Timely Instruction and Predictions1
God Gave
Prophets are not always aware of the time to which visions apply. While in
Australia Ellen White wrote to a minister, reproving him for violating the
seventh commandment. The minister, perplexed by the testimony because he had
not committed adulterous acts, went to W. C. White for an explanation. Elder
White reminded him that men may draw fine distinctions in this area but God
looks at the heart. Within six months, this minister was dismissed from the
ministry for the problem for which Mrs. White had reproved him.2
Also while in Australia she was "shown a large building in Chicago . . .
elaborately furnished." She was perplexed when told that "no such building
was erected in Chicago." But she knew what she had seen in vision: "The Lord
showed me what men were planning to do. I knew that the testimony was true,
but not until recently was the matter explained."3
How was she enlightened? Judge Jesse Arthur, long-time attorney connected
with the Battle Creek Sanitarium, visited with her in the summer of 1902.
Judge Arthur told her that her testimony regarding "a large building in
Chicago" was plain to him "because he knew that preparations were being made
to erect in Chicago a building corresponding to the one shown . . . in
vision."
Later the judge confirmed his conversation with a letter written on August
27, 1902. He was the chairman of the building committee of three: "The
committee met [on June 26, 1899] and immediately formulated plans for the
purchase of a site and the erection of such a building. I was instructed as
chairman of the committee to open negotiations . . . and otherwise take
steps to raise the necessary funds to purchase the site, and erect the
building contemplated."4
Ellen White wrote to Kellogg on October 28, 1903: "If this view had not been
given me, and if I had not written to you about the matter, an effort would
have been made to erect such a building in Chicago, a place in which the
Lord has said that we are not to put up large buildings. At the time when
the vision was given, influences were working for the erection of such a
building. The message was received in time to prevent the development of the
plans and the carrying out of the project."
After receiving these messages, Kellogg turned away from the Chicago
project.5 Thus the reason for Ellen White's vision was made clear.
Visions, at Times, Changed Mrs. White's Habits and Opinions
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At times, Ellen White experienced how Nathan felt when he discovered that he
had given David wrong counsel.6 She, too, had an opportunity to reverse
counsel that she had given to the leading officers of the General
Conference.
At the turn of the century, Edson White was leading out in working for the
Blacks in the South, especially through publishing literature in the South
for the South. His mother had strongly endorsed his work, primarily because
it was the only significant work being done. As Edson's work developed,
plans were made to establish a denominational publishing house in Nashville,
Tennessee. But Edson's strength rested not in finance but in promotion,
printing, and writing literature to fit the needs of the South. Debts were
mounting dangerously at a time when denominational leaders were trying to
stabilize the severe financial crisis that had overtaken the church. And
leaders were hesitant to close down the budding Nashville publishing house
because Ellen White had been supporting her son generally for his pioneering
work.7
At a special meeting called at Elmshaven on October 19, 1902, church leaders
needed counsel regarding denominational debt and the work at Nashville in
particular. After Mrs. White heard the facts, she said: "God's cause must
not be left to reproach, no matter who is made sore by arranging matters on
a right basis. Edson should give himself to the ministry and to writing, and
leave alone the things that he has been forbidden by the Lord to do. Finance
is not his forte at all. I want the brethren . . . to act just as they would
act if my son were not there. . . . I do not want anyone to feel that I am
sustaining Edson in a wrong."
A. G. Daniells, General Conference president, satisfied with the interview,
returned to Battle Creek with a copy of the interview in his pocket.
Leadership was now assured that closing the Nashville establishment was the
right thing to do.
But within twenty-four hours of the Elmshaven interview, Mrs. White wrote a
letter that would change the whole picture. Prompted by a vision of the
night (or night dream), she saw that closing the Nashville press was not
necessary, that consolidation of the denominational publishing interests was
not God's plan, and that "the Southern field [must] have its own
home-published books."8
Vision Changes Prophet's Counsel
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A few weeks later, she explained to denominational leadership: "During the
night following our interview in my house and out on the lawn under the
trees, October 19, 1902, in regard to the work in the Southern field, the
Lord instructed me that I had taken a wrong position."
Further, she wrote words of encouragement, that "from this center light will
shine forth in the ministry of the word, in the publication of books large
and small," that "we have as yet merely touched the Southern field with the
tips of our fingers."9
All those involved realized that they were experiencing the same emotions
that stirred Nathan and David three millennia before. The Lord was very
close to His people who wanted to listen to the Spirit of prophecy.
In 1849, the Adventist people gathered into various nuclei across New
England and upper New York State. S. W. Rhodes, a discouraged former leader
in the Millerite movement, refused social interchange. But his friends kept
up their attention, though often rebuffed. The Whites did not feel that any
further special effort in Rhodes's behalf was warranted. However, while a
group of Adventists were praying, Ellen White had a vision "which was
contrary to her former opinion and feeling relating to our going after
Brother Rhodes, up to the time that the Spirit took her off in vision."10
In planning for the first church building at Avondale in 1897,
discouragement prevailed. The depressed financial situation throughout
Australia directly affected the development of the church's educational and
medical work. Ellen White knew that building the church was essential to the
general spirit that should prevail in the further growth of the struggling
college. Yet, she was willing to listen to the caution of the local leaders.
She knew that they carried heavy burdens and that the financial picture was
bleak. One day, in human sympathy, she mentioned to one of the leaders, "We
will not hasten the building of the meetinghouse."
But that night she had a vision that changed her "ideas materially." In a
letter to the person she had agreed with a few hours earlier, she said: "I
received instruction to speak to the people, and tell them that we are not
to leave the house of the Lord until the last consideration. . . . Build a
house for God without delay. Secure the most favorable location. Prepare
seats that will be proper for a house of God."11
Visions, at Times, Modified Ellen White's Theological Opinions
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Prophets grow in grace and knowledge as do other believers. In choosing His
prophets and prophetesses, God has always selected the best for His
purposes-but only the best at that time! He has chosen polygamists and
doubters, even some who lied (e.g., Abraham and David).
No prophet saw the whole picture from start to finish. All prophets went
through "on-the-job-training." If we knew all the facts about each prophet,
we would discover that each one kept learning more and more about his or her
assignment, more and more about God's plan for them and for His people. They
had much to learn, much to unlearn. As a result, their messages became more
precise as time continued.
Think of John the Baptist whom Jesus declared to be "more than a prophet. .
. . Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the
Baptist" (Matt. 11:9, 11.) Yet John "did not understand the nature of Christ's
kingdom."12 In his dramatic ministry, he misapplied Isaiah's prophecies and,
to some extent, misunderstood the character of God. In prison, he was
"bitterly disappointed in his mission" and considered himself a failure.
John, with all of his Bible study and prophetic mission, "had not fully
comprehended the future, immortal life through the Saviour."13 Later, he
even doubted the experience at the Jordan, the day he baptized Jesus: "Are
You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" (Matt. 11:3).
Yet, Jesus applied to John Malachi's term, "My Messenger." Messenger, yes,
but a "lesser light, which was to be followed by a greater."14
Think of Peter whom God chose to be the gospel link to Cornelius, the
Gentile centurion (Acts 10). Peter, blessed by Pentecost, still believed
that the gospel of Christ was meant only for the Jews. He needed his
theology changed, and a vision did it. Every step to the home of Cornelius
was taken reluctantly.15 His "shut-door" theology was changed into a wide
open door into the Gentile world and finally to Rome and his own
crucifixion.
Ellen White was the first to recognize that her judgment and perception had
greatly broadened and deepened through the years. She was a human messenger
who, with all the human baggage common to prophets, constantly followed the
Light. She spoke of this lifelong development process: "With the light
communicated through the study of His word, with the special knowledge given
of individual cases among His people under all circumstances and in every
phase of experience, can I now be in the same ignorance, the same mental
uncertainty and spiritual blindness, as at the beginning of this experience?
Will my brethren say that Sister White has been so dull a scholar that her
judgment in this direction is no better than before she entered Christ's
school, to be trained and disciplined for a special work? Am I no more
intelligent in regard to the duties and perils of God's people than are
those before whom these things have never been presented? I would not
dishonor my Maker by admitting that all this light, all the display of His
mighty power in my work and experience, has been valueless, that it has not
educated my judgment or better fitted me for His work."16
Ellen White did grow, led along by the Spirit of God. Most Millerites who
did not reject the 1844 experience believed that the "door was shut" (Matt.
25:10) to those who had rejected their "midnight cry" message as well as to
the general population.17 The developing group that came to be known as
Sabbatarian Adventists, of which James and Ellen White were a part, also
retained this belief for a few years.
But Mrs. White's first visions showed her the significance of October 22,
1844, and that the door was shut only to those who had consciously rejected
the light of truth. Most probably, without the visionary leadership of Ellen
White, the Sabbatarian Adventists would not have seen the larger picture of
heavenly events relating to October 22. Her encouraging and instructive
development of thought as to the role of Seventh-day Adventists in
completing God's last-day invitation to the world, became the church's
central, unifying element.
Corrected By a Vision
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When to begin the weekly Sabbath was another doctrinal issue on which Mrs.
White was corrected by a vision-an instructive story of how God gently leads
His people along through His messengers. On Friday, November 16, 1855, the
General Conference in session ushered in the Sabbath at 6:00 P.M., although
the sun had set an hour before. They ended the Sabbath, the next day, at
sunset! What happened?
For years Adventists had been generally following the reasoning of Joseph
Bates-that sunset at the equator (6:00 P. M.) would be the most uniform way
to handle the Sabbath on a round world, no matter what the time of year.18
(Beginning and ending the Sabbath at sunrise or midnight were other
options.)
But other believers raised the question of Leviticus 23:32, "from evening
unto evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath." Trying to bring unity,
James White had asked John N. Andrews to make a Biblical study of the issue
and prepare a paper. When this paper was read on Sabbath morning at the 1855
General Conference, the matter was settled for James White and the rest of
the delegates-all except Joseph Bates and Ellen White!
A few days later, November 20, Mrs. White had a vision that dealt with many
matters, including validation of Andrews's Bible study. Both she and Joseph
Bates capitulated wholeheartedly. Bible study, confirmed by vision,
continued as the general rule in the development of Adventist theology.19
Commenting later, Uriah Smith wrote: "Lest any should say that Sister White,
having changed her sentiments, had a vision accordingly, we will state that
which was shown her in vision concerning the commencement of the Sabbath was
contrary to her own sentiment at the time the vision was given."20
Ellen White's attitude toward eating pork was another example of how
advancing light changed her personal interpretation of Scripture. In 1858
she wrote to the Haskells (Bro. and Sister A.) on a number of items,
rebuking him for insisting that pork-eating was a violation of Leviticus
11:7: "I saw that your views concerning swine's flesh would prove no injury
if you have them to yourselves; but in your judgment and opinion you have
made this question a test. . . . If God requires His people to abstain from
swine's flesh, He will convict them on the matter."21
Why didn't God tell Ellen White that Haskell's Bible study on Leviticus was
correct, following her general pattern of confirming Bible study by the
light revealed in vision?
Part of the answer may be found in the note written by James White in the
second printing of this testimony to Haskell: "This remarkable testimony was
written October 21, 1858, nearly five years before the great vision in 1863,
in which the light upon health reform was given. When the right time came,
the subject was given in a manner to move all our people. How wonderful are
the wisdom and goodness of God! It might be as wrong to crowd the milk,
salt, and sugar question now, as the pork question in 1858."22
In the health reform vision of June 6, 1863, a broad array of health
principles was revealed.23 In 1864 Ellen White made her first published
presentation of that vision, a fifty-page chapter entitled "Health," in
Spiritual Gifts, volume 4. In reference to swine's flesh she said: "God
never designed the swine to be eaten under any circumstances."24
In 1865 she prepared a series of six articles under the title Health, or How
to Live.25 Here she amplified the injurious consequences of eating swine's
flesh, a fact that she continued to emphasize in her later books.26
Lessons Learned
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What can we learn from this experience wherein Ellen White changed her mind
between 1858 and 1863? (1) She had received no light from God on swine's
flesh before 1863. (2) She didn't think it should create division among
Adventists; it was not a test question. (3) When God makes His will known,
it will be revealed to more "than two or three. He will teach his church
their duty."27 (4) The test of the logic involved in her change of opinion
on eating swine's flesh is that when the vision did come, the whole church
saw the issue clearly and never again was there division regarding this
issue. 28
Delivering Reproof-a "Cross"
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Ellen White was a timid, frail teenager when she was told by God to relate
the visions to others. As we have seen, not all her visions or dreams were
theological in content. Some contained reproof and counsel for individuals.
At times the reproof was severe and not always appreciated. Mrs. White
shrank from her prophetic duties.29
Describing her experience in 1845, when she was eighteen years old, Ellen
White wrote: "It was a great cross for me to relate to the erring what had
been shown me concerning them. It caused me great distress to see others
troubled or grieved. And when obliged to declare the messages, I would often
soften them down, and make them appear as favorable for the individual as I
could, and then would go by myself and weep in agony of spirit."30
In a letter written in 1874, she recalled the past thirty years: "I have
felt for years that if I could have my choice and please God as well, I
would rather die than have a vision, for every vision places me under great
responsibility to bear testimonies of reproof and of warning, which has ever
been against my feelings, causing me affliction of soul that is
inexpressible. Never have I coveted my position, and yet I dare not resist
the Spirit of God and seek an easier position."31
In 1880, now fifty-two, Ellen White was at the Vermont camp meeting where
she had several testimonies to deliver. She referred to these personal
burdens: "I have had many individual testimonies to write which has been
quite a heavy burden on me in addition to my labors in talking the truth."
("Talking the truth" involved her daily sermons, altar calls, and her usual
Sunday afternoon talk on temperance to Vermont audiences of from 1,000 to
4,000 people.) In reference to one couple, she wrote: "I had some very bad,
bad jobs to perform. I took Brother Bean and wife and talked to them very
plain. They did not rise up against it. I cried myself, could not help it."32
Some Visions Contained Predictions
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As noted earlier on page 29, a prophet's responsibility covers far more than
predicting the future. Prophets are primarily God's messengers, His
forth-tellers, not necessarily His fore-tellers. However, prophets, at
times, are given information and instruction that indeed predicts the
future.
Ellen White predicted specific events and general developments or trends:
Food for Worms
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The May 27, 1856, Battle Creek conference is remembered especially for an
unusual vision regarding some of the members in attendance.33 In the midst
of the report is this prediction: "I was shown the company present at the
conference. Said the angel, 'Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven
last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated
at the coming of Jesus.'"
What could this mean? Three days after the conference, Clarissa Bonfoey
died. (Clarissa Bonfoey was a close friend of the Whites to whom they had
entrusted Edson during his early years before they were able to set up their
own home.) She seemed to be in good health at the time of the conference. As
death approached, she expressed her conviction that she was one of those
represented in the vision who would be "food for worms."34
For years, some people kept lists of those present at that conference,
believing that Jesus would come before all had died. But Ellen White had
been given a picture of what might have been if God's people had aroused
themselves to their divine assignment. Mrs. White should not be held to a
higher, tighter standard than we apply to Bible prophets.35 In 1883 she had
to write: "It is true that time has continued longer than we expected in the
early days of this message. Our Saviour did not appear as soon as we hoped.
But has the word of the Lord failed? Never! It should be remembered that the
promises and threatenings of God are alike conditional. . . .
"Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their
faith, and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving
the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit
proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the
Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have
been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to
their reward."36
Civil War
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Ellen White received her first Civil War vision on Sabbath afternoon,
January 12, 1861, in Parkville, Michigan. For about twenty minutes the
congregation watched with intense interest this 33-year-old woman. The
vision over, she shared briefly what had been revealed to her.
Her words made a lasting impression (as reported by J. N. Loughborough, an
eye-witness): "Men are making light of the secession ordinance that has been
passed by South Carolina [Dec. 20, 1860]. They have little idea of the
trouble that is coming on our land. No one in this house has even dreamed of
the trouble that is coming. I have just been shown in vision that a number
of States are going to join South Carolina in this secession, and a terrible
war will be the result. In the vision I saw large armies raised by both the
North and the South. I was shown the battle raging."
Then, looking over the congregation, she continued: "There are men in this
house who will lose sons in that war."37
On August 3, 1861, at Roosevelt, New York, Ellen White had her second Civil
War vision. It focused on the evil of slavery-the North was to blame for the
continuing extension of slavery, and the South for the sin of slavery. She
was given a "view of the disastrous battle at Manassas, Virginia" (First
Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861), and observed the mysterious confusion in
the advance of the Northern army.38
Further, she wrote; "I was shown that many do not realize the extent of the
evil which has come upon us. They have flattered themselves that the
national difficulties would soon be settled, and confusion and war end; but
all will be convinced that there is more reality in the matter than was
anticipated. Many looked for the North to strike a blow and end the
controversy."39
What shall we make of these Civil War visions? The Parkville vision occurred
three months before the guns fired on Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861. At that
time many people believed that there would be no war, but should war begin,
it would be short and the North would win in a brief fight.40 (For an
extended review of contemporary viewpoints that were in sharp contrast with
the predictions of Ellen White, see Appendix O.)
Ellen White saw it differently. She predicted that war would come and that
other States would join South Carolina in seceding from the Union. She saw
large armies in brutal combat, and widespread carnage over a long period
wherein men would waste away in prison.41
Regarding her solemn prediction that some families in her Parkville audience
would "lose sons" in the war, Loughborough spoke some time later with the
local elder of the Parkville church who had presided over that memorable
Sabbath service. The elder identified five families, with a possible five
additional families, who had lost loved ones.
Further, in these visions Mrs. White saw clearly that the main issue was
slavery, and that God would permit both the North and the South to be
punished until they confronted this issue. Many political and religious
leaders saw this only after years of terrible struggle had killed and
injured millions. The politics of Washington, interlocked with Southern
sympathizers in Northern leadership, had kept the purposes of the war
muddied. The Fugitive Slave Acts,42 requiring Northerners to return runaway
slaves to their masters, is a good example of the political and moral
confusion. Note how long it took President Lincoln to decide that it was
time to issue the Emancipation Proclamation (on September 22, 1862,
effective January 1, 1863).43
Contrary to Contemporary Optimism
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Ellen White's general predictions made in the waning years of the nineteenth
century seem like a review of modern newspapers. Some could say that she was
simply using the same sagacity that other thoughtful people were using when
contemplating the future. But what she wrote and what thought leaders in her
day were projecting were light-years apart.
The period between 1890 and 1914 is noted for "millennial" predictions, a
time when the future looked bright with promise. In most all areas of
Western society, whether in medicine, economics, technology, or scientific
inventions, the picture of peace, prosperity, and a golden future was a
prevailing sentiment.44
Some of the predictions Ellen White made contrary to the spirit of her age
focused on the social world: "Step by step, the world is reaching the
conditions that existed in the days of Noah. Every conceivable crime is
committed. The lust of the flesh, the pride of the eyes, the display of
selfishness, the misuse of power, the cruelty, and the force used to cause
men to unite with confederacies and unions . . . all these are the working
of Satanic agencies. . . . The whole world appears to be in the march to
death."45
"I am bidden to declare the message that cities full of transgression, and
sinful in the extreme, will be destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by flood."46
"I have been shown that the Spirit of the Lord is being withdrawn from the
earth. God's keeping power will soon be refused to all who continue to
disregard His commandments. The reports of fraudulent transactions, murders,
and crimes of every kind are coming to us daily. Iniquity is becoming so
common a thing that it no longer shocks the senses as it once did."47
She turned to the development of international tensions and war: "The
tempest is coming, and we must get ready for its fury. . . . We shall see
troubles on all sides. Thousands of ships will be hurled into the depths of
the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will be sacrificed by
millions. Fires will break out unexpectedly, and no human effort will be
able to quench them. The palaces of earth will be swept away in the fury of
the flames. Disasters by rail will become more and more frequent; confusion,
collision, and death without a moment's warning will occur on the great
lines of travel."48
"Last Friday morning, just before I awoke, a very impressive scene was
presented before me. I seemed to awake from sleep but was not in my home.
From the windows I could behold a terrible conflagration. Great balls of
fire were falling upon houses, and from these balls fiery arrows were flying
in every direction. It was impossible to check the fires that were kindled,
and many places were being destroyed. The terror of the people was
indescribable. After a time I awoke and found myself at home."49
"Soon great trouble will arise among the nations-trouble that will not cease
until Jesus comes."50
Another perceptive insight ran cross-grained with the phenomenal optimism
prevailing in 1909, the year of the following prediction regarding
increasing economic and social impasses: "There are not many, even among
educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present
state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to
solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing
crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more
secure basis."51
Modern Spiritualism
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Ellen White's previews of the rise of modern spiritualism were given when
spiritistic manifestations were local, isolated, and more of a curiosity
than anything else. Those 1848 displays of strange rappings involving the
Fox sisters in Hydesville, New York, were shown to her as the revival of
spiritualism in modern times. In reporting a vision seen March 24, 1849, she
wrote: "I saw that the mysterious knocking in New York and other places was
the power of Satan, and that such things would be more and more common,
clothed in a religious garb so as to lull the deceived to greater security."52
Spiritualism probably has never been more prominent in the history of the
world than it is today. Adherents include people on all levels of society
and in every economic class. Politicians and heads of government freely
admit their reliance on spiritualist mediums. Who, other than Ellen White in
1849, had the insight to label the Fox-sisters-phenomenon as the beginning
of a worldwide, sophisticated movement with tremendous implications for
events in the last days?
Rise of Papal Influence
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Another predictive area involves the astounding rise of papal influence,
from virtual innocuousness in the nineteenth century to its current
worldwide power and influence. In 1888, during the dark days of the papacy,
Ellen White wrote: "Let the principle once be established in the United
States, that the church may employ or control the power of the state; that
religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that the
authority of church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph
of Rome in this country [the U.S.A.] is assured.
"God's word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded,
and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are,
only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into
power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in
the churches, and in the hearts of men. . . . Stealthily and unsuspectedly
she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall
come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is
already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose
of the Roman element is."53
The 1980s and 1990s witnessed a dramatic recovery of world stature by the
Pope of Rome, a far cry from those decades between 1870 and 1929 when the
pope was the "prisoner of the Vatican."54 The world was stunned to see the
President of the United States and the Pope on the cover of Time magazine,
February 24, 1992, under the words, "The Holy Alliance." The feature article
unfolded the story behind the collapse of communism. President Reagan and
Pope John Paul II had been in close, highly secret, consultation for years
as they worked together to destabilize the communist network. "They regarded
the U.S.-Vatican relationship as a holy alliance; the moral force of their
church combined with their fierce anticommunism and their notion of American
democracy." Without this close cooperation between the Catholic Church and
the United States, world developments in recent decades probably would have
been vastly different.
Further, as if to single-handedly endorse Ellen White's 1888 predictions,
Time magazine's cover for December 26, 1994, featured Pope John Paul II as
"Man of the Year." In that cover story, the Pope presented himself as the
"moral compass for believers and nonbelievers alike." Even Billy Graham,
symbol of evangelical Protestantism, said of the Pope: "He's been the strong
conscience of the whole Christian world."55
Union of Catholics and Protestants
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But Ellen White saw more than the resurgence of papal adoration worldwide.
She also saw what no person even a few years ago would have dreamed-the
astonishing rapprochement between Catholics and Protestants, even
evangelical Protestants! In 1885 she wrote: "When Protestantism shall
stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when
she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under
the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every
principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government and
shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions,
then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan
and that the end is near."56
A landmark document that no one could have foreseen even in the 1980s was
signed in joint declaration on March 29, 1994, by leading evangelical
Protestants and Roman Catholics. Perhaps the most significant event in the
last 500 years of church history, the signing of this amazing statement
entitled "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the
3rd Millennium," (ECT), substantially overturns the Protestant Reformation
as it fulfills Bible prophecy-and Ellen White's predictions.57
One prediction yet to be completely fulfilled involves the threefold union
of Protestantism, Catholicism, and Spiritualism (New Agers, etc.) in the
concerted effort to enforce Sunday worship. With the stunning rapidity of
recent Protestant-Catholic joint efforts, unified at the center by their
common theological thread of the immortality of the soul, their further
union with modern Spiritualism (New Agers) is not difficult to foresee-now.
But not in the 1880s!58
All the above illustrations of Ellen White's predictive ministry are
interesting and, to a degree, coercive.
Health and Medicine
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What has amazed thoughtful people throughout the world is that her general
comments on health, science, or environment have stood the test of the
years-something that probably cannot be said about any other writer in the
nineteenth century. That in itself is a remarkable achievement. More than
that, her writings contain certain principles and developments that were not
common in her day but today are well-validated.
For example, note her profound emphasis on how the mind affects the body in
producing sickness;59 her warm concern for prenatal influences, including
drugs and alcohol;60 and her monumental, interactive system of dietary
principles that are increasingly supported by nutritional research. 61
Worldwide Expansion of Adventists
[Top of Document]
Equally interesting are the predictions Ellen White made regarding the
worldwide expansion of Seventh-day Adventists, long before her colleagues
could see any evidence for her optimism:
· November, 1848, Dorchester, Massachusetts: At a time of great financial
stress, and appealing to no more than one hundred Sabbatarian Adventists,
she predicted that the periodical her husband was starting would be "small
at first," but eventually its "streams of light" would go "clear round the
world."62
In 1995, Seventh-day Adventists had worldwide 56 publishing houses, 7,485
full-time literature evangelists, with worldwide sales of $99,253,123 (U.S.
dollars), with literature being published in 229 languages (including oral
evangelism. Adventists are working in 717 languages worldwide).63
· Speaking from a chair (mostly bedridden for eleven months) at the opening
of the Melbourne Bible School (predecessor of Avondale College), August 24,
1892, Mrs. White said: "The missionary work in Australia and New Zealand is
yet in its infancy, but the same work must be accomplished in Australia, New
Zealand, in Africa, India, China, and the islands of the sea, as has been
accomplished in the home field [USA]."64
Young A. G. Daniells, one of the first American expatriate workers in
Australia, heard this prediction with astonishment and wrote later of the
sense of being "overwhelmed." All present felt that this prediction "seemed
like the wildest kind of speculation. . . . But some who were present have
lived to see these staggering predictions strikingly fulfilled."65
· In 1894 Ellen White urged the Australian Adventist constituency of fewer
than one thousand to plan immediately for a college to train workers for the
Adventist mission to the South Pacific. Further, she envisioned a college
that would break new ground after learning lessons from the difficult
experiences at Battle Creek College. Few, even of her closest advisers, saw
wisdom in her counsel, but without her visionary understanding of what the
South Pacific needed and her tenacity to see the project through, neither
Avondale College, nor much else in Australia and New Zealand, would be
standing under the Adventist name today.
· In November, 1901, Ellen White wrote a severe warning to the board of
trustees of the Review and Herald Publishing Association, "the best equipped
printing office in the state of Michigan."66 They had problems: about ninety
percent of their work was commercial, some of it clearly inappropriate for
Adventist publishers. Other problems revolved around interpersonal
relationships.
After many previous warnings, Mrs. White made what amounted to a divine
threat: "I have been almost afraid to open the Review, fearing to see that
God has cleansed the publishing house by fire. . . . Unless there is a
reformation, calamity will overtake the publishing house, and the world will
know the reason."67
Thirteen months later, December 30, 1902, a fire of "unknown origin"
destroyed the complex. Nothing of value was saved. When leaders wanted to
rebuild in Battle Creek, Ellen White objected, saying, "Never lay a stone or
a brick in Battle Creek to rebuild the Review office there. God has a better
place for it."68
· On at least three occasions Ellen White urged her stunned colleagues to
buy property in southern California for medical centers.69 On October 13,
1902, she wrote that properties with buildings "especially suited to
sanitarium work" could be bought "at much less than their original cost."70
Without this insight into God's plan for southern California, Paradise
Valley Hospital, Glendale Adventist Medical Center, and Loma Linda
University would not be centers for Adventist outreach.71
· Before church leaders could get their breath after purchasing the Loma
Linda property, Ellen White was painting the future of Loma Linda as the
principal center for educating medical personnel. Far beyond any human
dream, she was calmly adamant: "This will be."72
Since Ellen White's awesome prediction, Loma Linda University has graduated
many thousands in various fields of advanced education. It is
internationally known for some of its medical achievements.
Some Visions Directed to Secret Problems
[Top of Document]
Ellen White had many experiences dealing with people's secret problems. In
1858 she wrote about a farm family (father, mother, and grown daughter) who
had moved to Illinois from New England three years earlier. Ostensibly the
reason for the move was to "introduce the work in the West. The husband went
with one intention, his wife with another. His intention was to proclaim the
truth, her intention was to have all their means laid out in house and
lands."
As time went on, the husband "disobeyed the call of God to gratify his wife
and daughter, and was too willing to excuse or cover up his love of the
world under a show of duty to his family. . . . I saw that unless she got
out of her husband's way . . . the Lord would visit the family with
judgment, and move her out of the way."
Soon disease came and the wife died. While the Whites visited the bereaved
husband and father, Mrs. White had a vision of the spiritual struggle he was
going through and "was astonished at what was shown me." She was shown how
the father was snared by the deceitfulness of riches and that the daughter
was "wrapped up in selfishness."
But time went on. In 1857 Ellen White had another vision regarding this
Illinois family. She saw "that he was not moving fast enough, that he was
not using his means to advance the cause of God as fast as he should." Soon
after that vision, she heard that this very prosperous father had died at
the age of 51.
Why did Mrs. White report this private story in the church paper? She closed
her article with these words: "As I have seen that the reward of
covetousness thus far upon this family should be a warning to the church, I
cannot withhold from the people of God what has been shown me respecting
them."73
Always the soul winner, she recognized a young watchmaker in Nimes, France,
whom she had seen in vision. Once a believer, Abel Bieder had become
discouraged and was, at the time, working on the Sabbath while he perfected
his watchmaking trade. After meeting him at his shop, she invited him to
meetings where she was to speak. She spoke privately with Abel, telling him
that she knew the history of his life and his youthful errors.
"I then entreated him with tears to turn square about, to leave the service
of Satan and of sin, for he had become a thorough backslider, and return
like the prodigal to his Father's house. . . . I told him that I dared not
have him cross the threshold of the door until he would before God and
angels and those present say, 'I will from this day be a Christian.'"
The next day Abel resigned from his promising career, happy in the Lord.
Soon Ellen White paid his fare to Basel so he could assist L. R. Conradi and
James Erzberger in their evangelistic work.74
The N. D. Faulkhead experience in 1892 is a classic illustration of Ellen
White's prophetic ministry for the early Australian Adventists. When she
went to Australia in 1891, Faulkhead was treasurer of the publishing house;
he also held the highest positions in several secret organizations. As time
went on, he became increasingly involved in his lodge work, and his church
interests waned.
On the boat trip to Australia and soon after arrival, Ellen White had a
comprehensive vision involving the publishing house generally and several
personal testimonies, including one for the Faulkheads. When she went to
mail the message, she felt strongly restrained: "When I enclosed the
communication all ready to mail, it seemed that a voice spoke to me saying,
'Not yet, not yet, they will not receive your testimony.'" She held the
testimony for almost twelve months.75
During that time Faulkhead's co-workers noticed his fading interest in his
work and pleaded with him to reconsider his infatuation with the lodges.
Ellen White saw in vision that he was "a man about to lose his balance and
fall over a precipice."76
One of the Australian Adventists asked Faulkhead what he would do if Mrs.
White had a testimony for him in regard to his lodge affiliations. To this
he responded, "It would have to be mighty strong." That she indeed had a
message for Faulkhead almost a year old, no one yet knew.77
Shortly after Faulkhead's defiance, he had a dream that Ellen White had a
message for him! In a few days, he met her and asked if she had something
for him. Replying that she had, she proposed an early meeting in the future.
But Faulkhead was eager: "Why not give me the message now?"
She told him that several times she had been ready to send the message but
she was "forbidden by the Spirit of the Lord to do so" because the time was
not ripe. But now was the time. She began to read the fifty-page manuscript,
especially the portion dealing with his involvement with Freemasonry. She
went on to reveal how he dropped small coins into offerings on the Sabbath
but large coins into the treasury of the lodges. She heard him addressed as
"Worshipful Master."
Later, Faulkhead recalled: "I thought this was getting pretty close home
when she started to talk to me in reference to what I was doing in the
lodges."78
Then it happened. After giving a certain movement of her hand, she said: "I
cannot relate all that was given to me."79
Faulkhead turned pale, recounting later: "Immediately she gave me this sign.
I touched her on the shoulder and asked her if she knew what she had done.
She looked up surprised and said she did not do anything unusual. I told her
that she had given me the sign of a Knight Templar. Well, she did not know
anything about it."
Ellen White went on about how impossible it is to be a committed Christian
and a Freemason. Then she made another secret sign, which she said "my
attending angel made to me." Faulkhead knew that this particular sign was
known only to the highest order of Masons, and said later: "This convinced
me that her testimony was from God. . . . Immediately the statement that I
had made to Brother Stockton, that it would have to be mighty strong before
I could believe that she had a message for me from the Lord, flashed through
my mind."
Faulkhead's response to the interview was immediate. He told his co-workers
the next day how God had spoken to him through Ellen White. His first work
of the day was to dictate his resignation to his various lodges. But his
lodge friends did not give up easily, insisting that he was honor-bound to
serve out his term for the next nine months. The struggle was severe and
fellow church members trembled for him.
At the end of those nine months Faulkhead wrote to God's messenger: "How
thankful I am to Him for sending me a warning that I was traveling on the
wrong road. . . . I can see now very clearly that to continue with them
would have been my downfall, as I must confess that my interest for the
truth was growing cold."
Faulkhead continued to serve the publishing house for many years and
remained a strong spiritual leader in Australia.80
Endnotes
[Top of Document]
1. For a partial list of Ellen White's visions, see Appendix D.
2. Bio., vol. 6, pp. 98, 99.
3. Ibid., p. 96.
4. DF 481, Jesse Arthur to WCW, Aug. 27, 1902, cited in Bio., vol. 6, p. 97.
5. Ibid., pp. 97, 98. The Salamanca vision and the 1891 General Conference
Session experience provide other examples of how a prophet is not always
aware of the timing when the vision is to be presented to others. See pp.
149, 188. On another occasion, when Ellen White visited the Swiss publishing
house in 1885, she recognized the press room as one that she had seen in
vision. She shook hands with two young workers and then asked for the third
worker. B. L. Whitney, president of the Swiss Mission, was puzzled until
Mrs. White said, "There is an older man here and I have a message for him."
The other worker was in the city on business. Ten years before, she had seen
this particular worker in vision and now she was reminded that she had a
special message for him. This incident brought immense encouragement to all
the workers in Basel. (Story in Bio., Vol. 3, pp. 293, 294.
6. 1 Chron. 17:1-15. See p. 35.
7. See "Appeal for the Southern Field," cited in Daniells, AGP, p. 322.
8. Bio., vol. 5, pp. 187-193; Daniells, Ibid., pp. 323-327.
9. Daniells, AGP, pp. 327-329.
10. Hiram Edson's report in Present Truth (PT), Dec. 1849, cited in Bio.,
vol. 1, pp. 196-198. In the same issue of PT, Ellen White reported: "While
in vision the angel pointed to the earth, where I saw Brother Rhodes in
thick darkness; but he still bore the image of Jesus. I saw it was the will
of God that Brethren Edson and Ralph should go."
11. Bio., vol. 4, pp. 315-317.
12. The Desire of Ages, p. 215.
13. Ibid., p. 220.
14. Ibid.
15. The Acts of the Apostles, p. 137.
16. Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 686.
17. For a discussion of the "Shut-Door" issue, see chapter 44.
18. The Review and Herald, Apr. 21, 1851, pp. 71, 72.
19. See p. 170, 171.
20. Review and Herald, Aug. 30, 1864, p. 109.
21. Testimonies, vol. 1, pp. 206, 207.
22. Ibid.
23. See pp. 281-284 for an analysis of this vision.
24. The text continued: "Swine were useful. In a fruitful country, where
there was much to decay upon the ground, which would poison the atmosphere,
herds of swine were permitted to run free, and devoured the decaying
substances, which was a means of preserving health. Other animals were
forbidden to be eaten by the Israelites, because they were not the best
articles of food."-Page 124.
25. Available today in Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 411-479.
26. Selected Messages, book 2, p. 417. See Counsels on Diet and Foods, p.
392, and The Ministry of Healing, p. 314.
27. Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 207.
28. Ellen White never changed her position regarding eating pork as to
making the issue a test question, even though she emphasized in her writings
that God declared swine as an unclean food because of its unhealthy nature:
"If you are a Bible doer as well as a Bible reader, you must understand from
the Scriptures that swine's flesh was prohibited by Jesus Christ enshrouded
in the billowy cloud. This is not a test question. Directions have been
given to families that such articles as butter and the eating largely of
flesh meats is not the best for physical and mental health. . . . I advise
every Sabbathkeeping canvasser [literature evangelist] to avoid eating meat,
not because it is regarded as a sin to eat meat, but because it is not
healthful."- MR, vol. 16, p. 173.
29. Bio., vol. 1, p. 61. Giving reproof never became easier.
30. Life Sketches, p. 90.
31. Selected Messages, book 3, pp. 36, 37.
32. Bio., vol. 3, p. 146. In a nearly thirteen-page testimony that was read
at the Michigan camp meeting in 1881, she wrote near the close: "Let none
entertain the thought that I regret or take back any plain testimony I have
borne to individuals or to the people. If I have erred anywhere, it is in
not rebuking sin more decidedly and firmly. Some of the brethren have taken
the responsibility of criticizing my work and proposing an easier way to
correct wrongs. To these persons I would say: I take God's way and not
yours. What I have said or written in testimony or reproof has not been too
plainly expressed. God has given me my work, and I must meet it at the
judgment. . . . All through my life it has been terribly hard for me to hurt
the feelings of any, or disturb their self-deception, as I deliver the
testimonies given me of God. It is contrary to my nature. It costs me great
pain and many sleepless nights."-Ibid., pp. 184, 185.
33. The vision is reported in two parts: the powerful description of "The
Two Ways," and "Conformity to the World."-Testimonies, vol. 1, pp. 127-137.
34. Ibid., p. 132, footnote.
35. Ibid..
36. Manuscript 4, 1883, cited in Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 67, 68. This
sad recognition of reality was reflected in her writings at least thirty
times as recorded in Herbert E. Douglass, The End (Mountain View, Calif.:
Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1979), pp. 161-167. This fact should
not be obscured-the delay in the Advent is not God's fault or His arbitrary
plan: "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."-Evangelism, p. 696.
37. Bio., vol. 1, p. 463.
38. Ibid.
39. Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 264.
40. How shortsighted most everyone was: A few days before the Parkville
vision, on December 22, 1860, William H. Seward, secretary-of-state-elect to
the Lincoln cabinet, predicted a peaceful settlement of the national crisis
within the next sixty days.-Cited in Henry S. Commager, ed., Documents of
American History (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1863, 2 vols.,
7th ed), I, pp. 366, 369. In mid-February 1861 Thomas R. R. Cobb, Georgia
secessionist and committee member preparing the Confederate constitution,
wrote: "The almost universal belief here [Montgomery] is that we shall not
have war."-Cited in Edward Channing, History of the United States (New York:
Macmillan Co., 1905-1925, 6 volumes), Vol. VI, p. 264. Two days before his
Inaugural Address of March 4, 1861, Lincoln declared in Philadelphia: "I
have felt all the while justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic,
the anxiety of the country at this time is artificial."-Cited in Harper's
Weekly, March 2, 1861, p. 135.
The Encyclopedia Britannica estimated that the Civil War cost "a total of
some $11,450,500,000 for the North alone. But the cost to the South was
enormous; $4,000,000,000 cannot be exaggeration. It follows that, up to
1909, the cost of the war to the nation had approximated the tremendous
total of $15,500,000,000 . . . and the death of probably 300,000 men on each
side."-11th ed., vol. XXVII, p. 710.
41. Loughborough, RPSDA, pp. 236, 237.
42. Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793, 1850, and upheld by Supreme Court in 1859:
In the Rochester vision Ellen White wrote: "The fugitive slave law was
calculated to crush out of man every noble, generous feeling of sympathy
that should arise in his heart for the oppressed and suffering
slave."-Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 264. "The officers of the Southern army are
constantly receiving information in regard to the plans of the Northern
army. . . . Rebels know they have sympathizers all through the Northern
army. . . . The spirits of devils, professing to be dead warriors and
skillful generals, communicate with men in authority, and control many of
their movements. . . . Many professed Union men, holding important
positions, are disloyal at heart. Their only object in taking up arms was to
preserve the Union as it was, and slavery with it. They would heartily chain
down the slave to his life of galling bondage, had they the privilege. Such
have a strong degree of sympathy with the South. . . . I saw that both the
South and the North were being punished."-Ibid., pp. 363-368.
43. In an August 22, 1862, letter to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York
Tribune, President Lincoln wrote: "My paramount object in this struggle is
to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I
could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I
could do it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it
by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that."-Carl
Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The War Years (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
1937), vol. 3, p. 567.
44. For a sampling of turn-of-the-century "peace and prosperity" sentiment,
note the following: "Since the Exhibition [London, 1851], western
civilization has advanced steadily, and in some respects more rapidly than
any sober mind could have predicted-civilization, at least, in the
conventional sense, which has been not badly defined as 'the development of
material ease, of education, of equality, and of aspirations to rise and
succeed in life.' The most striking advance has been in the technical
conveniences of life-that is, in the control over natural forces. It would
be superfluous to enumerate the discoveries and inventions since 1850 which
have abridged space, economized time, eased bodily suffering, and reduced in
some ways the friction of life, though they have increased it in others.
This uninterrupted series of technical inventions, proceeding concurrently
with immense enlargements of all branches of knowledge, has gradually
accustomed the least speculative mind to the conception that civilization is
naturally progressive, and that continuous improvement is part of the order
of things. . . .
"In the seventies and eighties of the last century [19th] the idea of
progress was becoming a general article of faith. Some might hold it in the
fatalistic form that humanity moves in a desirable direction, whatever men
do or may leave undone; others might believe that the future will depend
largely on our own conscious efforts, but that there is nothing in the
nature of things to disappoint the prospect of steady and indefinite
advance. The majority did not inquire too curiously into such points of
doctrine, but received it in a vague sense as a comfortable addition to
their convictions. But it became a part of the general mental outlook of
educated people. . . .
"Within the last forty years every civilized country has produced a large
literature on social science, in which indefinite progress is generally
assumed as an axiom."-J. B. Bury, The Idea of Progress (New York, N.Y.:
Dover Publications, Inc. 1955), pp. 331, 332, 346, 348.
The spirit of optimism at the turn of the century is reflected in church
historian Arthur Cushman Giffert's sermon entitled, "The Kingdom of God,"
delivered several times during 1909: "The modern age is marked by a vast
confidence in the powers of man. For many centuries it was the custom to
think of man as a weak and puny thing. Humility and self-distrust were the
cardinal virtues, pride and self-reliance and independence the root of all
vice. The change is not the fruit of speculation, a mere philosophical
theory as to man's relation to the universe, but the result of the actual
and growing conquest of the world in which we live. . . . Characteristic of
the present time is its faith in the future, based upon its solid
experiences of the past. . . . The great task of the Christian church of the
twentieth century is ready to its hand. Upon the church devolves the chief
responsibility for the bringing of the kingdom. . . . We are on the eve of
great happenings. No one familiar with history and able to read the signs of
the times can for a moment doubt it."-Cited in H. Shelton Smith, Robert T.
Handy, Lefferts A. Loetscher, American Christianity, An Historical
Interpretation With Representative Documents (New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1963), pp. 286, 290.
45. Manuscript 139, 1903, cited in Evangelism, p. 26.
46. Ibid.
47. Letter 258, 1907, cited in Last Day Events, p. 27.
48. Signs of the Times, April 21, 1890, p. 242.
49. Letter 278, 1906, cited in Last Day Events, pp. 24, 25.
50. Review and Herald, Feb. 11, 1904, p. 8.
51. Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 13. Current books, magazines, and TV programs
seem in concert in their lament regarding worldwide economic problems
inherent in various degrees of government socialism, job dislocations caused
by "the information age," the moral corruption connected with drugs and
alcohol and their contribution to the astonishing rise in crime worldwide,
the stunning rise in teen-age pregnancies, etc. All these problems have
contributed to rising government costs and increased taxation.
52. Early Writings, p. 43. A year later, Aug. 24, 1850, she wrote: "I saw
that the 'mysterious rapping' was the power of Satan; some of it was
directly from him, and some indirectly, through his agents, but it all
proceeded from Satan. . . . I was shown that by the rapping and mesmerism
these modern magicians would yet account for all the miracles wrought by our
Lord Jesus Christ, and that many would believe that all the mighty works of
the Son of God when on earth were accomplished by this same power."-Ibid.,
p. 59.
53. The Great Controversy, p. 581. See also Last Day Events, p. 132.
54. No pope since 1870, when the unified Kingdom of Italy took over the
papal territories, had stepped outside of the Vatican grounds until the 1929
Concordat with Mussolini's government.
55. Time, Dec. 26, 1994, p. 54.
56. Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 451. See The Great Controversy, pp. 445, 448,
449.
57. Revelation 13:3 foretold the day when "all the world marveled and
followed the beast [Papal Rome]." The essence of this declaration set forth
by prominent evangelical and Catholic leaders is: "Those who love the Lord
must stand together"; that which unites us is far more than that which
divides. One of the signers, J. I. Packer, defended his endorsement in "Why
I Signed It" (Christianity Today, Dec. 12, 1994): "The plot-line of its
8,000 words is simply summarized. After stating that its concern is with
'the relationship between evangelicals and Catholics, who constitute the
growing edge of missionary expansion at present and, most likely, in the
century ahead,' it announces its composers' agreement on the Apostles' Creed
and on the proposition that 'we are justified by grace through faith because
of Jesus Christ'; it affirms a commitment to seek more love, . . . it
sketches out a purpose of nonproselytizing joint action for the conversion
and nurture of outsiders. . . . The drafters of ECT declare that they . . .
understand the Christian life from first to last as personal conversion to
Jesus Christ and communion with him, know that they must 'teach and live in
obedience to the divinely inspired Scriptures, which are the infallible Word
of God,' and on this basis are 'brothers and sisters in Christ.'"
Charles Colson, another prominent signer, defended the ECT document in "Why
Catholics Are Our Allies," wherein he advocated: "When confronting the
non-Christian world-whether in evangelism or political activism-we should
present a united front. This is the goal of ECT . . . . Let's be certain
that we are firing our polemical rifles against the enemy, not against those
[Roman Catholics] fighting in the trenches alongside us [Protestants] in
defense of the Truth."-Christianity Today, Nov. 14, 1994.
58. "Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday
sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the
former lays the foundation of Spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of
sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in
stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism;
they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and
under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the
steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience."-The Great
Controversy, p. 588.
59. Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 566 (1867); Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 184 (1872);
The Ministry of Healing, p. 241 (1905).
60. Selected Messages, book 2, p. 442 (1865); Patriarchs and Prophets, p.
561 (1890).
61. See on pp. 320-336 her insights on the dangers of the free use of sugar
and animal fats, the problems of obesity and irregularity of eating, the
towering value of exercise, the challenge of childhood diet patterns, the
dangers in flesh food, tea, and coffee, etc., in Counsels on Diet and Foods
(Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1938).
62. Life Sketches, p. 125.
63. 133rd Annual Statistical Report-1995. (Published by General Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists.)
64. Life Sketches, p. 338.
65. The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 309 (1936). Imagine how delighted and
amazed those present in 1892 would be if they could see the remarkable
outreach of Adventists throughout the South Pacific today.
66. James White, Life Sketches (Battle Creek, Mich.: Steam Press of the
Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Assn., 1880), pp. 353-355.
67. Testimonies, vol. 8, pp. 91, 96.
68. General Conference Bulletin, 1903, p. 85.
69. See p. 189.
70. Letter 157, 1902, cited in MR vol. 4, p. 280.
71. D. E. Robinson, The Story of Our Health Message (Nashville, Tenn.:
Southern Publishing Association, 1965), pp. 337-361.
72. Ibid., pp. 351, 352.
73. Review and Herald, April 15, 1858, p. 174. Ellen White's first letter to
this family is dated July 12, 1856.
74. Delafield, Ellen G. White in Europe, pp. 233-234, 236.
75. Letter 39, 1893, cited in Bio., vol. 4. pp. 49, 50.
76. Manuscript 4, 1893, cited in Ibid., pp. 50, 51.
77. DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead to EGW, Feb. 20, 1908, cited in Bio., vol. 4,
p. 51.
78. N. D. Faulkhead letter, Oct. 5, 1908, cited in Ibid., pp. 51, 52.
79. Letter 46, 1892, cited in Ibid.
80. Letter 46, 1892, cited in Ibid., p. 55.
Study Questions
[Top of Document]
1. List some of Ellen White's beliefs and opinions that were modified after
receiving a vision.
2. Why do you think that God did not reveal all the truth that He wanted His
messengers to know at the beginning of their ministry?
3. What Ellen White predictions have you observed being fulfilled in the
last twenty years?
4. How would you have reacted to Ellen White's insight if you had been N. D.
Faulkhead?
5. List and discuss visions given in the following categories: Predictions;
Direct counsel to individuals; An end-time vision.
6. Consider some times when Ellen White's "listening to God" prompted her to
communicate to others at precisely the right time the message that was
needed.
[Top of Document]
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