Early Writings
by Ellen G. White
Appendix
PAGES 13-20: "MY FIRST VISION."—THAT
WHICH IS PRESENTED IN THIS CHAPTER WAS FIRST PUBLISHED BY THE EDITOR OF THE DAY-STAR
ON JANUARY 24, 1846, AS "A LETTER FROM SISTER HARMON" DATED
"PORTLAND, MAINE, DEC. 20, 1845." IT APPEARED AGAIN IN PRINT IN 1846,
1847, AND 1851 UNDER THE TITLE "TO THE REMNANT SCATTERED ABROAD." THE
PRESENT TITLE WAS ASSIGNED IN 1882 IN THE REPRINTING OF EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS.
{EW 297.1}
DETAILED AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNTS AS PUBLISHED IN 1860 AND
1885 PRESENT THAT WHICH APPEARS HERE AS TWO DISTINCT VISIONS. SEE "MY
FIRST VISION" IN SPIRITUAL GIFTS, VOL. 2, PP. 30-35; TESTIMONIES,
VOL. 1, PP. 58-61; AND "VISION OF THE NEW EARTH," IN SPIRITUAL
GIFTS, VOL. 2, PP. 52-55; TESTIMONIES, VOL. 1, PP. {EW 297.2}
PAGES 15-20: PORTRAYAL OF FUTURE EVENTS.—AS
MRS. WHITE DESCRIBED THAT WHICH GOD REVEALED TO HER CONCERNING FUTURE EVENTS,
SHE DID SO, AT TIMES, AS ONE PARTICIPATING IN THESE EVENTS, WHETHER THEY WERE
IN THE PAST OR THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE. IN RESPONSE TO INQUIRIES AS TO HER
STATE IN VISION, SHE WROTE: {EW
297.3}
"WHEN THE LORD SEES FIT TO GIVE A VISION, I AM TAKEN
INTO THE PRESENCE OF JESUS AND ANGELS, AND AM ENTIRELY LOST TO EARTHLY THINGS.
. . . MY ATTENTION IS OFTEN DIRECTED TO SCENES TRANSPIRING UPON
EARTH. AT TIMES I AM CARRIED FAR AHEAD INTO THE FUTURE AND SHOWN WHAT IS TO
TAKE PLACE. THEN AGAIN I AM SHOWN THINGS AS THEY HAVE OCCURRED IN THE
PAST."—SPIRITUAL GIFTS, VOL. 2, P. 292. {EW 297.4}
ELLEN WHITE, AN ADVENTIST HERSELF, WROTE AS ONE PRESENT WHO
SAW AND HEARD THAT WHICH IS YET TO TAKE PLACE; E.G., EARLY WRITINGS: {EW 297.5}
"SOON WE HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD LIKE MANY WATERS, WHICH
GAVE US THE DAY AND HOUR OF JESUS' COMING."—PAGE 15. {EW 297.6}
"WE ALL ENTERED THE CLOUD TOGETHER, AND WERE SEVEN DAYS
ASCENDING TO THE SEA OF GLASS, WHEN JESUS BROUGHT THE CROWNS, AND WITH HIS OWN
RIGHT HAND PLACED THEM ON OUR HEADS."—PAGE 16. {EW 297.7}
"WE ALL MARCHED IN AND FELT THAT WE HAD A PERFECT RIGHT
IN THE CITY." {EW
297.8}
"WE SAW THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE THRONE OF GOD." {EW 297.9}
"WITH JESUS AT OUR HEAD WE ALL DESCENDED FROM THE CITY
DOWN TO THIS EARTH."—PAGE 17. {EW 297.10}
"AS WE WERE ABOUT TO ENTER THE HOLY TEMPLE
. . ." {EW
297.11}
"THE WONDERFUL THINGS I THERE SAW I CANNOT
DESCRIBE."— PAGE 19. {EW 297.12}
AFTER THE VISION SHE WAS ABLE TO RECALL MUCH OF WHAT HAD
BEEN SHOWN TO HER, BUT THAT WHICH WAS SECRET, AND NOT TO BE REVEALED, SHE COULD
NOT RECALL. AS A PART OF THE SCENE OF WHAT IS TO TAKE PLACE WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE
ARE DELIVERED (PAGE 285), SHE HEARD ANNOUNCED "THE DAY AND HOUR OF JESUS'
COMING" (PAGE 15; SEE ALSO PAGE 34). BUT OF THIS SHE LATER WROTE: [298]
{EW 297.13}
"I HAVE NOT THE SLIGHTEST KNOWLEDGE AS TO THE TIME
SPOKEN BY THE VOICE OF GOD. I HEARD THE HOUR PROCLAIMED, BUT HAD NO REMEMBRANCE
OF THAT HOUR AFTER I CAME OUT OF VISION. SCENES OF SUCH THRILLING, SOLEMN
INTEREST PASSED BEFORE ME, AS NO LANGUAGE IS ADEQUATE TO DESCRIBE. IT WAS ALL A
LIVING REALITY TO ME."—ELLEN G. WHITE LETTER 38, 1888, PUBLISHED
IN SELECTED MESSAGES, BOOK 1, P. 76. {EW 298.1}
THE FACT THAT SHE SEEMED TO BE PARTICIPATING IN CERTAIN
EVENTS OFFERED NO GUARANTEE THAT SHE WOULD BE A PARTICIPANT WHEN THE EVENTS
OCCURRED. {EW 298.2}
PAGE 17: BRETHREN FITCH AND STOCKMAN.—IN
THE ACCOUNT OF HER FIRST VISION MRS. WHITE MAKES REFERENCE TO "BRETHREN
FITCH AND STOCKMAN" AS MEN SHE MET AND CONVERSED WITH IN THE NEW
JERUSALEM. BOTH WERE MINISTERS WITH WHOM ELLEN WHITE HAD BEEN ACQUAINTED AND
WHO HAD TAKEN AN ACTIVE PART IN PROCLAIMING THE MESSAGE OF THE EXPECTED ADVENT
OF CHRIST, BUT WHO HAD DIED SHORTLY BEFORE THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF OCTOBER 22,
1844. {EW 298.3}
CHARLES FITCH, A PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, ACCEPTED THE ADVENT
MESSAGE FROM READING WILLIAM MILLER'S LECTURES AND THROUGH HIS MEETING WITH
JOSIAH LITCH. HE THREW HIMSELF WHOLEHEARTEDLY INTO THE PROCLAMATION OF THE
EXPECTED ADVENT OF CHRIST AT THE CLOSE OF THE 2300-YEAR PERIOD, AND BECAME A
PROMINENT LEADER IN THE ADVENT AWAKENING. IN 1842 HE DESIGNED THE PROPHETIC
CHART USED SO EFFECTIVELY AND REFERRED TO IN EARLY WRITINGS ON PAGE 74.
HE DIED A LITTLE MORE THAN A WEEK BEFORE OCTOBER 22, 1844. HIS DEATH CAME ABOUT
THROUGH ILLNESS CONTRACTED THROUGH OVER-EXPOSURE IN CONDUCTING THREE BAPTISMAL
SERVICES ON A CHILLY AUTUMN DAY. (SEE PROPHETIC FAITH OF OUR FATHERS,
VOL. 4, PP. 533-545.) {EW
298.4}
LEVI F. STOCKMAN WAS A YOUTHFUL METHODIST MINISTER OF THE
STATE OF MAINE WHO IN 1842, WITH ABOUT THIRTY OTHER METHODIST MINISTERS,
EMBRACED AND BEGAN TO PREACH THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST. HE WAS LABORING IN
PORTLAND, MAINE, WHEN IN 1843 HIS HEALTH FAILED. HE DIED OF TUBERCULOSIS ON
JUNE 25, 1844. IT WAS TO HIM THAT MRS. WHITE, AS A GIRL, WENT FOR ADVICE WHEN
IN HER DISCOURAGEMENT GOD SPOKE TO HER IN TWO DREAMS. (SEE EARLY WRITINGS,
PP. 12, 78-81; PROPHETIC FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, VOL. 4, PP. 780-782.) {EW 298.5}
PAGE 21: MESMERISM.—IN ORDER TO
JUSTIFY THEIR OPPOSITION, SOME EARLY ENEMIES OF THE VISIONS SUGGESTED THAT
ELLEN WHITE'S EXPERIENCE WAS BROUGHT ABOUT THROUGH MESMERISM, A PHENOMENON
KNOWN TODAY AS HYPNOSIS. HYPNOSIS IS A STATE RESEMBLING SLEEP, INDUCED THROUGH
THE POWER OF SUGGESTION, THE HYPNOTIZED SUBJECT BEING IN RAPPORT WITH THE ONE
INDUCING THE STATE AND RESPONSIVE TO HIS SUGGESTIONS. WHEN, HOWEVER, AS MRS.
WHITE HERE REPORTS, A MESMERIZING PHYSICIAN ATTEMPTED TO HYPNOTIZE HER, HE WAS
HELPLESS IN HER PRESENCE. {EW
298.6}
ELLEN WHITE EARLY IN HER EXPERIENCE WAS CAUTIONED REGARDING
THE PERILS OF HYPNOSIS, AND IN LATER YEARS, ON A NUMBER OF [299]
OCCASIONS, SHE RECEIVED INSTRUCTION REGARDING IT. SHE WARNED OF THE GRAVE
DANGERS ACCOMPANYING ANY PRACTICE IN WHICH ONE MIND WOULD CONTROL ANOTHER MIND.
(SEE THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, PP. 242-244; MEDICAL MINISTRY, PP.
110-112; SELECTED MESSAGES, BOOK 2, PP. 349, 350, 353.) {EW 298.7}
PAGE 33: NOMINAL ADVENTISTS.—THOSE
WHO UNITED IN SOUNDING THE FIRST AND SECOND ANGELS' MESSAGES BUT WHO REJECTED
THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE WITH ITS SABBATH TRUTH, BUT NONETHELESS CONTINUED TO
ESPOUSE THE ADVENT HOPE, ARE REFERRED TO BY MRS. WHITE AS THE "NOMINAL
ADVENTISTS," OR THOSE WHO "REJECT THE PRESENT TRUTH" (PAGE 69),
ALSO "DIFFERENT PARTIES OF PROFESSED ADVENT BELIEVERS" (PAGE 124). IN
OUR EARLY LITERATURE THESE PEOPLE WERE ALSO REFERRED TO AS "FIRST-DAY
ADVENTISTS." {EW
299.1}
A LARGE NUMBER OF CHRISTIANS WERE DISAPPOINTED IN THE AUTUMN
OF 1844 WHEN CHRIST DID NOT COME AS THEY EXPECTED. THE ADVENTISTS DIVIDED INTO
SEVERAL GROUPS, THE SURVIVORS OF WHICH TODAY COMPRISE THE ADVENT CHRISTIAN
CHURCH, A SMALL BODY, AND THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS. {EW 299.2}
ONLY A FEW AMONG THE ADVENTISTS MAINTAINED THEIR CONFIDENCE
IN THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY IN 1844, BUT THOSE WHO DID STEPPED FORWARD INTO
THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE WITH ITS SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. OF THE EXPERIENCE AT
THAT CRITICAL PERIOD ELLEN WHITE LATER WROTE: {EW 299.3}
"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. {EW 299.4}
"BUT IN THE PERIOD OF DOUBT AND UNCERTAINTY THAT
FOLLOWED THE DISAPPOINTMENT, MANY OF THE ADVENT BELIEVERS YIELDED THEIR FAITH.
DISSENSIONS AND DIVISIONS CAME IN. THE MAJORITY OPPOSED WITH VOICE AND PEN THE
FEW WHO, FOLLOWING IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, RECEIVED THE SABBATH REFORM AND
BEGAN TO PROCLAIM THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE. MANY WHO SHOULD HAVE DEVOTED THEIR
TIME AND TALENTS TO THE ONE PURPOSE OF SOUNDING WARNING TO THE WORLD, WERE
ABSORBED IN OPPOSING THE SABBATH TRUTH, AND IN TURN, THE LABOR OF ITS ADVOCATES
WAS NECESSARILY SPENT IN ANSWERING THESE OPPONENTS AND DEFENDING THE TRUTH.
THUS THE WORK WAS HINDERED, AND THE WORLD WAS LEFT IN DARKNESS. HAD THE WHOLE ADVENTIST
BODY UNITED UPON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND THE FAITH OF JESUS, HOW WIDELY
DIFFERENT WOULD HAVE BEEN OUR HISTORY!" —SELECTED MESSAGES,
BOOK 1, P. 68. {EW 299.5}
PAGES 42-45: OPEN AND SHUT DOOR.—AS
MRS. WHITE DISCUSSED THE GREAT ADVENT MOVEMENT AND THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF
OCTOBER 22, 1844, IN THE GREAT CONTROVERSY AND REFERRED TO THE POSITIONS
TAKEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE DISAPPOINTMENT, SHE MAKES MENTION [300]
OF THE INEVITABLE CONCLUSION THAT WAS HELD FOR A SHORT TIME THAT "THE DOOR
OF MERCY WAS SHUT." BUT AS SHE STATES, "CLEARER LIGHT CAME WITH THE
INVESTIGATION OF THE SANCTUARY QUESTION." SEE "HISTORICAL
PROLOGUE" IN THIS VOLUME AND THE GREAT CONTROVERSY, PAGE 429, AND
THE ENTIRE CHAPTER "IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES," PAGES 423-432. {EW 299.6}
CONCERNING HER OWN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP TO THIS MATTER, SHE
WROTE IN 1874 THAT SHE "NEVER HAD A VISION THAT NO MORE SINNERS WOULD BE
CONVERTED." NOR DID SHE EVER TEACH THIS VIEW. "IT WAS THE LIGHT GIVEN
ME OF GOD," SHE WROTE AT ANOTHER TIME, "THAT CORRECTED OUR ERROR, AND
ENABLED US TO SEE THE TRUE POSITION." (SELECTED MESSAGES, BOOK 1,
PP. 74, 63.) {EW 300.1}
PAGES 43, 44, AND 86: MYSTERIOUS KNOCKINGS IN NEW
YORK, AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS.—REFERENCE IS HERE MADE TO
INCIDENTS RELATING TO THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM. IN 1848 MYSTERIOUS
RAPPINGS WERE HEARD IN THE HOME OF THE FOX FAMILY AT HYDESVILLE, A COMMUNITY
ABOUT THIRTY-FIVE MILES EAST OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK. AT A TIME WHEN
THERE WERE VARIOUS CONJECTURES AS TO THE CAUSE OF THE RAPPINGS, ELLEN WHITE
ANNOUNCED, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE VISION GIVEN TO HER, THAT THEY WERE A
MANIFESTATION OF SPIRITUALISM, THAT THIS PHENOMENON WOULD DEVELOP RAPIDLY, AND
IN THE NAME OF RELIGION WOULD GAIN POPULARITY AND DECEIVE MULTITUDES,
DEVELOPING INTO SATAN'S LAST-DAY MASTERPIECE OF DECEPTION. {EW 300.2}
PAGE 50: MESSENGERS WITHOUT A MESSAGE.—THIS
EXPRESSION APPEARS IN AN ACCOUNT OF A VIEW GIVEN TO ELLEN WHITE ON JANUARY 26,
1850. AT THIS TIME THE SABBATHKEEPING ADVENTISTS HAD NO CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
NEARLY ALL WERE FEARFUL THAT ANY TYPE OF ORGANIZATION WOULD BRING IN FORMALITY
AMONG THE BELIEVERS. BUT AS TIME WENT ON, DISCORDANT ELEMENTS BEGAN TO MAKE
THEIR WAY INTO THE RANKS. MESSAGES OF WARNING CAME FROM ELLEN WHITE, AND THE
SABBATHKEEPING ADVENTISTS WERE LED STEP BY STEP TO ADOPT THE FORMS OF CHURCH
ORGANIZATION. AS A RESULT THE COMPANIES OF BELIEVERS WERE KNIT TOGETHER MORE
CLOSELY THAN BEFORE; A WAY WAS DEVISED TO GIVE RECOGNITION TO MINISTERS WHO
GAVE EVIDENCE THAT THEY COULD PREACH THE MESSAGE AND SUPPORT IT WITH THEIR
LIVES; AND PROVISION WAS MADE TO CAST OUT THOSE WHO, UNDER THE PRETEXT OF
PRESENTING TRUTH, TAUGHT ERROR. SEE "HISTORICAL PROLOGUE." {EW 300.3}
PAGES 61, 62: UNITY OF THE SHEPHERDS.—SEE
NOTE FOR PAGE 50, MESSENGERS WITHOUT A MESSAGE. {EW 300.4}
PAGE 75: DUTY TO GO TO OLD JERUSALEM.—MRS.
WHITE REFERS TO ERRONEOUS VIEWS THEN HELD BY A VERY FEW. THE NEXT YEAR, IN THE REVIEW
AND HERALD OF OCTOBER 7, 1851, JAMES WHITE WRITES OF "THE DISTRACTING,
UNPROFITABLE VIEWS RELATIVE TO OLD JERUSALEM AND THE JEWS, ETC., THAT ARE
AFLOAT AT THE PRESENT TIME," AND OF "THE STRANGE NOTIONS THAT SOME
HAVE RUN INTO, THAT THE SAINTS HAVE YET TO GO TO OLD JERUSALEM. ETC.,
ETC." {EW 300.5}
PAGE 77: EDITOR OF THE DAY-STAR.—ENOCH
JACOBS LIVED IN [301] CINCINNATI, OHIO, AND PUBLISHED
THE DAY-STAR, ONE OF THE EARLY JOURNALS PROCLAIMING THE SECOND ADVENT OF
CHRIST. IT WAS TO ENOCH JACOBS THAT ELLEN HARMON IN DECEMBER, 1845, SENT AN
ACCOUNT OF HER FIRST VISION, HOPING TO STABILIZE HIM. SHE HAD OBSERVED THAT HE
WAS WAVERING IN HIS CONFIDENCE IN GOD'S LEADERSHIP IN THE ADVENT EXPERIENCE. IT
WAS IN THE DAY-STAR THAT THE EDITOR PUBLISHED MRS. WHITE'S FIRST VISION,
IN THE ISSUE OF JANUARY 24, 1846. IN A SPECIAL NUMBER OF HIS JOURNAL, THE DAY-STAR
EXTRA, FEBRUARY 7, 1846, THE MEMORABLE ARTICLE CONCERNING THE HEAVENLY
SANCTUARY AND ITS CLEANSING, PREPARED BY HIRAM EDSON, DR. HAHN, AND O. R. L.
CROZIER, WAS PUBLISHED. IT SET FORTH THE SCRIPTURE TEACHING RELATIVE TO THE
MINISTRY OF CHRIST IN THE MOST HOLY PLACE OF THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY BEGINNING
OCTOBER 22, 1844. IN THIS JOURNAL ALSO ON MARCH 14, 1846, A SECOND
COMMUNICATION FROM ELLEN HARMON'S PEN WAS PUBLISHED. (SEE EARLY WRITINGS,
PAGES 32-35.) REFERENCE IN THE PARAGRAPH UNDER DISCUSSION IS TO LATER VIEWS
HELD BY MR. JACOBS AND THE SPIRITUALISTIC DELUSIONS HE ESPOUSED. {EW 300.6}
PAGE 86: SEE APPENDIX NOTE FOR PAGES 43, 44. {EW 301.1}
PAGE 89: THOMAS PAINE.—THE WRITINGS
OF THOMAS PAINE WERE WELL KNOWN AND WIDELY READ IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE
1840'S. HIS BOOK AGE OF REASON WAS A DEISTIC WORK AND DETRIMENTAL TO
CHRISTIAN FAITH AND PRACTICE. THE BOOK BEGAN WITH THE WORDS "I BELIEVE IN
ONE GOD AND NO MORE." PAINE HAD NO FAITH IN CHRIST, AND HE WAS USED
SUCCESSFULLY BY SATAN IN HIS ATTACKS UPON THE CHURCH. AS MRS. WHITE INDICATED,
IF SUCH A MAN AS PAINE COULD FIND ENTRANCE TO HEAVEN AND BE HIGHLY HONORED
THERE, ANY SINNER, WITHOUT A REFORMATION OF LIFE AND WITHOUT FAITH IN JESUS
CHRIST, COULD FIND ADMITTANCE. SHE EXPOSED THIS FALLACY IN VIGOROUS LANGUAGE
AND POINTED OUT THE IRRATIONALITY OF SPIRITUALISM. {EW 301.2}
PAGE 101: PERFECTIONISM.—SOME OF THE
EARLY ADVENTISTS, SHORTLY AFTER THE 1844 EXPERIENCE, LOST THEIR HOLD ON GOD AND
DRIFTED INTO FANATICISM. ELLEN WHITE MET THESE EXTREMISTS WITH A "THUS
SAITH THE LORD." SHE REBUKED THOSE WHO TAUGHT A STATE OF PERFECTION IN THE
FLESH AND THEREFORE COULD NOT SIN. OF SUCH MRS. WHITE LATER WROTE: {EW 301.3}
"THEY HELD THAT THOSE WHO ARE SANCTIFIED CANNOT SIN.
AND THIS NATURALLY LED TO THE BELIEF THAT THE AFFECTIONS AND DESIRES OF THE
SANCTIFIED ONES WERE ALWAYS RIGHT, AND NEVER IN DANGER OF LEADING THEM INTO
SIN. IN HARMONY WITH THESE SOPHISTRIES, THEY WERE PRACTISING THE WORST SINS
UNDER THE GARB OF SANCTIFICATION, AND THROUGH THEIR DECEPTIVE, MESMERIC
INFLUENCE WERE GAINING A STRANGE POWER OVER SOME OF THEIR ASSOCIATES, WHO DID
NOT SEE THE EVIL OF THESE APPARENTLY BEAUTIFUL BUT SEDUCTIVE THEORIES.
. . . {EW 301.4}
"CLEARLY THE DECEPTIONS OF THESE FALSE TEACHERS WERE
LAID OPEN BEFORE ME, AND I SAW THE FEARFUL ACCOUNT THAT STOOD AGAINST THEM IN
THE BOOK OF RECORDS, AND THE TERRIBLE GUILT THAT RESTED UPON THEM FOR
PROFESSING COMPLETE HOLINESS WHILE THEIR DAILY ACTS WERE OFFENSIVE IN THE SIGHT
OF GOD."—LIFE SKETCHES, PP. 83, 84. [302] {EW 301.5}
PAGES 116 AND 117: THE LORD'S SUPPER; WOMEN
WASHING MEN'S FEET, AND THE HOLY KISS.—THE PIONEERS OF THE
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH, HAVING ACCEPTED THE SABBATH TRUTH, EAGERLY
REACHED OUT TO FOLLOW THE WORD OF GOD IN EVERY PARTICULAR, WHILE AT THE SAME
TIME THEY WERE CAREFUL TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AGAINST DISTORTED INTERPRETATIONS
OF THE WORD AND ANY EXTREMES OR FANATICISM. THEY SAW CLEARLY THE PRIVILEGES AND
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER ESTABLISHED FOR THE CHURCH BY OUR LORD.
THERE WAS SOME QUESTION ABOUT FOOT WASHING AND THE HOLY KISS. IN THIS VISION
THE LORD MADE CLEAR CERTAIN DELICATE POINTS THAT WOULD GUIDE AND GUARD THE
EMERGING CHURCH. {EW
302.1}
AS TO THE MATTER OF THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH THE ORDINANCES
SHOULD BE OBSERVED, SOME INSISTED ON ONCE A YEAR; BUT THE INSTRUCTION WAS GIVEN
THAT THE LORD'S SUPPER SHOULD BE MORE FREQUENTLY PRACTICED. TODAY THE CHURCH
FOLLOWS THE PLAN OF OBSERVING THE ORDINANCES FOUR TIMES ANNUALLY. {EW 302.2}
COUNSEL WAS GIVEN CONCERNING THE WASHING OF FEET. APPARENTLY
THERE WERE SOME DIFFERENCES OF OPINION AS TO THE PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED. SOME
HAD MOVED INJUDICIOUSLY AND THE RESULT HAD BEEN "CONFUSION." COUNSEL
WAS GIVEN THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHOULD BE PERFORMED WITH CARE AND RESERVE, IN SUCH
A WAY AS NOT TO AROUSE PREJUDICE. THERE WAS SOME QUESTION ABOUT THE PROPRIETY
OF MEN AND WOMEN WASHING ONE ANOTHER'S FEET. ON THIS POINT ELLEN WHITE BROUGHT
FORTH SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE WHICH INDICATED THAT IT WOULD BE PROPER FOR A WOMAN—APPARENTLY
UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS—TO WASH THE FEET OF A MAN, BUT SHE COUNSELED
AGAINST A MAN WASHING THE FEET OF A WOMAN. {EW 302.3}
CONCERNING THE HOLY KISS, THE SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY
STATES: {EW 302.4}
"IN THE EAST, ESPECIALLY, THE KISS WAS A COMMON MODE OF
EXPRESSING LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP IN GREETING. (SEE LUKE 7:45; ACTS 20:37.) THE
'HOLY KISS,' OR 'KISS OF CHARITY' (1 PETER 5:14), WAS A SYMBOL OF CHRISTIAN
AFFECTION. IT SEEMS TO HAVE BECOME A CUSTOM WITH EARLY CHRISTIANS TO EXCHANGE
THIS GREETING AT THE TIME OF THE LORD'S SUPPER (JUSTIN MARTYR FIRST APOLOGY
65). LATER WRITINGS INDICATE THAT IT WAS NOT THE CUSTOM TO GIVE THIS `HOLY
KISS' TO ONE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX (APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS II. 57; VIII.
11)."— THE SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY, VOL. 7, PP. 257, 258. {EW 302.5}
IT WAS THE CUSTOM AMONG THE EARLY SABBATHKEEPING ADVENTISTS
TO EXCHANGE THE HOLY KISS AT THE ORDINANCE OF HUMILITY. NO REFERENCE IS MADE TO
OBVIOUS IMPROPRIETY OF EXCHANGING THE HOLY KISS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN, BUT
THERE IS A CALL FOR ALL TO ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL. {EW 302.6}
PAGE 118: MAKING A NOISE.—THE GOSPEL
NET DRAWS IN ALL TYPES OF PEOPLE. THERE WERE SOME WHO FELT THAT THEIR RELIGIOUS
EXPERIENCE WAS NOT GENUINE UNLESS MARKED BY NOISY, DEMONSTRATIVE SHOUTS OF
PRAISE TO GOD, LOUD AND EXCITED PRAYERS, AND ANIMATED AMENS. HERE AGAIN THE
CHURCH IN ITS EARLY EXPERIENCE WAS GIVEN A NOTE OF WARNING, CALLING FOR DECORUM
AND SOLEMNITY IN THE WORSHIP OF GOD. [303] {EW 302.7}
PAGES 229-232: WILLIAM MILLER.—IN
THE REFERENCES TO THE GREAT ADVENT AWAKENING IN AMERICA IN THE 1830'S AND
1840'S, WILLIAM MILLER IS OFTEN MENTIONED. IN THE BOOK THE GREAT CONTROVERSY
AN ENTIRE CHAPTER IS DEVOTED TO THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF WILLIAM MILLER UNDER
THE TITLE "AN AMERICAN REFORMER" (PAGES 317-342). WILLIAM MILLER WAS
BORN IN PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, IN 1782 AND DIED IN LOW HAMPTON, NEW YORK,
IN 1849. AT THE AGE OF FOUR HE MOVED WITH HIS PARENTS TO LOW HAMPTON, NEW YORK,
NEAR LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND GREW UP ON A FRONTIER FARM. HE WAS ALWAYS STUDIOUS AND
A CAREFUL READER. HE BECAME A LEADER IN HIS COMMUNITY. IN 1816 HE SET ABOUT TO
GIVE CAREFUL STUDY TO THE WORD OF GOD, AND HIS STUDY LED HIM TO THE GREAT TIME
PROPHECIES AND THE PROPHECIES RELATING TO THE SECOND ADVENT. HE CONCLUDED THAT
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WAS NEAR. AFTER REVIEWING HIS POSITIONS OVER A
PERIOD OF YEARS AND ASSURING HIMSELF AS TO THEIR CERTAINTY, HE RESPONDED IN
EARLY AUGUST, 1831, TO AN INVITATION TO PUBLICLY PRESENT HIS VIEWS ON THE
PROPHECIES. FROM THEN ON HIS TIME WAS DEVOTED LARGELY TO THE HERALDING OF THE
ADVENT MESSAGE. IN DUE TIME HE WAS JOINED BY HUNDREDS OF OTHER PROTESTANT
MINISTERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE GREAT ADVENT AWAKENING OF THE 1840'S. {EW 303.1}
AT THE TIME OF THE DISAPPOINTMENT ON OCTOBER 22, 1844,
MILLER WAS WORN AND ILL. HE DEPENDED LARGELY ON HIS YOUNGER ASSOCIATES WHO
STOOD WITH HIM IN PROCLAIMING THE ADVENT MESSAGE. THEY LED HIM TO REJECT THE
SABBATH TRUTH AS IT CAME TO HIS ATTENTION SOON AFTER THE DISAPPOINTMENT. FOR
THIS THEY, AND NOT WILLIAM MILLER, WILL BE HELD RESPONSIBLE. ELLEN WHITE WRITES
OF THIS EXPERIENCE ON PAGE 258, AND ASSURES US THAT MILLER WILL BE AMONG THOSE
WHO WILL BE CALLED FROM THEIR GRAVES AT THE SOUND OF THE LAST TRUMP. {EW 303.2}
PAGES 232-240, 254-258: THREE ANGELS' MESSAGES OF
REVELATION 14.—IN A SERIES OF THREE CHAPTERS, BEGINNING ON PAGE
232, ELLEN WHITE DISCUSSES THE FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD ANGELS' MESSAGES. SHE
WAS WRITING FOR THOSE WHO WITH HER HAD PASSED THROUGH THE GREAT ADVENT
AWAKENING AND THE DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE SPRING AND FALL OF 1844. SHE DID NOT
ATTEMPT TO ENTER INTO AN EXPLANATION OF THESE THREE MESSAGES, BUT ASSUMED THAT
HER READERS HAD A FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THIS EXPERIENCE. SHE PRESENTED THAT WHICH
WOULD BRING COURAGE AND UNDERSTANDING TO HER FELLOW BELIEVERS IN THE LIGHT OF
THEIR EXPERIENCE. WE MUST TURN TO HER BOOK THE GREAT CONTROVERSY FOR A
DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE BURDEN OF THESE MESSAGES. THE FIRST ANGEL'S MESSAGE
SOUNDED THE WARNING OF THE APPROACH OF THE HOUR OF GOD'S JUDGMENT. SEE THE
GREAT CONTROVERSY, CHAPTERS "HERALDS OF THE MORNING," PAGES
299-316; "AN AMERICAN REFORMER," PAGES 317-342; AND "A GREAT
RELIGIOUS AWAKENING," PAGES 355-374. FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE MESSAGE
OF THE SECOND ANGEL, SEE THE CHAPTER "A WARNING REJECTED," BEGINNING
ON PAGE 375. THE ACCOUNT OF THE DISAPPOINTMENT IS PRESENTED IN THE CHAPTERS
"PROPHECIES FULFILLED," PAGES 391-408; [304]
"WHAT IS THE SANCTUARY?" PAGES 409-422; AND "THE HOLY OF
HOLIES," PAGES 423-432. THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE IS SET FORTH IN THE
CHAPTER "GOD'S LAW IMMUTABLE," PAGES 433-450; AND "A WORK OF
REFORM," PAGES 451-460. {EW
303.3}
PAGE 238: CLOSE OF THE SECOND ANGEL'S MESSAGE.—WHILE
WE UNDERSTAND CLEARLY THAT THE MESSAGES OF THE FIRST AND SECOND AND THIRD
ANGELS ARE MESSAGES THAT HAVE THEIR APPLICATION TODAY, WE RECOGNIZE ALSO THAT
IN THEIR INITIAL PROCLAMATION THE SOUNDING OF THE FIRST ANGEL'S MESSAGE WITH
ITS DECLARATION THAT "THE HOUR OF GOD'S JUDGMENT IS COME" IS LINKED
WITH THE PROCLAMATION OF THE EXPECTED ADVENT OF CHRIST IN THE 1830'S AND EARLY
1840'S. THE SECOND ANGEL'S MESSAGE HAD ITS INITIAL SOUNDING EARLY IN THE SUMMER
OF 1844 IN THE CALL TO THE ADVENT BELIEVERS TO COME OUT OF THE NOMINAL CHURCHES
THAT HAD REJECTED THE PROCLAMATION OF THE FIRST ANGEL'S MESSAGE. AND WHILE IT
IS TRUE THAT THE SECOND ANGEL'S MESSAGE CONTINUES TO BE PRESENT TRUTH, THERE
WAS A CLIMACTIC CLOSING UP OF THE SECOND ANGEL'S MESSAGE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING
OCTOBER 22, 1844. WHEN THE MESSAGES OF THE THREE ANGELS COME PROMINENTLY BEFORE
THE WORLD AGAIN JUST BEFORE THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST, THE ANGEL OF
REVELATION 18:1 JOINS IN THE PROCLAMATION OF THE SECOND ANGEL IN THE MESSAGE
THAT "BABYLON IS FALLEN." "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE." SEE
THE CHAPTER "THE FINAL WARNING" IN THE GREAT CONTROVERSY,
PAGES 603-612. {EW 304.1}
PAGE 254: SEE APPENDIX NOTE FOR PAGES 232-240. {EW 304.2}
PAGE 276: SLAVES AND MASTER.—ACCORDING
TO REVELATION 6:15, 16 THERE WILL BE SLAVERY AT THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST.
HERE WE FIND THE WORDS "EVERY BONDMAN, AND EVERY FREE MAN." THE
STATEMENT BY ELLEN WHITE UNDER DISCUSSION INDICATES THAT SHE WAS SHOWN IN
VISION THE SLAVE AND THE SLAVE MASTER AT THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST. IN THIS
SHE IS IN PERFECT ACCORD WITH THE BIBLE. BOTH JOHN AND MRS. WHITE WERE SHOWN
CONDITIONS THAT WOULD EXIST AT THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD. WHILE IT IS TRUE
THAT NEGRO SLAVES IN THE UNITED STATES WERE FREED BY THE EMANCIPATION
PROCLAMATION, WHICH WENT INTO EFFECT SIX YEARS AFTER STATEMENT UNDER DISCUSSION
WAS PENNED, THE MESSAGE IS NOT MADE INVALID, FOR EVEN TODAY THERE ARE MILLIONS
OF MEN AND WOMEN IN ACTUAL OR VIRTUAL SLAVERY IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD.
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PASS JUDGMENT ON A PROPHECY OF THE FUTURE UNTIL WE HAVE
REACHED THE TIME FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF THAT PROPHECY. {EW 304.3}
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