IN 1872, WHEN THE FIRST TESTIMONY OF VOLUME 3 WAS WRITTEN, THE ENTIRE DENOMINATIONAL EFFORT OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS WAS IN THE UNITED STATES, AND LARGELY CONCENTRATED IN THE CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN STATES. THERE WERE EIGHTY-SIX ORDAINED AND LICENSED MINISTERS PREACHING THE MESSAGE AND SUPERVISING THE WORK. WE OWNED AND OPERATED ONE PUBLISHING HOUSE AND ONE SMALL MEDICAL INSTITUTION, BOTH AT BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN. FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY GOD HAD LED HIS PEOPLE AS RAPIDLY AS THEY COULD ADVANCE INTELLIGENTLY AND IN UNISON, FIRST INTO A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE DOCTRINES TAUGHT IN THE WORD, THEN INTO A SENSE OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO PUBLISH THE MESSAGE, THEN TO ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH, AND THEN TO BETTER WAYS OF LIVING. BUT THERE WERE NEW EXPERIENCES AND GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCE BEFORE THE CHURCH. THE COUNSELS OF VOLUME 3 PAVE THE WAY FOR THESE.
THROUGH THE PRECEDING TWENTY-FIVE CRITICAL YEARS, ELDER JAMES WHITE HAD BEEN THE LEADER OF THE NEW CAUSE. HE HAD STARTED THE PUBLISHING WORK, LABORED TIRELESSLY FOR CHURCH ORGANIZATION, BUILT UP THE MEDICAL WORK, AND HAD STOOD AT THE HEAD IN BOTH ADMINISTRATIVE AND EDITORIAL LINES. HE HAD PIONEERED THE WAY. WITH HIS KEEN BUSINESS FORESIGHT AND HIS ENTIRE DEVOTION TO THE GROWING CHURCH, HE WAS RECOGNIZED AS THE LEADER. THIS BEING THE CASE, IT WAS BUT NATURAL THAT OTHERS SHOULD FAIL TO SEE THAT THEY SHOULD STEP IN AND ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY IN THE VARIOUS ENTERPRISES OF THE GROWING DENOMINATION. THIS VOLUME OPENS WITH A DISCUSSION OF THIS PROBLEM AND WITH AN APPEAL FOR BURDEN BEARERS TO SHOULDER THE WORK AT THE HEADQUARTERS, RELIEVING JAMES WHITE, WHO WAS BREAKING UNDER THE LOAD. AGAIN AND AGAIN, THROUGH THE VOLUME, REFERENCE IS MADE TO THE EXPANDING WORK, THE ENLARGING RESPONSIBILITIES, AND THE NEED OF YOUNGER MEN TO TAKE HOLD AND BEAR THE BURDENS. THE HAZARDS OF LOOKING TO ONE MAN AS THE GREAT LEADER WERE CLEARLY ENUNCIATED.
THE EXPERIENCES OF THIS PERIOD ARE AKIN TO THAT OF THE EAGLE TEACHING ITS YOUNG TO FLY--FIRST BEARING THE FLEDGLING UPON ITS BACK AND THEN LEAVING IT TO DEVELOP ITS STRENGTH, BUT WITH THE PARENT EVER NEAR ENOUGH TO RENDER AID WHEN NEEDED. JAMES WHITE'S OWN FAILING HEALTH, HIS CONVICTION THAT OTHERS SHOULD BE STEPPING IN TO LIFT THE BURDENS, AND HIS FREQUENT CALLS TO DUTY ELSEWHERE, ALL TENDED TO SEPARATE HIM FROM THE ADMINISTRATIVE INTERESTS AT BATTLE CREEK. WHILE ELDER AND MRS. WHITE CONTINUED TO MAINTAIN THEIR HOME MIDWAY BETWEEN THE SANITARIUM AND THE PUBLISHING HOUSE IN THE HEADQUARTERS CITY, WE FIND THEM OFTEN IN DISTANT PARTS. IN THE SUMMERS OF 1872 AND 1873 THEY SPENT PERIODS OF REST IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO, AND WERE ALSO FOR SOME MONTHS IN CALIFORNIA. A STILL LONGER PERIOD WAS SPENT BY THEM ON THE WEST COAST IN 1874, AT WHICH TIME ELDER WHITE BEGAN THE PUBLICATION OF THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. THUS OTHERS WERE FORCED TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITIES OF LEADERSHIP AT THE HEADQUARTERS, AND THE WORK GAINED STRENGTH.
THIS WAS A CRITICAL
PERIOD, TOO, FOR, DURING THE TIME WHEN THE CHURCH WAS FINDING
ITS WAY IN THE QUESTION OF LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION, SOME
WERE INCLINED TO UNDULY STRESS INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENCE AND WERE
IN DANGER OF REPEATING THE EXPERIENCE OF KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM
IN REBELLION AGAINST PROPERLY CONSTITUTED AUTHORITY. SCATTERED
THROUGH VOLUME 3 ARE COUNSELS PROVIDING A DEFINITE STEADYING
INFLUENCE THROUGH THESE EXPERIENCES. HERE AND THERE ARE ENUMERATED
IN MAGNIFICENT STATEMENTS SOME OF THE GREAT PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
AND LEADERSHIP.
THE THREE-YEAR PERIOD
OF THE TIMES OF THIS VOLUME ALSO MARKED THE CLOSE OF THE FIRST
DECADE IN THE TEACHING AND PRACTICE OF HEALTH REFORM. COUNSEL
WAS GIVEN TO GUARD AGAINST EXTREMES ON THE ONE HAND AND INDIFFERENCE
ON THE OTHER. AGAIN AND AGAIN, IN GENERAL ARTICLES AND PERSONAL
TESTIMONIES, ELLEN WHITE POINTED TO THE GREAT PRINCIPLES OF TEMPERANCE
AND RIGHT LIVING, AND CALLED THE PEOPLE TO ADVANCE IN THEIR NEW
AND HELPFUL HEALTH REFORM EXPERIENCE.
ALL THIS WAS LAYING
THE FOUNDATION STONES FOR WIDER EXPANSION.
IT WAS IN THIS PERIOD THAT THE BELIEVERS BEGAN TO GET A GLIMPSE
OF THE ENTIRE WORLD AS THE FIELD OF LABOR. IT WAS A STAGGERING
VIEW. IT PRESENTED A CHALLENGE. THEY DID NOT THEN SEE THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE LITTLE CHURCH SCHOOL STARTED IN BATTLE CREEK BY GOODLOE
H. BELL, AN EXPERIENCED TEACHER WHO HAD ACCEPTED ADVENTISM THROUGH
HIS CONTACTS AT THE SANITARIUM AS A PATIENT. IT WAS IN THE EARLY
SUMMER OF 1872 THAT HE BEGAN THIS SCHOOLWORK. A LITTLE LATER
THAT YEAR A BEGINNING WAS MADE IN LAYING PLANS FOR A MORE ADVANCED
SCHOOL TO TRAIN WORKERS. IN DECEMBER, AS TESTIMONY NO. 22 REACHED
THE HANDS OF OUR PEOPLE, THEY FOUND THAT IT OPENED WITH AN APPEAL
FOR SUCH A SCHOOL AND INSTRUCTION AS TO HOW IT SHOULD BE CONDUCTED.
"PROPER EDUCATION" IS THE TITLE OF THE THIRTY-PAGE
ARTICLE SETTING FORTH THE GREAT BASIC VISION ON THE TRAINING
OF OUR YOUTH. HOW COULD WE COMPASS THE WORLD WITH OUR MESSAGE
UNLESS WE HAD AN EDUCATED MINISTRY? HOW COULD THERE BE AN EDUCATED
MINISTRY UNLESS WE HAD A SCHOOL? RISING TO HEED THE INSTRUCTION
AND MEET THE CHALLENGE SET FORTH SO CLEARLY IN THIS VOLUME IN
PAGES 131-160, OUR FOREFATHERS ESTABLISHED AN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
BEGINNING WITH BATTLE CREEK COLLEGE. ITS MAIN BUILDING WAS DEDICATED
ON JANUARY 4, 1875.
ONLY A FEW MONTHS
BEFORE THIS EPIC OCCASION, ELDER JOHN N. ANDREWS, ONE OF OUR
LEADING MINISTERS, WAS SENT TO SWITZERLAND TO PIONEER THE HERALDING
OF THE MESSAGE IN EUROPE. IN THE COUNSELS OF A FEW MONTHS EARLIER,
ELLEN WHITE HAD WRITTEN OF THE NEED OF MISSIONARIES "TO
GO TO OTHER NATIONS TO PREACH THE TRUTH IN A GUARDED, CAREFUL
MANNER."--PAGE 204. WITH THE SAILING OF ELDER ANDREWS IN
THE AUTUMN OF 1874, SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS BEGAN TO TURN THEIR
EYES TO OTHER LANDS.
THE TIMING OF THE
MESSAGES OF INSTRUCTION AND COUNSEL WHICH HAVE COME TO US DOWN
THROUGH THE YEARS IS INTERESTING. FROM THE YEAR 1859, SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTISTS HAD MADE ADVANCEMENT IN ASSUMING THEIR OBLIGATIONS
TO GOD AS THEY DISCERNED THEIR STEWARDSHIP IN SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE;
BUT THEY DID NOT AT THE OUTSET PERCEIVE THE FULL OBLIGATION OF
THE TITHE, THE TENTH OF THE INCOME. NOW IN TWO ARTICLES, IN THE
HEART OF VOLUME 3, THE BASIS OF
RECKONING THE TITHE OBLIGATION WAS CLARIFIED AS THE MESSENGER
OF THE LORD WROTE OF A "TENTH OF THE" "INCOME"
AND OF THE "NINE TENTHS" WHICH REMAINED. NOT UNTIL
1879 WAS THIS BROADER CONCEPT OF SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE TO BECOME
A PART OF DENOMINATIONAL POLICY, BUT THAT STEP WHICH HAS DONE
SO MUCH TO ASSURE A STEADY AND MUCH-NEEDED INCOME FOR A GROWING
WORK HAD ITS ROOTS IN THESE COUNSELS OF THE TWO CHAPTERS, "TITHES
AND OFFERINGS" AND "SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE," WHICH
WERE PUBLISHED EARLY IN 1875. THE FULLER CONCEPT OF TRUE STEWARDSHIP
WAS DISCERNED AS WE WERE LED TO SEE THAT THE CALLS FOR BENEVOLENCE
WERE DESIGNED BY GOD, NOT MERELY TO RAISE MONEY, BUT AS A MEANS
OF DEVELOPING AND PERFECTING CHARACTER IN THE GIVER.
AS MIGHT BE EXPECTED,
AN AGGRESSIVE EVANGELISTIC PROGRAM LED TO CONFLICT WITH OTHER
RELIGIOUS GROUPS, WHO OFTEN CHALLENGED US TO DEBATE AND ARGUMENT.
TEN YEARS EARLIER MOSES HULL, ONE OF OUR MINISTERS, HAD LOST
HIS WAY IN PLACING HIMSELF ON THE ENEMY'S GROUND BY SUCH DISCUSSIONS.
NOW REPEATED COUNSELS PRESENTED GUIDANCE AS THEY POINTED OUT
THE DANGERS AND THE SMALL FRUITAGE OF SUCH CONTENTIOUS EFFORTS.
VOLUME 3 ABOUNDS IN SUCH COUNSELS.
SO THE TOPICS OF
THIS VOLUME ARE VARIED, RANGING FROM COUNSEL TO THE WEALTHY FARMER
AND HIS UNEDUCATED WIFE TO INSTRUCTION FOR THE MINISTER AND THE
EXECUTIVE. THE GENERAL ARTICLES FILL THE LARGER PART OF THIS
VOLUME. HERE AND THERE ARE FOUND PERSONAL MESSAGES, PUBLISHED
FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL, BECAUSE, AS ELLEN WHITE WROTE, SO MANY
OF THEM HAVE TO DO WITH EXPERIENCES "WHICH IN MANY RESPECTS
REPRESENT THE CASES OF OTHERS."
A FEW OUTSTANDING
REVELATIONS FORM THE BASIS OF THE LARGER PART OF THIS VOLUME.
DURING THIS PERIOD THE OUTSTANDING VISIONS WERE LESS FREQUENT,
BUT MORE COMPREHENSIVE. AGAIN AND AGAIN REFERENCE IS MADE TO
THE COMPREHENSIVE VISIONS OF DECEMBER 10, 1871, AND JANUARY 3,
1875. THE LATTER IS DESCRIBED BY JAMES WHITE IN A FOOTNOTE ON
PAGE 570. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE FIRST WILL BE DESCRIBED MORE
FULLY HERE: IT WAS AT BORDOVILLE,
VERMONT, THAT THIS VISION WAS GIVEN. A REPORT OF THE MEETING
HELD AT THAT PLACE, DECEMBER 9 AND 10, WAS SENT TO THE REVIEW
BY ELDER A. C. BOURDEAU, IN WHOSE HOUSE IT WAS HELD. FROM IT
WE LEARN THAT MRS. WHITE HAD LABORED "ESPECIALLY FOR THE
CHURCH." AT ONE EVENING MEETING "SPECIAL TESTIMONIES
WERE GIVEN TO INDIVIDUALS PRESENT; AND AS THESE WERE ENDORSED
[BY THOSE SPOKEN TO], LIGHT AND FREEDOM BROKE IN." SUNDAY
AFTERNOON TWO SONS OF ONE OF THE BELIEVERS AND THE WIFE OF ONE
OF THEM CAME TO BID MRS. WHITE GOOD-BY. THEY HAD BEEN "IN
A BACKSLIDDEN STATE." THEN ELDER BOURDEAU GIVES A VIVID
PICTURE OF WHAT TOOK PLACE:
"AT THIS POINT,
SISTER WHITE FELT THE REAL BURDEN OF THEIR CASES, AND A SPECIAL YEARNING AFTER THEM FOR THEIR
SALVATION,
AND GAVE THEM RICH INSTRUCTIONS. SHE THEN
KNEELED DOWN WITH THEM AND PRAYED
FOR THEM WITH GREAT EARNESTNESS, FAITH, AND
TENACITY, THAT THEY MIGHT RETURN UNTO THE
LORD. THEY YIELDED AND PRAYED,
PROMISING TO SERVE THE LORD. THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD DREW NEARER AND NEARER. SISTER WHITE WAS FREE,
AND SOON, UNEXPECTEDLY TO ALL,
SHE WAS IN VISION. SHE REMAINED
IN THIS CONDITION FIFTEEN MINUTES.
"THE NEWS SPREAD,
AND SOON THE HOUSE WAS CROWDED. SINNERS
TREMBLED, BELIEVERS WEPT, AND BACKSLIDERS RETURNED TO
GOD. THE WORK WAS NOT CONFINED TO THOSE PRESENT,
AS WE HAVE SINCE LEARNED. SOME
WHO HAD REMAINED AT HOME WERE
POWERFULLY CONVICTED. THEY SAW THEMSELVES
AS THEY HAD NEVER DONE BEFORE.
THE ANGEL OF GOD WAS SHAKING THE PLACE. THE
SHORTNESS OF TIME, THE TERRORS AND NEARNESS OF COMING
JUDGMENTS AND THE TIME OF TROUBLE, THE WORLDLY-MINDEDNESS
OF THE CHURCH, THEIR LACK OF BROTHERLY LOVE,
AND THEIR STATE
OF UNREADINESS TO MEET THE LORD, WERE STRONGLY
IMPRESSED UPON THE MINDS OF ALL."--REVIEW
AND HERALD, DEC. 26, 1871.
SUCH WERE THE TIMES OF VOLUME 3.
THE TRUSTEES OF THE
ELLEN G. WHITE PUBLICATIONS.
