreme (an allusion to Jones vs. Smith). Mrs. White never wrote a line about the ten kingdoms to support either one side or the other. Nor did she endorse the ideas advanced by Elder Waggoner 1888 Re-Examined - 74 concerning Galatians (sic). She urged strongly that the discussion of this question should be dropped and attention be given to the subject of justification by faith. She even seemed to have a feeling that the two men who were so prominent at that time might later on be carried away by their extreme views of certain points. (L. H. Christian, op. cit., p. 232.) Because this unfortunate position herein perpetuated has a distinct bearing on our present attitude toward the Spirit of Prophecy, it is necessary to digress long enough to investigate more fully these virtual accusations against Jones and Waggoner. Three points must be noted: (1) If Jones. and Waggoner were at all radical and extreme at the time of the Minneapolis meeting, why should Mrs. White write as follows concerning their message and work: The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones . . . God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, . . . in clear, distinct lines. . .

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God gave to His messengers just what the people needed. (TM 91, 93, 95, emphasis supplied.) (2) If Mrs. White did not endorse any of Waggoner s ideas concerning Galatians, and urged that the discussion of this question should be dropped , then it is difficult to see how Waggoner was able to bring any precious light concerning the relation between the righteousness of Christ and the law. While it is true that she took no position on the ceremonial law in Galatians, she did not disparage investigation of the subject. This may seem like a minor point, unworthy of careful investigation at this late hour; but it is vital if the truth of what happened at Minneapolis is focused to the closest accuracy possible. The God of heaven will not excuse us for wilful blindness. What Mrs. White said concerning Waggoner s studies at Minneapolis is as follows, and shows clearly that she did not oppose investigation of the entire subject, but did oppose the bitter opposition of those who would not listen calmly to the reasons for his views: Doctor Waggoner has spoken to us in a straight forward manner. There is precious light in what he has said. Some things presented in reference to the law in Galatians, if I fully understand his position, do not harmonize with the understanding I have had of this subject; but truth will lose nothing in investigation, therefore I plead for Christ s sake that you come to the living oracles . . . Everyone should feel that he has the privilege of searching the Scriptures for himself, and he should do this 1888 Re-Examined - 75 with earnest prayer that God will give him a right understanding or His word . . . Some interpretations of Scripture given by Dr. Waggoner I do not regard as correct. . . . (But) the fact that he honestly holds some views of Scripture differing from yours and mine, is no reason we should treat him as an offender, as a dangerous man, and make him the subject of unjust criticism. We should not raise a voice of censure against him or his teachings unless we can present reasons for so doing, and show him that he is in error. No one should feel at liberty to give loose rein to the combative spirit . . . It is perilous to make decisions upon any controverted point without dispassionately considering all sides of the question . . . Even (if) the position we have held upon the two laws is truth, the spirit of truth will not countenance any such measures to defend it as many of you would take ... Stop your unsanctified criticism and come and investigate the subject . . .

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There (is) not perfection on all points on either aide of the question under discussion. We must search the Scriptures for evidence of truth . . . With humbled, softened hearts, with respect and love for one another, search your Bible . . . And let no one pursue an unfair course, not willing to open their ears to hear and yet free to comment and quibble and sow doubt of that which they will not take time to understand . . . If men themselves were controlled by the Holy Spirit they . . . would be eager to come to the task of searching, digging in the mines of God for the precious ore . . . It is not wise for one of these young men to commit himself to a decision at this meeting where opposition rather than investigation is the order of the day. (MS 15, 1888.) Thus it can be seen that the burden of Mrs. White s reproofs were not at all directed against any extreme positions Waggoner had taken or presented, nor against his manner of presenting his views. Instead of charging him with being radical or extreme , she intimates strongly that some of his views were immature there was not perfection . In God s plan, this immaturity was to be overcome by faithful, earnest digging in the mines of God for the precious ore. This thought is in perfect harmony with conclusions reached in previous chapters of this essay that the light that shone at Minneapolis was but the beginning of the latter rain, of that light which was to lighten the earth with God s glory. And neither was it God s plan that one or two young men should do all the digging. These two should start the investigations; other keen and more mature minds, willing to receive every ray of light that God shall send . . . though it should come through the humblest of His servants (MS 15, 1888), should go on with the deep investigation until the everlasting gospel should unfold before the brethren in a mature and complete whole, light 1888 Re-Examined - 76 which should lighten this dark world as it had never been seen before. If that was God s purpose, then it would perforce be necessary that the views of both Waggoner and Jones should not be perfect or mature at that stage of development. They were merely to be the leaders, challenging their brethren to the greatest treasure hunt of the ages. The very imperfection and immaturity of their views would provide the gracious opportunity for rallying the hearty cooperation of the brethren. Had they seen all the light in its perfection, where would have been the joy of the brethren in the sheer delight of discovery? God, in His infinite mercy, would share it among them. It was this gracious privilege that the brethren scorned, taunting the pioneer miners of hidden, buried spiritual truth with being fanatics and extremists . Oh, what shame, that we to-day must still regard them so! (3) The charge that Jones and Waggoner were so unstable as to be in (64)

danger, even at Minneapolis, of being carried away with their extreme views , casts a wholly unjustified aspersion on the Lord s messengers, and thus upon Mrs. White herself. God does not choose messengers so unstable, nor does He endow them with messages so potentially self-destructive. His mercy is greater than that. A letter written to A. T. Jones April 9, 1893, is often quoted to show that he was teaching extreme views. Thus it is assumed that he was in danger (along with Waggoner) of being radical at Minneapolis. The impression left upon minds is inevitable that the message which was brought at Minneapolis was unbalanced. As we saw in a previous section of this chapter, the further impression is inevitable that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were likewise unbalanced; for it is repeatedly asserted in the Spirit of Prophecy that the message and messengers of 1888 represented Christ! Men will persist in looking back upon that era through the smoked glasses of Jones and Waggoner s later apostasy, and thus unwittingly fulfill, in spirit if not in letter, the predicted confusion which would exist in minds that wanted that very thing to 1888 Re-Examined - 77 happen. Their apostasy and the reasons for it will be carefully examined in a later chapter of this essay. It must suffice for the present to point out that A. T. Jones was led astray in the early part of 1893, before the letter referred to above was written, by a minister later highly honored among us; and that the beginning of Jones later defection from the faith took place as a result of the attitude of the brethren during the 1893 General Conference session which climaxed years of unreasonable, trying opposition. The letter above referred to does not apply to Jones teaching on Christ s righteousness (65) previous to 1893; and even at the time of its being written, it does not accuse him of being an extremist, but of stating things too strongly, thus giving opportunity to his caviling opposition to accuse him of being an extremist. Sister White knew, she said, he was not an extremist, for you look in reality upon these subjects as I do (Letter to A. T. Jones, April 9, 1893). If even in 1893 Jones looked in reality upon those subjects as Mrs. White did, would she not also be in danger of being carried away by extremism? It will be seen that the truth is not that Jones and Waggoner were eventually carried away by their extreme views of certain points but that they were driven away by the unreasoning, caviling, stubborn, persistent hatred and opposition of those whom they were sent to enlighten. We must cease casting this terrible aspersion upon the heavenly message of 1888 that it led to extremism and fanaticism as though it led its champions astray. Was Moses prophetic gift the cause of his sin at Horeb? Thoroughness requires that we examine yet another subtle disparagement of the message and the messengers of 1888: Mrs. White is represented (and

very truthfully) as standing like a rock in the midst of the storm of Minneapolis, but the storm is implied to have been raging in radical, extreme shouting on the part of Jones and Waggoner, for which unfortunate impression no evidence is given. It is thus implied that the messengers of the Lord were equally guilty of ranting, selfish, unreasoning attitudes. While it is true that the scenes which took place at that meeting made the God of heaven ashamed to call those who took part in them His brethren, (Special Test. to R. & H. 1888 Re-Examined - 78 Office, 1896, p. 16, 17), it is also true that here was evidence, that all might discern whom the Lord recognized as His servants (Jones and Waggoner) (TM 97). There is no evidence presented from the Spirit of Prophecy in either Christian s or Spalding s book, nor in Theological Seminary theses, that in their presentation of Christ s righteousness at Minneapolis, either Jones or Waggoner manifested an argumentative, combative, unChristian spirit, as is implied in the following: The net result was confusion, wrangling, deterioration of Christian spirit, the threat of a split which would tear the church in sunder. Never before in the history of this people had there been an issue so grave, in which not one party alone, but both parties, were at fault. The conservatives, crying, Stand by the old landmarks, branded the new teachers as radical, subversive, undisciplined; the progressives, shouting, Christ is all , declared that the Church could not stand except on the truth they were proclaiming; and yet, however much they were justified, they gave evidence that they were not wholly sanctified . . . Mrs. White stood like a rock in the midst of the storm . . . She did not take a position on the law in Galatians, declaring that it required more study; but on the subject of justification by faith she was emphatic. In her addresses she consistently presented, not in the argumentative form of of the principal protagonists, but with the measured, moving conviction of the Holy Spirit, the same truth of justification. (A. W. Spalding, op. cit., pp. 593, 594.) The implication is thus that Mrs. White was actually, for all her support of the doctrine of justification, neutral in the storm ; and that the party of Jones and Waggoner was at fault equally with, or at least likewise with, those of whom the God of heaven was ashamed; and that Mrs. White was obliged to rescue the torn and mutilated doctrine of justification by faith from the argumentative . . . protagonists who presented it in an unsanctified way, and present it herself as it ought to be, free from the principal protagonists pride of opinion . Statements from Mrs. White presented already in this essay make it plain that the storm at Minneapolis was a conflict between Christ and Satan, the

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Holy Spirit and another spirit , the righteousness of Christ and self. In that storm , Mrs. White stood unequivocally for the truth of Christ s righteousness, as presented by Jones and Waggoner. The following words, written in 1892, have a pathetic application even to-day: I have deep sorrow of heart because I have seen how readily a word or action of Elder Jones or Elder Waggoner is criticized. How readily minds overlook all the good that has been done by them in the few years past, 1888 Re-Examined - 79 and see no evidence that God is working through these instrumentalities4 They hunt for something to condemn, and their attitude toward these brethren who are zealously engaged in doing a goad work, shows that feelings of enmity and bitterness are in the heart. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, Sept, 1, 1892, O. 19, d 92.) It is not commonly understood to-day that the opposition to Jones and Waggoner entailed as a consequence some most unjustifiable and surprising opposition against Mrs. White herself, so strongly did she identify her cause with that of the two younger brethren: Again and again did I bear my testimony to those assembled in a clear and forcible manner, but that testimony was not received. When I came to Battle Creek, I repeated the same testimony in the presence of Elder Butler, but there was not one who had the courage to stand on my side and help Elder Butler to see that he, as well as others, had taken wrong positions, and had misapprehended my words, and had false ideas in reference to my position and work. The prejudice of Elder Butler was greater after hearing the various reports from our ministering brethren at that meeting in Minneapo1is. Elder Butler presented the matter before me in a letter stating that my attitude at that Conference just about broke the hearts of some of our ministering brethren at that meeting . . . Since some of my brethren hold me in the light they do, that my judgment is of no more value than that of any other, or of one who has not been called to this special work, and that I am subject to the influence of my son Willie, or of some others, why do you send for Sister White to attend your camp meetings or special meetings? I cannot come. I could not do you any good, and it would only be trifling with the sacred responsibilities the Lord has laid upon me. You have not given me one word to intimate that your position or sentiments have changed, or that you viewed me or my work in a different light . . . If I should harmonize with your ideas and carry forward the line of work you sincerely wish me to accomplish, great use would be made of Sister White s testimony . . .

To have these words distorted, misapprehended by unbelievers, I expect, and it is no surprise to me; but to have my brethren who are acquainted with my mission and my work, trifle with the message that God gives me to bear, grieves His spirit and is discouraging to me . . .

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My way is hedged up by my brethren . . . I hope you will make crooked things straight. (Letter U-3-1889, Wash., D. C., Jan. 25, 1889.) It would be far more agreeable to eliminate some of the statements given by the Spirit of Prophecy regarding the attitude of some of the leaders toward the message and the messengers. But this cannot be done without giving only a partial presentation of the situation which developed at the Conference, thus leaving the question in more or less of mystery. (A. G. Daniells, Christ Our Righteousness, p. 43.) It would also be agreeable to minimize this opposition to the Spirit of Prophecy itself, and leave the impression that it was a minor misunderstanding on the part of good men who later came to their 1888 Re-Examined - 80 senses , and made everything right. That some did make humble confessions is very true. But the repentance came too late, so far as that phase of the opposition was concerned, to prevent some very sad consequences. In 1890 Mrs. White was still conscious of serious misconceptions of her work: What reserve power has the Lord with which to reach those wh9 have cast aside His warnings and reproofs, and have accredited the testimonies of the Spirit of God to no higher source than human wisdom? In the Judgment, what can you who have done this, offer to God as an excuse for turning from the evidence that God was in the work? . . . I would not now rehearse before you the evidences given in the past two years of the dealings of God by His chosen servant. (Nov. 3, 1890, quoted in G. C. B. 1893, Feb. 7, 8.) So determined was the opposition to Jones and Waggoner that when Mrs. White supported them, standing by their side, she simply exposed herself as well to the merciless opposing fire of fault-finding and ridicule. A. T. Jones described it bluntly: (After reminding them that the brethren in 1888 rejected the loud cry) They didn t know they were doing this, but the Spirit of the Lord was there to tell them they were doing it . . . When the prophet told them what they were doing, they simply set the prophet aside with all the rest. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., 1893.) Mrs. White was conscious, even at Minneapolis, that she had suffered a loss in prestige among the opposing brethren:

If the ministers will not receive the light, I want to give the people a chance; perhaps they may receive it . . . (Formerly) you acknowledged that Sister White was right. But somehow it has changed now, and Sister White is different. Just like the Jewish nation. (Oct. 24, 1888, MS 9, 1888.) As late as 1893 we find references (and there are probably others) to the doubts concerning the Spirit of Prophecy encouraged by the sad Minneapo1is affair: The office of a messenger whom God has chosen to send with reproofs and warnings is strangely misunderstood at the present time. (R. & H., July 18, 1893.) A very sad result of this attitude toward Mrs. White s work, and which is tragically with us to the present time, is the neglect to circulate the book Great Controversy in a way commensurate with its most vital importance: The influence that grew out of the resistance of light and truth at Minneapolis tended to make of no effect the light God had given to His people through the Testimonies. Great Controversy Volume 4 has not had the circulation that it should have had, because some of those who occupy responsible positions were leavened with the spirit that prevailed at 1888 Re-Examined - 81 Minneapolis, a spirit that clouded the discernment of the people or God. . . What account will be rendered to God for thus retarding the work? (E. G. White letter read at G. C. Session, Feb. 27, 1893.) It was at that time following the Minneapolis meeting that Bible Readings was boosted for circulation, while the unsold copies of Great Controversy were neglected on the shelves. Mrs. White appealed to the publishing men to push the sale of her book. The brethren replied that they would as soon as Bible Readings was given a start so it could continue of itself. Mrs. White was disappointed that their promise was not kept: I know that the statement made that these books (Great Controversy and Patriarchs and Prophets) cannot be sold is untrue. I knew; for the Lord has instructed me that this is said because human devising has blocked the way for their sale. (MS 23, 1890, p. 85.) Should the canvasser any more than the minister, feel at liberty to act from selfish motives? Should he turn his back on all the principles of missionary work, and handle the book placed before him, shall I say, (68)

as a temptation? on which he can make the most money? Shall he have no interest to circulate any book but that which brings him the greatest financial gain?. . . Have you read Volume IV (Great Controversy)? Do you know what it contains? Have you any appreciation of the subject matter? Do you not see that the people need the light therein given? (See Circulation of the Conflict Series , E. C. White Estate, Letter 1, 1890.) I went to large expense in bringing out the illustrated editions of Great Controversy and Patriarchs and Prophets, and in making four sets of plates of each. This was done with the expectation of large sales. But these books were allowed to fall almost dead from the press, and for nearly three years little was done with them . . . When my books are handled disinterestedly, I think that I shall be able to settle my debts. (Mrs. White s Indebt, D-237-1903.) All of this evil surmising and suspicion was a trial to Mrs. White, as it was also to Jones and Waggoner. In a private letter in 1890 Mrs. White confided: I attend meetings In the small churches but feel that I have no strength to labor with the church who have had my testimony so abundantly, and yet those who have set themselves against my message, and have not been moved to change their position of resistance notwithstanding all the Lord has given me to say in demonstration of the Spirit and power, I have no hope could be helped by anything I should say further. They have resisted the appeals of the Spirit of God. I have no hope that the Lord has a reserve power to break down their resistance. I leave them in the hands of God, and unless the Lord places upon me a decided burden to speak words in the Tabernacle I shall not attempt to say anything until those who have acted a part to hedge up my way shall clear my path. If they have not recognized the Spirit of the Lord in the messages I have borne they will recognize it less now, for I have not strength to contend with the spirit, and resistance, doubts and unbelief which have barricaded their souls, 1888 Re-Examined - 82 that they could not see when good cometh. I have far greater liberty in speaking to unbelievers. They are interested. They feel impressed by the Spirit of God and say it seems those words are spoken under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Oh, it is the hardest place in the world, to speak where great light has come, to men in responsible positions. They have been enlightened, but have chosen darkness rather than light . . . (69 )

You may depend I have great sorrow of heart . . . What will be the end of this stubborn unbelief we have yet to learn. (Letter _______, Sept. 18, 1890, W-32, 1890.) How closely this opposition to the Spirit of Prophecy was entwined with the opposition to the message and messengers of 1888 will be seen in the case of Elder Uriah Smith. In a Theological Seminary Thesis on The Life and Work of Uriah Smith we read: Among the older ministers who opposed Mrs. White in this reformation (of 1888) was Uriah Smith, and one of the hardest trials that ever came to Smith resulted from his opposition on the issue fought out at this time. Not only during this meeting, but afterward, he was out of harmony with the counsel Mrs. White had given on this subject. He probably did not realize it, but he had been warned of the potential danger of unbelief as far back as 1871 (Testimony to the Church at Battle Creek, 1872). At times he had found it hard to yield his opinions. Notwithstanding the testimony or rebuke in 1882 which censured him while it upheld the work of Professor Bell, Elder Smith had been slow to reconcile himself to the testimony . . . That had not been pleasant. But that was not all. Mrs. White found it necessary to rebuke him for his stand at the Minneapolis conference. Evidently his reaction to this was unfavorable, and she saw that he had drifted further than he realized. She sensed the dangerous course he had taken and was considerably burdened for him. On October 7, 1890, she wrote a letter to Elder O. A. Olsen, . . . declaring that Brother Smith is ensnared by the enemy and cannot in his present state give the trumpet a certain sound . . . the displeasure of God is upon them both (Smith and Butler), yet Elder Smith is placed in positions as teacher to mold and fashion the minds of students, when it is a well known fact he is not standing in the light. He is not working in God s order. He is sowing seeds of unbelief that spring up and bear fruit for some souls to harvest . . . Elder Smith will not receive the light God has given to correct him, and he has not a spirit to correct by confession any wrong course he has pursued in the past . . . I hear everywhere I go objections to the testimonies quoting Elders Smith and Butler. They do not believe the Testimonies. They do not accept that which Sister White has had in reproof of their course . . . I have been shown that as he now stands, Satan has prepared his temptations to close about his soul. (R. J. Hammond, Life and Work of Uriah Smith, S. D. A. Theological Seminary Thesis, pp. 112, 113.) The fact of Elder Smith s confession and change of attitude will be considered more fully later in this essay. This quotation is given here not to draw attention to Elder Smiths personal condition at any time, but to the way in

which principles work in human hearts a~id in the Advent movement. The dead 1888 Re-Examined - 83 may rest in peace, but we will never be able to live at peace with God until we learn more truthfully some of the lessons from our past history. Some years after, order was gradually restored apparently, and the church continued to grow. All has apparently turned out well. But the 1888 episode is a parable, and God. will test us again. If we enter upon another similar test hampered by muddled thinking, indistinct and confused ideas of what happened in the past, we shall fall into the same condemnation. If we cannot focus the (70) picture of the past, we may be sure we are not focusing the present picture clearly. And as for the future, there will be no reserve power in earth or heaven to help us if we refuse now to face honest facts squarely. Therefore, in the light of the findings of this investigation: (1) We are to learn that any opposition to the work of God, whether that work be done in harmony with our expectations or not, requires a complementary opposition to the Spirit of Prophecy. In the matter of 1888, the rejection of the message from heaven as presented by Jones and Waggoner was a failure to recognize the Holy Spirit; was an insult to Jesus Christ; and required the setting aside of the faithful, humble messenger whom God had used since the beginning of the Advent movement. (2) Our contemporary attitude is still unappreciative and mistrustful of Jones and Waggoner s work from 1888-92. We are still suspicious of the precious message which they brought us from heaven in clear, distinct, lines , which was the truth as it is in Jesus . We still think it tended toward being radical and extreme. We still suppose that it carried the two messengers away into fanaticism, resulting in their apostasy. As long as we think thus, should any more pearls of truth be cast before us, we would be obliged to react to such a message precisely as did the opposition in 1888. (3) All our pretensions to the contrary notwithstanding, we will show a complementary mistrust of the Spirit of Prophecy, which if it were analyzed in Heaven s infallible tests would be revealed as a varnished unbelief. Most of us would be candid enough and intelligent enough to run for shelter if a Righteous Being were suddenly to appear in the Temple for a thorough-going investigation with the Spirit of Prophecy as the completely authoritative blue1888 Re-Examined - 84 print, and begin probing into the complete whys and wherefores of our educational, medical, and evangelistic work.

Woe unto us, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because we write books about the deceased prophet, and garnish the memory of the pioneers, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers . . . Wherefore, we be witnesses unto ourselves, that we are the children of them which spurned the prophet, and wise men at and after Minneapolis. (4) We would do well to make sure of our present heart attitude toward the ministry of the Holy Spirit, in the greater light of intelligence which now shines unmercifully upon the hidden motives and evil machinations of our ego, id, self. Many of us would be quite uneasy if a. thorough-going psycho-analyst began work on us. Even though we have stood in numberless reconsecration services , how would we react to .a genuine psycho-analysis by the true Holy Spirit of God, whose great office work is thus distinctly specified by our Saviour: And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin. (TM 392.) (5) We would do well to study the Scriptures recommended to us so earnestly in Testimonies to Ministers, page 76 if God has ever spoken by me, these scriptures mean very much to those who shall hear them, said Mrs. White. We should then inquire what guarantee we have that we are any more capable of recognizing Jesus Christ than were the Jews. Perhaps we are, through some cause best known to God, unable to distinguish between the sacred fire of God s own kindling, and the strange fire which we offer. (TM 356.) Perhaps we are, after all, not able to distinguish the precious ore from the base material , and will take the great leader of apostasy and name him Christ our Righteousness . (Leaflet Series, No. 3, Apostasies, Quoted in The Exodus and Advent Movement in Type and Antitype, Taylor G. Bunch, p. 94.) We might discover to our horror that false phases of Christianity are being received and taught, which bind souls in deception and delusion. Men are walking in the light of the sparks of their own kindling, Perhaps in our educational institutions we are infatuated with specious reasonings , which give utterance 1888 Re-Examined - 85 to opinions that betray sacred, holy trusts, because we are charmed with men or women who are not converted . (TM 86, 87, 465.) Perhaps, as the consequence of our shameful insult to the Son of God at Minneapolis, we have become so self-confused that the following words make sense: Shall the ark of the covenant be removed from this people? Shall idols be smuggled in? Shall false principles and false precepts be brought into the sanctuary? Shall antichrist be respected? Shall the true doctrines and principles given us by God, which have made us what we are, be ignored? . . . This is directly where the enemy, through blinded, unconsecrated men, is leading us. Things have gone as far as they should without someone protesting against

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them in plain words. The Lord s time to set things in order has fully come. (MS 29, 1890, quoted in Counsels to Editors, pp. 95, 96.) We wouldn t like to admit that those words do make sense to-day, but if this whole investigation of Minneapolis and its aftermath focuses the picture more sharply, we may find that we have developed a curious, distressing mental hyperopia that permits us to see evil if it is sufficiently farfetched and distant in the past, but blinds us to it when it is under our very nose. Whether we will be pleased to contemplate it or not, the following will take place: Without the enlightenment of the Spirit of God, we shall not be able to discern truth from error, and shall fall under the masterful temptations and deceptions that Satan will bring upon the world. We are near the close of the controversy between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness, and soon the delusions of the enemy will try our faith, of what sort it is. (R. & H., Nov. 22, 29, 1892; quoted by A. G. Daniells, op. cit., p. 126.) If we spurn and insult the true Christ and the true Holy Spirit, what power can possibly preserve us from an infatuation with the false Christ and really modern Spiritualism? 1888 Re-Examined - 86 CHAPTER 7 (73) AN EXAMINATION OF THE CONFESSIONS Deep, true repentance is one of the rarest of Christian virtues. It is by no means impossible, in the light of the wondrous Cross of Calvary. But examples of it are few. Many confessions and examples of repentance are as superficial as that of Esau and King Saul, whose lives are written for our admonition. Both made confession, and both shed tears; neither found repentance. It cannot be successfully denied that the experience of Israel at KadeshBarnea and afterwards is an illustration of the experience of this movement at and following the Minneapolis Conference. The repentance of Israel following their rebellious reception of the message of Caleb and Joshua provides an insight into the nature of some of the confessions following Minneapolis, which confessions are assumed by various authors and students to constitute evidence that the brethren soon fell into line and accepted the message of 1888, and all was well: Now they seemed sincerely to repent of their sinful conduct; but they sorrowed because of the result of their evil course, rather than from a sense of ingratitude (their) and disobedience . . . God tested their apparent submis-

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sion, and proved that it was not real. They knew that they had deeply sinned in allowing their rash feelings to control them, and in seeking to slay the spies who had urged them to obey God; but they were only terrified to find that they had made a fearful mistake, the results of which would prove disastrous to themselves. Their hearts were unchanged . . . Though their confession did not spring from true repentance, it served to vindicate the justice of God in His dealings with them. The Lord still works in a similar manner to glorify His name by bringing men to acknowledge His justice. . . The Lord often so overrules circumstances as to bring these persons where, though they may have no real repentance, they will be convinced of their sin, and will be constrained to acknowledge the wickedness of their course, and the justice and goodness of God in His dealings with them. . . And though the spirit which prompted the evil course is not radically changed, confessions are made that vindicate the honor of God, and justify His faithful reprovers, who have been opposed and misrepresented. (Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 391, 392, 393.) It would be more agreeable to overlook the evidence to be presented in this chapter, but it cannot be done without leaving the subject in mystery. Contemporary opinions are that the opposing brethren at Minneapolis soon saw their mistake, made humble and deep confessions, repented thoroughly, and preached the message of 1888 with power. The evidence presented herewith will show the fol1888 Re-Examined - 87 lowing facts to be true: (1) The confessions were practically extorted not so much by any human agency or prodding, as by overwhelming, crushing evidence that was too persistent for intelligent men to ignore who wished to retain their names as Seventh-day Adventists, and their positions in the work. Faith had therefore given away almost entirely to sight. The present evidence of His working is revealed to you, and you are now under obligation to believe, said Mrs. White in 1890. (T.M. 466). Such confessions could hardly be the work of that kind of genuine repentance which brings real glory to God. (2) Most of the repentance was over opposition to Mrs. White, the tried and proven prophet. Many precedents had already been established in our history among workers for this kind of repentance, unfortunately. There was very little frank, open confessions that led to sincere brotherly union with A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, or acceptance of their message. (3) There is evidence that some of the most prominent confessors subsequently acted contrary to the intent of their repentance.

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(4) The issue at stake in the confessions and repentance was that of the individual salvation of individual workers souls. Their unbelief had been so severe that they were in real danger of being lost. But there is no evidence that these confessors made genuine work of repenting of the sin of quenching the Holy Spirit s outpouring in the form of the latter rain, or a despising of the light of the loud cry. Thus, the sad consequences of the rebellion at Minneapolis, viz., the indefinite postponing of the finishing of the work, could not be obviated. (5) The repentance was not thorough simply because the good brethren did not go far enough to experience an effective crucifixion of self. This thought is clearly expressed as follows: You do not thoroughly repent. . . When one idol is expelled from the soul, Satan has another prepared to supply its place. . . Your heart, open to evil thoughts, is easily diverted from the service of God to the service of self. . . A repentance caused by a spasmodic exercise of the feelings is a repentance that needs to be repented of; for it is delusive. A violent exercise of the feelings, which does not produce in you the peaceable fruits of righteousness, leaves you in a worse state than you were in before. (M.S. 125,1901, Elmshaven Leaflets, Methods, no.11) 1888 Re-Examined - 88 A proper understanding of the real message of 1888 would have taken care of that trouble, for the practical results of that message as presented at South Lancaster following the 1888 meeting are stated as follows: I have never seen a revival work go forward with such thoroughness, and yet remain so free from all undue excitement. There was no urging or inviting. The people were not called forward, but there was a solemn realization that Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. . . This subdues the pride of the heart, and is a crucifixion of self. (R. & H. Mar. 5,1889.) Evidently that message was not clearly understood after the revivals were quenched. (6) Thus the root of the evil was still there. The symptoms of the spiritual malady were confessed and repented of; the disease itself was not thoroughly uprooted. Superficial repentance and superficial confession have become too common amongst us ever since. These sorrowful reconsecrations are repeated numberless times at our workers: meetings and general camp meetings. It will be seen, upon carefully comparing their nature with that of the confessions following Minneapolis,

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that the same general pattern is unconsciously being followed. Contemporary Views An oft-quoted statement from an older worker forms the basis for much of the present misunderstanding of what happened after Minneapolis: Ear1y in the spring, 1889, word began to come of those who stood with the opposition at the conference beginning to see light and soon earnest confessions followed. Within two or three years most of the leading men who had refused the light at the conference had come out with clear confessions. (C. Mc Reynolds, Experiences while at the G. C. in Minn. in 1888, D File, 189, E. G. White Estate. Quoted by N. F. Pease, Justification by Faith in S. D. A. Church Before 1900. S. D. A. Theological Seminary Thesis). We could wish that the following statement were true, rather than that the confessions were extorted by guilty consciences reacting to overwhelming evidence over a period of years: The confessions mentioned above were doubtless in many cases precipitated by sober reflection after the individuals concerned were far removed from the scene of the controversy, (N. F. Pease, op. cit.) Another statement, from Captains of the Host: Gradually there came the turning and the gathering into the unity of the faith. There was both a cutting and a healing power in the messages she sent, carrying the gospel of righteousness and of good will in Christ, which in general 1888 Re-Examined - 89 brought the erstwhile estranged brethren together. (A. W. Spa1ding, op. cit. pp. 598, 599.) No mention is made in Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts of the confessions, it being assumed that in general the message of 1888 was well received. Before examining the available sources of information regarding these confessions, three questions present themselves for consideration, if the view is correct that the repentance of the opposers at Minneapolis changed their real attitude, and made the message of 1888 properly available to our people: (1) If the opposition repentance was thorough, and effective, why wasn t the message and light of 1888 recovered, and given to our people in clear and powerful form? (2) If some contend that the light was recovered, and preached with power

(as is sometimes stated), why wasn t the work finished soon after the time of confession and repentance? The opposition at Minneapolis quenched and stultified the proclamation of the loud cry; a proper repentance would, logically, it follows, provide for the untrammeled proclamation of that message, with all its attendant blessings, The history of the last six decades evidences that there (76) was no adequate result, worthy of the name loud cry. (3) If the opposition to the message and messengers of 1888 disappeared, how can one explain the persistent and numerous statements from Mrs. White as late as 1901 that the message was continually misrepresented and opposed? One such statement follows, which shows that the genuine work of repentance, viz., reformation, had not taken place: I feel a special interest in the movements and decisions that shall be made at this Conference (1901) regarding the things that should have been done years ago, and especially ten years ago, when we were assembled in Conference, and the Spirit of power of God came into our meeting, testifying that God was ready to work for this people if they would come into working order. The brethren assented to the light given, but. . . the light that was given was not acted upon. It was assented to but no special change was made to bring about such a condition of things that the power of God could be revealed among His people. Year after year the same acknowledgment was made. . . It is a marvel to me that we stand in as much prosperity as we do today. tt is because of the great mercy of God, not because of our righteousness, but that His name should not be dishonored in the world. (G. C. B. 1901, N. 23.) It is evident, therefore, that for the sake of clarity, the picture of what took place after Minneapolis should be much more sharply focused. 1888 Re-Examined - 90 The Testimony of Our History It is common knowledge that Elder Uriah Smith was one of the most persistent opposers of the 1888 message. In his position as editor of the Review and Herald, and with his well-earned prestige as a prominent author, he was able to exert perhaps the most powerful influence of any of the leading workers for or against the message. Did we but know what might have been, we would see what God could have done with the author of Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation had his heart and keen mind joined in the work to which Jones and Waggoner were called. It was by no means God s plan that the latter should do all the thinking, and all the discovering of precious ore. The able and lovable brother who wielded the mightiest pen in Battle Creek could have aided in the work of enlightening this earth with the heavenly glory of maturely developed truth. He chose not to. He considered the gracious message to be merely an over-

emphasized doctrine, and maintained that we had always believed it. Mrs. White s efforts to help him only aggravated his stubbornness, and he tried to clear himself by sitting on a spiritual fence, which in truth didn t exist. He that was not for the message of Christ s righteousness was against it. No sober reflection brought him to any different view. Two whole years is a long time for a man to stubbornly maintain an attitude of unbelief, when that man occupied a place with every possible advantage, above all that dwelt upon the earth, to see the heavenly light clearly; and when that light to be seen was the brightest light the world had ever beheld. In March, 1890, Mrs White wrote: (77) You could not make the people in South Lancaster believe that it was not a message of light that came to them. . . I have tried to present the message to you as I have understood it, but how long will those at the head of the work keep themselves aloof? . . . For nearly two years we have been urging the people to come up and accept the light and the truth concerning the righteousness of Christ, and they do not know whether to come and take hold of this precious truth or not. . . I can speak to the ear, but I cannot speak to the heart. Shall we not arise and get out of the position of unbelief? (R. & H. Mar. 18,1890.) Finally, after being under obligation to believe (T.M. 466) Elder Smith was drifting helplessly into a derelict condition of darkness of soul, and was in danger of becoming lost; 1888 Re-Examined - 91 Brother Smith is ensnared by the enemy and cannot in his present state give the trumpet a certain sound . . . yet . . . is placed in positions as teacher to mold and fashion the minds of students, when it is a well known fact he is not standing in the light. He is not working in God s order. He is sowing seeds of unbelief that spring up and bear fruit for some souls to harvest. . . Elder Smith will not receive the light God has given to correct him, and he has not a spirit to correct by confession any wrong course he has pursued in the past. . . I have been shown that as he now stands, Satan has prepared his temptations to close about his soul. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, Oct. 7,1890.) Whether the following words were spoken of him or not, his condition was accurately described: My mind is troubled continually. I have great sorrow of heart. I know that Satan is seeking for the mastery over men. . . Such men as Elder will harden their hearts, lest they shall see and be converted. There are those who are looking to Elder , thinking that a man who has been given such great light will be able to see when good cometh, and will acknowledge the

truth. But I have been shown that in Elder s character there is a pride and stubbornness that has never been fully brought into subjection to the Spirit of God. Again and again his religious experience has been marred by his determination not to confess his wrongs, but to pass along and forget them. Men may cherish this sin until there is no forgiveness for them. (E. G. White Diary, Jan. 10,1890, Battle Creek.) Certainly the following words fit the unfortunate case of the Review editor: There are many, many who are mere spectators. . . Why do they not rise and shine, because their light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon them? Christ will not accept the highest profession, the most eloquent words, unaccompanied by a faithful practise of the truth. Men may have talent and education, but of what avail is this if the love of God does not abide in their hearts. . . They will be false guides. I spoke in the ministers meeting. . . It is too late for us to stand on our dignity. There are those who while they think it is perfectly proper for others to confess their mistakes, think that their position makes it impossible for them to confess their mistakes. . . If your brethren have a knowledge of your errors, if your position has given wideness to your influence, it is all the more necessary that you make a full confession. (Ibid., Feb. 3, 4.) Alas, that love of self should fasten a man in such a place! The longer stubbornness is indulged, the bigger and more powerful self becomes, and more difficult to bring to the Cross. For then, not only the ugly rebellion must be acknowledged, but the uglier stubbornness, which is iniquity and self-idolatry. We should pity Elder Smith, but we ought not to pity ourse1ves! Finally, after the turn of the New Year, 1891, he made confession to his brethren, and asked the pardon of Mrs. White for his erroneous course. (R. J. Hammond, The Life and Work of Uriah Smith, p. 113, S. D. A. Theological Seminary Thesis.) Elder smith had formerly had several experiences quite similar. In the 1888 Re-Examined - 92 spring of 1873, after a disagreement with James White, he had left the Review office to go into private business for himself, as a wood engraver. After the subsequent reconciliation, he made some very impressive remarks proposing that the pen, the ink-stand, and the paper to which they had attached their names, should be laid up together as a memorial before God. (Special Testimonies to R. & H. Office, pp. 16, 17.) His faith in the work of Mrs.White was not what it ought to have been. Perhaps only the final Judgment will reveal how much of a baneful influence his unbelief had in encouraging D. M. Canright to go into apos-

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tasy. (See R. J. Hammond, op. cit., pp. 112,113.) The slightest push will send a drowning man down. Was Elder Smith s repentance of early 189l thorough and permanent? Mrs. White hoped so, and it could have well been. The Lord was willing: Speaking to the Review and Herald Office, Mrs. White said: The Lord will blot out the transgressions of those who since that time have repented with a sincere, repentance. (Then adds that if that spirit should ever awaken again, those individuals whose repentance was thus insincere or temporary would have to answer before the Judgment throne). But by 1893, something had miscarried, spiritually: N. F. Pease remarks in his thesis: It will be recalled that several leaders made definite confessions early in 1891. During 1893 a letter was written by Mrs. White indicating that one of these very men was still maintaining an attitude contrary to the spirit of the revival movement. (N. F. Pease, op. cit.) Speaking in 1901, Mrs. White intimated that there had been an influence in the Review and Herald office that tended to say I go, Sir, but went not: The brethren assented to the light God had given, but there were those connected with our institutions, especially the Review and Herald office and the Conference, who brought in elements of unbelief, so that the light given was not acted upon. (G. C. B. 1901, p. 23.) After his confession, Mrs. White had a burden to encourage him to look upon things in the right light. She sensed his trouble, and knew that he was not giving the trumpet a certain sound in the Review and Herald. More than a year after his confession, she wrote him in a tone of warning and counsel: Some of our brethren. . . are full of jealousy and evil surmising, and are ever ready to show in just what way they differ with Elder Jones or Waggoner. The same spirit that was manifested in the past manifests itself on every opportunity; but this is not from the impulse of the Spirit of God. . . Should (Elder Jones or Waggoner be overthrown by the temptations of the 1888 Re-Examined - 93 enemy) . . . how many. . . would enter into a fatal delusion because they are not under the control of the Spirit of God. They walk in the sparks of their own kindling, and cannot distinguish between the fire they have kindled, and the light which God has given, and they walk in blindness as did the Jews. I know that this is the very position many would take if either of

these men were to fall, and I pray that these men upon whom God has laid the burden of a solemn work, may be able to give the trumpet a certain sound, and honor God at every step, and that their path at every step may grow brighter and brighter until, the close of time. The message given us by A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner is the message of God to the Laodicean church, and woe be unto anyone who professes to believe the truth, and yet does not reflect to others the God-given rays. (MS. 24, l892). The above quoted letter was an oblique rebuke to Elder Smith for taking positions in his paper that were ill-disguised thrusts at the teaching of Jones and Waggoner. Mrs White plainly declared her belief that the latter had a much clearer idea of things than had Elder Smith. One of the much emphasized aspects of their teaching was the self-humbling doctrine that in man s flesh dwelleth no good thing; righteousness is all of God (they preached it with pointed application, and the offence of the Cross was verily present); and that the normal condition of the human mind is enmity against God hence the need for the daily Cross. Their preaching quite took the props out from under the complacency of those who thought themselves to have reached an advanced state of Christian attainment, and presented. before them the truth that they were in fact poor, and miserable, and blind and naked. Such a doctrine was not complimentary to those who were smugly satisfied. (Compare A. T. Jones sermon, General Conference Bulletin, l893,pp.257-259.) In an editorial published May 10, 1892, Elder Smith decidedly takes issue with the teaching of Jones and Waggoner, and takes positions which have ever since been the view of the opposition to Jones and Waggoner s message: (Title: A Wretched Christian, After quoting Rom, 7:24): In what condition was the apostle when he penned these words? Was this his condition in an advanced state of Christian experience, and his ordinary condition of mind all through his Christian life? Or was this only one feature of a condition in which he found himself while passing, by the process of conversion from a state of bondage to sin, to a state of liberty in Christ Jesus? We raise these queries because there are some who do not think that the apostle in the seventh of Romans was describing his own conversion, and picturing a condition which when he had reached an advanced state of Christian attainment, was with him a past experience; but that he is here setting forth the usual experience of the believer all his life, until his Christian course is ended. 1888 Re-Examined - 94 With such a view we take issue. (Uriah Smith, R. & H. May 10, 1892.) Elder Smith proceeded to state his views which were in direct opposition to the very heart of the message of Jones and Waggoner concerning daily crucifix-

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ion of self: Paul is describing a condition through which he passed in conversion, and which was with him when he had reached the liberty of the gospel, an experience past and gone, and which need never be repeated. . . The old man does not lie down and die a voluntary death. He struggles hard, and dies with many a convulsion. . . The Christian. . . is not always to be in the deplorable conflict described in chapter 7 . . . Let no one say, therefore, that Paul does not describe a higher state of Christian attainment in Romans 8 than he does in Romans 7, and that that which is described in chapter 7 was not to him, after he had reached the condition of chapter 8, a past experience. (Loc. cit.) Thus was the editor of the Review ready to show in just what way he differed with Elder Jones or Waggoner, at the time the above cited letter was written. It is unpleasant to investigate further, but it will be profitable to get the picture clearly in mind. Elder Smith, after his confessions, seemed to have no sense of the true spiritual condition of the church. Contrary to the numerous straight-spoken articles from Sister White published during his editorship, he continued to think far too favorably of the present time. (5 T. 80) His innocent readers knew no better: we, sixty years later, do know better, now that history verifies the attitude of the Spirit of Prophecy which was so consistently opposed to his representations. In an editorial of March 14, 1892, he spoke in an over-optimistic mood: The cause has been going forward with increasing rapidity, especially in these later years. The object here is to. . . call attention to the wonderful momentum which the cause of present truth has now attained. It is going forward everywhere. It is increasing in velocity day by day. It is going with a power which cannot be arrested. At the rate of progress now developed, it must soon reach its goal. It is accelerating its footsteps to its final triumph. (Uriah Smith, R.& H., Mar. 14, 1892.) Mrs. White was not so pleased with the way things were going, for she was conscious of the sad controversy within our own ranks, that very definitely 1888 Re-Examined - 95 arrested the velocity and rapidity with which the message should have gone. History has proven Elder Smith s editorial to have been wishful thinking; the Spirit of Prophecy said so then: (81)

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The opposition to our own ranks has imposed upon the Lord s messengers a laborious and soul trying task; for they have had to meet difficulties and obstacles which need not have existed. While this labor had to be performed among our own people, to make them willing that God should work in the day of His power, the light of the glory of God has not been shining in clear concentrated rays to the world. Thousands who are now in the darkness of error, might have been added to our numbers. All the time and thought and labor required to counteract the influence of our brethren who oppose the message has been just so much taken from the world of the swift coming judgments of God. . . . It is not the opposition of the world that we have to fear; but it is the elements that work among ourselves that have hindered the message. . . Coldness and distrust (toward the messengers and message of 1888) have brought disunion that has shorn us of our strength. The Lord designed that the messages of warning and instruction given through the Spirit to His people should go everywhere. But the influence that grew out of the resistance of light and truth at Minneapolis, tended to make of no effect the light God had given. The work is years behind. What account will be rendered to God for thus retarding the work? (E. G. White in General Conference Bulletin, 1893, pp. 419, 420.) Repeatedly the misguided brother notably followed a line of thought diametrically opposed to the present truth, that of Christ s righteousness sounding forth in the beginning of the loud cry. Dramatically enough, his opposition was sometimes neatly met by articles from Sister White or others, which came as apparent coincidences. We find him writing in the Review of May 17, 1892, giving the trumpet a very uncertain sound. Over twenty-four times in the space of a brief editorial we read him emphasizing the thought that the church must not be disturbed about present excitement; the loud cry is yet future: Would it be the proper course nor for the people of God to fix their minds upon these future blessings and this future power, and dropping all else, make these things the direct end to be specially sought for? To fix the mind upon what is to be, and then to reason, how the church must have such and such mighty works, they are to attain to such and such a condition, and then conclude that they must, to the neglect of duties nearer by, seek by special means to gain that power and those attainments now is that the way in which these blessings are to be secured?. . . Will they rather not be given to those who have made present duty the end . . . until the time was reached for the closing blessings to be given? . . . Let us not spend too much time in speculations as to what degree of power we are to attain, and how we are to attain it, . . . and in just what manner the

power of God is to be manifested through us, and then sit down to work ourselves up into that condition . . . All these other developments will come in the Lord s own good time. . . 1888 Re-Examined - 96 God will in His own good time bestow upon His people the needed power. He will bring the loud cry of the message. . . (Leave) future blessings to be granted by Him whose the work is, when and how it shall please Him. . . In this way only can we be prepared for these blessings when they come. (Uriah Smith, Review and Herald. May 17, 1892.) (82) Only one week later appeared an article by Mrs. White, again with the burden of the Minneapolis message and its improper reception, entitled, The Work of God to Believe in Christ. This article met the spirit of Elder Smith s muddled editorial. A few months later, she wrote from Australia: The loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. (Review and Herald, Nov. 22, 1892.) It was concerning like blindness th recognize the work of God, that Mrs. White wrote: May the Lord forgive our brethren for thus interpreting the very message for this time. . . Too often the leader has stood hesitating, seeming to say, Let us not be in too great haste. There may be a mistake. We must be careful not to raise a false alarm. The very hesitancy and uncertainty on his part in crying Peace and safety. Do not get excited, Be not alarmed. There is a great deal more made of this Religious Amendment question than is demanded. This agitation will all die down. (The religious liberty issue was being promoted by A. T. Jones at the time, and drew its share of fence-striding, non-committal opposition.) Thus he virtually denies the messages sent from God; and the warning which was designed to stir the churches, fails to do its work. The trumpet of the watchman gives no certain sound, and the people do not prepare for the battle. (5 T, 715, 716.) Such an editorial policy, and such a set of mind and heart, forces the unwelcome conclusion that Elder Smith returned to his spirit of stubborn opposition and non-committal blindness after the emotional effects of his confession were overcome: Some felt annoyed at this outpouring, and their own natural dispositions were manifested. They said, This is only excitement; it is not the Holy Spirit,

not showers of the latter rain from heaven. There were hearts full of unbelief, who did not drink in of the Spirit. . . On many occasions the Holy Spirit did work; but those who resisted the Spirit of God at Minneapolis were waiting for a chance to travel over the same ground again, because their spirit was the same. Afterward, when they had evidence heaped upon evidence, some were convicted; but those who were not softened and subdued by the Holy Spirit s working, put their own interpretation upon every manifestation of the Holy Spirit s working, and they have lost much. They declared in their heart and soul and words that this manifestation of the Holy Spirit was fanaticism and delusion. They stood like a rock; the waves of mercy were flowing upon and around them, but were beaten back by their hard and wicked hearts, which resisted the Holy Spirit s working. (Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 6, p. 20.). 1888 Re-Examined - 97 It should be noted that Elder S. N. Haskel sent in a fervent article to counteract the effect of the editor s peace and safety words: The light has come; the light which will enlighten the whole earth with its bright rays, has been shining from the throne of God. . . will we walk in the light? . . . How long will we disappoint Jesus by a cold, half-hearted life, destitute of love? . . . I tell you, God is testing us now, just now. . . The light is shining now, and how hard it is for proud hearts to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. . . . Let self be crucified . . . This is really the beginning of it (the loud cry), and is not this now taking place? (S. N. Haskel, Review and Herald, July 26, 1892.) O. A. Olsen also took occasion to rebuke the editor through the columns of his own paper: We have long been talking about the loud cry of the third angel s message. . . Well, has the time come for that loud voice to be heard? Has the time come when that warning should be given with earnestness and power! It certainly has, brethren. . . . Then don t be looking forward to it any longer; don t be expecting it at some place way off; realize that it is here, and that it means something. (O. A. Olsen, Review and Herald, Nov. 8, 1892.) During this stirring time, the editor of the Review continued some cold editorial homilies on Sunday Props arguments examined and refuted! In the time of the loud cry itself, re-examining in a polemical style the caviling opposition of unreasoning opponents to the truth, which was more in place thirty years before than at that time when the message of Christ s righteousness should have gone forth as a lamp that burneth!

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Finally, in December, Mrs. White spoke so plainly that any human intelligence should have understood the import of her words. But it is seen that blindness of heart invariably produces blindness of mind in those who ordinarily are most keen to perceive: On the very eve of the crisis, is no time to be found with an evil heart of unbelief, departing from the living God. . . There is a cause for the great weakness in our churches, and that cause is hard to remove; for it is self. . . There is no place in the work of God for half-hearted workers, for those who are neither cold nor hot. . . Among those who are half-hearted are the class who pride themselves on their great caution in receiving new light as they term it. But their failure to receive the light is caused by their spiritual blindness. . . There are men in our cause who might be of great use if they would but learn of Christ, and go on from light to greater light; but because they will not, they are positive hindrances . . . They misdirect minds, and lead men to accept perilous suggestions. . . (Review and Herald, Dec. 6, 1892.) In the very same issue, occurs a half-hearted editorial admission that we 1888 Re-Examined - 98 might have delayed the work; but not at all seriously: Has there been during that time of apparent delay, when there was more being done than the circumstances required, so that we have performed any great work of super-erogation in the promulgation of this message? There certainly has not. How the situation might have been changed if all had worked more earnestly and rapidly in the cause, we may not say. . . But however much it has been in our power to delay the work, it is not in our power to arrest its progress nor prevent its final completion. Within the limits of that time when the work of the Lord must be done, it will be done. (Uriah Smith, Review and Herald, Dec. 6, 1892.) Unpleasant as is this recital of stubborn opposition to the Spirit of Prophecy statements, one more phase of alder Smith s failure to walk in the light after this confession must be noted. In the letter to Brother and Sister Washburn of Jan. 6, 1891, Mrs. White mentions that W. W. Prescott also confessed his opposition to the message of 1888 was a mistake. We now find Elder Smith and Prof. Prescott supporting plans very pointedly opposed by the Spirit of Prophecy. While it is true that to err is human, and we have all done it, it is also true that there was such a blaze of light shining upon their pathway, that it is

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difficult to excuse the brethren for repeatedly going counter to the light after warnings had been given. Had Brethren Smith and Prescott truly and deeply repented of their failure to recognize the Holy Spirit at Minneapolis, we should find them more keen to recognize the presence and work of the mighty Heavenly Guest on later occasions. But, alas, no! As President and Secretary respectively of the Educational Society, or Battle Creek College, we find them supporting, during the 1893 General Conference Session, a resolution which read in part as follows, which is quoted for the purpose of comparing it with Mrs. White s admonitions: We note with profound gratitude the prospering hand of God in its (Battle Creek College) various departments, and recognize in it His (God s) voice bidding us follow in the avenues of success. . . 2. Reso1ved, That immediate steps be taken to enlarge its capacity, enough to make provisions for the rapidly increasing demands upon it, provided the outlay does not exceed the sum of $15,000.(General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p. 459.) A few months later, Mrs. White wrote her impressions of the work at the Battle Creek College: There has been a departure from God s plan in many ways . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 99 O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. I am alarmed for you at Battle Creek. . . It is not in God s order that thousands of dollars shall be expended in enlargements and additions in institutions in Battle Creek. There is altogether too much there now. . . I have spoken the word of God upon this point. . . . I tell you, in the name of the Lord, you will make a mistake in your adding building to building. . . For Christ s sake call a halt at the Battle Creek College, and consider. . . You have been steadily progressing in the ways of the Gentiles, and not after the example of Jesus Christ. Satan is on the school ground; he is present in every exercise in the schoolroom. . . O how slow we are to learn! . . . I am distressed beyond measure. . . Weighed in the balance, and found wanting. (Special Testimonies on Education, Oct. 1893, quoted in Fundamentals of Christian Education, pp. 221-230.)

Mrs. White further, in speaking of Battle Creek College, spoke of the man who talks faith one moment, and acts unbelief the next as he that wavereth. (Ibid., p. 437.) Elder Smith s case was a very difficult one. He was sincere, and good, and lovable. But he just did not know himself. He interpreted emotionalism as a sign of the mighty working of the Holy Spirit, and was encouraged by every wave of revival that occasionally swept through Battle Creek. At length, Mrs. White seemed to show a weariness in her hopes for old Battle Creek. In a letter to Elder Smith, dated Jan. 12, 1898, she said: I am pleased that the Lord is in mercy again visiting the church. My heart trembles as I think of the many times He has come in and His Holy Spirit has worked in the church; but after the immediate effort was over, the merciful dealings of God were forgotten. Pride, spiritual indifference, was the record made in heaven. . . . That Saviour has oft visited you in Battle Creek. Just as verily as He walked the streets of Jerusalem, longing to breathe the breath of spiritual life into the hearts of those discouraged and ready to die, has He come to you. . . Christ sorrows and weeps over our churches, over our institutions of learning, that have failed to meet the demand of God. (Elmshaven Leaflets, Brown Series, No. 6.) Conclusion The record of Elder Smith s repentance has been examined at this length because it is typical of most of the others change of attitude . He was the virtual leader of the opposition, if not nominally, at least effectively. It 1888 Re-Examined - 100 is amazing to read through the Reviews of that period, and note the persistent, stolid indifference to the all-important issue of the day. It should also be noted that a true and complete confession would have required that he make known his repentance as far as his sinful unbelief had exerted its influence. That would have required a forthright, courageous, and complete statement in the columns of the Review, and a thorough about-face thereafter in editorial policy. We look in vain for any evidence that such took place. It is also notable that the Review hardly, if ever, opened its columns for some years after the Minneapolis meeting, to either of the brethren whom the Lord recognized as His special messengers. In fact, not until they themselves had become unsound in the faith was the Review opened to their influence. (85)

One or two other confessions are mentioned in contemporary accounts of the turning and the gathering into the unity of the faith , which never took place in fact. Another prominent elder replied to a pointed letter from Mrs. White as follows: This communication by your hand to me I heartily accept as a testimony from the Lord. It reveals to me the sad condition I have been in since the Minneapolis meeting; and this reproof from the Lord is just and true. (A. W. Spalding, op. cit., p. 597.) This was a frank acknowledgment of the truth of Mrs. White s reproof, and justified the Lord and His messengers. But it should be noted that this confession differed in no way from the confessions of Israel at KadeshBarnea: The Lord often so overrules circumstances as to bring these persons where, though they may have no real repentance, they will be convinced of their sin, and will be constrained to acknowledge the wickedness of their course, and the justice and goodness of God in His dealings with them . . . And though the spirit which prompted the evil course is not radically changed, confessions are made that vindicate the honor of God, and justify His faithful reprovers, who have been opposed and misrepresented. (PP 393.) (86) A. T. Jones later spoke of J. H. Morrison s confession in a more encouraging way. In 1921 he wrote: In justice to Brother J. H. Morrison (it must be said that he) cleared himself of all connection with that opposition, and put himself body, soul, and spirit, into the truth and blessing of righteousness by faith, in one of the finest and noblest confessions that I have ever heard. (A. T. Jones letter to C. E. Holmes, May 12, 1921.) We wish the same could have been said for the others, instead of the 1888 Re-Examined - 101 remark being made in the same letter that their repentance was only apparent, it was never real, for all the time in the General Conference Committee and amongst others there was a secret antagonism always carried on. As to whether rebellion is ever truly curable may be a moot question amongst us to-day. Mrs. White did not hesitate to apply the word rebellion to the attitude of the opposing brethren after Minneapolis (R. & H., June 21, 1892), and likened their attitude to the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram: Men who are entrusted with weighty responsibilities, but who have no living connection with God, have been and are doing despite to His Holy Spirit.

They are indulging the very same spirit as did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and as did the Jews in the days of Christ . . . Warnings have come from God again and again for these men, but they have cast them aside and ventured on in the same course . . . If God spares their lives, and they nourish the same spirit that marked their course of action before and after the Minneapolis meeting, they will fill up to the full the deeds of those whom Christ condemned when He was upon earth. (TM 78, 79.) I question whether genuine rebellion is ever curable . . . Call rebellion by its right name and apostasy by its right name, arid then consider that the experience of the ancient people of God with all its objectionable features was faithfully chronicled to pass into history. The Scripture declares, These things were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (Leaflet Series, No. 3, Apostasies; quoted by T. G. Bunch, The Exodus Movement in Type and Antitype. No opposition is more difficult to deal with than that which has gone underground. The confessions after Minneapolis served the most unfortunate purpose of driving the spirit of unbelief into sub-consciousness, where it has continued to this day to do a baneful work. Hence it is that we can sincerely, honestly, and consciously assume that we have been enriched beyond measure, as a people, with the contribution to Adventism made at the Minneapolis meeting, and that we are increased with the goods of an understanding of righteousness by faith which leaves us in need of nothing except a supernaturally powerful means of propagating the faith . We honestly know not our destitution, that we have never recovered what we spurned at Minneapolis, no deep and thorough-going repentance for the sin having taken place. The symptoms of our denominational neurosis are apparent; the causes lie buried in our sub-conscious hatred of the light that shone upon our pathway at Minneapolis, which light, as we have already seen, was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Thus it is proven that we are no better 1888 Re-Examined - 102 than the Gentiles, who also display the symptoms of a universal neurosis, the root of which is enmity against God . We have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no not one. These thoughts are substantiated by the following paragraph from Testimonies to Ministers, which is as true to-day as when it was, written: The prejudices and opinions that prevailed at Minneapolis are not dead by any means; the seeds sown there in some hearts are ready to spring into life and bear a like harvest. The tops have been cut down, but the roots have never been eradicated, and they still bear their unholy fruit to poison the judgment, pervert the perceptions, and blind the understanding (87)

of those with whom you connect, in regard to the message and the messengers. When, by thorough confession, you destroy the root of bitterness, you will see light in God s light. Without this thorough work, you will never clear your souls. (TM 467.) That this rebellion of ours at Minneapolis was a revelation to us of the same enmity against God in our hearts which was expressed in the crucifixion of Christ, is evident in the following quotation: Every time the same spirit (of opposition at Minneapolis) wakens in the soul, the deeds done on that occasion are endorsed, and the doers of them are made responsible to God, and must answer for them at His judgment throne. The same spirit that actuated the rejecters of Christ, rankles in their hearts, and had they lived in the days of Christ, they would have acted toward Him in a manner similar to that of the godless and unbelieving Jews. (Special Testimonies to R. & H. Office, pp. 16, 17.) In closing this sad and depressing account of stubborn unbelief and resistance to truth, it is refreshing and heartening to note a Spirit of Prophecy prediction that sometime the unholy content of our subconscious minds would be laid bare, and the truth about Minneapolis become apparent: We should be the last people on earth to indulge in the slightest degree the spirit of persecution against those who are bearing the message of God to the world. This is the most terrible feature of unchristlikeness that has manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis meeting. Sometime it will be seen in its true bearing, with all the burden of woe that has resulted from it. (G. C. B. 1893, p. 184.) We may leave our dear brethren of a generation ago with their God. They sleep in the dust of the earth, and we trust they will awake in the first resurrection. There is no more need of their being lost, in the light of the findings of this chapter, than that the Israelites who died in the wilderness after being turned back from Kadesh-Barnea will not come forth in the first resurrection. Their individual relationships to God determine that. But Israel of that day could not enter alive into the Promised Land because of un1888 Re-Examined - 103 belief. Neither could our brethren of a generation ago. Now we are on the stage. The primary purpose of this sad chapter was to show that the confessions that followed the Minneapolis meeting merely cut the tops down, but left the roots in the ground; and that, therefore, no true repentance for hindering the loud cry took place. As the investigation developed, a secondary purpose emerged. It is a logical consequence of the first, but is of far greater significance. That is to bring the following lessons from this

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parable to our attention: (1) Many of our present views of righteousness by faith are quite identical with those of the opposition to the message of Elders Jones and Waggoner. So much is this true, that the real teaching of the latter is hardly discernable in our present faith . The same tragic blindness which afflicted Elder Smith is not a thing of the past. (2) Parallel with such misconceptions of Christian experience is the highly optimistic view of the velocity and rapidity with which the work advances to-day; when in reality it is actually being retarded by our unbelief. Our standards of comparison are faulty. Instead of comparing what we are doing with what might have been , we compare it with what we have been doing. Thus We . . . make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves; but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise, (II Cor. 10:12.) I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. (Zeph. 3:11, 12.) (3) Consequent upon our blindness regarding righteousness by faith is a sort of daily or continual transgression of the very principles of the Spirit of Prophecy governing the management of our world-wide work. We are just as sincere in supposing that the prospering hand of God is bidding us follow in the avenues of success opened by our apparent progress as were the brethren connected with Battle Creek College in 1893. Yet the truth is that there has been a departure from God s plan in many ways , and we have been steadily progressing in the ways of the Gentiles, and not after the example of Jesus Christ. (See G. C. B, 1893, p. 459; and FE 221-230.) Our sincerity must be in 1888 Re-Examined - 104 proportion to our blindness. Yet our hope rests in God s mercy and love, and His hope rests in our honesty. (4) The true cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary requires a complementary work of cleansing the sub-conscious content of our heart and mind of hidden, buried, underground roots of unbelief and enmity against God. Light which will lay bare these spiritual conditions, and a means of spiritual therapy adequate for dealing with them, is more immediately needful than any amount of supernatural power for the propagation of our present faith . In other words, the power which we want is going to be light. The finishing of the work will be a natural consequence. A true understanding of Minneapolis and its aftermath is in the line of diagnosis; a true understanding of the Cross is in the line (89)

of treatment. 1888 Re-Examined - 105 CHAPTER 8 (90) THE 1893 GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION Next to the Minneapolis Conference, the 1893 General Conference Session ranks in importance in an investigation of the reception of the 1888 message. The view that the message of 1888 was really accepted by the remnant church requires the following view of the significance of the 1893 meeting: It was really at the General Conference session in 1893 that light on justification by faith seemed to gain its greatest victory. (L. H. Christian, Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, p. 241.) A close investigation of the printed reports of that Session is necessary in order to understand the nature of the victory that was gained. There wets some very interesting developments at that Conference, of definite significance to those of us living in this latter time. From the beginning of the Session and Institute which preceded it, the message of 1888 seemed to be the conscious and subconscious issue of importance. A few months before, the now-famous statement had appeared in the Review of Nov. 22, 1892, that the message of 1888 was the beginning of the loud cry. Numerous references to that statement appear in the Bulletin, from different speakers. The brethren in Australia, close to Mrs. White, knew the significance of the time: I received a letter a little while ago from Brother Starr in Australia, I will read two or three sentences because they come in well just at this place in our lessons: Sister White says that we have been in the time of the latter rain since the Minneapolis meeting. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., p. 377.) It was only natural that back of the issue of the reception of the message should loom the blessed thought of translation: Let us thank the Lord that he is dealing with us still, to save us from our errors, to save us from our dangers, to keep us back from wrong courses, and to pour upon us the latter rain, that we may be translated. That is what the message means translation to you and me. (Ibid., p. 185.) It was also recognized that the Lord, in His mercy, would not entirely withdraw the offer of the latter rain and the loud cry, until giving a reason-

1888 Re-Examined - 106 able opportunity to His people to respond. That would require three or four years. The following words were quoted to the Conference: God will prove His people. Jesus bears patiently with them, and does not spew them out of His mouth in a moment. The angel said, God is weighing His people. If the message had been as short duration as many of us supposed, there would have been no time for them to develop character. Many moved from feeling, not from principle and faith, and this solemn fearful message stirred them. . . . He gives them time for the excitement to wear off, and then proves them to see if they will obey the counsel of the True Witness . . . Said the angel, God will bring His work closer and closer to test and prove every one of His people, (1T 186, 187.) (91) Warnings of Great Danger There seemed even to be a consciousness, expressed at different times during the Session by different speakers, that the light would be withdrawn unless acted upon soon. There were also numerous statements from the Spirit of Prophecy, made after the Minneapolis meeting, which in no uncertain terms made it plain that to trifle with the heavenly offer would mean its withdrawal. A few months before the 1893 Session, Mrs. White wrote: The sin committed in what took place at Minneapolis remains on the record books of heaven . . . And when these persons are tried, and brought over the ground again, the same spirit will be revealed. When the Lord has sufficiently tried them, if they do not yield to Him, He will withdraw His Holy Spirit . . . (Letter to O. A. Olsen, Sept. 1, 1892, O. 19, d 92) At Minneapolis itself, the servant of the Lord had warned that neglect of the light then shining was serious: Here I want to tell you what a terrible thing it is, if God gives light, and it is impressed on your heart and spirit, . . . why God will withdraw His spirit unless His truth is accepted. (MS. 8, 1888, Sermon Oct. 20, 1888, Minneapolis.) The brethren assembled at the 1893 meeting were expectant. The very atmosphere of the meeting seemed charged with solemnity, and a realization that a fearful decision was to be forced upon them. Upon their choice would come the glad morning, or the return again of night. One speaker said: Now the solemn thought to my mind is that He (God) is getting impatient, and will not wait very much longer for you and me . . . I cannot get away from the idea that now is a most critical time with us personally . . . It seems to me that right now we are making choices that will determine

whether we shall go on with this work through the loud cry and be translated, or whether we shall be deceived by the devices of Satan and be left out in darkness . . . Now it appears to me that that is just where we stand. I have felt that way all through this Conference. (W. W. Prescott, G. C. B., 1893, p. 386.) A. T. Jones also recognized the unprecedented seriousness of the issue 1888 Re-Examined - 107 at the 1893 meeting: He (God) has been trying these four years to have us receive the latter rain, how much longer is He going to wait before we receive it? . . . And the fact of the matter is, something is going to be done. . . . That is the fearfulness of the situation at this meeting; that is what lends to this meeting its fearful character. The danger is that there will be some here who have resisted this for four years, or perhaps who have not resisted it that long, who will now fail to come to the Lord in the way to receive it, and fail to receive it as the Lord gives it, and will be passed by. A decision will be made by the Lord, by ourselves in fact, at this meeting. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., 1893, p. 377, emphasis supplied.) The President of the General Conference, Elder O. A. Olsen, also recognized the unprecedented seriousness of the issue at that 1893 meeting: This place is becoming more and more solemn on account of the presence of God. I presume that none of us have ever before been in quite such a meeting as we are having at this time. The Lord is certainly coming very near, and is revealing things more and more, things which we have not heretofore so fully appreciated nor understood. . . I felt very solemn last evenings To me the place was terrible on account of God s nearness, on account of the solemn testimony that was borne to us here. . . Some may feel tried over the idea that Minneapolis is referred to. I know that some have felt grieved and tried over any allusion to that meeting, and to the situation there. But let it be borne in mind that the reason why anyone should feel so is an unyielding spirit on his part. . . The very idea that one is grieved, shows at once the seed of rebellion in the heart. (O. A. Olsen G. C. B. 1893, p. 188) There were other statements made between the time of the Minneapolis meeting of 1888 and the 1893 meeting, warning that if the light of 1888 was not acted upon as it should be, a specious departure into counterfeit light and apostate ideas would be the in-

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evitable consequence. The following quotation was read to the delegates in 1893, and was taken from An Appeal to Ministers and Conference Committees sent by Mrs. White after the Minneapolis meeting: Unless you watch and keep your garments unspotted from the world, Satan will stand as your captain . . . By many the words which the Lord sent will be rejected, and the words that men may speak will be received as light and truth. Human wisdom will lead away from self-denial, from consecration, and will devise many things to tend to make of no effect God s messages. We cannot with any safety rely on men who are not in close connection with God. They accept the opinions of men, but cannot discern the voice of the True Shepherd, and their influence, will lead many astray though evidence is piled upon evidence before their eyes, testifying to the truth that God s people will have for this time. (Ibid., p 237.) 1888 Re-Examined - 108 Less than a year after the Minneapolis Conference, Mrs. White warned: Unless divine power is brought into the experience of the people of God, false theories and erroneous ideas will take minds captive, Christ and His righteousness will be dropped out of the experience of many, and their faith will be with out power or life. (R. & H. Sept 3, 1889.) The failure to accept the light brought by God s messengers at Minneapolis, would result in the acceptance of false light brought by false messengers: False ideas that were largely developed at Minneapolis have not been entirely uprooted from some minds. Those who have not made thorough work of repentance under the light God has been pleased to give to His people since that time, will not see things clearly, and will be ready to call the messages God sends, a delusion. (Danger of Adopting Worldly Policy, G. C. B. p. 184.) What next? These very ones will accept messages that God has not sent, and thus will become even dangerous to the cause of God because they set up false standards. (To Brethren in Responsible Positions) (Ibid. p. 182.)

There were also some profoundly serious warnings given about the 1888 message. There was no doubt whatever that it was heavenly manna. Neither was there any doubt about the danger of leaving it until the morning : I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather the portion of a day in its day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no . . . And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank; and Moses was wroth with them. (Ex. 16: 4, 19, 20.) We are living in times full of importance to each one, light is shining in clear steady rays around us. If this light is rightly received and appreciated, it will be a blessing to us and to others; but if we trust in our own wisdom and strength, or in the wisdom and strength of our fellow men, it will be turned into a poison. (TM 385.) Even at Minneapolis itself, this frightful danger was apparent to the prophet: Those who have not been sinking the shaft deeper and still deeper into the mine of truth will see no beauty in the precious things presented at this Conference. When the will is once set in stubborn opposition to the light given, it is difficult to yield, even under the convincing evidence which 1888 Re-Examined - 109 has been in this (1888) Conference. . . . Only when men yield to the subtlity of the enemy does the truth become darkness to them . . . If we neglect to walk in the light given, it becomes darkness to us; and the darkness is proportionate to the light and privileges which we have not improved. (MS. 8a, 1888.) Still speaking of the 1888 message, and of God s Messengers , Mrs. White later said: Unsanctified ministers are arraying themselves against God . . . While professedly they receive Christ, they embrace Barabbas, and by their actions say, Not this Man, but Barabbas . Let all who read these lines, take heed. Satan has made his boast of what he can do. He thinks to dissolve the unity which Christ prayed might exist in His church. He says, I will

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go forth and be a lying spirit to deceive those that I can . . . Let the son of deceit and false witness be entertained by a church that has had great light, great evidence, and that church will discard the message the Lord has sent, and receive the most unreasonable assertions and false suppositions and false theories. Satan laughs at their folly, for he knows what truth is. Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much, (TM 409, 410.) Only a few months before the convening of the 1893 Session came this unmistakable warning from Mrs. White: The early church was deceived by the enemy of God and man, and apostasy was brought into the ranks of those who professed to love God; and today, unless the people of God awake out of sleep, they will be taken unawares by the devices of Satan . . . Satan will do his utmost to keep them in a state indifference and stupor. May the Lord reveal to the people the perils that are before them, that they may arouse from their spiritual slumber . . . The days in which we live are eventful and full of peril . . . Without the enlightenment of the Spirit of God, we shall not be able to discern truth from error, and shall fall wider the masterful temptations and deceptions that Satan will bring upon the world. (R. & H., Nov. 22, 29, 1892. Emphasis supplied.) Mrs. White did not state in the article quoted above just in what way Satan would bring his masterful temptations. It was certain that he would use his Satanic skill, and try every device possible . It is obvious that among those devices would be that of presenting error in the guise of present truth, but in such a way that the church would not be able to discern truth from error. Mrs. White did recognize that the 1893 General Conference Session would be a crisis of unprecedented seriousness. A few months before it convened, she wrote thus to the General Conference President: I wish to plead with our brethren who shall assemble at the General Conference to heed the message given to the Laodiceans. What a condition of 1888 Re-Examined - 110 blindness is theirs; this subject (of the 1888 message) has been brought to your notice again and again; but your dissatisfaction with your spiritual condition has not been deep and painful enough to work a reform. Thou sayest I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and

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naked. The guilt of self-deception is upon our churches. The religious life of many is a lie. Jesus has presented to them the precious jewels of truth, the riches of His grace and salvation, the glistening white vesture of His own righteousness, woven in heaven s loom, and containing not one thread of human invention. Jesus is knocking . . . a Shall Jesus knock in vain?. . . I have deep sorrow of heart because I have seen how readily a word or action of Elder Jones and Elder Waggoner is criticized . . . Cease watching your brethren with suspicion . . . There are many in the ministry who have no love for God or for their fellow men. They are asleep, and while they sleep, Satan is sowing his tares. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, O. 19, d~92. Emphasis supplied.) There is no need to repeat here a review of the argument that the experience of ancient Israel at Kadesh-Barnea illustrates the experience of the remnant church at and after Minneapolis. The evidence is very clear that there is a distinct relationship between the two incidents. (See T. G. Bunch, The Exodus and Advent Movement in Type and Antitype. ) However, it has not been noted heretofore that the 1893 General Conference Session represents a modern counterpart of Israel s attempt after Kadesh-Barnea to go up and capture the promised land under the false excitement and enthusiasm of a superficial and synthetic repentance. Modern Israel should understand, for we have been going up ever since, in various sporadic revivals, resolutions , and evangelistic programs, none of which have been any more successful than the attempt at the 1893 General Conference Session. Caleb arid Joshua brought a message to ancient Israel: If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land . . . The Lord is with us . . . But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. (Num. 14: 7-10; Compare 5 T 383.) Later, after it was evident that the people had truly rebelled, the Lord was forced to decree a return to the wilderness. And ye shall know the altering of My purpose , He said to Israel. (Num. 14:34, margin.) But Israel s unbelief prevented their understanding what that meant. They supposed their superficial confession, We have sinned , and their superficial repentance, and the people mourned greatly ) had indeed secured a reversal of the divine 1888 Re-Examined - 111 sentence. In their false enthusiasm, they interpreted the message of the two faithful spies as given previously, The Lord is with us, fear them not , to be

true even after their stubborn rebellion and unbelief were unaffected by a false repentance. Without contrition, they presumptuously set forth into what they confidently assumed would be their loud cry experience, to capture Canaan. Moses warned them that the message of Caleb and Joshua given before their rebellion was no longer present truth. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you, he said. Their effort was a failure. Their history proved that indeed the Lord was not with them then in the program of conquering Canaan. He would not forsake them, however; He would still be with them in the wilderness. So at last they turned back. This chapter will present evidence that the enthusiasm aroused at the 1893 General Conference Session was not the greatest victory of the message of Christ s righteousness that it is represented to be, but that it was rather a false excitement without true contrition and repentance, which our history has clearly shown to have been synthetic a failure so far as results are concerned. We are indeed the true Israel, the Lord s people. He has indeed been with us, for He has never forsaken us. But He has been with us as a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night in wilderness wanderings, and not in a program of conquering the land of Canaan in loud cry power. That experience is yet future for the remnant church, rendered so by her own stubborn unbelief in the past. God s purpose has been altered. We may not expect that He will at last bring us into the land of Canaan in a state of virtual unbelief, camouflaged by the kind of spurious repentance and synthetic enthusiasm which characterized ancient Israel s unsuccessful attempt after Kadesh-Barnea, and modern Israel s equally unsuccessful attempt at the 1893 General Conference Session. A. T. Jones Studies A. T. Jones twenty-four studies on the Third Angel s Message are very interesting to study, and present no evidence that he was at all bitter, argumentative, censorious, or un-Christian. His style was simplicity itself, and 1888 Re-Examined - 112 his approach always the essence of brotherly kindness. He never lifted himself above the people as one separate from them always be spoke of our failures, our unbelief, our need of the Lord, and often specifically included himself as being the most needy and the most helpless. There is no evidence whatever in these twenty-four, studies, reported quite verbatim, that Jones was obstreperous , gave just cause for resentment , was an argumentative . . . protagonist , was critical , aroused personality rancors , was conceited or arrogant, or made extreme statements or mystica1 pronouncements , as is sometimes reported to-day. (see A. W. Spalding, Captains of the Host, pp. 592-602.) A reprint of these twenty-four studies would convince many of our people that here is the clearest, most simple teaching on the verity of the third angel s message that we have heard for many years.

(95) In speaking of Minneapolis, he showed a humble mind. He recognized the necessity of speaking of it plainly, but it is difficult to see how anyone could have brought it in more tactfully, more kindly, more lovingly than he did: And now we have come, in the study of this subject, to the study of that part of it that comes right down to you and me as individuals . . . To me this lesson and the next one are the most fearful of all that I have been brought to yet. I have not chosen them, and I dread them . . . but . . . it is no use for us to tamper with these things; it is no use for us to view these things lightly; it is no use for us to walk these days with our eyes shut; and not knowing what our situation is. And as it shall be done, I ask you, now to start with, do not place me up here as one who is separated from you, and above you, and as talking down to you, and excluding myself from the things that may be presented. I am with you in all these things. I, with you, just as certainly, and just as much, need to be prepared to receive what God has to give us, as anybody else on earth. So I beg of you not to separate me from you in this matter. And if you see faults that you have committed, I shall see faults that I have committed, and please do not blame me if things are brought forth that expose faults that you have committed; please do not blame me as though I were judging you, or finding fault with you . . . What I want, brethren, is simply to seek God with you, with all the heart, (Congregation: Amen ) and to have everything out of the way, that God may give us what he has for us. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., 1893, pp. l64, l65.) His teachings were clear, with no mystical or extreme slant. If they should seem to be unusual to us to-day, it is simply that we have been so long used to using blunted swords, that the naked sword of the Word and of the Spirit would seem especially keen. His statements regarding works were clear. It was not until after this Conference Session that Mrs. White found it necessary 1888 Re-Examined - 113 to caution him against extreme statements on the subject of faith and works. He believed in faith which works: I say again, that in all cases he who believes in Jesus Christ most fully will work most fully for him. Now let us have this word, and that will be the best close I could make to the whole thing to-night. Steps to Christ, page 79: The heart that rests most fully upon Christ will be the most earnest and active in labor for him. Amen. (Congregation: Amen.) Do not forget that now. Do not think that the man who says that he rests wholly upon Jesus Christ is either a physical or a spiritual loafer. If he shows this loafing in his life, he

is not resting on Christ at all, but on his own self. No, sir; the heart that rests most fully upon Christ will be most earnest and active in labor for Him. That is what faith is. That is faith that will bring to you the outpouring of the latter rain. (Ibid., p. 302.) He was very clear on the relationship of the law to the gospel. The function of the law in pointing out sin was shown to be that of leading us to Christ and the gospel. With such a clear and truthful understanding of the function of the law, it was inevitable that Jones should understand also what true repentance is. His understanding of it is in refreshing contrast to muddled concepts entertained to-day by those who preach that we must assume that all of our sins are washed away, and that convictions of deeper sinfulness are from the evil one, and must, be repulsed. Note this clear idea: When sin is pointed out to you, say, I would rather have Christ than that. And let it go. (Congregation: Amen. ) . . . Then where in the world is the opportunity for any of us to get discouraged over our sins? Now some of the brethren here have done that very thing. They came here free; but the Spirit of God brought up something they never saw before. The Spirit of God went deeper than it ever went before, and revealed things they never saw before; and then, instead of thanking the Lord that that was so, and letting the whole wicked business go, and thanking the Lord that they bad ever so much more of Him than they ever had before, they began to get discouraged. . . . and they got no good out of the meetings day after day. If the Lord has brought up sins to us that we never thought of before, that only shows that he is going down to the depths, and He will reach the bottom at last; and when He finds the last thing that is unclean or impure, that is out of harmony with His will, and brings that up, and shows that to us, and we say, I would rather have the Lord than that then the work is complete, and, the seal of the living God can be fixed upon that character . . . Which would you rather have, the completeness, the perfect fulness of Jesus Christ, or have less than that, with some of your sins covered up that you never knew of? . . . So He has got to dig down to the deep places we never dreamed of, because we cannot understand our hearts . . . Let Him go on, brethren; let Him keep on His searching work . . . Brethren, let us be honest with the Lord, and treat Him as He wants us to. (Ibid., p. 404.) It is especially refreshing to note Jones clear and forceful teaching 1888 Re-Examined - 114 on the satanic mind of self, and the daily crucifixion of self. Inasmuch as

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he did not preach circumcision, the offence of the Cross was verily present. One brief illustration of his pointed applications of the truth must suffice, to show that here was a genuine message, a call to a definite crucifixion of self: We have the word here that those things are amongst us; ambition for place, jealousy of position, and envy of situation; those things are amongst us. Now the time has come to put them away; now the time has come for each one to find how low he can get at the feet of Christ, and not how high in the Conference, or in the estimation of men, or how high in the Conference Committee, or General Conference Committee; that is not the question at all . . . No difference what it costs; that has nothing to do with it. (Ibid., p. 183.) Bound up with the solemn call to real repentance, was the repeated assurance of a deep solid joy and gladness in the Lord. There was no extreme of emotionalism evident, toward gloom and mourning, or toward light and frothy pentecostal happiness . It was a solid and genuine work of the Holy Spirit that A. T. Jones presented, at that 1893 meeting.

Jones Exposed Erroneous Ideas It was recognized that the rejection of the 1888 light had already opened the way for some false ideas to enter in under the guise of being truth concerning righteousness by faith . Indeed, if men turn from the genuine, nothing can prevent their being deceived by the counterfeit. Before presenting the evidence of such misconceptions being accepted, Jones convinced the audience that the light had been rejected at Minneapolis: Now brethren, when did that message of the righteousness of Christ begin with us as a people? (One or two in the audience: Three or four years ago. ) Which was it, three? or four? (Congregation: Four ) Yes, four. Where was it? (Congregation: Minneapolis .) What then did the brethren reject at Minneapolis? (Some in the congregation: The loud cry. ) What is that message of righteousness? The Testimony has told us what it is; the loud cry the latter rain. Then what did the brethren in that fearful position in which they stood, reject at Minneapolis? They rejected the latter rain the loud cry of the third angel s message. (Loc. cit.) Later, Jones showed how the mind of self is the mind of Satan. He traced its development in paganism, to the subtleties of Romanism: Then we have found how that when Christianity came into the world this same carnal mind got up a counterfeit of that and covered itself the same carnal mind with a form of Christianity, and called it justification by faith when it was all justification by works, the same carnal

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mind. That is the papacy, the mystery of iniquity. (Ibid., p. 342.) 1888 Re-Examined - 115 Next, he traced the development of the mind of self in modern Spiritualism, and clearly showed how Spiritualism would exalt self. He even seemed to have the embryo of a concept of Spiritualism being a false Holy Spirit, an understanding advanced for his day, but long overdue in our day: The nearer we come to the second coming of the Saviour the more fully spiritualism will be professing Christ . . . Satan himself . . . comes as Christ; he is received as Christ. So then the people of God must be so well acquainted with the Saviour that no profession of the name of Christ will be received or accepted where it is not the actual, genuine thing. (Loc. cit.) The essence of his warning was that only through a genuine crucifixion of self, making possible a genuine indwelling of the mind of Christ, could such a deception be recognized by the remnant church: Then although these folks quote the words of Christ, it is all counterfeit. You know that Vol. IV (Great Controversy) tells us that when Satan himself comes with the gracious words that the Saviour uttered, he will talk them with much the same tone, and will pass it off on those who have not the mind of Christ. Brethren, there is no salvation for us, there is no safety for us, there is no remedy for us at all, but to have the mind of Christ (instead of the mind of self), (Ibid., p. 343.) There was a sad misconception of righteousness by faith already apparent by 1893, after the rejection of the genuine at Minneapolis. A few of Jones statements follow, and are quoted herewith as a warning to us in our day to beware of specious reasonings and opinions that will betray, sacred holy trusts, which insinuating suggestions have their origin with the enemy of all righteousness. Indeed it is true that those who have been in any measure blinded by the enemy . . . will be inclined to accept a falsehood, (TM 465, 471; Special Testimonies, Series A, pp. 141, 142.) Some of these brethren, since the Minneapolis meeting, I have heard, myself, say amen to preaching, to statements that were utterly heathen, and did not know but that it was the righteousness of Christ. Some of those who stood so openly against that at that time, and voted with uplifted hand against it, . . . since that time I have heard say amen to statements that were as openly and decidedly papal as the papal church itself can state them. That I shall bring in here in one of these lessons, and call your attention to the Catholic church s statement and her doctrine of justification by faith . . . Says one, I thought they believed in justification by works. They do and they do not believe in anything else; but they pass it

off under the head of justification by faith. And they are not the only people in the world that are doing it. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., 1893, p. 244.) (98) I have here a book entitled Catholic Belief . . . I shall read some from it. And, that you may have the two things truth of justification by faith, and the falsity of it side by aide, 1888 Re-Examined - 116 I will read that this says, and then what God says in Steps to Christ . It is in the Testimonies also, and all through the Bible of course. I want you to see what the Roman Catholic idea of justification by faith is, because I have had to meet it among professed Seventh-day Adventists the past four years right straight through. These very things, these very expressions that are in this Catholic book, as to what justification by faith is and how to obtain it, are just such expressions as professed Seventh-day Adventists have made to me as to what justification by faith is. I want to know how you and I can carry a message to this world, warning them against the worship of the beast, when we hold in our very profession the doctrines of the beast. Can it be done? (Congregation: No. ) . . . This is justification by faith. That other thing is justification by works. This is of Christ; that is of the devil. One is Christ s doctrine of justification by faith: the other is the devil s doctrine of justification by faith. And it is high time that Seventh-day Adventists understood it. (Congregation: Amen .) (Ibid., pp. 261, 262.) A. T. Jones clearly perceived what we must eventually perceive that the essence of Romanism is self-worship, in whatever form it may assume; and that any specious teaching of righteousness by faith , even though it is ostensibly by a Seventh-day Adventist agent, which practically and basically exalts the mind of self, is in reality a branch growing out of the root of Romanism and Spiritualism: That is righteousness by faith; that is a faith that works, thank the Lord, not a faith that believes something away off, that keeps the truth of God in the outer court, and then seeks by his own efforts to make up the lack. Not that. No, but faith that works. It itself is working; it has a divine power in it . . . This is enough to show that the papal doctrine of justification by faith is Satan s doctrine; it is simply the natural mind depending upon itself, working through itself, exalting itself; and then covering it all up with a profession of belief in this, that, and the other, but having no power the

of God. Then, brethren, let it be rooted up forever. (Ibid., pp. 265, 266.) In an age when all kinds of beliefs and affirmations are being passed off for righteousness by faith , Israel would do well to take heed. She does not want to make any tragic mistake such as was unmasked at the 1893 General Conference Session. An even more subtle counterfeit was exposed at that meeting. The Christian s Secret of a Happy Life was a pretentious little volume which was very popular in those days. It presented a Cross-less, love-less and therefore powerless conception of righteousness by faith . It knew nothing of actual repentance or contrition, nor any true conception of Calvary, or of a personal Saviour. The residue of this utterly devitalized faith was termed trust 1888 Re-Examined - 117 in Christ ; and once the surrender was made, the soul must assume itself to be saved , and any convictin of the Holy Spirit to the contrary instantly repulsed by a repeated psychological affirmation that all was well. Some of our people had been reading that book, and it was supposed that A. T. Jones received (99) his light on righteousness by faith from it. He said: Now I have seen this earns thing working another way. There is that book that a great many make a great deal of, The Christian1s Secret of a Happy Life. I have seen people who have read that book and got considerable good out of it, as they thought, and what was to them great light, encouragment and good; but even then they could not go to the Bible and get it. Brethren, I want every one of you to understand that there is more of the Christian s secret of a happy life, in the Bible, than in ten thousand volumes of that book . . . Oh, I did hear once, I did get the news once, that I got my light, out of that book. There is the Book where I got my Christian s secret of a happy life (holding up the Bible), and that is the only place. And I had it before I ever saw the other book, or knew it was in existence. And I say again, When I came to read the other I knew I had more of the Christian s secret of a happy life than there is in that book to begin with. (Ibid., pp. 358, 359.) Even a cursory investigation of the teachings of that book in comparison with those found in Steps to Christ will reveal a most marked and fundamental difference. The latter presents true understanding of the atonement as the basis of genuine Christian experience; the former omits such an understanding altogether. Yet much of our contemporary preaching of righteousness by faith is based upon The Christian s Secret of a Happy Life .) Martin Luther recognized that a neglect to receive the truth concerning

righteousness by faith would inevitably lead to an infatuation with a highly disguised form of righteousness by works. In the twentieth century the enemy of all righteousness has perfected his system of camouflage to the utmost: If the article of justification be once lost, then is all true Christian doctrine lost . . . He then that strayeth from this Christian righteousness , must needs fall into the righteousness of the law , that is to say, when he hath lost Christ, he must fall into the confidence of his own works. For if we neglect the article of justification, we lose it altogether. ( Luther on Galatians, pp. 136, 148; quoted by A. O. Daniells, Christ Our Righteousness, pp. 90, 91.) W. W. Prescott s Studies The next most outstanding speaker at the 1893 General Conference Session was Elder W. W. Prescott, who gave a series of sermons on The Promise of the Holy Spirit . It would be far more agreeable to eliminate an investigation into the influence which his studies had on the developments at the 1893 meeting; but this cannot be done without giving only a partial presentation of the 1888 Re-Examined - 118 situation which developed at the Conference, thus leaving the question in more or less of mystery. Prescott clearly recognized that a mistake had been made at Minneapolis of great seriousness. In fact, he had himself confessed to taking a wrong position there, in company with most of the. brethren. In his studies at the 1893 meeting, however, he gave no indication that such a confession had been necessary, or had been made. He identified himself prominently with A. T. Jones at the 1893 meeting, as the one who shared his burden. His sermons preceded Jones nightly. Occasionally Prescott would interrupt Jones to present ideas or quotations or exhortation to the audience. With an apparently less mild and less appealing spirit than Jones, he vehemently urged the brethren to get right: Now the solemn thought to my mind is that He (God) is getting impatient, and will not wait very mach longer for you and me. I went you to see that plainly. . . I say again, I am extremely anxious over this situation . . . I do not dictate to any one, but something must be done, something different mast come to us than has come in this Conference yet, that is sure . . . That is why we are urging you to accept the righteousness, because the Spirit will be there. Do you not see? (W. W. Prescott, G. C. B., 1893, pp. 386, 387.)

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I have felt that I wanted to say some of these things in the plainest manner possible. But, if this instruction is from God, I say it is time for us to receive it, and act upon it, and I leave it with you, and for the Spirit of God to lead you. (Ibid., p. 108.) It is painful to note a certain imperiousness of manner, and impatience of appeal that seemed to be more demand than winning of hearts. It was a very subtle difference of appeal that would hardly be effective in binding up sounds and healing sores. The fact that Prescott so outspokenly made himself Jones colleague would naturally confuse minds into supposing that this was the spirit of the rival movement: There is nothing that my soul longs for more than that the baptism of the Spirit shall rest upon the services of God at this time . . . We must have experiences like removing right eyes and cutting off right hands . Everyone who wants that experience wants to be ready to give everything, even life itself, to God, (Murmurs of Amen.) And we should remember that it is easier to say Amen than it is to do what God says. . . . What, then is our duty at this time? It is to go out and give the LOUD cry of the message to the world . . . . The Lord has long been waiting to give us His Spirit. He is even now impatiently waiting that He may bestow it upon us . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 119 Now a work that will be greater than Pentecost has begun, and there are those here who will see it. It is here, it is now we are to be fitted for the work. We have not a moment to lose; not a moment to waste. (Ibid., pp. 38, 39; emphasis in the original.) I say that if ever there was a needy company it is this company . . . Now I am perfectly aware that I am speaking with great plainness, and I do not speak this without thought and prayer . . . If we don t make this matter a matter of earnest prayer, I say it simply means death to you and to me . . . the laborer who would go out from the Conference without a special experience in the blessing and power of God through repentance and acceptance of Christ, and the special presence of God with him, would as it were, go to his very death then, because the power of Satan is to be manifested in a wonderful manner . . . To keep him physically, I mean, from calamity and destruction, because Satan aims to destroy every one who would attempt to enlighten the people at this time . . . It is no use to go this way any longer, and my advice is most solemnly to every one who cannot go out now imbued with power from on high and bear

this light from heaven, and to do the work that God has to be done now, stay at home. Now I know that this is very severe. But I tell you, brethren, something must come to us, something must take hold of us . . . The question is, What are we to do about it? What are you and I going to do about it right here, now, at this Conference? . . . Again I say, What are we going to do about it? . . . I say it is time for us to begin now on these things. There is not a day to lose. (Ibid., p. 67.) The servants of God under this message will go out with faces lighted up with a holy joy and holy consecration. I want to see these brethren go out in that way; I want to see their faces lighted up as did that of Stephen when he was in the council. (Ibid., p. 389.) Now I say in all sincerity that we might as well make up our minds here and now, before we go a step farther, to face death and down it . . . I want to tell you that . . . unless we stand right there at this moment, and say that we will give up friends, homes, and that nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, we might as well, stop now. That is a fact. It is a simple statement of the fact. (Ibid., 241.) This sad recital of extreme, unjustified statements is made that it might be seen how a subtle, imperious, fanatical spirit began to creep in. Three days before the Institute opened at Battle Creek, January 27, 1893, Mrs. White had warned through the Review and Herald: Satan is now working with all his insinuating, deceiving power, to lead men away from the work of the third angel s message, which is to be proclaimed with mighty power. When the enemy sees that the Lord is blessing His people, and preparing them to discern His delusions, he will work with his masterly power to bring in fanaticism on one hand and cold formalism on the other, that he may gather in a harvest of souls. Now is the time to watch unceasingly. Watch for the first step of advance that Satan may make among us . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 120 There are dangers to be guarded on the right hand and on the left . . . Some will not make a right use of the doctrine of justification . . . If you have no respect for the messages which God sends you by his chosen servants, what power has He in reserve that will reach your case and correct your errors, so that you shall not be led into false paths? (R. & H., (101)

Jan. 24, 1893.) In his sermons on the Holy Spirit , Elder Prescott preached a species of righteousness by faith without a true understanding of the Cross, without clear and practical ideas of what constituted repentance, and in a confused, platitudinous, often self-contradictory manner. His vehemence had the appearance of earnestness, and at least won the attention of the Conference, if not their hearts. He himself was supporting projects at the same time which were unequivocally opposed by the Spirit of Prophecy, though he was doubtless unconscious at the time of such a marked disparity between his opinions and those of Sister White, (Compare G. C. B., 1893, with FE 220-230.) He would likewise, however, be unconscious of the disparity between his doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the truth as presented in the writings of Mrs. White, and also in the clear sermons given during the 1893 meeting by A. T. Jones. A few examples must suffice: What is the thing for us to do? . . . It is to begin to confess our sinfulness to God with humility of soul, with deep contrition before God to be zealous and repent. Now that is the only message that I can bring to-night. It is just that . . . Suppose we say we do not see anything to confess at all. That does not touch the matter in any way. When Cod sends us word that we are sinful, it is for us to say we are so, whether we can see it or not. That should be our experience. (W. W. Prescott, G. C. B., 1893, p. 65.) A. T. Jones seemed to recognize, however, that there was a danger in such ideas. The lips may express a poverty of soul that the heart does not acknowledge. (COL 159.) Prayer may go forth out of feigned lips, and the result be an experience which encourages hypocrisy. With no apparent purpose of answering Prescott, Jones later said: If the Lord should take away our sins without our knowing it, what good would it do us? That would simply be making machines of us. He does not propose to do that; consequently, he wants you and me to know when our sins go, that we may know when His righteousness comes . . . Don t you forget that we are always intelligent instruments . . . We will be used by the Lord at our own living choice. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B. 1893, p. 405.) 1888 Re-Examined - 121 It is difficult to quote from Prescott s studies, for few points are clear. There was no open opposition to Jones evident, and it is certain that there was no conscious intention of such. But the offence of the Cross had

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not ceased; the Spirit of God was bringing unwelcome convictions to many hearts, and Prescott endeavored to find a doctrine of the reception of the Spirit that would be acceptable to hearts that were disturbed by the realization that a definite, and serious sin of rejecting light at Minneapolis hung over them as a condemnation from heaven. The net result of his studies was confusion, a jamming of the spiritual ether waves, which unsettled even A. T. Jones. Prescott was unmistakably against sin and sins . He did not make clear what that meant, however. He seemed to have no clear sense of the sinful existence of self, but spoke often of putting away known sins , entities of conscious disobedience that seemed to be detachable from the self. The present truth of accepting the loud cry was his burden; the present hindrance a true comprehension of the sin which took place at and after Minneapolis seemed to elude his understanding. Some of the self-contradictory confusion in his studies may have been the result of understanding the issue, but being afraid to say so clearly. When a speaker feels forced to beat around the bush , he is in a most unenviable position. Finally, about ten days before the close of the meeting, he began to develop a doctrine of receiving the Spirit which bears close resemblances to the ideas expressed in The Christian s Secret of a Happy Life . What was necessary to receive the Spirit was an act of faith in just taking it, specific repentance for the sin of Minneapolis being ignored. There seemed to be a vague feeling of desperation: I am free to say that I begin to feel seriously anxious over our work now. You will remember that we have been studying these things together now for nearly four weeks. And the very first theme we considered was what hindered our receiving an outpouring of the Spirit of God . . . I have since felt there is almost a reaction from that, and that this work seems to move along rather easy with us now. I want to say for myself, I shall not at all be satisfied if this Conference passes without a greater outpouring of the Spirit of God than we have experienced yet . . . I am extremely anxious over this situation; because the time is passing, and the days go easily one after the other . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 122 Something must be done, something different must come to us than has come in this Conference yet, that is sure . . . Now why should we not get it in the same way? We have only about ten days left in the Conference. Now brethren, isn t it time to begin on that very thing? . . . Are we not now within ten days of the time, and ought we not to seek the Lord as we never have sought Him before? (W. W. Prescott, G. C. B. 1893, pp. 384, 386, 389.)

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Now, began a devious, enigmatic, nebulous argument that led the audience to believe that they could have the Holy Spirit by simply assuming that they had it. It was developed in his eighth and ninth studies on The Promise of the Holy Spirit. We must not feel that we have the power of the Holy Ghost; we must know that we have it. We are not to go from here consciously loaded up ; but we must have a conscious faith that Christ is with us. When He is with us in tiw fulness of His power, our faith grasps Him continually. Such a conscious faith will not include true self-knowledge, for that would discourage us: I notice that many here have from time to time asked the Lord to show them themselves just as He saw them; and I suppose that is one petition that the Lord saw best not to grant us. And I don t believe we ought to ask Him to do it. Now you see what the effect is apt to be when He begins to show us ourselves; we begin to question right off whether the Lord loves us or not, and whether the Lord can save us or not . . . I had no idea of my character. Well, the Lord probably has not begun to show us ourselves as He sees us; I do not suppose we have any idea, or any conception at all, of the way we look in God s sight. (Ibid., p. 445.) Then followed some confused ideas about looking to Jesus, in order to get a true knowledge of sin. The true understanding of the law was ignored. He paraphrased, or repeated, some ideas Jones had preached, but gave them a subtle twist to aid the course of his argument that the coming of the Comforter removes unwelcome condemnation. There seemed to be a cloud over the Conference; it must be lifted somehow. Emphasis was now that God had forgiven the sins that had been the cause of the trouble. Now we must just say that I know that my sins are forgiven . Keep saying over what he says. You cannot go wrong then. If you do not understand it, and cannot see light in it, you keep right on saying what He says. (Ibid., p. 447.) Perhaps the best way to review his devious argument is to quote the following paragraph from his study: 1888 Re-Examined - 123 Now He (the Spirit) convinces us of the righteousness of God in Christ, the righteousness of Christ. And He convinces us that that is a wonderfully desirable thing to have, and then he goes on and says that we can have it, and from that He convinces us that we have it, if we follow Him. . . .

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(Here a lady in the audience arose and said that she praised the Lord, because He convinced her of righteousness; to which the speaker replied: He does convince you of righteousness? Praise the Lord. I hope He is convincing many hearts of righteousness right here. ) . . . He that believeth on Him is not condemned. . . . The purpose is not, I will convince you that you are a sinner, and then convince you that you are condemned. No, the work of the Spirit is to convince us that that condemnation has been taken away. (Ibid., pp. 448, 449.) The only result could be to confuse, and that was precisely Satan a wish. The trumpet was not given a certain sound, and the result was that the sin of Minneapolis was never squarely faced and dealt with. It was assumed that any lingering sense of condemnation was of Satanic origin, and should be vigorously repulsed. Thus the tops of the unholy tree of unbelief were cut down in a superficial repentance, but the roots were never eradicated. Should any conviction arise in the heart that those roots were still there, it was to be considered a lack of faith in God and vigorously repulsed! Such would, of course, be the logical result of a doctrine which taught, as we have seen: (1) That a lip confession of unconscious, undiscovered sins was sufficient for the purposes of repentance, without the sins being brought to consciousness. (2) That it was wrong to pray for true and ultimate self-knowledge. (3) That the real work of the Holy Spirit was not to bring condemnation, but to take away all sense of condemnation, i. e., take away the conviction of sin. A fourth point would be inevitable, viz., that any doubt that you now had the Holy Spirit in latter rain power would be a lack of faith in God. You must therefore assume that you have it. That was the idea, as the following quotations will show: It has seemed to me that it would help us in this matter to realize in a special way the idea of the personal presence of the Saviour. I want to feel in my experience that the Saviour is with me just as He was with His disciples . . . I simply take His promise that He is with me . . . Now I want to think about my Saviour in exactly the same way. I do not want to think of him simply as there, I want to think of Him as being here. 1888 Re-Examined - 124 I do think of him as here. Not simply, I want him, but I have him.

The way to believe that is to thank God that it is true, and then we can rejoice in it. (Ibid., p. 368.) A. T. Jones later disparaged such assumptions: So then, the man who claims to believe in Jesus, and claims the righteousness of God which comes to the believer in Jesus, is his claiming it, enough for this world? (congregation: No. ) . . . Well, how do you know it? Why, I feel it in my heart; I feel it in my heart, and have for several years. Well that is no evidence at all; for the heart is deceitful above all things. (A. T. Jones, G. C. B. 1893, p. 444.) (105) But Prescott, in speaking of the reception of the message of Christ s righteousness, was confused. He said: What I want to get at is, What hinders it now? What we are to get after is the righteousness of Christ . . . I have been thinking about it somewhat in this way: If we were just to stop all questioning about one another, about Brother A and Brother B, and whether we have accepted it or opposed it, and stop hunting around, and sit right down here in the simplicity of it just as a child, so glad to know that it is so, we could take it . . . It seems to me that it would be a pleasure to be before . . . persons who had never heard about it in all their lives . . . I can imagine them saying: Isn t that good? I will take that now. Brethren, what is to hinder us from accepting it now in that way? Nothing. Then let us praise the Lord and say, I have it now. (W. W. Prescott, G. C. B. pp. 388, 389.) A. T. Jones Confused The evidence indicates that it was at this meeting in 1893 that Jones himself became confused. He was becoming worn out. He sensed the lethargy that was benumbing hearts. He did not know what to do. He stood practically alone, except for his self-appointed colleague, whose efforts only created confusion. We read of his apprehension: Brethren, we are in a fearful position here at this Conference, at this meeting. It is just awful. I said that once before, but I realize it to-night more than I did then. I can t help it, brethren. I can t help it. We are in a fearful position here. Not a soul of us ever dreams what fearful destinies hang on the days that pass by here . . . Brethren, as the days go on, is our earnestness in seeking God deepening? Is it? Is it? or is it rather coming to a lull? . . . (A. T. Jones, G. C. B., p. 346.) During his last two or three studies at the Conference, we find him becoming unsettled. In his sermon No. 22, he begins quoting quite extensively from Elder Prescott s sermons. Weary and perplexed, he seemed to turn to the

influence of colleague , and we find him beginning to echo Prescott s thoughts. Here was confused thinking now. He failed to sense. that there must be a turn1888 Re-Examined - 125 ing back to wander. The loud cry had to go forth, he assumed. He repeated Prescott s extreme demands: When He tells you and me that His glory is risen upon you and me, who have that righteousness which is by faith of Jesus Christ, then you and I are to thank Him that His glory is risen upon you and me. Thank Him that that is so, and take our stand deliberately, fairly, openly, and candidly and honestly before God, under the canopy of the angels of God and His glory which He gives; and then if he does not see that we shine, that is His fault. . . . I say again that the message there given to us, is the message for you and me to carry from this meeting. And anyone who cannot carry that message with him from this meeting had better not go. Any one who cannot go from this meeting with the living consciousness of the presence of Jesus Christ in its power, with His light and His glory upon him, and in his life, that minister had better not leave this place as a minister. (Ibid., pp. 494, 495.) Soon he was making unwise propositions, and asking questions that had been better left unanswered: Has He given you the light of the knowledge of His glory? (Congregation: Yes. ) Has He? (Congregation: Yes .) . . . (106) Then that Spirit has come to those who can look into the face of Jesus Christ. (A few minutes later, by permission of the speaker, Prof. Prescott read the following :) . . . Look up by faith, and the light of the glory of God will shine upon you. Jones continued: Now, with the accumulated force of four years exercise, God puts it forth to His people. The proposition is again: Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Who will? Who will? (Numerous voices: I will .) Good! Do it. How long will you? (Voices: Always .) How constantly will you? How often will you? (Voices: Always .) . . .

Well, then, Arise, and shine, because the light has come, and the glory of the Lord hath risen upon thee. (Ibid. , pp. 496, 497.) If the loud cry was indeed to go forth from that meeting with power, unarrested, it would follow that great changes would take place in the church. Now we find poor Jones, supported by Prescott, making most unfortunate prophecies that have never yet been fulfilled: Here is the most blessed promise it seems to me, that ever came to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For henceforth there shall no more come into thee, the uncircumcised and the unclean. Thank the Lord; he has delivered us henceforth from unconverted people; from people brought into the church to work out their own unrighteousness, and to create vision in 1888 Re-Examined - 126 the church. Church trials are all gone; thank the Lord; all mischievous talebearers and tattlers are gone. The church now has something better than that to talk about. They can now talk of saving fallen men and women . . . No more shall come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. . . . There is no place now in the Seventh-day Adventist Church for hypocrites. If the heart is not sincere, it is the most dangerous place that that man ever was in in the world. Then those who are not going along with this work had better get out quick. It is dangerous to stay here if you are not going along; and we cannot go along without having, the glory of God and His light shining in the heart, and in the life . . . Liberty is now proclaimed to the captives. Praise the Lord . . . Brethren, that is the message now. . . and he who cannot carry it should not go. Oh, do not go. . . . Let no one go without the consciousness of that abiding presence the power of the Spirit of God. No one need go without it. For it is obtained and kept by faith in Him. (Ibid., pp. 498, 499.) Elder Prescott enthusiastically predicted the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit, obviously including the gift of Prophecy, to others in the church besides Mrs. White: But now in the closing work of God, . . . the gifts will reappear in the church. And God. does not intend, as it seems to me, that these gifts are

to be confined to just one here, or perhaps one there, and that it shall be a rare thing that any special gift shall be manifested in any church. . . . gifts of healing; working of miracles; prophesyings; interpretation of tongues; all these things will be manifested again in the church. (W. W. Prescott, G. C. B, 1893, p. 461.) Were these prophecies true? Did these wonderful things take place? There were prophesyings, after a sort. W. W. Prescott, A. T. Jones, and E. J. Waggoner were deceived by the spurious claims of a woman named Anna Rice. Fanaticism was inevitable, for the loud cry did not take place after the 1893 meeting. So enthusiastic was Elder Prescott, that he even predicted some would go forth from the 1893 General Conference Session to raise the dead: I want to tell you that there are persons right in this house that will go through these very experiences; they will be taken out of prison by the angel of the Lord to go and proclaim the message; they will heal the sick, and raise the dead, too. Now that will happen right in this message. We must believe these things as simply as a little child believes them. (Ibid., p. 386.) The verdict of time and history is that these predictions of Prescott and Jones were false. Was the assumption that they had now appropriated the loud cry of the Holy Spirit any more true? 1888 Re-Examined - 127 W. W. Prescott s Predictions of Apostasy If history has proven that the predictions of Elder Prescott, based upon his understanding of the reception of the latter rain, were false, can we be sure that his doctrines which produced the false predictions were any more true? We shall let him answer himself. He was not too sure of his doctrines, at the 1893 meeting, and made a series of strange but significant references to the possibility of becoming misled during the 1893 meeting: Now, I say to those who have been in the ministry, and who have been teaching Christ to the people and to-night can t tell the difference between the voice of Christ and the voice of the devil, it is time for us to stop and learn the voice of God . . . But you still ask: How will they know his voice? I can t tell you, and if I could, it would not do any good . . . We must know the truth because the Spirit of truth is in us . . . . We will just as surely, you and I, in spite of all the light we have had under this work, be led astray. The fact is, we will change leaders and not know it, unless we have the Spirit of God with us. That is the simple fact. We

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will change leaders and not know it . . . You and I will do it, unless we are fully surrendered to God and kept by His divine power, and we will array ourselves against this work, against the power of God. (Ibid., p. 108.) He seemed not to know any clear method of telling truth from error except by what he termed the Spirit of truth . The point which he did not make plain was just how to distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error : The promise was that the spirit of truth would come, the Spirit of truth, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH. That means to my mind this: The Spirit that discerns truth because it is the truth. (!) . . . That Spirit is greatly needed just at this time, because there will be every wind of doctrine blowing, every effort made to bring in not in an open way, but in an underhanded way, in a way that we shall not recognize of our own wisdom principles that really involve the whole question. They will, of course, be brought up in some way so as to deceive if possible. No one who has any wisdom sufficient to lead him to try to deceive, would make the deception so plain that every one would recognize it as a deception; but the effort will be made to bring it in as the truth, and to cloak it under the garment of truth, and yet, putting it in such a way that it will involve the whole question, and bring us to compromise with error without our knowing it. . . . And so the effort (to deceive) will be made, which we in all our wisdom will be unable to perceive. I cannot tell you how it will come. You do not know how it will come; but it will probably come from a quarter least expected. When we are watching one point, thinking perhaps there is where the deception will come from, that that is the channel through which it will be manifested, it will come in some other way. It will take more wisdom and more discernment than we possess to perceive the way in which it will come, and be ready to recognize it as soon as it comes. We do not want a principle of error to come in, in a suspicious way, to lead us off from the principles of truth and righteousness. (Ibid., pp. 459, 460.) 1888 Re-Examined - 128 One wonders if the thought ever occurred to him that the quarter least expected might be himself! Perhaps so, for speaking once of people with blind eyes among us , he said: Who knows whether that means me or not? (Ibid., p. 237.) What more skillful deception could Satan bring on a man who was looking in all directions for the insiduous entrance of error, than to use the man himself as the agent? Finally, he told the Conference that the issue before them was either to

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be translated or to be deceived by the devices of Satan: I cannot get away from the idea that now is a most critical time with us personally. . . . It is more so than we realize. It seems to me that right now we are making choices that will determine whether we shall go on with this work through the loud cry and be translated, or whether we shall be deceived by the devices of Satan and be left out in darkness. (Ibid., p. 386.) They were not translated ceived by the devices of Satan? we are certain of that. Were they then de-

Conclusion The following facts are worthy of very serious consideration: (1) The 1893 General Conference Session marked the end of the Minneapolis era. The brethren so recognized it at the time, and history has proven the truth of it. The loud cry did not swell to earth-shaking proportions, as the brethren expected; the gracious message of 1888 remained uncomprehended, and therefore not accepted. A false enthusiasm instead infatuated the Conference. Confusing ideas were presented. Even Elder A. T. Jones was misled, and the faint beginnings of what led to his eventual apostasy from the movement took place. He was never quite the same afterward. One month after the close of the session, we find Mrs. White writing him from Australia, cautioning him against making extreme statements regarding faith and works. They were not made during the Session, but afterwards. She had not read them in the Bulletin she heard them in a dream. (Letter to A. T. Jones, April 9, 1893.) We can hardly blame A. T. Jones severely. During the 1893 meeting, he faithfully and earnestly urged the brethren to accept the light, and assured them that God would grant the loud cry experience. It was not so, or rather, 1888 Re-Examined - 129 it could not be so, unless they found a genuine and thorough repentance for 1888, which they would not have. We find that Caleb and Joshua were also over-enthusiastic, telling Israel that The Lord is with us: fear them not after Israel s rebellion made it impossible for the Lord to be with them, in that sense. It is likely that Israel used this over-enthusiastic assurance as partial excuse for their foolish and abortive attempt to capture Canaan after the Lord bade them return to the wilderness. Just before the 1893 Session convened, Mrs. White had warned the General Conference President concerning the Minneapolis message:

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If Satan can impress the mind and stir up the passions of those who claim to believe the truth, and thus lead them to unite with the forces of evil, he is well pleased. If once he can get them to commit themselves to the wrong side, he has laid his plans to lead them on a long journey. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, Sept. 1, 1693, 0, 19, d 92.) Mrs. white recognized that the purposes of God had been altered, and that modern Israel had embarked on a long detour and delay: We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel, but for Cbrist s sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action . . . But if all now would only see and confess and repent of their own course of action in departing from the truth of God, and following human devisings, then the Lord would pardon. (Letter Dec. 7, 1901, M-184, 1901.) (2) Those who so confidently assume that the 1893 General Conference Session marked the greatest victory of the message of Christ s righteousness fail to account for the long, devious trail of disillusionment and mistakes that have followed during the past sixty-seven years. It is a strange way for the loud cry to be proceeding. The leader of the new revival and of other revivals since 1893 followed a confused course. The following excerpts from a letter by G. B. Starr represent not only the opinion of one man concerning Elder Prescott s doctrinal unsoundness, but represent some facts well known to many: He related that Mrs. White said to him, I ll not let him (W. W. Prescott) alone. I have my commission from the Lord that he is to separate from the Review and Herald. Why , she said, Brother Starr, if that man remains on the Review, he will lead this entire denomination astray. Elder Starr added: 1888 Re-Examined - 130 Now I have long desired to tell you this, but . . . have decided not to withhold it longer. You certainly know that Professor Prescott for some unaccountable reason has never been a safe leader. In England he was astray with Waggoner on many points, in the Annie Phillips false prophesying, he showed lack of judgment in giving them the weight of his influence before they had been sufficiently tested to know that they were not genuine manifestations. He wrote and taught Pantheism before and quite as decidedly as Doctor Kellogg. These are not the footprints of a safe leader. He does not err so often and constantly. (G. B. Starr, letter to A. G. Daniells, Loma Linda, Cal., Aug. 29, 1919.) (110) Any contemporary ideas concerning righteousness by faith which have their root in such confused thinking as Elder Prescott s work need to be carefully examined. There will come the severest criticism upon every position that has been taken for the truth from the world itself. In this mid-twentieth

century we can afford to teach and publish only that which is truthful, clear, and cogent. (3) After the 1893 General Conference Session, Mrs. White wrote some very decided and pointed warnings concerning the possibility, yes probability, that we will change leaders and not know it . Her burden seemed to be that Satan s deceptions would do an insidious work within our ranks, rather than through open, above board apostasy out of our ranks: Every phase of fanaticism and erroneous theories, claiming to be the truth, will be brought in among the remnant people of God. These will fill minds with erroneous sentiments which have no part in the truth for this time. Any man who supposes that in the strength of his own devised resolutions, in his intellectual might united with science or supposed knowledge, he can start a work which will conquer the world, will find himself lying among the ruins of his own speculations . . . We may expect that everything will be brought in and mingled with sound doctrine, but by clear, spiritual discernment, by the heavenly anointing, we must distinguish the sacred from the common which is being brought in to confuse, faith and sound judgment. ( Instruction for, the Church Regarding Past and Future Manifestations of Fanaticism and Deceptive Teachings, pp. 5, 6. E. G. White Estate, 1898.) Fanaticism will appear in the very midst of us. Deception will come, and of such a character that if it were possib1e they would mislead the very elect. If marked inconsistencies and untruthful utterances were apparent, in these manifestations, the words from the lips of the Great Teacher would not be needed . . . It is enough for me to tell you, Be on your guard; and as faithful sentinels keep the flock of God from accepting indiscriminately all that professes to be communicated to them from the Lord . . . The Holy Spirit of God alone can create a healthy enthusiasm. (Ibid., pp. 6, 7; 1894.) 1888 Re-Examined - 131 I have a warning to give to our brethren, that they shall follow their leader and not run ahead of Christ. . . . The one who bears a message to the people from God must exercise perfect control. He should ever bear in mind that the path of presumption lies close beside the path of faith. . . . He who travels too fast, will find it perilous in more ways than one. It may not be long before he will branch off from the right road into a wrong path. . .

. . . There is danger of excess in that which is lawful, and that which is not lawful will surely lead into false paths. (Ibid., p. 8; 1894.) (4) The course of the 1893 General Conference Session, and an analysis of the sermons presented on The Promise of the Holy Spirit , reveal to us the possibility of preaching and writing at length on the subject of the Holy Spirit, when the ideas and methods of the speaker or writer are definitely opposed to the genuine counsel of the Holy Spirit. Many sermons have been preached and many books written since 1893 on that subject. If words could bring the manifestation of the outpouring of the Spirit so often talked about, it would have come long ago. 1888 Re-Examined - 132 CHAPTER 9 (111) WHY DID JONES AND WAGGONER APOSTATIZE? One of the greatest mysteries in Seventh-day Adventist history is the fact of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner s apostasy. That they became apostates, and were separated from denominational work no one can deny. The usual understanding of apostasy is that the basic tendencies toward it were all the time present in character and work, even from the beginning of his connection with the movement. Indeed, such is the thought expressed by John: They went out from us, but they were not 6! us; for If they bad been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: iiut they went ouI~, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. ( 1 John 2:19). Paul also hints that those who are truly the Lord s will not apostatize: Hymenaesus and Philetus . . . concerning the truth have erred, . . . and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. (2 Tim. 2:18, 19) B, M. Canright s trouble was the wonderful I . Long before he left us, he was, spiritually speaking, not of us . His subconscious doubts were repressed from time to time resulting in confessions, but were never eradicated. Somewhat the same impression prevails to-day concerning Jones and Waggoner. Were they genuine Seventh-day Adventists even at Minneapolis? is the questioning doubt that many entertain. How could they have been solidly and thoroughly true at that time, and afterwards go out so tragically? The modern view is well expressed in Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, where they are represented as being embryonically in error even at Minneapolis, waiting only for opportunity to jump the tracks:

(At the time of the Minneapolis session) Some were strongly inclined to take radical positions, as though it were a sign of strength to be extreme. Mrs. White . . . even seemed to have a feeling that the two men who were so prominent at that time might later on be carried away by their extreme views. (P. 232.) The following statements are so well known that their repetition seems quite unnecessary. But because of prevalent confusion regarding Jones and Waggoner, they are quoted again, that the fact may be emphasized that they were indeed straight and true at the time of the Minneapolis meeting: 1888 Re-Examined - 133 The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones . . . God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus . . . God. gave to His messengers just what the people needed. (TM 91, 93, 95.) God is presenting to the minds of men divinely appointed precious gems of truth, appropriate for our time. (Unpub. Miun. Sermons, 1888. Quoted by Pease, S. D. A. Theological Seminary Library, Thesis, p. 60.) (112) They (the opposition) knew not that God had sent these young men to bear a special message. (MS. S. 24. 1892.) Those whom God has sent with a message are only men . . . God has raised up His messengers for this time . . . Christ has registered all the hard proud, sneering speeches spoken against His servants as against Himself. (R. & H., May 27, 1850.) It would seem evident, therefore, that the fact that Jones and Waggoner. eventually went out from us does not mean at all that they were not of us. But their later apostasy has had the effect of casting a subtle, implied aspersion on the message which they brought to us in 1888 and immediately thereafter, as though the message carried them away. How fortunate, therefore, that the brethren did not accept it, but kept their heads level and their hearts hard! What a tragedy had the whole movement gone off into the fanaticism and fervor of Jones and Waggoner s message! Thus, to this day, the opposition at Minneapolis is subtly justified, and the message and messengers subtly disparaged. Such, precisely, was the dangerous idea which Mrs. White said would develop amongst us if they should later apostatize! It is obvious that we are faced here with a unique problem which thinking men and women in our midst will always want to understand. Why should God

choose as special messengers men who would prove to be unsound in the faith? More especially, why should He permit the bearers of a sharply contested and bitterly opposed message to go astray when their very apostasy would have the inevitable effect of confirming the opposition to that message? To suppose that God made a strategic mistake in choosing Jones and Waggoner for His messengers is unthinkable, for He never errs in counsel. To suppose that He made the wrath of men to praise Him, against their own will, is also unthinkable, for it is abundantly evident that both Jones and Waggoner were 1888 Re-Examined - 134 sincere, earnest, humble minded Christians when they were used by the Lord. There is no evidence whatever that either Jones or Waggoner ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward , loving the wages of unrighteousness, or that there was a trace of dishonesty in their preaching when they were straight. It will be evident that there is a lesson for God s people to learn in the story of their apostasy of profound importance to the present generation who have the advantage of Time s perspective in viewing our history. The reader is requested to consider whether the quotations presented in this chapter show the following to be true: (1) That Jones and Waggoner were not carried away by their extreme teaching regarding the righteousness of Christ, but that they were driven away by the persistent and unreasoning opposition of the very brethren whom they were sent to enlighten. This may sound like a startling departure from our usual historical interpretation. Perhaps the evidence will be worthy of investigation. (2) That Mrs. White recognized the extreme seriousness of the bitter opposition to Jones and Waggoner personally, and to their message; and that she fixed the ultimate blame for their later apostasy to a great degree upon the opposing brethren. (3) That the Lord permitted the sad event to take place as a test to the opposing brethren; and that their apostasy has had the effect of conforming us in a state of virtual unbelief. Their apostasy was a virtual working of error which God sent (permitted), that we should believe a lie, that they all might be condemned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 These. 2:11, 12, mg.) This also may be a startling declaration to make to those who delight in reading their vindication in our denominational history. Again, it is requested that the evidence be considered. (4) That the practical results of the investigative Judgment will require that the remnant church, before the time of her final victory before the world and the universe, come to see the sad truth of the matter, and recognize

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Jones and Waggoner s work from 1888-93 for its true value, i.e., a most precious message from the Lord. 1888 Re-Examined - 135 The Nature of the Opposition Closely interwoven with the opposing bretbren s ideas concerning the doctrinal matters of the message was a decided antipathy for the messengers themselves. Brethren turned from the message to criticize the messengers. Whatever course the messenger may pursue, it will be objectionable to the opposers of truth; and they will make capital of every defect in the manners, customs, or character of its advocate. (R. & H., Oct. 18, 1892.) Some of our brethren . . . are full of jealousy and evil surmising, and are ever ready to show in just what way they differ with Elder Jones or Waggoner. (Letter S. 24, 1892.) Jones and Waggoner were very positive, and talked strongly. Keen perceptions of truth often lead men who are only men to speak that way. But that was, of course, offensive to human nature which was in the wrong: Let no soul complain of the servants of God who have come to them with a heaven-sent message. Do not any longer pick flaws in them, saying, They are too positive; they talk too strongly. They may talk strongly; but is it not needed? . . . Ministers, do not dishonor your God and grieve His Holy Spirit, by casting reflections on the ways and manners of the men He would choose. . .He sees the temperament of the men He has chosen. He knows that none but earnest, firm, determined, strong-feeling men will view this work in its vital importance, and will put such firmness and decision into their testimonies that they will make a break against the barriers of Satan. (TM p. 410-413.) (114) Self was the real cause of the opposition at and after Minneapolis. God had clothed His personal messengers with evidences of authority. In them, self had been lost sight of in their love for Christ and His special message. It was therefore only natural that the still uncrucified self in others should be piqued: If the rays of light which shone at Minneapolis were permitted to exert their convincing power upon those who took their stand against light . . . they would have received the richest blessings, disappointed the enemy, and stood as faithful men, true to their convictions. They would have had a rich experience; but self said, No. Self was not willing to be refused; self struggled for the mastery. (Letter O. 19, d 92.)

Thus the principle which underlies the rejection of truth at Minneapolis is precisely that which was demonstrated in the Jews rejection of Christ. Caiaphas regarded Christ as his rival felt personal jealousy of Him (DA 704); yet, interwoven with that personal jealousy and hatred of Him who appeared to be a man among those who are only men , Caiaphas was expressing the enmity of the natural heart for God and His righteousness. Likewise, at Minneapolis, the 1888 Re-Examined - 136 personality of Jones and Waggoner was the visible, conscious stumbling block for the invisible, subconscious rejection of Christ the Word: Men professing godliness have despised Christ in the person of His messengers. Like the Jews, they reject God s message. The Jews asked regarding Christ, Who is this? Is not this Joseph s son? He was not the Christ that the Jews had looked for. So to-day the agencies that God sends are not what men have looked for. (FCE 472.)

The Burden Which Jones and Waggoner Bore Few have understood, through the years, the effect which the opposition to the 1888 message inevitably had upon Jones and Waggoner. They knew that the message of Christ s righteousness was of God. They further knew that they had been reined up by the Spirit of God to speak boldly in its defense. And they could not be blind to the obvious fact that a most determined, stubborn resistance to that heaven-sent message was the reaction of the leadership of the one true remnant church which God had upon earth, and which must eventually triumph. No living person in our midst has been called upon to endure exactly that same trial. What complicated the perplexity of Jones and Waggoner was the consciousness that the message of 1888 was the beginning of the loud cry , which was to go as fire in the stubble . They knew this was the true church; they knew the time had come for the finishing of the work; they knew they bore a heaven-sent message designed to bring about the finishing of the work; they knew that the heavenly intelligences ware watching with deep interest the unfolding of the drama. They further knew that we were living in the time of the cleansof the sanctuary, in the time of the investigative judgment when, of all things, the past blindness and unbelief and failures of old Jerusalem must not be repeated. Never in world history had there been a like crisis; never had greater evidences from heaven been granted in vindication of the authority of a special message. But, to their astonishment and amazement, never had history recorded a more shameful failure on the part of God s people to enter in to the improvement of their opportunity! It was an unprecedented unbelief on the part of spiritual Israel. It seemed to them to be the final, complete failure of God s people to believe Him, and to enter into His rest. What could possibly

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lie beyond? We should lay our hand upon our mouth when we are tempted to re1888 Re-Examined - 137 proach the men who were called upon to endure a fiery test and trial such as none of us have been called upon to endure in just the same way. It must be said to their credit that Jones and Waggoner did not renounce faith in the God of Israel. They never became infidels, or agnostics, or atheists. But, their sin was that they lost faith in Israel. They came to doubt human nature; hence their bitterness and failings of their own human nature. The little shrubs in the valley, bending beneath the zephyr winds that occasionally stir its quiet calm, would do well to refrain from critical comment when the mighty oaks on the mountain top go down in the crushing fury of the awful tempest. Let God speak when He says truly that there was no excuse for Jones and Waggoner s apostasy; let us be slow to speak, when we realize that we were largely the cause of it! Mrs. White keenly felt the burden which Jones and Waggoner bore. The two young men were the particular objects of the bitter opposition of the brethren. In 1892, she wrote as follows to the General Conference President: I wish that all would see that the very same spirit which refused to accept Christ, the light that would dispel the moral darkness, is far from being extinct in this age of the world . . . These things (1 Jn. 2:9-11) are written for us; they are applicable to the churches of Seventh-day Adventists. Some may say, I do not hate my brother; I am not so bad as that. But how little they understand their own hearts. They may think they have a zeal for God in their feelings against their brother if his ideas seem in any way to conflict with theirs; feelings are brought to the surface that have no kinship with love . . . They would as leave be at swords point with their brother as not, and yet he may be bearing a message from God to the people, just the light we need for this time. ... They take step after step in the false way, until there seems to be no other course than for them to go on, believing they are right in their bitterness of feeling against their brethren. Will the Lord s messenger bear the pressure brought against him? If so, it is because God bids him stand in His strength, vindicate the truth that he is sent of God . . . Should the Lord s messengers, after standing manfully for the truth for a time, fall under temptation, and dishonor Him who has given them their work, will that be proof that the message is not true? No. . . . Sin on the part

of the messenger of God would cause Satan to rejoice, and those who have rejected the message and the messenger would triumph; but it would not at all clear the men who are guilty of rejecting the message of God . . . I have deep sorrow of heart because I have seen how readily a word or action of Elder Jones or Elder Waggoner is criticized. How readily many minds overlook all the good that has been done by them in the few years past, and see no evidence that God is working through these instrumentalities. 1888 Re-Examined - 138 They hunt for something to condemn, and their attitude toward these brethren who are zealously engaged in doing a good work, shows that feelings of enmity and bitterness are in the heart . . . Cease watching your brethren with suspicion; (Letter O. 19. d 92.) At about the same time, Mrs. White wrote as follows to Elder Uriah Smith, intimating that Jones and Waggoner would not be able to bear the strain and pressure brought against them: It is quite possible that Elder Jones or Waggoner may be overthrown by the temptations of the enemy; but if they should be, this would not prove that they had had no message from God, or that the work that they had done was all a mistake. But should this happen, how many could take this position, and enter into a fatal delusion because they are not under the control of the Spirit of God . . . I know that this is the very position many will take if either of these men were to fall, and I pray that these men upon whom God has laid the burden of a solemn work, may be able to give the trumpet a certain sound, and honor God at every step, and that their path at every step may grow brighter and brighter until the close of time. (Letter S24-1892.) An analysis of the contents of these two quotations reveals some surprising facts which throw light upon the Jones and Waggoner tragedy: (1) There was definite hatred of Jones and Waggoner. Brethren were eagerly criticizing a word or action. They were hunting for things to condemn, which proved there was a subjective attitude of enmity, bitterness, and suspicion. This attitude was apparent as late as 1892, after the so-called confessions had been made. (2) The opposing brethren thought their bitterness against the heavensent message was a zeal for God; yet their spirit was the very same spirit which refused to accept Christ ! (3) The opposition was a test to the messengers which they might not be able to bear, and would therefore be a very difficult and overmastering tempta-

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tion. (4) The temptation was implied to be of a kind which would tempt the opposing brethren to disparage the message which they brought. (5) Their apostasy would be a triumph for the opposing brethren, and for Satan. Their fall would therefore be evidence that the opposing brethren had not truly repented of the Minneapolis sin; and their triumph would constitute to them a fatal delusion . Thus the apostasy of the messengers would confirm them in their impenitence. 1888 Re-Examined - 139 (6) This triumph of the opposing brethren would not clear their guilt hy any means; but after Jones and Waggoner s apostasy, that guilt would remain. (117) (7) It would be obvious, therefore, that the success of Mrs. White s prayers that the two brethren could endure the test and be faithful until the close of time, would be dependent upon the attitude which the opposing brethren should assume toward them from that time on. A few months later, Mrs. White wrote to the General Conference Session some truly startling statements regarding the cause of the two messengers defection from the faith. It is an unpleasant indictment: . . . It is not the inspiration from heaven that leads one to be suspicious, watching for a chance and greedily seizing upon it to prove that those brethren who differ from us in some interpretations of Scripture are not sound in the faith. There is danger that this course of action will produce the very result assumed; and to a great degree the guilt will rest upon those who are watching for evil. . . . The opposition in our own ranks has imposed upon the Lord s messengers a laborious and soul trying task; for they have had to meet difficulties and obstacles which need not have existed . . . All the time and thought and labor required to counteract the influence of our brethren who oppose the message has been just so much taken from the world of the swift coming judgments of God . . . Love and confidence constitute a moral force that would have united our churches, and insured harmony of action; but coldness and distrust have brought disunion that has shorn us of our strength . . . We have been compelled to devote our energies in a great degree to counteracting the work of the enemy through those who were in our ranks. The dulness of some and the opposition of others have confined our strength. (Letter, Jan. 6, 1893.)

It was that laborious and soul trying task, that suspicion, that hatred and hunting for something to condemn , that dullness of some and opposition of others , that greedy seizing upon atoms to prove that they were unsound in the faith , which had the very effect desired, i.e., the apostasy of Jones and Waggoner. The opposition was so strong, in fact, that Inspiration chose to term it persecution A great injustice was done, and there has been a burden of woe which followed: We should be the last people on the earth to indulge in the slightest degree the spirit of persecution against those who are bearing the message of God to the world. This is the most terrible feature of unchristlikeness that has manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis meeting. Sometime it will be seen in its true bearing, with all the burden of woe that has resulted from it. ( Danger in Adopting Worldly Policy, quoted in Gen. Conf. Bulletin, 1893, p. l84.) 1888 Re-Examined - 140 It was a sin of impatience of mind and ill temper of heart which finally caused their defection. Yet there was no excuse for the failure, as there is never any excuse for sin. But Moses experience on the borders of Canaan illustrate in some measure the truth of what happened. His sin was likewise inexcusable, and he had to die for it. It was a sin of impatience with Israel. Passionately and impatiently be called them rebels , which fact was true, when his spirit was not: Thus the people were given occasion to question whether his past course of action bad been under the direction of God, and to excuse their own sins. Moses, as well as they, had offended God. His course, they said, had from the first been open to criticism and censure. They had now found the pretext which they desired for rejecting all the reproofs that God had sent them through his servant. (PP 417.) Had Jones and Waggoner not apostatized, and covered their names with disgrace, modern Israel of a later generation would have accorded to them almost idolatrous respect. The infinite wisdom of God permitted all that has happened: Many who had been unwilling to heed the counsels of Moses while he was with them, would have been in danger of committing idolatry over his dead body, had they known the place of his burial. For this reason it was concealed from men. (Ibid., p. 478.) The truth and logic of Jones and Waggoner s position were so overwhelming that it could not be many years after Minneapolis when many people began to realize that they were truly outstanding men. They began to show an almost idolatrous regard for them after they became unsettled in the faith. So strong was the delusion permitted that those who had spurned their message when they

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were straight eagerly followed them when they were unsafe. Thus those that believed not the truth were doubly condemned. After the two brethren became unsound in the faith, self-exaltation was an easy temptation which Satan could use. And just as Israel had sinned in their condemnation when they were right, so now Israel sinned in their adulation when they were wrong. In 1912, G. A. Irwin wrote of them as follows: When the message of justification by faith (sic) began to be preached in this denomination, the enemy was deeply stirred, and made a strong effort to stop its spread. Failing in this, he changed his plan of opposition to a method that promised greater success. This plan was so to fasten the minds of the people upon the instruments that the Lord had called to promulgate the message, that these men would come to be regarded as the oracles of God, and the people s faith would become centered in them, rather than upon Jesus Christ, the author of the message. It was reckoned by the enemy 1888 Re-Examined - 141 that the praise and flattery of the people would so inflate these men that these would come to feel that their opinions and judgment must prevail in all matters pertaining both to the Scriptures and to the management of the Lord s work on the earth. How well the enemy succeeded in this latter plan is well known to us as a people; but what we have lost by allowing him to succeed, only eternity will reveal. The fearful tests and trials brought upon Jones and Waggoner were twofold: (1) All the abuse, opposition, ridicule, arid brotherly hatred possible were heaped upon them in the years immediately after Minneapolis. This confined their efforts to apologizing for and defending their message and their position with reference to it. Considering the nature of the message they were given for us in 1888, we can see that such a course would have the inevitable effect of deranging their spiritual faculties. Had they been able to receive greater light from heaven after 1888, they would have understood things better, and bore up under the test of opposition from Israel until victory came, and then have faced the world in the strength which those must possess who finally finish God s work on earth. But the light had to be shut off after 1888, and especially after 1893, because of Israel s blindness and stubbornness. The light they beheld was only the beginning of the loud cry and latter rain, and they never were privileged to get beyond that. That beginning of light was not sufficient to perfect sanctification, even in honest hearts. The consequent strain upon them was too great, and they failed. There is evidence that their minds were also unbalanced and a little deranged not many years after 1888. (2) While they were in a state of partial spiritual and mental derange-

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ment, the tide of opposition against them turned into a tide of praise and adulation such as no ministers amongst us have ever experienced. Thus their ruin was completed. The very last words which E. J. Waggoner wrote before his sudden death on May 28, 1916, are as follows. They were found on his desk, and are the closing sentences of a letter to Elder M. C. Wilcox: I acknowledge the zeal of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, which is not diminished, but perhaps increased, by the fact that it is not altogether according to knowledge. In saying this I do not question, but freely acknowledge, the superior goodness of the brethren in the denomination. 1888 Re-Examined - 142 I should be recreant to God it I did not recognize the light that He has given me; I could never understand why it was given to me, except on the ground that His gifts are bestowed, not according to deserts, but according to need. Whether Waggoner will be saved or lost, no one can say. But if those were his last thoughts, and God in His infinite wisdom, justice, and mercy finds some way to. save him at last, certain it is that Waggoner will plead himself unworthy. Will any of us who finally are saved plead otherwise? Conclusion It is evident that the contemporary view that Jones and Waggoner were always extremists is without foundation in fact. A Theological Seminary Thesis blames them for the failure of the denomination to accept the light of 1888 as follows: Extremists can easily bring a good cause into disrepute. And it is not impossible that extreme attitudes taken by some ministers during the period 1922-36, as well as during the earlier period of l888-l890, hindered in rallying the entire ministry of the denomination in giving their support to a movement of greater emphasis on the doctrine of justification and righteousness by faith. (Bruno Steinweg, S. D. A. Theological Seminary Thesis, p. 70.) Does not the evidence cited in this chapter reveal that it was not any extremism on the part of Jones and Waggoner s message which led them astray; but it was rather our caviling, little-minded, pusillanimous opposition that drove them astray? Is it not time now, in this mid-twentieth century, that the truth should be recognized?

(120) Never has there arisen amongst us since a messenger like unto Jones or Waggoner. What will come in the future we do not know. But does it seem reasonable to publish so many stale, helpless books on righteousness by faith , which at best are but old ideas presented with clever new illustrations, when such a treasure of truth lies buried in our archives? A re-print of both Jones and Waggoner s studies on the subject of Christ s righteousness, as presented during the time then the Spirit of Prophecy recognized them as the Lord s special messengers, would be to this generation as streams of life-giving water in a weary desert. There need be no fear of extremism if their writings are 1888 Re-Examined - 143 utilized from 1888-1892, including a part of the 1893 General Conference Session studies. We believe that the world itself baa never had the privilege of reading such clear teaching concerning the everlasting gospel as is presented in these buried sources. After ve have gathered up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost, then could we with confidence press our petition to the throne of grace to give us this day bread convenient for us, meat in due season. As surely as there is a living God, the prayer would not be unanswered. 1888 Re-Examined - 144 CHAPTER 10 (121) WARNINGS OF SUBTLE, INTERNAL APOSTASY If the findings of this essay are correct that the light of the loud cry, as presented at Minneapolis in the teaching of Christ s righteousness, was rejected arid spurned by us , it can be seen how inevitably there would be an infatuation with false and counterfeit light . Precisely in proportion as the true, genuine light presented at Minneapolis was undiscerned and misunderstood will the counterfeit light be undiscerned and misunderstood for its true nature. The apostasy within would therefore be unconscious, specious, subtle, and would likely become widespread before it is discerned. A true understanding of what took place at Minneapolis will be necessary in order to recognize the origin of the light of our fire, the sparks of our kindling which have taken the place of the light of 1888. Mrs. White repeatedly referred to the fact that the brethren at Minneapolis knew not what spirit they were of professing the truth sincerely, they rejected its Reality. That was because they did not know their hearts, and were unaware of the subconscious enmity against God which prompted their unholy reaction to the most glorious light which had ever shone upon the church. It follows that the sin of Minneapolis can never be truly and completely overcome until those subconscious motives of evil which are equally present in all our hearts are laid bare to our consciousness a work certainly

included in the truth of the cleansing of the sanctuary. What we failed to believe at Minneapolis, we must therefore learn through traversing a devious detour of many years duration, a detour actually of our own devising, wherein the evil apostasy of our own hearts would become incontrovertibly apparent to our own eyes, through the facts of our own unfortunate history. It will be evident also that God would be as powerless to prevent the outworking of these principles of evil latent in our subconscious hearts at Minneapolis as He would have been powerless in the true sense of the word consistent with His love to force us to have accepted the light at Minneapolis. He cannot, will not force He will not conquer by fear what He would 1888 Re-Examined - 145 win only by love. Hence His patience during the Detour. What else could He do but await the time of our disillusionment? He has his little secret, however. As surely as the heart of Israel is honest, so surely will He obtain His revenge when Israel comes to have had enough of her Detour which she has chosen. His revenge will be consistent with His love and will only deepen Israel s love for the truth which she spurned before the Detour began. God s patient wisdom will win at last, because it is the wisdom of love, a truly divine strategy. (122) Apostate Ideas the Result of Failure at Minneapolis The principle which applies to the reception of all light which Heaven sends, including the light of 1888, is set forth as follows and shows that a rejection of light makes inevitable a submission to deception: I saw an exceeding bright light come from the Father to the Son, and from the Son it waved over the people before the throne. But few would receive this great light. Many came out from under it and immediately resisted it; others were careless and did not cherish the light, and it moved off from them . . . Those who rose up with Jesus would send up their faith to Him in the holiest, and pray, My Father, give us Thy Spirit. . . . I turned to look at. the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne and pray, Father, give us thy Spirit. Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence . . . Satan s a object was to keep them deceived, and to draw back and deceive God s people. (EW 55, 56.) Men cannot with impunity reject the warnings that God in mercy sends them.

From those who persist in turning from these warnings, God withdraws His Spirit, leaving them to the deceptions that they love. (AA 266.) This principle of deception following rejection of heaven-sent light was fulfilled after 1888 in the fall of Babylon. The modern churches did not realize that Satan holds court and sits in the temple of God, deceiving those who will open a door for him to enter. That principle was also fulfilled after Minneapolis. Speaking of the crisis, Mrs. White wrote in 1889: We need never expect that when the Lord has light for His people, Satan will stand calmly by, and make no effort to prevent them from receiving it . . . Let us beware that we do not refuse the light God sends, because it does not come in a way to please us . . . We are taught in God s word that this is the time above all others, when we may look for light from heaven. It is now that we are to expect a refreshing from the presence of the Lord. (5T 728.) 1888 Re-Examined - 146 Men rest satisfied with the light already received from God s word, and discourage any further investigation of the Scriptures . . . There is reason to fear that they may not be clearly discriminating between truth and error . . . There will be many now, as in ancient times, who will hold to tradition, and worship they know not what. . . Certain it is that there has been among us a departure from the living God, and a turning to men, putting human in place of divine wisdom. God vdll arouse His people; if other means fail, heresies will come in among them, which will sift them, separating the chaff from the wheat. (5T 706, 707.) At the Minneapolis Session, Mrs. White warned the delegates that a failure to advance under the generalship of God would expose them to the generalship of Satan: God will withdraw His Spirit unless His truth is accepted . . . Because they (the congregation at Nazareth) had not advanced, they had been working under the generalship of Satan, and yet claim that they were working under the generalship of God . . . I wish you could see and feel that if you are not advancing you are retrograding (and) Satan understood about it; he knew how to take advantage of the human mind, and he had taken advantage of the human family ever since they

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had first stood upon the field of battle against the powers of darkness . . . Well, here the battle is before us. (MS 8, 1888, Talk, Sabbath Oct. 20, 1888.) Again, speaking of Minneapolis, Mrs. White spoke of the serious consequences of the mistake made there: All this cry about changing the old landmarks is all imaginary. Now at the present time God designs that a new and fresh impetus shall be given to His work. Satan sees this, and he is determined it shall be hindered. . . That which is food to the churches is regarded as dangerous, and should not be given them. And this slight difference of ideas is allowed to unsettle the faith, to cause apostasy, to break up unity, to sow discord, all because they do not know what they are striving about themselves. (MS. 13, 1889.) Satan recognized in the reaction of Israel to the 1888 light his supreme, long-awaited opportunity: The enemy of God and man is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for be knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken. If he can control minds so that doubt and unbelief and darkness shall compose the experience of those who claim to be the children of God, he can overcome them with temptation. He (Christ) has warned us to be on our guard against false doctrines. . . . Many false doctrines will be presented to us as the teaching of the Bible. . . . God would have us intelligent . . . and recognize the warnings He has given us that one may not be found on the side of the great deceiver in the crisis that is dust before us. (R. & H., Sept. 3, 1889.) 1888 Re-Examined - 147 Our recent position is interesting and perilous. . . . We do not want to be found receiving dangerous error as truth. (Ibid.) And when light is set aside as darkness, Satan has things his own way. (5T 300.) The light which came in 1888 was the verity of the third angel s message. Satan would obviously aim his deceptions for the purpose of confusing Israel s understanding of that truth: Satan is now working with all his insinuating, deceiving power to lead men away from the work of the third angel s message, which is to be proclaimed with mighty power. . . He will work with masterly power to bring in fana-

ticism on the one hand and cold formalism on the other, that he may gather in a harvest of souls. Now is our time to watch unceasingly. Watch, bar the way against the least step of advance that Satan may make among us . . . Some will not make a right use of the doctrine of justification by faith. (Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 1, pp. 63, 64, 1890.) Un1ess divine power is brought into the experience of the people of God, false theories arid erroneous ideas will take minds captive. (R. & H., Sept. 3, 1889.) Elder A. G. Daniells recognized that the warning was justified. He said, regarding this statement: To a lamentable degree, God s people failed to bring the divine power into their experience, and the result predicted has been seen: . . . False theories and erroneous ideas have taken minds captive. (COR, by A. G. Daniells, p. 89. Emphasis supplied.) A few, months later, Mrs. White wrote as follows regarding the contest within the church between 1ight and darkness, The loud cry is a time of peril: (124) I have been warned that henceforth we shall have a constant contest . . These words of Holy Writ were presented to me: Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. This will surely be seen among the people of God, and there will be those who are unable to perceive the most wonderful and important truths for this time, truths which are essential for their own safety and salvation, while matters that are in comparison as the merest atoms, are dwelt upon and are magnified by the power of Satan so that thy appear of the utmost importance. ... They will mistake light for error, and specious error they will pronounce light, mistaking phantoms for realities, and realities for phantoms . . . They will fall into deceptions and delusions that Satan has prepared as concealed nets to entangle the feet of those who think they can walk in their human wisdom without the special grace of Christ . . . Unless it is received, men mill accept one delusion after another until their senses are perverted. (MS 16, 1890; Evangelism 593, 594.) At the time of the loud cry of the third angel those who have been in any measure blinded by the enemy, who have not fully recovered themselves from the snare of Satan, will be in peril, because it will be difficult to discern the light from heaven, and they will be inclined to accept falsehood. Their erroneous experience will color their thoughts, their decisions, 1888 Re-Examined - 148

their propositions, their counsels. The evidences that God has given will be no evidence to those who have blinded their eyes by choosing darkness rather than light. After rejecting the light, they will originate theories which they will call light , but which the Lord calls sparks of their own kindling, by which they will direct their steps . . . For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. By many the words which the Lord sent will be rejected, and the words that man may speak will be received as light and truth. Jesus says, I am come in My Father s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. Human wisdom will lead away from self-denial, from consecration, and will devise many things that tend to make of no effect God s messages. We cannot with any safety rely on men who are not in close connection with God. They will accept the opinions of men, but cannot discern the voice of the True Shepherd, and their influence will lead many astray. (R. & H., Dec. 13, 1892.) It should be noted that the whole tenor of these inspired warnings is that the blindness , erroneous experience , theories , sparks of their kindling , the many things that tend to make of no effect God s messages , and the influence which will lead many astray are dangers which will arise within our midst, and be so subtle that men who have been in any measure blinded by the enemy and are not in close connection with God and cannot discern the voice of the True Shepherd will be honestly, sincerely deceived. Our history will show whether or not these words have been and are being fulfilled. After the 1893 General Conference Session Mrs. White wrote the following words, which seem to indicate a consciousness on her part of the two contemporary evils of fanaticism and formalism: It is a fact that we have the truth, and we must hold with tenacity to the positions that cannot be shaken; but we must not look with suspicion upon any new light which God may send, and say, Rea1ly, we cannot see that we need any more light than the old truth which we have hitherto received, and in which we are settled. . . . Discernment seems to have departed, and they have no power to discriminate between the light which God sends them and the darkness that comes from the enemy of their souls. (R. & H., Aug. 7, 1894.) It was a peculiarly difficult trial for the church. There were a few who wished to advance with Christ into the larger spiritual experiences of the finishing of the work, both in their own hearts and in the world. The general body (of leaders especially) were not ready. God had, therefore, to alter His purpose, and remain with His people. If they would not keep step with Him, He must at least keep step with them. This was an irksome spiritual trial to the few who were of more ardent temperament than the most good, honest souls.

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1888 Re-Examined - 149 They bad to be cautioned not to rush on before the Master, but to follow where He leads the way. (TM 228, 1894.) The delay which was necessary was in the nature of an experiment, not for God s sake, but for the sake of Israel herself. There was an interesting article on the nature of such experiments , and the reasons why God permits apostasy and backsliding in His people. Perhaps it was written for our admonition : Through successive ages of darkness, in the midnight of heathenism, God permitted men to try the experiment of finding out God by their own wisdom, not to demonstrate their inability to His satisfaction, but that men themselves might see that they could not obtain a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ his Son, save through the revelation of His word by the Holy Spirit. . .Even in the church God has allowed men to test their own wisdom in this matter . . . When unfaithful teachers came among the people, weakness followed, and the faith of God s people seemed to wane; but God arose and purged His floor, and the tried and true were lifted up. There are times when apostasy comes into the ranks, when piety is left out of the heart by those who should have kept step with their divine Leader . . . But God sends the Comforter as a reprover of sin, that His people may be warned of their apostasy and rebuked for their backsliding . . . When men are led to realize that their human calculations come far short, and are convinced that their wisdom is but foolishness, then it is that they turn to the Lord to seek Him with all the heart, that they may find Him. (R. &H., Dec. 15, 1891.) The end of the Detour experiment will be to bring the church to a true sense of her condition, and a genuine repentance, an experience which will be the greatest of its kind in all ages of her history: Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. When she resists the evil and chooses the good, when she seeks Cod with all humility . . . she will be healed. She will appear in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed. Then her members will indeed be the chosen of God, His representatives. (8T, 249, 250.) An understanding of the profound implications of our own history will be necessary for the attainment of that most desirable goal. The honest in heart will see it, and be glad: We must keep close to our great Leader, or we shall become bewildered, and

lose sight of the Providence which presides over the church and the world, arid over each individual. There will be profound mysteries in the divine dealings. We may lose the footsteps of God and follow our own bewilderment and say, Thy judgments are not known; but if the heart is loyal to God everything will be made plain. There is a day just about to burst upon us when God s mysteries will be seen, and all His ways vindicated . . . The church history upon the earth and the church redeemed in heaven all center around the cross of Calvary. (TM 432, 433.) 1888 Re-Examined - 150 (126) How Satan Worked After Minneapolis The quotations to be presented in this section of this chapter are of a very serious nature. Clear sighted vision is required by modern Israel, and nothing should blind us to the effect of these grave conditions upon our present day situation: Formality, worldly wisdom, worldly caution, worldly policy, will appear to many to be the very power of God, but when accepted, it stands as an obstacle to prevent God s light in warnings, reproof, and counsel from coining to the world . . . Satan will insinuate himself by little wedges, that widen as they make a place for themselves. The specious devices of Satan will be brought into the special work of God at this time. (MS 16, 1890) (Fanaticism, pp. 9, 10.) We are amid the perils of the last days, when voices will be heard on every side saying, Here is Christ , Here is the truth ; while the burden of many is to unsettle the foundation of our faith which has led us from the churches and from the world. . . The truth for this time is precious, but those whose hearts have not been broken, by falling on the rock Christ Jesus, will not see and understand what is truth. They will accept that which pleases their ideas, and will begin to manufacture another foundation than that which is laid. They will flatter their own vanity and esteem, thinking that they are capable of removing the pillars of our faith, and replacing them with pillars they have devised. ( Written on the train enroute for Lynn, Mass., Dec., 1890 Elmshaven Leaflets, The Church No. 4.) It will be recalled that the great burden of the opposition at Minneapolis was to stand by the old landmarks . Mrs. White added that they had perverted ideas of what constituted the old landmarks. (MS. 13, 1889.) We may know that

nothing would have pleased Satan more than to have seen this people actually get away from those landmarks, and remove the pillars of our faith . He has failed to bring about that result. But we ought not to overlook the fact that Satan has an army of termites who will take over a job when the dynamite crew have failed. We may awaken someday to discover that specious ideas long held by us, originating with the father of apostasy, have been subtly undermining our understanding. Satan s termites cannot affect the pillars of truth; they can eat their way into our faith, and leave us only with an outward shell of the third angel s message, and we be quite ignorant of what has happened! It is not beyond Satan s intelligence to have done such a work: Those who are self-sufficient, who do not feel the necessity of constant prayer, and watchfulness, will be ensnared . . . They will be found professedly working for God, but in reality giving their service to the prince of darkness. Because their eyes are not anointed with the heavenly eye-salve, 1888 Re-Examined - 151 their understanding will be blinded, and they will be ignorant of the wonderfully specious devices of the enemy. Their vision will be perverted through their dependence on human wisdom, which is foolishness in the sight of God. (Danger of Adopting Worldly Policy, p. 4, 1890.) About the same time, Mrs. White wrote as follows concerning what was in fact taking place. But it was a subconscious movement an underground procedure, where those roots of Minneapolis prejudice had never been eradicated, and still, bear their unholy fruit, to poison the judgment, pervert the perceptions, and blind the understanding (TM 467). Cutting the tops off in superficial repentance and leaving the roots intact was just the kind of situation which Satan was glad for: The religion of Jesus is endangered. It is being mingled with worldliness. Worldly policy is taking the place of the true piety and wisdom that comes from above, and God will remove His prospering hands from the conference. Shall the ark of the covenant be removed from this people? Shall idols be smuggled in? Shall false principles and false precepts be brought into the sanctuary? Shall antichrist be respected? Shall the true doctrines and principles given us by God, which have made us what we are, be ignored? . . . This is directly where the enemy, through blinded, unconsecrated men, is leading us. (MS 29, 1890.) Two years later, speaking in connection with the famous statement about the loud cry having begun with the revelation of the righteousness of Christ at Minneapolis, Mrs. White warned of the exceeding cleverness of Satan s masterful temptations : Without the enlightenment of the Spirit of God, we shall not be able to

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discern truth from error, and shall fall under the masterful temptations and deceptions that Satan will bring upon the world . . . Soon the delusions of the enemy will try our faith, of what sort it is. (R. & H., Nov. 22, 29, 1892.) In l894 came another warning, again emphasizing Satan s astute cleverness: My soul is much burdened, for I know what is before us. Every conceivable deception will be brought to bear upon those who have not a daily, living connection with God, . . . Satan s angels are wise to do evil, and they will create that which some will claim to be advanced light, will proclaim as new and wonderful things, and yet while in some respects the message is truth, it will be mingled with men s inventions, and will teach for doctrines the commandments of men. If there was ever a time when we should watch and pray in real earnest, it is now. There may be supposable things that appear as good things, and yet they need to be carefully considered with much prayer, for they are specious devices of the enemy to lead souls in a path which lies so close to the path of truth that it will be scarcely distinguishable from the path which leads to holiness and heaven. But the eye or faith may discern that it is diverging from the right path, though almost imperceptibly. At first it may be thought positively right, but after a while it is seen to be wisely divergent from the path of safety; from the path which leads 1888 Re-Examined - 152 to holiness and heaven. My brethren, I warn you to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. (TM 229, 1894, Emphasis supplied.) Even more pointed was the following warning: Fanaticism will appear in the very midst of us. Deception will come, and of such a character that if it were possible they would mislead the very elect. If marked inconsistencies and untruthful utterances were apparent in these manifestations, the words from the lips of the Great Teacher would not be needed. It is because of the many and varied dangers that would arise, that this warning is given. The reason why I hang out the danger signal is, that through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit of God I can see that which brethren do not discern . . . It is enough for me to tell you, Be on your guard; and as faithful sentinels keep the flock of God from accepting indiscriminately all that professes to be communicated to them from the Lord. (Letter 68, 1894.) The path of presumption lies close beside the path of faith . . . If there is not careful, earnest, sensible work, solid as a rock in the advancement

of every idea and principle and in every representation given, souls will be ruined. (Letter 6a, 1894.) (128) In the same year, Mrs. White wrote about the possibility of our schools becoming entangled in the meshes of Satan s allurements: Our institutions of learning may swing into worldly conformity. Step by step they may advance to the world; but they are prisoners of hope, and God will correct and enlighten them, and bring them back to their upright position of distinction from the world. (R. & H., Jan. 9, 1894; FE 290.) Are the teachers in our schools giving the students to eat of the bread of life? Many of them are leading their students over the same track that they themselves have trod. . . . They give students food . . . which will cause those who partake of it to die. They are fascinated by that which God does not require them to know. (R. & H., August 17, 189?; FE 14714.) For human agents to misconstrue and put a forced, half truthful, and mystical construction upon the oracles of God, is an act which endangers their own souls, and the souls of others. ( Special Testimonies on Education, June 12, 1895; FE 386.) There is some indication that the foundations of the pantheism heresy of the early l900's was being laid as early as 1895 by some educators and scholars amongst us becoming infatuated with a species of a science-Christian synthesis popular at the time: Association with learned men is esteemed by some more highly than communion with the God of heaven. The statements of learned men are thought of more value than the highest wisdom revealed in the word of God . . . The men who parade before the world as wonderful specimens of greatness, and at the same time trample down the revealed will of God, robe man with honor, and talk of the perfection of nature. They paint a very fine picture, but it is an illusion, a flattering deception; for they walk in the sparks of their own kindling. 1888 Re-Examined - 153 Those who present a doctrine contrary to that of the Bible, are led by the great Apostate who was cast out of the courts of God . . . With such a leader an angel expelled from heaven the supposedly great men of earth may fabricate bewitching theories with which to infatuate the minds of men. (Youth s Instructor, Feb. 7, l895; FE 331, 332. )* On the eve of the beginning of the pantheism crisis, Mrs. White wrote as

follows: The right hand of fellowship is given to the very men who are bringing in false theories and false sentiments, confusing the minds of the people of God, deadening their sensibilities as to what constitutes right principles. Conscience has thus become insensible to the counsels and the reproofs which have been given. The light given, calling to repentance, has been extinguished in the clouds of unbelief and opposition brought in by human plans and human inventions. (B-19 1/2, 189?, Elmshaven Leaflets, Methods No. 1.) The Pantheism Apostasy With obvious reference to what was already developing in the minds of some workers such as Dr. Kellogg and Dr. E. J. Waggoner, concerning pantheistic, spiritualistic theories, Mrs. White wrote in 1898: (129) Every phase of fanaticism and erroneous theories, claiming to be the truth, will be brought in among the remnant people of God. These will fill minds with erroneous sentiments which have no part in the truth for this time ... From the light given me of the Lord, men will arise speaking perverse things. Yea, already they have been working and speaking things which God has never revealed, bringing sacred truth upon a level with common things . . . Men have brought themselves in with their heterogenous mass of heresies which they represent as oracles for the people. The people are charmed with some strange, new thing, and are not wise in experience to discern the character of ideas that men may frame up as something . . . O, how this rebukes the low standard of piety in the churches. (Letter 136a, 1898.) There is no need here to review that sad episode of our history, except to point out three factors which are commonly overlooked when that phase of our experience is discussed: (1) Most of our ministers were so blinded at the time that they did not discern the nature of the pantheistic ideas being presented, until Mrs. White unmasked the specious sophistry. Had she not done so, or had the gift of Prophecy ____________________ *It is interesting to note that the pretentious little book which many of our people supposedly presented the same light which Jones and Waggoner brought to us, viz., The Christian s Secret of a Happy Life, presented some pantheistic leanings, together with a Cross-less, wholly erroneous concept of sanctification cleverly disguised in such a way that an Adventist reader looking for victory would be easily enticed. See pp. 145-150. 1888 Re-Examined - 154

been silent, it is probable that the church would have foundered on that hidden rock. (2) This blindness of cur most experienced leaders and Bible teachers to discern what was taking place before their eyes alarmed Mrs. White: This is a time when Satan s deceptive power is exercised, not only upon the minds of those who are young and inexperienced, but upon the minds of men and women of mature years and of broad experience. Men in positions of responsibility are in danger of changing leaders. This I know. (Sp. Test. Series B, No. 2, p. 48.) Then I heard a voice saying, Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Master Worker, and will stand storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God? The time has come to take decided action. (Ibid., p. 54.) That those whom we have thought sound in the faith should have failed to discern the specious, deadly influence of this science of evil, should alarm us as nothing else has alarmed us. (Ibid., No. 7, p. 37.) In fact, the verdict of our history places the greater blame and condemnation on the blindness of responsible brethren who failed to discern the terrible iceberg of pantheism looming just before the good ship Zion, than upon the misguided Doctor who was most prominent in teaching it. We are very forward in condemning him, and in rejoicing in the deliverance wrought by the Spirit of Prophecy. We overlook the real lesson to be learned from the sad affair, namely, that the repeated warnings considered in this chapter, and given to the brethren ever since the Minneapolis meeting had failed to arouse them to watch. Thus the warnings were seen to be justified, and the pantheism crisis merely a revelation to us of the deep seated nature of our Minneapolis unbelief that was still evident in the readiness with which we fell for delusions over a decade later. Those who maintain that we repented of the Minneapolis blindness find it difficult to explain the pantheism blindness. Indeed, at that time we fell under the masterful temptations and deceptions that Satan will bring upon the world . The delusions of the enemy tried our faith, of what sort it was. (R. & H., Nov. 22, 29, 1892.) We seemed indeed powerless to discriminate between the light which God sends . . . and the darkness that comes from the enemy of their souls . False theories and erroneous ideas took minds captive. We mis1888 Re-Examined - 155 took light for error, and specious error we pronounced light. We were in grave danger of worshipping we knew not what heresies affecting the very nature of God Himself deceived not an occasional unbalanced minister here and there amongst

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us, but the very keenest, strongest men failed to discern them. Had not the Spirit of Prophecy come to our rescue just in time, and given the bold cry, Meet it! disaster would have followed. Satan could rightly blame his defeat on the personal, living ministry of the agent of the Spirit of Prophecy. (3) But there was an abundance of written instruction by Mrs. White which made the whole sad failure entirely inexcusable. The warnings concerning the Minneapolis failure repeated time and again should have had sufficient weight to have enabled the brethren to themselves steer the good ship safely through the perilous trial. Their obtuse blindness made a personal, emergency intervention on the part of Mrs. White necessary. Thus the test of pantheism was not final. Satan must be allowed to test us once again, this time the living agent is no longer present. It will be a supreme test as to whether we have come to maturity or not, or whether, as children, we still require the guidance and protection of a governess present with us, necessitated by our inability to remember or bent to disbelieve what has been written for our admonition. Hence we find numerous predictions that the pantheism test was but the beginning of greater delusions to follow: Our people need to understand the reasons of our faith and our past experiences. How sad it is that so many of them apparently place unlimited confidence in men who present theories tending to uproot our past experiences and to remove the old landmarks! Those who can so easily be led by a false spirit show that they have been following the wrong captain for some time, so long that they do not discern that they are departing from the faith, or that they are not building upon the true foundation. We need to urge all to put on their spiritual eye-glasses, to have their eyes anointed that they may see clearly and discern the true pillars of the faith . . . Some of the sentiments now expressed are the alpha of some of the most fanatical ideas that could be presented. Teachings similar to those we had to meet soon after 1844 are being taught by some who occupy important positions in the work of God. (Southern Watchman, April 5, 1904, emphasis supplied.) If we have not a deep experience in the things of God, if we have not a thorough knowledge of His word, we shall be beguiled to our ruin by the errors and sophistries of the enemy. False doctrines will sap the foundations of many, because they have not learned to discern truth from error. (R. & H., Nov. 19, l908; Fan. 35). Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while, and I trembled for our people . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 156 Be not deceived: many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now before us the alpha of this (131)

danger. The omega will be of a most ~atart1ing nature. . . . Living Temple contains specious sentiments. There are in it sentiments that are entirely true, but these are mingled with error . . . In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given . . . Spiritualistic sentiments have been given to our people, and have been received by some who have had a long experience as teachers in the word of God. The results of this insidious devising will break out again and again, . . . (Special Test., Series B, No. 2, p. 53, 15, 16, 49, 50; No. 7, pp. 16, 17, 36. Emphasis supplied.) That the Living Temple crisis was permitted by God as a test and trial to our faith, and an object lesson to the future generation, is evident in the following: God has permitted the presentation of the combination of good and evil in Living Temple to be made to reveal the danger threatening us. The working that has been so ingeniously carried on He has permitted in order that certain developments might be made, and that it might be seen what a man can do . . . God has permitted the present crisis to come to open the eyes of those who desire to know the truth. He would have His people understand to what lengths the sophistry and devising of the enemy would lead. (Ibid., No. 7, p. 36.) The Living Temple crisis therefore by no means marked the end of Satan s efforts to mislead, captivate, ensnare, confuse, and bewilder the Advent people. Now that the prophet has gone to rest, we may be sure that Satan will not retire from the contest. The danger from subtle, inward apostasy in our midst is still present, more so than it has ever been before: One thing it is certain is soon to be realized, the great apostasy, which is developing and increasing and waxing stronger, and will continue to do so until the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout. (Ibid., p. 56, 57.) (4) Thus the serious fact demands our attention, that Satan will make another effort of the same kind as the Pantheism temptation, to captivate this people. His masterful effort will come before the end, and will be to the Pantheism heresy what the omega is to the alpha. No greater test and trial has ever faced a community of God s professed people in world history. This time the test will be met without the aid of a living prophet to snatch the wheel of the ship from our fumbling grasp in the moment of greatest danger. This time the test will be over our belief in what is written , and a personal experience in knowing Him who is the Author of all that is written which can come only in

1888 Re-Examined - 157 a contrite realization of the real significance of our own history. And the one who thinks he stands will be sure to fall. What a tragedy to find that the whole force of the Kellogg pantheistic apostasy as an object lesson is removed in the popular presentation of it in the book, Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts! That which God permitted to reveal the danger threatening us , and to have us understand to what lengths the sophistry and devising of the enemy would lead is represented as a victory for the wisdom of the brethren, and God s indulgent, approving care in the ministry of Mrs. White. The very point of the whole experience is neatly buried in the assertion that the omega was an event past and gone long ago! Note the following: There were two phases to the struggle first, the pantheistic errors, second, the question of ownership and control. The Spirit of Prophecy called them the Alpha and Omega of the issues. Pantheism, the doctrines of devils, is called the Alpha, and Omega was said to be events of a most startling nature. Some have claimed that the term Omega refers to some great future difficulty or apostasy and have at times made a mistaken application of it to this or that branch of denominational work. . . . In past years the understanding of those terms was that Alpha was the errors mentioned above and Omega the breakaway and rebellion that robbed our church of its oldest health institution. That was indeed a startling thing that few expected. In the long run, however, only a few of our members left. (L. H. Christian, op. cit., p. 292.) The storm center of the conflict was the large Battle Creek Sanitarium. Directly contrary to the Spirit of Prophecy messages given, it had been rebuilt on a much larger scale. We mere clearly instructed not to send so many young people there to be educated. (Ibid., p. 291.) If this is true, that the loss of the Battle Creek Sanitarium was the omega, then we may rest assured that the greatest trials and dangers to the Advent movement took place nearly fifty years ago. With the alphabet of Satan s whole gamut of specious temptations already exhausted in the dim past, we have nothing more to prepare for in the future. Such sophistry Satan would be greatly pleased to have this people believe. The publication of such error is unfortunate. The idea of the omega being a thing of the past is contrary to reason, to Mrs. White s plain declarations, and contradicted even in the published presentation quoted. It should be noted that Mrs. White said:

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(1) Many will depart from the faith, in the, time of the omega. If the 1888 Re-Examined - 158 omega was the loss of the Battle Creek Sanitarium and its leadership, why does the author cited above say, Only a few of our members left us ? If that was true, then the event mentioned could hardly be the omega. (2) That the omega would be a danger, the end of the alphabet of deadly heresies and doctrines of devils. Being of the same alphabet, the omega must therefore be deadly heresies and doctrines of devils, only more acute, more subtle, and more dangerous an omega follows alpha. How then could the omega be construed to be an event such as the loss of an institution? (3) That the omega is said to be something received by many people. It seems impossible to see how the loss of the Battle Creek Sanitarium could be construed as being something received by us. (133) (4) That Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people. Inasmuch as the book quoted above admits that the Sanitarium was rebuilt at the express disapproval of Mrs. White, it seems strange how it can be represented that Mrs. White would tremble for our people at the prospect of the loss of that which was only a snare and delusion to them, which should never have been rebuilt in the first place. (5) Other statements by Mrs. White present the clear idea of a progression in heresies and delusions, which the figure of the Greek alphabet conveyed. There should be a development of apostasy and infatuation on the part of God s people that should at last assume startling proportions. The alpha is represented variously as follows in Series B, and the omega must necessarily be of the same nature: Apostasy, wrong principles, brilliant sparkling ideas, theories and sophistries that undermine the foundation principles of the faith, perveraion of truth, fanciful and spiritualistic interpretations of the Scriptures, deceivableness of unrighteousness, seeds of discord, of unbelief, of infidelity . . . sown broadcast, insidious fallacies, sentiments of the enemy, falsehood and pleasing fables, infidelity and skepticism, a multitude of deceptions, a yoke of human manufacture, cunningly devised fables, a lie. (Expressions all verbatim in Series B, Woe. 2 and 7, concerning the alpha.) Thus it is evident that the omega will be of the same nature, and must be guarded against. The omega will undoubtedly be specious error without marked inconsistencies and untruthful utterance apparent, but of such a character that 1888 Re-Examined - 159

if it were possible they would mislead the very elect. (Letter 68, 1894.) Is riot this a matter of the most serious concern to the remnant church? Never in world history has a more solemn and fearful responsibility rested upon us, who are shepherds of the flock entrusted to our care. There is an omega of deceptive theories to come, following the pantheism heresy. The roots of that failure have been left in the ground, together with the roots of the Minneapolis failure complementary tragedies. There is fruit yet to be borne. Speaking in 1904 of the pantheistic theories of an impersonal god , the nonentity of God and of Christ presented in contemporary heresies, Mrs. White warned of the future, to which we have now come: In the future, truth will be counterfeited by the precepts of men. Deceptive theories will be presented as safe doctrines. False science is one of the agencies that Satan used in the heavenly courts,. and it is used by him today . . . I beseech those who are laboring for God not to accept the spurious for the genuine . . . Do not present theories or tests that have no foundation in the Bible. . . . It is written is the test that must be brought home to everyone. (R. & H., Jan. 21, 1904. Evangelism, 600, 601.) In 1906 there appeared in the Review and Herald an article entitled Lessons From the Life of Solomon . Mrs. White reviewed the steady, subtle, unconscious apostasy of Solomon, his rash disregard of the wise provisions that God had made for maintaining the purity of His people , his reasoning that alliances with heathen nations would have good evangelistic results; and the effect of his apostasy in the spiritual decline of Israel. How could it have been otherwise, when their king united with satanic agencies? Through these agencies the enemy worked to confuse the minds of the people in regard to true and false worship. They became an easy prey. . . . Refusing to follow in the path of obedience, they transferred their allegiance to Satan. The enemy rejoiced in his success in effacing the divine image from the minds of the people that God had chosen as His representatives . . . Satan brought about that for which he had long been working, a national apostasy. (R. & H., Feb. 1, 1906; FE 498, 499.) But Mrs. White was not writing a dissertation on ancient history. Our people were not to be too far-sighted in the past, and fail to recognize present applications of that written for our admonition: Never was there a time in earth s history when this warning was more appropriate than at the present time . . . Those who are placed in charge of the Lord s institutions are in need of much

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of the strength and grace and keeping power of God, that they shall not walk 1888 Re-Examined - 160 contrary to the sacred principles of the truth. Many, many are very dull of comprehension in regard to their obligation to preserve the truth in its purity, uncontaminated by one vestige of error. . . Men to-day are no wiser than he (Solomon), and they are as prone to yield to the influences that caused his downfall. For thousands of years Satan has been gaining an experience in learning how to deceive; and to those who live in this age he comes with almost overwhelming power. (Ibid.) It can hardly be seen how Mrs. White could write thus in 1906 if she believed that the omega of Satan s list of deceptions had already seen spent several years before! It must be noted clearly that Satan has been learning in each succeeding attempt to overcome God s people. By now he must have attained a nearly consummate skill. If he wan successful in leading the Jews to study Moses assiduously with a vail . . . upon their heart , would he not permit us to quote the Spirit of Prophecy, so long as that same vail is upon our heart? It is disturbing to note that the pantheism apostasy pretended to have the support of Mrs. White s writings, and thus many of our brethren mere caught unawares: In His work on this earth, Christ saw how, by a disregard of the injunctions of God in regard to righteousness and true doctrines, evil would be made almost indistinguishable from good . . . The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error. . . A copy of Living Temple was sent me, but it remained in my library, unread. . . . I knew that some of the sentiments advocated in the book . . . were a snare that the enemy had prepared for the last days. I thought that this would surely be discerned, and that it would not be necessary for me to say anything about it . . . Those in favor of giving it a wide circulation declared: It contains the very sentiments that Sister White has been teaching. This assertion struck right to my heart. I felt heartbroken. (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, pp. 7, 52, 53.) (135) The sad pantheism apostasy should teach us that off-shoot movement men are not the only agents who can misuse the Spirit of Prophecy. At that time, it was respected, successful, highly honored men amongst us, who were misled. As to how her writings were misused, Mrs. White said:

There may be in my writings many statements which, taken from their connection, and interpreted according to the mind of the writer of Living Temple , would seem to be in harmony with the teachings of this book. This may give apparent support to the assertion that the sentiments in Living Temple are in harmony with my writings. (Ibid., p. 53.) The misguided brethren involved were not~ obscure, little men, of small 1888 Re-Examined - 161 influence: When men standing in the position of leaders and teachers work under the power of spiritualistic ideas and sophistries, shall we keep silent, for Lear of injuring their influence, while souls are being beguiled? Will the men in our institutions keep silent, allowing insidious fallacies to be promulgated, to the ruin of souls? The sentiments of the enemy are being scattered everywhere. (Ibid., pp. 9, 13, 14.) As was strongly implied in 1906 in the article regarding Solomon s apostasy, there was a great danger in borrowing any ideas from the world, or from worldly religious sources. Indeed, the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light; but that does not give license to us to go to them for wisdom. What greater triumph could Satan effect than to send us to Babylon to get help for preaching the third amgel s message in verity? Mrs. White was greatly concerned in 1909 also: The light of truth which God designs shall come to the people of the world at this time is not that which the world s men of learning are seeking to impart; for these men in their research often arrive at erroneous conclusions, and in their study of many authors become enthused with theories that are of satanic origin . . . In the investigation of these subjects, men are led to accept erroneous conclusions, and to unite with seducing spirits in the work of propounding new theories which lead away from the truth. There is danger that the false sentiments expressed in the books that they have been reading will sometimes be interwoven by our ministers, teachers, and editors . . . under the belief that they are the same in principle as the teachings of the Spirit of truth. The book, Living Temple, is an illustration of this work, the writer of which declared its support that its teachings were the same as those found in the writings of Mrs. White. Again and again we shall be called to meet the influence of men who are studying sciences of satanic origin, through which Satan is working to make a nonentity of God and of Christ. (9T, 67-68.) There is evidence that Mrs. White at last regarded the omega trials as

being an experience for the church which would come after her death: I am charged to tell our people that some do not realize that the devil has device after device and he carries these out in ways that they do not expect. Satan s agencies will invent ways to make sinners out of saints. I tell you now, that when I am laid to rest, great changes will take place. I do not know when I shall be taken, but I desire to warn all against the devices of the devil. I want the people to know that I warned them fully before my death. I do not know especially what changes will take place, but Satan s devices will be brought before the people. But they should watch every conceivable sin that Satan will try to immortalize. (Letter sent out by W. C. White, Elmshaven, Feb. 24, l915.) (136) Conclusion It appears evident in the course of examining our history after the Minneapolis era, that our denominational history is a parable of profound import 1888 Re-Examined - 162 to this generation. A brief resume of the points covered might be helpful: (1) An advanced understanding of the everlasting gospel consistent with our doctrine of the cleansing of the sanctuary, and intended to bring about the effective finishing of the work of God on earth in the loud cry , was offered this people in 1888. (2) The spiritual development of the church in particular and human nature in general, was such that the development of Christian experience required a more mature understanding of the gospel than had ever been had before. The fulness of the time had come for the perfecting of the saints . . . unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ . (3) We refused the gracious revelation misunderstood, repulsed, spurned, and scorned it. This, of course, necessitated the withdrawal of any further special light. (4) We realized that we had made a mistake, and bad sinned. There was no genuine, sincere repentance for the sin itself, however. There was just a cutting down of the tops, leaving the roots of prejudice and unbelief intact. (5) It was inevitable that Satan should thus find an open door for the presentation of his deceptive delusions; having rejected genuine light, we would be necessarily infatuated with counterfeit light sparks of men s kindling. Our mistake at Minneapolis gave him just the opportunity he had long been wanting, and his course of attack since then has been in fulfillment of Revelation

12:17 a test which we have erroneously assumed awaited a future fulfillment in actual hot war persecution, forgetting that Satan is a master at cold war tactics, using fifth column infiltration and other quisling devices. Satan is trying his best to control his temper and avoid hot wars of persecution he knows such outbursts do not help his cause. (6) By a variety of expressions, Mrs. White sought to warn the church, of the dangers of internal apostasy. These warnings became especially pointed and insistent after the Minneapolis Conference. (7) The warnings were seen to be justified by the sad blindness of most of us when the pantheism heresy came. Mrs. White was forced to meet it , and take the wheel of the good ship Zion just in time. 1888 Re-Examined - 163 (8) The pantheism delusions were but the alpha of an alphabet of deadly heresies and doctrines of devils Satan would foist upon the naive, unsuspecting woman in white in a last and almost overmastering attempt to defeat God s plan of salvation. (9) Our hope, recognizing our sinfulness, is in God s mercy and unchanging love. The remnant church, enfeebled and defective as she is, is still, the supreme object of His regard. The long Detour of wandering which we brought upon ourselves must lead us in the fulness of the time to the Christ whom we spurned at Minneapolis. In self-abhorrence and deep repentance, we shall find Him. There will be no self-vindication in the process. God s hope, on the other hand, lies in our honesty of heart. He is Himself on trial in us, before the Universe. He has staked His throne on the honesty of His people: Something great and decisive is to take place, and that right early. If any delay, the character of God and His throne will be compromised. Is it possible that we are about to risk the honor of God s throne? Brethren, for the Lord s sake, and for His throne s sake, let us get out of the way. The only way to get out of the way of God is to flee to Him. (Quotation from Mrs. White, The Crisis Imminent , quoted by A. T. Jones, whose remarks follow, in General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p. 73.) (10) A recognition of the significance of our denominational history in the light of Spirit of Prophecy declarations, is essential before the loud cry can be recognized, and received. Could any other kind of loud cry than that which would follow a denominational repentance lighten the earth with glory ? What glory for God would there be in it? 1888 Re-Examined - 164

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CHAPTER 11 (138) PREDICTIONS OF INFATUATION WITH A FALSE CHRIST This chapter of this essay will investigate: (1) Mrs. White s predictions that the apostasy of the modern popular churches will lead to a confusion of a false Christ for the true; (2) the grave danger of our becoming involved ourselves in the prevailing general confusion through a failure to recognize our true Lord and Christ in the message of 1888. Inasmuch as this phase of the great controversy between Christ and Satan is the final death grapple between the enemy and the Body of Christ on earth, it is obvious that Satan will not content himself with mutilating the extremities of that body. He will concern himself with its very heart, its vitals. He will endeavor to secure our allegiance and service through a misconception of the third angel s message in verity. Since that verity is the message of Christ s righteousness, it follows that Satan s final effort to deceive and allure us would be an attempt to infatuate us with Babylon s understanding of the doctrine or tenet of justification and righteousness by faith . If he can first lead Babylon into the worship of a false Christ; and then can lead us to mistake their doctrine of faith in Christ for the third angel s message in verity, he will have us, to all intents and purposes, confused with a false Christ, in spite of our verbal protestations. In His work on this earth, Christ saw how, by a disregard of the injunctions of God in regard to righteousness and true doctrines, evil would be made almost indistinguishable from good . . . The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit. (Series B, No. 2, pp. 7, 52.) Deception will come, and of such a character that if it were possible they would mislead the very elect. If marked inconsistencies and untruthful utterances were apparent in these manifestations, the words from the lips of the Great Teacher would not be needed. (Letter 68, l894.)

Baal Worship in the Popular Churches The following quotations will show the nature of the deception Satan has brought upon the popular churches, the professed churches of our Lord Jesus 1888 Re-Examined - 165 Christ :

Satan will work with all power and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness . His working is plainly revealed by the rapidly increasing darkness, the multitudinous errors, heresies, and delusions of these last days. Not only is Satan leading the world captive, but his deceptions are leavening the professed churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. The great apostasy will develop into darkness deep as midnight. (COL 414.) The present age is one of idolatry, as verily as was that in which Elijah lived. No outward shrine may be visible; there may be no image for the eye to rest upon; . . . Multitudes have a wrong conception of God and His attributes, and are as truly serving a false god as were the worshippers of Baa]. . . . They seem to have lost all power to discriminate between light and darkness, truth and error. (PK 177, 178.) Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work or God. I saw them (the professed Christians) look up to the throne, and pray, Father, give us Thy Spirit. Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was much light and power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan s object was to keep them deceived, and to draw back and deceive God s children. (EW 56.) Nearly a century ago, the agent of the Spirit of Prophecy understood that real Spiritualism was a false Holy Spirit, and that it would captivate the religious world: I saw the rapidity with which this delusion was spreading. A train of cars was shown me, going with the speed of lightning. The angel bade me look carefully . . . He showed me the conductor, who appeared like a stately, fair person, whom all the passengers looked up to and reverenced. I was perplexed, and asked my attending angel who it was. He said, It is Satan. He is the conductor in the form of an angel of light. He has taken the world captive. (EW 88.) Mrs. White also understood that this same delusion of Christian Spiritualism a false Holy Spirit would meet us face to face . These warnings are quite meaningless if we confine the connotation of Spiritualism to obvious impersonations of dead people: We must examine well the foundation of our hope, for we shall have to give a reason for it from the Scriptures. This delusion will spread, and we shall have to contend with it face to face; and unless we are prepared for it, we shall be ensnared and overcome. (Loc. cit., emphasis supplied.) The following has been in process of fulfillment before our eyes in current developments in the religious world:

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Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself . . . Some he deceives in one way, some in another. . . . Some look with horror upon one deception, while they readily receive another. Satan deceives some with Spiritualism. He also comes as an angel of light, and spreads his influence over the land by 1888 Re-Examined - 166 means of false reformations. The churches are elated and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit . . . Before the loud cry of the third angel is given, he raises an excitement in these religious bodies, that those who have rejected the truth may think that God is with them. He hopes to deceive the honest and lead them to think that God is still working for the churches. (Ibid., p. 261.) In short: Men cherish the attributes of the first great deceiver; They have accepted him as God, and have become imbued with his spirit. (6T p. 15.) There is much so-called Christ in the preaching of this satanic god, however. Baal is not merely a false god, he is a false Christ: Piety will degenerate, and religion become a shallow sentimentalism. (COR 79.) In this age antichrist will appear as the true Christ . . . But the true leader of all this rebellion is Satan clothed as an angel of light. Men will be deceived and will exalt him to the place of God, and deify him. (TM 62.) (140) The enemy is preparing to deceive the whole world by his miracle-working power. He will assume to personate the angels of light, to personate Jesus Christ. (Letter 102, 1894.) So clever will be the misrepresentations which will precede the impersonations, that the elect are warned repeatedly. In fact, the deceptions Satan will foist upon the world have as their ultimate purpose the deception of Israel herself . Why should he labor so to deceive his own children? They are already in his grasp. He is after other game than that which he has already bagged , and that game is the Seventh-day Adventist church. Dare we suppose complacently that Satan has given up his struggle to overcome the remnant church? Does he not realize that here and now with Israel is the final battle? Rebellion and apostasy are in the very air we breathe. We shall be affected

by it unless we by faith hang our helpless souls upon Christ. If men are so easily misled (as by pantheism) how will they stand when Satan shall personate Christ, and work miracles? Who will be unmoved by His misrepresentations? Professing to be Christ when it is only Satan assuming the person of Christ, and apparently working the works of Christ? What will hold God s people from giving their allegiance to false Christs? Go not ye after them . . . The deceptions will increase. (Letter 1, 1897.) An interesting thought is found in the following quotation, that popular religious bodies will make of God a peculiar something . We are warned our selves to beware: Be careful what you teach. Those who are learners of Christ will teach the same things that He taught. 1888 Re-Examined - 167 The religious bodies all over Christendom will become more and more closely united in sentiment. They will make of God a peculiar something in order to escape from loyalty to Him who is pure, holy, and undefiled, and who denounces all sin as a production of the apostate . . . Let not the theory be presented that God would dwell in the soul temple of a wicked man. No greater falsehood could be presented. (Undated MS-131; Elmshaven Leaflets, Methods 9.) There is room for a much more mature understanding of the law than we have yet attained to. The law made the Cross necessary each established the other. The removal of one must necessarily remove the other. On this point will come the fiercest battle of ideas and concepts, in the closing controversy. We need to walk humbly, and also carefully, lest we walk naked: Satan is striving to gain every advantage. He desires to secure, not only students, but teachers. He has his plans laid. Disguised as an angel of light, he will walk the earth as a wonder-worker. In beautiful language he will present lofty sentiments. Good words will be spoken by him, and good deeds performed. Christ will be personified, but on one point there will be a marked distinction. Satan will turn the people from the law of God. Notwithstanding this, so well will he counterfeit righteousness, that if were possible, he would deceive the very elect.(R. & H., August 17, 1897; FE 471, 472.) The context of the above quotation reveals that the impersonation of Christ will first be through false theories rather than through physical impersonation. A very subtle and insidious warfare is implied. Indeed, the elect must walk carefully. what we failed to believe about the law at Minneapolis (this is not to affirm that Waggoner was entirely correct in his interpretation

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it is to suggest that the matter should have been thoroughly investigated) we may learn in a very embarrassing, humiliating manner. Satan s righteousness will of course parade itself as righteousness by faith . Will that make it indeed the third angel s message in verity? What will hold God s people from giving their allegiance to false Christs? In a letter to a prominent author among us, Mrs. White wrote in 1894 to explain the necessity of thoroughly examining all matter which our publishing houses produce: Christ has given many warnings to the effect that false doctrines, false prophets, and false christs would arise arid deceive many. From the light that God has been pleased to give me, His humble servant, I know that these prophecies have been fulfilling, and testimonies have not been few that have been given to meet these things as they have come up all along through our religious experience. Great delusions will arise, end even of your 1888 Re-Examined - 168 own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them . Even Satan will disguise himself, and appear as Christ . . . Should there be no guard against the publication of erroneous theories, our own publishing houses would become the agents for disseminating false theories. (Letter 49, l894 Counsels to Editors, pp. l~2, 351.~.) It is sad to note that this warning was seen to be justified by the his tory of the pantheism apostasy, when our own publishing house made some sad mistakes: It is high time that we understood what spirit has for years been controlling matters at the Review and Herald Office. I am horrified to think that the most subtle phase of Spiritualism should be placed before the workers, and that in a way calculated to confuse and perplex the mind. The Review and Herald Office has been defiled as the temple was defiled, only the result has been tenfold more disastrous. (8T, p. 92.) I feel a terror of soul as I see to what a pass our publishing house has come. The presses in the Lord s institution have been printing the souldestroying theories of Romanism and other mysteries of iniquity . . . God s law has been transgressed, His cause betrayed, and His institution made a den of thieves. (Ibid., pp. 91, 92.) In concluding this section of Mrs. White s predictions that a false Christ would deceive the modern religious world, we note that it is difficult to find

quotations which predict simply that the outside world will be deceived, without finding in close connection statements that warn the elect to beware. The next section wilt examine references to Baal-worship and infatuation with a false Christ within our midst. Let us note in passing, old General William Booth s prediction, which largely agrees with what we have been considering, that in the twentieth century we would have: Religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, Forgiveness without Repentance, salvation without regeneration, and . . . Heaven without Hell. (142) The True Christ Dropped Out By Many The infatuation with a false Christ can become possible only as the knowledge of the true Christ is lost. In a previous chapter of this essay, it was found that involved in the rejection of light at Minneapolis was the spurning of the offer of a closer, more intimate relation to Christ Himself than had ever been offered any other people. Jesus Christ was insulted. The following 1888 Re-Examined - 169 statements require a closer investigation than a merely platitudinous concept would justify: Unless divine power is brought into the experience of the people of God, false theories and erroneous ideas will take minds captive, Christ and His righteousness will be dropped out of the experience of many, and their faith will be without power or life. (R. & H., Sept. 3, 1889.) It will be noted that that statement was written during the Minneapolis crisis. One author confesses that the message was never accepted properly, and that the sad consequences were as predicted: To a lamentable degree, God s people failed to bring the divine power into their experience, and the result predicted has been seen: 1. False theories and erroneous ideas have taken minds captive. 2. Christ and His righteousness have been dropped out of the experience of many. 3. The faith of many is without power or life. (A. G. Daniells, Christ Our Righteousness, p. 89; Emphasis supplied.) In order for this statement written in 1889 to be fully intelligible to our modern minds, three facts must be considered:

(1) Christ and His righteousness would not, could not, be dropped out of the experience of many verbally. For any of us in words to repudiate Him and His righteousness would arouse a dramatic thrill of horror. Therefore it is evident that the result predicted must be understood as taking place while we maintain the profession of Christ and His righteousness. It may be that the famous text does not apply exclusively to our neighbors having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. (2) Christ and His righteousness would not be dropped out of the experience of many consciously. That would be to awaken us to our need, a definite sense of extreme coldness. It would drive honest-hearted souls to the fire indeed. Contrary to popular impressions, Satan is not anxious to lead the church to extremes at the present time. He is pleased to keep us in a state of balance so long as it is thermostatic lukewarmness. Actually, our very lukewarmness is an extreme of sleepy, obtuse confusion. The heart is deceitful words may deceive us, and only be a smokescreen behind which the enemy is working: No man can of himself understand his errors. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it? The lips may express 1888 Re-Examined - 170 (143) a poverty of soul that the heart does not acknowledge. (COL 159.) (3) Therefore Christ and His righteousness would be dropped out of the experience of many unconsciously. It would be due to the mysterious processes of our unknown hearts wherein there is a natural enmity against God. Obsessional neuroses may develop with the causes buried in the subconscious. The woman in white is a patient, and the true psychiatrist who understands her case is the Divine Analyst of souls, Jesus Christ. Mrs. White repeatedly wrote of the possibility of our changing leaders and not knowing it: For the last twenty years a subtle, unconsecrated influence has been leading men . . . to neglect their heavenly Companion. Many have turned away from Christ. (R. & H., Feb. 18, 1904.) They profess to accept Christ as their Saviour, but they do not believe that He will give them power to overcome their sins. They have not a personal acquaintance with a living Saviour. (Ibid., July 7, 1904.) Those who can so easily be led by a false spirit show that they have been following the wrong captain for some time, so long that they do not discern that they are departing from the faith, or that they are not building upon the true foundation. (Southern Watchman, April 5, 1904.)

Those who are not wholly consecrated to God may be led to do the work of Satan, while yet they flatter themselves that they are in the service of Christ. (5T, p. 103.) There are some who in the past have had a correct experience, but who have changed leaders. Not all, but many have been beguiled. There are leaders, who, before God can own and accept them, must first be converted and led back to God . . . They are strangers to God . . . Those leaders and teachers who refuse to follow Christ place themselves under the guidance of the evil angels. Some have already done this. (Sp. Test., Series B, No. 2, p. 19.) The Open Door for the False Christ It is therefore inevitable that the many who would drop Christ and His righteousness out of their experience would become infatuated by a false Christ and false righteousness by faith , in proportion as they professed Christ : The prejudices and opinions that prevailed at Minneapolis are not dead by any means; the seeds sown there in some hearts are ready to spring into life . . . The tops have been cut down, but the roots have never been eradicated. ... There has been a departure from God among us . . . Infidelity has been making its inroads into our ranks; for it is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give place to skepticism. With many the cry of the heart has been, We will not have this man to reign over us. Baal, Baal, is the choice. The 1888 Re-Examined - 171 religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own way, and forsake the way of the Lord. The true religion . . . has been denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism . . . What kind of a future is before us if we shall fail to come into the unity of the faith? (TM 467, 468; emphasis supplied.) Are we on the side of those who refuse to be loyal to God? . . . They reject the divine Son of God, the personification of all human goodness . . . Shall we be on the side of the world? . . . We must all think candidly. Will you have this man Christ Jesus to rule over you or will you have Barabbas? . . . (144) Again I ask, On. which side are you standing? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal., then follow him. (Testimony to Battle Creek Church, Jan.

12, 1898; TM 138-141.) Baal, .of course, is Satan disguising himself as Christ. He is the modern false Christ, and Inspiration calls him Baal in order to direct our attention to the fact that ancient Israel s history was written for our admonition. A verbal Christ may not at all be the true Christ. The following speaks of misrepresentation, but impersonation: Very many will get up some test that is not given in the word of God . . . These things make it necessary that the minister who meets these tests should have a discerning mind, that he may not give credence to any false doctrine. Voices will be heard, saying, Lo, here is Christ, when there is no Christ there at all. It is some human notion which they wish men to accept end be1ieve. (Mrs. E. G. White, G. C. B., 1901, p. 267.) How Baal Worship Can Enter into Our Midst In the very serious letter of reproof and warning which Mrs. White sent from Australia in 1893 to the General Conference Session, she warned that the Minneapolis unbelief was retarding the work, and the hatred of the brethren for Elders Jones and Waggoner would contribute quite largely to their later apostasy, and that the church was now entering upon a time of great peril and temptation: The time of peril is now upon us. It can no longer be spoken of as in the future. . . . There will be lords many and gods many. The cry will be heard, Lo, here is Christ and Lo, he is there. The deep plottings of Satan will reveal its working everywhere, for the purpose of distracting attention from present duty. The appearance of a false Christ will awaken delusive hopes in the minds of those who will allow themselves to be deceived. The church members that are awake will arise to the emergency, and manifestations of satanic power are to be presented in their true light before the people. (Gen. Conf. Bulletin, 1893, pp. 420, 421.) There is evidence that the allusions to Baal worship in Testimonies to 1888 Re-Examined - 172 Ministers imply a parallel experience of modern Israel to that of ancient Israel. It took them about a century to reach the depths of apostasy known in Ahab s day. It was an unconscious apostasy. And it was written for our admonition. Note the following: What astonishing deception and tearful blindness had, like a dark cloud, covered Israel! This blindness and apostasy had not closed about them sudden-

ly; it had come upon them gradually, as they had not heeded the word of reproof and warning which the Lord had sent to them because of their pride and their sins. And now, in this fearful crisis, in the presence of the idolatrous priests and the apostate king, they remained neutral. If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime, and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God. (3T, pp. 280, 281.) Alluding to the recent Minneapolis experience, Mrs. White said in 1889: The fact that there is no controversy or agitation among God s people, should not be regarded as conclusive evidence that they are holding fast to sound doctrine. . . . Many now, as in ancient times, . . . will, hold to tradition, and worship they know not what. (5T, p. 707.) There was a very clear allusion to the possibility of a false Christ entering through the pantheism confusion of half a century ago: Already there are coming in among our people spiritualistic teachings that will undermine the faith of those who give heed to them . . . Only through the blood of the Crucified one is there cleansing from sin . . . Tide power the spiritualistic theories concerning God make of no effect . . . and in order to attain holiness, man has only to develop the power that is within him . . . The experience of the past will be repeated. In the future, Satan s superstitions will assume new forms. Errors will be presented in a pleasing and flattering manner. False theories, clothed with garments of light, will be presented to God s people. Thus Satan will try to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Most seducing influences will be exerted; minds will be hypnotized. Corruptions of every type, similar to those existing among the antediluvians, will be brought in to take minds captive . . . The most sorrowful thought of all is that under his deceptive influence men will have a form of godliness, without having a real, connection with God . . . Satanic agencies are clothing false theories in an attractive garb . . . These agencies are instilling into human minds that which is in reality deadly error. The hypnotic influence of Satan will rest upon those who turn from the plain word of God to pleasing fables. It is those who have had the most light that Satan most assiduously seeks to ensnare. He knows that if he can deceive them, they will, under his control, clothe sin with garments of righteousness, and lead many astray.

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I say to all, Be on your guard; for as an angel of light Satan is walking in every assembly of Christian workers, and in every church, trying. to win the members to his side. I am bidden to give to the people of God the warning, Be not deceived. . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 173 Against the false religion of sentimentalism, . . . I bear my warning. Take heed, brethren and sisters, Who is your leader, Christ, or the angel that fell from heaven? Examine yourselves and know whether you are sound in the faith. (8T 291-299; emphasis supplied.) Reference was made in a previous chapter to W. W, Prescott s strange statement in 1893: The fact is, we will, change leaders and not know it, unless we have the Spirit of God with us. That is a simple fact. We will change leaders and not know it. We have been told so, and I can show it to you in so many words. I want to read a word about it: Every soul that is not fully surrendered to God, and kept by divine power, will form an alliance with Satan against heaven, and join in battle against the Ruler of the universe. You and I will do it, unless we are fully surrendered to God and kept by His divine power, and we will array ourselves against this work, against the truth of God, and will join with Satan and fight God s work. (1893 G. C. B., p. 108.) Elder Prescott s warning was true, for some years later Mrs. White said: There are some who in the past have had a correct experience, but who have changed leaders. Not all, but marry have been beguiled . . . Unless these men are converted, they will become Satan s decoys, to lead souls away from the truth. At times they will work to undermine the confidence of those in whose minds they can plant the seeds of doubt and questioning. They hate the testimonies of reproof sent them . . . . (146) I have seen men who have been placed in positions of trust as watchmen, molding and fashioning the work in our conferences and institutions in accordance with worldly policy, which God condemns. (Series B, No. 2, pp. 19-24.) We know that Satan s chief work is at the headquarters of our faith. He spares no pains to corrupt men in responsible positions, and to persuade them to

be unfaithful to their several trusts. He insinuates his suspicions and jealousies into the minds of those whose business it is to do God s work faithfully. If the heart of the work becomes corrupt, the whole church, in its various branches and interests, scattered abroad over the face of the earth, suffers in consequence. (See 4T, pp. 211, 210.) There follows a strange prophecy, which we perhaps do not understand fully yet, and may not understand until the scroll unrolls before our astonished eyes: Luther made the statement that religion is never so much in danger as among reverend men. I can say that many who handle the truth are not sanctified through the truth . . . This is an age of signal rejection of the grace God has purposed to bestow upon His people, that in the perils of the last days they may not be over1888 Re-Examined - 174 come by the prevailing iniquity and unite with the hostility of the world against God s remnant people. Under the cloak of Christianity and sanctification, far-spreading and manifest ungodliness will prevail to a terrible degree and will continue until Christ comes to be glorified in all them that believe, in the very courts of the temple, scenes will be enacted that few realize. God s people will be proved and tested, that He may discern between him that serveth God, and him that serveth Him not. (MS. 15, 1886; Evangelism, 592, 593.)

Baal s Clever Plans of Disguise When the Lord has a genuine channel of light, there are always plenty of counterfeits. Satan will surely enter any door thrown open for him. He will give messages of truth mingling with the truth ideas of his own, prepared to mislead souls. (Letter 102, l894.) Many today think very favorably of the present time, and of the wonderful condition of the church, and see only prosperity within her borders. There is no time more dangerous than when we think we stand. Could present conditions be similar to those described years ago? If all that appears to be divine life were such in reality; if all who profess to present the truth to the world were preaching for the truth and not against it . . . then might we see something cheering amid the moral darkness. But the spirit of antichrist is prevailing to such an extent as never before . . . I know that many think far too favorably of the present time. These ease-loving souls will be engulfed in the general ruin . . . The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confu-

sion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. (5T, 79, 80.) (147) There is a war behind the war, and in this age of apparent prosperity, of swelling budgets, of numerical progress, there may be a subconscious battle that is not so self-gratifying to contemplate: There never will be a time In the history of the church when God s worker can fold his hands and be at ease, saying, All is peace and safety . Then it is that sudden destruction cometh. Everything may move forward amid apparent prosperity; but Satan is wide-awake, and is studying and counseling with his evil angels another mode of attack where he can be successful. The contest will wax more and more fierce on the part of Satan; for he is moved by a power from beneath . . . Mind will be arrayed against mind, plans against plans, principles of heavenly origin against principles of Satan. Truth in its varied phases will be in conflict with error in its ever-varying, increasing forms, and which, if possible, will deceive the very elect. (TM 407.) Baal has a remarkable personality , and knows well how to win friends and influence people . Naturally, through flattery of our ego, he will win our friendship. He delights in saying Well done, good and faithful servant! It gives us a warm inner glow, and we forget that the harvest is the end of the world, and not the annual or quadrennial report! 1888 Re-Examined - 175 The enemy is preparing for his last campaign against the church. He has so concealed himself from view that many can hardly believe that he exists, much less can they be convinced of his amazing activity and power. They have to a great extent forgotten his past record, and when he makes. another advance move, they will not recognize him as their enemy, that old serpent, but they will consider him a friend, one who is doing a good work . . . Could their eyes be opened to distinguish their captain, they would see that they are not serving God, but the enemy of all righteousness. . . . The men whom he makes his instruments in doing this work, are blinded, and do not see what they are doing until they are so deeply involved in guilt that they think it would be useless to try to recover themselves, and they risk all, and continue in their course of transgression to the bitter end. Satan hopes to involve the remnant church of God in the general ruin that is coming upon the earth. (5T 294, 295.) Those who are not wholly consecrated to God may be led to do the work of Satan, while they flatter themselves that they are in the service of Christ. (Ibid., p.103.)

Baal Introduces False Doctrines If it is true that the false Christ will appear through misrepresentation before he appears through impersonation, it follows that it will be through false doctrines that he will make his most subtle appeals. It is sad to note that we are not immune or excused from this kind of satanic temptation: Satan has wrought with deceiving power, bringing in a multitude of errors that obscure the truth . . . Through false doctrines, Satan gains a foothold, and captivates the minds of men, causing them to hold theories that have no foundation in truth. (R. & H., Oct. 22, 1895; Evangelism, p. 589.) This is a time when every sentence written should mean something definite, should be true, sincere . . . What mean these words placed before the people of God, who, against great obstacles, are trying to fight the good fight of faith, saying, We will not bow the knee to Baal, or give glory or honor to any who do this ? . . . The faculties God has given us for His name s glory, have been misappropriated, and been used to bring in rebel sentiments . . . Why do we see such blindness? . . . My brethren, the recent productions in the papers reveal a blindness of spiritual discernment. (Letter 60, 1898; Counsels to Editors, pp. 99-101.) To talk of Christ without the word leads to sentimentalism . . . Shall we allow Heaven s bright beams to be eclipsed by artificial lights? False lights will take the place of the true, and many souls will be for a time deceived. God forbid that it should be so with us. (Elmshaven Leaflets, Brown No. 4.) (148) In the days of the apostles the most foolish heresies were presented as truth. History has been and will be repeated. There will always be those who, though apparently conscientious, will grasp at the shadow, preferring it to the substance. They take error in the place of truth, because error is clothed with a new garment, which they think covers something wonderful. 1888 Re-Examined - 176 But let the covering be removed, and nothingness appears. (R. & H., Feb. 5, 1901.) Self, as will be seen in later chapters of this essay, is the great avenue by which Baal will find an entrance. Ultimate Baal worship is self-worship, and the term Baal refers to the fact that such self-worship is camouflaged as Christ-

worship. There is cheap religion in abundance, but there is no such thing as cheap Christianity. Self may figure largely in a false religion, but it cannot appear in Christian experience. (Series A, No. 8, p. 25.) If we keep a firm hold of self, we cannot possibly get hold of Christ. (Elmshaven Leaflet, Brown No. 11.) Such a religion will be devoid of saving faith , while it will be very religious. Through tricks of psychology, it will center the soul s faith in mental processes, methods, and ways to Christ, all of which will be a detour around the one true way: When you determine to take Him as your friend, a new and enduring light will shine from the cross of Christ. A true sense of the sacrifice and intercession of the dear Saviour will break the heart that has become hardened in sin; and love, thankfulness, and humility will come into the soul. The surrender of the heart to Jesus subdues the rebel into a penitent, and then the language of the obedient soul is, Old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. This is the true religion of the Bible; everything short of this is a deception. (4T 625.) Human wisdom will lead away from self-denial, from consecration, and will devise many things to make of no effect God s messages. (R. & H., Dec. 13, 1892.) Those who are more desirous of securing promotion and a good name in the world than of maintaining right principles, will betray sacred trusts. They will cripple their own influence, they will darken counsel by their words, and make false reasoning to look sound and right. (R. & H., Jan. 31, 1892.) Self will be seen to be the true cause of infatuation with Baal: Those who are self-sufficient, who do not feel the necessity of constant prayer, and watchfulness, will be ensnared. Through living faith and earnest prayer the sentinels of God must become partakers of the divine nature, or they will be found professedly working for God, but in reality giving their service to the prince of darkness. Because their eyes are not anointed with the heavenly eyesalve, their understanding will be blinded, and they will be ignorant of the wonderfully specious devices of the enemy. Their vision will be perverted through their dependence on human wisdom, which is foolishness in the sight of God. (Danger of Adopting Worldly Policy, p. 4.) O that we might glimpse the face of our true Lord, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Alpha and the Omega! If Israel will look in His face, they will not see the perpetual smile of indulgent pleasure with His people which

Baal assumes. Baal is an idol, with a frozen smile. The face of the true Christ 1888 Re-Examined - 177 registers the pain of acute nausea, a divine sickness of heart with our wretched lukewarmness, our self-love, our professions of loyalty to Him whom we do not truly love. (149) A new order of things has come into the ministry. There is a desire to pattern after other churches, and simplicity and humility are almost unknown. The young ministers seek to be original, and to introduce new ideas and new plans for labor. Some open revival meetings, and by this means call large numbers into the church. But when the excitement is over, where are the converted ones? Repentance and confession of sin are not seen. The sinner is entreated to believe in Christ and accept Him without regard to his past life of sin and rebellion. The heart is not broken. There is no contrition of soul. The supposed converted ones have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus. (Undated Ms, 111.) Where is the Rock, that we may fall upon it, and be broken? Self will not find it until the offence of the Cross is restored to the third angel s message in verity. 1888 Re-Examined - 178 CHAPTER 12 (150) THE TRUE CHRIST vs. THE FALSE CHRIST (In Modern Babylonian Teachings)* We have long been familiar with Scriptural warnings of the appearance of a false Christ. While recognizing in the papacy an historical fulfillment of the prophecies concerning anti-christ, we have looked to the future time of trouble as the place in the closing drama of history when Satan will impersonate Christ, and counterfeit His second coming. We have failed to recognize as keenly as we should that there is another method also by which the false Christ will appear: A false Christ may be presented for belief in two ways, either by impersonation or by misrepresentation. (Garnier I, p. 6.) There are ancient parchments called Palimpsests , the writing on which, having become faint through the ages, has been written over, thus effectually obliterating the ancient characters. So it is with the true Christ. It has been shown . . . that a false Christ, who completely hides from view all the distinctive features of the true Christ, has been substituted for

Him. (Ibid., II, p. 3.) This appearance of the false Christ through misrepresentation has had a fulfillment in history, and will be shown in the facts presented herewith to be practically the Christ of the modern Protestant religious world. The antiChrist is not only the Pope of Rome. Any misrepresentation of Christ in religious teaching which obscures and hides from view the true Christ is an antiChrist , in the Greek sense of the word as being a vice-Christ taking the place of the true Christ: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of anti-christ, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now is it in the world. Even now there are many antichrists. (1 Jn. 4:1-3; 2:18.) * The references in this chapter from Garnier are not cited as authority, but simply because his words afford a ready expression of the points to be made. The recognition of the differences between the true Christ and the false Christ does not depend upon Garnier. ** J. Garnier: The True Christ and the False Christ. London: George Allen, 156, Charing Cross Road, 1900. Vol. I, The True Christ, 329 pp.; Vol. II, The False Christ, 348 pp. (Referred to hereafter as Garnier I or II, p. . . .) 1888 Re-Examined - 179 If the denial that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh means a denial of his existence on earth two thousand years ago as a man, it would be very difficult to find a single antichrist spirit in the world to-day, for most modern religions profess to believe that, even some heathen religions. Christendom especially makes much of their boasted belief in Christ , and thus suppose that John s warning is absolutely unnecessary for them. But the use of the name of Christ carries no guarantee whatsoever that the true Christ is the subject of their teaching. Past heresies, apostasies, and false religions invariably used the common, contemporary name for the Lord God of Israel. Thus, Baal, the enemy of ancient Israel, was simply the word for husband, or lord, the term used by the Israelites in speaking of God: It is significant that in patriarchal times . . . the husband is the master, the ba al of the wife, who is dependent on him for her whole livelihood, and over whom he has an authority not shared by others. (B. G. Sanders, Christianity After Freud, Geoffrey Bles Ltd., 1949, p. 88.) The Pagan god was also given many of the titles which ware equally applicable

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to the true God. Thus Baal, the god of the Canaanites, means simply The Lord , which was the ordinary way of speaking of Jehovah. The Babylonian Adon, hellenised into Adonis , has the same meaning, and is a cognate word to the Hebrew Adonai or The Lord . Jupiter, the Byauspiter of the Arian nations, means Heaven Father . The Brahm of the Hindus also means Father. Beel Semen is the Lord of Heaven . Baalberith is The Lord of the Covenant , and as the latter is represented sitting upon a rainbow, it is clear that he is intended to be identified with the God who made the covenant with Noah. (Garnier, II, p. 11.) Thus, when the prophets of Baal prayed at Mount Carmel, they merely cried O Lord, Lord, hear us , while Elijah preserved a distinct difference in his conception of God. It was difficult for Israel to sense that they were really worshipping a false god, when the name was the same as commonly used for the true God. Likewise, to-day, the name of Christ and other Christian terminology means nothing so far as identifying the truth is concerned. Doctrines and ideas possessing a verbal similarity to the truth may deceive many when the basic concepts are entirely different from the truth: It is not by the names given to them but only by their moral characteristics, that an unseen God or an unseen Christ can be known, and if the moral characteristics assigned to them are evil, the being worshipped and acknowledged are a false God and a false Christ. Thus Christ said to the Jews . . . Of whom ye say that He is your God, yet ye know Him not, and that be whom 1888 Re-Examined - 180 they called their Father was not God, but the Devil. So it was with the gods of the Pagans. (Ibid., p. 39.) Wrong ideas are therefore the vehicle for the introduction of a false Christ. It is of the utmost importance that believers test their ideas of Christ by the clear teachings of the Word: Those, therefore, who ignore or reject Christ s words, not only reject them, but reject Christ Himself . . . For the words of Christ, being the expression of His mind or spirit, those who receive them and believe them in their hearts receive His very spirit, and Christ thus lives and abides in them. ( Ibid., I, p. 102.) Hence the expressed religious belief and opinions of a person are the true criterion of the state of his heart, and if that belief and opinion are on th. side of error, then, whatever may be his outward appearance of holiness, his heart is at enmity with Him who is the Truth . (Ibid., p. 31.)

Every false presentation of Christ is clearly a false Christ7 (Ibid., p. 148.) (152) The seriousness of entertaining wrong idea., is recognized by modern thinkers. There are indications that thinking men are ready to consider a presentation of the truth that will clearly, boldly unmask the true and ultimate antichrist. Frederick A. Voigt said recently: Beliefs are decisive. Beliefs made the Ten Years (l940-49) what they were. Catastrophic beliefs engendered catastrophe . . . Religion without God; Christianity without Christ; Christ without Antichrist (are articles of modern man s creed). . . . All articles of our creed can be summed up in one phrase: The Christian ethic . The Christian Ethic is the Anti-Christ of the Western world. It is the most insidious, and formidable corruption that ever afflicted that world. (Quoted in Time, May 15, 1950.) The Modern False Christ and the Ancient Baal It is commonly supposed that there was a vat difference apparent between th. true religion of the ancient Jews and the contemporary false religions of Babylonian paganism. Scholars assert, however, that actually there was very little apparent difference, and that the very similarity was a stumbling block to Israel, who were continually being deceived into various forms of apostate worship. A few brief references to this similarity should be considered: In spite of all the changing ideas through the years,. ancient Babylon in the days of the Old Testament prophets still presents to the student a marvelous counterfeit of the revealed religion of God . . . In general plan, for instance, the temples of Babylonia, Egypt and Assyria have much in common with the temple of Solomon. So much so that Dr. Sayce said, The temple of Solomon, in fact, was little more than a reproduction of a Babylonian sanctuary. . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 181 Not only were the Babylonian temples similar to that of Solomon, but striking similarities are found in their priesthood and ritual. Every great Babylonian sanctuary had its priests with a High Priest at their head. The priest was the mediator between the worshipper and his god.. . . Animals without blemish were offered as sacrifices, and there were also meal offerings. The morning and evening sacrifice was conducted daily . . . A tithe of all that the land produced belonged to the priests as well as certain portions of the sacrifices . . . Old Babylon had her sacred books . . . and the penitential psalms. The latter resemble somewhat the Psalms of the Old Testament . . . In studying these,

together with their myths and epics, which were largely on the subject of religion, one finds many concepts and ideas that in a remarkable way paralleled the true. Th. Babylonian triade of gods present a similarity to the. Christian Trinity. (Paul C. Heubach, The Prophetic Significance of God s Judgments Upon Babylon, Thesis, S. D. A. Theological Seminary, pp. 6-14.) It is evident then that ancient Israel s a temptations to apostasy were far more subtle and insidious than is usually supposed. The apostasy in Elijah s day is often misunderstood. It is assumed that the departure from truth was so obvious and striking as to make the Israelites of that day seem to us unusually obtuse and inexcusable. The facts are that Israel s apostasy was gradual and unconscious, requiring about a century to assume the serious proportions Elijah recognized. Elijah himself undoubtedly had a very keen mind to have discerned it as he did.* Judah s apostasy into Baal-worship in Jeremiah s day was also unapparent to the people. Note the following: (153) (1) It was an unconscious apostasy. The leaders and the people tried to deny it. Jeremiah received knowledge of it by revelation. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou last done . . . . Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. ... When thou shalt show this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God? Then thou shalt say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken Me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken Me, and have not kept my law; and ye have done worse than your fathers. . . For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah . . . ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal ... * See Testimonies, Vol. 3, 273; Prophets and Kings, pp. 109, 133, 137. 1888 Re-Examined - 182 For the Lord of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done again against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering

incense unto Baal. And the Lord hath given me knowledge of it; and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings. (Jeremiah 2:23, 35; 16:10; 11:13, 17, 18.) (2) This apostate worship was combined with the worship of Jehovah, in His temple: Will ye . . . burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold even I have seen it, saith the Lord . . . Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by My name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh . . . For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. (Jer. 7: 9-11, 14, 30.) (3) This apostasy was aided and propagated by the religious leaders of the nation: Both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord . . . They prophesied in Baal, and caused My people Israel to err. . . I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: . . . from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land . . . Who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard His word? Who hath marked His word and heard it? . . . How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? . . . which think to cause my people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal. (Jer. 23: 11, 13, l4, 15, 26, 27.) It is obvious that there are very serious lessons for modern Israel in the experience of ancient Israel, as regards the subtle temptation to be confused with counterfeit religion. So many modern plausible excuses can be advanced for borrowing from Babylon, which excuses are no more valid than those of the prophets of Jerusalem in Jeremiah s day, who stole every one the Lord s words from their neighbors, and caused Israel to err by their lies, and their lightness. If we look upon modern priests of Baal as being genuinely converted, and straight on righteousness by faith , we may know that the danger to Israel of infatuation with a false god are not past. It is commonly supposed that the seventy years captivity in Babylon forever cured the Jews of idolatry. It did, so far as the outward forms were con-

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1888 Re-Examined - 183 cerned. But the verity of idolatry they never overcame, until it led them to crucify their Lord: Instead of seeking life and righteousness from God, they made idols of their ritual ordinances, and placed their hopes of salvation upon their scrupulous performance of them. . . . (Garnier II, p. 52.) Christ plainly, told the Jews that the god whom they worshipped was not by any means the true God and Father of Jesus Himself. Their god was, in fact, the devil: Then said they unto Him, . . . We have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, . . . Ye are of your father the devil. . . He that is of God heareth God s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. (John 8:4l, 42, 44, 47.) The Jews, who had for so many centuries received divine warnings against being deceived by a false god and a false Christ, finally put the true Christ to death in the name of God! So terribly confused can highly religious people become, when blinded by love of self. The Apostle Paul warned the early Christians against new and refined forms of apostasy. It would be very easy to confuse Christianity with the pagan Christs. Sanders remarks thus on the similarity between early Christianity and contemporary paganism: The similarity between Christian and heathen worship has been noticed not only by modern students of Comparative Religion, but also by some of the early Fathers, as for example, Justin Martyr. For although he attributed the similarity to imitation of Christianity by demons, what is important is that he was aware of it, and also, so it would see; that his other contemporaries were too . . . In the same way even earlier the warning of Saint Paul to the Corinthians that they cannot partake of heathen and Christian worship, seems to imply that to a casual observer there can have been little apparent difference between them. (Sanders, op. cit., p. 29.) Paul s warning is as follows, and is still present truth: But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would riot that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord s table and of the table of devils. (1 Cor. 10: 20, 21.) The False Christ of Modern Christianity

It is not necessary to occupy space in this essay to show that Romanism is a religion with a wholly false Christ at its center. One sentence should he sufficient: 1888 Re-Examined - 184 Romanism is the same perversion of Christianity that Paganism was of Patriarchal truth, and its false Christ is morally identical with the false Christ of Paganism. (Garnier, II, p. l04.) This same false Christ, declares inspired prophecy, will take the world captive at last. It should be noted, however, that his deceptions are to be of such a nature as to constitute a really serious threat even to the elect : Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many . . . For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Mar. 24:6, 24.) The elect are not represented as being overcome by deception. They may, however, be confused and perplexed to the extent of the deception seriously re tarding. and delaying their God-given work. At any rate, the warnings against deception are addressed to the elect, and must not, for any possible reason, be neglected. It has already been noted that a false Christ can appear through misrepresentation, as well as through impersonation. In fact, the former would naturally precede the latter. Has he manifested himself in the teachings of modern Protestantism? We must look deeper if we would account for the decline of a religion which once went forth conquering and to conquer , and which, instead of producing doubt and perplexity, girded its followers with a fearless confidence that enabled them to face torture and death for its sake. But it is very evident that there is nothing in Christianity, as it is presented to us in these days, that can produce such a result; nothing that can cause its followers to despise their very lives in this world; nothing which can produce joy unspeakable and full of glory. But if there is not, and if Christianity is indeed of God, the conclusion is forced upon us that . . . it must in some way have become misrepresented; and the Christ who is its central figure, but who fails to attract, or to give rest to the earnest and sincere, cannot possibly be the true Christ . . . At the Reformation, when some of the nations, awaking out of their long sleep, compared the doctrines of the received religion with those taught (155)

by Christ, it was found that they were directly opposed to each other, and that the old Paganism, under the cover of Christian names and incidents, had virtually taken its place. What has occurred once may have occurred again, and the distinctive truths brought to light at the Reformation may perchance, during the last three hundred and fifty years have been similarly replaced by doctrines which, although possessing a verbal similarity to the truth, are in reality opposed to it. (Garnier I, pp. 4, 5.) Mrs. White recognized that Israel s ancient enemy, Baal, had deceived many in the religious world to-day: 1888 Re-Examined - 185 History is being repeated. The world has its Ahabs and its Jezebels. The present age is one of idolatry, as verily as was that in which Elijah lived. No outward shrine may be visible . . . Thousands have a wrong conception of God and His attributes, and are as truly serving a false god as were the worshipers of Baal. (PK 177.) The truth of Christ s righteousness, or justification and righteousness by faith as it is commonly called, is the verity of the everlasting gospel. Therefore, the false Christ will do everything in his power to confuse and twist that truth into a helpless (and therefore fatal) doctrine. The following ten points will show how successful he has been so far as modern evangelical Protestantism is concerned. 1. The Atonement The difference between a true arid false view of the atonement is presented thus: Christ died to reconcile the Father unto us? . . . It is the pagan idea of sacrifice applied to Christianity. God, they think, was angry; he must pour forth his wrath upon someone. If upon man, it would eternally damn him, as he deserved; but this would interfere with God s plan and purpose in creating the worlds, so this must not be. And yet God must not be cheated out of his vengeance; for this reason he pours it forth upon Christ, that man may go free. So when Christ died, he was slain really by the wrath and anger of the Father. This is paganism. The true idea of the atonement makes God and Christ equal in their love, and one in their purpose of saving humanity . . . The life of Christ was not the price paid to the Father for our pardon; but that life was the price which the Father paid to so manifest His loving power as to bring us to that repentant attitude of mind where he could pardon us freely.

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(G. Fifield, The Love of God, pp. 33, 34.) Mrs. White supported the view that man was reconciled to God by the death of Christ, not God reconciled to man. The Father loved us: But this great sacrifice was not made in order to create in the Father s heart a love for man, not to make Him willing to save. No, no! . . . The Father loves us, not because of the great propitiation, but He provided the propitiation because He loves us. (SC 15.) The atonement of Christ was not made in order to induce God to love those whom He otherwise hated; it was not made to produce a love that was not in existence; but it was made as a manifestation of the love that was already in God s heart . . . We are not to entertain the idea that God loves us because Christ has died for us . . . The death of Christ was expedient in order that mercy might reach us with its full pardoning power, and at the same time that justice might be satisfied in the righteous substitute. (Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895.) Briefly, such a view of the atonement requires the understanding that Christ took upon Himself our human nature indeed, and was made in the likeness 1888 Re-Examined - 186 of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren. He Himself also is compassed with infirmity, in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He took upon Him sinful flesh, in which dwells no good thing , and had to die to self just as His followers do in following Him. The likeness was not mere appearance, but reality. The Cross of Calvary was thus the culmination of a human life-time, for Him, of daily cross-bearing. Taking human nature, fitted Christ to understand man s trials and sorrows, and all the temptations wherewith he is beset. (2T, p. 201.) The fact that Jesus endured temptations absolutely identical with ours proves that He sensed to the full the evil of His flesh, against which His spirit warred. He emptied Himself of all divine power, so that He could say, I can of Mine Own self do nothing. He was powerless to work a miracle, except through faith in the Father. He even learned obedience by the things which He suffered, by actual experience as man, in His own flesh, the nature of that perfect obedience to the will of God which can only be accomplished by man through suffering, or the entire crucifixion of the flesh with its affections and lusts; and this obedience He perfected when He became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. (Garnier I, p. 112.) Thus He had to live by faith, and only when it is understood that His righteousness was itself of faith, does the term righteousness by faith in

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and of Christ have any intelligible meaning. He had, therefore, no natural born righteousness any more than we have; otherwise He could not have partaken of our nature, but would have had an infinite and wholly extra-human advantage which would have rendered faith unnecessary. He was God manifest in the flesh, that is, God subjected to all the sinful desires, weakness, and infirmities of the flesh, and therefore tempted in all points like as we are, and in consequence of this, His righteousness, although perfect, the very righteousness of God , was yet different from God s righteousness in this: that while God cannot be tempted with evil , Christ was tempted, and His righteousness was the result of conflict and suffering, the righteousness of faith , the righteousness of God manifest in the flesh . Thus it was of exactly the same nature as the righteousness which He urged on His followers. Hence being tempted through the flesh in all points like unto His true followers, He crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts just as they have to crucify it, and thus died unto sin , just as His followers have to die unto sin, and through His flesh has manifested that perfect righteousness the righteousness which is of God through faith, which the Christian has to follow. (Id., pp. 114, l15.) 1888 Re-Examined - 187 This was the view of the nature of Christ s righteousness which A. T. Jones preached in the days when be brought a precious message to us: The figure is . . . that garment that is woven in the loom of heaven, in which there is not a single thread of human making. Brethren, that garment was woven in a. human body. The human body the flesh of Christ was the loom, was it not? That garment was woven in Jesus; in the same flesh that you and I have, for He took part of the same flesh and blood that we have. That flesh is yours and mine, that Christ bore in this world that was the loom in which God wove that garment for you and me to wear in the flesh. (G. C. B., l893, p. 207.) Christ s death, therefore, was not the mysterious suffering of an inhuman or unhuman God. Though He suffered for us vicariously, He did not suffer as a divine Actor, going through the motions of something He did not experience in His soul. He did not bear our sins as a burden, or entity to be carried as He bore the wooden Cross to Calvary; His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. He was made sin He felt within Himself that He was a Sinner. Thus His sorrow and sufferings were like our sufferings, which are the fellowship of His sufferings , as His body was like unto ours: Christ s death on the cross was a death unto sin, because, just as distrust

and alienation from God is the root and principle of all sin, so faith and trust in God is righteousness and the root of all righteousness; and in overcoming all that the world and Satan could do to destroy His faith, He overcame all the powers of evil and died unto sin in the highest sense. But He died unto sin, and manifested the righteousness of God by faith all His life . . . He continually crucified the flesh, and thus daily bore His cross. Therefore He tells His followers to take up their cross daily and follow Him, that is, to do as He had done. Thus He bore the cross all His life, and died upon it at the last, and Calvary was . . . the seal and crown of the righteousness of faith which He manifested throughout His life. (Garnier I, p. 122.) It is Satan s effort through every conceivable means to confuse, mystify, becloud, and efface this view, with the result that a false Christ invariably takes the place of the true. This was John s meaning when he said, Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of anti-Christ. This is just what the religious world generally does deny. For while admit ting in words that Christ took upon Himself our flesh, they assert that He had a sinless nature; that, unlike the Christian, in whose flesh dwells no good thing , His flesh was without sinful desires and infirmities, and therefore not the same flesh as that of other men. Thus they deny the explicit statements of the apostolic writers that he really and truly took our flesh upon Him . . . It is to make His conflict an unmeaning abstraction, a conflict arid yet no conflict, tempted and yet not tempted, a being wholly 1888 Re-Examined - 188 without relation to man, and incapable of attracting his sympathy. So also they deny that when Christ became incarnate He laid aside His power, and they consequently assert that it was not the Father who performed the miracles, but He Himself by His own power as God . . . It is to make His prayers to His Father for help, His prayers and supplication, with strong crying and tears, a pretense and hypocrisy, and to hold up this pretense and hypocrisy as an example to those who are to follow in His steps. (Ibid., pp. 126, 127.) Thus, His righteousness would not be of faith, but natural and spontaneous, a personality , in other words. That would be a righteousness of his flesh, in which was no conflict, no daily crucifixion to sin. He could then have prayed as the Pharisee, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are. The truth is, He was as other men are otherwise, sinners have no hope. Thus, the spirit of antichrist , by which a false Christ, without human

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weakness, temptation, and infirmities, is substituted for the true Christ, is the manifestation of the offence of the Cross, and it shows that this human weakness is still the same stumbling-block to belief in Him as of old, and that, like the Jews, the world still rejects the true Christ for a false Christ. (Ibid., p. 166.) The death of such a false Christ would have no power to draw all men, such as a clear understanding of the death of the true Christ. It would rather be an inexplicable transaction that took place between the Father and the Son, which somehow sufficed to pacify the wrath of the Father against mankind in general. The confusion is pointed by the fact that the false view requires the belief that the Son of God did not die, but only the Son of man, i. e., His body. It throws a cloud of impenetrable mystery around the very phase of Christ s work which was intended to appeal to human hearts and intelligence, and draw them to a sincere, unaffected reconciliation with God. What a horrible travesty of the gospel and insult to the Son of God to present His death for us in the light of ancient pagan sacrifices of expiation! This world is still dark with misapprehension of God. It is very evident that the transformation by which the human weakness and subjection to temptation of the true Christ was lost sight of, and replaced by a God-like power, was the primary principle of the subsequent evolution of error. On the one hand, it enabled the false teachers to introduce the idea that His sufferings were those of a God expiating the sins of a world, thereby removing the fear of the consequences of sin, completely blinding them to the very nature and necessity of the Life which He came to give them, and making it appear that the atonement was the reconciliation of God to man, instead of the reconciliation of man to God. On the other hand, it completely destroyed the real spiritual power of the Cross of Christ on the mind and affections of the believer, causing Christ to appear as God only, and leaving 1888 Re-Examined - 189 men as they were before, unreconciled, spiritually dead, and still alienated from the life of God. (Ibid., II, pp. 282, 283.) 2. The Believer s Cross Obscured A very logical and necessary eclipse of an understanding of the believer s Cross follows a misunderstanding of the atonement. It is supposed that Jesus died upon the Cross to save us from the necessity of dying unto sin and self, and that we can just assume or reckon that His death for us is all that is necessary. Why He died is completely misunderstood, and a synthetic faith, better termed presumption, completely obscures the reality of genuine Christian experience. A very popular theologian says: Take the first self . . . Now what does Christianity do with this primary

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urge of self? Does it try to wipe it out and make one selfless? Try to crucify it and make it impotent? The answer to both questions is No! Christianity believes in the self . . . The self is to be loved . . . The self is affirmed, and is worthy of love. (E. Stanley Jones, Abundant Living, p. 121.) The truth of Christian experience is entirely different. It is set forth as follows: His Cross was to be their cross, and He had levelled Himself to their position in order that they might follow in His steps. Man was helpless to save himself. In him, that is in his flesh, dwelt no good thing . . . This pride of the Lie sh had therefore to be crucified and destroyed. Just as Christ had emptied Himself of His real power, so had man to be emptied of His fancied power; and Christ being made in all things like unto His brethren, and having taken upon Him the same flesh, with all its evil tendencies and inclinations, had crucified it Himself in order to enable them to do so likewise. The principle of their cross was to be the same as His, and He had suffered and died unto sin in order to enable them to suffer and die with Him. Nevertheless, the preaching of this Cross is, and always must be, an offence to the natural man, because it crosses all the inclinations of the flesh itself. (Garnier I, p. 167.) The preaching of the Cross as a principle applicable both to Christ and the believer is still to this day foolishness and a stumbling block to religionists who prefer the preaching of a presumptuous faith which satisfies the natural heart. Repentance likewise is practically and effectively misrepresented. One reads modern books on how to come to Christ looking in vain for the teaching of that simple, genuine repentance and heart sorrow for sin which is made so plain and effective in Steps to Christ. 1888 Re-Examined - 190 For although the necessity of repentance, or Conversion, is admitted in words, yet the principle features of repentance unto life are either wholly ignored, or else travestied, and most people remain in consequence blind to their spiritual need and danger. The real cause of this blindness is that an outward righteousness, which is but a travesty of the change required, has been substituted for it, and the conscience of those possessing this outward righteousness being quieted and deadened, they never recognize their real spiritual need which Christ, by so many solemn warnings and exhortations, sought to enforce on His hearers. (Ibid., pp. 25, 26.) The ministers who preach such a false gospel endeavor to supply their lack

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of true experience in falling upon the Rock and being broken, by various manifestations of dramatic acting, a fearfully dangerous procedure: Nevertheless, because love to Christ is regarded as the indispensable duty of the professing Christian, therefore the Romanist and others who thus regard His death endeavor, by exaggerated expressions of love and adoration for Him to persuade themselves that they love Him, and by these means some are able to call forth those temporary histrionic emotions which constitute the false piety of the Romish mystics and pietists. Bat just as the slave, threatened by his master with the lash if he does not love him, would doubtless make similar profession of a love which he could not possibly feel, so love to Christ, demanded as a duty on the part of a sinner conscious of his ill-desert and alienation from God, is equally impossible. On the other hand, . . . the true aspect of the death and sufferings of Christ is that which calls forth in the sinner and the lost, and in them alone, a spontaneous and real love, and creates that trust and confidence in Him that nothing else in the world could have produced. (Ibid., p. 242.) 3. Faith vs. Presumption Modern Protestant faith is a spiritual bank note which, through a process of presumptuous inflation, has lost all original value. It has now become a note drawn upon the bank of self: Salvation by faith is much spoken of and advocated at the present day, but without calling forth either hatred or persecution. Has then the offence of the Cross ceased? No. But it will be found that very much of what is called faith is nothing but self-dependence, a dependence on human acts and human righteousness, or the trust of a person in his own act of belief. (Ibid., p. 158.) The view that faith is an act of belief which effects some mystical change in God s attitude toward the sinner is widely accepted to-day: We have seen that sanctification is a matter of growth dependent on a growing knowledge of Christ, or the truth, which can be learnt by (only) means of trial, temptation, and affliction, and constant prayer arid striving. But Mr. ______ teaches that the effect on those who accept his doctrine and do nothing is a sudden mystical change. Thus he describes himself as saying, I will trust Jesus for a pure heart and now, and with the act of faith there distilled into my heart like the gentle dew, the sweet consciousness of the cleansing blood and presence of Jesus Christ formed in me. . . . By this he represents cleansing from sin, instead of being a moral and spiritual process wrought in the soul by belief of the truth, as an occult

1888 Re-Examined - 191 effect produced in some mystical way . . . . . . It makes holiness something to be taken by an act of belief in a false doctrine, and while it calls it trust in Christ, it is really trust in the person s own act. For if being dead to sin depends on a person s believing that he is dead unto sin, every failure to be so must cause him, instead of going to Christ for strength, to question the strength, and seek to increase the firmness of his belief in his own holiness. His sole dependence is thus on his act of belief, or act of self-abandonment, by which he is supposed to fall in to the arms of Jesus, and become suddenly holy. (Ibid., II, pp. 207, 210.) During the course of his sermons at the 1893 General Conference session, A. T. Jones warned against the idea of faith being an act of belief. Such a view would necessarily make faith a work, and change salvation by faith into a mere salvation by works. True faith is aroused by a contemplation of the uplifted Cross, wherein the pride of the human heart is laid low, and a genuine sense of self-abhorrence and conviction of sin grips the conscience. The sinner has a sense of the righteousness of Jehovah, and feels the terror of appearing, in his own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts. He sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity; he longs to be cleansed, and to be restored to communion with heaven. Such a work of God upon the human heart Paul spoke of as the hearing of faith , an experience illustrated in the life of Abraham, when his heart-broken experience of true faith was counted for righteousness. But the righteous God could never count as righteousness any grasping act of faith such as is often enjoined upon sinners by popular Protestant evangelists. With them, faith becomes a mere trust, devoid of the heartbroken love and contrition which can be aroused in human nature only by the proclamation of the truth of the Cross. The trust is emphasized to be in the sinner s own act of appropriation of this salvation , whatever that might be from. One thing is certain, such salvation is not from self. Aside from a certain sense of psychological adjustment , the sinner will find, if he is honest with himself, that the exhibitions of selfishness which constitute the root of sin are simply sublimated or disguised in a new form. Sometimes even the elect can be temporarily deceived. 4. I am Saved. It is hardly necessary to dwell upon the error of the popular assumption 1888 Re-Examined - 192 of those who have exercised the type of faith just described that they are saved, either with or without the possibility of falling thereafter. To assert that I am saved but that I can fall thereafter, is self-contradictory, for one

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would manifestly not be saved in the true sense of the word if he were not beyond falling. But here again the line between truth and error is finely drawn, and difficult for self-satisfied souls to see. The common belief of present-day evangelical teaching is set forth as follows: The principle of this teaching is to persuade every one to believe that they are saved; that Christ having expiated the sins of all mankind, those who believe it are saved, and that as righteousness can neither add to, nor take from, their safety, it is unnecessary for. salvation. Hence the common question put by the modern teachers of this doctrine to their bearers is Are you saved? meaning thereby, Have you accepted the fact that Christ s death has freed you and all mankind from future condemnation provided they will only believe that it has? Others repudiate this way of expressing the doctrine. They prefer to speak of it as accepting Christ , trusting in His precious blood, accepting the message , receiving the atonement , etc. But these are merely phrases which give an appearance of faith and piety to a doctrine which blinds those who accept it to the very nature of true faith . . . All is done , they say, and the sinner has nothing to do but to believe it and appropriate it. He who does so is saved; which is to teach that he who believes he is saved, is saved. Moreover, the position of those who teach this appears to be unassailable from the point of view of the doctrine of expiation. For if the sole object of Christ s death was to expiate human sin, then saving faith is belief in this, and all are saved who so believe; and if any one questions the certainty of his own salvation, it is evident that he does not believe that the guilt of his own sins has been expiated by the death of Christ, which is to deny the sufficiency of that death. This is the logical consequence of the doctrine of expiation combined with the Protestant doctrine of salvation by faith, and it is clearly folly for any one who believes in both doctrines to object to those who accept this consequence, and who assert that they who believe they are saved, are saved. (Garnier II, pp. l53, l54.) Happy feelings are understood to be the necessary result of believing that one is saved, and delivered from the necessity of struggling and striving to enter in at the strait gate, and freed from conflicts with the flesh: In addition to this, the idea of sudden sanctification by the occult energy of the Spirit of God prepares the mind to accept the delusions of imagination and emotion. The widespread idea, due to false teaching, that sanctification is a state of conscious holiness, in which the evil of the flesh is no longer a burden, together with the desire of many to attain such a state in order to have something in themselves in which to trust, further contributes to this delusion. For if a sudden sense of conscious holiness, produced by an outside occult energy, is earnestly expected by persons in a highly wrought

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state of mind, they are liable to accept the delusions of imagination of physical emotion as its fruition. Nor must it be forgotten that the hosts of wicked spirits in heavenly places are ever ready to delude and hypnotize those who, having wandered out of the way of understanding, and put their 1888 Re-Examined - 193 trust in the teaching of men, have cut themselves off from the guidance of God . . . It is certain that those who are actuated by a secret, though unrecognized desire to establish their own righteousness, will fall under the spell of this delusive piety. It is the piety of the Romish mystic and Jesuit, and this strongly suggests that its pretended Evangelical advocates, who invariably use the exaggerated and sanctimonious language of the hypocrite, come from that source. (Ibid., p. 216.) We may not argue that Christians to-day can safely assume they are saved, without the very real danger of a false Christ filling their self-satisfied spiritual vision. The fruit borne by such spiritual pride is not consistent with present truth. 5. Sanctification Instantaneous, If You Believe

The popular idea of sanctification, or victory over the flesh , is that it is the work of a moment, when one believes . Garnier recognized in his day that the heart of the doctrine of instantaneous sanctification was that it could be received in exactly the same way forgiveness was received: Mr. _______ goes on to say that just as they had taken salvation by believing they had it, so they may take holiness by believing they have it . . . This is a good illustration of the way in which these false teachers substitute faith in a false doctrine for faith in Christ, and accuse those who reject their teaching as guilty of rejecting Christ. He goes on: And now, my brother, suffer me, thou but a little one, to point your heart in the same way to the Scripture warrant for receiving by faith not only forgiveness for sins, but inward purity of soul. . . . In other words, the person is told that, just as he accepted forgiveness by believing he had it, so he may accept instantaneous holiness by believing that he is redeemed from all iniquity. It is as if a physician, having said he could cure a man of a disease if he would only put his entire trust in him, the man thereupon thought he was cured by believing that he was cured . . . In other words, accept, or take this holiness just as you took forgiveness, as a gift which Christ is offering you, the faith required being faith,

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not in Christ, but belief that you receive this holiness, the belief, in short, that you are holy. . . . Just as he believed he was forgiven, so he ought to have believed that he was dead unto sin, and that his heart was cleansed from evil thoughts, etc. . . Such a doctrine does away with the offence of the Cross, quite naturally, and hence is very popular, and widely received. Often the terminology and phraseology is different, but it can be recognized in all its insidious forms simply through the careful omission of any truth of the principle of the Cross: Now the true Christian is crucified with Christ and made free from the law of 1888 Re-Examined - 194 sin and death, not by realizing or believing that he is, but by the belief in the truth and the true Christ. But Mr. Smith assures those who as yet are ignorant of the true Christ, and are therefore not crucified with Him, or freed from sin, that they will be, if they will only realize that they are. This is simply telling them to believe a lie. . . . How can a person who is conscious that he is not holy, be persuaded to believe that he is holy? (Ibid., pp. 200-203.) Garnier, by the way, expresses very clearly the true Adventist doctrine that sanctification is a life-work: Nor is it possible, or in accordance with the will of God, that a person ignorant of the truth and the true Christ should suddenly be sanctified in some occult and mysterious way, as by a miracle. Sanctification is a process, a growth, which goes on during the whole life of the Christian, and the sinner who truly prays for holiness will first be led to the true Christ, and guided to the knowledge of the truth which sanctifies. (Ibid., p. 204.) 6. Person of Christ vs. The Word It is characteristic of those who mistake the truth of Christ s human nature, confusing Him with some mysterious extra-human God who did not know our sinful flesh, to indulge in rapturous homilies on the fantasy of oneness with His person. Christianity is Christ they affirm, and if one has the Person, he has all there is to have, for the Person becomes personality to the believer. There is a very subtle danger in such a doctrine that can lead only to infatuation with a false Christ. The true Christ abides in the heart of the believer through His words. If

we had any parts of His physical body with us, or any of His physical blood, it would not profit us at all. The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life . Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, said the apostle. Could we know Christ after the flesh as He was on earth two thousand years ago, many would be disappointed. He was a root out of a dry ground to that generation, and were He here in person again as He was then, He would be that to us as well. Neither had He the natural gifts or graces of person which attract men. Man looks at the outward appearance, and it is the recorded characteristic of those who are natural, not having the spirit , that they have men s persons in admiration because of advantage; but Christ, says the prophet, had no form or comeliness or beauty that we should desire Him ; His visage was more marred than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. . . . Christ was meek and lowly in heart, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with 1888 Re-Examined - 195 grief, and therefore despised and rejected of men. All these things were constituents of the Cross which He had to bear throughout His life, elements of that weakness to which He submitted when He emptied Himself of His power as God in order to partake of the sufferings and trials of the weakest and most despised of His followers, and which obliged Him, like them, to live by faith alone. (Ibid., I, pp. 161, 162.) Yet there was something about Him attractive to the honest in heart, and impressive even to His enemies. But it was the beauty of character expressed in His countenance, rather than what is commonly called personality arid personal, innate charm : The religious world believes in a Christ with God-like power who partook of our flesh only in appearance, being without its weakness and infirmities, who instead of being tempted through the flesh in all points like as we are, had a sinless nature, and whose righteousness was therefore the natural righteousness which the world esteems . . . For the righteousness of faith, which was the righteousness of Christ, is despised, while that which is natural, spontaneous, and without effort is honoured. (Ibid., p.. 164.) The Spirit of Christ is not the Person of Christ; the Holy Spirit is not Christ as a Person. Therefore to indulge in confused raptures about the Person of Christ dwelling in us consciously is dangerous; Christ abides with us by His Spirit through the Word. Any other Christ may be one who induces feelings only,

and thus be the false Christ. Modern Protestant evangelists are often confused, arid stumble at the Word. 7. Righteousness by Faith vs. Righteousness by Self The ultimate false Christ who deceives the world can be none other than Satan. Since his fall from heaven, his great principle of existence has been to live for self. Thus he is bitterly opposed to any true presentation of the Cross to the consciences of men, because an acceptance of the principle of the Cross emancipates the human heart from the fearful tyranny of self. Such a result deprives Satan of his only means of appeal to human nature. (165) He has been clever enough to corrupt the doctrine of righteousness by faith to make it, to all intents and purposes, a doctrine of righteousness by self. Thus, for all his presumptuous faith, the deluded believer has nothing for his pains except the filthy rags of self-righteousness: The Sacramental Creed itself also begets in its followers a dependence on themselves which directly conduces to this error . . . The necessary effect 1888 Re-Examined - 196 on the mind is to endorse the belief that they have in themselves the power to attain to righteousness if they earnestly endeavor to do so. The effect is also confirmed by the belief that faith, strength, and grace may be attained by those who reverently, and in firm belief in its efficacy, that is, belief in the ritual act, take the Lord s supper, in which it is supposed that the life of Christ flows to the participant in a special and particular manner, which makes it appear that life and holiness are attainable by the devout and reverent performance of certain acts which are within the power of all. . . . The necessary effect of this supposed power in themselves causes righteousness to have the aspect of something which they can attain if they choose, and therefore to consist of a natural righteousness, or of outward acts, which is all man can do of himself . . . For their teaching abounds in instructions concerning the way to be holy, of methods and advice for evoking faith, love, humility, etc., of rules of conduct which indeed have a show of wisdom , but the necessary effect of which is to lead those who follow their teaching to depend on their own efforts, and to go about to establish their own righteousness. They who suppose that they have life in themselves will trust in themselves rather than in Christ, and this is the antithesis of the sense of need and helplessness, which is the foundation of faith and the righteousness of faith. (Ibid., II, pp. 129-132.)

The real basis of holiness by faith as taught by a false evangelicalism is self-righteousness, cleverly disguised. Any unintelligent faith which gets rid of all the distinctive doctrines of the Cross is as helpless. It can lead only to the kind of spiritual confusion which admits a false Christ. Moreover, there is no real spiritual relation between the followers of this creed and their false Christ. Christ, they say, has done all . And if all their spiritual need is satisfied, they have no need of Him. But if there is no need, there can be no exercise of faith and dependence, and all prayers made to Him, expressive of faith and dependence, must be unreal. This, no doubt, does not apply to all, but it does to those who have fallen under the full influence of this creed, whose prayers for spiritual things, therefore, can only by hypocrisy, a form of that mystical devotion in which the devotee, by the use of fervid language, expressive of faith, humility, etc., deceives himself, and is filled with a sense of his own holiness. In short, the real center of such a person s interest, and the object of his devotion, is not Christ, but himself, and the establishment of his own righteousness. (Ibid., pp. 186, 187.) Looking to Christ is often exhorted of believers , whereby it is assumed that faith is being exercised in Him truly. It is really often a mere boomerang faith, and a little reflection will convince the believer that if the Cross is left out of his gospel, he is really looking to himself. The enemy of all righteousness has perfected a very clever trick: He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. But self-dependence and the desire to have something in himself in which to trust is characteristic of every natural man, and the teaching regarding consecration, or self-surrender (as taught by the Holiness by faith exponents) strongly appeals to this desire. For it gives a person a definite act, dependent upon his own will, in which to trust. 1888 Re-Examined - 197 (166) . . . Lest the consciousness of the weakness and evil of his own heart should lead him to question the value of his act, the teachers of this doctrine exhort their followers, when once they have made this act of consecration, not to question themselves whether they have made it rightly or not, but instead of looking to themselves to look to Christ and believe that He has accepted the act of surrender; which, in other words, is to tell them to trust to their act of surrender, the act of their own weak, evil, and unstable wills . . . In other words, they are to believe in the value of their own act of consecration; and just as he pretends that for a person not to realize that he is crucified with Christ, and made free from the law of sin and death, is

unbelief in Christ, so he here seeks th persuade his reader that any distrust in his own act, i. e., in himself, is a similar unbelief in Christ! ... It is only natural that such looking to Jesus will require that the believer be left in ignorance as to his true spiritual condition. He is urged therefore not to seek earnestly for true self-knowledge. Such knowledge would be discouragement , and that would be sin. The result of such sophistry is inevitably to reject the true ministry of the Holy Spirit: It will thus be seen that the whole of this teaching is directed to persuade people that they are holy, to keep them from looking to themselves, i. e., from examining and proving themselves, or praying that God would search and try them; and thus its aim is to quiet the conscience and remove the sense of sinfulness and need which would otherwise lead them to Christ for life, and cause them to continually depend upon Him for strength and guidance, i. e., to live by faith. The only effect on those who have fully fallen under the delusion of this teaching is a placid Pharasaic pride in their supposed holiness, a complacent consciousness of sanctification and purity of soul , which in reality is the death of the conscience. (Ibid., pp. 212, 213.)

8. The False Christ Causes Confusion in Minds Christ never causes confusion in minds, says Mrs. White. The false Christ, however, does create a tragic confusion in people s thinking. Although this confusion is very widespread to-day, many are reticent to confess their state of perplexity and confusion for fear of shame. They settle down to a nearly hopeless lethargy in spiritual matters, hoping that somehow God will be merciful to them in deference to their faithful performance of religious rites and duties. Could the full doctrines of the Cross be presented to them, many honesthearted souls would awaken as out of a dream, and the dim haziness of their present confused ideas would be resolved into a clear-cut concept of truth, with a resultant powerful effect upon their lives. 1888 Re-Examined - 198 The belief that there is forgiveness with God (apart from the truth of the Cross), although it encourages the humbled sinner to seek it of God, yet cannot of itself produce that great change of mind and affections involved in repentance unto life, i. e., it cannot destroy the influence and authority of the world, or the fascination of earthly pleasure, interests, and hopes, or produce that spiritual-mindedness and death unto sin, which is the characteristic of the righteousness of faith . . . He (the follower of this creed) believes that he is to be saved by faith alone, but this faith does

not save him, for unless a great change of mind and affections, which his faith cannot produce, takes place in him he must perish. It is plain that nothing but confusion of mind and perplexity can be the result, when these doctrines are together placed strongly before the mind. (Ibid., II, p. 148.) (167) The effect of preaching a Cross-less, supine gospel based upon psychological faith and trust centered ultimately (all pleasing words notwithstanding) on self, is set forth in the following paragraph: There are others who cannot satisfy themselves in this way. The spirit of inquiry which characterizes the present age has affected them. . . . They are, it may be, naturally pious and conscientious, and may have no desire to reject Christianity; but they are dissatisfied with it; its doctrines do not appeal to their conscience; they do not satisfy the demands of their moral nature; they leave an undefined sense of need unsupplied; while to many they have an appearance of unreason, or moral contradiction, which produces a sense of confusion and perplexity in their minds. (Ibid., I, p. 2.) The misapprehension in many, many minds concerning the Cross is particularly tragic. The atonement is an impenetrable mystery, helpless to appeal to their hearts when misrepresented: Thus regarded, . . . (the sufferings of Christ) are confessedly beyond human comprehension and the range of human sympathy. They have the aspect of a terrible drama, the only real actors in which were God and His Son; of a transaction which was effected between them, by reason of which, in some occult way, it became possible to pardon the sins of mankind . . . We can no more understand the transaction than we could understand a person whom we had injured, or whose wrath we had incurred, refusing to forgive us until he had beaten his own son! All we could do in such a case would be to look on with astonishment, but to suppose that we could feel love, or gratitude, for an act which would have to us the appearance of insanity, would be absurd. Yet it is supposed that these sufferings should call forth the love and gratitude of men. But it is a fact which is honestly confessed and deplored by numbers of honest and sincere persons, who suppose that this ought to be their effect, that they fail to do so in their case. For it is impossible that we should feel love and gratitude to God for an act the meaning and necessity of which we cannot understand, and which has the appearance of a transaction undertaken simply to satisfy Himself. (Ibid., pp. 210, 211.) The great heart of God must yearn in tender pity for those honest souls who, not having been enlightened with the truth, are led through harrowing tortures of conscience by the confusing and perplexing doctrines of the false Christ:

1888 Re-Examined - 199 When, therefore, a person who, while ignorant of the true way of peace, yet knows something of these warnings, and is anxious about his salvation, comes under the teaching of the advocates of this creed, the utmost confusion and distress of mind is the result, and, unable to perceive the fallacy of the doctrine that is presented for his acceptance, he in vain endeavors to believe, and when he does so, is told that he is trusting to himself; while even if he prays to be able to believe, he is told by some that he is trusting to his own endeavors instead of accepting the Gospel they offer him, and that his hesitation is unbelief in Christ. Thus utter perplexity and distress of mind is the result; for while he accuses himself of unbelief in Christ, he yet in vain tries to believe that he is saved. (Ibid., II, 162, 163.) 9. The Modern Prophets of Baal Since the natural effect of false doctrines concerning righteousness by faith is to lead souls to forget the true Christ arid look to a false Christ, which itself causes confusion to the human mind, it follows that the ministers who teach these false doctrines must themselves be subjected to a terrible strain of conscience and reason, proportionate to their sincerity and honesty of heart. The human organism of mind, nerves, and body was not designed by its Creator to believe a lie, and must in the process, therefore, if persisted in, result in its being seared, as with a hot iron. Hence, the most pitiable victims of the worship of a false Christ are his ministers. As their desperation increases in their ministry, they can only mutilate themselves, as did the ancient prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It was for this reason that Jesus warned His disciples against the hypocrisy, or leaven of the Pharisees ; the slightest amount retained in the experience of Christian ministers today can have only tragic consequences. The whole lump will eventually be leavened with the horrible hypocrisy of spiritual self-deception. Any preacher who preaches righteousness by faith is supposed to have experienced that which he preaches. He is paid to experience it, and is expected to have it. How else can he be a shepherd of the flock? But just in proportion as his doctrine is based upon false ideas will he be unable to experience any genuine change of heart. All his strivings to build upon a false and Cross-less foundation are doomed to failure. The inevitable result is that many lapse into a state of subconscious hypocrisy which eventually 1eads them to actually believe a lie regarding their spiritual condition. It is the most difficult test 1888 Re-Examined - 200 that can be brought upon human nature; and the victims who fall before it are to be pitied, not blamed.

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There is a yet more subtle form of religious hypocrisy to which all are liable, but which especially characterizes, and is attractive to, the hypocrite who seeks to exalt himself in the estimation of others by the assumption of a superior holiness. It springs from the very spirituality of Christ s demands on the heart and conscience. Christ s . . . insistence on the necessity of heart-holiness, faith, love, meekness, humility, and long-suffering cannot be ignored in a country where the Bible is an open book, and the absence of these characteristics would not only destroy the self-confidence of those who were without them, but would discredit them in the eyes of others. Therefore those who seek to establish their own righteousness, labour to engender in themselves emotions which are a travesty of these spiritual characteristics, as in the case of those already described, who endeavor to feel the prayers they repeat, but which are not the spontaneous expression of their hearts. They want to have something in themselves on which to rest their confidence, to be consciously holy, and this emotional piety, when attained, seems to make them so. There are, however, all degrees of this self-deception, and many, in spite of their efforts, fail to deceive themselves in this way . . . It is well known that a talented actor can so entirely throw himself into the character of the part he is acting as to forget for the time his own identity, and to feel the very passions he is portraying; for language and actions powerfully expressive of those passions are capable of generating the temporary emotions which simulate them; a result, however, which is greatly assisted by music, scenic effects, and the sympathy of numbers. Similarly in religion. The words expressive of faith, hope, love, humility, meekness, repentance, enable many who use them with the strong desire of generating in themselves those states of mind, to produce the temporary, but purely psychical emotions which stimulate them. . . . The effect of the emotional piety called forth by this acting is to fill the performer with supreme self-complacency and a conscious sense of his own holiness, while at the same time he blinds himself to his pride and selfcomplacence by the use of exaggerated language expressive of his professed meekness and humility. Therefore, when this form of self-deception is fully established, the person is blind and deaf to the possibility of his being in error, and the only righteousness he is able to recognize and approve is that of sanctimonious sentiment and emotion, and exaggerated expressions of holiness . . . Hence it will be found that the teacher of those errors which deny the truth, and who is really actuated by enmity to the truth, and therefore to Christ himself, always abounds in the most florid language expressive of the deepest humility, and of love and adoration for Christ. As of old, he betrays the

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Son of Man with a kiss. (Ibid., I, pp. 45-47, 51, 52.) The modern prophets of Baal are a fraternity which receive honour one of another , and love the praise of men more than the praise of God. They are of the number who compare themselves with some that commend themselves, and measure themselves by themselves. Hence there is a great deal of what is termed brotherly love . Their trust is in the church , but forgetting that the church 1888 Re-Examined - 201 should be considered the body of Christ, they consider instead that the Church is themselves: Hence the praise and esteem of others of their own sect or party, whether silent or expressed, is the very life of the religious zeal of many persons, and a state of mutual admiration and compliment is the result, which helps to impress others with a sense of their superior holiness. (Ibid., I, p. 30.) This must equally apply to those whose confidence rests on The Church , i. e., on the pretended priesthood and in the sacraments administered by them. (Ibid., II, pp. 128, 129.) Another characteristic of modern prophets of Baal is their lack of courage to stand forth boldly for what they are convicted in their souls is truth. The omission of the principle of the Cross from their Christian experience is the cause of this cowardice, which is falsely represented to be patience or broad-mindedness. There are still to-day many who secretly believe on Him, but because of the Pharisees do not confess, lest they should be put out of the fraternity. For they love the praise of men more than the praise of God. A love of majority-opinions, and a fear of singularity, are inevitable effects of Baal-worship. l0. The End of It All Spiritualism

We who understand the state of the dead know that modern Spiritualism is due to the influence of evil angels entirely. We ought to be much more aware than we are, however, that truly modern Spiritualism is a false and counterfeit Holy Spirit, which intrudes itself directly in proportion as false ideas concerning Christian experience are cherished. Hence it is that the absence of the true doctrines of the Cross in modern Christian teaching will lead inevitably to the masterful delusions of Spiritualism, manifested in the popular religious world. The false Christ having succeeded through the methods of misrepresentation, he will, find the avenue open for impersonation of Christ. What a tragedy if we should not give the trumpet a certain sound! Speaking of Spiritualism in modern evangelism, Garnier says:

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It would appear that the false safety offered by this creed is very often the outcome of a kind of spiritual delusion . . . The sense of security which it seems to offer them, the prospect of being no longer troubled by alarms of conscience, and the idea, so soothing to 1888 Re-Examined - 202 the pride of the natural man, that they can take salvation by an act of their own will, without the necessity of seeking it of Christ and waiting on Him in faith and hope, makes them anxious to believe it if they can; while the very mental difficulty it offers, the opposition of conscience and the inability of others to believe it, seems to enhance the merit of doing so, and to place those who do on a pedestal of advantage, from whence they can look down with a sense of calm superiority on others. . . . When it is urged by the florid and emotional appeals of false teachers, seemingly themselves full of peace and love, . . . whose emotional temperament enables them to appeal with greater force to the psychical feelings, which when strongly aroused, drown the voice of reason and conscience, when also the creed is supported by false but specious applications of Scripture, the fallacy of which their hearers are unable to perceive, then it is no wonder that many, overcome by their emotional feelings, and yielding themselves up to the fascination of its delusive peace, should suddenly find the difficulty of believing it removed. . . . Like an inspiration from another world the conviction that they are saved enters their mind . . . But what is the nature of this sudden inspiration . . . which is most suncessful in those revival meetings in which the imaginations and emotions of the hearers are wrought up to the highest pitch? . . . The evident relation between the different forms of delusion should be observed, and also the fact that the Scripture declares that the delusions of madness and, lunacy are the work of spirits of evil, seducing spirits , who are ever ready to beguile and deceive those who, having put their trust in the teaching and doctrines of men, have cut themselves off from the guidance of God. (Ibid., II, pp. 187, 189.) 1888 Re-Examined - 203 (171) CHAPTER 13 THE TRUE CHRIST vs. THE FALSE CHRIST (In Contemporary Seventh-day Adventist Teaching) It is now necessary to investigate our contemporary authoritative teaching on righteousness by faith in the light of the previous findings of this investigation. It is necessary, however, to define what shall be regarded in

this chapter as our contemporary authoritative teaching. The true teaching of Seventh-day Adventists is found in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. However, so far as practical results in the world field are concerned, it is the real teaching of authoritative world leaders which molds the contemporary thinking and spiritual experience of the movement. When the Lord said to Israel of old, O Myr people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths . . . The leaders of this people cause them to err , it would have been manifestly improper for them to deny responsibility by stating that their teaching was not to be taken as authoritative, but only the writings of Moses be considered official . Sheep require shepherds; they cannot lead themselves. The teaching of the shepherds, therefore, must be considered authoritative, for it is that which guides the contemporary experience of the movement. Therefore, contemporary, authoritative teaching shall be considered as that teaching which can be fairly assumed to guide the thinking and spiritual experience of the Advent movement to-day. Obscure, individual evangelists or writers whose influence is merely local will not be cited. The Scope of This Chapter (1) This task is admittedly difficult, not because erroneous teaching of a serious nature does not exist, but because it is so cleverly disguised as to constitute a real temptation to the elect: If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 1888 Re-Examined - 204 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things . . . Therefore watch. (Acts 20:30, 31.) Paul s warnings to the early church were justified by the development of history, in which early Christian gnosticism ( salvation comes through knowledge the earliest Christian psychology) mixed the doctrines of Greek philosophy and Christianity so completely that the papal antichrist was a natural consequence. Misrepresentation preceded impersonation. Paul s irony had truth in it: (172) I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (2 Cor. 11:3, 4.) The influence of modern Greek thought upon our understanding of righteousness by faith is so subtly concealed, that it is indeed difficult to dis-

cern except with the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, which exerciseth the senses to discern both good and evil . It is like the teachings of Schliermacher in subtlety, who, according to Strauss, ground both Christianity and pantheism into a powder, and mixed them so thoroughly that one could not tell where the Christianity ended and the pantheism began. Some of the same grinding to powder was evident in the book Living Temple, which was declared to be the alpha of later deceptions to be even more skillfully perpetrated. The difficulty of this task is well revealed in the following prediction from the Spirit of Prophecy: Fanaticism will appear in the very midst of us. Deception will come, and of such a character that if it were possible they would mislead the very elect. If marked inconsistencies and untruthful utterances were apparent in these manifestations, the words from the lips of the Great teacher would not be needed. (Letter 68, 1894.) (2) This essay, in its entirety, is addressed to the Seventh-day Adventist conscience. If that conscience has been aroused in the previous chapters of this investigation of our history, it will be aroused also in an investigation of our contemporary teaching to discern in what way the Spirit of Prophecy predictions previously considered have been fulfilled. (3) The reader is reminded that Baal worship is something definitely not original with Israel, but is always imported from our neighbors. The very term Babylon signifying confusion, the reader will recognize that if present-day 1888 Re-Examined - 205 confusion is evident in our contemporary presentations of righteousness by faith , it must, necessarily, indicate a Babylonian influence infiltrating our thinking and experience. Such confusion is the haze and mysticism which permits the entrance of a false Christ into the picture. The enemy . . . has cast his shadow between us and our Saviour, that we may not discern what Christ is to us, or what He may be . (R. & H., March 11, 1890.) (4) Personalities will not be involved. The present-day confusion is general, and no small groups or individuals are to blame f or it. We have all, without exception, unwittingly fulfilled the predictions of the Spirit of Prophecy regarding our blindness, to the place where the following words are potentially true of us all: There will be great humbling of heart before God upon the part of everyone who remains faithful and true to the end. (Ms. 15, 1888, spoken at Minneapolis.) (173) (5) This investigation into contemporary Baal worship within Israel will be confined largely to the heart of the matter our teaching regarding

righteousness by faith , the third angel s message in verity. There will be no attempt to define Baal worship by any vague term that would have little practical significance. Baal worship is a mistaking of the false Christ for the true Christ, and the confusion centers in the Christian experience of the believer. If our understanding of righteousness by faith is identical, or nearly identical, to that of Babylon, we have confused the great leader of apostasy with Christ our righteousness : Call rebellion by its right name and apostasy by its right name, and then consider that the experience of the ancient people of God with all its objectionable features was faithfully chronicled to pass into history. The Scripture declares, These things were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. And if men and women who have the knowledge of the truth are so far separated from their Great Leader that they will take the leader of apostasy and name him Christ our Righteousness, it is because they have not sunk deep into the mines of truth. They are not able to distinguish the precious ore from the base material. (Leaflet Series, Number 3, Apostasies .) Would not such a confusion be modern Baal worship? 1. The Atonement It cannot be denied that Mrs. White (and the Bible writers) consistently 1888 Re-Examined - 206 represented the death of Christ as being a revelation of God s love to man, an attempt to reconcile him to God. The true Christ, the true lamb of God, could not atone for sin, for a righteous God could never be reconciled to sin. Neither could He ever forgive sin (we speak advisedly). He could forgive sinners by loosing them from their sins on condition of their broken hearted repentance, and aroused abhorrence of sin. Through the death of Christ He could break and win the hearts of sinners, and thus reconcile them to Himself. This, we assert without fear, to have been the true purpose of the death of Christ upon the Cross, so far as winning men s hearts is concerned.* Confused and ineffective teaching of the atonement produces results very pleasing to Baal. A presentation of the atonement of Christ which is ineffective in reconciling honest hearts to God, in this modern day of deception, is practically a presentation of the false Christ. The only effect can be to induce in the hearts of the hearers histrionic feelings which are more akin to weeping for Tammuz (an ancient false Christ who suffered vicariously) than to a heart-hroken love for the Lamb of God. While confessing that the sacrifice of Christ was not to appease God, but to win man , one prominent teacher leaves a contradictory impression on the reader as follows:

In some actual and fundamental, though to us inexplicable way, the divine Saviour so united Himself with the sinful race of man that He bare in His own body, in His own personal experience, not only the weight of its sorrow, but also the weight, though not the guilt, of its sin . . . Christ s death was a death for sin; Christ died for our sins; that is, on behalf of, instead of, our sins. There was something in sin that made his death a divine necessity. His death was a propitiatory, substitutionary, sacrificial, vicarious death. Its object was to annul sin: to propitiate (174) ______________________ *This is not to deny that the death of Christ satisfied the demands of the law through a vicarious sacrifice that is the legalistic frame work of the doctrine of the atonement, necessary and vitally true. But the law which demands the death of the sinner through justice must not be permitted to convey in the least an impression of a wrathful, offended blood-thirsty God who is personally entertaining animosity toward the ignorant sinner. This view is the prevailing view of the modern world, which is dark with misapprehension of God. The people who read our books and listen to our lectures have such a view. We, as Seventh-day Adventist workers, cannot preach the third angel s message in verity unless we give the unmistakable impression of the second angel s message Babylon is fallen , in that her understanding of the atonement is erroneous at its very heart. The false Christ will not require that we blatantly proclaim the false view of the atonement; he will be well satisfied if we present a helpless, confused impression which permits the erroneous concept to be retained. 1888 Re-Examined - 207 divine justice, to procure for us God s righteousness; to ransom us and to reconcile us . . . Christ is the high priest of the human race who is offering a victim in expiation of human sin . . . an expiatory service . . . The impossibility of drawing near to a holy God without the intervention of an ordained, and so acceptable sacrifice of atonement, the principle that without shedding of blood there is no remission, these were to be deeply and lastingly imprinted in the conscience of the Jewish race . . . As a victim on the altar of expiation, a lamb led to the slaughter, he gave himself up for us all. Christ s death has so met the requirements of the divine law that the divine love can come freely forth, and embrace and forgive sinful men . . . The complete redemption is, accordingly, not only a remission of sins through the mediating death of Jesus, but a continuous and eternal salva-

ion. ( The Doctrine of Christ, Review and Herald, pp. 56, 46, 50, 51, 55, 58.) The term expiation is defined by Webster as follows: The primary sense is probably to appease, to pacify, to allay resentment, which is the usual sense of atone in most languages which I have examined . . . To expiate guilt or crime is to perform some act which is supposed to purify the person guilty; or some act which is accepted by the offended party as satisfaction for the injury; that is, some act by which his wrath is appeased, and his forgiveness procured. (Webster s Unabridged Dictionary.) The use of an erroneous translation provides the basis of a misconception in the following: The justice of God demanded a sacrifice equal to the enormity of man s transgression, and in Jesus this demand was more than fully met . . . How soul-stirring and inspiring is the following testimony of the Holy Spirit on this point: . . . If therefore we have now been pronounced free from guilt through His blood, much more shall we be delivered from God s anger through Him. (The Atonement in the Light of God s Sanctuaries, Pacific Press, 1935, p.83.) Should readers of our books, and those hearing our lectures, be given the impression that we accept the popular idea of expiation? Whether by implicit statements which are false, or tacit assumption of the idea, the whole tenor of the sinner sinner s relationship to God can be given an erroneous color. Neither will it help to talk at length about the love of God if the idea of Christ s sufferings being expiatory is assumed. Modern Roman Catholicism is the stronghold of the idea of expiation, while their books and sermons speak appealingly of the love that waits for you , and the mercy of God, etc., to great length. The idea of expiation occurs far too frequently in our teaching, and can only indicate that we are not winning hearts by the truth as effectively as a true 1888 Re-Examined - 208 preaching of the Cross would make possible: The long gallery of prophecy, extending from the fall of Adam to the ministry of the Baptist, was hung with pictures that displayed, with a clearness progressively increasing, the lovely features of Emmanuel, not only in the terrible series of His expiatory sufferings, but in the everlasting glories of His kingdom. (G. C. B., 1950, p.153.) In the great day of expiation, the high priest was the only

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one who offered. (Present Truth, Vol. 25, No. 13, p. 3.)* To speak of the expiatory sufferings of Christ conveys the idea that in some mysterious way sin was atoned for, and can therefore be condoned or overlooked by God. Such an idea is the very root and the strength of antinomianism. Human minds struggle in vain to grasp the meaning of the Cross, and are confused when sin is represented as atoned for at the Cross. The truth is that sin can not be atoned for by the true Christ (though the false Christ would like to find an atonement for it, and represents that there is such); but that the sinner can be reconciled to God s righteousness and delivered from the power of sin, which God still hates, and therefore is not reconciled to. Christ has for sin atonement made, what a wonderful Savior! (Church Hymnal, p. 529.) O soul, bowed down with a sense of guilt, look up and behold your full pardon in the bleeding hand of your great High Priest in heaven. Take it today from the hand that still bears the mark of the crucifixion, and go on your way rejoicing. Provision for your full emancipation was declared when Jesus came forth from the tomb. He tasted death for every man, and His blood when offered before God in the sanctuary, on our behalf, is counted to be a price sufficiently great to atone for every sin. (The Atonement in the Light of God s Sanctuaries, Pacific Press, 1935, p. 81.) _____________________ *Here the idea is extended to the day of atonement, or the Investigative Judgment. In our presentations of that subject, we sometimes read poems and present illustrations which convey to the people the idea of Jesus pleading to the Father for the sinner, at length succeeding in pacifying the divine wrath sufficient to pardon the sinner. The sinner is urged to place his case in the hands of Christ, who will clear him. There is much fact in such a presentation, but no truth if the idea is conveyed (or permitted to be conveyed) that the law and the Personal Father are identical. Inspired statements invariably represent Christ as pleading before the Father the Father is as much interested in the sinner as the Savior. The pleading is to satisfy the demands of the broken law before the minds of the universe, that they might be satisfied. It 1888 Re-Examined - 209 The following thoughts conveyed to the reader have an unfortunate origin, and similar effect: (176)

The pardon of a believer s sins is an entire pardon. It is the full pardon of all his sins . . . If it were but a forgiveness of some sins only then the gospel were no glad tidings to his soul . . . The justice of God demands a satisfaction equal to the enormity of the sins committed. . . . The atonement which Jesus offers is a full satisfaction for his sins . . . That the bond which divine justice held against the sinner is fully cancelled by the obedience and sufferings and priestly ministry of Christ, and that . . . God is ready to pardon. How beautiful will be the feet that convey to him tidings so transporting as this. (Quotation from O. Winslow, cited in The Atonement in the Light of God s Sanctuaries, pp. 84, 85.) The idea that Christ s sufferings were a full satisfaction for sins is perilously close to the idea of expiation. Though the idea of expiation can arouse awe and wonder, the human heart can not be won by representations of mysterious, inexplicable sufferings of a deity as satisfaction for its sins. Human minds can only be confused by the representation of reconciliation of man to God as a completed act on the part of God, which we are to accept. How can an estranged person, who is wholly in the wrong, be reconciled by accepting an act of the other? Would not such accepting imply some compromise on the part of the wholly innocent party in the estrangement, which would be, in effect, a compromise of his total innocence? The estranged person who is wholly in the wrong, if he is honest, could be reconciled to the righteous one only by the revelation to himself of the truth of his entire guilt, exposed in contrast to the wholly unmerited love of the righteous one. If the honest, estranged person should be convicted by his conscience of murder of the wholly innocent one, a repentance and consequent reconciliation would take place as surely as he is honest. Such, precisely, is the nature of the true atonement. It was we who murdered the Son of God, thus displaying to ourselves the nature of our deepseated enmity against God. The apostles turned the world upside down when they convinced that world that they had crucified the true Christ. While clearly asserting that the atonement was the reconciliation of man to God, one author confuses matters by giving the impression that the crucifixion of Christ was a completed act on the part of God . There lingers the idea of _____________________ is a fine point, but not unworthy of consideration. We preachers often take too much for granted in the minds and hearts of our listeners. They have the idea of expiation, and we must disabuse their minds of it in order to preach the true Christ. 1888 Re-Examined - 210 God punishing His Son, when in fact it was ourselves who punished Him: Reconciliation of man to God is set forth in the New Testament as a

completed act on the part of God . . . Man and his Maker, though estranged by sin, met together in Christ, by whose death reconciliation was effected. God s part in this transaction was and is complete . . . What God has already done on His part is made effective in the individual when he does his part by accepting the reconciliation accomplished for the whole race by the death of Christ . . . Reconciliation for all was made by the death of Christ . . . All were reconciled while they were yet enemies to God (but) . . . the fact that they were reconciled did not of itself change their attitude . . . This attitude must be changed, for no one can be saved while still an enemy . . . (177) Here lingers the unconscious idea of expiation, and the darkness of misapprehension of God is not effectively lifted in the reader s mind. How can all be reconciled, and still their attitude remain unchanged? There is no reconciliation unless the attitude is changed. It is the hidden, lurking idea of God punishing His Son to satisfy His vengeance, which alone can account for the confusion. Reconciliation for us was completed on God s part without our having any participation in the act . . . This act of reconciliation was wrought by God s imputing our trespasses to His Son, and not imputing them to us . . . Since He made that reconciliation by the death of His Son, He therefore completed that work upon the Cross. . . . From all this we must conclude that God has fully done His part in reconciling us unto Himself; that if we will but choose to accept Christ by faith, . . . the benefits of reconciliation will be secured to us personally . . . Our message as His ambassadors is, Be ye reconciled, or in other words, Accept reconciliation; and that this really is the message of the gospel to all men. ( The Atoning Work of Christ , Review and Herald, 1934, pp. 64-72.) Thus reconciliation is represented as a business transaction to be accepted , the idea being permitted that God punished His Son for us, and we are to accept Him as a substitute, and that God is now satisfied . The truth of the only effective atonement is obscured, which truth is that we crucified the Lord of glory ourselves, and that God permitted the awful deed to be done to manifest to us the nature of our hostility toward Him, that the revelation might conquer forever our rebellious hearts. Such a reconciliation is not accepted ; it is experienced. If sin was expiated by the sufferings of Christ, it is a natural consequence that sin should he regarded as an entity, as a thing which one does. There is in correspondence lessons on repentance and conversion, such a portrayal 1888 Re-Examined - 211

of sin. It is a confusing analysis. (See 20th Century Bible Course A, Voice of Prophecy Bible Correspondence Course, etc.) There is no clear explanation, to grip the conscience, that sin is not what one does, but what one is; that sin lies in the existence of the uncrucified self. We quote the time-honored definition of sin as being the transgression of the law , which is absolutely true; but we seem to have failed to grasp the significance of the 1888 light which was to magnify the law and make it honorable. We seem to have forgotten the words of the Guide, arid cling to pre-1888 concepts, which though true, need to be magnified and made honorable: Said my Guide, There is much light yet to shine forth from the law of God and the gospel of righteousness. This message understood in its true character, and proclaimed in the spirit will lighten the earth with its glory. (Ms. 15, 1888.) Repentance is presented as a thing to do , an idea quite justifiable in the light of expiation, sin being a thing, etc., but unjustifiable in the true light of the Cross: Two Things I Must Do . . . Repentance is the first of the two things we are to study in this lesson. (20th Century Bible Course A.) Man s part, that of turning away from sin, is represented as preceding sorrow for sin, which is God s part of the bargain to bestow. This is just the reverse of the truth as taught in Steps to Christ. Note the 20th Century idea: The first part of the word repent is re, meaning to turn back from. The second part, pent, is connected with the word penitent, which means sorrow, or regret for what we have done. Man s part is to turn away from sin to God. God s part is to give man true sorrow for sin . . . The law of God points out what sin is. I have the responsibility to turn away from sin. The goodness of the Lord gives me sorrow for sin, and love for God and good. If I am willing to turn away from sin, or willing to be made willing , then God s goodness will do for me what I cannot do for myself make me truly sorry for my sins and my sinning. (Ibid.) The next question mentions the thought that the preaching of Christ crucified brings the greatest results in genuine sorrow for sins and true repentance, but does not present to the conscience of the sinner the great truth of what that means. Thus the lesson reveals its futility, and hastens to add confusion in the following paragraph: One man said, repentance has not struck me yet. He was looking for something sensational like a stroke of lightning, or some great emotional storm. What he needed to do was just his simple part to turn away from sin to

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Christ. (Ibid.) 1888 Re-Examined - 212 Thus the sinner s attention is directed away from the Cross of Calvary, of which Inspiration says, If there is anything in our world that should inspire enthusiasm, it is the cross of Calvary , and is placed upon his own works turning away from sin? The message of 1888 was intended to correct just such impotency as is evident in superficial presentation of repentance. Conversion is represented likewise as a work; performed by the sinner: The second thing I must do . . . be born again. (Ibid.) In another series of lessons, repentance is likewise represented as an act: What essential step must be taken in order that the sinner may be saved?*. . . When the sinner sees his need, his first duty is to repent. (Voice of Prophecy Bible Correspondence Course, Repentance.) While it is very true that repentance includes a turning away from sin, the point to be emphasized is that these presentations of it omit more than a mere mention of the means which God uses to lead sinners to repentance a true, heart gripping presentation of Christ crucified. Thus the reader is left wistfully desiring to experience what he is told he needs, but not finding it, is left to his own work or act of repentance, which can be unfortunately similar in principle to Roman Catholic penance. The sinner is left with a helpless conviction of his conscience that his looking to Christ fails to grip his soul. If he is a thoughtful reader (and such is the kind of reader we should reach), he will conclude that there must be something wrong with him, when in reality there is a missing vitamin or mineral in the teaching itself. 2. The Cross Obscured for Christ and the Believer

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It would be futile for Satan to tempt us to disavow the Cross, either for Christ or the believer. It has been supposed, however, that we cannot make the mistake of becoming Cross-less preachers unless we consciously repudiate the Cross which would be an unthinkable action for a sane Seventh-day Adventist. _____________________ *The usual motive appealed to in human nature in our contemporary presentations of the gospel is the desire to be saved. Constantly the thought is reiterated, If you wish to saved, you must do this, that is a duty, etc. Is it not true that the desire to be saved is based upon the fear of being lost? No one should be impressed with a desire to be lost, of course; but is it not an admission of the weakness of our preaching that we must repeatedly appeal to the desires of the spiritual self, instead of to the conscience? The Cross delivers from such helpless appeals.

1888 Re-Examined - 213 However, Baal will be just as pleased if we lose eight of the Cross, and disseminate ignorance concerning the real meaning of the Cross. The result will be darkness indeed: To remove the cross from the Christian would be like blotting the sun from the sky. (AA 209.) There has been so little self-denial, so little suffering for Christ s sake, that the Cross is almost forgotten. (5 T, 215.) The mighty argument of the Cross will convict of sin . . . I ask you to study anew the Cross of Christ. (4 T, p. 375.) It is impossible to preach Christ crucified, without the presentation of the offence of the cross. In a careful study of our contemporary teaching, one fails to find that genuine preaching of the Cross. There are a few exceptions, to show that the idea has not died out cornplete]y, such as His Cross and Mine, by Meade MacGuire, and a brief article in the Review and Herald, of February 9, 1950, entitled Living the Crucified Life , etc. Both presentations referred to are good so far as they go; but what are they amidst the great abundance of Cross-less preaching which influences the remnant church to-day? The third angel s message itself is said to be light reflected from the cross of Calvary. (5T, p. 383.) Could it be, indeed, that we have drifted away from the third angel s message in verity as much as did the brethren before 1888? This alarming omission is not a mere matter of emphasis or lack of emphasis. The verbal mention of the Cross of Christ is as impotent, verily, as the wearing of a crucifix, unless Jesus Christ is set forth among our hearers, crucified among them, and by them, and their consciences aroused and their hearts broken. Let no Seventh-day Adventist say that such preaching is fanaticism there is no other preaching worthy of the name. Such a presentation alone can bring forth the hearing of faith which is genuine repentance, falling upon the Rock, and being broken. The omission of such preaching, whilst it professes to be Christ-centered , is effectively the preaching of a false Christ, because any Cross-less Christ is a false Christ, a modern Baal. The preaching of such a Christ is circumcision ultimately a dependence upon the works of the flesh, in which preaching there is no offence, only the beatings 1888 Re-Examined - 214 and dressing-downs which the modern religious self has been disciplined to rather enjoy.

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Art example of the pitiful darkness in spiritual hearts today is the infatuation of many within our ranks for the light of E. Stanley Jones. From the heart of Africa comes a letter from a Seventh-day Adventist missionary, longing to teach the Africans the abundant living as presented by this modern popular religious leader. In the homes of many of our workers and laity his books are treasured volumes, presenting an intriguing way to victorious living . Sad to say, such confusion is being encouraged. Jones is an anti-Cross, pseudoevangelical leader of the modern churches in their final union to fight against the remnant church. When we become infatuated with it his thinking removes the offence of the Cross the verity of our message from our understanding. It is a threat as serious as the Gnosticism of early church times, and fully as insidious and disguised. Note his appraisal of Christ, as being one of many gods: In the first impact of the Gospel on Greek culture and thought many things were destroyed, and rightly so. They had no right to live. But then there were many things that did have a right to live, and they were absorbed by the church. At first Aristotle was under the ban of the church, but later on be was adopted as orthodox. With the impact of the Gospel on India, many things should be destroyed. But there are many things that are good and beautiful and true in India s culture and religions. The Christian movement will not be indifferent to or hostile toward these things, but will take them up and embody them in itself . . . I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill is an open door to this attitude . . . Our call . . . is to share with the non-Christian faiths, and this sharing means not only giving out what one has to non-Christians, but the sharing of what they have in their own faiths . . . It means that Christ himself has deficiencies, which are to be supplied by other faiths. (E. Stanley Jones, The Message of Sat Tal Ashram, pp. 285, 291.) How pitiful that some of us are trying helplessly to present the third angel s message to India with the help of this man s light , which is but sparks of his kindling! Jones attitude toward the believer s Cross as being the acceptance of a principle by which self is crucified with Christ, is sho wn as follows: Now what does Christianity do with this primary urge of self? Does it try to wipe it out and make one selfless? Try to crucify it and make it impotent? The answer to both questions is No! Christianity believes in the self, for the self is God-given and is not given to be cancelled out. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The self is to be loved, even as the neighbor is to be loved. The self is affirmed, and is worthy of love. (Abundant Living, p. 121.) 1888 Re-Examined - 215 Such a twisting of the words of Jesus into exactly the opposite of their (181)

meaning is characteristic of his work. I shall love myself in Thee, this day, he prays (The Way to Power and Poise, p. 113). He identifies the self with Deity, one of the earmarks of Spiritualism (G. C. 554-5, see Index), and prays, O God . . . Thou . . . art myself! (Ibid., page l25.) He frequently expresses confused ideas of God within, kneeling in the shrine of the heart to worship Him within, and God-possession. His burden for the union of all the churches, including Rome, under Christ , is well-known. Mrs. White s warning is very applicable in this connection, urging us to beware: Be careful what you teach. Those who are learners of Christ will teach the same things that He taught. The religious bodies all over Christendom will become more and more closely united in sentiment. They will make of God a peculiar something in order to escape from loyalty to Him who is pure, holy, undefiled, and who denounces all sin as a production of the apostate . . . Let not the theory be presented that God would dwell in the soul temple of a wicked man. No greater falsehood could be presented. (Undated MS-l31.) It should be apparent to us today that we are making a tragic mistake to borrow from men like E. Stanley Jones any ideas, concepts, or even illustrations of his so-called righteousness by faith . The third angel s message in verity which is genuine righteousness by faith does not travel in company with utterly false views of God, and of Bible prophecy, nor does God reveal that glorious secret to the camps of our enemies. The world s interpretation of righteousness by faith is that of the anti-christ, of whom it was said, so well will he counterfeit righteousness, that if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect. (FE 472.) There is a bewitching, captivating effect in such teaching, however; and the unwary soul will fall into the Cross-less, specious deception. We are urged to study E. Stanley Jones, however, and are told that we will find in his latest book a safe balance in the matter of experimental righteousness by faith (Christian psychology), and abundant illustrative material which would enrich one s ministry , in connection with the great truths of righteousness by faith . (See Ministry Magazine, February, 1950.) Jones views are as much a subtle deception as was Dr. Kellogg s Living Temple, or Schliermacher s pantheism and Christianity ground together to a powder. 1888 Re-Examined - 216 Jones conception of the righteousness by faith is presented with quotations from Mrs. White interwoven, so that it is difficult to tell where Mrs. White ends and Jones begins: We ask the worker to carefully ponder these last words (Evangelism, pp. 191, 192.) Inner pardon, inner peace, inner poise and power these a man must

possess if he is to expect a well adjusted Christian personal.ity to faithfully live this message. (Transforming Friendship, S. D. A Theological Seminary Lessons. Compare Jones Victorious Living, pp. 51, 52, 55.) * Mrs. White s exhortation to talk faith! , meaning to have courage and express courage in the proclamation of the message, is incorrectly applied to a psychology of Christian experience, as though faith cometh by talking: If there are aching voids in our experience; if our love is cold and faint ; if we are living at a poor dying rate ; let us at least keep it to ourselves. If the church of the living God could only change its attitude, faith would go up with a mighty bound. No wonder the Spirit of Prophecy urges talk faith, talk faith, talk faith, and you will have faith. (Ibid. Compare Jones, op. cit., p. l23.) The self is a prominent subject of discussion in contemporary preaching, which is proper. But no provision is made in the lessons nor in our modern version of righteousness by faith of what to do with the self, except the exhortation to surrender it; which is another form of law preaching. The Gospel tells a person how to crucify self, which is not a helpless command, but the preaching of the Cross, which is the way. The true preaching of Christ crucified leads as a natural consequence to self crucified for the honest heart. But the Cross is effectively obscured: Just as my fingers are rooted in the palm of my hand, just so my individual sins are rooted in an unsurrendered self . . . The problem of consistent, triumphant, victorious living centers chiefly in the surrender of self. No doubt one may rightly ask, Did not I surrender self in conversion? Yes, he did, in a measure, but God may be revealing deeper depths to be surrendered continually in harmony with the chart we studied in a previous lesson. _______________________ *The lessons referred to are introduced as designed to present the plan of righteousness by faith in the simplest of terms, illustrated so that men and women can tangibly use it. (Ibid.) The lessons profess to regard the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy as the shortest distance between two points , and thus the student is assured that what will be presented in the lessons is straight. The lessons proceed, to weave Spirit of Prophecy quotations on a foundation of concept admittedly. indebted to Fenelon, (a Roman Catholic archbishop) and Hannah Whitall Smith s Christian Secret of a Happy Life which has already been referred to in this essay. The lessons do not credit E. Stanley Jones, but a careful reading of the latter s Victorious Living will reveal how largely the basic ideas presented are taken from his work.. 1888 Re-Examined - 217 One writer (see E. Stanley Jones, Victorious Living, pp. 111, 112) has said

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that the center of the old life is self . . . Self is the last thing we give up. But how quickly our people would loathe it and drop it freely at the feet of Christ if they knew how it defeats them. We must point out that here the real battle begins. Every other has been but a mere skirmish. (Transforming Friendship, Lessons.) Through such borrowing, the most insidious error can be received unwittingly. That the whole tenor of thought regarding what to do with self as presented in this contemporary Seventh-day Adventist teaching is subtly erroneous should be apparent from the fact that the atonement is practically ignored, and that Fenelon is regarded as a safe source together with the Spirit of prophecy: Fenelon, one of the great spiritual thinkers of the past, living in the 17th century, wrote in one of his spiritual letters: . . . This is a truly penetrating statement . . . strikes at the very heart of the problem . . . Right here it will be urged that the student study carefully the spiritual letters of Fenelon, entitled Self-Renunciation, as well as the abundant Spirit of Prophecy quotations regarding this barrier to victory. (Ibid.) (183) Fenelon was a Roman Catholic mystic, whose understanding of the atonement was as erroneous as Fulton Sheen s, who also writes profusely today about self-renunciation . Fenelon was actively engaged in trying to win Protestants to Rome after the beginning of the Reformation in France. Great Controversy has the following to say of Fenelon and his company: In the brilliant era of Louis XIV . . . Science was then cultivated, letters flourished, the divines of the court and of the capital were learned and eloquent men, and greatly affected the graces of meekness and charity. . . . Satan was the unseen leader of his subjects. (G. C. 272.) We should learn that to talk about self is not sufficient in presenting righteousness by faith, for Rome does as much. Borrowing so heavily from E. Stanley Jones, Hannah Whitall Smith ( Much credit for the thoughts in the above lesson goes to Hannah Whitall Smith Transforming Friendship), and Fenelon, the offence of the Cross is neatly removed from such teaching. There is the following illustration which itself illustrates Jones complete lack of understanding of the atonement, and consequent subtle reliance on works: E. Stanley Jones beautifully illustrated it as he told about standing near a turnstyle gate at the Chicago Exposition in 1933. He noticed a lady approaching the gate, and into the slot she placed her quarter, the price of admittance. She was perfectly willing to pay the price. She wanted to go inside, but she stood there and nothing happened. She waited. Finally our friend suggested that she push against the gate which she did. To her

1888 Re-Examined - 218 surprise and joy it opened and she walked into her desired haven. All she needed to do was to give the aggressive push of faith after she had paid the price. Too many of us are perfectly willing to pay the price but we do not press aggressively against the promises of God and walk into freedom. (Ibid.) The price , as taught by our Lord in Luke 14:25-35 is the acceptance of the principle of the Cross. The pushing is our works. The trouble with Israel to-day is not that we are perfectly willing to pay the price but not willing to do the pushing. It is vice-versa precisely. Too many of us have not learned to love the real Christ; instead we talk faith by a synthetic trust , which, devoid of the offence of the Cross, becomes known to ourselves, actually a trust in a Cross-less Christ, or Baal. We prefer to push . It was concerning false view of righteousness that Mrs. White said: There are men of the world who will volunteer to be our guides . . . They lead away from the path where the voice of Jesus is heard . . . They are false teachers, blind leaders of the blind . . . Those who follow the Leader step by step will hear and recognize the voice of the True Shepherd. (R. & H., Feb. 7, 1893.) In concluding these remarks on the omission of the offence or the Cross from the modern concept of Christian experience, we would call attention to the increasing tendency to employ the sign of the Cross in our contemporary Seventhday Adventist films, books, lessons, periodicals and decoration schemes in evangelism. The sign of the Cross is usually an indication that there is in fact no true understanding of the principle of the Cross. The use of the Cross in decoration schemes in evangelism is inexcusable for Seventh-day Adventists, who have the history of the other Protestant churches to contemplate. (See Ministry Magazine, September, l950, where it is recommended that for psychological effect pulpits be built in the form of a cross.) The following warning is timely: In no country in the world should it be so easy as in Italy to carry this message of the cross . . . It is a land of crosses . . . Yet there is no land where the message of the cross means so little . . . When a cross is set up in the interior of a church used by a Christian congregation. . . . An image of any kind has no place in a church dedicated to the worship of the true God. The fact that crosses are set up gives rise to a careful consideration of the question already proposed: What will be the outcome of the recent innovation of erecting crosses in evangelical churches? . . . As a result they become unwittingly and without intention on the part of the people

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the center of every act of worship . . . It is not contended that they knowingly or deliberately perform an act of worship in doing so. 1888 Re-Examined - 219 But it leads to another and mere serious consideration . . . To those who know the history of similar conditions in the church in the past the outlook is ominous, and calls for immediate action. The tendency should be resisted by all possible means. Pastors who are supposed to understand church history and who are zealous for purity of worship will refuse to permit the encroachment of images of any kind, for when once admitted it is well-nigh impossible to remove them. The sentiment of sacredness thrown around them can only be overcome by the violence of iconoclasm. (George Evans, The True Spirit of Worship, pp. l13-115, The Bible Institute Colportage Ass n, Chicago.) Is it not time that the remnant church should realize that Babylon s signs of the cross, and induced emotions in talking about the Cross, are not the true preaching of the Cross? The true preaching of the Cross is the distinct contribution Seventh-day Adventists are to make to the world. We are not making it at the present time. 3. Faith vs. Presumption Genuine faith which produces righteousness cometh by hearing, and that hearing comes by the preaching of the offence of the cross (compare Romans 10:17 and Galatians 3:10-12). It is a genuine, heart-broken appreciation of the atonement, and can be aroused only by the preaching of the true Christ: A new and enduring light will shine from the cross of Christ. A true sense of the sacrifice, and intercession of the dear Saviour will break the heart that has become hardened in sin; and love, thankfulness and humility will come into the soul . . . This is the true religion of the Bible. Everything short of this is a deception. (4T 625.) We assume in this section that such faith is the faith which works by love, producing righteousness, and that everything short of it, in this late hour, is indeed a deception if it claims to be the faith of Jesus. Modern Protestants declare faith to be trust in Christ for the expiation of our sins. Such faith is of the nature of the trust one exercises in a bank, and accepting Christ is the acceptance of the benefits of the expiation of Christ, and trusting Rim that one is saved. Any doubt that the transaction makes you holy is termed unbelief . A Baptist tract by L. P. Leavell entitled When Shall I Give My Life to Jesus? illustrates this very common view of faith as being trust. Some fifteen times he emphasizes the idea that one becomes saved simply by deciding to trust Christ , with no presentation

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whatever of the heart-humbling truth of the real atonement. Note the following similar statements, as found in our teaching: 1888 Re-Examined - 220 Jesus forged an amazing instrument when he made faith . . . Faith is casting one s self with utter abandon on the promises of the Saviour. It is banking on the character of God . . . Faith might be defined as trust simple trust . . . The word trust is understood by everyone. In describing the life that grows with victorious living and its possibilities, men glow with hope; but when they are told that such a relationship involves their faith, the heart sinks, for faith seems so unreal. Faith, however, is simply trusting, in one large sense of the word. (Transforming Friendship, lesson Making Faith Understandable . Compare E. S. Jones, Victorious Living, pp. 149, 110.) There is unfortunately no allusion in this lesson which makes faith understandable to the place of the atonement in arousing faith. Note in the following quotation to what lengths a Cross-less view of Christian experience drives us in the attempt to define faith: There is a magic word of Life. I may make use of it, or I may not. If I do, my life will be successful beyond what I dream or deserve. If I do not use it, my life, in the end, will be a tragic failure, and I will be responsible . . . By it millions have been victorious in life and triumphant in death. It solves our past, our present, and our future. Without it no man can please God. He will surely bless you in your study of my magic word for life. . . . Faith is the magic word for life . . . Faith is believing in God, and believing that we can get somewhere when we diligently seek Him. (20th Century Bible Course A, My Magic Word for Life .) This view of faith requires that its proponents regard love as following faith the faith or trust comes first and love comes second: Like the boy s magic glass, faith sets the fire of love burning. (Ibid.) Faith might be termad inward surrender . . . If there is not inward surrender, love does not burn . . . When there is complete and full inward surrender . . . love will begin to burn end grow . . . If the trust is simple and sincere, the heart is given to heart, life is given to life, and love begins to grow. (Transforming Friendship.)

In human relationships as well as in our relationship to God, love always precedes trust. It would be futile for God to demand our trust until He had our heart. The latter is won by the true presentation of the atonement. But when the real atonement is left out of our preaching, we must resort to such presentations as the above, which can only confuse sincere and thoughtful human hearts. Love for God lead s to trust in Him. (1T 697.) This man went down to his house justified, said Jesus. Luke 18:l4. That is, he was counted as a just man, when he had been an unjust man. In short, he was forgiven . . . This is what the Bible calls justification . . . 1888 Re-Examined - 221 Faith is the magic word that makes my black past white, my unjust past just, my sinfu1 past righteous. So did Paul preach. (20th Century Bible Course A, My Magic Word for Life .) Did Paul preach such magic , occult faith that transforms black into white? Did be teach that this magic word causes God to count an unjust man as just, or, in other words, to justify the wicked? He that justifieth the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 17:15. Such confusion is the direct result of omitting the truth of the atonement. Abraham was not accounted righteous when he was not righteous. His faith was accounted to him for righteousness his faith being, of course, a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart which believed unto righteousness through an understanding of the atonement. (See Jn. 8:56.) The idea that Abraham merely trusted God for some real estate is very misleading, but it contributes to a modern misunderstanding of faith. Abraham s faith, being genuine, was righteousness, and God merely acknowledged in justifying him, that all He has ever wanted from us was a similar heart experience of contrition. That is righteousness, and produces naturally all the works of righteousness. To circumvent the experience in the human heart to be aroused by the preaching of Christ crucified by considering faith as magic is a travesty on preaching Christ. 4. I am Saved There is an increasing tendency in our contemporary preaching to encourage believers to consider themselves saved. Sometimes it is spoken of as the joy of present salvation (Ministry Magazine, May, 1948), sometimes as being safe . Always the argument is relied upon that when a person is justified, he is saved from the guilt of his past sins. So he can consider himself, in a sense, saved . Sometimes he is urged to say so, just like the Baptists. But God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. The free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. In that sense, we were saved even before we were born. Mrs. White said plainly: (186)

Many will say, I am saved, I am saved, I am saved. . . . The whole world can say, I am saved, as well as any transgressor today. They can say, I believe on Christ that He is my Saviour. (Ms. 8, 1888.) 1888 Re-Examined - 222 Those who accept the Saviour, however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or to feel that they are saved. This is misleading . . . Those who accept Christ, and in their first confidence say, I am saved, are in danger of trusting to themselves. (COL 155.) But we hare not always followed that eamest counsel. The idea of the Christian life as a humble walk with God, wherein repentance deepens at every step, is not pleasant, somehow. Our human nature craves some assurance which, incidentally, is inconsistent with faith. But auto-suggestion relieves the aching void, which true faith alone could fill: I presume that there are scores, perhaps hundreds, before me who do not dare say that they know that they are saved in Jesus Christ. There are doubts and fears about this matter, and yet God wants us to know it . . . . . . (Urged that the congregation be sure they have eternal life, and say so. Deprecated the idea that to confess it would be boasting). I believe in present salvation. That is the only kind I know about, and that is present just as long as I believe . . . I believe that this very minute the blood of Jesus cleanses me from sin . . . I want everyone here to have that experience . . . So do not let one soul go away from this house tonight who is not sure, in this hour of God s judgment, that he stands clear and free in Jesus Christ. (G. C. B., 1900, pp. 196, 197.) A little reflection will show the inconsistency of this view of conscious and claimed present salvation in the light of this hour of God s judgment . The entire tenor of Mrs. White s writings and the Bible as well presents the impression that the Christian is to entertain neither doubts nor assurances with regard to his personal salvation. While he may know that he is accepted in the Beloved, and know the deep joy of loving the Lord, he is not to indulge the opinion that he is saved , much less express it, according to the statement quoted from Christ s Object Lessons. The reason is obvious: Genuine Christian experience, in this time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, is a constantly deepening repentance. The broken and contrite heart never becomes completely whole again like Peter, we have always a tear glistening in our eye as we see ourselves in the light of Calvary. The blessed, heart-humbling experience of the first love is never lost. Subconscious roots of evil selfishness heretofore unknown to us are day by day exposed to view. But to indulge today the thought that one is saved, is to render us in fact insensible to the deeper conviction of sinfulness which must come tomorrow. The subconscious heart can only reason, Was I not cleansed from all sin this minute yesterday? Why

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1888 Re-Examined - 223 this call to repentance? And we are offended. The inevitable result is lukewarmness. Hence Mrs. White s timely and understandable caution, and we do well to heed it strictly. The following illustrates how a play on words can evade the point, and leave a confused impression: There are some very good people who belong to the Holiness Movements who use the term I am saved . We are apt to ridicule the use of this term, and I certainly do not urge that we would adopt it. It leads to selfconfidence and a sense of false security. There is little motivation in it for growth. I would rather use the term conversion . There is, however, an element of truth in the term saved . Note this analogy. Just as a disabled ship is towed to port, that ship is safe, but not sound. It is not seaworthy; repairs will have to be made. It is safe in port but needs to be rehabilitated. Just so, the soul that comes to Jesus from the sea of sin, disabled, weak, unable to live for Christ in his own strength strength, is safe in Jesus, but not sound, not seaworthy; repairs have to be made. (Transforming Friendship, p. 12.) I As was pointed out in a previous chapter concerning Protestant teachings, the use of the word safe is as misleading as the word saved . (188) 5. Confused Impressions of Sanctification It would seem shocking to suggest that erroneous view of sanctification could ever be taught amongst us, with all that the Spirit of Prophecy says about the subject. But we are reminded that Satan s efforts to confuse and prevent our sanctification would be of such a nature that the very elect would be deceived if possible: If marked inconsistencies and untruthful utterances were apparent in these manifestations, the words from the lips of the Great Teacher would not be needed. (Letter 68, 1894.) It is not the verbal expression sanctification that Satan will attack; it is the idea that he will seek to confuse, for confusion is his delight. Bible sanctification is a life work. It never becomes complete until translation. And translation is the end for this generation, if this is the time of the loud cry indeed. But the last step to be taken in sanctification is the very one Satan would prevent our taking it will be a new experience in conversion so heart-humbling, so completely devastating to our self-complacency and lukewarmness, as to deliver us from Satan s final grasp. It will be a heart experience in Israel complementary to the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven. To tell new converts that sanctification is a life work one moment, and

1888 Re-Examined - 224 inform them in the next that salvation is instantaneous, hardly contributes to clarity: Instantaneous salvation . . . Salvation is immediate . . . The sinner finds immediate salvation the very moment he makes the decision, I now give my heart to Christ . . . Salvation comes to the repentant sinner instantaneously the very moment he surrenders his heart to Christ. Satan despises this doctrine of Christ s immediate power to save . . . On the contrary, salvation is immediate . . . The very moment Noah stepped inside the ark, he found temporary salvation. . . . The sinner s saving sacrifice Christ is likewise already offered; his salvation, is already completed, just waiting for the sinner to claim it . . . salvation is instantaneous . . . Salvation is immediate when one accepts Christ s atoning blood . . . Will you look to Jesus NOW and live? (Voice of Prophecy Bible Correspondence Course, Lesson Four.) If the convert believes that doctrine, and soon after uniting with the remnant church, hears some stirring sermon on the Laodiceau message for instance, or reads Spirit of Prophecy calls to the saved to repent, what can his heart reason? He will either conclude that the church has never been properly saved , or he will doubt if he is a careful thinker that he is indeed saved , no matter how much the evangelist encouraged him to think so in the beginning. But having learned to doubt the experience which brought him into the remnant church, he will doubt what keeps him in, unless some apparently miraculous help is forthcoming. Because invariably the deeper calls to repentance which constitute the calls to progressive sanctification concern sins which were all the time present in the heart when the believer was saved . He was cleansed from all known sin, but not from all subconscious sin. It is evident that to impress upon converts minds the idea of instantaneous salvation is to unfit them to receive a practical experience of heart consistent with the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven. Thus the Adventist concept of sanctification can be rendered null and void, without the verbal term being employed in the process! It may also seem shocking to the reader to question the validity of the Victorious Life concept, as held by us for the past three decades. It will be interesting to investigate whether this plant was one planted by our Heavenly Father, or was one of a series of concepts planted in the Advent Movement from Babylonian sources. Since the concept definitely affects our understanding of 1888 Re-Examined - 225

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righteousness by faith , it should be carefully scrutinized in this connection. Truth will lose nothing by investigation. Perhaps no one can define very clearly just what the victorious life means. It concerns sanctification, however. The general impression left upon the human mind is that the victorious life is an advanced state of Christian experience, not attained by the majority of professed believers, even within the remnant church. It is an experience supplemental to accepting Christ in conversion. After the sinner has accepted Christ, he still feels himself in bondage to sin has not been loosed from its power; the forgiveness of past sins is not sufficient present power over sin is required. That power is available through the mastery of what is often spoken of as the secret of the victorious life . Those who proclaim it urge it as something needed by members of the church who are still struggling with sin in daily trials, conflicts, wrestlings, agonies of soul, and tears. The secret is often represented to be something easy, as the title of one pamphlet on the victorious life reads, God s Way of Victory over Sin; or, If It Isn t easy It Isn t Good . The victorious life was once considered by many among us to be a revival of the message of 1888. Unlike the message of 1888 which was scorned and opposed by responsible leaders, the victorious life was widely accepted among us and every possible encouragement and assistance was given to its proclamation. Had it been a genuine message from heaven such as the light of 1888, it would thus have surely accomplished what the former message did not accomplish, not being well received. If the secret of the victorious life is deliverance from daily, agonizing struggles with sin, daily wrestlings, strong crying and tears, conflicts with Satan and agony of soul, then it can hardly be maintained that Jesus lived the victorious life . He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears . . . learned obedience by the things which He suffered. If righteousness by faith is the faith of Jesus, then it is evident that there has never been a better way discovered than the way of His faith. But it is ignorance of that faith by which the Christian is to live, that causes men to seek for some secret of radiant , victorious living all sunshine . About 1888 Re-Examined - 226 a decade after the mystic Faber joined the Roman Catholic Church, he wrote the words often quoted among us as picturing the joys of the victorious life : If our love were but more simple, We should take Him at His word; And our lives would be all sunshine In the sweetness of our Lord. Before examining the historical basis of the Adventist concept of the

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victorious life , it will be helpful to note that inspired writers have consistently represented justification to be not only forgiveness of sins in the sense of deliverance from guilt, but deliverance from the power of sin as well. In fact, the truth is that sin itself can never be forgiven by a righteous God. That would be antinomianism. Only an unrighteous Baal will attempt to forgive sin. A righteous God will, however, gladly forgive the sinner through his faith, but He does it by loosing that sinner from the power of the sin which has bound him. Such is the very ireaning of the word aphesi translated forgivness in the Authorized Version. It is better rendered remission a loosing, sending away from, deliverance, Such justification by faith is a declaring what is now a fact the contrite soul is delivered from the power of known sin. If the victorious life phrase were to be employed in our preaching, it would have to be applied to that experience of justification itself, and not to some supplemental experience. But that is not the idea conveyed to our people by its proponents. They are given the impression that contrition-less justification was genuine, and are urged not to doubt it, for such would be to doubt Christ . They are told that they need the secret of the victorious life to add to their justification, when what they really need is a genuine conversion, a falling upon the Rock and being broken. But that is precisely what the carnal heart objects to, after years and perhaps decades of being a church member in good and regular standing, and being, perhaps, a worker as well. That was the Rock of offence at Minneapolis. The victorious life hope has been a detour around that Rock. There is evidence that the detour was an invention of the enemy of all righteousness, and was foisted upon an unsuspecting, credulous remnant church from Babylonian sources. One of the earliest presentations of the victorious 1888 Re-Examined - 227 life amongst us occurs in a little book published in 1919, entitled The Doctrine of Christ, (Review and Herald). The author quotes, approvingly, comments on the idea without giving the source. These quotations are not used for authority, but merely for the expression of the thought (Op. cit., Introductory Note ). Investigation reveals that the source quoted was a book written by one Robert C. McQuilkin, the Corresponding Secretary, Victorious Life Conferences, Princeton and Cedar Lake. It was published in 1918 by the Christian Life Literature Fund, who termed themselves Headquarters for Victorious Life Literature . . . Philadelphia . They were an inter-denominational society or group of Methodists, Quakers, etc. The victorious life was their discovery. The Editor of the Sunday School Times said in the foreword: Did you ever go with a very dear friend into some foreign land, say one of the islands of the sea, like Madeira; and there you and your friend vie with each other in making new discoveries of things beautiful and fresh to both of you: new flowers, fruits, birds, vistas in valleys or mountains? If so, you know something of what it means to explore, with a friend, in

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the land of Victory in Christ. It was the new and undiscovered country of the Victorious Life that brought us together, Bob McQuilkin and me . . . We entered, not far apart, the foreign land of undreamed riches and delights; and ever since then we have been joyously telling each other of our discoveries . . . I am glad that he is now sharing his findings and his convictions with many, through these studies in the Victorious Life . . . A much greater part of the New Testament is devoted to telling Christians how to live after they are saved than how to be saved . . . Have we realized what a sad commentary on the Gospel is the man who claims that Christ has saved him completely from the penalty of his sins, yet in whose life is plainly seen, and habitually, the unbroken power of sin. This book tells how to be as free from the power of sin as from its penalty. It gives God s own message on present salvation: salvation from sin now and here . . . With thanksgiving to the Captain of our Salvation, who never asks us to win victories for Him, but Who has already won all our victories for us, this book is prayerfully commended in His Name. (Charles Gallaudet Trumbull, in Victorious Life Studies, op. cit., Foreword.) This essay does not state that no sincere, honest soul found help through the teaching of the victorious life . Thousands of sincere people have worshipped the true Christ dimly through the erroneous mysticism of the Roman Church, although clearly in spite of it, rather than because of it. Likewise with the victorious life . But there is some evidence that the discoverers of this foreign land referred to above might have been deceived by the wrong 1888 Re-Examined - 228 captain , to borrow a term from Mrs. White. Their Christ did not truly come in the flesh: Temptation is directed against the human nature, and finds its entrance through the natural desires and impulses of the body. That is all Satan had to work upon in the case of Adam and Eve . . . Both Adams . . . lived in temptable bodies; and it is these human bodies, not the sin nature dwelling in us, that make temptation possible. After Adam s fall there was in man a tendency to sin that was not there before, and that was wholly absent from our Lord. Yet temptation attacks the man with the fallen nature just as it did before, through the natural desires of his human nature. (Ibid., pp. 32, 33.) While this asserts that Christ had a human, temptable body, it makes Christ s temptations to be merely physical lusts without a tendency to sin , (192)

without a necessity of dying to self which self is not the physical body. It therefore means that He had a sinless nature rather than a sinful nature. His death was therefore a martyrdom of the body, and not a death unto sin. He was freed from the necessity of crucifying self day by day, and His faith becomes a mere non-entity, a nothingness. The greatest sin we have to overcome is the existence of self; and if Christ did not have to overcome there, we may talk much about His mysterious victory , and be left with a helpless vanity. While Mr. McQuilkin s victory was due to what he termed faith in Christ , it was clearly not the faith of Christ, by which the follower of the true Christ alone can overcome. Is it not a pity that a victorious life with such a source should be considered by the remnant church as Adventist sanctification? True sanctification is a deepening experience of repentance, and also therefore, of justification. Victories will come. But they will not be through some occult secret of trust in an extxa-human, Super-man Christ who did not partake of our sinful nature. They will come through simple, daily conversions anew at the foot of the Cross, whereon self will die by the faith of Jesus. Soon after the time of the publication of The Doctrine of Christ, (1919), the victorious life became very popular amongst our leading ministers. Many thought it was the third angel s message in verity, and did not sense the difference between it and the light of 1888. A thesis in the Theological Seminary Library, written to show that the Seventh-day Adventist church has experienced 1888 Re-Examined - 229 a continuous divine reviva1 since the turn of the century, in the preaching of righteousness by faith , remarks on the sudden interest in the victorious life : About the same time (1920) . . . various denominational leaders were giving thought to what was termed the victorious life . Although the expression so popular at that. time is not synonymous with justification by faith, it was understood as having reference to the impartation of righteousness by faith that has been linked with justification by faith throughout this discussion (sanctification) . . . The General Conference session of 1922 afforded a further opportunity to discuss the need of obtaining victory over sin in the life. A. G. Daniells, in addressing the delegates, stated that he had come to believe in what was being termed the victorious life . . . He assured his hearers that it was a Bible term denoting an experience that is within the reach of all. O. Montgomery, at the time vice-president of the South American Division, and later one of the general vice-presidents of the world organization, stated that much emphasis had been given to that theme of late . He

referred to articles written for denominational journals and sermons that he had beard. He was under the impression that some considered it a phase of Christian experience unknown before. He showed that it was the very same experience that Adventists had spoken of as a part of justification and righteousness by faith . . . C. H. Watson, at the time one of the vice-presidents of the General Conference, capitalized the victorious life idea in a Week of Prayer Reading for 1923 . . . (Bruno William Steinweg, Developments in the Teaching of Justification and Righteousness by Faith in the Seventh-day Adventist Church after 1900, S. D. A. Theological Seminary, 1948, pp. 39-43.) The remnant church, which in 1888 had spurned the most glorious light ever to shine upon any of God s people in history, now considered this Babylonian concept to be the real message of Christ s righteousness: The Victorious Life is only another expression for righteousness by faith . (Review and Herald, Nov. 11, 1920.) The Victorious Life is nothing more nor less than simple Bible Christianity. (Editor, Review and Herald, July 6, 1922.) The highest point to be reached by any (General) Conference or by any individual . . . means victory over sin. It means the Victorious Life. (Review and Herald, June 8, 1922.) A denomination-wide revival followed the presentation of the Victorious Life to our people, but it was not a revival such as was graciously offered us at Minneapolis, in 1888. No one would be so foolish as to say that the Spirit of God did not work in the revival. He did, and many hearts were blessed. But the showers which fell were definitely of the former rain, and not of the latter rain. So poverty-stricken had Israel become, that it became necessary to bring in some rain from outside her borders, to tide her over the time of drought un1888 Re-Examined - 230 til she should realize her need of the latter rain, and recognize the simple truth that when it was once offered her, she scorned it. Looking in a once-popular booklet concerning that revival, and the victorious life , one notes in the course of a few pages a constant leaning upon outside authors. In fact such once-popular titles as The Life that Wins were taken from the list of publications by the Christian Life Literature Fund, Headquarters for Victorious Life Literature . Note the following expressions taken verbatim, from a few pages only: Mr. McConkey (relates), Cortland Myers says, Dr. L. W. Munhall said, says

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Cortland Myers, Robert F. Horton says, Henry Van Dyke says, wrote . . . Whitefield, Edwards says, Dr. W. T. Grenfell says, at the feet of D. L. Moody, Charles Dickens said, Ion Keith Falconer had a good . . . , Evangelist Wilbur Chapman . . . asked, Sherwood Eddy said, Bishop Hannington said, I wish I could be a Henry Martyn , the words of Ellen Stone, Florence Nightingale heard, Amos R. Wells has said, Charles G. Finney once said, biographer of David Brainerd writes, D. L. Moody says, R. F. Horton says, Nessima . . . saying, Forrest Hallenbeck says, John Wesley . . . said, J. R. Miller . . . lecturing, John B. Mott says, Charles G. Trumbull says, Woodrow Wilson . . . said, Edward Everett Hale once said, St. Augustine . . . praying,. Fanny Edna Stafford (written) for you, Henry Martyn s diary, Gladstone . . . replied, Professor Huxley . . . said, John R. Mott says, David Hill . . . said, Sunday School Times says . . . etc. etc. (See Alone With God, Pacific Press.) O that someone would lead us, and leave us, alone with God! The message of 1888 brought us there, but it was an wipleasant feeling. The victorious life promised the radiant glow that was desirable.* 6. Person of Christ vs. Knowing Christ by the Word Most obvious mysticism has been urged amongst us by those who represent union with Christ to be a conscious, personal oneness with Him. Bound up with the expositions of the person of Christ is the reference to the real presence of Christ . The clear, distinct truth taught by our Lord was, ___________________ * The victorious life is a term which does not appear once in the writings of the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy. It does, however, occur in the Index to the latter, which was compiled in the time of the victorious life enthusiasm. References which present a different concept from that conveyed by the victorious life enthusiasm, are assumed to support it one chapter the closing one of Testimonies to Ministers (1922) bears the title, The Victorious Life . The chapter is a letter of Mrs. White s, and the title is obviously supplied by the compilers. It will be recalled that the title to the last book in the Bible, The Revelation of St. John the Divine , is also not inspired. 1888 Re-Examined - 231 Doth this offend you? . . . It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they life. (John 6:61, 63.) Seventh-day Adventists believe that Christ is a person, and that the redeemed will be like Him when we shall see Him . As a person, He cannot be everywhere at once. The Holy Spirit is Christ s representative, but divested of the personality of humanity . . . Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not

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be in every place personally. (D.A. p. 669.) Would not such ideas as the following, which have been very popular amongst us, confuse our people? His message is inseparable from Himself . . . saving truth becomes a personality in Jesus Christ . . . He Himself is the gospel . . . the gospel is personality in Him, and that Christianity is nothing less, and can be nothing more, than conscious personal oneness with Jesus Christ . . . He Himself is His own gospel . . . This is the saving gospel which I myself have appropriated . . . In the Scriptures the hope which is unto salvation is a person . . . The righteousness which transforms our nature, is embodied in a person, and cannot be received apart from that person . . . Righteousness becomes to us a personality . . . I hope I have made it clear to my readers that the gospel is a living personality, and that it becomes personality in those who accept it as such. That Christ imparts no gifts apart from Himself . . . that every blessing is found personalized in Him . . . Such is the good news which I am glad to make known. (The Saviour of the World, chapter entitled, The Personality of the Gospel , Review and Herald.) The inevitable effect of such vague teaching is to disparage the Word itself, and lead the innocent soul to wonder just how he can achieve this conscious personal oneness with Christ . Note the following development of thought: They looked to the Man in the first place, and secondarily to the portrait given of Him in the Book. Whereas the psuedo-apostolic preaching fixes its own eye and the eye of the hearer in the first place on the Book, and deduces from it the existence and influence of the Person. The impression in the one case is: that the preacher announces a message from Christ, who is a reality to him; and this, his experience, he asserts, is according Scripture. The impression in the other case is: that Isaiah, Paul, John teach . . . such and such a doctrine . . . The one is preaching Christ; the other, about Christ. (The Doctrine of Christ, op. cit., pp. 23, 24.) (195) A little reflection on the reader s part will reveal that such a concept makes the preacher dependent on the Christ of his experience primarily, and upon the Christ of the Word secondarily. But who can know the true Christ apart from the Word? When did the true Christ elect to reveal His Person primarily in human personality, while disparaging His words as secondarily in importance to the sinner? To talk of Christ without the word leads to sentimentalism , 1888 Re-Examined - 232 said Mrs. White; and such sentimentalism can very easily become actually Christ-less in fact, if not so in word. To quote another phrase from Mrs. White, Satan will enter any door thrown open for him. Would not the emphasis of this vague doctrine of the real presence (Ibid., p. 112), and the person

of Christ open a door for the false Christ who has deceived the modern, worldly churches? May it never be that true Seventh-day Adventist preaching of Christ the Word revealed in the Bible shall be regarded as pseudo-apostolic preaching ! Mrs. White, and Jones and Waggoner when they were straight, would be included in the subtle condemnation. A natural consequence of talking about Christ without the word is to lead to the glorification of His person. Yet the flesh profiteth nothing , and representations of it profit nothing, as well. Historical scenes from Bible history which involve pictorial representations of Christ cannot be condemned, for the pictures re-create the event for the imagination. (Good preaching is much more effective, however.) But portraits of Christ can plead no such justification whatever, sentimental tales of sin-hardened sailors and others finding Him thereby notwithstanding. One of Baal s chief attractions is his beauty of person, and many artists have painted him. Others have painted a modern Tammuz, in an attempt to induce people to weep for him. The Twelve Stations of the Cross in Roman Catholic churches are an example of the use to which pictures can be put, whereby a false Christ motivates the histrionic emotions of the human heart, but leaves it in quite an unbroken spiritual condition, so far as genuine love for the true Christ is concerned. Christ does not ask from men the glorification of their fellow men. He does not ask of men that they shall praise His beauty of countenance. He did not plan that the attention of men should be centered upon His beauty of form or feature. His design was to draw the attention of men to His virtue of character. (Letter 85, 1899.) Is it not evident that the message brought to us by Jones and Waggoner in 1888 demonstrates that true Christ-centered preaching does not depend upon the glorification of His person by any means whatever, but upon the revelation of His character? Only through such a revelation can the human heart of 1888 Re-Examined - 233 hearts be won for Him.* 7. Righteousness by faith vs. Righteousness by Self The slightest amount of confidence or reliance on the flesh is far too much. It was characteristic of the message of 1888 that it swept away all such confidence. The agitators who were troubling the Galatians with another gospel were not preaching self; they were preaching Christ and self. Paul s gospel was: Christ only. Note the following attempt to make faith understandable : Jesus forged an amazing instrument when he made faith. Although it is difficult for the human mind to comprehend, it is easy to experience. It (l96)

is difficult to describe, but one is aware of possessing it. Faith is both trust in Another, and an adventure and attitude of our own. As one minister put it, Such a combination develops self-reliance** at one and the same time. It is both activity and receptivity. You do it and He does it. You are not stifled and He is your Saviour. (A Transforming Friendship, op. cit.) This is to give the impresson of salvation by faith and works what He does is faith; what I do is works. Christ can never be the saviour of one whose self is not even stifled, and certainly not crucified. If He should, however, become the Saviour of such a self, He would become the minister of sin (see Galatians 2:17) and many professed Christians have come to suppose that very thing. Any representation of faith as being an act of~ belief, an adventure of our own comes perilously close to the Roman Catholic view of it as being an act of belief . Frequently, however, faith is represented in our publications to be an act of belief, an adventure, an experiment or a psychological bias of mind. Such representations are inevitable when the truth of the atone_________________ * Another consequence of preaching the person of Christ is the concept of righteousness by faith as being personality by faith. Many to-day want a radiant personality , to charm people. Personality balance, charm , poise, security , are represented as awaiting us in Christ . There is a most distinct difference between the righteousness which is of faith, and the personality-righteousness which is by nature. Some people naturally possess in the. flesh a charming, extrovert personality. Such personality must not be confused with righteousness by faith. Otherwise, many charming movie stars and successful politicians have embraced righteousness by faith, when their moral characters indicate otherwise. **Errata: and other reliance. 1888 Re-Examined - 234 ment is obscured. A brief statement from Catholic Belief may help to clarify the point of how confusion on this Matter actually results in a faith in self, verbal protestations to the contrary notwithstanding: The principle dispositions required for justification are the following acts, which can only be made by the assistance of God s actual grace, namely, an act of faith, or belief in revealed truths, an act of fear of God, an act of hope, and an act of charity; an act of repentance for past sins, with a purpose to avoid sin in the future, and to keep the commandments. (Council of Trent, Sess. VI., chapt. vi). (Catholic Belief, by the Very Rev. Joseph Faa di Bruno, D. D., p. 75.) (197)

To represent repentance and conversion as Two Things I Must Do ; to represent faith as a step to victory , something which will enable the sinner to get from first base to second base, etc., and make it home ; or to represent faith as the magic word for my tomorrow , are helpless substitutes for that better way, namely, the faith which works by love, aroused by the true preaching of the Cross. (See 20th Century Bible Course A, lessons entitled My Magic Word for Life and My Faith on Life s Diamond , and Two Things I Must Do, etc.) 8. Confusion and the False Christ If the reader s conscience has been aroused thus far in reading this essay to the point where he recognizes that confusion has entered into our contemporary thinking regarding righteousness by faith, in place of the clear, logical, keen, and powerful preaching which was the 1888 message, he will be unable to deny that the modern false Christ, the Baal of the apostate religious world of today, has been the cause of it. It is part of Satan s plan to involve the remnant church of God in the general ruin that is coming upon the earth. (5T 295.) Since God is not the Author of confusion (1 Cor; 14:33), who else can be, except the false Christ? Christ never causes confusion in minds. (Series B, No. 2, p. 46.) Since Pentecost came when the brethren were all of one accord, is it not true that the loud cry will come when Israel again becomes of one accord? The opposition at Minneapolis tended to divide the church, to cause apostasy, to break up unity, to sow discord . (See Counsels to Editors, p. 31.). The remnants of the same spirit today prevent that unity of the faith which the Holy 1888 Re-Examined - 235 Spirit will bring into our midst when at last we gather around the foot of the Cross, the Adventist conscience thoroughly aroused in the worship of the true Christ. 9. The Effects of Baal-worship on Ministers Human nature finds it difficult to believe erroneous concepts. The subconscious mind was never intended by its Creator to grasp the mystery of iniquity, or the self-contradictory sophistries of a false and ineffective righteousness by faith. No one can believe in the true Christ without sensing that somehow he has been helped toward such a faith by a divine power. No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Likewise, no honest soul can hear or read confusing sentiments without an inner sense of being ill at ease. The Adventist Conscience revolts against error. But prophecy plainly indicates that the third angel s message must be supplemented by the arrival of great light from heaven, the loud cry . It is (198)

inevitable, therefore, that if the initial outpouring of the latter rain and loud cry at Minneapolis was repulsed, there would still today be a certain sense of helplessness in the proclamation of the Seventh-day Adventist message. It works, indeed; but no candid Adventist minister would say that it works like it ought to. Could it be that this sense of comparative helplessness has prevented the Adventist conscience from revolting openly against self-contradictory and erroneous teachings? A clear understanding of the genuine would arouse the Adventist conscience to repudiate the counterfeit. If the disillusionment is delayed indefinitely, the effect of confusion can only be tragic upon the men who are called upon to preach it. Our own souls salvation depends upon our giving the flock of God their meat in due season. If this is the season for the latter rain, if this is the time for light which will enlighten the earth with glory, it is perilous for the messengers to continue preaching hybrid versions of righteousness by faith. The inner heart of the Adventist minister convicts him of the comparative futility of his present efforts. On the other hand, self decrees that he do not acknowledge that sense of helplessness. An inner conflict ensues, de1888 Re-Examined - 236 moralizing to the finer sensibilities of the soul. To supply the lack, and make it appear that all is well, affected emotions are called forth, and the minister tries to induce in himself those feelings which he knows are a part of genuine Christian experience, according to the Bible. An Adventist brand of ministerial pathos, really akin to other ministers intoning, is the result in some alas, in many, cases. In an attempt to make appeals effective, actual hypocrisy can be resorted to. No one dares to notice it, least of all, the man himself. It is a well known fact that such a process continued for some years in the ministry of one of the most famous and popular of modern Seventh-day Adventist evangelists, one who made much of righteousness by faith , before he was obliged to leave the work because of shipwreck of faith. It was an example of the subtle apostasy possible in the human heart of the minister who has so lost sight of Jesus, that the Christ of his feelings and methods is merely Baal. The apostasy preceded the immorality; and the final records may reveal to us that it always does. It is an unpleasant subject to contemplate, but a tragic one to neglect. Ungodly teaching is followed by sinful practice. (8T 293.) Our only hope, as ministers, in the time of the latter rain, is to receive the latter rain. That hope depends upon a vision of Christ the true Christ. (199) 10. Spiritualism

If the Holy Spirit of God induces genuine love for the true Christ, the opposite spirit must induce in those who submit to religious selfishness, the

counterfeit infatuation with the false Christ. It is an unpleasant possibility to consider, and the complacent mind would prefer to dismiss the thought. But the Seventh-day Adventist conscience cannot deny that Babylon will eventually come under the influence of Spiritualism, while supposing that they are receiving the great power of the Holy Ghost. If this is the true for the true loud cry to go forth in the finishing of the work of the Advent movement, it is also the time for the outpouring of Satan s counterfeit Holy Ghost upon those willing to receive it: 1888 Re-Examined - 237 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; arid the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. (Rev. 18:1, 2.) Should we not be careful? It is possible to mingle with our prayers for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit a force and presumption that is not heavenborn. That this movement will be finally victorious, all prophecies in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy indicate But it will not be a victory for self, nor for us, but it will be a victory for truth. If the findings of this investigation are significant, it follows that there is some historical truth that must be recognized by the present generation before our demand of the Holy Spirit s supernatural power will be a proper and truly reverent one. All that has been written of ancient Israel is for our admonition. Upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts . . .. and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. . . And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they have trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary to Me; and that I have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: then will I remember my covenant with Jacob. (Leviticus 26 :36-42 ) The recognition of the truth of our history will require, of course, a confession of the iniquity of our fathers, that we are their true spiritual descendents, and have done no better. It will be a recognition of the truth of the Minneapolis refusal to accept the very gift we are now demanding with determination to receive. Such a recognition of the truth of our history would also require, if we are to treat our Lord with the courtesy we usually accord one another, that we investigate the light which the servant of the Lord repeatedly said was the beginning of the loud cry, and which she declared

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to have been communicated to us through the agents who were at that time the Lord s messengers . Is it not rather inconsistent to demand of the Lord that He grant us more light, while we keep hidden and buried the first glimmers of that light our fathers refused? If we maintain a stubborn refusal to examine that teaching which inspiration termed most precious light , just what the 1888 Re-Examined - 238 people needed, the truth as it is in Jesus , can it be possible that Heaven will regard sympathetically our determination to obtain the long awaited power without a proper repentance and restitution? Finally, without such restitution, if we present a determined request repeatedly, working ourselves up to a pitch of feverish insistence, could our true Lord deny to us a taste of the only spirit a stubborn and rebellious people could receive? Conclusion If the omega is not a thing of the past, and if the experiences of the alpha illustrate its nature, could not the following serious words have a present application? Deceptive theories have been arrested in their development, but they have not been rooted up. Hearts are not changed. . . . The wrong theories which in the past have been met many times and in many places, are ready to spring into life, because the natural heart loves sin, and has been so deceived by Satan s fascinating presentations that in the place of having sensitive consciences and eyes anointed with the heavenly eyesalve, able to detect the deceptive guise of Satan, men do not see the awfulness of sin, but have clothed sin with the beautiful garments of sanctification and purity. Some things may be said which appear to be excellent. The fruit may be apparently fair and beautiful, without a flaw, but break the apple open, and we see the work of destruction going on at the core. . . Men may flatter themselves that there is seen the working of the Spirit of God in the company assembled at Battle Creek; but in reality there is a power prompting and advising and inspiring that has not the vital principle which comes from a pure Thus saith the Lord. . . . Some . . . have been led by the enemy of all righteousness. . . He has blinded the spiritual eyesight, and deceptive, delusive imaginings are taking the place of the word of life and truth. Some in exalted positions of responsibility are sustaining error in the place of truth. Satan makes his delusions most attractive, clothing error in the garments of truth so that it seems the most desirable thing to possess. The minds of many whom we would naturally suppose would see things clearly are blinded as with a bewitching sophistry of error. If the terribly bewitching, fascinating

story is not interrupted, those who are listening to it. will become infidels in their belief. (Special Testimonies, Series B, pp. 3-6, No. 7.) Men may explain and explain in regard to these theories, nevertheless they are contrary to the truth. Scriptures are misplaced and misapplied, taken out of their connection and given a wrong application. Thus those are deceived who have not a vital, personal experience in the truths that have made us as a people what we are. . . . This is a time when Satan s deceptive power is exercised, not only upon the minds of those who are young and inexperienced, but upon the minds of men and women of mature years and of broad experience. Men in positions of responsibility are in danger of changing leaders. This I know; for it has been plainly revealed to me. I have been instructed that the enemy seeks to line up with men bearing large responsibilities in the Lord s work, 1888 Re-Examined - 239 in order that he may fill their minds with evil devisings. Under his influence men will suggest many things that are contrary to the mind of God. (Ibid., No. 2, pp. 47, 48.) (201) CONSTRUCTIVE RECAPITULATION As this investigation has progressed, certain conclusions have become evident, which are worthy of a brief recapitulation. They should leave neither a helpless sense of condemnation, nor a vague hope that the mere passage of time will of itself solve the basic problem facing modern Israel. The conviction has deepened that something clear, positive, and effectual can be done. The erroneous teachings which have taken the place of a clear understanding of the message of Christ s righteousness are traceable directly to the practical omission cf the Cross from our present concept of justification and righteousness by faith. The idea of expiation is partly and secondarily, responsible. Spiritual love of self, however, is primarily responsible. The spurning cf the unwelcome thought of true and ultimate self-crucifixion opened the way for a misunderstanding of the purpose of the crucifixion of Christ. Nearly every species of erroneous teaching concerning Christian experience which has beset us since the Minneapolis era has its root in this omission of the true understanding of the atonement and of the principle of the Cross. It should be recognized that this practical omission of the Cross, both for Christ and the believer, is evidence that a false Christ has infiltrated the thinking ana faith of modern Israel, in proportion as we failed to discern or recognize the true Christ. Inasmuch as the only effective means of counteracting erroneous teachings is the clear presentation of true teachings, it follows that this need must be supplied. When it is supplied, the difficulties revealed in this investigation

will naturally disappear, as mist before the morning sun. Honest hearts will loathe the counterfeit, as they discern the genuine. A candid reconsideration of the message of 1888 as presented by Jones and Waggoner would begin to supply that need. This conclusion is based upon the following observations: (1) The long-awaited outpouring of the Holy Spirit in latter rain power, which the remnant church now recognizes to be her one great need, began to 1888 Re-Examined - 240 be manifested in the strange, impressive message which came to this people in 1888. The Spirit of Prophecy clearly identified that message as the beginning of the loud cry. (2) The unfortunate opposition to that light is perpetuated today (unconsciously) in the teaching of views of righteousness by faith practically identical with the teaching of that doctrine or tenet by the stubborn opposition to the light of 1888. The opposition professed to believe in righteousness by faith , maintaining that the church had always believed it. Their understanding of the doctrine is assumed today to be the true teaching of that light, as presented by Jones and Waggoner. Though rendered attractive and pleasing by the use of specious modern sentiments and illustrations borrowed from our enemies, it has clearly not produced the fruits which the message of 1888 was meant to produce. The genuine light of 1888, as presented by Jones and Waggoner, is practically unknown to our workers and people today. (3) The possession by the church of Mrs. White s books written after 1888 is not identical with a reception by the church of the 1888 message. That special, advanced light was withdrawn when it was spurned. Although the gift of prophecy manifested through Mrs. White was not withdrawn, the agent never claimed that the publication of her books by the denomination rendered unnecessary a restitution of the tragic mistake made at Minneapolis and thereafter. Those books were indeed to lead us to the light of the loud, cry, but were never set forth as being the light of the loud cry itself. Thus, to reject Jones and Waggoner s work on the excuse that we accept Mrs. White s, is to perpetuate a contradictory position, for she urged the acceptance of their work. That has never been done. This point is made clear by considering Mrs. White s statements to the effect that the Lord laid on Waggoner, for instance, a burden of teaching Christ s righteousness that He had not laid upon her, and that she could not teach it as clearly as he did. (4) That clear teachings or gift of the Spirit, has never been recognized truly by the remnant church. The clearest teaching on the message of Christ s righteousness ever to come from human lips, lies hidden (all that was preserved of it) in our archives, completely beyond the reach of the vast majority of our world 1888 Re-Examined - 241

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ministry. The precious talent intended by its Giver to be used for the blessing of the world still lies buried, wrapped in the napkin of neglect. (5) The present generation of Israel will not spurn and ridicule the presentation of that message, as did the generation of l888-93, if God s confidence in the honesty of Israel as being worthy of the plan of salvation is justified. For us to fail again would compromise the honor of God s throne, for He has staked that honor upon His confidence in the honesty of the Seventh-day Adventist conscience. In a sense, God Himself is now on trial in the course to be pursued by His people, The reason for this confidence in Israel rests in the fact that honest human nature will learn by sad experience what it fails to believe by faith. (a) It is now abundantly evident that we have traveled the road of disillusionment since the Minneapolis meeting of 1888. Infatuation with false teachings has taken the place of clear, cogent, heaven-inspired truth, as regards righteousness by faith . By the hard, humiliating way of actual experience with counterfeit, Israel has brought herself to the time when she is ripe for disillusionment. The simple faith to believe, which was spurned at Minneapolis, is now replaceable wn.th the bitter tears of humble repentance, occasioned by our history The following prophecy has been fulfilled, and awaits only its realization by the church: Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. (8T 250.) Such an experience will be a repentance very similar to that of Mary Magdalene, whose faith and love were spoken of by the Saviour as that of the model Christian. The genuine repentance of heart-broken love is righteousness by faith. (b) The confidence that Israel will today accept what she spurned in 1888 rests also upon the fact that a tremendous spiritual vacuum has been created by the helpless nothingness of hybrid versions of righteousness by faith . Many, even in the world, are trying to discover the light which God revealed to this people in 1888. Not one has so far been successful. That weapon of truth God has fortunately never allowed to fall into the hands of our enemies. What a pity that we have sheathed that sword of Goliath, and stored it away in the musty 1888 Re-Examined - 242 chambers of the temple! (c) Religious thinkers are yearning for something no one clearly understands, though it would seem that a few are on the verge of discovery. The world s need for light is acute. The supply was and is vouchsafed to the remnant church the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. A reconsideration of the message of Jones, and Waggoner would begin to satisfy the hunger of this generation, enabling

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them to discern between truth and error. The vacuum which now renders us so susceptible to counterfeit concepts would be satisfied by a presentation of the truth. (6) If now is understood to be the time for the proclamation of the loud cry, it follows that now is the time for the making right of the Minneapolis wrong. The mistake of Minneapolis was the rejection of the very power which the church is now committed to a program of seeking for. That power was light. The extremes of modern world thinking will be shaken only by such a power which is itself light. From the stolid conservatism of English thought (which grips a large part of the civilized world) to the opposite fanaticism of modern pagan and Communist thought, stretches a vast need of the world for the light which once began to be communicated to this people for the Gentiles, which we ourselves would not have. No other message but that of the loud cry will suffice to shake England or Russia. what is so urgently needed is an understanding of human nature in the light of the true atonement. Jones and Waggoner began to probe into that discovery, but the probing was so unwelcome to self that it was arrested. (7) Therefore the conclusion which emerges from this investigation is that a reprint of Jones and Waggoner s writings from 1888 to say 1893 would make available to the ministry of the remnant church a consideration of what was termed by Inspiration to be the beginning of the long awaited loud cry. Such a work on our part would render more intelligible our faith in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Objections Considered Such a conclusion will meet with objections which should be re-considered in the light of the true reason for Jones and Waggoner is apostasy, as presented in this essay. There is seen to be a reason for Mrs. White s strange statement 1888 Re-Examined - 243 (Letter 24, 1892) that their apostasy would in no way affect the truth of their message, or the fact that they were indeed the Lord s messengers. That reason should he recognized as fully sufficient to make an exception to the usual rule against publication of the writings of those who subsequently apostatized. To hold rigidly to such a rule in this case is to fall into the very trap which Satan meant to set for us by bringing about the apostasy of the messengers whom the Lord employed in 1888. The objection should also be carefully considered, lest any hidden root of excuse constitute the basis for that reason . It is recognized that a publication at this late hour of that material would be tantamount to a public confession that a terrible wrong had been committed sixty years ago. The revival and re-emphasis view would suffer as a consequence. The collective Adventist ego would be humbled. At this point the question can be asked, What possible harm could result from such a course, if it is remembered that there is a living,

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personal God who will vindicate truth and honesty? If we insist on the collective Adventist self (denominational pride) being vindicated, how can truth at the same time be vindicated? The real issue, as in 1888, is whether our denominational pride leaves room for a genuine faith in an unseen, living God who veils His nearness as He tries His people in times of crisis as to whether they will follow truth at any cost. True righteousness by faith will not be devoid of that compoment of faith which is an ultimate confidence in an unseen Lord God of truth (Ps. 3l:5). That confidence is developed by trials, of which 1844 and 1888 are examples. One other thought concerning Jones and Waggoner s apostasy is worthy of a brief recapitulation. The fact that they fell before the almost overmastering temptation brought by Israel s persecution is evidence of the imperfection or rather immaturity of their teaching on Christ s righteousness. It must be remembered that their light was only the beginning of the work of the loud cry. Its development according to God s original purpose was hindered by the failure of Israel. Thus Jones and Waggoner failed. Any reproduction of their teachings must therefore be considered as only the beginning of the 1ight which is needed, while obviously far in advance of our present contemporary understanding. A sincere acceptance of that self-humbling message would be the necessary reparation for the reception of further light to be communicated in God s chosen way, in response to the intelligent prayers of His people. 1888 Re-Examined - 244 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pastor R. J. Wieland Box 22 Kampala, Uganda, East Africa Pastor D. K. Short Gendia Mission Private Bag, Kisumu Kenya Colony, East Africa Dear Brethren: We regret that there has been such a long delay in writing to you concerning the manuscript you submitted to us sometime ago, but we assure you it was not from indifference or negligence on our part; it was due particularly to the fact that some members of our committee were away on overseas appointments for long periods of time. The following is the committee s report on your document: The manuscript gives every evidence of earnest, diligent and painstaking effort; but we feel concerned over what appears to us to be a very critical attitude concerning the leadership, the ministry, and the plans of work in God s cause. All through the manuscript are aspersions and remarks which, if read by our workers and believers, would hardly make for confidence in either the leadership in God s church, or even in the church itself. The reader is left with the impression that buried in the denominational archives are documents which are being withheld from the people, documents which in your opinion should be quite freely circulated. Now it may be that what we see in this respect was unintentional on your part, but we feel it is there nevertheless. However, in calling your attention to this, we wish you to know that our earnest and longing desire is that you, and we also, may learn more fully what Christian experience really

means, that we may be faithful to the end., and at last triumph in the kingdom of God. We recognize the truth of the indictment from the Spirit of prophecy that there have been periods in our history when emphasis was placed more on the law of God than on the gospel of salvation. It is doubtless true in the experience of some workers even today. However, these vital and important truths of righteousness and sanctification need to be preached more than they are, and especially so in view of the nearness of the end of all things and the coming of our Blessed Lord. These themes are of prime importance. They are subjects which should occupy the earnest and prayerful thought of every leader and of every member in God s cause. The blessed truths centering in Christ the Lord we need to learn, First General Conference Report - 245 -2and to keep on learning. It is our privilege as we accept Christ so to receive Him, that He becomes the All in all in our hearts and lives. As we surrender to Him, and by His grace keep surrendered to the divine will, we shall grow up into Him in all things. It is Christ Who by His Spirit accomplishes the great transformation in our lives, and as we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, and are crucified with Him, crucified to the world, and the world crucified to us, He will work in us to will and. to do His good pleasure. The thought that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, not because of any merit on our part, but as a free gift from God, is a precious thought. The enemy of God and man is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken. If he can control minds so that doubt and unbelief and darkness shall compose the experience of those who claim to be the children of God, he can overcome them with temptation. That simple faith which takes God at His word should be encouraged. God s people must have that faith which will lay hold of divine power; for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Those who believe that God for Christ s sake has forgiven their sins, should not, through temptation, fail to press on to fight the good fight of faith. Their faith should grow stronger until their Christian life, as well as their words, shall declare, The blood of Jesus Christ. . . . cleanseth us from all sin. Gospel Workers, p. 161. These are matters to which our leadership and our church membership of

today quite fully subscribe. As to what degree each individual makes the surrender to God, and hence enters into the experience of the victorious life is a question for each individual to settle; this is a matter between him and his God, We wish now to call your attention to the following matters set forth in your manuscript. 1. The evaluation of the message of righteousness by faith in 1888. 2. The interpretation of the aftermath of 1888. 3. The mention of the message of righteousness by faith being buried in the denominational archives. 4. The solution suggested and urged. 5. The accusation regarding preaching a false christ, 6. The overemphasis on certain matters likely to becloud your vision. 1. The evaluation of the message of righteousness by faith in 1888. Concerning the preaching of righteousness by faith at the time of the General Conference in 1888, you remark: First General Conference Report - 246 -3This chapter will present evidence to show that the message of 1888 was neither a restatement of the doctrines of Luther and Wesley, nor a mere reemphasis of the teaching of the Adventist pioneers; but that it was rather a more nature conception of the everlasting gospel than had ever been perceived by any previous generation of human beings, a preaching of righteousness by faith more mature and developed, and more practical than had been preached even by the Apostle Paul. pp. 141, 142. The clearest teaching on the message of Christ s righteousness ever to come from human lips, lies hidden (all that was preserved of it) in our archives, completely beyond the reach of the vast majority of our world ministry, The precious talent intended by its Giver to be used for the blessing of the world still lies buried, wrapped in the napkin of neglect, p, 202.

The message of 1888 was neither a reemphasis of the views of the pioneers of the advent movement on justification by faith, Wesleyan or whatever they were; nor was it the same doctrine that Luther, Wesley, and many other servants of God had been teaching : p. 146. We believe that the world itself has never had the privilege of reading such clear teaching concerning the everlasting gospel as is presented in these buried sources. p. 120. The conclusion one would naturally draw from such paragraphs is as you have expressed it, that the teaching of the two brethren who led out in this in 1688 was far ahead of everything ever taught on this subject; that it transcends all that we have in the gospels, or in the epistles. You emphasize that their teaching was more mature and developed, and more practical than had been preached even by the apostle Paul. Such a conclusion, we believe, is not in harmony with Scriptural teaching, nor is it in accord with the writings and counsels of the Spirit of prophecy, It should be painted out also that others beside yourselves have read the manuscripts containing the studies of the two men already referred to, and they would take vigorous exception to your viewpoint and to your conclusions on this matter. The great apostle to the Gentiles, we believe, had a very mature and welldefined concept concerning the righteousness of Christ the Lord. He did not spend three years in Arabia for nothing, neither did he have visions and revelations from the Lord to no purpose, God revealed Himself to His servant, and the following paragraphs emphasize this very clearly: He had a clear, full comprehension of the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, Acts of the Apostles , p. 1469, The impression that he received when in vision was ever with him, enabling him to give a correct representation of Christian character, Ibid., p. 470. Think also of the writings of Mrs. E. G. White and of her relation to this fundamental truth. First General Conference Report - 247 -4I have asked the question asked, What do you think of the light which the men are presenting? Why, I have been presenting it to you for the last forty-five years, the matchless charms of Christ. This is what I have been

trying to present before your minds. Manuscript 5, 1888. Laborers in the cause of truth should present the righteousness of Christ, not as new light but as precious light that has for a time been lost sight of by the people. Review and Herald, March 20, 1894. In addition to these excerpts, reference might be made to a talk given by Mrs. White to the workers at the time of the 1883 General Conference Session, five years before the time particularly referred to in your manuscript. The record of this study can be found in the old edition of Gospel Workers, pp. 411-415. This reveals that Mrs. E. G. White also had quite a full and comprehensive understanding of the truth of righteousness by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In the light of these references we feel that your remarks as quoted above from your manuscript are not a true evaluation of the message preached at that time, 2. The interpretation of the aftermath of 1888. We wish in this connection to quote paragraphs which appear in a letter received recently from Elder A. W. Spalding, one of our older, experienced, and highly honored brethren, and one who has done considerable historical writing: Having been an Adventist all my life, 71L years, and inclined from childhood to study of the Bible and of church history, and having been favored by close connection with many of our pioneers of what may be termed the second generation, that is, from George I. Butler on, my testimony of personal experience of half century and more ago may be of some value in questions of denominational history. There is being called in question the experience of Seventhday Adventists, and particularly of their church leaders, in the matter of justification by faith which was preached by Elder A. T. Jones and Dr. E. J. Waggoner, strongly supported by Mrs. E. G. White, at the Minneapolis General Conference in 1888 and in the decade following. It is charged that there was no party of Jones and Waggoner, because they stood alone, with Sister White, no other minister accepting their message or adhering to them. Even when such other ministers as Uriah Smith, who admittedly opposed them at Minneapolis, afterwards repented and ostensibly accepted the truth of justification by faith, their sincerity is attacked. But I know from personal acquaintance that there were ministers who stood with them, among them being S. N. Haskell, W. C. White, R. M. Kilgore, O. A. Olsen, and others I might

name. Some who initially were opposed, later changed their attitude and preached the Christ they had denied; such as W. W. Prescott and I. D. Van Horn. Indeed, as the decade of 1890 went on, I heard little of opposition to the truth being proclaimed, and my impression was that the great majority of our ministers and our people accepted this truth. First General Conference Report - 248 -5The fact that Sister White, in several connections, declared, for example, that if God s people had done their appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would have been warned ere this, and the Lord Jesus would have. come in power and great glory, (Review and Herald, Octobor 6, 1896), is adduced to prove that the truth of justification by faith was not accepted or exparienced in the 1890 s. Other statements of Sister White make clear that she has in mind complete sanctification, Thus; Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them, It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Testimonies, 5, p. 214. It is clear that this experience has not come to us as a people, and who can claim to see it in himself or in any other individual? This state of perfection, indeed, will not come while we are looking either at ourselves or at other men; it comes only to him whose eyes are fixed upon Christ, who forgets self, who is utterly emptied of self, and who is filled with Christ, Christ in you the hope of glory. If this sanctification, this state of holiness, is meant. when it is said that this people failed to grasp and experience the truth of justification by faith, there is no question. That is true. But sanctification is neither all, nor their beginning of justification. The sinner who, loathing himself, finds in Christ his salvation, and through faith in the blessed Redeemer is cleansed from sin, by his acceptance of the atonement of Christ, has received righteousness by faith, He may, and he should, and if the gospel work is to be finished he must, go on to sanctification, through the indwelling of Christ and the infilling of the word of God. But, if he has recognized and accepted and experienced forgiveness of sin, not by his own

good works but by the sacrifice of Christ, he has been justified by faith. And that whether he, later, keeps it or loses it. I was not at the Minneapolis Conference, being then but eleven years old; but I was in Battle Creek, and under the wing of my relative, Elder R, M. Kilgore, and I heard much of the fervid discussions going on, with expositions of the truth which, though youthful, I could understand, This was upon the return from Minneapolis of some of the delegates. Three years later, Elder Kilgore took me as his young stenographer, he then being Superintendent of District No. 2, which is the term of our later reorganization in the Southern Union Conference. Under him I came in contact, often intimate, with such key figures as A. T. Jones, S, N, Haskell, O. A. Olsen, and many other of our leaders. I also became acquainted with Uriah Smith, George I. Butler, and I. D. Van Horn, J. H. Morrison, R. A. Underwood, and others of opposite views. Later I was in contact with W. W. Prescott, after he began associating with Elder Jones and advocating the same truths. For the next ten years I was, on the one hand, in successive secretarial positions with the General Conference, the Review and Herald, the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and the Battle Creek College, which gave First General Conference Report - 249 -6me an inside view of the progress of the work; while on the other hand I was in association with my youthful friends in school and with the older membership through various church activities. It is my belief that the doctrine and the truth of justification by faith took hold of our people to a marked degree. In my own case, I was a disciple of Elder A. T. Jones; I believed what he taught; I loved him. At times being in his company when he visited our field. I took dictation from him and wrote some of his letters. I also received the truth from other men who accepted it and taught it. Such was my beloved Elder R. M. Kilgore, from whose public addresses and fireside conversations I first caught the message. Other elder men of my acquaintance who accepted and preached it were S. N. Haskell, O. A. Olson, A. O. Tait, William Covert. Younger men who caught the fire and, often with greater fervor if not such convincing logic preached it, were Luther Warren and A. F. Ballenger, and L. C. Chadwick. We have to list sometimes men whom God used when they were true and humble, but who afterward for various reasons apostatized. Such were Chadwick, Ballenger, and even the chief protagonists, A, T. Jones and

E. J. Waggoner. W. W. Prescott may have been among the opposers at and immediately after Minneapolis; but when I came to know him well, he was associating with A. T. Jones and preaching the same truth, sometimes too absurdly aping Jones mannerisms. Dr. Waggoner I heard only occasionally, and never became personally acquainted with him as he was editor of the Signs of the Times, and. lived more in the West than in the East. In 1898 there occurred in Battle Creek College, where I was a student, the most remarkable revival among students and teachers that I have ever known in all my connection with our educational work. Its influence extended far outside, For weeks, classes were suspended, not by the will of teachers but by the deep moving of the Spirit of God. There were heart searchings and confessions of. wrongs, and a spirit of brotherliness came in which it was precious to experience. Students went out by twos or in companies to hold cottage meetings in the church and evangelistic meetings in outlying districts. Personally, I date from that experience my deeper understanding of the things of God and my resolution to labor without reserve in His cause. And thus it was with a number of my classmates whom I could name, who later did great service in both home and foreign lands. I am convinced that the message of justification by faith took hold of our people at that time, and served to rescue them from the doldrums which had set in in the 1880 s, and prepared them to receive and participate in the mighty forward movement throughout the world which began with the great Conference of 1901. Personally, I know that I accepted this truth, caught from leaders old and young, and that I experienced a heart transformation. I was not sanctified, and I am not yet. Here is the sorrowful and significant truth to which, doubtless the most of our people can subscribe for themselves. And because we have not received the fullness of Christ, therefore we have not finished the work and gone to glory. First General Conference Report - 250 -7I believe, indeed, that it is because we have not entered into the depths of the experience of righteousness in Christ, that we have strayed farther and farther from the Testimonies of the Spirit of God, in health and healing, in education, in evangelism, in daily living in every respect, The Laodicean message applies to us with as great force as in the beginning, if not in greater force, I believe that we must come to know and experience this sanctification, before we can reform, revive, and be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

But it is not by a mere assent to the doctrine that we shall effect this transformation. When we have so seen Christ, have so answered His knock at the door of our hearts that we have let him in and have communed with Him, then we shall be rid of all vainglory, selfish ambition, jealousy, rancor, duplicity, all fear of man, a thousand and ten thousand errors and faults which it is useless to try to catalogue. Before we condemn our fathers, before we point the finger of accusation against our brethren, we have need to acknowledge, each for himself, the truth of the Laodicean message as it applies to me, we have need to repent, we must open our door to our blessed Lord. The basic and all-permeating truth of the gospel is the love of God, Righteousness by faith in the sacrifice and the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of. God, is the chief cornerstone of salvation. Though as old as the plan of salvation, it is ever new. It has been grasped and taught by generations of God s people, and we have kin with the whole succession of the saints through it. However new arid fresh we may be able to present it, through association with truths we have dug out, it is still the same age-old truth of the manifestation of the love of God, revealed in the Bible and the Spirit of prophecy. We may doubtless study with profit the addresses of Elders Jones and Waggoner of sixty years ago; but we are not dependent upon them, poor fallible men, to know the riches of Christ. The addresses and writings of Sister White are in a class by themselves, or in a class with the Bible. We shall find in her writings a deep perception and understanding of the truth of God, of the way of salvation and sanctification and final triumph, which make them a fit companion to the Bible. We need not go back to 1888 to make a fresh start. The living God is with us today; and if we will humble our hearts and let Christ in, if we will without reserve listen to the testimony of the True Witness, and by His grace do what He expects us to do, there will be corrected in us all the evils into which we have fallen, in church, and school, and medical work, and evangelistic work, and administrative work, Whether we will, or not, the Lord will see to it. There will be a sifting time, a terrible shaking time, as the Testimonies predict. Only they who are hid in Christ, who day by day are hewing to the line of truth presented in the Testimonies, on health, on education, on incentive, on methods, will pass through the trial safe in the arms of Jesus. 3. The mention of this message of righteousness by faith being buried in the denominational archives.

The reader would surely gather from your manuscript that the studies on righteousness by faith given in 1888 have been withheld from the people; that First General Conference Report - 251 -8there is perhaps some studied purpose in keeping them in the archives, and an unwillingness to let them see the light of day. This is entirely contrary to the facts in the case. None of us, surely, would wish to join the ranks of men like Canright and others, who have charged that certain writings of Mrs White have been suppressed. An able answer to this type of charge is to be seen in F. D. Nichol s recent book, Ellen G. White and Her Critics. It so happens that subsequent to the General Conference Session in 1888, E. J. Waggoner issued among other publications the following: In 1890 Full Assurance of Faith, a tract of 16 pages, published by the Pacific Press Publishing Co. Living by Faith, a tract of 16 pages, issued by the same house. Power of Forgiveness, a tract of 8 pages, by the same house, Christ Our Righteousness, a booklet of 102 pages, published by the same house, The Cross of Christ, a tract of 8 pages, issued by the same house. Salvation in Jesus Christ, a tract of 8 pages, issued by the same house. Glad Tidings, a book of 265 pages, published by the same house. The Everlasting Covenant, a book of 531 pages, published by the International Tract Society, in London.

In 1890 In 1890 In 1892

In 1894

In 1899

In 1900 In 1900

These publications are now out of print, as are many, many others which were written in those earlier years. Far from being suppressed, however, they may even now be consulted in various libraries, both public and private. The truths which Brethren Waggoner and Jones sought to expound in those books, now appear in a different, and we believe in a more effective form, in the writings of the Spirit of prophecy and in other of our publications. 4. The solution suggested and urged. Throughout your manuscript it is evident that you feel the denomination

should rectify certain things pertaining to 1888, and then make due acknowledgement and confession of the same. This is really more than a suggestion; you strongly urge that this course be followed. The following extracts are quoted from your manuscript: Every failure of God s people to follow the light shining upon their pathway for the past century must be completely rectified by the present generation before the remnant church can be granted any divine vindication before the world. p. 2. There is before the remnant church a heavy account to settle. The sooner the issue is faced squarely and candidly the better. p. 2. Such a view of the matter will require that this generation recognize the facts of the case, and thoroughly rectify the tragic mistake. p. 38. First General Conference Report - 252 -9Then on page 137 you write that a denominational repentance is essential before the loud cry can be received. We do not believe that it is according to God s plan and purpose for the present leadership of the movement to make acknowledgment or confession, either private or public, concerning any of the mistakes made by the leadership of a bygone generation. On many occasions there were periods of apostasy in the days of Israel, and at times these departures from God were very grievous indeed, but we do not find the Lord requiring of the next generation that they confess the mistakes and transgressions of the generation before, as a condition for the bestowment of His blessing upon His people. God did call His children to repentance of their sins, and when they turned to Him with the whole heart, He received them graciously and gave to them the richest of divine benedictions. The same thing is true, but from another standpoint, in the experience of the early disciples of Jesus. Even up to the time of the ascension, they entertained erroneous views concerning the kingdom of God, but we do not find the Lord requiring them to make any public acknowledgment of such misconceptions of His purpose, whether their own or those of their predecessors. These men had enjoyed a unique experience in having actual personal fellowship with their Lord; yet even with this intimate relationship, they failed to discern many of the vital truths He taught. We call attention to these instances, not to minimize in any way the wrong doing of the Israelites, or the failure of the disciples to walk in advancing light,

but for the purpose of emphasizing the thought that your proposal is not according to God s plan in His dealings with His people. We have no need to go back to 1888; those days are past, decades in the past, and in most cases beyond the lifetime of those now laboring for God. We need to think in terms of today, and to make sure in our own hearts, that any lessons which might be gleaned from past experiences of the children of God are truly learned by us in this generation, lest we, too, fail after the same examples of unbelief. At this late hour it is not our duty to deal with mistakes of leaders or believers of bygone days. We can safely leave those brethren with the Lord whom they sought to serve. After all, who are we to presume to repent on their behalf! Who has granted us the prerogative to judge them so that a confession on our part at this late date should be necessary that God might release His blessings to His remnant people . Such teaching is totally at variance with the divine pattern, and we feel that such a course could accomplish no good purpose. It will be well if we learn whatever lessons there are to be learned, and to see to it that in our own lives, by the grace of God, we walk well pleasing in His sight. The warnings of the Spirit of prophecy were well timed in the instance under consideration, for they were addressed to those who, in many instances, rejected the light. Any message of warning concerning specific sins, however, which came to a generation some decades ago, would certainly apply to us as they did to them. This is seen in the case of Nathan s message to David when he said, Thou art the man. Such a message, however, was called forth by certain specific sins, and such a message would apply even today to any man who becomes guilty of the same transgressions as did David. It surely behooves us to take heed to our own hearts in these perilous times, and make sure our title to heaven is clear. 5. The accusation regarding preaching a false christ. You have asserted and at some length that many of our ministers are presenting a false christ in their preaching, and also in their books and tracts, and First General Conference Report - 253 - 10 that in doing so they are guilty of Baal worship just as was Israel of old. While recognizing that our workers are but fallible men, and that some of them do not always present the story of the Cross, and what Christ Jesus accomplished for men as fully as they should, we do take exception to the charge as you have applied it, to the Seventh-day Adventist ministry as a whole. Our ministry, in the large majority of cases are, we believe, presenting the great truths involved in the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Out of this message grows the Cross with its saving power, changing men, and operating in men to be obedient to God. Such a charge that the ministry is in any sense of the word, following the pattern of

Baal worship, is entirely false and unfounded. It is our conviction that this charge is not only without foundation, but that in making it, you have done a gross injustice to many of our trusted, honored, and Spirit-filled workers. Such charges remind us of those who, in the days of the Saviour, charged Him with casting out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Our earnest counsel to you is not to stand as critics of your brethren. It is well always to remember the words of Jesus concerning the mote and the beam. It is easy to criticize another, but in so doing, we run the risk of losing our own souls over the very thing we are criticizing. There is a great need of taking self in hand, when we find ourselves watching to make capital out of the missteps of a brother, a sister, or a friend. Although we do not acknowledge that the object of defaming another is to exalt self, yet self-exaltation is behind the practice of noting the shortcomings of others. Let every soul remember it is best to be on guard and to make straight paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. None of us are in danger of being too devotional, or of possessing too much Christlikeness of character. The remedy for unlikeness to Christ, for giving occasion for your good to be evilspoken of, is to live humbly, to keep looking unto Jesus in prayerful watchfulness until changed into the likeness of His beautiful character. Review & Herald, May 12, l896. 6. The over-emphasis of certain matters likely to becloud your vision. One can hardly obtain much satisfactiOn, if any, from looking at the mistakes of a previous generation; there is grave danger to one s spiritual experience in doing so, In meditating continually on things of that nature, one is likely to get into such a groove that he fails to. see the doings of a wonder working Providence in all the world. Can we not recognize in the call made at the recent General Conference the call of God to His people today? This appeal went around the earth, and from both leaders and people there has been a remarkable response from all over the world. Our brethren from the General Conference whereever they have met with division, union, and local conference committees and conference sessions have found a similar response, and a greater earnestness than ever before that we find our way into a deeper experience in the things of God. Out of this has grown a strong and determined resolve under God to finish quickly the work He has committed to His people. Can we not see also in that remarkable series of meetings of the Ministerial Association, a real revival of spiritual power and of spiritual preaching. One only needs to peruse the report of that gathering, Aflame for God, and read through its pages to be conscious of the fact that that assembly of workers was seeking the Lord with the whole heart to be better equipped for service and to be filled with God s Holy Spirit for the finishing of the work.

First General Conference Report - 254 - 11 Can we not recognize also in the recent Week of Prayer readings the call to a higher standard of Christian living? This is evident all through the list of articles which were prepared for our meditation during this special season of prayer and devotion. Can we not lift our eyes and look out on the fields, and see what God is doing in mission lands today? Read again the article by Elder E. D. Dick, and supplement this by hundreds of such experiences from all over the earth. In meditating on these wonderful providences of God, one cannot help but feel that God has set His hand to His work, quickly to finish it in every land. At the last series of camp meetings in North America, and we hear it also from other fields, special Bible studies on the theme of the reception of the Holy Spirit and the teaching of justification and sanctification by faith in Christ Jesus were given by many of our leaders. In drawing this statement to a close we would remark that we see nothing new in your manuscript. We feel it would be well for you to read again and ponder earnestly paragraphs which have been quoted from some of the Ellen G White manuscripts. We give but one of them here, and which reveals that two years after the General Conference in 1888 God was working on the hearts of men, and that many of the leaders and of the people happily responded to the appeals that were made. Observe the following: After the Minneapolis meeting how wonderfully the Spirit of God wrought; men confessed that they had robbed God by withholding tithes and offerings. Many souls were converted. Thousands of dollars were brought into the treasury. Rich experiences were related by those whose hearts were aglow with the love of God. MS. 22, 1890.(Feb. 3) We appreciate the fact that you referred the question to the General Conference for study. That was right and in harmony with the Spirit of prophecy counsels. In the light of the foregoing facts, however, and in view of the responsibility of reading and appraising your manuscript, which responsibility was laid upon us by the General Conference officers, we cannot but feel that if you accept this counsel which we offer in response to what we believe was your sincere desire for the help of the brethren, you will not wish to press your rather critical views nor to circulate them further. The grave danger in such an attitude is that it usually reacts unfavorably to one s own spiritual welfare, and might easily lead to spiritual disaster. Let us ever remember, brethren, that God has a deep love for His church on earth. I testify to my brethren and sisters that the church of

Christ, enfeebled and defective as it may be, is the only object on earth on which He bestows His supreme regard. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 15. We feel honored to belong to the Advent cause. We feel grateful that the Lord loves his people. We feel thankful also that growing out of His love come messages of rebuke to us all, as well as messages of comfort and good cheer. The earnest longing in our hearts is that we may be found at last worthy of a place in the everlasting kingdom of God. DEFENSE LITERATURE COMMITTEE S/ W. E. Read Chairman S/ Frank H. Yost Secretary First General Conference Report - 255

FURTHER APPRAISAL

O F T H E M A N U S C R IP T

1888 RE-EXAMINED

* *** *****

General Conference Takoma Park, Washington, D.C. September, 1958

Second General Conference Report - 256 FURTHER APPRAISAL OF THE MANUSCRIPT 1888 RE-EXAMINED

Early in 1950 two Seventh-day Adventist ministers home on furlough from mission service approached the leading officers of the General Conference with burdened hearts and a feeling that a large part of the ministry of the church and the leaders in particular had fallen far short of God s ideal, had failed to comprehend the true issues of the conflict and were in reality worshiping a false Christ and that these conditions were the natural outgrowth of a failure of the church and its leaders to relate themselves aright to the message of righteousness by faith which was presented with renewed emphasis at the Minneapolis General Conference Session of l888. The two ministers concerned, R. J. Wieland and D. K. Short, were invited to present their views for careful study and appraisal to a committee of leading men. Several hours were spent in hearing the views of the two men. They were requested to write out their views so that the committee might have the full presentation before it in form for study and analysis. Stenographic help was furnished to assist in bringing this about. The written statement when presented was a 204-page document which bore the title of 1888 Re-examined. The coirixnittee gave careful and prayerful reading to this large document to determine if its message was one which should have the consideration of the church. This study led the committee to the opinion 1) that the men had drawn their conclusions from inadequate sources of information which resulted in numerous inaccuracies. (2) That weakness was shown in the almost total lack of Biblical background or sources in the manuscript. (3) That the manuscript sets forth no positive teaching of righteousness by faith and contains a number of contradictions.

(4) That in the light of these findings the conclusions set forth in the document could not be accepted and consequently copies of the manuscript should not be distributed and further, the authors should recall the copies they had hastened into the field before it had been reviewed. Second General Conference Report - 257 2 (5) That the manuscript should be placed in the hands of the Defense Literature Committee for more deliberate checking and study. (6) That Brethren Wieland and Short should be Invited to return to their fields of labor at the termination of their furlough periods with the understanding that when further careful study had been given to their propositions and charges they would be informed of the findings. (7) That the committee recognized that there was danger that the church might fail to lay hold upon all the possibilities given this people and suggested that we continue to emphasize the important Scriptural teaching of righteousness by faith. The two brethren concerned returned to their fields of labor and threw themselves wholeheartedly into their work of proclaiming the gospel message, but they found it impossible to recall all copies of the manuscripts prematurely sent into the field. The Defense Literature Committee took up study of the manuscript and on December 14, 1951, made its report in the form of a letter to Elders Wieland and Short, as these were the men concerned. In this report it was observed that: (a) The manuscript revealed a very critical, attitude concerning the leadership, the ministry, and the plane of work in God s cause. (b) The evaluation of the message of righteousness by faith as presented in 1888 as a message more mature and developed, and more practical that had been preached by the pioneers of the message or even by the apostle Paul, was without support and was far from accurate. (c) The interpretation of the aftermath of 1888 was not in accord with all the facts in the case as known by those close to the experience. (d) The charge that the true message of righteousness by faith was buried in the denominational archives was without foundation. Second General Conference Report - 258 3

(e) The solution proposed, of the denomination making confession of the mistakes of men made in the 1880 s and the l890 s and of a denominational repentance, is not possible nor would an attempt to do so be of value. The experience of the church is the collective experience of its members and leaders, and thus rightness with God is a matter of present day personal relationships. (f) The assertion that our ministers have been presenting a false Christ is without foundation, for the ministry of the denomination is presenting the saving Christ of the Scriptures and the loving Saviour presented in the Spirit of prophecy writings. (g) The focusing of attention on the weakness and mistakes of mankind rather than on the triumphs of the message may becloud the vision and lead to distorted concepts. This report to the authors of the manuscript, in the closing paragraphs Stated: In the light of the, foregoing facts, however, in view of the responsibility of reading and appraising your manuscript, which responsibility was laid upon us by the General Conference officers, we cannot but feel that if you accept this counsel which we offer in response to what we believe was your sincere desire for the help of the brethren, you will not wish to press your rather critical views nor to circulate them further. With the evidence before it, what other counsel could the committee give? It could not endorse the conclusions set forth nor could it place its approval on it distribution. It was thought that the report of sever years ago had closed the matter. The views and conclusions of the two brethren had been dealt with in oral hearing and in written presentation, in accordance with the instruction given to us in the Spirit of prophecy. The report on the views of Brethren Wieland and Short presented the conclusions of men who had given considerable study to the manuscript. Had the committee sensed that copies of the manuscript were subsequently to be duplicated and circulated quite widely by certain individuals as a choice Second General Conference Report - 259 4 presentation of vital truth and would be read by those not in possession of the backgrounds, its report would doubtless have been more detailed and well supported by exhibits of factual data. It is to present such factual data to those who

are now concerned with the manuscript and its conclusions and who may entertain fears that the leaders of the church in their negative report have rejected light, that this further statement has been prepared.* The State of the Church The authors of the manuscript portray the spiritual condition of the church as far short of God s ideal arid they assumed that they have discovered the precise reasons for the conditions as they see them. They lay out what they believe to be the only remedy. It should be made very clear at the outset that a failure of the leaders of the church to accept the conclusions set forth in the manuscript should not be interpreted to mean that it is the opinion of the committee or the leaders of the church that all is just as it should be, arid that the church is meeting in every respect God s ideal. We are painfully mindful of shortcomings, weaknesses, and mistakes. We sense the full implications of the message to the Laodicean church. We recognize furthermore that the message to the Laodiceans is applicable to Seventh-day Adventists who have had great light and have not walked in the light. (Selected Messages, Book II, p. 66) At the same time we also see clearly that It is those who have made great profession, but have not kept in step with their Leader, that will be spewed out of His mouth unless they repent. (Ibid., p.66) We sense also that evils will exist in the church until the end, and at no time short of the coming of Christ will it be free from imperfections _______________________ *This report was prepared by a committee appointed by the Officers of the General Conference. Second General Conference Report - 260 5 Although there are evils existing in the church and will be until the end of the world, the church in these last days is to be the light of the world that is polluted and demoralized by sin. The church, enfeebled and defective, needing to be reproved, warned, and counseled, is the only object upon earth upon which Christ bestows His supreme regard. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 49. In the appeals from the public platform and in the articles appearing in the journals of the church there is an oft repeated call to reach forth to higher standards and to walk fully in God s way.

We remind the reader of these facts here lest he conclude erroneously that because we do not accept the conclusions of the manuscript under study, there is entertained the feeling that all is well and there is no need for revival and reformation. Inaccurate Conclusions Drawn from Inadequate Sources of Information The presentation as a whole presents little in the way of Biblical support. This is markedly evident in the fact that scarcely more than a dozen scripture quotations appear in the 204 pages. The authors support their premises with sketchy historical data and numerous excerpts from E. G. White writings intermingled with the philosophy of a false Christ as set forth in the writings of Garnier. This being the case, it is highly essential that (1) the historical. references be adequate and accurate, presenting a true picture historically, and (2) the E G White statements be used in keeping with their historical setting. As an exhibit of serious shortcoming on the first point we cite the following: In What Esteem Were Elders Jones and Waggoner Held Following 1888? The authors, projecting what they believe to be the true reason why the message of righteousness by faith was rejected, indicate that Elders Jones and Waggoner who were prominent in presenting the message in l888 were thereafter men hated, despised and rejected by the church and its leaders. The reader cannot escape this thought as it is presented again and again. On page 19 of their manuscript the authors declare that it: Second General Conference Report - 261 6 Would require the acceptance also of the living messengers who brought it as being men especially chosen of God. How could the brethren accept the message God should send, and continue to hate and despise the messengers whom He should employ? But the fact that the messengers were only men, were very positive and bold, and were, unfortunately for the prestige and peace of the brethren, right, made the Lord s chosen agencies of deliverance to the brethren, because of their unbelief, objects of stumbling, and stones of offense . (Italics supplied) The assertion that there was a persistent hatred of Elders Jones and Waggoner is repeated several times in the manuscript. The reader is impressed that Elders Jones and Waggoner were hated, despised men whose talents and services were not sought after, especially by the leadership of the church. It would appear that here, incidentally, the authors confuse the leaders of the church generally after 1888 with those in responsible positions who in 1888

rejected the message and in the few succeeding years did not change their attitude. The authors have not informed their readers that in 1888 these particular men ceased to be the responsible leaders of the church. This fact may have been unknown to the authors, but it is information vital to the subject and could have been easily obtained. Perhaps the true attitude of the church and its leaders toward Elders Jones and Waggoner after the 1888 Conference is best reflected by the invitations which were extended to these two men to conduct the Bible studies in the General Conference sessions held during .the next ten years. In fact, they became the principal Bible exponents of that decade. Be it noted that the leaders of the church are responsible for choosing the speakers at the General Conference sessions. They did not have to ask Elders Jones and Waggoner to speak. There were many other able preachers among us. They surely would not have asked them to take service after service if these men were hated and despised. Here is the true historical picture: Second General Conference Report - 262 7 In 1889 Elder A T Jones took the 8:00 Bible study from day to day and spoke on righteousness by faith. Elder E. J. Waggoner also spoke. See Selected Messages, Book II, p. 361. In 1891 seventeen Bible studies were recorded in the General Conference Bulletin. All but one of them were given by Elder E J Waggoner sixteen in all. In 1893 Elder A. T. Jones gave twenty-four consecutive Bible studies which were published in the General Conference Bulletin. In 1897 thirteen consecutive studies by A. T. Jones were recorded. In 1897 there were eleven Bible studies by A T Jones and nineteen by E J Waggoner. One man spoke on consecutive mornings, the other on consecutive afternoons. A large part of the Bulletin is made up of the reports of their thirty studies. In 1899 Elder E. J. Waggoner gave three studies and Elder A. T. Jones seven. The records reveal that at the important gatherings of the church for more than a decade after 1888 Elders Jones and Waggoner were the much sought after and principal speakers. These are the facts, facts which slake it clear that the rank and file of workers and laity alike respected and appreciated the men and benefitted from their earnest ministry of the Word. It is clear that

unprecedented opportunity was given for the presentation of the message which was the burden of their hearts. In the light of these facts, is it logical to accept the conclusions of the authors that the church hated and despised the messengers whom God had employed? If the church failed to grasp the full significance of the truths these men were ordained of God to present, it certainly was not because Jones and Waggoner did not have every opportunity to keep these essential truths before the church. The desire of the leaders that the church should have kept before it these essential truths, led to arrangements by which Brethren Jones and Waggoner almost monopolized the Bible study hours at the important General Conference sessions f or years. Second General Conference Report - 263 8 Conclusions Drawn from E. G. White Statements Divested of their Historical Setting In presenting specific items of Spirit of prophecy counsel directed to the church, its leaders, or its institutions, as exhibits to support a line of argument, it is vitally important that the statements quoted were written by Ellen White to apply to the situation delineated. A thorough knowledge of denominational history, together with a recognition of the relationship of counsels and events and a strict integrity are needed by one so using E. G. White materials. The Spirit of prophecy writings extend over a period of seventy years. During those seventy years the denomination passed through many experiences. There were victories and defeats, great advances and serious setbacks. As the work grew, many vital developments were, in point of time, in close proximity or simultaneous, some related and many unrelated. One of the moat serious flaws in the manuscript wider consideration is the heedless way in which its authors employ E. G. White statements which apply to one situation as if they were written concerning another situation. The authors apparently assume that because certain leading men took a wrong attitude toward righteousness by faith in 1888, a large part, if not all subsequent shortcomings and wrongs stem from or relate to the 1888 experience and the bulk of Ellen G. White counsels having to do with shortcomings in the church relate to that experience. Further, because leading men are especially mentioned by Ellen White, all subsequent Spirit of prophecy reference to leading men, whether in the General Conference Association, the Review and Herald, the College or the Sanitarium, are taken to mean the General Conference Committee. It is to be regretted that in the urgency to find in the Ellen G White writings, support for conclusions obviously already reached by the authors, that they allowed themselves, perhaps unwittingly, but none-the-less erroneously, to resort to the use of E. G. White statements written concerning one situation and to apply them to an entirely different situation.

Second General Conference Report - 264 9 A careful study of the history of the epoch makes it clear that the problems of Battle Creek through the 1890 s were not alone that of the aftermath of the 1888 General Conference. Certain business men who had been called in to manage our institutions were in their concepts of business efficiency reaching out to centralize the various lines of denominational work, drawing into one huge organization all the publishing interests, with the plan to manage the several publishing houses outside of Battle Creek as branches. The same trends were seen in the College and in the Sanitarium. The General Conference administration itself was not strong, for the several branches of the work now bound to the General Conference as departments were then separate and independent associations, managing the world-wide interests of their particular fields. The General Conference Association was a corporate body established to handle the financial interests of the cause and its personnel outnumbered the General Conference Committee. Furthermore in the publishing house, its managers were growing selfish and grasping, and they ground down the employees, depriving them of their rightful incomes. In the sanitarium employees were signed up for long-term contracts at little more than subsistence wages, but sworn to loyalty to the medical leaders. Then on top of all this, the General Conference organization had not expanded to meet the needs of a work now world-wide. Each local conference or mission was answerable directly to Battle Creek. We had no union conferences, no division conferences. The result was that the work was greatly restricted, all decisions having to be made by a small group in Battle Creek. This is the picture of the complexity of the situation in the 1890 s. This is the background of the counsels which fill a large part of Testimonies to Ministers. While, in dealing with all these situations Ellen White on a few occasions referred to the spirit of Minneapolis, and unquestionably if certain men had taken a different attitude there, some of these problems may not have existed, or would have been less difficult to deal with, yet her counsels deal with the specific problems and situations as such. Second General Conference Report - 265 10 Akin to the error of app:!ying to one situation counsels written concerning other situations, is the error of applying to the church generally in its wide geographical reach, certain counsels written to meet a very stubborn and vexing situation at its headquarters. Those who were at Minneapolis and knew firsthand, and those who received their information only one step removed from eyewitnesses, report that while certain leading men of the denomination resisted the message of righteousness by faith presented at Minneapolis, a much larger group of

workers present, and the laity in general, accepted the presentations of Elders Jones and Waggoner and entered upon a victorious experience. This is attested to by Ellen White. But still there remained the hard core of resistance on the part of certain workers after the Conference session, no longer connected closely with General Conference administration, but in the Review and Herald office and General Conference Association and to a lesser degree in the College and Sanitarium. Several of these men were prominent officers of the Battle Creek church and obviously the influence of this resistance was felt not only in the large headquarters church but to a degree outside of Battle Creek. With the Minneapolis meeting over, and after having spent some months in the field with Elders Jones and Waggoner in carrying the glorious message of righteousness by faith to the churches, Ellen White concentrated on the situation in Battle Creek. Much that is written of resistance, and refusal to accept the message applies to the hard core in Battle Creek. But little is said of the situation in the far-flung church. To apply to the church at large all counsels of reproof directed to certain leading men in Battle Creek, unless the messages so indicate, is a serious error. Then again we must keep in mind that each organization in Battle Creek had Its leading men, whether General Conference or institution, and Ellen White frequently used the term in speaking of the leading men in any one of the given institutions. Second General Conference. Report - 266 11 The Overall Picture In the use of historical data and Spirit of prophecy counsels in the development of certain premises as they relate to conclusions, the whole overall picture must be taken into consideration. The authors of the manuscript under consideration conclude that the church has traveled the road of disillusionment since the Minneapolis meeting of 1888 and before true progress can be made we must return to 1893, confess our wrongs, and begin to build from that point. We review briefly the history. 1. Somewhat because of the many successful debates in which our ministers engaged, the denomination fell into a legalistic attitude. 2. In the providence of God at the General Conference at Minneapolis in 1888 Elders Jones and Waggoner called our attention to the blessings of the message of righteousness by faith.

3. The rank and file of Seventh-day Adventist workers and laity accepted the presentations at Minneapolis and were blessed. Certain leading men there resisted the teaching. 4. The General Conference Committee of seven selected at that conference was made up very largely of men known to have accepted the message of righteousness by faith. Those prominent in resistance were not placed on the committee. 5. Certain leading men filling responsible positions in our institutions at Battle Creek resisted the message and continued their resistance for some years. In time some of these men resigned their positions. Others confessed their wrongs and made things right with God and their fellow men. 6. In Battle Creek centralizing movements were put on foot and certain institutional leaders, losing their consecration, were guilty of a course of action detrimental to the cause and displeasing to God. 7. The issues during the l890's were not primarily over the doctrine of righteousness by faith , but over the concentration and misuse of power in Battle Creek, and the consequent evils resulting therefrom. Second General Conference Report - 267 12 8. The messages of rebuke and reproof to the leaders and institutions at Battle Creek through the 1890 s had to do not primarily with the 1888 experience but with the experience of these unconsecrated men and centralizing policies. 9. The communications in which Mrs. White refers to resistance to the Message of Minneapolis were in the main addressed to or referred to the hard core at Battle Creek which began to disintegrate in the early 1890 s but was a problem through to the reorganization of 1901. 10. At the General Conference session of 1901 Ellen White at the outset of the meeting portrayed the deplorable situation and called for the replacement of unconsecrated men and the reorganization of the work so as to bring in a wide group of men throughout the world to carry the responsibilities of a worldwide work. 11. There was an immediate response to Ellen White s appeal and the General Conference was reorganized, opening the way for union conferences, General Conference departments, and a larger and more representative General Conference Committee. 12. The newly-elected General Conference Committee of 1901, was composed very largely of new men untainted with the unfavorable attitudes of the preceding

decade. 13. Changes In the institutions came more slowly. Leading personnel of the institutions were not a matter of General Conference session election. The Battle Creek Sanitarium fire on February 18, 1902, and the Review and Herald fire of December 30, 1902, recognized as judgments of God, were large factors in correcting ills that had been carried over into the new century. 14. Seldom after 1901 did Ellen White make reference to Minneapolis. She continued to call the attention of the church to its backslidings, compromised standards, waning earnestness, and reminded the church that the coming of Christ was delayed because the church had come short of its privileges, crying out in 1909: Second General Conference Report - 268 13 If every soldier of Christ had done his duty, if every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. While men have slept, Satan has stolen a march upon us. Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 29. The picture painted of the church defective and enfeebled is one we view with bowed heads arid saddened hearts. The solution to the problem we find set before us in the Spirit of prophecy writings, again and again, not in conjectures that the church is worshiping a false Christ, but in practical terms all can grasp as portrayed in Testimonies, Volume 8: A Call for Reformation: Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. When she resists the evil and chooses the good, when she seeks God with all humility and reaches her high calling in Christ, standing on the platform of eternal truth and by faith laying hold upon the attainments prepared for her, she will be healed. She will appear in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed. Then her members will indeed be the chosen of God, His representatives. The time has come for a thorough reformation to take place. Testimonies, Vol. 8, pp. 250-251. A Review of the Manuscript With this background we again turn to the Wieland and Short manuscript,

1888 Re-examined, which will for the sake of brevity henceforth be referred to only as the manuscript. Inasmuch as E. G. White statements form the foundation stones we will first give attention to the proper use of Spirit of prophecy materials and then will examine areas of the manuscript in the light of certain safe guiding principles. Guiding Principles in the Use of Statements from the Spirit of Prophecy There is a proper and an improper way to use inspired statements to support an argument. The proper procedure is to assemble all pertinent E. G. White statements which have a bearing on the subject and from these sources draw the Second General Conference Report - 269 14 essence and base conclusions as to teaching and emphasis on the whole body of Spirit of prophecy materials. The improper procedure is to select paragraphs or sentences or parts of sentences out of context to support the pre-conceived ideas and conclusions of the compiler. Thus an inspired writer may be made to give apparent support to ideas even foreign to his intent at the time the statements were written. Well-meaning men and women, heavily burdened with a knowledge of the backsliding of church members or the indifference of Seventh-day Adventists to their responsibilities, or eager to present what seems to them to be beautiful new truth, may unwittingly follow the improper procedure just outlined, both as regards the use of the Bible and the E. G. White materials. It was so in Ellen White s day, and it is doubly so in our day. There is strong evidence that the authors of 1888 Re-examined stumbled into this pitfall. The following basic principles reiterating somewhat the introduction to this review should guide in the interpretation and application of Spirit of prophecy materials: (1) While general statements of truth are universal in their application, and statement of principle is timeless, quotations dealing with specific situations must be used in the setting of the situation intended by the author. Ellen G. White s words relating to one specific condition or situation cannot rightfully be used in dealing with a different type of situation just because in the opinion of the compiler, the words seem to fit. (2) In the use of Spirit of prophecy materials, if deletions are made, such deletions can rightly be made only in the interests of condensation. Materials left out must be either irrelevant or repetitious. To leave out certain words to change the meaning or application of a statement is a wrong and unwarranted use of the E. G. White writings. If the employment of the full state-

ment would convey to the reader an idea different from that created by the abbreviated statement, no other conclusion can be drawn than that the deletion Second General Conference Report - 270 15 was a deliberate attempt to make Ellen White say that which she did not say or to place emphasis where she did not place it. (3) It must be kept constantly in mind that in writing in regard to the experiences of men and the issues of the denomination there were many different situations that were parallel in time. To attempt to focus on just one point and bend all E. G. White utterances to the one point, overlooking the many other issues and factors in the hearts of men and the denomination, is taking a distorted view, perilous in its resulting conclusions. True, there may be some inter-relationships, but only the One who reads the hearts of men is qualified to judge. (4) In dealing with matters which have to do with the vital spiritual experience of individuals and their relationships with God it must be remembered that in each heart there is a conflict between the forces of righteousness and the forces of evil, and that usually it is the great motivating desire of each person to serve God and build up His cause. Also, that when one errs, it may be only for a time, after which he may repent and experience a change of heart. (5) In reaching conclusions regarding our duties from the counsels given to guide us in our labors and manner of life and the state of the church, we must take the whole body of E. G. White statements so as to have the whole picture before us, putting statements addressed to individuals under certain circumstances with statements of more general character. We must find the tenor of the teachings as a whole. (6) The overall conclusions reached must harmonize with the tenor of the body of the Spirit of prophecy statements. If the conclusions are in conflict with the overall tenor of E. G. White teachings or with the conclusions consistently set forth in her writings, then the conclusions of the compiler should be laid aside as the result of unsound premises, faulty reasoning, or a misuse of E. G. White materials. Second General Conference Report - 271 16 A Study of the Use of E. G. White Statements in the Wieland-Short Manuscript 1. The Cross The Cross of Christ or the Cross of the reform dress.

On page 7 of 1888 Re-examined reference is made to a deficiency in the understanding of the three angels messages. After making reference to the blindness of the Jews the authors state: That verity to which the Jews were blind was the place of the Cross in the services of their sanctuary, etc. Likewise the place of the Cross in the third angel s message was not discerned. The deficiency was tragic. As early as 1867, Mrs. White said: (2)* In the acceptance of the Cross, we are distinguished from the world. . . . (1) We have been so united with the world that we have lost sight of the Cross, and do not suffer for Christ s sake. (1 T 525).

Here is the E. G. White statement in its fuller setting with omissions filled in: [-/- The reform dress is simple and healthful, yet there is a cross in it. I thank God for the cross and cheerfully bow to lift it.] (1) We have been so united with the world that we have lost sight of the cross and do not suffer for Christ s sake. [We should not wish to invent something to make a cross; but if God presents to us a cross, we should cheerfully bear it.] (2) In the acceptance of the cross we are distinguished from the world, [who love us not and ridicule our peculiarity). (1 T 525) By reading the full statement it is evident that the cross referred to is not the cross of Calvary as the writers have implied, and further indicated by capitalizing the word, but rather the cross involved in wearing the reform dress. 2. True Progress Has the S.D.A. Church Advanced since 1888 or has it Retro-graded?

On pages 7 and 8 of the manuscript, we find the following: The spiritual difficulty which obstructed the real progress of the Advent movement was only rendered more complex by the fact that the church was enjoying prosperous growth numerically, financially and in prestige. _______________________ *The numbers are here inserted to show changed order of statements in the use of this E G White quotation. -/-Brackets have been used to indicate material filling in from original source but not used by the authors of the manuscript. Second General Conference Report - 272

17 Most alarming discrepancies are evident between Mrs. White s appraisal of the condition of the church and the self-congratulatory spirit of many of the reports. (p. 8). Can anyone successfully maintain that the remnant church is closer to the attainments of that goal in 1950 than she was in 1850? Rather, it would be difficult to prove that there has not been some progress in reverse. (p. 8) The authors here speak of Mrs. White s appraisal of the condition of the church. Quotations are employed throughout the manuscript in a manner to lead the reader to conclude that no real progress has been made by the church since 1893. We must keep in mind that Mrs. White was writing and speaking of many things almost simultaneously. While pointing out the backsliding and indifference of a family, of a leader, a group of leaders, or of a church, she was also able to take in the overall picture and wrote of true progress of the church as a whole. In a general manuscript written in Australia January 9, 1893, and read to the General Conference February 27, E. G. White speaks of opposition in our ranks and the resistance of light and truth at Minneapolis and mentions definite names. (E G White Manuscript 1, 1893, General Conference Bulletin, February 28, 1893, quoted in Wieland and Short manuscript, p. 34) Yet on December 19, 1892, just three weeks before, she addressed a communication to Dear Brethren at the General Conference presenting the retrospective statement found in Testimonies to Ministers, p. 31, in which these lines appear: In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise Gods As I see what God has wrought, I an filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us. This was just four years after the Minneapolis meeting. In this same tone, just four days later, December 23, 1892, she addressed a second letter to Dear Brethren of the General Conference, reaffirming that: The church of Christ, enfeebled and defective as it may be, is the only object on earth on which He [Christ] bestows His supreme regard. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 15. Near the close of this tender communication she writes: Second General Conference Report - 273 18

The Lord Jesus is making experiments on human hearts through the exhibition of His mercy and abundant grace. He is effecting transformations so amazing that Satan, with all his triumphant boasting, with all his confederacy of evil united against God and the laws of His government, stands viewing them as a fortress impregnable to his sophistries and delusions. They are to him .an incomprehensible mystery. The angels of God, seraphim and cherubim, the powers commissioned to cooperate with human agencies, look on with astonishment and joy, that fallen men, once children of wrath, are through the training of Christ developing characters after the divine similitude, to be sons and daughters of God, to act an important part in the occupations and pleasures of heaven. To His church, Christ has given ample facilities, that He may receive a large revenue of glory from His redeemed, purchased possession. The church, being endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depository, in which the wealth of His mercy, His love, His grace, is to appear in full and final display. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 18. On May 6, 1907, she wrote confidently of the progress being made by the Seventh-day Adventists: While there have been fierce contentions in the effort to maintain our distinctive character, yet we have as Bible Christians ever been on gaining ground. Remembering that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, we are to labor earnestly, ever praying that the saving grate of God will instruct at every step. Ellen G. White Letter 170, 1907. Published in part in Selected Messages, Book 2, pp. 396-397. (Italics supplied) Again on October 24, 1907, she wrote: The evidence we have had for the past fifty years of the presence of the Spirit of God with us as a people, will stand the test of those who are now arraying themselves on the side of the enemy and bracing themselves against the message of God. E. G. White Letter 356, 1907. Published in Selected Messages, Book 2, p. 397. (Italics supplied) The week of prayer reading prepared by Ellen White for the church in 1910 opens with the words: When I think of the history of our work during the past ten years, I can say, See what God hath wrought. Review and Herald, Nov. 17, 1910. (Manuscript 15, 1910) Medical Ministry, p. 331.

A few weeks after penning these words she wrote on November 26, 1910: Nothing in this world is so dear to God as His church. With jealous care He guards those who seek Him. Nothing so offends God as for the servants of Satan to strive to rob His people of their rights. The Lord has not forsaken His people. Satan points to the mistakes that they have made, and tries to make them believe that Second General Conference Report - 274 19 thus they have separated themselves from God. Evil angels seek in every way to discourage those who are striving for victory over sin. E. G. White Letter 136, 1910. Published in Selected Messages, Book 2, p. 297. Thus the general tenor of E G White s writings not only does not support the argument that no true progress has been made since 1888, but strongly affirms the very opposite. 3. General Application of Specific Messages of Reproof Is the 1882 Message a General Message Applicable to Seventh-day Adventist Church? On page 11 of their manuscript Wieland and Short take E. G. White statements that deal with specific situations, make them all-inclusive, and connect them directly with the 1888 experience, though they were in no wise related to it. While none would deny that certain men who responded unfavorably to the message of 1888 might have manifested a different attitude had they related themselves favorably to certain earlier experiences, great care should be exercised when presenting exhibits in demonstration of their attitude, to use E. G. White quotations which have a direct bearing on the subject. This Wieland and Short did not do. The material quoted in the manuscript is drawn from a Testimony to the Battle Creek Church, published in pamphlet form in 1882 to meet a special crisis. It is badly mutilated on page 11 of the Wieland and Short manuscript where only nine lines are drawn from eighteen pages of material and then made to apply to the 1888 experience. These nine lines are introduced with a statement by the authors which condition the reader to accept conclusions that the quotations do not support when these quotations appear in their proper setting. Here is the presentation on page 11 of the manuscript: From our vantage point seventy years after, we may observe how apparently none of the responsible brethren of that day recognized the seriousness of Mrs. White s warning that they might disparage and spurn the loud cry when it should finally begin, because of their inability to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit. In 1882

Mrs. White wrote: The minds of many have been so darkened and confused by worldly customs, worldly practices, and worldly influences, that all power to discriminate between light and darkness, truth and error, seems destroyed. . . . Second General Conference Report - 275 20 Many of you cannot discern the work and presence of God. . . . . . . self, important self, appears everywhere. . . . There are men among us in responsible positions who hold that . . . . Such a faith as that of Paul, Peter, or John is . . . old-fashioned and insufferable at the present day. It is pronounced absurd, mystical, and unworthy of an intelligent mind. (S T 62, 74, 79.) First: Observe that Mrs. White s warning, that they [the responsible brethren, according to the authors] might disparage and spurn the loud cry when it should finally begin is not mentioned in the testimony article from which the quotations are drawn, but the peril of spurning the Loud Cry here spoken of by Mrs. White she links with another experience entirely, and in another state. See Item No. 4, on page 23 of this review. Second: The authors do not mention the fact that the excerpts quoted are from a communication addressed in 1882, not particularly to the responsible brethren, but to Brethren and Sisters in Battle Creek, and first published in a pamphlet entitled Testimony for the Battle Creek Church. When this fact is understood, it is readily seen that the authors have erred in applying the brief, disconnected excerpts to the responsible brethren when in reality, the warnings were addressed particularly to the Battle Creek Church. The paragraph in Testimonies, Volume 5, page 79, looks quite different when used in its entirety. We give it here as quoted by Wieland and Short and then in its setting as it was written by Ellen G White, June 20, 1882, in connection with the crisis in the conduct of the Battle Creek College complicated by the exaltation of Professor Alexander McLearn*: __________________________ * Concerning this experience A. W. Spalding wrote: The board was in a quandary, for teacher talent was none too plentiful. Although they must recognize that Professor Bell was best qualified to undertake the reforms they desired, they balked at his lack of university training; for though scholastic degrees

then had not the exclusive right of way in the teaching profession that they had attained in our day, they were yet marks of attainment which the board felt they could not ignore. (Footnote continued at bottom of next page) Second General Conference Report - 276 21

There are men among us in responsible positions who hold that . . . . Such a faith as that of Paul, Peter, or John is . . . oldfashioned and insufferable at the present day. It is pronounced absurd, mystical, and unworthy of an intelligent mind. (5T 79) Here is the E. G. White statement in its setting, as written to the Battle Creek Church in 1882: The prevailing spirit of our time is that of infidelity and apostasy a spirit of pretended illumination because of a knowledge of the truth, but in reality of the blindest presumption. There is a spirit of opposition to the plain word of God and to the testimony of His spirit. There is a spirit of idolatrous exaltation of mere human reason above the revealed wisdom of God. There are men among us in responsible positions who hold that [the opinions of a few conceited philosophers, so called, are more to be trusted than the truth of the Bible, or the testimonies of the Holy Spirit.] Such a faith as that of Paul, Peter, or John is [considered] old-fashioned and insufferable at the present day. It is pronounced absurd, mystical, and unworthy of an intelligent mind. Testimonies, Vol. 5, p 79 Then the author s of the manuscript take the specific message Mrs. White wrote concerning certain leaders in the Battle Creek Church in 1882, and give it the impact of a general message to the leading brethren of the denomination as follows: Mrs. White pointed out that a false optimism prevailed among the brethren ( I know that many think far too favorably of the present time, ) (5T 80) and warned that in the mighty sifting soon to take place, leading workers would be found unfit for crisis-era leadership: Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent, will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved

________________________________ In this state they hailed with relief the appearance of an educator who had recently joined their church, Prof. Alexander McLearn. He was very new to Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, it was true, and even less acquainted with the principles of education which had begun to a small degree to take hold of the denomination. But he was learned and he was affable, and they trusted that under the influence of Professor Bell he would take a postgraduate course in Christian education. No greater mistake could they have made. For the university-trained president was of no mind to take lessons from a self-educated teacher of English. The school year of 1881-82 was a melee of conflicting opinions, objectives, and methods. Two strong-minded men, McLearn and Bell, clashed at every turn. The result was the resignation of Bell and the elimination of McLearn. Captains of the Host, pp. 449, 450 Second General Conference Report - 277 22 themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. (5 T 80) No reference is made by the authors to the fact that this, like the preceding quotations, is taken from a message addressed to The Battle Creek Church in connection with the crisis of 1882. Nor is the reader informed as to the setting of the phrases used. We present here the first items quoted from the Testimony volume giving the setting in brackets: [God has promised that where the shepherds are not true, He will take charge of the flock Himself. God has never made the flock wholly dependent upon human instrumentalities. But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true.] In the mighty sifting soon to take place [we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel.] The authors then follow this excerpt with the comment: Leading workers would be found unfit for crisis-era leadership. Used in this manner the words addressed to the Battle Creek church are given general application. The second quotation in its fuller setting actually shows the issue to be in the field of education. It reads:

[The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. . . . Those who have rendered supreme homage to science falsely so called will not be the leaders then.] Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. [They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal.) 5 T 80, 81. Again on page 12 of the Wieland-Short manuscript, excerpts are drawn from the Testimony to Battle Creek Church of 1882. We here supply in brackets some of the phrases which the authors deleted apparently to make the statement better serve their purpose. Notice how the full statement reads: Elijah took Elisha from the plough, and threw upon him his mantle of consecration. The call to this great and solemn work was Second General Conference Report - 278 23 presented to men of learning and position; had these been little in their own eyes and trusted fully in the Lord, He would have honored them with bearing His standard in triumph to the victory. But [they separated from God, yielded to the influence of the world, and] the Lord rejected them. (Many have exalted science and lost sight of the God of science. This was not the case with the church in the purest times.] God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. (5 T 82). 4. Illustration of Misapplied Quotation. Was It the President of the General Conference, or the Brethren in New York? The authors state on page 12 of their manuscript: In a message addressed to the President of the General Conference, dated October 1, 1885, Mrs. White warns him that unless he and some others . . . are aroused to a sense of their duty, they

will not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel shall be heard. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300. In this connection it is interesting to observe what was deleted by the authors, at the outset of the E. G. White statement as given here in brackets. Turning to the book we read: [Unless those who can help in _________] are aroused to a sense of their duty they will not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel shall be heard. The original document indicates that Mrs. White is writing about a school enterprise in the state of New York. It is true she was writing to the President of the General Conference. But does not the full sentence give the quotation quite a different meaning than is given by the authors of the manuscript when they introduce the quotation with a phrase which focuses the attention on the Battle Creek headquarters of the church? Mrs. White actually wrote: Unless those who can help in New York are aroused. The authors make it read: Mrs. White warns him that unless he and some others are aroused. Second General Conference Report - 279 24 Again and again in the manuscript reference is made to this item as the Spirit of prophecy warning that they might disparage and spurn the loud cry when it should finally begin, because.of their inability to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit, (See manuscript page 11) and it forms the basis for their assertions that the president of the General Conference did not recognize the loud cry of 1888, as may be illustrated by the following statements found on pages 14 and 15 of their manuscript: The caviling, fault-finding, critical, and opposing attitude of the leading brethren tragically fulfilled the pointed warning sent to the president of the General Conference in 1885, quoted above, as well as many other testimonies sent to workers and people in general. Indeed, the brethren did not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel was heard. . . . In Elder Butler s opposition to the loud cry when it was beginning to sound, we may see the sad fulfillment of the ...

inspired warning sent him on October 1, 1885, that he might not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel shall be heard. Is not this deduction more sweeping than the quotation in its fullness justifies? Did Elder Butler deliberately oppose the loud cry as such or was it a case of his opposing the messages presented by Jones and Waggoner, which messages resulted, according to a statement made in 1892 by Ellen White, in the beginning of the loud cry. The reproofs to Elder Butler were grave, but Mrs. White never leveled against him the charges which the authors of the manuscript made against him. In 1902 Ellen White wrote the following concerning Elder Butler: I am thankful that Elder Loughborough can still use his abilities and his gifts in God s service. He has stood faithful amid storm and trial. With Elder Smith, my husband, Brother Butler, who joined us at a later period, and yourself (S. N. Haskell] he can say, That which was from the beginning. . . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. It is with feelings of satisfaction arid of gratitude to God that we see Elder Butler again in active service.* His gray hairs ________________________ *Note: Because of illness Eld. Butler had not for some years been in active service. Second General Conference Report - 280 25 testify that he understands what trials are. We welcome him into our ranks once more, and regard him as one of our most valuable laborers. Selected Messages, Book 2, pp. 22S, 226. 5. Illustration of Bending General Reproof and Counsel Given in Subsequent Years to the Situation. On page 14 of their manuscript, after quoting two statements regarding the insults at Minneapolis, Wieland and Short assert: Later, in consequence of the insult of that time, the prophet declared that: Injured and insulted Diety will speak, proclaiming the sins that have been hidden. (Spec. Testimonies, Series A, No. 7, p. 54)

These words were penned in 1896 in a general manuscript at a time when Sister White was warning the brethren against wrong policies that were developing at Battle Creek in the administration of the publishing work, in the overgrowth of the medical work, in the relaxed standards in our educational work and the general consolidation of all of these interests so that outlying institutions would be brought under the control of the great Battle Creek mother institutions. Business men were largely in charge of the business interests of the cause and some of these men had lost their consecration and devotion to the principles of the message. Ellen White dealt with these situations in a striking manner at the General Conference Session of 1901. However, previous to this, in the l890 s, she made many allusions to these developing conditions, and sent warnings and counsels to leading workers concerning them. In the case of the above quotation, there is no mention of Minneapolis. As to the setting of the quotation we find that following a reference made by Mrs. White to the defilement of the temple which led to its cleansing by Christ, she wrote: [Today this sacrilegious work is being more than repeated. There will be messages borne; and those who have rejected the message God has sent, will hear most startling declarations. The Holy Spirit will invest the announcement with a sanctity and solemnity which will appear terrible in the ears of those who have heard the pleadings of infinite love, and have not responded to the Second General Conference Report - 281 26 offers of pardon and forgiveness.] Injured and insulted Diety will.. speak, proclaiming the sins that have been hidden. (As the priests and rulers, full of indignation and terror, sought refuge in flight at the last scene of the cleansing of the temple, so will it be in the work for these last days. The woes that will be pronounced upon those that have had light from heaven, and yet did not heed it, they will feel.] Spec. Testimonies to Ministers, Series A, No. 7, pp.. 54, 55. Published in 1897. 6. Further Illustrations of Bending a General Message to Fit the 1888 Situation Is it Opposing Responsible Brethren or Unrepentant Church Members Generally? (1) At the bottom of page 15 of the Wieland-Short manuscript we find the following conclusion and the quotation which they present to support it: The only 1reasont which can possibly be given for the opposing attitude of responsible brethren is simply that the Lord surprised them by the way He worked:

In the manifestation of the power that lightens the earth with its glory, they will see only something which in their blindness they think dangerous, something which will arouse their fears and they will brace themselves against it. Because the Lord does not work according to their expectation and ideas, they will oppose the work. (Review and Herald, Nov. 7, 1918; Bible Training School, May, 1907) Actually, the statement appeared first in the Review and Herald Extra, December 23, 1890, in an article entitled Be Zealous and Repent apparently rushed into print for Week of Prayer use. This is a general appeal to Seventh-day Adventists to repentance and reformation. While this and other messages subsequent to 1888 may be dealing with conditions which may have had some of their roots in the 1888 experience, they may well be linked also to other experiences or influences. No mention is made in this article to Minneapolis or 1888. We give now the statement in its fuller setting which reveals clearly that it is not addressed to opposing responsible brethren as such, but to those who have not humbled themselves before the Lord whether they were leaders or not: [There is to be in the church a wonderful manifestation of the power of God, but it will not move upon those who have not humbled themselves before the Lord, and opened the door of the heart by confession and repentance.] In the manifestation of that power which lightens the earth with the glory of God, they will see only seine thing which in their blindness they think Second General Conference Report - 282 27 dangerous, something which will arouse their fears, and they will brace themselves to resist it. Because the Lord does not work according to their expectations and ideas, they wil]. oppose the work. Review and Herald Extra, Dec. 23, 1890. (Italics supplied) (2) Is it His Message for 1897 or the Message of 1888? The second quotation on page 16 of their manuscript, taken from Testimonies to Ministers, page 413, is material drawn from a general article entitled God s Messengers written August 12, 1897. The article makes no direct reference to the Minneapolis experience or Jones or Waggoner, but is counsel to ministers generally. We now present the full quotation, enclosing in brackets the sentences that were deleted by Wieland and Short which clear2y indicate that the statement applied to a situation that existed in 1897, but by means of the deletions was made to fit the crisis of 1888:

God [gives men counsel and reproof for their good. He has sent His message, telling them what was needed for the time 1897. Did you accept the message? Did you heed the appeal? He] gave you opportunity to come up armed and equipped to the help of the Lord. [And having done all, He told you to stand] But did you make ready? [Did you say, Here am I; send me ?] You sat still, and did nothing. You left the word of the Lord to fall unheeded to the ground; and now the Lord has taken men who were boys when you were standing at the forefront of the battle, and has given them the message and the work which you did not take upon you. [Will you be stumbling blocks to them?] Will you criticize? Will you say, They are getting out of their place ? Yet you did not fill the place they are now called to fill. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 413. It would appear that a similarity of circumstances led the authors into the pitfall of deleting the 1897 reference so they could use the statement in apparent support of the 1888 crisis. 7. Misapplication of E G White Statements Was it 1888 or 1891 ?

(1) In the middle of page 33 of their manuscript Wieland and Short make the following assertion and present a quotation supposedly in support of it: What should have taken place, but what didn t was made plain in a statement made at the 1901 General Conference session, when Mrs. White referred back to the 1888 crisis as follows: I feel a special interest in the movements and decisions that shall be made at this Conference regarding Second General Conference Report - 283 28 the things that should have been done years ago, and especially ten years ago, when we were assembled in Conference, and the Spirit and power of God came into our meeting, testifying that God was ready to work for this people if they would come into working order. The brethren assented to the light God had given, but there were those connected with our institutions, especially with the Review and Herald office and the [General] Conference who brought elements of unbelief, so that the light that was given was not acted upon. It was assented to, but no special change was made to bring about such a condition of things that the power of God

could be revealed among His people. in (General Conference Bulletin at the opening of the 1901 meeting) (Single underlining supplied by committee) Mrs. White attended the General Conference Sessions of 1888, 1889, 1891, and 1901. She was in Australia from 1891 to 1900. Are we to believe that when in 1901 she referred to the conference of ten years ago she was talking about the Conference of 1888 at Minneapolis with its crisis or was she speaking of the General Conference session of 1891 held just ten years before? The emphasis of her talk at the opening session in 1901, pointing out the restrictions which had come to the work, the lack of consecration of those engaged in the business interests of the cause, the centralizing trends of the preceding years and the call for a reorganization of the General Conference would point to the issues of the 1891 Conference when Mrs. White delineated the dangers of centralization arid called f or Seventh-day Adventists to scatter out from Battle Creek, taking the light with them to other communities. True, the influence of the decisions made at Minneapolis may have had its effects, but its direct relationship is a matter of conjecture. We must keep in mind there were many counsels and reproof s on many lines involving many people and organizations. Not everything can be tied to Minneapolis and 1888. (2) The Message and the Messenger E. G.White or Jones and Waggoner. In the Review and Herald Extra of December 23, 1890, appeared an article by Mrs. White entitled, Be Zealous and Repent. It was a general appeal to the church. However, on page 34 of their manuscript, Wieland and Short quote a brief paragraph from the article and apply it particularly to the 1888 experience as follows: Second General Conference Report - 284 29 The Lord has sent a message to arouse His people to repent, and to do their first works; but how has the message been received? While some have heeded it, others have cast contempt and reproach on the message and the messenger. Spirituality deadened, humility and childlike, simplicity gone, a mechanical formal profession of faith has taken the place of love and devotion. Is this mournful. condition of things to continue? (Italics supplied by committee) The implication is that the reference to the message and the messenger is to the message of righteousness by faith and the messengers, Elders Jones and Waggoner. The quotation does not so state, nor does the article give this impression. Neither Minneapolis nor 1888, nor Jones, nor Waggoner are mentioned in the article. It is a general appeal to Seventh-day Adventists for a revival. If Mrs. White had had in mind Jones and Waggoner would she not have said messengers ? The setting of the statement in the article would point to

Ellen G. White as the messenger arid her testimony the message. (3) Shakespeare in the Signs or Refusal of Leaders of the Advent Movement to Accept the Message. On page 38 of the Wieland and Short manuscript is found the assertion that the leaders of the Advent Movement in general . . . refused to accept the gracious message brought to us at the 1888 meeting by A. T. Jones, E. J. Waggoner, and E. G. White. The authors close the paragraph with a one-sentence quotation from E. G. White, Letter 106, 1902, which had nothing to do with the 1888 experience, but they used it to support their assertion that the leaders rejected the message of 1888. Here is their full paragraph: The leaders in general of the advent movement, and the spokesmen in particular, refused to accept the gracious message brought to us at the 1888 meeting by A. T. Jones, E. J. Waggoner, and E. G. White. Concerning what they did, it can be truthfully said, You did not mean to do this, but you have done it. (Letter 106, 1902). Now let us look at the lull statement by E. G. White from which the onesentence quotation is drawn. It is from Counsels to Writers and Editors, page 176 and was written in 1902 as a reproof to the publishers of Signs of the Times for publishing a picture of Shakespeare s home on the first page of the paper and accompanying it with an article on Shakespeare. Then the message concludes: Second General Conference Report - 285 30 I am instructed to say that you have dishonored God. You did not mean to do this, but you have done it. Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 176 It is clearly evident that the quotation was miapplied by Wieland and Short arid had no reference whatever to the attitude of the leaders to the message of 1888. why was the manuscript reference given and the easily avoidab]~ published reference ignored? 8. Deletions Which Change the Meaning Page 34 of the manuscript carries a four-paragraph quotation from the General Conference Bulletin of February 28, 1893. We present the third paragraph here inserting in brackets the one line item left out and indicated by the authors by the dots of deletion: The influence that grew out of the resistance of light and truth at Minneapolis tended to. make of no effect the light God had given to His people through the Testimonies. [ Great Contro-

versy volume 4 has not had the circulation that it should have had,] because some of those who occupy responsible positions were leavened with the spirit that prevailed at Minneapolis, a spirit that clouded the discernment of the people of God. (Letter read from E. G. White, February 27. General Conference Bulletin, February 28, 1893). Is it necessary to suggest why these words were deleted by the authors of 1888 Re-examined ? 9. Isolated Extracts Statements Which if Used in Their Larger Setting Would Have Painted a More Accurate Picture.

On page 13 of the manuscript the following excerpts appear drawn from Testimonies to Ministers two sentences from page 91 and one phrase from page 95: The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. . . . God gave His messengers just what the people needed. (Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 91, 95). Why did not the authors use the very next sentence? Those who received the message were greatly blessed, for they saw the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness, and life and hope sprang up in their hearts. (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 95). (Italics supplied) Second General Conference Report - 286 31 What Do You Conclude? We have examined the use of E G White quotations in 38 pages of the manuscript In these 38 pages, we have found no less than fifteen instances where E. G. White materials if used in their full and proper setting would have conveyed ideas to the reader quite different from those which they have been forced to convey by the way they have been used here. Need we go further with this phase of our examination? Could it be that the words penned by Mrs. White in 1901 have a present day application? I know that many men take the testimonies the Lord has given, and apply them as they suppose they should be applied, picking out a sentence here and there, taking it from its proper connection,

and applying it according to their idea. Thus poor souls become bewildered, when could they read in order all that has been given, they would see the true application, and would not become confused. Much that purports to be a message from Sister White, serves the purpose of misrepresenting Sister White, making her testify in favor of things that are not in accordance with her mind or judgment. This makes her work vary trying. . . . Please let Sister White bear her own message. It will come with a better grace from her than from the one who reports her. Selected Messages, Book I, p.44. One making careful investigation is also led to the word recorded in Testimonies to Ministers, but written in 1893 for the Review and Herald, of the work of a well-meaning but overwrought Seventh-day Adventist who had used her writings freely to sustain certain conclusions he had reached: I have been made very sad in reading the pamphlet that has been issued by Brother S. and by those associated with him in the work he has been doing. Without my consent, they have in made selections from the Testimonies, and have inserted them in the pamphlet they have published, to make it appear that my writings sustain and approve the position they advocate. In doing this, they have done that which is not justice or righteousness. Through taking unwarrantable liberties, they have presented to the people a theory that is of a character to deceive and destroy. In times past many others have done this same thing, and have made it appear that the Testimonies sustained positions that were untenable and false. . . . Those who receive the pamphlets advocating these false positions, will receive the impression that I sustain these positions, and am united with these workers in proclaiming what they term the new light. I know that their message is mingled with truth, but the truth is misapplied and wrested by its connection with error. Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 32-34. Second General Conference Report - 287 32

ELDER URIAH SMITH AND HIS CONFESSIONS It is clear to every careful student of the experience of 1888 that certain leading men of the. cause resisted the messages presented at Minneapolis and in succeeding years opposed the work of Elders Jones and Waggoner. It is also known that within five years of the Minneapolis meeting, most of these men made confession of their wrong course.

The authors of the manuscript in a chapter of 16 pages enter a very delicate field in an attempt to appraise the confessions of these leading men and particularly those of Elder Uriah Smith, and to hold before the reader what they consider the true spiritual state of these men and their damaging subsequent relationship to the work of God in the earth. This Is basic to the philosophy propounded that there has been no real true progress in the work since 1888, and the church must today return to that point and make right the wrongs of those days. To enter the field of judging a man s personal relationship with his God is to tread on sacred ground. Who can know of the heart struggles, the anguish, the remorse, the repentance, the backsliding and the penitent return to the paths of righteousness. There is no complete record, except that kept in the books of Heaven, and hidden from human eyes. A few excerpts from the writings of Ellen G. White seem sufficient to the authors for their basis of sweeping conclusions and far-reaching charges. The chapter An Examination of the Confessions of pure assertions: The Confessions were practically extorted. Most of the repentance was over opposition to Mrs. White. . . . There was very little frank, open confessions that led to sincere brotherly union with A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, or acceptance of their message. Second General Conference Report - 288 33 There is evidence that some of the most prominent confessors subsequently acted contrary to the intent of their repentance. There is no evidence that these confessors made genuine work of repenting of the sin of quenching the Holy Spirit s outpouring in the form of the latter rain, or a despising of the light of the loud cry. As the authors take up the case of Elder Smith they present a few excerpts from a communication of Ellen G. White to Elder O. A. Olsen, president of the General Conference, written October 7, 1890: a communication which by its nature should have been kept in confidence. Here is the exhibit presented: Elder Smith as Elders Wieland and Short See Him [1].* Brother Smith is ensnared by the enemy and cannot in his present state give the trumpet a certain sound . . . yet . . . is placed opens with a summary

in positions as teacher to mold and fashion the minds of students, when it is a well known fact he is not standing in the light. He is not working in God s order. He is sowing seeds of unbelief that spring up and bear fruit for some souls to harvest. . . . Elder Smith will not receive the light God has given to correct him, and he has not a spirit to correct by confession any wrong course he has pursued in the past. . . . I have been shown that as he now stands, Satan has prepared his temptations to close about his soul. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, Oct. 7, 1890.) As presented in the manuscript this would seem to be almost a final pronouncement on the fate of Uriah Smith. Actually the message is one of burden of soul because a worker of long experience was faltering. This is revealed in the last sentence of the matter as quoted a sentence left uncompleted by the authors of the manuscript. Here is the full sentence: I have been shown that as he now stands, Satan has prepared his temptations to close ab out his soul, [that if he is not rescued the banner of truth will not be held aloft by him] Ellen G. White Letter 20, 1890. Ellen White was laboring diligently to rescue him, and the evidence to be presented soon seems to indicate that these efforts were not without success, although the authors do not so concede. _______________ * Note: Numbers in brackets are used to key comments to the enumerated points. Second General Conference Report - 289 34 The authors on page 78 of the manuscript make a casual reference to a confession of Elder Smith: [2]. Finally, after the turn of the New Year, 1891, he made con1~ession to his brethren, and asked the pardon of Mrs. White for his erroneous course. (H. J. Hammond, The Life and Work of Uriah Smith, p. 113, S.D.A. Theological Seminary Thesis.) Elder Smith had formerly had several experiences quite similar. In this spring of 1873, after a disagreement with James White, he had left the Review office to go into private business for himself, as a wood engraver. After the subsequent reconciliation; he made some very impressive remarks. Was Elder Smith s repentance of early 1891 thorough and permanent? Mrs. White hoped so, and it could have well been.

On page 80 of the manuscript the following conclusions appear: [3]. It is unpleasant to investigate further, bit it will be profitable to get the picture clearly in mind. Elder Smith, after his confessions, seemed to have no sense of the true spiritual condition of the church. Contrary to the numerous straight-spoken articles from Sister White published during his editorship, he continued to think far too favorably of the present time. (5 T 80) [4]. His innocent readers knew no better; we, sixty years later, do know better, now that history verified the attitude of the Spirit of Prophecy which was so consistently opposed to his representations. In an editorial of March 14, 1892, he spoke in an over-optimistic mood: [5]. The cause has been going forward with increasing rapidity, especially in these later years. The object here is to . . . call attention to the wonderful momentum which the cause of present truth has now attained. It is going forward everywhere. It is increasing In velocity day by day. It is going with a power which cannot be arrested. At the rate of progress now developed, It must soon reach its goal. It is accelerating its footsteps to its final triumph. (Uriah Smith, R. and H., Mar. 114, 1692.) [The credit should be March 14, 1893, and the statement is somewhat garbled.) Then in the first paragraph under the Conclusion on page 85, the authors state: [6]. The record of Elder Smith s repentance has been examined at this length because it is typical of most of the others change of attitude. He was the virtual leader of the opposition, if not nominally, at least effectively. It is amazing to read through the Reviews of that period, and note the persistent, stolid indifference to the all important issue of the day. It should also be noted that a true and complete confession Second General Conference Report - 290 35 would have required that he make known his repentance as far as his sinful unbelief had exerted its influence. That would have required a forthright, courageous, and complete statement in the columns of the Review, and a thorough about face thereafter in editorial policy. We look in vain for any evidence that such took place. Thus the authors dismiss Elder Uriah Smith. Elder Smith as Ellen G. White Saw Him

Now let us look at certain phases of the matter as revealed in the Ellen G. White communications. These will be keyed to the conclusions of the authors of 1888 Re-Examined, The more complete record than presented in the manuscript shows not only the mistakes made by a noble man of God, but his repentance, and Mrs. White s approval of the man, his judgment, and the place he should hold in the work of God. [1]. In the quotation represented above as item No. [1], the authors saw Elder Smith as one whose soul was about to be closed about by Satan. The communication from which they drew their quotation was penned on October 7, 1890. Two months before this, August 6, 1890, Mrs. White wrote: The Lord has seen fit to counsel Elder Smith, to give him words of reproof because he had erred; but is this an evidence that God has forsaken him? No, As many as I love I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent? (Rev. 3:19). The Lord reproves wrongs in His people, but is this an evidence that He has rejected them? No. E. G. White Letter 11, 1890, and Selected Messages, Book II, p. 81. [2]. The confession referred to by the authors as having taken place after the turn of the New Year, 1891, is described by Mrs. White as follows on January 6, 1891. Perhaps her account may give us a basis for appraising its sincerity: Tuesday night I was in an agony of soul all night so that I could not sleep. Elder Smith s case was weighing heavily upon me. I was working with him, pleading with God, and I could not cease my crying unto God. Friday night I was asked to speak; the house was full, and I gave some account of the working of the Spirit of God with me in the meetings which I had attended. I related as well as I could the success of these meetings. Second General Conference Report - 291 36 We had a special meeting of deep interest after I had spoken and many excellent testimonies were borne, especially from those who were earnestly seeking the Lord. It was a good meeting. On Sabbath I spoke from Matt. 11:16-27. I made a decided application of this lesson to those who had great light, precious opportunities, and wonderful privileges, and yet their spiritual growth and advancement knowledge given of God. There was a solemn impression made upon the congregation, and fully two thousand persons were present. I had great freedom in speaking. In the afternoon the meetings were divided, and I hear there were excellent meetings in these divisions. Monday Elder Smith came to me and we had an earnest, faithful

talk. I could see that he had a very different spirit from that he had months ago. He was not hard and unimpressible; he felt the words I spoke to him, laying before him faithfully the course he had taken, and the harm he had done through this position. He said he wanted to come into harmony with the testimonies of the spirit of God. I had written to him thirteen pages and sent it to him very plain words. Tuesday he called again to see me and asked if I would meet with a select few, that he had something to say. I told him I would. Yesterday, Wednesday, the meeting was held in my room in the office arid Elder Smith read the letter I had sent him, read it to them all, and said he accepted it as from God. He went back to the Minneapolis meeting and made a confession of the spirit he had occupied, casting on me very heavy burdens. Bro. Rupert confessed also, and we had a very profitable, excellent meeting. Bro. Smith has fallen on the Rock, and is broken, and the Lord Jesus will now work with him. He took my hand as he left the room, and said, If the lord will forgive me for the sorrow and burdens I have brought upon you, I tell you this will be the last. I will stay up your hands. The testimonies of God shall hold this place in my experience. It is seldom that Elder Smith sheds a tear, but he did weep, and his voice was choked with the tears in it. Now you see I have reason to be glad and rejoice and praise the Lord. Prof. Bell was present. Elder Smith confessed to him the wrong that he had done him in the school trial in 1882. O, how glad I was to see and hear and know that these things that had barred the Spirit of God from coming into our meetings were removed. Letter 32, 1891. [3]. It is asserted by the authors that Elder Smith after his confession seemed to have no sense of the true spiritual condition of the church. This is hardly sustained by the following taken from an E. G. White letter written from Australia to Elder Smith, Sept. 19, 1892. This concerned the disposition of materials sent by Mrs. White to the brethren In Battle Creek, and her Second General Conference Report - 292 37 words, indicating confidence in Elder Smith s judgment and delegating authority to him in the handling of her writings, speak for themselves. Such authority is not known to have been given by Mrs. White to any other of our workers. Dear Brother Smith: You have written to me in regard to what shall be done with the

article addressed to the Battle Creek Church. I answer Do with it as you think best, using it as you judge it will best serve the cause of God. Please follow your own judgment as to the disposal of any thing I may write from henceforth, unless I give special directions concerning it. After it serves the special purpose for which it was written, you may drop out the personal matter, and make it general, and put it to whatever use you may think best for the interests of the cause of God. As you say, we are far separated, and two or three months must pass before communications can be answered however important may be their character, therefore it is best not to wait my decisions on matters of this kind, especially when your judgment is evidently in harmony with what is best, and something to which I could have no objection, Letter 24, 1892. [4]. In the setting of the mid-nineties, and the situation following the Minneapolis conference the authors introduce as applying to Elder Smith s experience the quotation taken from the Testimony to the Battle Creek Church of 1882: He continued to think far too favorably of the present time (5T p. 80) and in disparaging terms refer to his work as editor of the Review. In this connection it is interesting to observe that in 1890 the book Patriarchs and Prophets was published as a book for Seventh-day Adventists and for wide distribution in the world. Its predecessor, Great Controversy, published in 1888, carried an Introduction written by Mrs. White, an outstanding statement on inspiration and mildly referring to her inspiration. The seventy-three chapters of Patriarchs are introduced also by an Introduction an eight-page statement presenting the arguments for the present day manifestation of the Spirit of prophecy from a Bible standpoint. And who, just before the issuance of this book in 1890 less than two years Second General Conference Report - 293 38 after Minneapolis was asked to prepare this important statement? None other than Uriah Smith. Was Mrs. White s confidence in this man stronger than that of the authors of the manuscript under study? Then we come down to February 5, 1902, just about a year before Elder Smith s unexpected arid sudden death arid we find Mrs. White writing again in a manner to indicate her confidence in the basic soundness of the man and also concerning his connection with the editorial work of the church paper: We can easily count the first burden-bearers now alive (Feb. 5, 1902]. Elder [Uriah] Smith was connected with us at the beginning ol the publishing work. He labored in connection with my husband. We hope always to see his name in the Review and Herald at the head of the list of editors; for thus it should be. Those who began the

work, who fought bravely when the battle went so hard, must not lose their hold now. They are to be honored by those who entered the work after the hardest privation had been borne. I feel very tender toward Elder Smith. My life-interest in the publishing work is bound up with his. He came to us as a young man, possessing talents that qualified him to stand in his lot and place as an editor. How I rejoice as I read his articles in the Review so excellent, so full of spiritual truth. I thank God for them. I feel a strong sympathy for Elder Smith, and I believe that his name should always appear in the Review as the name of the leading editor. Thus God would have it. When, some years ago, his name was placed second, I felt hurt. When it was again placed first, I wept, and said, Thank God. May it always be there, as God designs it shall be, while Elder Smith s right hand can hold a pen. And when the power of his hand fails, let his sons write at his dictation. Selected Messages, Book II, pp. 225, 226. THE CONFESSIONS OF OTHER MEN While Elder TJriah Smith who was present at the Minneapolis conference, and Elder G. I. Butler, president of the General Conference who was not at the conference because of illness, were perhaps the principal leading workers who opposed the presentation of the message in 1888, the names of some others appear in the records. Elder Spalding in Captains of the Host, p. 593, names J. H. Morrison, I. D. Van Horn, W. H. Littlejohn, and R. A. Underwood, as men who rallied around Elder Smith. Second General Conference Report - 294 39 In the same communication dated January 6, 1891, mentioning the confession of Elder Smith, (See p. 25) Mrs. White also stated: Prof. Prescott made a confession dating back to Minneapolis, and this made a deep impression. He wept much. E. G. White Letter 32, 1891. In another reference to this, Mrs. White wrote on January 9, 1891: Prof. Prescott read the matter [the article Be Zealous and Repent, published in the Review and Herald Extra, Dec. 23, 1890) and paused a number of times, deeply affected, weeping. He then confessed that at the Minneapolis meeting, and since that time, he had not had altogether right feelings. He asked the forgiveness of all, and especially Brethren Waggoner and Jones. Bro. Jones, I think, was not present. He then took the arm of Bro. Smith and both went forward. E. G. White MS 3, 1891.

Reaching out for evidence that Elder Prescott s confession was shallow and insincere the authors refer on page 84 to his support on February 28, 1893, to a resolution to enlarge Battle Creek College at an expense not exceeding $15,000.00 and endeavor to show that this action was inconsistent with the Spirit of prophecy counsels and therefore demonstrated his failure to recognize the presence and work of the mighty Heavenly Guest on later occasions. (Manuscript p. 84.) The supporting Spirit of prophecy counsels cited in this case were penned in Australia, in 0ctober, 1893, not before, but eight months after the meeting referred to, and doubtless were called for by the action taken in February. The men could hardly have been held accountable for counsel not yet written. Elder J. N. Loughborough was a member of the committee of three that formulated the February report. There is no attempt made by the authors to indict him. Of this man, Mrs. White wrote, on. Oct, 7, 1890: Elder Loughborough has stood firmly for the testimonies. . . . The influence of Elder Loughborough is valuable in our churches. Just such a man is needed, one who has stood unwaveringly for the light that God has given to His people, while many have been changing their attitude toward this work of God, E. G. White Letter 20, 1890. (This is the same letter that carried the distressing message about Elder Smith referred to in item # [1]. See p. 22.) Second General Conference Report - 295 40 On September 5, 1893, just a month before she reproved the brethren for laying plans to enlarge Battle Creek College, she wrote to Elder Prescott that she was reminding some who questioned, that . . . your connection with the school was in God s order. E. G. White Letter 46, l893. Is the fact that Professor Prescott favored the enlargement of the college proof positive that his confession and repentance of 1891 was not sincere? Another worker is especially mentioned by mrs. White as making confession in 1891: Brother Rupert then confessed quite fully, and this was a very solemn meeting indeed, (Meeting at which U. Smith made a full confession.) E. G. White Manuscript 3, 1891 (Jan. 9, 1891). At the time of the 1893 General Conference there were several leading workers who made confession, some more fully than others. We find such E. G. White references as the following: I received a most thorough, and hearty confession from Le Roy

Nicola. I knew if he walked in the light that this must come. E. G. White Letter 79, 1893. (April 24, 1893). 1 understand that Bro. Morrison, Madison Miller, and others are coming into the light, where they may be a blessing to other souls. E.G. White Letter 79, 1893 (April 24, 1893). Another who made full confession in 1893 was Elder I. D. Van Horn. In a touching letter to Ellen G. white, written March 9, 1893, he acknowledges a testimony pointing out his sad condition which stemmed back to Minneapolis, told of his heartfelt repentance, and reported: This communication by your hand to me I heartily accept as a testimony from the Lord. It reveals to me the sad condition I have been in since the Minneapolis meeting; and this reproof from the Lord is just and true. Elder George I. Butler The stalwart Elder Butler, who for many years had been president of the General Conference and whose name is so often mentioned as one who with Uriah Smith spurned the light in 1888, was ill at the time of the Minneapolis meeting. He retired for the recuperation of his health. Then his wife suffered a paralyzing stroke and for several years Elder Butler patiently cared for her until her death. Second General Conference Report - 296 41 For more than ten years we hear little of him, but soon after the turn of the century his ailing wife now at rest, he was back in the work again filling positions of responsibility. We have no records of confessions on his part, but Mrs. White s frequent reference to him and his work indicate that he must have made things right with God and with his brethren. On page 24 we used a statement penned in 1902 referring to Elder Butler. At the General Conference of 1903, in one of her addresses, Mrs. White said: I rejoice that Brother Butler is with us in this work [in the Southern field]. I have known that the time would come when he would again take his place in the work. I want you to appreciate the trials he has passed through, and to help him all you can. God desires the gray-haired pioneers, the men who acted a part in the work when the first, second, and third angel s messages were first given, to stand in their place in His work today. They are not to drop out of sight, G. C. Bull,, April l4, 1903, p. 205. Other statements are:

Elder Butler is president of the Southern Union Conference, and I believe this is right. MS 124, 1902 (May, 1902). The Lord has appointed Elder Butler and Elder Haskell and his wife to labor in the South. Letter 121, l904 (March 29, l904). I have not lost faith in you, Elder Butler. I greatly desire that the old soldiers, grown grey in the Master s service, shall continue to bear their testimony right to the point, that those younger in the faith may understand that the messages which the Lord gave us in the past are very important at this state of the earth s history. Letter 130, 1910 (Nov. 23, 1910). The Mistakes and Errors of the Pioneers In this area we have been dealing with the lives and spiritual experience of men who gave their full lives to the service of their Lord. They made mistakes, as do all members of the human family. How quick we are to see these mistakes and how slow we are to see these then repentant and forgiven. At this juncture it may be fitting to read the words of Ellen White, penned in 1894: Second General Conference Report - 297 42 Any one who shall cast disparagement upon the character of men whom Jesus Christ has made one with Himself, and who have through the grace of Christ. obtained moral courage to accept unpopular truth and to suffer reproach for Christ s sake, is not working after the order of Christ. Those who have accepted the truth of God are dear to the heart of Christ. [John 17:17-26] The saints have suffered for the truth s sake, and some have fallen asleep in Jesus under the third angel s message. Through the grace given them, they have witnessed a good confession before many witnesses, At every step they practised self-denial and self-sacrifice. They would not fail nor be discouraged, and could say with the apostle Paul, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them that love His appearing. Does it seem fitting that the mistakes and errors of those who sleep in Jesus, whose names we have reason to believe are written in the Lamb s book of life, whose life of toil, of suffering, and privation, is ended, should be paraded before the world, and that they should be represented as sinners? Does it seem fitting that finite

men, who have had the benefit of their experience in order that they might be enabled to shun the mistakes and failures they may have made, and have had the blessing of the divine illumination these chosen men of God have received, so that they were enabled to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, should present these saints of God as though they were clothed in filthy garments? God forbid. Rather let it be said: Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. The faith they possessed was more than many now comprehend. They understood, accepted, and communicated the redemption that they had fully and freely received, and distinctly experienced through Jesus Christ. Manuscript 27, l894. Those Who Accepted the Message and Were Blessed Emphasis is ulaced all through the manuscript on the fact that leaders rejected the message of 1888. The statements from Mrs. White s pen speaking of rejection and repeatedly quoted and emphasized in the 204 pages are used in such a way as to give the impression that the denomination generally, leaders and people, rejected the message as it was presented at Minneapolis and subsequently. A closer look at the picture revealed that there were many workers in responsib1s positions aside from the President of the General Conference, G. I. Butler, and the Secretary, Uriah Smith, men who listened Second General Conference Report - 298 43 to and accepted wholeheartedy the messages presented by Jones and Waggoner in 1888 and onward. Elder Spalding names as in this class S. N. Haskell, W. C. White, O. A. Olsen, R. M. Kilgore, J. O. Corliss, and, of course, there were many others. In the election of the General Conference Executive Committee to take up the work following 1888, neither G. I. Butler nor Uriah Smith were chosen. The names Butler and Smith are conspicuously absent in executive ccniraittee lists in succeeding years. Of the seven men chosen in 1888 four of the seven are especially mentioned by Elder Spalding as those who accepted the message, including the new president, Elder O. A. Olsen and the acting president, W. C, White, who served until Elder Olsen could return from Europe aixi assun~ his new responsibilities. And as to the reaction of workers and church members alike who listened to the presentations made In the churches following 1888 and read and reread the E. G. White articles in the Review the record indicates that there were large numbers who accepted and benefitted by the message. Here is Mrs. White s report written front the 1889 General Conference Session:

We are having most excellent meetings. The spirit that was in the meeting at Minneapolis is not here. All moves off in harmony. There is a large attendance of delegates. Our five o clock morning meeting is wall attended, and the meetings good. All the testimonies to which I have listened have been of an elevating character. They say that the past year has been the best of their life; the light shining forth from the Word of God has been clear and distinct. Justification by faith, Christ our righteousness. The experiences have been very interesting. I have attended all but two morning meetings. At eight o clock, Brother Jones speaks upon the subject of justification by faith and great interest is manifested. There is a growth in faith and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There are quite a number who have not had an opportunity to hear upon this subject before, but they are taking it in, and are being fed with large morsels from the Lord s table. The universal testimony from these who have spoken has been that this message of light and truth which has come Second General Conference Report - 299 44 to our people is just the truth for this time and wherever they go among the churches, light, and relief, and the blessing of God is sure to come in. E. G. White MS 10, 1889 (cir. Nov. 5, 1889). Early the next year Mrs. White again referred to the aftermath of blessing from the messages presented at Minneapolis: After the Minneapolis meeting how wonderfully the Spirit of God wrought; men confessed that they had robbed God by withholding tithes and offerings. Many souls were converted. Thousands of dollars were brought into the treasury. Rich experiences were related by those whose hearts were aglow with the love of God. E. G. White MS 22, 1890 (Feb. 3, 1890). __________ In September, 1893, she wrote of her years of work in the field following the Minneapolis meeting and of the victories gained: We stood on the field of battle for nearly three years, but at that time decided changes took place among our people, and through the grace of God we gained decided victories. E. G. White Letter 40, 1893. The larger problems were those which clung to the situation in Battle Creek. This was the heavy burden of heart of Ellen G. White and the point

of her many messages in which she makes special reference to the resistance of light in which leading brethren were involved. The attitude of the new executive committee, a committee with a good majority of men who had decidedly taken their stand on the right side, is reflected in the early free publication and wide distribution of communications from Ellen White by the president of the General Conference, Elder O. A. Olsen messages which we today have in Testimonies to Ministers. This We Find The exhibits presented give evidence of a misuse of E. G. White materials and of building on false premises. Such use of E. G. White quotations Second General Conference Report - 300 45 and of facts of history seriously undermine confidence in the conclusions drawn by the authors. The conclusions themselves are utterly foreign to the tenor of the body of E. G. White teachings. It is concluded on page 201 that erroneous teachings have taken the place of a clear understanding of the message of Christ s righteousness with an omission of the cross of Christ from our present concept of justification and righteousness by faith. It is further concluded that the genuine light of 1888, as presented by Jones and Waggoner, is practically unknown to our workers and people today. (P. 202). At no time did Mrs. White, in the 27 years following Minneapolis, call for the republication of the Jones and Waggoner presentations as essential to an understanding of the messages of Righteousness by Faith. In 1893 she warned Elder Jones of certain dangers in his methods of presentation. See Selected Messages, Book I, pages 377-379. Mrs. White s concept of the experience of Righteousness by Faith was that of simple acceptance of God s word and its promises of a cleansed heart and the substitution of Christ s righteousness for our filthy rags. This she set forth as a golden thread through such books as Steps to Christ, 1892; Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 1896; Desire of Ages, 1898; Christ s Object Lessons, 1900; and more or less in all subsequent writings. In pamphlets and periodical articles she kept the subject before the church. Many of these are in Selected Messages, Book I, pages 350-400. The assertion on page 202 that denominationally we have traveled the road of disillusionment since the ~inneapo1is meeting of 1888 is wholly without

support and is in serious conflict with Mrs. White s statements of 1907 declaring that as Bible Christians we have ever been on gaining ground. Second General Conference Report - 301 46 Nowhere in the twenty-seven years of Mrs. White s ministry after 1888, during which time she issued Testimonies Volumes 6-9 and wrote more than a thousand articles for the journals of the church, does she suggest that all development in the work of the church is on a false basis and we cannot hope to secure God s real blessing until we return to 1893 and make confession and restitution. Any conclusion to this effect stems from the reasoning of the minds of the authors of the manuscript and has no foundation whatsoever in the E. G. White writings. In the experience of the reorganization of the General Conference in 1901 there was brought about the great changes called for in the E. G. White counsels of the 1890's, and in the words of recognition of changes made, we have the assurance that God was truly blessing and leading His people. Note Mrs. White s words spoken to the Conference in its closing meeting: Who do you suppose has been among us since this Conference began? Who has kept away the objectionable features that generally appear in such a meeting? Who has walked up and down the aisles of this Tabernacle? The God of heaven and His angels. And they did not come here to tear you to pieces, but to give you right and peaceable minds. Their have been among us to work the works of Gcd, to keep back the powers of darkness, that the work God designed should be done should not be hindered. The angels of God have been working among us, Gen. Conf. Bulletin, 1901, p. 463. Following the Conference, Mrs. White wrote for the Review: During the General Conference the Lord wrought mightily for His people. Every time I think of that meeting, a sweet solemnity comes over me, and sends a glow of gratitude to my soul. We have seen the stately steppings of the Lord our Redeemer. We a praise His holy name; for He has brought deliverance to His people. Review and Herald, Nov. 26, 1901. The reading of the materials drawn from the E. G. White writings in their full and true settings makes clear the seriousness of the situation in which certain of the leading brethren in Battle Creek placed themselves, in failing to accept light and stood in opposition to truths God would have emphasized in our churches and opposed and ridiculed the men used of God to bring this Second General Conference Report - 302

47 emphasis to the church. But the reading of these statements and other like statements in their true setting does not draw such a picture as is drawn by the authors of the manuscript as they extract quotations and then present them in their own setting, making everything bend to their conclusions. While we cannot accept the conclusions of the authors of the manuscript, it is essential that we keep ever before us the perils of a resistance to light and ever in personal experience enjoy the simple trustful experience of appropriating the righteousness of Christ by faith and then walking in the full light which the Lord has caused to shine upon our pathway. There is also clearly seen the importance in our ministry of keeping these simple and precious truths before the members of the church. CONCLUSION After having checked and examined the Spirit of prophecy sources and their use in this manuscript, it is evident that the authors have revealed considerable amateurishness in both research and use of facts. There is a consistent pattern throughout the manuscript of using quotations out of their true setting and applying them to fit certain pre-conceived conclusions rather than letting the sources speak for themselves. The manuscript purports to be a re-examination of what happened in 1888 ( 1888 Re-examined ). It fails to indicate the original examination. What was it, and by whom was it made? A re-examination should indicate where it differs from the original. It should also state the points on which the re-examination is made, and where the original examination was either faulty or erroneous. None of these objectives have been accomplished. The over-all thesis of the manuscript is very subjective. It is characterized with a type of destructive criticism of both the church and its leaders, to which the writers profess allegiance, that is fraught with danger. The uninformed person reading 1888 Re-examined is bound to receive the impression Second General Conference Report - 303 48 that the leaders of the Advent Movement since 1888 are guilty of stubbornness and deliberate disregard for precious truth that God has sent to the church. This accusation, as far as the manuscript is concerned, is made against the leaders without qualification as to time. There is no reliable evidence presented in the manuscript that supports such sweeping, incriminating charges. Since the evidence presented does not

support the charges, and in many instances is proved inapplicable, the thesis of 1888 Re-examined is a serious reflection upon the literary ethics of its authors. Existing copies of the manuscript now being circulated have been made and distributed by irresponsible individuals, without having manifested the elementary Christian grace of securing proper consent of the authors to do so. The authors have never authorized, nor given consent to the public use and circulation of their product by anyone. It should be said in this connection that any persons referring to, upholding, or even circulating the Wieland and Short manuscript are therefore guilty of improper procedure. Chapter XIII entitled, The True Christ vs. The False Christ, presents an anomaly. It is honeycombed with so much fallacious reasoning that the reader utterly fails to discover what the authors are attempting to prove. Dealing as they do with Christ, the very Author and Finisher of our faith, they introduce a series of topics, such as The Atonement, The Cross Obscured, Faith vs. Presumption, etc., without ever clearly defining their terms, proving wherein the church today is worshipping a false Christ. Anyone reading this chapter would never discover the difference between the so-called false Christ and the true Christ. At no time in her twenty-seven years of ministry following 1888 does Mrs. White suggest that we were worshiping a false Christ. The fact that Seventh-day Adventist writers have read certain books about Christ, and possibly quoted from such books, proves nothing as far as the thesis of this chapter is concerned. The authors have set themselves up as judges of the motives of their brethren, without proving the justice of their Second General Conference Report - 304 49 position in a single cases. The incriminating insinuating statements can have only one effect: the undermining of confidence in the men and women whom God has used in building up the very church that gives the authors their ministerial credentials. Finally this applies to the entire manuscript the authors have presumed to deal with the central theme of man s salvation, with the spiritual integrity of the leaders of their own church, charging them with heresy and apostasy, but seldom resorting to the use of the Bible, the Word of God, the source and foundation of true faith. On the contrary, they have set forth the authority of certain men, most of them unknown as proven expositors of Scripture, as the standard for the concept of the true Christ. This flagrant lack of the use of Scripture to prove the apostasy of their brethren is a most serious weakness in the argument presented by the authors of 1888 Reexamined.

Granting that the leaders in the church have made mistakes, granting that certain individuals have been stubborn and reluctant in their repentance, granting that the work of God has been retarded by the human and sinful elements that have existed, there is no justification for the sweeping charges set forth in the thesis of this manuscript. Had the authors succeeded in substantiating their charges, their work might have been worthy of serious consideration. Having not only failed to substantiate such charges, but having proved themselves guilty of distortion of facts and misapplication of statements from the Spirit of prophecy, the authors of 1888 Re-examined have produced a manuscript that is detrimental. to the church, derogatory to the leaders of the church, and to uninformed individuals who may happen to read it. The committee examining the manuscript in no way questions the spiritual and moral sincerity of its authors. In setting forth these conclusions it has been borne in mind that unauthorized use is being made of 1888 Reexamined, even against the wishes and counsel of the authors themselves. General Conference Washington, D. C. September, 1958

Second General Conference Report - 305

AN ANSWER

TO

FURTHER APPRAISAL OF THE MANUSCRIPT 1888 RE-EXAMINED

___________________

October, 1958

___________________

( This document is strictly private, and may not be ) ( published or reproduced in any form for circulation. )

Wieland-Short Answer - 306 c/c Potomac University Washington 12, D.C. October, 1958

To the Officers and Executive Committee General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Washington 12, D. C. Dear Brethren: Growing out of the message and aftermath of the 1888 General Conference Session of seventy years ago this month, and its resultant history, are found the reasons for the writing of the manuscript, 1888 Re-examined, presented to the Officers of the General Conference eight years ago. We are grateful to our brethren for their time and interest in preparing the recent report dated September, 1958, and entitled Further Appraisal of the Manuscript 1888 Re-examined . We trust that it will be placed in the hands of a wide circle of our responsible leaders, especially those who may be definitely acquainted with the manuscript. Because we are the ones who brought certain matters to your attention at and following the 1950 Session, we deem it in order to write this letter for the record before the file is closed. We would wish to be as brief as possible. Your Appraisal makes it very clear that the manuscript

1888 Re-examined is unequivocally rejected and denounced by the General Conference, and. classified as dangerous. In particular, its authors are represented as being guilty of a serious disregard of literary ethics in their use of Ellen G. White statements. The General Conference Committee have voted approval of Further Appraisal as representing their studied, deliberate, and Wieland-Short Answer - 307 ii

apparently final judgment on the matter. We say this recognizing that it is not certain how many of the Committee members share in this action, as only sixteen copies of the Manuscript were placed in your hands in 1950. But, so far as we ourselves know, there is no member of the Committee who dissents. In other words, it now seems that in holding the convictions expressed in the Manuscript eight years ago, we two workers are standing alone in the world fraternity of ordained ministers in active service. It would be futile to attempt to minimize the grave implications this development now presents to us the authors of the essay in question. Its complete and apparently final condemnation urges upon the human heart the supposition that we must either be incapable of reason and logic, or guilty before Heaven and before yourselves of a sin of self-deception in proportion to our ability of intelligence. That involves, whichever is the case, very serious consequences. Whatever we are, it would be the easiest thing for us to retract our positions taken in the Manuscript, and to confess that the 1888 message of Christ s righteousness was indeed accepted for what it was by the church leadership of seventy years ago, and that there is now today no frightfully grave danger of infatuation by many of the ministry of this denomination with the false Christ and his false holy spirit or Spiritualism. This, we repeat, would be the easiest thing for us to do, and that which you might wish us to do. For eight years we have waited for what could be considered a careful and thorough judgment of the Manuscript. Now that Appraisal has been published, it reveals the absence of anything in the Vault Wieland-Short Answer - 308 iii that contradicts or nullifies the historical premise of the Manuscript. We recognize, however, that many who read. Appraisal not taking the

time to check the sources thoroughly, will consider that it fully achieves its objective of discrediting the Manuscript. But after careful study, we are convinced that Appraisal will bear analysis even less than its predecessor, the 1951 General Conference Report. With deep respect to all who have written and voted. it, and with humility, we are constrained to point out that it bears evidence of superficial reading of the Manuscript, even of its Spirit of Prophecy exhibits; it ignores facts; and it clearly lifts Ellen G. White statements out of context in order to support obviously prejudiced opinions. This we believe, is very serious indeed, for the future progress of the church requires an honest recognition of her past. We say this with deep regret; we could. wish that we ourselves were proven decidedly to be in error! But we cannot constrain our conscience to deny truth which day by day becomes more positively confirmed. We say this aware that very many will consider us sadly unbalanced, perhaps even fools. But whatever we are, we feel it not only our right but our duty to present to you the reasons why we must conclude, after reading Appraisal, that we have used Ellen G. White statements honestly, reasonably, and in harmony with her expressed. intent. Further research after reading it has removed for us the last questions we had. as to the historical validity of the premise and. general conclusions of 1888 Re-examined. We respectfully present to you herewith the following analysis of your Appraisal. Wieland-Short Answer - 309 CONTENTS 01. 02. 03. 04. 05 06. 07. 08. 09. 10. 11. 12. The Cross of Christ or a Cross of Reform ........................................................... 1 True Progress ....................................................................................................... 2 The 1882 Testimony to the Battle Creek Church ................................................ 12 The Letter of Warning to the General Conference President .............................. 15 General Reproof and Counsel Given in Subsequent Years to the 1888 Situation .............................................................................. 18 Opposing Responsible Brethren or Unrepentant Church Members Generally? ......................................................................................... 21 Was It 1888 or 1891? .......................................................................................... 22 The Message for 1897 or the Message of 1888 ................................................. 25 Shakespeare or Refusal ...................................................................................... 25 Statements in Their Larger Setting .................................................................... 26 Uriah Smith and His Confessions ...................................................................... 27 In What Esteem Were Elders Jones and Waggoner Held Following 1888? ............................................................................................... 32

13. 14. 15.

16.

The Reception of the 1888 Message .................................................................. The Doctrine of Righteousness by Faith Versus the True 1888 Message ............................................................................................ The Statements Concerning Baal-worship .................................................... (a) What the Manuscript does and does not say .......................................... (b) The definition and identification of Baal-worship ................................. (c) The contrast between Baal-worship and genuine love for the true Christ .................................................................................. (d) Denominational apostasy and repentance versus individual sin and repentance ................................................................ (e) Does Ellen G. White mean what she says when she speaks of Baal-worship ......................................................................... The Road of Disillusionment, The Detour and Gaining Ground ............................................................................................. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... Wieland-Short Answer - 310 1.

38 51 55 56 57 58 61 64 65 66

1.

THE CROSS OF CHRIST OR A CROSS OF REFORM DRESS? Appraisal, p. 16, item 1; Manuscript, page 7.

The Manuscript is represented as twisting a reference to the reform dress, mistakenly applying it to the principle of the cross. It is surprising that the authors of Appraisal have not checked more thoroughly before making the charge. By reading the entire page in Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 525, it will be seen that Sister White is unquestionably speaking of the principle of the cross, which Seventh-day Adventists should accept, and which distinguishes them from the world. If Appraisal had quoted several more sentences from the paragraph in question, this would have been evident. Note the portion in brackets which follows immediately after the Appraisal excerpt: Something must arise to lessen the hold of God s people upon the world. The reform dress is simple and healthful, yet there is a cross In it. I thank God for the cross, and cheerfully bow to lift it. We have been so united with the world that we have lost sight of the cross, and do not suffer for Christ s sake. We should not wish to invent something to make a cross, but if God. presents to us a cross, we should cheerfully bear it. In the acceptance of the cross, we are distinguished from the world, who love us not, and ridicule our peculiarity. [Christ was hated by the world because he was not of the world. Can his followers expect to fare better than their Mastery? If we pass along without receiving censure or frowns from the world, we may be alarmed, for it is our conformity to the world which makes us so much like them that there is

nothing to arouse their envy or malice; there is no collision of spirits. The world despises the cross. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Cor. 1:18. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and. I unto the world. Gal. 6:14] (Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 525.) Regarding this reference the question is asked, Is it the cross of Christ or the cross of the reform dress ? * ____________________ * Note: The word was capitalized for the same reason that the personal pronoun referring to the Deity is so treated in modern orthography, although it is not so in the early Testimonies. Wieland-Short Answer - 311 2. The differentiation in meaning between the cross of Christ and the cross of the reform dress is in the use of the definite and indefinite article. The reform, dress is recommended as an example of accepting the principle of the cross. Ellen G. White states that there is a cross in the reform dress; it should be accepted, because Seventh-day Adventists are distinguished from the world in their acceptance of the cross. That she is speaking of the principle of the cross is made clear by her quotation of 1 Cor. 1:18 and Gal. 6:l4, neither of which texts makes reference to the reform dress. As further evidence that the principle of the cross is understood in this passage, it is so noted in the latest edition of Testimonies, Vol. 1, General Index, page 729 where it is indexed. as follows: Cross of Christ Despised by the World 525. The authors of the manuscript certainly did not misunderstand this passage.*

2.

TRUE PROGRESS Appraisal, p. 16, item 2; Manuscript pp. 7, 8.

The Manuscript discusses on pages 7 to 10, Growth Vs. Progress and clearly points out that we have grown numerically, financially, and in prestige since 1888. But it asserts that this kind of growth should not be mistaken for spiritual progress, and that spiritual progress is the primary purpose of the Advent movement out of which will come the secondary purpose of finishing the program of world evangelization. The moment we confuse numerical growth, etc., with true spiritual

progress, we merely make ourselves a competitor among all the churches of Babylon. This is not God s plan for the remnant church. _______________________ * Note: It should be borne in mind that the 204-page manuscript, legal size was written in considerable haste. The material was gathered and collated, and the manuscript outlined, written, edited, rewritten, typed, stencils cut, and duplicated in approximately six to eight weeks time. The typing was all done by the authors with the exception of the final cutting of the stencils by a professional typist privately engaged. (Cf. Appraisal, p. 1, regarding stenographic help .) Wieland-Short Answer - 312 3. We do not deny that Sister White continually endeavored to urge the church to press forward, to lay hold of the arm of the Lord, and to fulfill its high destiny. Likewise we believe that the church is indeed the object of God s supreme regard, as verily as Israel of old was the same. But this in no way alters the fact that the Lord s messenger in scores of instances says that the church is not fulfilling the Lord s plan and precisely because of this He has not returned to take His people home. In the Review and Herald, Extra, December 11, 1888, Ellen G. White says: The church of Christ is the only object on the earth upon which he bestows his supreme regard; yet it has grown feeble and inefficient through selfishness. (Emphasis supplied). The General Conference president, O. A. Olsen, made a statement that shows he fully recognized the difference between numerical growth and spiritual progress. Let him speak: To the careful observer it must be apparent that for some time it has not been possible for us to say much in the way of commending ourselves on spiritual attainments. We have not increased in spirituality in the same ratio that we have increased In numbers; on the contrary, we have been losing ground. If matters should continue in this direction, Seventhday Adventists would not be a whit better than other professed Christians who have a form of godliness but know nothing of its power. The difficulty seems to be: First, that many are so blinded that they do not see the dangers of the situation; a feeling of self-complacency prevails, a feeling of being rich and increased with goods, having need of nothing; and therefore, instead of trying to remedy the evil, their labors only encourage the careless, and thus aggravate the evil. Secondly, others seem. to see that things are not right, but they appear utterly unable to arouse themselves. Their hands seem to fail helpless by their side. They do not exercise the will power to say as did Jacob, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. If they would, they might have just as signal a

victory as he had. But instead of victory, it is only defeat. This is sad, very sad. (Special Testimonies, No. 11.) It was sad then. It is woeful today We are content to put our trust in a statistical report, sitting calmly by, considering that we have indeed made progress because figures in a column are now larger than they were 100 years ago. How long will we be bound by man s measurements? Is it not time to look at ourselves in the light of Revelation 18:1? Why must we continue to argue with our Lord regarding our nakedness? In 1950 the Manuscript stated that we were approaching a spiritually bankrupt condition. Today have we not Wieland-Short Answer - 313 4. actually arrived at that place? No one in our ranks today can honestly say that the latter rain has been poured out upon us or that the loud cry is being given, in spite of the Doubling Our Membership program of eight years ago. This failure to receive the full and final outpouring of the Holy Spirit, now many decades overdue, is traceable directly to our history just after 1888. Appraisal says on pages 11 and 12, that the rank and file of Seventhday Adventist workers and laity accepted the presentations at Minneapolis and were blessed. Appraisal goes on to say that the problem remained somewhat during the 1890 s but cleared up by 1901 when new men came Into the Conference that were untainted with the unfavorable attitudes of the preceding decade. Appraisal says further that the problems during the 1890 s were not primarily from the 1888 experience, but with the experience of the unconsecrated men and centralizing policies. Thus the conclusion is drawn that the 1901 General Conference Session corrected the 1888 mistake. The facts are quite the opposite! First, it should be noted that for thirteen years following 1888, Sister White made repeated references to the failure at Minneapolis. By this time she was getting a bit weary. But at the 1901 Session some of the strongest statements on record were made regarding the serious failures at and following 1888. Thus it is an established fact that up to and including the 1901 Session, God s remnant church had not entered into His plan, the Holy Spirit had not come in latter rain proportions and the loud cry had not been given. What about the years since then? Leaning on the 1901 General Conference Reorganization as the reformation which corrected the Minneapolis sin is leaning on a broken reed. The 1901 Bulletin itself records a blunt warning from a man who even then sensed the evil of the impenitent view now urged in Appraisal, pp. 12, 46. Only by ignoring many plain statements from Sister White, as well as obvious facts of history since her death, is it possible to assume that the 1901 Conference ushered in the triumphant loud cry and latter rain, which the reception of the 1888 message would have done. We will quote first the statement in Appraisal.

Wieland-Short Answer - 314 5. The messages of rebuke and reproof to the leaders and institutions at Battle Creek through the 1890 s had to do not primarily with the 1888 experience but with the experience of these unconsecrated men and centralizing policies. The communications in which Mrs. White refers to resistance to the Message of Minneapolis were in the main addressed to or referred to the hard core at Battle Creek which began to disintegrate in the early 1890 s but was a problem through to the reorganization of 1901. . . . There was an immediate response to Ellen White s appeal: The newly-elected General Conference Committee of 1901, was composed very largely of new men untainted with. the unfavorable attitudes of the preceding decade. ( Appraisal, p. 12, paragraphs 8, 9, 11, and 12.) In the experience of the reorganization of the General Conference tn 1901 there was brought about the great changes called for in the E. G. White counsels of the 1890 s, and in the words of recognition of changes made, we have the assurance that God was truly blessing and leading His people. (Ibid., p. 46.) Mrs. White s words show how happy she was to see any evidence of genuine faith on the part of God s people. Her heart filled with true charity, she was one who truly beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things. Her remarks about the 1889 meeting, taken by themselves, ignoring the overwhelming evidence of seven or eight years of testimonies afterwards, are also presented in Appraisal as evidence that the Minneapolis message was accepted even then. But she must not be made to mean what she does not say. She never said anywhere that the 1901 Reorganization undid the evil to Seventhday Adventist history that the rejection of the 1888 message did. She never said anywhere that the latter rain and the loud cry went forth in earnest from the time of that Session. She never said anywhere that the 1901 Conference marked the beginning of reformation and revival that she had been calling for all through the 1890 s. However, she did say afterwards that spiritual conditions quite the opposite prevailed. There is .a serious discrepancy. Elder W. W. Prescott warned the delegates themselves at the 1901 Session: I have not seen, and do not see now in this Conference, that real response to the message that God has sent us, that will be of any effective result in His work. I am willing to face the fact, but it is

a fact. I saw that there ought to came upon us, ministers of the word for Jesus Christ, such a spirit of repentance as many of us have not Wieland-Short Answer - 315 6. known for many years. There ought to be a work wrought at this Conference that we have seen no signs of yet. . . . God must work. He must put power on acme one who is willing to receive it, who will stand forth and. give the message with clearness and power and lead. the way out of the confusion and darkness. . . It will not be by outward form of organization. Our minds have been busily occupied during the last week formulating plans for organization, and my own spiritual sense has said to me that we have been losing ground in the work of organization. Do not think that it will be by change of plan, by change of administration, by a new way of doing things. The change that is needed is a complete change of heart. Christ did not have to call His people together, and tell them that their method of organization was wrong, and that He had new plans by which to work. . . It is not in this outward form and plan of operation. That is all right, it ought to be changed; but if our minds are resting upon that, the work will not be accomplished in that way. (G.C.B., l901.) The reorganization was excellent, and certainly in the providence of God. The 1888 light having never been truly received to work the reformation It was intended to bring about, the 1901 reorganization insured the very survival of the movement And it has been a marvelous organization. Likewise, Israel was thoroughly and efficiently organized during Its forty years in the wilderness, and very necessarily so, else many would have made their way back to Egypt. But we err in substituting the works of reorganization for the faith of repentance and confession and contrition. Mrs. White later was forced to write as follows about the spiritual results of the 1901 General Conference Session: Had thorough work been done during the last General Conference at Battle Creek; had there been as God designed there should be, a breaking up of the fallow ground of the heart, by the men who had been bearing responsibilities; had they, in humility of sou1, led out in the work of confession end consecration; had. they given evidence that they received the counsels and warnings sent by the Lord to correct their mistakes, there would have been one of the greatest revivals that there baa been since the day of Pentecost. What a wonderful work could have been done for the vast company gathered in Battle Creek at the General Conference of 1901, if the leaders of our work lied taken themselves in hand. But the work that

all heaven was waiting to do as soon as men prepared the way, was not done; for the leaders closed and bolted the door against the Spirit s entrance. There was a stopping short of entire surrender to God. And hearts that might have been purified. from all error were strengthened in wrong doing. The doors were barred against the heavenly current that would have swept away all evil. Men left their sins unconfessed. They built themselves up in wrong doing, and said to the Spirit of God, Go Thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season, I will call for thee. (Letter, August 5, 1902.) Wieland-Short Answer - 316 7. It may be said by some that the above inspired estimate of the spiritual results of the 1901 Conference has reference only to Dr. Kellogg and his particular associates. Surely he was included among the brethren who did not enter into the what might have been. But a careful analysis of the statement and the letter indicates that she was viewing the Conference as a whole. Elder Prescott s warning at the Session itself was very pertinent. The attempt to misrepresent the 1901 Conference is as serious as the attempt to misrepresent the one in 1888. The subject was the burden of revelation from the Lord. The poignant chapter in Testimonies, Vol. 7, pp. l04-106, was written at about the same time: To the Battle Creek Church One day at noon I was writing of the work that might have been done at the last General Conference, if the men in positions of trust had followed the will and way of God. Those who have had great light have not walked in the light. The meeting was closed, and the break was not made. Men did not humble themselves before the Lord as they should have done, and the Holy Spirit was not imparted. . . . . . . The words were spoken to me: This might have been. All this the Lord was waiting to do for His people. All heaven was waiting to be gracious. I thought of where we might have been if thorough work had been done at the last General Conference; and an agony of disappointment came over me as I realized that what I had witnessed was not a reality. (St. Helena, Cal., Jan. 5, 1903.) Obviously the problems that burdened her soul were not merely local ones within the Battle Creek Church. A few days later she wrote to a friend: The result of the last General Conference has been the greatest, the most terrible sorrow of my life. No change was made. The spirit that

should have been brought into the whole work as the result of the meeting, was not brought in because men did not receive the testimonies of the Spirit of God. As they went to their several fields of labor, they did not walk in the light that the Lord had flashed upon their pathway, but carried into their work the wrong principles that had been prevailing in the work at Battle Creek. The Lord has marked every movement made by the leading men in our Institutions and conferences. It is a perilous thing to reject the light that God. sends. . . So to-day upon those who have had light and evidence, but who have refused to heed the Lord s warnings and entreaties, heaven s woe is pronounced. (Letter to Judge Jesse Arthur, Elmshaven, Jan. 14, 1903.) Wieland-Short Answer - 317 8. This letter is in no way contradictory to the statements by Sister White quoted in Appraisal, p. 46, from the Bulletin of 1901, and the Review of Nov. 26, 1901, and other statements. Surely, the angels of God worked among the delegates and workers; the Lord was present; the survival of His church was involved; He blessed them afterwards. He brought deliverance to His people from frightful evils. But where does she say that this meeting ushered in the latter rain? Nowhere! But we do read of an agony of disappointment! If we falsify the 1901 story as we have falsified the 1888 one, we shall be further end further away from the sweet and blessed reality which that heavenly vision presented as a might have been. Only the reception of the Holy Spirit in latter rain power will bring that reality . That agonizing sense of reality being yet future the prophet had to take with her to the grave. Why do we not confess the truth and humble our hearts in deep repentance before the dear Lord! After the 1901 Session, the Lord s messenger realized that the finishing of the work was still delayed. She hoped it would not be, for we are ever saved by hope; but she was led to confess the following: We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel, but for Christ s sake His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action. . . But if all now would only see and confess and repent of their own course of action in departing from the truth of God, and following human devisings, then the Lord would pardon. (Letter, Dec. 7, 1901; M-l8, 1901.)

Will anyone admit the reason why we will not confess and repent, so we may begin to prepare for the blessed reconciliation with our Lord? If a future generation takes this document from the file and reads it, may they know that some in Israel, at least, felt to the depths of their souls that seventy full years of this procrastination was long enough! Rather than a recognition of the blessed results of living faith and reformation which we expect to see when the latter rain is received by God s Wieland-Short Answer - 318 9. people, grievous attrition wrung from the messenger of the Lord a private and personal confession of soul similar to that made by one of the greatest of the Old. Testament prophets in his bitterness of heart (cf. Jeremiah 20: 8, 9). Rather than endeavour to suppress true history, we ought all of us without exception, to humble our hearts before the Lord: Because those In positions of responsibility have for years left the Southern field unworked, notwithstanding the most decided testimonies urging them to take up this work; because they continue to neglect this field, and use every manner of device in trying to uproot the confidence of the people in those who have done the hardest and most self-sacrificing work in the South, I have but very little confidence that the Lord is giving these men in positions of responsibility spiritual eyesight and heavenly discernment. I am thrown into perplexity over their course; and I desire now to attend to my special work, to have no part in any of their councils, and. to attend no camp meetings nigh nor afar off. My mind shall not be dragged into confusion by the tendency they manifest to work directly contrary to the light that God has given me. I am done. I will preserve my God-given intelligence. My voice has been heard in the different Conferences, and at campmeetings. I must now make a change. I can not enter the atmosphere of strife, and then have to bear testimonies that cost me much more than those to whom they are sent can imagine. When I attend the different meetings, I am compelled. to deal with men standing in responsible places, who I know are not exerting an influence that God can endorse. And when I bear a testimony in reference to their course of action, advantage is taken of this testimony. These men have not clear understanding. Should I say things that I know, they would not, with their present experience, use this instruction wisely, and would bring upon me inconceivable burdens. I shall therefore, leave them to receive word from the Bible, in which the principles upon which they should. work are laid down in straight lines. . . I have pity for them, but I cannot be forever pointing out for

them the way of righteousness. They are brought no nearer right actions by what I say than if the word were never spoken. So long as those in responsible positions see things through a false medium, they will put a wrong construction on my work. The light I have for our ministers is: Seek God. Stop your whisperings and your evil surmisings, instigated. by Satan; and. see if the love of God will not fill your heart and soul. And I will go on with my writing. This is the light given me, and I shall not depart from it. . . . When we are in right relation to God, we shall recognize Christ s authority to direct us, and His claim to our unquestioning obedience. (Letter W-l861902, Elmshaven, Sanitarium, Cal., Dec. 2, 1902, emphasis supplied). For us to confess the truth will not hinder the finishing of God s work in the earth for a single day! But impenitence will delay it for more decades. Elder A. G. Daniells was constrained to confess the significance of our history. At the 1901 Session, he was elected president of the General Wieland-Short Answer - 319 10. Conference, which office he held for more than twenty years, or until 1922. This brings us quite close to our day. His conclusions regarding 1888 are identical with those of the Manuscript. But let him speak: How sad, how deeply regrettable, it is that this message of righteousness in Christ should, at the time of its coming, have met with opposition on the part of the earnest, well-meaning men in the cause of God! The message has never been received, nor proclaimed, nor given course as it should have been in order to convey to the church the measureless blessings that were wrapped up within it. (Christ Our Righteousness, p. 63. Emphasis supplied.) Repeated pleas are made in Elder Daniells book. Repeated statements all pointing to the same fact: 1888 brought a special message, but God s special people refused that message, and it has never yet been received properly. With reference to the light of the angel of Revelation 18:1, he said: Our waiting for the fulfillment has been anxious and long. The fulfillment will be witnessed by some one. Why may we not see it and be in it ? (Ibid., p. 79.) He goes on to say on page 86: O that we had all listened as we should to both warning end appeal as they came to us in that seemingly strange, yet impressive way at the Conference of 1888! What uncertainty would have been removed, what wanderings and defeats and losses would have been prevented! What light and blessings and triumph and progress would have come to us!

What a witness for a man to make who was for twenty years the leader of God s remnant church, leader of the time that is supposed to show the greatest progress. Yet he says it was a time of such wanderings, defeats, and losses that we could not have had the light and blessing and progress that the Lord intended we should have! By error the Manuscript statements concerning progress are represented as contradicting exhibits shown on pages 17-19 of Appraisal . A careful reader will note that the Manuscript is concerned with the reception of the latter rain and the giving of the loud cry to the world. It is not concerned at all with evidence that the Seventh-day Adventist church is the true One, nor does it question the Lord s leading for the past 114 years. Increasing thousands of God s people realize that there must be some spiritual reason for the awkward delay in finishing God s work. To attempt to pin point that reason, and to suggest a remedy was the purpose of the paper. Wieland-Short Answer - 320 11. Since the Manuscript was prepared in 1950, there has appeared a statement from the pen of Sister White that should forever banish the vaunted cries of spiritual success and progress which are based upon statistics. Further, the statement upholds the premise of the Manuscript in a positive and undeniable way. Written in 1896, eight years after the notable Session, it appeared for the first time in the Review, March 18, 1952, and since has been published in Selected Messages, Book 1, pp. 234., 235. This statement which we in 1950 did not know existed, reads as follows: An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth (concerning the moral law in Galatians), lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord s message through Brethren (E. J.) Waggoner and (A. T.) Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world. (Emphasis supplied; Letter 96, 1896; accompanying the original statement was a notation made by Sister White s secretary addressed to Elder Uriah Smith: The enclosed page presents a few points which were opened to Sister White last night, and which she wished sent to you. ) With this most positive revelation from the Lord before us that the

Spirit was withheld and light has been kept away from the world, through a vision of 1896, how dare we rationalize on this matter? Notwithstanding, we do rationalize and out of this grows the precise denominational complex which the Laodicean message reproves. We have fully as much reason to be proud of our progress as had Israel of old to be proud of their significant temple. But the Lord told them, Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are these. Jer. 7:4. Brethren, perhaps the Lord. is willing to wait another five years, or fifty years, or 500 years He will in no wise force His bride to love Him. But His yearning for His church has reached a place that defies description; and there are some in Israel whose yearnings for their Lord have reached a Wieland-Short Answer - 321 12. place where they are willing to defy the complacency seen on every hand, to cry aloud, and spare not. Why must there be any further delay?

3.

THE 1882 TESTIMONY TO THE BATTLE CREEK CHURCH Appraisal, p. 19, item 3; Manuscript, p. 11.

It is stated that the Manuscript has badly mutilated the testimony found in Testimonies, Vol. 5, pages 62-84, in quoting passages out of context, and in connecting the warnings therein with the 1888 experience, though they were in no wise related to it. It is stated further, The authors have erred in applying brief, disconnected excerpts to the responsible brethren when in reality, the warnings were addressed particularly to the Battle Creek Church. That the application of the testimony particularly to responsible brethren was justified is evident from reading the entire testimony itself. Mrs. White speaks specifically of men among us in responsible positions, obviously others besides Professor Maclearn himself. (Cf. Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 75.)* One can note therein that her primary concern in 1882 was not the attitude of lay members of the Battle Creek church, but that of responsible brethren whose membership and place of labor was there. It was they who had used. their powerful influence to lead others on to the wrong side. To separate the responsible brethren from the Battle Creek church is like trying to separate trees from a forest. A footnote on page 62 of Testimonies, Vol. 5, refers to the preceding article, which, it is known was a letter addressed to Elder Uriah Smith. Thus, the first sentence of The Testimonies Slighted, the one under discussion, read originally:

Dear Brethren and Sisters in Battle Creek: I understand that the testimony which I sent to Brother Smith with _______________________ * If the sentence in the Manuscript, p. 11, at the close of the third paragraph, had been made a separate paragraph, there could have been no objection such as is made in the first paragraph of page 20 in Appraisal. In 1882 Mrs. White wrote: should have appeared separately, obviously an error of arrangement only. The supporting 1885 statement follows in due course on page 12 of Manuscript. Wieland-Short answer - 322 13. the request that it be read to the church, was withheld from you for several weeks after it was received by him. (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 62.) That testimony reproved him for failure to discern the Holy Spirit of God., and called him to account for his influence accordingly: Dear Brother :

. . . I am pained, to find you, my much-esteemed brother, involved in this matter, on the wrong side, with those whom I know God is not leading. . . I knew that a crisis must come. God has given this people plain and pointed testimonies to prevent this state of things. Had they obeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit in warning, counsel, and entreaty, they would now enjoy unity and peace. . . . They are not reconciled to God, neither indeed can be, until self is crucified, and Christ lives in the heart by faith. (Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 45, 46.) A portion of Mrs. White s correspondence at this time, which was not included in the Volume 5 compilation, reveals her real concern: I am sorry that Eld. Smith . . . is for some unexplainable reason found on the side of the accuser. . . He must meet its results hereafter. His position of trust and his long experience render hits more accountable for this state of things than any other one in the church. Had he been right, he could. have prevented the disgrace and the sin. Brother Smith, the stand which you have taken in this case proves you responsible for all your past neglect of duty in the church and in the office . . . I speak to you and to the church at Battle Creek. . . You are responsible for the influence you have exerted upon the College. . . (Testimony for the Battle Creek Church, 1882, published by Ellen G. White

at Pacific Press, Oakland, Calif ., pp. 29, 30.) A re-reading of these printed, published special testimonies reveals unquestionably that Mrs, White sent those 1882 testimonies, portions of which are found in Volume 5, to the leading workers in Battle Creek primarily, and secondarily for the church which had followed their wrong attitude. In considering the history of six years later, one cannot overlook the import of the following words written in 1890 and 1891. It now seems apparent that the first quotation concerns the brother who was on the wrong. side in 1882: My mind is troubled continually. I have great sorrow of heart. I know that Satan is seeking for the mastery over men. . . Such men as Elder _____ will harden their hearts, lest they shall see and be converted. . . I have been shown that in Elder _____ s character there is a pride and stubbornness that has never been fully brought into Wieland-Short Answer - 323 14. subjection to the Spirit of God.. Again end again his religious experience has been marred. by his determination not to confess his wrongs, but to pass along and forget them. (Diary, Jan. 10, 1890.) Many will not be convinced because they are not inclined to confess. To resist and reject even one ray of light from heaven because of pride and stubbornness of heart, makes it easier to refuse light the second time. Thus men form the habit of rejecting light. (Feb. 27, 1891, Battle Creek, Mich., emphasis supplied). As to whether or not the 1882 testimonies to Battle Creek can fairly be considered to have had a bearing on the sad history of 1888, Appraisal clearly admits the possibility that they could: None would deny that certain men who responded unfavorably to the message of 1888 might have manifested a, different attitude had they related themselves favorably to certain earlier experiences. (P. 19.) Thus it seems that the error attributed to the Manuscript statements is the positive assertion of what Appraisal concedes is a possibility. Further research reveals that the possibility was stronger even than probability. Sister. White herself made statements in discussing the reception of the 1888 massage in which she referred specifically to these 1882 testimonies sent, which, if heeded, would have made different history. There is a serious discrepancy between the Appraisal view and what she herself said. Reference to the testimony, Danger in Adopting Worldly Policy, the testimony of the

Salamanca vision, makes very plain that the vision was concerned directly with the opposition to the 1888 message and messengers. (Cf. Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 460-471.) It mentions criticism, strong unchristlike spirit, of men who, with decided and defiant voices uttered condemnation of the work of Elders Jones and Waggoner, editors of the American Sentinel (Cf. TM, p. 467-469.) Without being very indelicate, Mrs. White could hardly have made more pointed references to the two young men and their work, inasmuch as they were sitting in some of her audiences. She did not veil her conviction that their message was intended, by the Lord to be the beginning of the loud cry (Cf. TM, pp. 468, 469.) Near the bottom of page 463, of Testimonies to Ministers, there was a Wieland-Short Answer - 324 15. deletion made when taking this material from the original testimony. Turning to the original we find that the portion left out of the printed book, connects clearly the 1882 testimony with the sad history of 1888-92. As follows, the portion in parentheses is from that which was deleted: . . . We are not to hear the counsel or follow the plans suggested by unbelievers. Suggestions made by those who know not the work that God is doing for this time will be such as to weaken the power of the instrumentalities of God. By accepting such suggestions, the counsel of Christ is set at nought. (As far back as 1882, testimonies of the deepest interest on points of vital importance were presented to our people, in regard to the work, and the spirit that should characterize our workers. Because these warnings have been neglected, the same evils that they have pointed out have been cherished by many, hindering the progress of the work, and imperilling many souls. Satan is wide awake, and while men sleep, he sows his tares. In completing the work of rebellion, Satan is represented as a roaring lion, going about seeking whom he may devour . . . Through living faith and earnest prayer the sentinels of God must become partakers of the divine nature, or they will be found professedly working for God, but in reality giving their service to the prince of darkness. Because their eyes are not anointed with the heavenly eyesalve, their understanding will be blinded, and they will be ignorant of the wonderfully specious devices of the enemy.) (Special Testimony for our Ministers, July 3, 1892, pp. 112, 113; emphasis supplied.) These facts make clear that the Manuscript references to the 1882 testimony were entirely in order.

4.

THE LETTER OF WARNING TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE PRESIDENT Appraisal. page 23; Manuscript, page 12. On page 24, the question is asked by Appraisal: Did Elder Butler deliberately oppose the loud cry as such or was it a case of his opposing the messages presented by Jones and Waggoner, which messages resulted, according to a statement made in 1892 by Ellen White, in the beginning of the loud cry?

The reader will readily recognize in reading the Manuscript references that they state that Elder Butler and others unwittingly, unconsciously, without deliberation, but nonetheless truly, opposed the loud cry when it was beginning to sound through their failure to recognize the work of God when Wieland-Short Answer - 325 16. the loud cry of the third angel shall be heard. 1 Likewise, reiterated statements emphasize the thought that the message of Jones and Waggoner was but the beginning of the loud cry (see pages 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 37).2 Did Mrs. White warn the president of the General Conference that he (as well as some others ) was in danger of failing to recognize the work of the fourth angel when it should begin? It is necessary only to note a few sentences following the excerpt quoted from Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300. She is definitely warning the recipient of her letter, not merely brethren in New York, because of his tendency to bind about, dictate to, and repress other workers including these very brethren in Rome, N. Y., and in Michigan. [The first portion of the letter makes this very evident.] Their danger of not recognizing the beginning of the loud cry was one of the results of the education and training he gave them. When light goes forth to lighten the earth, instead of coming up to the help of the Lord, they will want to bind about His work to meet their narrow ideas. Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning. There will be those among us who will want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. . . Workers may make mistakes, but you should give them a chance to correct their errors, give them an opportunity to learn caution, by leaving the work in their hands. (Emphasis supplied). To show how particularly this warning of 1885 was applicable to him,

and how his influence on younger workers contributed to the tragedy of 1888, it can be noted further: Apparently the force of the following statement on page 38 of the Manuscript was lost on the authors of Appraisal due to their attention being fixed on the crossed-out citation that was erroneously typed: The leaders in general of the advent movement, and the spokesmen in particular, refused to accept the gracious message brought to us at the 1888 meeting by A. T. Jones, E. J. Waggoner, and (Mrs.) E. G. White. Concerning what they did, it can be truthfully said, You did not mean to do this, but you have done it. 2 That Mrs. White so considered it, rather than a message which should result later in the beginning of the loud cry, is evident as follows: That light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth. (June 4, 1896; Testimonies to Ministers, p. 89. Cf. Selected Messages, I, pp. 234, 235.) Wieland-Short Answer - 326 17. No one should feel at liberty to give loose rein to the combative spirit. There are some who have a desire to have a decision made at once as to what is the correct view in the point under discussion. As this would please Elder Butler, it is advised that this question should be settled at once. . . I could not sanction this course. . . I know it would be dangerous to denounce Dr. Waggoner s position as wholly erroneous. This would please the enemy. I see the beauty of truth in the presentation of the righteousness of Christ in relation to the law as the Doctor has placed it before us. You say, many of you, that it is light and truth. Yet you have not presented it in its light heretofore. Is it not possible, that through earnest effort, prayer, searching of the Scripture he has seen greater light on some points? (Ms. 15, 1888, Address to the General Conference, November, 1888.) Doubtless the fact that Elder Butler, as highest officer in the church, had written his little book against Dr. Waggoner s views, The Law in Galatians, had some bearing on the general attitude at the Session: Had Brother A been walking closely with God he never would have walked onto the ground as he did yesterday and made the statement he did in regard to the investigation that is going on. That is, they must not bring in any new light or present any new argument. . . because one man is not here. . . But if you want to take a position that only one man can explain the truth I want to tell you that this is not as God would have it. Now I want harmony. . . But if we fasten to any man we are not taking the position that God would have us take. . .
1

Why, Elder____ , I was grieved more than I can express to you when I heard you make that remark. . . [evidently a remark, We must not touch the subject because Eld. B. was not here. ] MS. 9, 1888, Oct. 24, 1888. )* The messages coming from your president at Battle Creek are calculated to stir you up to make hasty decisions, and to take a decided position; but I warn you against doing this. . . It is certain that many have come to this meeting with false impressions and perverted opinions. . . . . . . At this meeting. . . opposition rather than investigation is the order of the day. (MS. 15, 1888.) _______________________ * One brother in attendance reports the scene thus: The church building at Minneapolis was small for so large a gathering, and. was usually crowded at each meeting throughout the conference. On one occasion the writer was standing by the side of Elder Kilgore in en aisle of the church at the opening of a consecration meeting. Elder Kilgore asked for recognition. When recognized, he said, To the delegates assembled at this conference I want to say a few words that I think are of the utmost importance at this time. As some of you know, Elder George I. Butler is detained at Battle Creek on account of his sick wife, and cannot be here until later on, and I would like to move that we stop this discussion on the subject of Righteousness by faith until he, the president of the conference, can be present. Mrs. E. G. White who was seated on the platform arose to her feet, and when recognized, said, Brethren, this is the Lord s work. Does the Lord want His work to wait for Elder Butler? The Lord wants His work to go forward and not wait for any man. (An Eyewitness Report of the 1888 General Conference at Minneapolis, by R. T. Nash.) Wieland-Short Answer - 327 18. The prejudice of Elder Butler was greater after hearing the various reports from our ministering brethren at that meeting in Minneapolis. Elder Butler presented the matter before me in a letter stating that my attitude at that Conference just about broke the hearts of some of our ministering brethren at that meeting. (Letter U-3-1889, January 25, 1889.) There is on file in the Vault a letter from one young worker who attended the Minneapolis Session who states that he came to the meeting decidedly prejudiced in favor of Elder Butler and against E. J. Waggoner (D. File 189) These quotations are presented herewith not for the purpose of dese-

crating the sacred memory of the dead, as some seem to think they do. They are presented to show how Seventh-day Adventist history, and also world history, might well have been profoundly different had the recipient of a certain letter from Christians, Norway, dated October 1, 1885, had the humble grace to understand that it was indeed addressed to him rather than to others , and that it meant what it said. If Elder Butler could speak to us today, knowing the time, he would certainly say, Brethren, learn from my mistakes! We would, however, truly desecrate his memory should we think we are less likely to err when again the Holy Spirit is poured out, than he was in his day. But we can honor his memory by humbly learning from his experience how easily we too can fail to recognize the incipient latter rain and scorn the Holy Spirit. The manuscript gives a correct application of this 1885 warning.

5.

BENDING. GENERAL REPROOF AND COUNSEL GIVEN IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS TO THE 1888 SITUATION Appraisal page 25, item 5; Manuscript, page 14.

The following statement from a testimony of 1896 is cited on page 14 of the Manuscript: Injured and insulted Deity will speak, proclaiming the sins that have been hidden. (Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 7, p. 54.) Appraisal states on page 25 that, In the case of the above quotation there is no mention of Minneapolis. Hence, the statement is misused! Wieland-Short Answer - 328 l9. When was Deity injured and insulted so decidedly? Note the following statement: They [certain brethren] were moved at the meeting [Minneapolis] by another spirit, and they knew not that God had sent these young men to bear a special message to them, which they treated with ridicule and contempt. . . I know that at that time the Spirit of God was insulted, and now when I see anything approaching to the same course of action, I am exceedingly pained. (S-24-l892; emphasis supplied.) Did Sister White in 1896 still refer to the notable insult of the Holy Spirit at and following the Minneapolis Session? If men would only give up their spirit of resistance to the Holy Spirit, the spirit which has long been leavening their religious experience, God s Spirit would address itself to their hearts. It would convince of sin. What a work! But the Holy Spirit has been

insulted, and light has been rejected. Is it possible for those who for years have been blinded, to see? Is it possible that in this late stage of their resistance their eyes will be anointed? (Written from Cooranbong, Australia, Feb. 6, 1396; Testimonies to Ministers, p.393.) Was Sister White still burdened about the reception of the Minneapolis message, specifically, In 1896, and was she concerned about consequent punitive judgment? That men should keep alive the spirit which ran riot at Minneapolis is an offense to God. All heaven is indignant at the spirit that for years has been revealed in our publishing institution at Battle Creek. (Cooranbong, Australia, May 30, 1896; Ibid., p. 76.) I would speak in warning to those who have stood for years resisting light and cherishing the spirit of opposition. How long will you hate and despise the messengers of God s righteousness? . . . Let me prophesy unto you: Unless you speedily humble your hearts before God, and confess your sins, which are many, you will, when it is too late, see that you have been fighting against God. Through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, no longer unto reformation and pardon, you will see that these men whom you have spoken against have been as signs in the world, as witnesses for God. . . Go on a little longer as you have gone, in rejection of the light from heaven, and you are lost. The man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation. (June 14., 1896; Ibid., pp. 96, 97; the messengers are identified on page 91.) Dear Brethren Who Occupy Responsible Positions in the Work: The Lord has a controversy with you. I have no need to specify the reasons: you have had them laid before you again and again. . . . ........................................................ The very same spirit has been manifested in Battle Creek. Those who opened the door of their hearts to temptation at Minneapolis, and carried the same spirit home with them, will realize, if not now, in the near future, that they resisted the Holy Spirit of God, and did Wieland-Short Answer - 329 20. despite to the Spirit of grace. Will they repent? or will they harden their hearts, and. resist evidence? ( Avondale Cooranbong, N.S.W., Jan. 16, 1896.) I am distressed beyond any words my pen can trace. Unmistakably Elder ______________ has acted as did Aaron, in regard to these men who have

been opposed to the work of God ever since the Minneapolis meeting. They have not repented of their course of action in resisting light end evidence. ( Sunnyside, Cooranbong, August 27, 1896.) Why is the present tense of verbs employed in the following 1896 quotation? Scenes that were a shame to Christians, have been presented to me, as taking place in the council meetings held after the Minneapolis meeting. . . These meetings should have been dismissed as an insult to heaven. The Lord was not revered as an honoured guest by those assembled in council, and how could they expect divine light to shine upon them; how could they feel that the presence of Jesus was moulding and fashioning their plans?. . . I shall never, I think, be called upon to stand under the direction of the Holy Spirit as I stood at Minneapolis. The presence of Jesus was with me. But in the rooms occupied by some of our people was heard ridicule, criticism, jeering, laughter. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit were attributed to fanaticism. . . The scenes which took place at this meeting made the God of heaven ashamed to call those who took part in them His brethren. All this the heavenly Watcher noticed, and it is written In the book of God s remembrance. The Lord will blot out the transgression of those who, since that time, have repented with a sincere repentance; but every time the same spirit awakens in the soul, the deeds done on that occasion are endorsed, and the doers of them are made responsible to God, and. must answer for them at his judgment throne. The same spirit that actuated the rejectors of Christ, rankles in their hearts. ( Sunnyside, Cooranbong, Australia, May 31, 1896, emphasis supplied). When Sister White wrote in the same year, I am distressed beyond any words my pen can trace, she obviously meant what she said.. She regarded. the rejection of what was to have been the beginning of the loud cry as an unparalleled tragedy. It is evident that the evil at the heart of the work in Battle Creek in 1896, by whatever name it is called, was a direct outgrowth of the frightful sin of insulting the Holy Ghost at and after the Minneapolis Conference. Wieland-Short Answer - 330 21. 6. OPPOSING RESPONSIBLE BRETHREN OR UNREPENTANT CHURCH MEMBERS GENERALLY? Appraisal, page 26, item 6; and page 28, item (2); Manuscript, pp. 15,

and 34. Appraisal comments thus on page 26, regarding an alleged misapplication of a statement from Sister White, found in the Manuscript on page l5: Actually, the statement appeared first in the Review and Herald Extra, December 23, 1890, in an article entitled Be Zealous and Repent, apparently rushed into print for Week of Prayer use. This is a general appeal to Seventh-day Adventists to repentance and reformation. While this and other messages subsequent to 1888 may be dealing with conditions which may have had some of their roots in the 1888 experience, they may well be linked also to other experiences or influences. No mention is made in this article to Minneapolis or 1888. (Page 26; emphasis added.) One early typescript of the article which appeared in this Review and Herald Extra of Dec. 23, 1890, classifies it as a camp meeting address delivered at Oakland, California. That may or may not have been so, and it probably is impossible to prove one way or the other; but if it were so, it seems likely that Sister White would not have mentioned the brethren by name inasmuch as both were present at the 1890 Oakland camp meeting. It is obvious that Sister White could not always be specifically mentioning Minneapolis when articles were published in the Review, nor the names of Elders Jones and Waggoner when they themselves were sometimes sitting in her audience during public presentations. It would have been indelicate and unwise. But here is the serious fact Appraisal ignores: It was the reading of this particular article which the Holy Spirit employed to convict the hearts of several opposing leaders, and bring them to make confession of their rejection of the Minneapolis message. They understood the article to be a call to repentance of Minneapolis blindness and. rejection of light: Nearly the whole congregation presented themselves for prayers and among them Brethren Prescott and Smith. The extra in the Review and. Herald (Dec. 23, 1890) was read and the testimony of all was that the power of God attended the reading of the article. They said this made a deep impression. Brother Olsen made some remarks, inquiring why the Wieland-Short Answer - 331 22. power of God attended the presenting before them of the testimony to the churches in that article when the person who wrote it was not present. He asked them to carefully consider that matter. Was it not the Spirit of God speaking to them In unmistakable voice, in vindica-

tion of the Testimonies and the work he had laid upon Sister White? Professor Prescott made a confession dating back to Minneapolis, and this made a deep impression. He wept much. Elder Smith said that testimony meant him, it was, he felt, addressed to him; but he stopped there, went no further. But both placed themselves as those repentant, seeking the Lord. Well, they said they never had such a meeting in Battle Creek, and yet the work must be carried on, for it vas just begun. . . (Letter 32, 1891; then follows the portion quoted in Appraisal, p. 36.) If the Holy Spirit so used the Extra article when it was published in 1890, we should have no hesitancy in applying it as we 4id to the all-important issue of the day!* ________________________ * When the Holy Spirit thus settles a controverted point, there is no need to present added proof, although it is abundant. However the reader may wish to refer to Elder A. G. Daniells application of this same article to the 1888 crisis, in Christ Our Righteousness, pp. 65, 66. (Old Edition) ________________________

7.

WAS IT 1888 OR 1891? Appraisal, p. 27; Manuscript, p. 33.

When in 1901, Sister White spoke of the things that should done years ago, and especially ten years ago, there is every reason to believe that she referred to the crisis of the reception of the 1888 message, and need for repentance for rejecting it. Reference to the 1891 General Conference Bulletin reveals her burden for it. (Cf. pp. 256,7.) Subsequent statements, made after the close of the 1901 Session, as well as statements made during it, show that her great burden was for a reformation as well as, and even more than, a mere re-organization. When she left this country in 1891, controversy was deep and strong over the message of Jones and Waggoner. It was only natural to refer to the matter in the way she did. As the context of the quotation is studied, it Wieland-Short Answer - 332 23. removes any doubt on the matter. The quotation in point is on page 33 of the Manuscript, and on pages 27 and 28 of Appraisal. Turning to the 1901 Bulletin from which this statement in question was taken, we find another

statement immediately following the citation: The light given me was that this people should stand higher than any other people on the face of the whole earth, that they should be a loyal people, a people who would rightly represent truth. The sanctifying power of the truth, revealed in their lives, was to distinguish them from the world. They were to stand in moral dignity, having such a close connection with heaven that the Lord God of Israel could give them a place in the earth. Year after year the same acknowledgment was made, but the principles which exalt a people were not woven into the work. (Page 23; emphasis supplied.) Before Sister White had finished this opening address to the Conference, she went on to say According to the light that has been given me and just how it is to be accomplished I can not say greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the Conference. But this will not be done by intrusting responsibilities to men who have had light poured upon year after year for the last ten or fifteen years, and yet have not heeded the light that God has given them. (Ibid., emphasis supplied.) On another occasion during the 1901 Session, Sister White spoke of the disregard of inspired instruction for the last, I might say, well I do not know how many years. It is quite a number of years. . . Our standstill has got to come to an end. (Unedited stenographic report of talk in College Library, 2:30 p.m., April 1). Again we hear her speaking on the same occasion: From the light God has given me, everything connected with the Conference is to be regarded as most sacred. Why? Because at this time the work is to be placed upon a proper basis. Wrong principles have been followed. For the last fifteen years wrong decisions have been made; and now God calls for a change. A few days later on April 113.th, at this same 1901 Conference, Elder A. G. Daniells was preaching to the entire group. After quoting Isaiah 62:1, regarding Zion and Jerusalem, he went on to say: For Zion s sake, for the sake of the church of Jesus Christ, for the sake of God s blessed people and blessed cause among men, I will not hold my peace, I will not keep silence until the righteousness thereof that righteousness we have talked so much about during the last ten or twelve years go forth as a lamp that burneth. I can not help but fear that while we talk about that righteousness, somehow we have not Wieland-Short Answer - 333

24. laid hold of it as we might, as we ought to. I fear that it has been too much in theory: (Ibid., p. 272; Emphasis supplied.) On the following day Sister White spoke to the ministers as a group. This was on April 15th: There is much that must be considered, which can not be touched this morning, and I hardly know what to bring before you, because there is so much to say. The light that has been given me for the past fifteen years has been a representation of the great responsibility which is attached to the work of the ministry. . . It is not for you to dissect the ideas of this one and that one. We served our time at this at Minneapolis. Let there be no more of it in the work of God. (Ibid., pp. 267, 8; emphasis supplied.) The. same evening, at the seven o clock service, Elder W. W. Prescott spoke to the entire conference. After referring to the. 1844. movement and how the Spirit of God was with the work of that day, how the Sabbath truth came to us along with the Sanctuary truth, he goes on to say that the movement, . . .marched forward with power. But there are many in this audience who can remember when the pendulum began to swing back, and can also remember when, thirteen years ago are at Minneapolis, God sent a message to this people to deliver them out of that experience. . . . For the past thirteen years this light has been rejected and turned against by many and they are rejecting it and turning from it to-day; . . . Ibid., p. 321; emphasis supplied.) Summary: Can there be the slightest doubt as to what Sister White or the other workers meant when they said ten to fifteen years ago? The record is clear: 1. Ellen C. White said at the 1901 Conference with reference to past light, (a) ten years ago ; (b) year after year ; (c) last ten or fifteen years ; (d) I do not know how many years . 2. Elder A. G. Daniells said, last ten or twelve years.

3. Elder W. W. Prescott said, thirteen years ago at Minneapolis. They were all talking about one and the same thing. The conclusion of each is also the same light was rejected! Wieland-Short Answer - 334 25.

8. THE MESSAGE FOR 1897 OR THE MESSAGE OF 1888. Appraisa1, p. 27, item (2); Manuscript, p. 16. The deletion of 1897 from the quotation in Testimonies to Ministers, p. 413, does not affect the meaning. If the messengers of 1897 were other men besides Jones and. Waggoner, the paragraph as quoted is still applicable in principle. The brethren who failed, through love of self, to recognize the heaven-sent messengers and message in 1888, were just as blind to recognize the movements and appointments of heaven nine years later. Apparently Appraisal failed to note that the 1897 .quotation is presented in full, including the date, in the Manuscript, p. 29, part of the same chapter. If there were any intent to deceive, it would not have been presented thus to the reader. This was within the thirty-eight pages carefully reviewed in Appraisal. There is reason to suppose that Mrs. White is speaking of Jones and Waggoner in 1897, inasmuch as we are informed in Appraisal that Jones presented eleven Bible studies in the General Conference Session of that year, and. Waggoner nineteen. A large part of the Bulletin is made up of the reports of their thirty studies. ( Appraisal, p. 7.) 9. SHAKESPEARE OR REFUSAL Appraisal, page 29, item (3): Manuscript, page 38. The Manuscript is represented as using a statement which has no relation to 1888, the reference being the citation Letter 106, 1902. We agree, and knew eight years ago, that this has no relation to the 1888 crisis. This citation was a typographical error which was corrected in most of the copies placed in the General Conference offices, crossed out with blue Wieland-Short Answer - 335 26. ink as can readily be seen if the copies are examined.* Consideration of the wording of this paragraph will make it clear that this letter was not intended to be a citation, but that the expression was merely used as judgment or comment appropriate. Another statement about the Minneapolis message and its rejection which appeared in the Review and Herald of Feb. 7, 1924, is pertinent in its similar use of words having no direct reference to 1888 A. D.: Brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, is as applicable to those who failed to appreciate the significance of this special

message as to the Jews when Paul thus addressed them. What might have been is written large across the gracious promises of God for this time.

10.

STATEMENTS IN THEIR LARGER SETTING Appraisal, page 30, item 9; Manuscript, page 13.

The authors of the manuscript are represented as taking a statement out of its context having to do with the reception of the 1888 message and with ignoring statements that alter the conclusion in the passage. This is apparently, on the part of Appraisal, an item, which slipped in in haste, without due checking of the source in the Manuscript. It will be noted that the quotation from Testimonies to Ministers is included in the Manuscript in the section headed The Divine Choice of Messengers, which does not discuss in the least the reception or rejection of their message, __________________________ * Reference is made to a letter which one of the authors wrote to a Secretary of the General Conference, dated Oct. 16, 1950 and acknowledged Oct. 17: Dear Elder _____: I should like you to please note a few typographical errors which I have corrected in the ten additional copies of the MS, which I present herewith. The errors I refer to are as follows. . . ....................................................... P. 38 close of paragraph (1), delete Letter 106, 1902) as irrelevant. . . . If there should be any critical discussion of any of these points in the five copies you already have, I would be grateful if the brethren could know of these changes. Wieland-Short Answer - 336 27. but only establishes the fact that Jones and Waggoner were sent by the Lord with a most precious message. The statement in the Manuscript is as follows: It is impossible to deny that the Spirit of God was preparing these two young men to be the agents in heralding to the remnant church that message which was to have been the beginning of the long-awaited loud cry :

(Here follows the quotation as reproduced in Appraisal ) For several years following the 1888 meeting, Mrs. White repeatedly referred in a special sense to Elders Jones and Waggoner as the Lord s messengers. There were no others, save the prophet herself, who fully shared their burden (of ministry). In 1890 she said: Suppose that you blot out the testimony that has been going during these last two years, proclaiming the righteousness of Christ, who ban you point to as bringing out special light for the people? (Review and Herald, March 18, 1890.) To have added the statement suggested by Appraisal would have been quite irrelevant in that connection.

11. .

URIAH SMITH AND HIS CONFESSIONS Appraisal, p. 32 et seq; Manuscript, p. 76 et seq.

The authors of the Manuscript make no profession of knowing anything about Elder Uriah Smith, nor do they judge him before the Lord, nor do they measure his confession as such except in the light of what the Lord s messenger has left on record, and what he himself has written. In the Manuscript he is termed, The able and. lovable brother who wielded the mightiest pen in Battle Creek . . ., sincere, and good,. and lovable. But be just did not know himself. . Further, We may leave our dear brethren of a generation ago with their God. They sleep in the dust of the earth, and we trust that they will awake in the first resurrection. Now with regard to the confessions as a whole, Appraisal states on page 32, It is also known that within five years of the Minneapolis meeting, most of the men made confession of their wrong course. If this means deep Wieland-Short Answer - 337 28. and thorough repentance, we can only wonder why Mrs. White continued to refer to the Minneapolis meeting and the terrible spirit of that meeting perpetuated for more than a decade after it was past even up to fourteen years after Minneapolis. We can also wonder why a President of the General Conference more than thirty-five years after 1888, still refers to the great loss sustained and the conclusive opposition of well-meaning men. (Cf. Christ Our Righteousness, p. 65, et seq.) No amount of rationalizing can change these facts! As we view the confession of Uriah Smith, the nominal leader of the

opposition, we see the following: 1. In the year 1890, the Review of December 16, carried a plea from Ellen G. White, in part as follows: Now God requires that you who have thus done the least injustice to another shall confess your fault, not only to the one you have injured, but to those who through your influence have been led to regard their brother in a false light, and to make of no effect the work God has given him to do. If pride and stubbornness close your lips, your sin will stand against you on the heavenly record. . . . The question is not whether you see as your brother does on controverted points. . . . Fall on the Rock, and be broken. . . . Men in the highest positions need to realize that they are as dependent upon God as are the humblest of their brethren. . . . Brethren, I see your peril, and again I ask, Do you who err make effort to correct the wrong?. . . If you in positions of trust, I appeal the more earnestly to you, for your own souls sake and for the sake of those who look to you as guides, repent before God for every mistake made, and confess your error . . . . If when the Lord reveals your errors you do not repent or make confession, his providence will bring you over the ground again and again. You will be left to make mistakes of a similar character, you will continue to lack wisdom, and will call sin righteousness, and righteousness sin. . . . You will change leaders, and not know you have done so. (Emphasis supplied.) Any confession on the part of Uriah Smith should therefore have been printed in the Review, due to his influence. Such was not the case. When an article of Sister White was read in Battle Creek, the Spirit of God attended the reading and confessions were made. We read: Professor Prescott made a confession dating back to Minneapolis, and this made a deep impression. He wept much. Elder Smith said that testimony meant him, it was he felt, addressed to him; but he stopped there, Wieland-Short Answer - 338 29. went no further. But both placed themselves as those repentant, seeking the Lord. . . . Yesterday, Wednesday, the meeting was held in my room in the office and Elder Smith read the letter I had sent him. . . He went back to the Minneapolis meeting and made a confession of the spirit he had occupied, casting on me very heavy burdens. . . Bro. Smith has fallen on the Rock, and is broken, and the Lord Jesus will now work with him.

(Letter 32, 1891.) As long as he remains fallen on the Rock, the Lord Jesus will work with him. Were there fruits meet for repentance so far as opposing the work which the Lord had given Elders Jones and Waggoner to do? It is apparent that he never did go far enough, in order to undo his opposition to the incipient loud cry. His editorial influence he continued to exert decidedly against the special work of the Lord which he could not understand. The one paragraph excerpt from Letter 24, 1892 written to Elder Smith, which appears on page 37 in Appraisal has been lifted out of context from a long letter, to sustain a position which the letter, on the whole thoroughly contradicts. If Letter 24, 1892, written well over a year following his confessions, were released in full, it would show that it was his influence primarily which resulted in the eventual defeat of the Lord s plan for His people in the Minneapolis message of those years. The authors of the Manuscript have no reason to withdraw from their position regarding Elder Smith s continued opposition to the message preached by Jones and. Waggoner. 2. What was the result of this confession? Over one year later, in the May 10, 1892 Review, we find Elder Smith openly taking issue with E. J. Waggoner in the columns of this paper of which he was editor. But this was not the end. 3. In the same year Elder Smith entered into open conflict in the columns of the Review with A. T. Jones over the image of the beast. These matters did not go unnoticed by our people of that day. One Brother Foster, a member of the Prahran church in Australia, where Sister White was at this time, was distressed and came to Sister White for counsel. She Wieland-Short Answer - 339 30. records this under date of January 9, 1893, at Melbourne. In part she says: After this he [Brother Foster] saw in the Review the article of Brother A. T. Jones in regard to the image of the beast, and then the one from Elder Smith presenting the opposite view. He was perplexed and troubled. He had received much light and comfort in reading articles from Brethren Jones and Waggoner; but here was one of the old laborers, one who had written many of our standard books, and whom we had believed to be taught of God, who seemed to be in conflict with Brother Jones. What could all this mean? Was Brother Jones in the wrong? Was Brother Smith in error? Which was right? He became confused. When the important laborers in the cause of God take opposite positions in the same paper, whom can we depend on? Who can we believe has the true position?. . .

If before publishing Elder Jones article concerning the image of the beast, Elder Smith had conferred with him, plainly stating that his own views differed from that of Bro. Jones, and that if the article appeared in the Review, he himself must present the opposite position, then the matter would appear in a different light from what it now does. But the course pursued in this case was the same as that taken at Minneapolis. Those who opposed Brethren Jones and Waggoner manifested no disposition to meet them like brethren, and with the Bible in hand consider prayerfully and in a Christ-like spirit the points of difference. This is the only course that would meet the approval of God, and His rebuke was upon those who would not do this at Minneapolis. Yet this blind warfare is continued. . . . We know that Bro. Jones has been giving the message for this time, meat in due season to the starving flock of God. . . . The conference at Minneapolis was the golden opportunity for all present to humble the heart before God, and to welcome Jesus as the great Instructor; but the stand taken by some at that meeting proved their ruin. They have never seen clearly since, and they never will; for they persistently cherish the spirit that prevailed there, a wicked, criticizing, denunciatory spirit. Yet since that meeting, abundant light and evidence has been graciously given, that all might understand the truth. Those who were then deceived might since have come to the light. They might rejoice in the truth as it is in Jesus, were it not for the pride of their own rebellious hearts. They will be asked in the judgment, Who required this at your hand, to rise up against the message and the messengers I sent to My people with light, with grace and power? Why have you lifted up your souls against God? Why did you block the way with your own perverse spirit? And afterward. when the evidence was piled upon evidence, why did you not humble your hearts before God, and repent of your rejection of the message of mercy He has sent you ? (Emphasis supplied.) Words could not be any plainer! This in no wise means that Elder Smith will not be in the kingdom. As the sin of Aaron was forgiven, so his can be. Our God is abundant in mercy as our whole history proves. But why do we continue to misunderstand the parable of Minneapolis? It was not a doctrine that was rejected; it was not a misunderstanding of what the image to the beast is. It was the manifestation of a perverse and rebellious heart that prohibited the Lord from coming near to His people and giving them heaven s richest blessing! Wieland-Short Answer - 340 31. Could it be that our zeal to shield our brethren of seventy years ago is in reality a desire to defend ourselves? We are to travel over the ground Elder Smith traveled over, to be tested as he was tested. Would he not want us to learn profitable lessons from his experience?

The investigation of the opposition of certain leading brethren to the message of Christ s righteousness was necessary only because of certain false views of our history, promulgated officially today. There was no attempt to impugn either their sincerity, ability, or moral character. Further, there was no intent of publishing the matter; the Manuscript was written for the attention of the General Conference Committee. Finally, it should be noted that Ellen G. White herself published in printed form extremely frank statements regarding Elder Smith s opposition to the Spirit of God, in 1882, in a booklet printed at the Pacific Press. That in itself was an act that went far beyond any mimeographed statement of limited circulation in 1888 Re-examined. Wieland-Short Answer - 341 32. 12. IN WHAT ESTEEM WERE ELDERS JONES AND WAGGONER HELD FOLLOWING 1888?

Appraisal, pp. 5-7. An impressive exhibit is presented by Appraisal designed to show that the Manuscript assertion is untrue that there was persistent hatred of Elders Jones and Waggoner for years following the Minneapolis Session. It need be said in this connection only that their appointments as principal speakers in General Conference Sessions for the decade following Minneapolis was a work of Providence. The brethren could not fail to recognize that the Lord had appointed them to bring a message. That does not mean, however, that the majority were in heart sympathy with their message or their work! The Manuscript assertions were based not on inference or imagination on the part of the authors, but upon clear-cut utterances from the Spirit of Prophecy, which are much more reliable than any opinion of men or deductive reasoning. Only a few of many may be cited: We should be the last people on the earth to indulge in the slightest degree the spirit of persecution against those who are bearing the message of God to the world. This is the most terrible feature of unchristlikeness that has manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis meeting. (General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p. l84.) The opposition in our own ranks has imposed upon the Lord s messengers a laborious and soul-trying task; for they have had to meet difficulties and obstacles which need not have existed. (Ibid., p. 4l9.) Those whom God has sent with a message are only men. . . Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticize

the men. (Review and Herald, Dec. 27, 1890.) How long will you hate and despise the messengers of God s righteousness? . . . There are those who despised the men and the message they bore. They have taunted them with being fanatics, extremists, and enthusiasts. (June 4, 1896; Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 96, 97.) Ministers, do not dishonor your God and grieve His Holy Spirit, by casting reflections on the ways and manners of the men He would choose. What a sin would rest upon any one who should listen to such a man merely to criticize, to notice bad grammar, or incorrect pronunciation, and hold these errors up to ridicule. . . They [the opponents] can hold the objectionable atom under the magnifying glass of their imagination until the atom looks like a world, and shuts out from their view the precious light of heaven. . . Why take Wieland-Short Answer - 342 33. so much account of that which may appear to you as objectionable in the messenger, and. sweep away all the evidences that God has given to balance the mind in regard to truth? (Review and Herald, April 18, 1893.) (The brethren) were moved at the meeting (Minneapolis) by another spirit, and they knew not that God had. sent these young men to bear a special message to them, which they treated with ridicule and contempt. . . I know that at the time the Spirit of God. was insulted, and now when I see anything approaching to the same course of action, I am exceedingly pained.. (Letter S 24, 1892.) Some of our brethren . . . are full of jealousy and evil surmising, and are ever ready to show in just what way they differ with Elder Jones or Waggoner. The same spirit that was manifested. in the past manifests itself on every opportunity; but this is not from the impulse of the Spirit of God. (Ibid.) To accuse and criticize those whom God is using is to accuse and criticize the Lord who has sent them. . . (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 466.) Men professing godliness have despised Christ in the person of His messengers. . . Men may not be able to understand why God sends this one or that one. (Review and. Herald, August 17, 1897.) Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticize the men and their imperfections, because they do not speak

the message of truth with all the grace and polish desirable. . . Christ has registered all the hard, proud, sneering speeches spoken against His servants as against Himself. (Ibid., May 27, 1890.) . . . Some may say, I do not hate my brother; I am not as bad as that. But how little they understand their own hearts. They may think they have a zeal for God in their feelings against their brother if his ideas seem in any way to conflict with theirs; feelings are brought to the surface that have no kinship with love. . . They take step after step in the false way, until there seems to be no other course than for them to go on, believing they are right in their bitterness of feeling against their brethren. . . I have deep sorrow of heart because I have seen how readily a word or action of Elder Jones or Elder Waggoner is criticized. How readily minds overlook all the good that has been done by them in the few years past. . . They hunt for something to condemn, and their attitude toward these brethren who are zealously engaged. in doing a good work, shows that feelings of enmity and bitterness are in the heart. (Letter to O. A. Olsen, President of the General Conference, Sept. 1, 1892.) The authors of the Manuscript may be unable to understand the above statements which are only a few of many. But for what they may be worth to the inquiring reader, they are offered herewith to show why the authors wrote statements such as the following in the Manuscript: Wieland-Short Answer - 343 34. The acceptance of the message of 1888-90 as being especially of God, would require the acceptance also of the living messengers who brought it as being men specially chosen of God. How could the brethren accept the message God. should send, and continue to hate and despise the messengers whom He should employ? ( l888 Re-examined, p. 19.) A new statement unknown previously now comes to light: During the night I have been in communion with God. I have been brought by my guide into councils in Battle Creek, and I have a message to bear to you whether you will hear or not, whether you will receive it or reject it. . . Leading men are giving a mold to the work that will result in a loss of many souls. . . Many come here from foreign countries, thinking that Battle Creek, from whence come the publications of truth, will be next to heaven. How disappointed they feel, when they hear in this place, the message of God spoken of lightly, when they hear the messengers of God, by some in responsible places, made a subject of

ridicule, and why is this? It is because the message of the messengers does not coincide in every particular of the ideas of these whom the Lord names of His scorners, although it is a message sent from heaven. . . . . . [speaking of antediluvians] The probation given them in mercy, they devoted to ridiculing Noah, whom God had sent with a message. They caricatured and criticized him, just as some who thought themselves wise have done; they have laughed at the messengers just as they did in Noah s day for his peculiar earnestness, and for his intense feelings in regard to the judgments that were sure to come. (Letter, Nov. 25, 1890, Brooklyn, N. Y.) In fairness it should. be pointed. out that the Manuscript did not seek to hide the fact that Jones and Waggoner were admired and lauded by our people (cf. Appraisal pages 5-7). Note the following: The truth and logic of Jones and Waggoner s position were so overwhelming that it could not be many years after Minneapolis when many people began to realize that they were truly outstanding men. They began to show an almost idolatrous regard for them after they became unsettled in the faith. So strong was the delusion permitted that those who had spurned their message when they were straight eagerly followed them when they were unsafe. . . Just as Israel had sinned in their condemnation when they were right, so now Israel sinned in their adulation when they were wrong. . . . . . the tide of opposition against them turned into a tide of praise and adulation such as no ministers amongst us have ever experienced. Thus their ruin was completed. (1888 Re-examined, pp. 118-9.) Another point that should be clarified, in fairness, is whether or not the change of officers of the General Conference 8t the 1888 Session indicates thereafter a favorable official attitude toward the message of Christ s righteousness by the responsible brethren most influential in the Wieland-Short Answer - 344 35. church. Appraisal (cf. p. 6) states that this fact of history should have been included in the Manuscript. (1) The most influential factor, by far, in molding the opinion of both workers and laity was the Review and Herald. There was no change in the appointment of editor-in-chief, nor in the attitude of the church paper. (Supra, page 29.) (2) Whoever were the newly elected officers of the General

Conference after 1888, and whatever was their apparent attitude toward the message at Minneapolis itself, the clear word from the Spirit of Prophecy is that the General Conference and the General Conference Association were likewise involved with the publishing institution in nullifying God s plan for the finishing of His work through the message of Christ s righteousness. To attempt to deduce from a list of new names elected in 1888 the assumption that the message was no longer opposed officially is running counter to Spirit of Prophecy statements. It becomes necessary to note what Ellen G. White said toward the end of the 1888 era. The highest officer of the church is the one named in the original letter: Dear Brother (Tait): I have not written you much because I knew that that which I should write you would only increase your burden and intensify the painful feelings you must have, there is no hope that you can in any way relieve the situation. I feel very sorry for Brother _______. I have written him much in regard to the situation. He has written back to me, thanking me for the timely letters, but he has not acted upon the light given. The case is a mysterious one. . . Notwithstanding the light which has been placed before him for years in regard to this matter, he has ventured on, directly contrary to the light which the Lord has been giving him. . . He is leading other minds to view matters in a perverted light. He has given unmistakable evidence that he does not regard the testimonies which the Lord has seen fit to give his people, as worthy of respect, or as of sufficient weight to influence his course of action. I am distressed beyond any words my pen can trace. Unmistakably Elder ______ has acted as did Aaron, in regard to these men Wieland-Short Answer - 345 36. who have been opposed to the work of God ever since the Minneapolis meeting. They have not repented of their course of action in resisting light and evidence. . . . . . The disease at the heart of the work poisons the blood, and thus the disease is communicated to the bodies they visit. . . The spiritual blindness which rests upon human minds seems to be deepening. (Letter to A. O. Tait, Sunnyside , Coorangbong, August 27, 1896.)

Deletions have been made for the sake of brevity. Most unfortunately, the picture which emerges is certainly not that of the General Conference encouraging a genuine repentance for what had been happening in regard to the Minneapolis message. Note that the above was written nearly eight years after the notable Session. To make the picture more complete, we should quote from a published testimony of February 6, 1896: O if I could have the joyful news that the will and minds of those in Battle Creek who have stood professedly as leaders, were emancipated from the teachings and slavery of Satan, whose captives they have been for so long, I would be willing to cross the broad Pacific to see your faces once more. . . But the heart of the work, the great center, has been enfeebled by the mismanagement of men who have not kept pace with their Leader. . . The whole body is sick because of mismanagement and miscalculation. The people to whom God has entrusted eternal interests . . . have lost their bearings. (Special Testimonies, No. 10, pp. 29, 30.) (3) It may be objected that the above speak particularly of centralizing tendencies, and not the attitude toward the Minneapolis message. It need only be noted that the root of the difficulty is plainly declared to be an impenitent attitude toward the Minneapolis message! On May 31, 1896, Mrs. White wrote to the General Conference president some further counsel. If Appraisal is correct, we might expect to read the messenger of the Lord offering fervent thanksgiving that the Minneapolis spirit was a thing of the past, and expressing deep joy that the latter rain and. the loud, cry were proceeding in such a satisfactory manner. Note in what she wrote her burden of soul: Wieland-Short Answer - 346 37. Scenes that were a shame to Christians, have been presented to me, as taking place in the council meetings held after the Minneapolis meeting. . . These meetings should have been dismissed as an insult to heaven. . . Brother Olsen, you speak of my return to America. For three years I stood in Battle Creek as a witness for the truth. Those who then refused to receive the testimony given me by God for them, and rejected the evidences attending these testimonies, would not be benefitted should I return. . . To a large degree the General Conference Association has lost its

sacred character, because some connected with it have not changed their sentiments in any particular since the Conference held at Minneapolis. . . . . . Where is the voice, from whence will it come, to whom the people may listen, knowing that it comes from the True Shepherd? I am called upon by the Spirit of God, to present these things before you, and they are correct to the life, according to the practise of the past few years. . . (Letter to O. A. Olsen, May 31, 1896.) (4) It may be objected that the General Conference Association is different from the General Conference itself; and that in the latter the tragic unbelief and opposition was not manifested. To distinguish between the Association and the General Conference in those days is like distinguishing between six and half a dozen, except that the Association came much closer to being what the General Conference is today as regards influencing the world-wide work. On September 19, 1895, Ellen G. White wrote as follows: . . . I think we will institute, at least once each day, a season of prayer for the Lord to set things in order at the center of the work. Matters are being shaped so that every other institution is following in the same course. The General Conference is itself becoming corrupted with wrong sentiments and principles. (Part of this letter is found in Testimonies to Ministers, p. 359.) (5) The General Conference Committee issued the following statement in May, 1906, which unfortunately cannot be made to harmonize with the view of Appraisal : . . . Testimonies were read showing that wrong principles of dealing had permeated the entire cause, and before God could send prosperity these things must be corrected. God s spirit accompanied the reading of these testimonies, and a spirit of confession came upon the people, the members of the General Conference Committee taking the lead. These wrong principles had their origin with, and were promulgated by, men who occupied prominent positions in the General Conference prior Wieland-Short Answer - 347 38. to the Conference of 1897, who boldly stated that they did not believe the Testimonies, and took advantage of their official position to diffuse the malaria of unbelief throughout the ranks nigh and afar off. Their refusal to heed the counsel of the Spirit of God, and their being honored by being retained in their positions and allowed to carry forward the General Conference

business according to worldly plans and policies, had more to do with the reform called for in 1897, than did the usurpation or abuse of authority upon the part of the president, or other members of the Committee. (A Statement Refuting Charges Made by A. T. Jones, pp. 14, l5.) Thus it becomes apparent that the brethren of 1906 regarded the root of the trouble of the 90 s to be spiritual rather than merely organizational. The spiritual root goes straight to the 1888 reaction.

13.

THE RECEPTION OF THE 1888 MESSAGE. Appraisal, pp. 2, 6, 7, 10, 11.

Unfortunately the following statement is made, which minimizes the opposition to the Minneapolis message. It cannot be substantiated by the facts of our history, however much we may sincerely desire that it should: The rank and. file of Seventh-day Adventist workers and laity accepted the presentations at Minneapolis and were blessed. Certain leading men there resisted the teaching. ( Appraisal, p. 11.) Those who were at Minneapolis and knew firsthand, and those who received their information only one step removed from eyewitnesses, report that while certain leading men of the denomination resisted the message of righteousness by faith at Minneapolis, a much larger group of workers present, and the laity in general, accepted the presentations of Elder Jones and Waggoner, and entered upon a victorious experience. This Is attested by Ellen White. (Ibid., p. 10.) Such a view is not attested by the general over-all picture of Mrs. White s writings concerning Minneapolis, from 1888 to 1902. The authors of the Manuscript take the position that Ellen G. White means just what she says, and that whenever there is any reasonable doubt as to what is her intent in a perplexing passage, it is safe to consider the general import of as many as possible of her other parallel or explanatory statements, no matter how self-humbling the conclusions may be. Further, we hold Wieland-Short Answer - 348 39. that she did not contradict herself; and when isolated extracts appear to contradict numerous other statements, the difficulty is in the mind of the reader rather than in her contextual writing.

Careful reading of published material from her pen makes clear that she regarded the Minneapolis message as having been rejected or neglected by the many in the responsible leadership of the church, and accepted only by the few, with such a balance between the two as to constitute in the end of the matter a definite and unequivocal rejection by them in a great degree of the light of the loud cry on behalf of the Seventh-day Adventist church, though the laity were not to blame. With this view agree unpublished statements so numerous as to be almost wearying to the researcher. Note this epitome appearing in Mrs. White s voluminous correspondence on the subject of the Minneapolis history; and written nearly eight years after the conference: An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth (concerning the law in Galatians), lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord s message through Brethren (E. J.) Waggoner and (A. T.) Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world. (Selected Messages, I, pp. 234, 235, June 8, 1896; emphasis supplied.) This diametrically opposite state of views is not, as some seem to think, rather inconsequential. It vitally affects our preparation for a future manifestation of that same light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory. For this reason, we examine more closely what Ellen G. White actually said about this matter. (1) We look first at Mrs. White s own appraisal of what happened at Minneapolis itself. Her remarks are a far cry from the position that the rank and file of workers were on the right side with only a few leading brethren opposing: Wieland-Short Answer - 349 40. . . . If you only know how Christ has regarded your religious attitude at this meeting! (Ms. 8a, 1888, October 21.) Now our meeting is drawing to a close and not one confession has been made, there has not been a single break so as to let the Spirit of God in. Now I was saying what was the use of our assembling here together

and for our ministering brethren to come in if they are here only to shut out the Spirit of God from the people? We did hope that there would be a turning to the Lord here. . . I have been talking and pleading with you, but it does not seem to make any difference with you. . . I was never more alarmed than at the present time. . . I am full of pain as I view these things, and how can I help it? (Ms. 9, 1888, October 24; emphasis supplied.) . . . It is not wise for one of these young men [Waggoner] to commit himself to a decision at this meeting where opposition rather than investigation is the order of the day. (Ms. 15, 1888, November; emphasis supplied.) Again and again did. I present my testimony to those assembled. in a clear and forcible manner, but that testimony was not received. (Letter U-3-1889, January 25, 1889.) When I have been made to pass over the history of the Jewish nation and have seen where they stumbled because they did. not walk in the light, I have been led. to realize where we as a people would be led to if we refuse the light God would give us. Eyes have ye, but ye see not; ears but ye hear not. Now, brethren, light has come to us and we want to be where we can grasp it and God will lead us out one by one to Him. I see your danger and. I want to warn you. . . If the ministers will not receive the light I want to give the people a chance; perhaps they may receive it. (Ms. 9, 1888, October 24.) Repeatedly Sister White emphasized the thought that the spirit generally of those who had come to the meeting was to discard light. If the Appraisal representation is correct as it states itself, then the messenger of the Lord was guilty of belaboring and arraigning an entire audience almost daily with irrelevant reproofs that should have been conveyed privately to a few certain leading men. This is unthinkable. (2) There were at Minneapolis itself some workers whose hearts responded. to the message presented, who knelt alone in their rooms or went out in the woods near Minneapolis to seek the Lord with tears of contrition. Wieland-Short Answer - 350 41. We gladly acknowledge this fact, which the Manuscript acknowledged eight years ago. But they were few in the end, compared to the total. More

significant than the numerical ratio even is the fact that the pressure of opposition overbore most of those who were inclined to see light in the truth. Note in the following the mention of the counter influence arising at Minneapolis, and how it worked in every meeting where she had been up to the time of writing or speaking, in early 1890. This throws light on how it could. be that some accepted the message and were blessed, and yet were so overridden by the steady pressure of unbelief from the responsible brethren that in the end (1896) the prophet had to sum up the matter in her tragic words, Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. There is no contradiction in what Mrs. White said all along: But God was accepted by some (at Nazareth, likening the Jews reception of Jesus there to that of the reception of the message at the Conference); the witness was here that He was God; but a counter influence pressed in, and the evil angels were working through the congregation to raise doubts that would cause the hearts to disbelieve so that it would shut out every ray of light that God would permit to shine. No more could He do in such a place. You can see what a hold he had and what mistakes the people had made; they had not advanced, and because they had not advanced, they had been working under the generalship of Satan, and yet claim that they were working under the generalship of God. . . . . . Well, here the battle is before us. (Ms. 8, 1888, October 29.) I have great sorrow of heart I have had nearly ever since the Minneapolis meeting and I will tell you why. Because God has been speaking to me as He has done for the last forty-five years and I have presented these matters, and the brethren have known, and have seen the fruits, and yet unbelief has come right in. But why? They will take the testimony of somebody else, and they will all be credulous in regard, to that. Now when it comes to the manifest movement of the Spirit of God, if the Spirit was in their hearts they would recognize it in a moment. But the trouble is, the Spirit is not in them. . . And my grief is the same as Christ s was. They are placing themselves where there is no reserve power. Now I feel this in every meeting where I have been. I have felt there is a pessure of unbelief. It is just as evident as it ever has been. . . . . . I am glad, I am so thankful that some are beginning to see there is light for them. Wieland-Short Answer - 351 42.

. . . The crown is there in the hands of Christ, but many will lose it. . . . I have told. my brethren here again and. again that God has shown me that He raised up men here to carry the truth to His people, and. that this is the truth. Well, what effect did it have on them? They were just the same; so that it should. not be made of any account. . . Now, brethren, we want to have the simplicity of Christ. I know that He has a blessing for us. He had it at Minneapolis, and He had it for us at the time of the General Conference here [1897]. But there was no reception. Some received the light for the people, and rejoiced in it. Then there were others that stood right back. And their position has given confidence to others to talk unbelief, and cherish it. . . My strength is about exhausted. . . . . . We want to know why the enemy is having such power upon human minds, as he has here. It is something beyond anything I have ever seen in all my experience since I first entered the work. The people of God who have had light and. evidence have stood where God would not let His blessing fall on them. In the chapel hall, the power of God was all ready to fall upon us. I felt for a little time as though I could look right into glory; but the spirit that was there drove it away. . . (Sermon, Battle Creek, March 16,1890; emphasis supplied.) (3) We must now examine more minutely just what Mrs. White said about the many and the some, and where they stood on both sides of the issue. The internal evidence in her many references is clear. Speaking nearly seven years after the 1888 Session, she contrasts the many and the some, in context. Her burden was the rejection of the Minneapolis message: When the plain, straight testimony comes from lips under the moving of the Spirit of God, there are many who treat it with disdain. . . That light which is to fill the earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth. . . I know not but some have even now gone too far to return and repent. . . The Spirit of God is departing from many among His people. Many have entered into dark, secret paths, and some will never return. They will continue to stumble to their ruin. They have tempted God, they have rejected light. . . Many have listened to the truth spoken in demonstration of the Spirit, and they have not only refused. to

accept the message, but they have hated the light. These men are parties to the ruin of souls. They have interposed themselves between the heaven-sent light and the people. . . Wieland-Short Answer - 352 43. . . . Those who received the message were greatly blessed, for they saw the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness, and life and hope sprang up in their hearts. They were beholding Christ. . . . What does God say in regard to his people? But this is a people robbed and spoiled. . . . (Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 89-97, June 4, 1896; emphasis supplied.) The date is worthy of note. Note also the use of the terms: many of those brethren in a position to interpose themselves between the heaven-sent light and. the people, refused to accept the message, have hated the light, are parties to the ruin of souls. Nowhere does she say in the testimony that the some who despised the loud cry were few; neither does she say anywhere that those who received. the message were many, or the rank and file of Seventh-day Adventist workers and. laity. She here merely identifies those who refused. to accept the message and hated it as many. This is the retrospective view. Again, writing in 1896, she asks a significant rhetorical question: That men should keep alive the spirit which ran riot at Minneapolis is an offense to God. All heaven is indignant at the spirit that for years has been revealed in our publishing institution at Battle Creek. . . A voice has been heard pointing out the errors, and in the name of the Lord, pleading for a decided change. But who have followed. the instruction given? Who have humbled their hearts. . . ? (Ibid., pp. 76, 77; emphasis supplied.) Astounding and shocking as the awful truth seems to us today, research indicates that it was an influence in our publishing institution at Battle Creek, without effective reproof from the General Conference or General Conference Association, that kept away from the world the light of the loud cry, which Inspiration said the publishing institutions must give to the world.. The some and the many who resisted the light did a rather thorough and effective piece of work. This is the danger to which the church is now exposed [1896] that the inventions of finite men shall mark out the precise way for the Holy Spirit to come. Though they would not care to acknowledge it, some have already done this. . . Many turn away

from it. . . There are many today who feel indignant and. aggrieved that any voice should be raised presenting ideas that differ from their own in regard to points of religious belief. (Ibid., pp. 64, 65, emphasis supplied; this entire chapter of Testimonies to Ministers requires careful study.) Wieland-Short Answer - 353 44. Further clarification of the many and. the some indicates that often Mrs. White said that some of the many resisting the light were going further in the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost than others : January 29: Wilful misunderstanding: I went again to ministers meeting, and read an important article, making some remarks. The lessons of Christ were often misunderstood, not because He did not make them plain, but because the minds of the Jews, like the minds of many who claim to believe in this day, were filled with prejudice. January 31: . . . I fear and tremble for many. February 1: . . . There are many, many who are mere spectators. . . February 8: . . . In many hearts the messages I bear find no response. In some hearts they arouse a determined resistance, like the resistance that the work of Christ aroused in the hearts of the Jews. Sometimes the thought arises, Is it the will of God for me to stand almost alone,* as it were, with those who ought to be standing with me and sustaining me, working in various ways to counteract the testimonies given me by God.? (Diary.) A further comment on the ratio between the number who resisted the leading of the Holy Spirit, and. those who did open the heart to receive the light, is given in an article by Mrs. White in 1892. She is speaking of the heart-stirring crises of persecution that will come, and were coming, in the time of the loud cry, then beginning experimentally: . . . Not one in twenty has a realization of what rapid strides we are making toward the great crisis in our history. The angels of God are holding the four winds, and this leads many to cry, Peace and safety; but there is no time for vanity, for trifling, for engaging the mind, in unimportant matters. (Review and Herald, April 26, 1892.)

If the rank and. file of workers and laity accepted the light at and after Minneapolis regarding Christ s righteousness, we might expect them to be supporting wholeheartedly and intelligently the burden of the _______________________ * Cf. A. G. Daniells: In a great crisis that came over the principle of righteousness by faith in the latter part of the 80 s and in the early 90 s, the Lord s messenger took her stand almost alone by the side of those who brought this basic principle of Christian life end service to the forefront, amid either hesitancy or active opposition on the part of many. (The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 369.) Wieland-Short Answer - 354 45. religious liberty crisis and the nearness of the end (which would have been very imminent had the 1888 message been accepted.) We note that at that time, one worker quoted the statement publicly, interpreting it to mean just what it said, having reference to the understanding of our people in general about the two-fold crisis in which they lived. We read his remarks in the Review and Herald of some six weeks later: Not one in twenty. In which side do you stand? Do you stand with the one or with the twenty ? For my part, I would rather stand with the one even at the risk of being considered fanciful and extreme, than to stand with the twenty . . . What does that mean if it does not mean what it says? (A. T. Jones, Ibid., June 7, 1892.) From Australia came a letter from Mrs. White in which she spoke at length concerning this very sermon by Elder Jones presented in the Review. She did not reprove him for believing that what she said was what she meant, nor did she chide him for saying so publicly! Incidentally, before leaving the matter, we must note in her remarks an illustration, remarkably clear, of the counter influence and pressure of unbelief, and how it actually worked in opposing the work of God. What happened on this occasion when Elder Jones Was preaching, and what happened in the editorial opposition of the general church paper which prompted writing this letter from Australia, happened too often in the years following 1888. It might also be noted that the date was well after the confessions : We know that Bro. Jones has been giving the message for this time, meat in due season to the starving flock of God. Those who do not allow prejudice to bar the heart against the heaven-sent message, cannot but feel the spirit and force of the truth. Bro. Jones has

borne the message from church to church, and from State to State; and light and freedom and the outpouring of the Spirit of God has attended the work. As events of a most startling nature in the fulfillment of prophecy has shown that the great crisis is rapidly approaching, Bro. Jones seeks to arouse the professed people of God from their death-like slumber, to see the importance of giving the warning to the world. But he advances some ideas with which all do not agree, and instantly Bro. Gage is aroused; he harnesses for the battle, and before the congregation in the tabernacle, he takes his position in opposition to Bro. Jones. Was this in the order of God? . . . Wieland-Short Answer - 355 46. I have received letters from different points telling the sad, discouraging results of these things. (George s Terrace, St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, January 9, 1893.) (4) Far from ignoring the marvelous evidences of the Holy Spirit s working in the revivals that followed 1888, the Manuscript devotes over six pages to them. It is there noted (cf. pp. 29-38) that the Lord set His seal of approval to the ministry of the inspired trio just after the 1888 Session. Many of the lay members who heard Jones or Waggoner believed, indeed. But Appraisal ignores or denies the Spirit of prophecy evidence which indicates the true significance of the history of these miraculous demonstrations. The more evidence the Holy Spirit gave, the more determined became the opposition at headquarters by certain responsible brethren who were very influential. Repeatedly the servant of the Lord was forced to declare that a phenomenon was occurring comparable only to the stiffening opposition of the Jewish religious leaders to Christ, in proportion to the demonstrations of the Holy Spirit in His work. The common people heard Him gladly, but the religious leaders would not enter in themselves, and them that were entering in they hindered. Writing in retrospect nearly seven years after 1888, the messenger of the Lord summed up what really happened: They [some who opposed] began this satanic work at Minneapolis. Afterward, when they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit testifying that the message was of God, they hated it the more, because it was a testimony against them. They would not humble their hearts to repent, to give God the glory, and vindicate the right. They went on in their own spirit, filled with envy, jealousy, and evil surmisings, as did the Jews. They opened their hearts to the enemy of God and man. Yet these men have been holding positions of trust, and have been molding the work after their own similitude, as far as they possibly could. (Testimonies to

Ministers, p. 80; emphasis supplied; May 1, 1895.) What she wrote at the time, in 1890, agrees fully with the above: I saw that the power of God attended the message wherever it was spoken. You could not make the people believe in South Lancaster that it was not a message of light that came to them. . . God has set His hand to do this work. We labored in Chicago; it was a week before there was a break in the meetings. But like a wave of glory, the blessing of God swept over us. . . Wieland-Short Answer - 356 47. . . . I have tried to present the message to you as I have understood it, but how long will those at the head of the work keep themselves aloof from the message of God.? (Review and Herald, March18, 1890; emphasis supplied.) For nearly two years we have been urging the people to come up and accept the light and truth concerning the righteousness of Christ, and they do not know whether to come and take hold of this precious truth or not. (Ibid., March 11, 1890; emphasis supplied.) Our young men look to our older brethren, and as they see that they do not accept the message, but treat it as though it were of no consequence, it influences those. who are ignorant of the Scriptures to reject the light. These men who refuse to receive truth, interpose themselves between the people and the light. (Ibid., March 18, 1890; emphasis supplied.) Many have listened to the truth spoken in demonstration of the Spirit, and they have not only refused to accept the message, but they have hated the light. These men are parties to the ruin of souls. They have interposed themselves between the heaven-sent light and the people. (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91, June 4, 1896.) It is submitted that it is not good scholarship to delete portions of Ellen G. White statements in order, to make exhibits say what she did not intend. Had the more complete context of certain exhibits in this connection in Appraisal been included, it would have been evident that Mrs. White does not contradict herself; but rather, that she regarded the truly miraculous revivals following 1888 as actually hardening the resistance of certain responsible brethren so that in the end the message was to a great degree resisted and kept away from the world. The portion in parentheses of the following quotation is that selected by Appraisal (p. 44) as one

exhibit to show that the rank and. file of the workers of the church received the blessing intended by heaven. The context is as follows: February 4: Show us a Miracle, and. we will believe. . . .

I am burdened day and night by the thought of the condition of the Battle Creek church. . . They know not what spirit they are of. They say, Show us by working miracles that you are of God. (After the Minneapolis meeting how wonderfully the Spirit of God wrought! Men confessed that they had robbed God by withholding tithes and offerings. Many souls were converted. Thousands of dollars were brought into the treasury. Rich experiences were related by those whose hearts were aglow with the love of God.) And yet from the lips of some who have attempted. to preach the truth comes the cry, Wieland-Short Answer - 357 48. What miracle dost thou work? Show us a miracle and we will believe. What greater evidence could men be given than they have had? What more could the Lord do than He has already done? Is not the conversion of the human heart the greatest miracle that can be wrought? This miracle has been wrought, but upon some hard hearts it has left no impression. (Excerpt from Diary, 1890.) February 8: . . . In many hearts the messages I bear find no response. In some hearts they arouse a determined resistance, like the, resistance that the work of Christ aroused in the hearts of the Jews. (Ibid.) (5) Appraisal, (p. 44), gives emphasis to the report of the 1889 General Conference Session which states that the spirit that was in the meeting at Minneapolis is not here. This statement means just what it says; but it does not mean what it does not say. In historical research, exhibits must not be used to sustain a researcher s private conclusion which later statements of the same writer would modify or plainly contradict. What this statement says and does not say can become evident when certain later statements of Mrs. White are considered. It does not say that the light of the loud cry was in the end accepted. Why did not Appraisal include the following retrospective statement spoken some months later about the over-all picture of the 1889 General Conference Session as regards the acceptance or rejection of the message of Christ s righteousness: I want to say, brethren and sisters, it is not natural for us to believe, but it is very natural for us to foster unbelief. It is the besetting sin of God. s people. . . . . . When we see what the enemy can do with human nature, putting

unbelief into the heart, I should think it would be such a terror to our souls that we would not dare to open the heart to the miseries of unbelief and dwell in that atmosphere, such as that has been since we were in Minneapolis. . . . . . I am glad, I am so thankful that some are beginning to see there is light for them. I was glad to hear Brother Larson s testimony yesterday. . . . . . I know that He [the Lord] has a blessing for us. He had it at Minneapolis, and He had it for us at the time of the General Conference (1889) here. But there was no reception. Some received the light for the people, and rejoiced in it. Then there were others that stood right back. And their position has given confidence to others to talk unbelief, and cherish it. . . If it is possible I want to get away before the last atom of strength shall be gone here. . . Now God. has been waiting for those men that have stood in the way to humble themselves; but the word has come to me, If they Wieland-Short Answer - 358 49. do not humble themselves, I will humble them. (Sermon, Battle Creek, March 16, 1890; emphasis supplied; the entire sermon should be released.) Again, why did not Appraisal quote the following statement spoken at the 1891 Session, which shows either that the some and many who gladly accepted the message at the Battle Creek Session in 1889 must have been, obviously, laity and younger workers rather than the important responsible leadership of the church; or that the enthusiasm was very short-lived? Why should we try so desperately to hide the historical fact that although the laity and general body of workers gladly received the message whenever it was allowed to reach them, heard it as gladly as the common people heard Jesus, yet the influence of leaders at Battle Creek continually worked to squelch it? It is just simple truth. You possess in a large degree the same spirit that was revealed in the Conference at Minneapolis. The deception that was upon minds there still exists. Some have not been willing to see and acknowledge their errors, and their blindness of mind remains. . . . When it suits your purpose, you treat the Testimonies as if you believed them, quoting from them to strengthen any statement you wish to have prevail. But how is it when light is given to correct your errors? Do you accept the light? When the Testimonies speak contrary to your ideas, then you treat them very lightly. . .

. . . The prevailing idolatry and iniquity have had a paralyzing, deadening influence upon piety and godliness. . . A few hold fast their profession of faith. Others have been leaving the simplicity of the faith, and as the result they are now treading on the borderland of skepticism. They are spiritually beclouded; and thus many are holding serious errors. . . Do you think He will take those who are indulging skepticism and infidelity, who, when He sends a message, stand back and refuse to accept it? Yet many have done this. When we speak of the grace of God, of Jesus and His love, speak of the Saviour as one who is able to keep us from sin, and to save to the uttermost all who come unto Him, many will say, Oh, I am afraid you are going where the holiness people go. I am afraid you are going after the Salvation Army. . . . In the revival work that has been going forward here during the past winter we have seen no fanaticism. But I will tell you what I have seen. I have seen men who were so lifted up in themselves, and so stubborn, that their hearts were enshrouded in darkness. When the enemy presents a device of his own, some are ready to accept that; but they have been so very cautious that they would not receive the light which would have made them wise unto salvation. Wieland-Short Answer - 359 50. But, thank God, there are many who have been listening to His word and feasting upon it. . . . Many are unwilling to have their way crossed. (General Conference Bulletin, pp. 256-261, emphasis supplied.) (6) One more exhibit of Appraisal requires investigation. It seems, on the surface, that this one-sentence statement contradicts all the other voluminous correspondence of Mrs. White regarding the 1888-91 unbelief. The exhibit is as follows: We stood on the field of battle for nearly three years, but at that time decided changes took place among our people, and through the grace of God we gained decided victories. E. G. White Letter 40, 1893, (cf. Appraisal, p. 44.) The reader naturally desires to see more of the context of such a significant statement. The authors of the Manuscript would be grateful if the entire letter would be released, so that it can be evident to all that there is in its context no burden of discussion of the acceptance or

rejection of the message of Christ s righteousness but rather encouragement to a certain family to take hold of health reform. It speaks of progress in the presentation of the principles of health reform at American camp meetings following the 1888 Session, when Dr. Kellogg doubtless labored in cooperation with Mrs. White and the other brethren. All we can quote of the immediate context of this one-sentence statement is what is published from this letter in Counsels on Diet and Foods where the excerpt is identified as Letter 40, 1893 : It was decided that at a certain camp meeting, cheese should not be sold to those on the ground; but on coming to the ground, Doctor Kellogg found to his surprise that a large quantity of cheese had been purchased for sale at the grocery. He and some others objected to this, but those in charge of the grocery said that the cheese had been bought with the consent of Brother _____, and that they could not afford to lose the money invested in it. Upon this Doctor Kellogg asked the price of the cheese, and. bought the whole of it from them. He had traced the matter from cause to effect, and knew that some foods generally thought to be wholesome, were very injurious. Page 369; emphasis in original.) Wieland-Short Answer - 360 51. l4. THE DOCTRINE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH VS. THE TRUE 1888 MESSAGE Through a failure to understand terms, grave confusion results. It is assumed by many today that the 1888 message was a re-emphasis of the doctrine of righteousness by faith. It was far more than that. Appraisal apparently does not grasp the presentation in 1888 Re-examined. It needs to be understood what was inherent in the message of seventy years ago. The doctrine was accepted before 1888; it was not rejected at the Minneapolis Session; it was not rejected after the Session; it is not rejected today, at least consciously; and it appears as it always has in our Yearbook and other official literature. That is the historic Protestant doctrine. But the 1888 message offered to Seventh-day Adventists, was far more than the Protestant doctrine of justification and righteousness by faith. It was a lifting up of Christ, and an application of His righteousness, before our brethren in such a way that the message of the True Witness to the last church had a most solemn and. uncomfortable application to their own hearts as leaders and. as gospel ministers. Proud of their attainments, their authorship and books, their progress, their evidences of the Lord s past blessing in their lives and ministry, yes, of their own righteousness, they were not willing to have their glory rudely laid in the dust even by a Divine hand.

They were not willing, as Jacob at Peniel was wining, to confess the heart s utter unworthiness, to fall upon the Rock, and let all the proud dignity of the ministerial self be broken, crucified. They were not willing to become wholly new bottles in order to be filled with the new wine of the loud cry message. The reason: it verily presented the offence of the cross. Be assured., dear brethren, that such a message will come to each of us ere the end; and the only place of safety for us will be that blessed. spot where the glory of man is laid in the dust. It will be no easier for us than it was for them! Wieland-Short Answer - 361 52. Again, the 1888 message was intended. by its Divine Author to be the beginning of that light which is to lighten the earth with its glory the beginning or initial outpouring of the latter rain. It complemented that which was first understood thirty-two years before to be the Laodicean message. Accepted, it would have grown in beauty and power until it finished the work of God in the earth, and. prepared our brethren themselves of seventy years ago for translation. (Cf. 1T 186-8). Thus it was the message which was to have become the glory and triumph of the movement, the head stone of the corner. But, true to past historical pattern, it became the stone which the builders refused. And more than that, the Minneapolis message was an invitation from the Bridegroom to the one whom He loved to prepare herself to be His sympathetic and understanding Bride. But she had put off her coat; how could. she put it on? She had washed her feet; how should she defile them? In His divine and tender persistence, the disappointed Lover put in His hand by the hold of the door. But the Bride was not ready, still unwilling, still undecided. When at length, very belatedly, she ventured, to open to Him the door, He had withdrawn Himself; the invitation of the ages must now be deferred, to give her the experience of seeking, until in the fulness of time her heart is sick of love. Thoughtful and reverent students of the Holy Scriptures have discerned for centuries what we have not yet seen, the clear reference in the Laodicean message to the Song of Songs. Certainly the figure of Christ standing before the door can be applied to the appeal of the Holy Spirit at the door of the individual heart; for nearly 2000 years Christians have applied it in this way. The individual Christian is free to apply any portion of any of the messages to the seven churches to his personal need at any time. But is it not true that each of the messages applies in particular to the church as a body in seven consecutive periods of history? And is it not therefore an overwhelming truth Wieland-Short Answer - 362

53. that the message to Laodicea has a specific and precise application to the corporate Seventh-day Adventist church, this people to whom has been entrusted His everlasting gospel which no other people fully understands, this people who have been invited with an invitation such as no previous community of God s people have ever been honored? Knox translates the appeal vividly, emphasizing the presence of the Greek article that singles out this people as the one, of all the seven, who is truly in need, and pitiably so: I am rich, thou sayest, I have come into my own; nothing, now, is wanting to me. And all the while, if thou didst but know it, it is thou who art to be pitied. Thou art a beggar, blind and naked; and my counsel to thee is, to come and buy from me what thou needest.* Is it not a picture that touches our cold, proud hearts as leaders? Here is Christ Himself, the Bridegroom, who says, (Rev. 3:20) I have taken My stand at the door, and. am knocking, knocking. . . Is there no response of that tender sympathetic love which only a Bride can feel for the One she loves: It is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled.: for My head is filled with dew and My locks with the drops of the night. (Cant. 5:2) Honestly, can we insist that we let Him in seventy years ago? Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Does not anyone ** hear the Bridegroom s voice? Sister white, who had never lost her first love for Jesus since the 1844 days, immediately recognized that divine ________________________ * Note: Our proud but pathetic denominational claim to what we now call this doctrine fairly leaps at one from the Greek of Rev. 3:17. Rendered quite literally it is: Thou sayest, Rich I am, and I have been rich (or enriched), (peplout ka, perfect tense), and not any need have I! And thou knowest not that thou art the wretched one, and the pitiable one. The use of the perfect tense for the iterated claim of being rich indicates the emphasis on a sincere but sadly mistaken assumption of an historioal enrichment in the past. Yet that which is claimed is the very thing the True Witness says is decidedly lacking, i.e., a reception of the righteousness of Christ. ** Note: Greek, tis, in Rev. 3:20, anyone sometimes translated someone, a certain one. Wieland-Short Answer - 363

54. Voice in the strange message presented at Minneapolis. Continually she talked about it, pled with the brethren for years, until it finally became evident that the disappointed Divine Lover must pass on for the present and await a future generation. The above concept of the genius of the 1888 message the authors tried to explain in the Manuscript. In fact, it is the very thesis of the essay. It is recognized that Appraisal unequivocally rejects that thesis, or concept. Apparently we two are fools thus to believe it in the face of the persistent and emphatic rejection of it by the General Conference. If fools we are, so let it be; but, God helping us, we shall be honest about it, and confess that we believe it all the more after reading Appraisal. Appraisal thus apparently rejecting that concept on behalf of this generation, it seems that, short of a miraculous awakening among God s people, there must now be another wait of many years for a new generation to face the facts and humble their hearts, in honesty, before the Bridegroom. The disappointment that such a realization brings to us is as nothing compared to the disappointment it must bring to the heart of God. Can we not realize His sorrow? Do we not sense the tragedy of His defeated purpose for His people and what it means to His heart? Does anything since Calvary give us a more impressive glimpse of the eternal cross in the heart of God, the bitterness of His disappointment with those who profess to love Him? Precisely because this church is the one supreme object of His regard, and will ever remain so, He will bow to our choice, and wait. The authors are criticized for not quoting more Scripture in the Manuscript. Very much could have been quoted, for the Bible is full of references to the pitiable need in these last days of the Seventh-day Adventist church, who are indeed the remnant of His heritage. The truth leaps at us continually from the pages of Holy Scripture, as well as from nearly every chapter of our denominational history. But those who cannot read the Wieland-Short Answer - 364 55. plain significance of the past seventy years of denominational history are not prepared to consider the import of profound Scripture written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.* They have been as blind to its meaning as were the Jews in their day, who like us, builders like ourselves, refused the Head Stone of their edifice of truth.

15. THE STATEMENTS CONCERNING BAAL-WORSHIP

The authors of 1888 Re-examined are cleared of the charge of unethical handling of Ellen G. White statements. Closer examination of the contexts, and of her other writings, has substantiated their positions in the Manuscript in each of the items specified in Appraisal. It is now obvious that a deep-seated prejudice and aversion to the conclusions of the Manuscript inspired a desire to discredit it on the score of literary ethics. The more widely Appraisal is circulated, the more apparent will this become to thoughtful readers. It now becomes necessary to inquire just how seriously and carefully have the many members of the General Conference Committee considered the document which they have now voted so emphatically to repudiate. Very superficial attention has evidently been paid to this important matter, as evidenced by the two abortive attempts to refute the Manuscript, of 1951 and 1958. These two reports now make obvious and final the rejection of the appeal made in 1950; neither supports the decision. _________________________ * Cf. Appraisal, p. 49. Actually there are no less than 132 direct Scripture references in the Manuscript text often in quotation marks, not counting mere allusions, and references in exhibits. The difficulty is merely that the authors did not frequently cite chapter and verse, as the Manuscript was written only for General Conference attention. Appraisal contains one Scripture reference. Wieland-Short Answer - 365 56. Two unsuccessful attempts to refute a document over a period of eight years will raise questions as to whether there might be, after all, something to its conclusions.* (a) What the Manuscript does and does not say. It nowhere makes a statement remotely implying that Baal-worship is inherent in genuine Seventhday Adventist theology, as it is in Roman Catholic and. popular Protestant theology. Rather, it reiterates the firm conviction that the Seventh-day Adventist church is the only one in the world today which fulfills the prophecies of Revelation l4:12, and that, by God s grace, it will continue to be so until the end. Further, it states just as clearly that those who have not bowed the knee to Baal, the honest in heart who are still the 7000 will in the denouement to the present struggle assert themselves as the strongest and dominant element in the church if not the most numerical. (See Manuscript, pp. 4, 155.) It does not make an all-inclusive sweeping charge against the denomination. Note the opening paragraph of Chapter 11, p. 138. The parallel is drawn between our present spiritual state and that of Israel of old, noting that it required many years for them to sink into the spiritual stupor

of the days of Ahab. In her darkest days of apostasy, Israel had not been transformed into Babylon, but was still God s true people. The seven thousand loyal to the true Christ today (many more numerically, of course), true to pattern either lack the insight or the courage to call the spiritual declension by its right name, and identify it for what it is. The 1888 history having been falsified and obscured, it is difficult for them to trace the origin of the apostasy and to grasp its full implications. ____________________ * Among many in different parts of the world who have, despite the General Conference ban on the Manuscript, obtained It surreptitiously, there is a growing concern about this very matter. Note the publication in These Times for November and December, 1958, word for word excerpts from the Manuscript on the subject of Baal-worship. The Seventh-day Adventist conscience, once aroused, will insist on a thorough investigation of this frightfully Serious matter. Wieland-Short Answer - 366 57. (b) The definition and. identification of Baal-worship. Early in the discussion the term was defined as follows, to avoid the confusion and. misrepresentation which superficial reading seems now to arouse: Self, as will be seen in the later chapters of this essay, is the great avenue by which Baal will find an entrance. Ultimate Baal worship is self-worship, and the term Baal refers to the fact that such self-worship is camouflaged. as Christ-worship. (Manuscript, p. 148; see note below.*) This sin while not identified as such, is thought to be sufficiently widespread among the ministry of the denomination today to warrant the inclusion of a pointed. cartoon in the upper right-hand. corner of page 5 of the fourth quarter, 1958, Senior Division Sabbath School Quarterly. It may be objected that the same sin was very prevalent among the ministry in the years preceding 1888; and that its incidence today can therefore not be considered a fulfillment of the prediction of Baal worship on the part of many among us in consequence of the Minneapolis sin, as found in Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 467, 468. The answer becomes obvious when the paradox is examined. We profess to be enriched with a clearer understanding and a deeper acceptance of righteousness by faith as the result of receiving the blessings of the 1888 message. Our brethren of that era were very prominently legalistic, and. made no such lofty professions as we do now. Since it is true that our spiritual ministry today is to a large degree nullified by our love of self as was that just prior to 1888, it follows that our stronger professions

of love to Christ than theirs, and our greater claims to Christ centered preaching are proportionately vain. Is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself [prove myself, RSV] a transgressor. (Gal. 2:17, 18.) Sin is basically the love of self, for the lover of self is a transgressor of the law. _________________________ * There is, of course, an analogous didactical identification examined at length in two long chapters. Wieland-Short Answer - 367 58. (COL, p. 392.) It is plain therefore that this minister of sin active today in the ministry of the church is not the true Christ, but the false Christ, or Baal. (c) The contrast between Baal-worship and genuine love for the true Christ. The spiritual experience of the pioneers of this work in the early Advent Movement and in the years following the Great Disappointment is in contrast with that of today. They knew the Lord Jesus intimately, and loved Him ardently. This is stated in the Manuscript as follows: No one can deny the genuineness of the Christian experience enjoyed by those who passed. through the l844 movement. Jesus was precious to the saints who looked for His coming. They were in love with Him, and their hearts were undivided in deep, sincere devotion. . . The Seventh-day Adventist church was conceived in a time indicated by prophecy to be an experience of genuine love and was born in a travail of soul on the part of the little flock who recognized, and would not surrender their faith in a genuine manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Thus she was well born. In her early years, she loved her precious Jesus with a true heart, and the genuine work of the Spirit of God was recognized. Her later difficulties stem from the tragic experience of leaving that first love, and a consequent failure to recognize the true Holy Spirit. (1888 Re-examined, p. 5.) The 1888 message was sent by the Lord to make His people and especially His ministers aware that they had left their first love. The phrase occurs times almost without number in Mrs. White s message of that era. But the 1888 message is seriously misunderstood today. It is thought to have been merely a re-emphasis of .the doctrine of righteousness by faith. That view embraces such a minute fraction of the whole, that it constitutes a really false impression. The 1888 message was a call to return to the first love, a repentance and contrition preparatory to receiving the spiritual experience consistent with the final cleansing of the sanctuary. Its reception would have involved a humbling of heart and contrition unprecedented in the history

of the movement. The reactionary spirit that then prevailed is revealed as follows: In our lodging house we were hearing a good many rumours about Sister White favoring Elder Waggoner, that he was one of her pets. The Wieland-Short Answer - 368 59. spirit of controversy was up, and when the delegates came in from the last meeting of the day there was simply babble, with much laughter and joking and some very disgusting comments were being made, no spirit of solemnity prevailing. A few did not engage in the hilarity. No worship hour was kept, and anything but the solemnity that should have been felt and manifested on such an occasion was present. Four or five of us who were feeling deeply over the condition that existed decided to have a season of worship before we retired, and as soon as we arrived at our lodging place, before the crowd came in we were engaged in worship and praying very earnestly that the Lord would help us and His people see the true light, and to rebuke the spirit of debate that was driving the Spirit of God from a good many hearts. A few came in while we were praying, but when the bulk of the delegates got in the same spirit of confusion and criticism prevailed. (Eld. C. McReynolds, Experiences While at the General Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1888; D. File 189.) Brother McReynolds and his praying companions might today have been classed among the unbalanced. But it seems that his opinion was nevertheless correct. All assembled in that meeting [Minneapolis] had. an opportunity to place themselves on the side of truth by receiving the Holy Spirit, which was sent by God in such a rich current of love and mercy. But in the rooms occupied by some of our people, was heard ridicule, criticism, jeering, laughter. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit were attributed to fanaticism. Who searched the Scriptures, as did the noble Bereans to see if the things they heard were so? Who prayed for divine guidance? The scenes which took place at this meeting made the God of heaven ashamed to call those who took part in them His brethren. (Ellen G. White, Letter to O. A. Olsen, May 31, 1896.) Mrs. White speaks of something very common today: I have been pained to hear so much jesting and joking among old and

young as they are seated at the dining table. I have inquired, Are these men aware that there is by their side a watcher who is disgusted with their spirit and the influence which they exert, and is making a record of their words and actions? Will our ministers, young and old, countenance these things?. . . If the truth as it is in Jesus abides in our hearts, it will sanctify our lives. Our speech will not be evil. . . What are our young men doing? Jesus is waiting to bind up their hearts with His great heart of love, to bind, their interests with His own. He says to them, Young men, flee youthful lusts. Will you obey His voice? You are surely not doing this now. (MS. 8a, 1888; Oct. 21, 1888.) Oh, your levity, your speeches are all written in the book. If you only knew how Christ has regarded your religious attitude at this meeting! . . . Wieland-Short Answer - 369 60. . . . All pride, all selfishness, all self-importance must be cut away from all teachers. All the sangfroid which is so common, the theatrical gestures, all lightness and trifling, all jesting and joking, must be seen by the one who wears Christ s yoke to be not convenient, an offense to God and a denial of Christ. (Ibid.) It is in order to inquire now, When was it in Seventh-day Adventist history that we did indeed return to our first love of the l844 era? As a people, and as a world body of workers we surely have not yet done so! The authors of 1888 Re-examined do not believe, and surely the General Conference Committee cannot believe, that the organized Seventh-day Adventist church, as the Laodicean church, has finally been spewed out of the mouth of the Lord, and that God s true people must quit her in order to join a separate Philadelphian church existing concurrently with the Laodicean. Yet, carried to its logical ends, the supposition that we have already as a result of a pseudo-acceptance of the 1888 message, returned to our first love will force either a conclusion near to that, or a recognition that the inspired prediction of infatuation with Baal worship has been fulfilled. before our eyes today. The next step for Laodicea, logically, is denominational repentance, an experience unique in history; and consequent reconciliation with the true Christ. Thus the judgment-hour Laodicean message, itself as unique in Holy Writ as denominational repentance will be unique in history, will achieve its purpose in the victory of the church over the sin for which it is reproved.*

____________________ *It is readily conceded that there is a strong aversion on the part of many among the leadership today to this view of the duty incumbent on the church to confess and repent as an organization. It is thought that there cannot be a denominational repentance, and apparently, such is not desired. Which of the two believes a denominational repentance to be impossible Christ or Satan? Which of the two desires that there shall never be a denominational repentance? Satan hopes to involve the remnant people of God in the general ruin that is coming upon the earth. (Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 294, 295.) It is well to avoid as far as possible areas of agreement with him. Wieland-Short Answer - 370 61. (d) Denominational apostasy and repentance vs. individual sin and repentance. Appraisal, p. 3, item (e). The thrust of the call for denominational repentance is parried by those who declare that the Lord requires only that we individually repent of our own personal sins; that the latter rain will come when we as individuals get ready for it; that the Lord does not require us to confess the rejection of the latter rain by our predecessors in holy office and sacred responsibility. It is granted that the body of Christ is made up of individuals, each of whom bears individual responsibility. But this does not mean that the remnant church of Revelation 12:17 is merely an unorganized number of honest-hearted individuals, within and without the denominated Seventh-day Adventist church. The latter as a denomination fulfills the prophecy of Revelation. It is a corporate body, even the body of Christ. This true remnant church, the Seventh-day Adventist church, is to be fitted so to understand and sympathize with the heart of Christ that she will have made herself ready to become His wife. While it is granted that this is also to be an individual experience, it is only a part of the glorious fulfillment of the plan of God, and must not be confused for the whole. The bride of Christ is one, though composed of many individuals. She is repeatedly personified. in the Scriptures. The simple fact is that she refused the tender appeal of her Lord in the 1888 era. How she did it is made very clear from our history: the leaders influenced the church either to neglect or to refuse the message. The scope of the complementary repentance is to be the same process in sanctified reverse. On this point of confession some Scriptures were quoted in a letter of February 27, 1952, written in answer to the 1951 General Conference Report, preceded by the remarks: If as you say it is not according to God s plan and purpose for the present leadership of the movement to make acknowledgment

Wieland-Short Answer - 371 62. or confession or that our proposal is not according to God s plan in His dealings; that we do not find the Lord requiring of the next generation that they confess the mistakes of the generation before if this is the case, then the following plain words of the Lord demand some careful study. The Scriptures were: If they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they have trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary unto Me; and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and. have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember My covenant. (Lev. 26:40-42.) Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all which is written concerning us. (2 Kings 22:13.) Great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book. (2 Chron. 34:2l.) O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our heads, and our trespass is gown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day. (Ezra 9:6, 7.) We have sinned against Thee: both I and my father s house have sinned. (Neh. 1:6.) We have sinned with our fathers. . . Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt. (Psalm 106:5, 6.) Baal-worship has always devoured the fruit of our father s toil, their flocks and their herds, their sons and daughters. Let us lie down then in our shame, let our dishonour cover us; for we have sinned against our God, both we and our fathers, from our youth until now, and never have we listened to the voice of our God. (Jer. 3:24, 25, Moffatt.)

The Seventh-day Adventist church Is the corporate people of God just as decidedly as was Israel and Judah and Jerusalem of Old. Note the clear word: O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off. . . O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee. . . . Yea, all Israel have transgressed Thy law, even by Wieland-Short Answer - 372 63. departing, that they might not obey Thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. . . . O Lord, according to all Thy righteousness, I beseech Thee, let Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. . . . Whiles I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel. (Daniel 9:7-20.) Daniel said, All Israel have transgressed . . . therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses. Were there not some, perhaps many, who remained faithful? Were not Daniel himself and some of his companions, and his parents, among the faithful ones? Did. not Daniel have as much right as we today to deny the imputation of corporate sin upon His people? We believe that the Holy Spirit of God still indites the following words with a present application: The ministers of the word, and others who fill responsible positions, as well as the body of the church, need this spirit of humility and. contrition. . . The prophet Daniel was drawing very near to God when be was seeking Him with confession and humiliation of soul. He did not try to excuse himself or his people, but acknowledged the full extent of their transgression. In their behalf he confessed sins of which he himself was not guilty, and besought the mercy of God, that he might bring his brethren to see their sins, and with him to humble their hearts before the Lord. But I am speaking of actual mistakes and errors that those who

really love God and the truth sometimes commit. There is manifested on the part of men in responsible positions an unwillingness to confess where they have been in the wrong; and their neglect is working disaster, not only to themselves, but to the churches. Our people everywhere have great need of humbling the heart before God, and confessing their sins. But when it is known that their ministers, elders, or other responsible men, have taken wrong positions, and yet excuse themselves and make no confession, the members of the church too often follow the same course. Thus many souls are endangered, and the presence and power of God are shut away from His people. (Review and Herald, March 16, 1890.) Wieland-Short Answer - 373 64. (e) Does Ellen G. White Mean What She Says When She Speaks of Baal Worship? Appraisal, p. 48, paragraph 3. What does the following clear statement mean? The prejudices and opinions that prevailed at Minneapolis are not dead by any means; the seeds sown there in some hearts are ready to spring into life and bear a like harvest. The tops have been cut down, but the roots have never been eradicated, and they still bear their unholy fruit to poison the judgment, pervert the perceptions, and blind the understanding of those with whom you connect, in regard to the message and the messengers. . . There has been a departure from God among us, and the zealous work of repentance and return to our first love essential to restoration to God and regeneration of heart has not yet been done. Infidelity has been making its inroads into our ranks; for it is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give place to skepticism. With many the cry of the heart has been, We will not have this man to reign over us. Baal, Baal, is the choice. The religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own way, and forsake the way of the Lord. The true religion, the only religion of the Bible, that teaches forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, and rejected. It has been denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism. (Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 467, 468; emphasis supplied.) Appraisal leaves us to suppose that these words, written in 1890,

have reference to Baal worship only up to the time some months afterwards when certain noble confessions were made, unity was supposedly restored, and all was again harmonious. It is assumed that this testimony just could not have reference to us today in 1950, or 1958 as the case now is. But Mrs. White continues her inspired prophecy, as can be read on pages 468 and 469, and unveils the sad truth that these conditions she has described will continue in the church until the time of the ultimate outpouring of the latter rain. A clear explanation of this prophecy is incumbent on those who so decidedly reject the interpretation in 1888 Re-examined. The authors of the manuscript requested such an explanation in paragraph 7 of their letter dated February 27, 1952, in reply to the 1951 report. Wieland-Short Answer - 374 65. 16. THE ROAD OF DISILLUSIONMENT, THE DETOUR AND GAINING GROUND One more point should be mentioned before the Conclusion. Appraisal states on page 145: The assertion of page 202 that denominationally we have traveled the road. of disillusionment since the Minneapolis meeting of 1888 is wholly without support and is in serious conflict with Mrs. White s statement of 1907 declaring that as Bible Christians we have ever been on gaining ground. The authors would respectfully request that section (a) of page 202 be read again, carefully. Also, that Chapter X (pp. 121-137) be considered to note what the Manuscript actually says. There seems to be a distortion of its statements. Kindly note that it did not say anywhere that we as a denomination have been on a wrong road since 1888 or 1893. What it did say was that: What we failed to believe at Minneapolis, we must therefore learn through traversing a devious detour of many years duration, a detour actually of our own devising, wherein the evil apostasy of our own hearts would become incontrovertibly apparent to our own eyes, through the facts of our own unfortunate history. . . . . . . [this] will only deepen Israel s love for the truth which she spurned before the detour began. God s patient wisdom will win at last, because it is the wisdom of love, a truly divine strategy. (p. 121.)

It will be evident that a detour is quite a different thing from a wrong road. Every step we take through our full seventy years or beyond, should we wish it so, while traversing our Detour is gaining ground, The Detour is expressly declared to be leading us right to that same spiritual experience offered us in 1888. Thus it is apparent that there is no conflict between these statements and the 1907 statement in question. Wieland-Short Answer - 375 66. CONCLUSION Appraisal declares that the authors of 1888 Re-examined drew their conclusions from inadequate sources of information which resulted in numerous inaccuracies ; that the authors have revealed considerable amateurishness in both research and use of facts. (Pages 1 and 47.) The 1951 Report of the Defense Literature Committee, while unequivocally negative, stated the opposite opinion as follows: The Manuscript gives every evidence of earnest, diligent, and painstaking effort. (Page 1 of Report.) This reveals some confusion that would hardly have been evident had there been an unprejudiced and objective study of the manuscript. The first report condemned the manuscript because it was too critical and might lead to unsettling confidence in the church leadership; but it did not deal with its subject matter as such. The second report of seven years later rests its case on a charge not even mentioned in the first report, that of an alleged unethical use of Ellen G. White statements, which is assumed to discredit the manuscript. Again, no answer is given to its subject matter beyond rejecting it, that being considered unnecessary once the charge of misusing the Spirit of Prophecy is established. The authors humbly and respectfully submit that there is no question but that they have used Ellen G. White statements honestly, reasonably, and in harmony with her expressed intent. The more research is continued, the more completely is this vindication evident in statements hitherto unknown. Were the messenger of the Lord living today, it is difficult to see how she could any more decidedly come and take her stand by the side of the historical picture presented in the Manuscript. Why there is such determined opposition to this picture is hard to understand. Recognition of the facts would not shake confidence in Wieland-Short Answer - 376 67. the Lord s leading of His people; rather, it would greatly strengthen it.

Repentance and contrition on the part of the ministerial leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist church would encourage the same in the laity. In the long run, nothing is damaged by the confession of pertinent truth but self-conceit. The authors have presented what they believe to be the obvious significance of our denominational history, which should and will lead to humble confession and repentance, and reconciliation with the Lord Jesus. No effort to oppose the truth can in the end succeed. No weapon that is formed against it can prosper; every tongue that shall rise against it in judgment it will condemn. Such a confession is not an unknown thing in our history. A more thorough and deeper one than the following example would now be in order: Several times of late the Lord. has been obliged to state that His Testimonies have been really disregarded by those who thought they believed them. He says, The reproofs and warnings from the Lord have been evaded, and interpreted and made void by the devices of men. One device to evade them, He says, was to frame flimsy excuses. He says they were interpreted and made void, by men putting their own construction upon them, saying that they did not mean thus and so. He says the Testimonies have been argued away. He says, They mean just as stated ; but that those whom the Lord has warned, feel that the warning means something else; they explain it to signify exactly the opposite of that which the Lord has said. (Statement of the General Conference Committee, April 8, 1897, introducing Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers, No. 9.) If there is one lesson that history teaches, it is that history itself cannot be changed. Seventh-day Adventist history is an architectural foundation of record, confirmed by abundant testimony from the inspired servant of the Lord. It may for a time be hidden and falsified by misrepresentation and distortion; but it cannot now be altered, howsoever much we may be personally humbled by it all. That unalterable foundation laid for us requires now the erection upon it of a superstructure befitting its grand design. We must produce a present and Wieland-Short Answer - 377 68. future history which will complement it in righteousness. We are warned., every man of us, to take heed how we build on a foundation that is already laid down for us. However much we may be condemned for expressing these convictions, we repeat that there is in Seventh-day Adventist history a grand and profound design of Providence that will lead this

people to a heart-felt reconciliation with the Lord such as no previous community of God s people have ever experienced. Our experience of selfdeception, as the ministers or messenger of the Laodicean church, has been a pitiable one, an outstanding one, among the Seven Churches. Our repentance and contrition will be very similar to that of Peter, before his Pentecost. But our Pentecost will certainly not precede our contrition that is what we tried to point out eight years ago; it must follow. When the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem see how they have pierced the One whom they shall at last look upon, there will be a very wholesome and genuine experience, a humbleness of spirit and a brokenness of heart. The vision of Christ crucified by us will lead to self crucified among us. Then genuine progress will be made. Then there will be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and. for uncleanness. When the elders fall upon the Rock and are broken, our youth also will find their hearts strangely warmed. The true Christ, still the despised. and rejected One, the Man of sorrows and still acquainted with grief, whose disappointment is beyond description, will be glorified before His people. This denominational experience, though all will not receive it, is encompassed in the complementary work of the cleansing of the sanctuary. The glorious finishing of the work, envisaged in Revelation l8:l-24, will follow quickly. All heaven will rejoice when once the Bride repents and makes herself ready. Wieland-Short Answer - 378 69. The building we are to erect upon the foundation of our history is not that of denominational pride and stubborn impenitence that now glitters impressively before our eyes. The final display of the glory of the Lord can enter no temple of our building, except that of repentance and humbling of heart before Him. We have deeply wronged Him who loves us so truly; our stubbornness has been unsurpassed in the annals of sacred history, unless we except Calvary. But can we do so, in the light, of those many inspired statements likening our 1888-1901 history to that of the Jews? How thankful we should be that there is indeed a work of atonement to be accomplished in the final cleansing of the sanctuary. If any people ever needed an atonement to be made for them, it is ourselves. We fully recognize that the Lord will in no wise force His people. As we said in the Manuscript, He is a Divine Gentleman. If we will not keep step with Him, He will humble Himself to keep step with us. Love can do nothing else. But conscience forces us to recognize that even divine patience has an end, as well as ends. The Lord will humbly and graciously wait upon

His people, up to a point. It seems to us, if we are capable of reason, that the accomplishment this month of seventy full years of stubborn resistance of the light of the loud cry is ample opportunity for trying that divine patience. The alternatives seems to be continual protracted delay in the finishing of the Lord s work in the earth for further decades, perhaps even into the next century or beyond! Such a concept of patience is incompatible with justice and righteousness, and above all, with the love the Lord has expressed for a world in darkness that still have not had opportunity to understand His final message of warning. Where that point is that marks the end of divine patience, no human mind knows; and we would not hazard a guess. Humbly and earnestly we would warn, let us Beware of crossing it! Infatuation with Spiritualism in an extremely subtle form must be the consequence. Wieland-Short Answer - 379 70. Lastly, if anything in this Analysis of Appraisal seems to be disrespectful, critical, or presumptions to your dignity as the Lord s appointed leaders of His work, His anointed, we assure you that it is not so intended to be. Circumstances have required that we speak frankly. We reaffirm our position as expressed in our letter to you of February 27, 1952, that we recognize the General Conference (in world Session) to be the highest body God has placed on earth, and that this matter is your responsibility. So far as we know now, you wish to close your file on this matter, for we are well aware of your unequivocal rejection of our previous representations to you. We may indeed be fools and worse than that; but we believe that the lateness of the hour and the fact that the world still awaits the glorious proclamation of God s last message to it, requires that someone speak his honest convictions without let or hindrance or repression. We love you brethren, and we love the Seventhday Adventist church; and we believe that we love the disappointed Lord who shed His blood for this church, and who loves her with a love past our present knowledge. We trust this whole matter, and ourselves, to His care. We know that His infinite wisdom of unfathomable love includes a divine strategy to bring His people to contrition and final reconciliation with Himself. Now that we have read Appraisal, we know that it is only a matter of time. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and. knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and. His ways past finding out! . . . For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. R. J. Wieland. D. K. Short

(This document is strictly private and may not be published or reproduced in any form for circulation.) Wieland-Short Answer - 380 WIELAND-SHORT MANUSCRIPT COMMITTEE REPORT As Received By the Officers

PRINCIPAL CONTENTIONS of Brethren R. J. Wieland and D. K. Short

1. Brethren Wieland and Short maintain that we our church or denomination rejected the light on righteousness by faith at the 1888 General Conference session, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This thought is emphasized again and again throughout the document. This charge is unfounded. We cannot find a single statement in the writings of Sister White which supports it. She says, despised by some (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 89), those who despised (Ibid., p. 97). Similar expressions are frequent in her writings relative to this matter. Brother A. T. Jones, who was one of the two who gave the studies in Minneapolis, stated, in his talk before the General Conference session in 1893, in referring to the Minneapolis session, I know that some there accepted it; others rejected it entirely. . . . Others tried to stand half way between, and get it that way. General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p l85. Elder A. G. Daniells, who became president of the General Conference a few years later, writes, in his book Christ Our Righteousness: The message was not received alike by all who attended the Conference; in fact, there was serious difference of opinion concerning it among the leaders. This division of opinion may be classified as follows: Class l. it. . . . Those who saw great light in it and gladly accepted

Class 2. There were some, however, who felt uncertain about the new teaching, as they termed it. They seemed unable to grasp it. . . Class 3. But there were others who were decidedly opposed to the presentation of the message. Christ Our Righteousness, pp. 4l, 42.

Third General Conference Report - 381 -2No action was taken, by the delegates in session, to reject the message. How many were involved in the opposition group, we have no way of knowing. From various sources, we have discovered that the following men had joined on the wrong side in the struggle: G. I. Butler, Uriah Smith, J. H. Morrison, R. A. Underwood, W. W. Prescott, G. G. Rupert, I. D. Vanhorn, W. H. Littlejohn, LeRoy Nicola, and Madison Miller. From Sister White s pen we learn that Brethren Smith, Prescott, Rupert, Vanhorn, and Nicola confessed their wrongs. Of others in the group she wrote: I understand that Bro. Morrison and Madison Miller and others are coming into the light, where they may be a blessing to others, E. G. White letter, April 24, l893. We have no mention of a confession by Elder Butler, but when he came back into the work, after an absence of a number of years due to the prolonged illness of his wife, Sister White expressed her joy, both by pen and orally, (See Ms. 124, 1902; letter 121, 1904; General Conference Bulletin, April 14., 1903; letter Nov. 30, 1910.) There can be no question, therefore, about Brother Butler s attitude at that time. In the case of Brother Underwood, we have no record of a confession, but the chairman of this committee (on the Wieland-Short manuscript) declares: Brother Underwood became president of the Northern Union Conference when I was a young worker in Minnesota. At one of our camp meetings I heard him preach one of the clearest and most stirring sermons that I ever heard on the subject of righteousness by faith. I can still remember the illustration he used to show what it means for a man to be covered with the robe of Christ s righteousness. Two other men who were involved in the opposition were Brethren A. R. Henry and C. Eldridge, both of them prominent leaders in the Review and Herald publishing house. Sister White reproved Elder O. A. Olsen, the Third General Conference Report - 382 -3General Conference president, for taking Brother Henry, the manager of the Review and Herald, into his counsels and on long trips with him. In time, these men, A. R. Henry and C, Eldridge, left both the work and the church, 2. They maintain that the confessions made by Uriah Smith and others who had been in opposition at the Minneapolis meeting were not sincere. As proof they quote a warning sent by Sister White to Brother Smith some time

afterward counseling him to be careful. This is no proof that Brother Smith was not sincere. The Bible contains many a warning for the saints to take heed lest they fall. We ask, What right do Brethren Wieland and Short have to judge the motives of men who with tears confessed their wrongs? 3. They maintain that every failure of God s people to follow the light shining upon their pathway for the past century must be completely rectified by the present generation before the remnant church can be granted any divine vindication before the world. Ms. p. 2. This thought is carried throughout the manuscript, and on page 199 they add: The recognition of the truth of our history will require, of course, a confession of the iniquity of our fathers, that we are their true spiritual descendants, and have done no better. It will be a recognition of the truth of the Minneapolis refusal to accept the very gift we are now demanding with determination to receive. This is certainly contrary to the teachings of the Bible, which declares: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him (Ezek. 18:20). The same principle has been stated by Sr. White: Those who live in this day are not accountable for the deeds Third General Conference Report - 383 -4of those who crucified the Son of God. p. 226, col. 1. Review and Herald, April 11, 1893,

We have not found one single statement in the writings of Sister White calling upon the General Conference to confess the sins of the brethren who sinned in Minneapolis. The following quotation is a sample of what she did say at different times: The sin committed in what took place in Minneapolis remains on the record books of heaven, registered against the names of those who resisted light, and it will remain upon the record until full confession is made, and the transgressors stand in full humility before God. Letter to O. A. Olsen, Sept. 1, 1893. What was done in Minneapolis is past history. We cannot change it one iota. The only thing we can do now is to avoid, by the grace of God, a repetition of the mistake of those who opposed the message of God.

4. They maintain that Brethren A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner were hated and despised by the General Conference leaders after 1888. There is no evidence to prove that this was so, but there is evidence to the contrary. Brethren Jones and Waggoner were the principal speakers or Bible teachers at all the General Conference sessions for a number of years after 1888. At the morning meetings at the 1889 session, Brother Jones had the studies and spoke on righteousness by faith; in 1891, Brother Waggoner had sixteen; in 1893, Brother Jones had twenty-four; in 1895, Brother Jones had twenty-six; in 1897, Brother Jones had eleven, and Brother had nineteen; and in 1899 Brother Waggoner had three, and Brother Jones had seven. These facts would indicate that these men were held in high esteem by the responsible General Conference leaders. 5. They maintain that the light which came to the denomination in Minneapolis through Brethren A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, on the subject of righteousness by faith, lies buried in the archives and they demand that the studies Third General Conference Report - 384 -5given by these men at the 1888-1893 sessions be printed now. (See Ms., page 203, paragraph 7.) The studies given by these brethren in Minneapolis were not published in the General Conference Bulletin. Brother Daniells, on page 143 of his book Christ Our Righteousness, states that they were not published. Consequently, they are not to be found in our archives. Likewise, the studies given by Brother Jones at the 1889 session were not recorded in the bulletin, and therefore are not in our archives. The studies by Brother Waggoner at the 1891 Session were on the Book of Romans. At that Session the General Conference started the practice of publishing in the bulletin the Bible studies given by session speakers. These studies by Brother Waggoner thus were recorded in the 1891 Session Bulletins. 6. They maintain that the studies presented by Brethren A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner were more mature than anything that had ever been presented on the subject before. Here are their words: This chapter will present evidence to show that the message of 1888 was neither a restatement of the doctrine of Luther and Wesley, nor a mere reemphasis of the teachings of the Adventist pioneers; but that it was a more mature conception of the everlasting gospel than had ever been perceived by any previous generation of human beings, a preaching of righteousness by

faith more mature and developed, and more practical than had been preached even by the Apostle Paul. Ms. pp. 41, 42. This could hardly be true. They were not divinely inspired prophets of the Lord. They had received no prophetic vision. Their knowledge of the subject came from the writings of Paul and other Bible writers mostly from Paul. The studies covering the question of righteousness by faith given by Brethren E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones at the 1891 and 1893 General Conference sessions, we do not find to be more mature or essentially different Third General Conference Report - 385 -6from what we find in the writings of Sister White and some of our other authors. Beginning on page l05 of their manuscript, Brethren Wieland and Short admit that Brother A, T. Jones became confused in his studies on righteousness by faith at the 1893 sessions. Would it be wise, then, to publish these studies? 7. At this point, let us mention that in order to prove their contention that after 1888 the General Conference leaders opposed the light on righteousness by faith, Brethren Wieland and Short make use of messages from Sister White to the leaders reproving them for situations existing in Battle Creeks. Most of these messages related to the situation existing in our publishing house and sanitarium in Battle Creek. The issue was not over righteousness by faith, but over the concentration of power in Battle Creek, and over the wrong principles and evil practices in the institutions there. 8. They maintain that we are infatuated with a false Christ and are guilty of Baal worship. By way of explanation and in an effort to substantiate this, they make numerous statements, among which the following: a. The reader is reminded that Baal worship is something definitely not original with Israel, but is always imported from our neighbors. The very term Babylon signifying confusion, the reader will recognize that if present-day confusion is evident in our contemporary presentations of righteousness by faith, it must, necessarily, indicate a Babylonian influence infiltrating our thinking and experience. Such confusion is the haze and mysticism which permits the entrance of a false Christ into the picture.

Ms., p. 172. This investigation into contemporary Baal worship within Israel will be confined largely to the heart of the matter our teaching regarding righteousness by faith, the third angel s message in verity. There will be no attempt to define Baal Third General Conference Report - 386 -7worship by any vague term that would have little practical significance. Baal worship is a mistaking of the false Christ for the true Christ, and the confusion centers in the Christian experience of the believer. If our understanding of righteousness by faith is identical, or nearly identical, to that of Babylon, we have confused the great leader of apostasy with Christ our righteousness. Ibid., p. 173. If we understand rightly the above, the contention is that Babylonian infiltrations have been substituted within the church for divine truth. That at least is the implication, though in their efforts to present what they consider to be the true Christ, Brethren Wieland and Short quote extensively from a book by Garnier, a non-Adventist writer. Some of Garnier s views are correct; others definitely are not. It is evident that the authors views have been colored by Garnier s writings, and as we shall point out shortly, some of these views are contrary to the teachings of the Bible and the Spirit of prophecy. However, should we for this accuse Brethren Wieland and Short of Baal worship or of following a false Christ? Certainly we must recognize truth as truth and error as error whether Garnier or anyone else presents it. We judge not truth or error by where it comes from but by the teachings of God s Word. Yet, we must be most careful not to misjudge motives and intent, or to exaggerate the scope of a point on which there may be incomplete knowledge or understanding. In this connection the authors object to certain expressions used by some of our writers regarding atonement, expiation, the forgiveness of sin, the death of Christ, etc. Though some may have erred on one or other point when dealing with the theme of righteousness by faith, or the person of Christ, or any other doctrine, this certainly cannot be taken justly as an indication that the denomination has strayed from truth and is worshiping Baal or following a false Christ. Must not it be that a presentation that leads, even unwittingly, to such sweeping conclusions is wrong in fact and in spirit, and suggests the need of greater discernment and restraint? Third General Conference Report - 387 -8-

More directly to the point, we believe that those who read the many books from the pen of Sister White and our Seventh-day Adventist writers, will agree that in verity we have been presenting the Christ of the Bible. Our teaching regarding this Christ and righteousness by faith is summed up in our Church Manual. Here the church speaks officially and defines fundamental beliefs and doctrine. We quote: That Jesus Christ Is very God, being of the same nature and essence as the Eternal Father. While retaining His divine nature, He took upon Himself the nature of the human family, lived on the earth as a man, exemplified in His life as our example the principles of righteousness, attested His relationship to God by many mighty miracles, died for our sins on the cross, was raised from the dead, and ascended to the Father, where He ever lives to make intercession for us. That the law of ten commandments points out sin, the penalty of which is death. The law cannot save the transgressor from his sin, nor impart power to keep him from sinning. In infinite love and mercy God provides a way whereby this may be done. He furnishes a substitute, even Christ the righteous one, to die in man s stead, making him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Cor. 5:21. We are justified, not by obedience to the law, but by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. By accepting Christ, man is reconciled to God, justified by the blood of Christ for the sins of the past, and saved from the power of sin by His indwelling life. Thus the gospel becomes the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. This experience is wrought by the divine agency of the Holy Spirit, who convinces of sin and leads to the Sin Bearer, inducting believers into the new-covenant relationship, where the law of God is written on their hearts; and through the enabling power of the indwelling Christ, their lives are brought into conformity to the divine precepts. The honor and merit of this wonderful transformation belong wholly to Christ. Church Manual, pp. 29-31. The book Steps to Christ has been published in 83 languages of the church and approximately 9 million copies have been placed in circulation. In this book, on the glorious theme of righteousness by faith, the messenger of the Lord has written: We have no righteousness of our own, with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations, such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life, He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as

Third General Conference Report - 388 -9your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned. Steps to Christ, page 67. b. About the death of Christ, they write: The confusion is pointed by the fact that the false view requires the belief that the Son of God did not die; but only the Son of man, i.e., His body. Ms., p. 158. If this is the false view, then Sister White advocates the false view, for in ore of her letters she writes: When Christ was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die; that would have been impossible. Letter 280, 1904, quoted in The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol, 5, p. 1113. c. About expiation and atonement, they say: To speak of the expiatory sufferings of Christ conveys the idea that in some mysterious way sin was atoned for, and can therefore be condoned or overlooked by God. Such an idea is the very root and the strength of antinomianism. Human minds struggle in vain to grasp the meaning of the Cross, and are confused when sin is represented as atoned for at the Cross. The truth is that sin can not be atoned for by the true Christ (though the false Christ would like to find an atonement for it, and represents that there is such); but that the sinner can be reconciled to God s righteousness and delivered from the power of sin, which God still hates, and is therefore not reconciled to. Ms. p. 175. In the above paragraph, Brethren Wieland and Short contradict statements made by Sister White with reference to expiation and atonement. Note the following quotations: The plan was entered into by the Son of God, knowing all the steps in his humiliation, that he must descend to make an expiation for the sins of a condemned, groaning world. Review and Herald, July 5, 1887, p. 4l7. (Quoted by A. T. Jones in General Conference Bulletin, 1895, p. 332.)

When He offered Himself on the cross,. a perfect atonement was made for the sins of the people. Signs of the Times, June 28, 1899, p. 1, col. 1, quoted in Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine, p. 663. Third General Conference Report - 389 -10Our great High Priest completed the sacrificial offering of Himself when He suffered without the gate. Then a perfect atonement was made for the sins of the people. Ms. 128, 1897, quoted in Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine, p. 663.

d. About forgiveness of sin, they say: Invariably the deeper calls to progressive sanctification concern sins which were all the time present in the heart when the believer was saved. He was cleansed from all known sin, but not from all subconscious sin. Ms., pp. 188, 189. Our Bible says: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Here there is no reservation made for subconscious sins.

9. Brethren Wieland and Short devote pages to fine distinctions and hairsplitting arguments on justification and sanctification. Of such efforts Sister White wrote, many years ago: Many commit the error of trying to define minutely the fine points of distinction between justification and sanctification. Into the definitions of these two terms they often bring their own ideas and speculations. Why try to be more minute than is Inspiration on the vital question of righteousness by faith? The Faith I Live By, p. 116.

10. At this point, let us say that we deeply regret some of the brethren at the Minneapolis session opposed the message of righteousness by faith. They committed a grievous mistake by so doing. There is no question but that their opposition at the session and out in the field brought sorrow and disappointment to God and to many of His faithful children, and that

it deprived the cause of God of blessings that the Lord desired to bestow upon it without delay. We rejoice, however, that through the efforts of Sister White and some of the brethren the opposition gradually ceased. Confessions were Third General Conference Report - 390 -11made, and hearts were united. In 1907 Ellen G. White could say: As Bible Christians we ever have been on gaining ground. Some of us have been a long time in this work, and have visited our people all around the world, yet we cannot recall having found opposition to the doctrine of righteousness by faith anywhere. That there is need of a revival in our midst, we freely admit. If the church had been in the right spiritual condition and had done its duty we could have been in the kingdom before this.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OUR EXPERIENCE WITH BRETHREN WIELAND AND SHORT

1. Back in l950, Brethren R. J. Wieland and D. K. Short unburdened their hearts to a small committee that had been appointed to hear them. 2. After hearing Brethren Wieland and Short, the committee advised them to put their views in writing. This they did. 3, After reading the manuscript prepared by Brethren Wieland and Short, the committee reported to the General Conference Officers and suggested that a larger committee give careful study to the entire manuscript. As a result, the Officers assigned the manuscript to the Defense Literature Committee for their study. 4. In due time, the Defense Literature Committee informed Brethren Wieland and Short that they could not approve the document, and gave them the reasons why they could not approve it, Third General Conference Report - 391 -12-

5. Brethren Wieland and Short agreed not to circulate their manuscript. But some friend, or friends, who had obtained a copy, let it get into the hands of others, who have duplicated arid circulated it. Some who have read it are becoming confused and perplexed. 6. Brethren Wieland and Short let it be known that they had not changed their views, and that they wanted their manuscript re-examined and reappraised. Consequently, the Officers appointed a committee to re-examine and re-appraise the Wieland-Short manuscript, and expressed the hope that the committee would be ready to report before the General Conference session. However, owing to the fact that the members of this committee had to be away from the office much of the time until the General Conference session, the committee did not have at their disposal the necessary time required to deal with all features of the manuscript. In view of this situation, the committee hoped that a report on certain areas that they were able to deal with would suffice to make clear the weakness in the Wieland-Short manuscript. When our committee were ready to report, copies of our answer were placed in the hands of all the General Conference Officers including all the division presidents and the North American union presidents. In a meeting of this group, our document was received. 7. Instead of accepting the findings of the committee, Brethren Wieland and Short wrote a new voluminous document in defense of their original views. 8. Brethren Wieland and Short also wrote a letter to Brother A. L. Hudson. From this letter (dated October 24, 1958) I quote the last paragraph: We are therefore faced today with making our position clear. It is this. For eight years we have made every endeavor to respect the positions of our brethren in the General Conference. When we requested individuals not to reproduce the manuscript, it was because of this respect and deference. We have never desired to enter into controversy Third General Conference Report - 392 -13with the General Conference or to appeal the discussion to the church at large. We do not relish even the thought of controversy. But God forbid, that out of respect or deference to certain leaders or their leadership, we should deny truth! Actually we do not believe a very large segment of the General Conference is even acquainted with the manuscript 1888 Re-examined, hence Appraisal represents the reply of a very small group of men. Nonetheless it is issued under the name of the General Conference and must be accepted as such. For this we are very sorry, but thus history is being made. As the record will show, our brethren have had repeated requests over the past eight years to face up to the issue, all of which has

been to no avail. We can therefore no longer endeavor to shield our brethren in this matter, come what may. 10. Recently your committee spent seven hours with Brethren Wieland a1~id Short in an effort to understand more fully their work and to help them. The results of this interview have remained to date inconclusive.

CONCLUSIONS It may be asked: What is the objective or the real purpose of this 204-page document by Brethren R. J. Wieland and D. K, Short? After reading and rereading the Wieland-Short manuscript, we believe that it has a twofold purpose: First: To prove that at the General Conference session held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the year 1888, we our church or denomination rejected. the light sent to us by the Lord through Brethren A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner on the subject of righteousness by faith; that since then we have been on a detour, presenting hazy ideas regarding righteousness by faith; and that we have been infatuated with a false Christ. Second: That we can never get back on the track, and experience the full blessing of God in the outpouring of the latter rain, until the General Conference confesses that we rejected the light in Minneapolis. Third General Conference Report - 393 -14OUR ANSWER Certainly Brethren Wieland and Short have failed to prove that our church rejected the light in Minneapolis. Neither Brethren Wieland and Short nor anyone else can prove that this light was rejected, for the simple reason that it was not rejected. The facts are that there was no action taken to reject it. Some of those present opposed it, yes, but others accepted it with joy. It is our conviction that the charge that our presentation of righteousness by faith has been hazy is unfounded. That some writers may have used unfortunate expressions maybe true, but where can we find clearer, more beautiful, and more heart-warming presentations of the Bible subject of righteousness by faith than are found in the writings of Sister White? Many of our other writers also have set forth acceptably the same glorious

truth. Then, as recorded above, the church s statements in the Church Manual are clear and correct. The charge that we are infatuated with a false Christ and are presenting a false Christ is, we believe, unfounded. We must, record our inability to accept some of the things Brethren Wieland and Short say about the nature and work of Christ. The reason is that these statements are out of harmony with the writings of the Spirit of prophecy. When dealing with the mystery of godliness, it behooves us all to be very careful lest we express our own ideas instead of the truth of God. It is our conviction that Brethren Wieland and Short have not produced a single statement from the Spirit of prophecy writings to support their contention that God expects the General Conference to confess that we (our church) rejected the light in Minneapolis. All that can be produced are statements to the effect that those who rejected the light would have Third General Conference Report - 394 -15to confess this rejection if they wanted their sins removed from the record above. Some of them, Sister White tells us, did confess. How many may have failed to do so before they died, we do not know. Even though a considerable number may have failed to clear their record, the General Conference cannot change their destiny by now confessing for them. It is our conviction that it is not a confession of the sins of our forefathers that will bring the outpouring of the latter rain upon us in its fullness, but rather the confession of our own sins in failing to walk in the light which God has given us in His Word and in the writings of the Spirit of prophecy, not only on the doctrine of righteousness by faith, but on the entire gospel message.

The End.

Third General Conference Report - 395 Potomac University January 21, 1959 COPY Elder W. R. Beach, Secretary General Conference of S.D.A. Washington 12, D.C. Dear Elder Beach:

A little over eight years ago we presented a certain document to the General Conference Committee in which we endeavored to express frankly our deep convictions and concern. We left the matter before the Lord and in your care, and thereafter refrained from agitation or pressing our views before the Committee or the church. We have always felt it improper for us to appeal a matter such as this from the General Conference to the church at large. Hence our consistent and persistent refusal to grant anyone permission to reproduce our document. The 70-page document which we prepared recently was not presented to you with a desire to abandon our policy of the previous eight years. We decided to prepare it mainly because in a previous document rather widely circulated, our honesty and integrity were called in question, our manuscript being represented as a serious reflection upon the literary ethics of its authors. We felt that all would recognize we had a right at least to attempt to clear our characters of such an implication. Perhaps it was merely a selfish concern which motivated us. We recognize that a more perfect faith might have trusted the Lord to vindicate our literary ethics without our saying anything in self-defense. Perhaps our second document is a kind of Ishmael-treatise, written prematurely, in place of waiting patiently in faith for an Isaac defense to have come in due time providentially. Perhaps we pulled too hard on the oar of works . Whatever may be our mistake, we wish to state herewith our desire to leave this matter, to drop it henceforth and to continue as in the past to refrain from any agitation whatsoever or the pressing of our view upon the General Conference or the church. If our views and convictions are of the evil one, surely we must not press them. If, on the other hand, there is any truth in our presentations, the Lord can well take care of it without any assistance from ourselves. We do wish to say again, brethren, that we believe the corporate Seventh-day Adventist church is the one true remnant church, led of God, and we are thus happy to resign the whole matter to the disposition of Providence. We return to our mission field, therefore, with no desire to make an issue of our views there or elsewhere. We are grateful that it could be said of our service during the past eight years, The two brethren returned to their fields of labor and threw themselves wholeheartedly into their work of proclaiming the gospel message. We earnestly pray now that by the grace of the Lord the same may truthfully be said of our future service also. Sincerely yours, S/ R. J. Wieland D. K. Short

Wieland-Short Letter - 396 (This ends this manuscript.)