"And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and
confirming the word through the accompanying signs" (Mark 16:20).
Visions were not always involved in dramatic exposures or in spectacular
instruction during church deliberations. Some visions were about everyday
matters.
In 1850, church members in Sutton, Vermont, realized that the Whites were
wearing themselves out, traveling on common stagecoaches or wagons. They
contributed $175 to help buy a horse and carriage, and left it up to the
Whites to choose the horse. This important decision did not take long.
During the night, Mrs. White had a vision in which she would have the
choice
of three horses. The next day, she knew that the beautiful dapple
chestnut,
named Charlie, was the one to be trusted for many years-because the angel
had said in the vision, "This is the one for you."1
Open Visions Often Changed Skeptics Into Believers
[Top of Document]
For several decades, contemporaries observed Ellen White in vision and
wrote
out their descriptions of these impressive events. Open visions often
changed skeptical people, even adversaries, into believers.
One of the earliest, most prominent, skeptic-turned-believer was Joseph
Bates.2 Along with others who knew only by rumor of Ellen White's early
visions, Bates was not convinced that her visions "were of God."3 Visions
at
that time were confused with spiritualistic seances or mesmerism. Bates
thought they were nothing "more than what was produced by a protracted
debilitated state of her body."4 But he changed his mind after observing
her
in several vision experiences.
One vision, in particular, impressed him. In November 1846, at the
Stockbridge Howland home in Topsham, Maine, a small company of Sabbath
keepers had convened. Among them were Joseph Bates and the Whites. Ellen
White was taken in vision and "for the first time had a view of other
planets." After the vision she related what she had seen.
Bates, an amateur astronomer, asked her if she had ever studied astronomy.
He was astonished at what he had heard, saying, "This is of the Lord."
Later, after observing several other visions, he wrote in a small tract,
"I
thank God for the opportunity I have had with others to witness these
things. . . . I believe the work is of God, and is given to comfort and
strengthen His scattered, torn, and pealed people."5
Ellen White never wrote out this "astronomy vision." She never identified
by
name the planets she saw, nor did she mention the number of moons any
planet
may have. But Bates attached the planets' names to what he thought Ellen
White was describing, and others, including James White, reported what
Bates
seemed to have understood from her brief comments. Telescopes today reveal
much more about the planets, the number of their moons, and other heavenly
phenomena than Bates would ever have dreamed of. What really astounded him
was not the description of "planets," but Mrs. White's description of the
"opening heavens," a reference to the so-called "open space in Orion." He
was reported to have said that her description "far surpassed any account
of
the opening heavens he had ever read from any author."6
Not An Astronomy Lesson
[Top of Document]
The point seems clear: the vision was not a lesson on astronomy that was
intended to be verified by modern telescopes. Rather, it provided enough
information, by a young woman totally uninformed on astronomy, that
conformed to the limited information that Bates, an amateur astronomer,
had
in 1847.7 If Ellen White had given a preview of what the Hubble telescope
revealed in the 1990s, Joseph Bates would certainly have been convinced
that
Ellen White was a fraud, a misguided zealot. His doubts would have been
confirmed. Probably he would not have identified himself further with
Seventh-day Adventists.
Bates's confidence in Mrs. White's visions was tested two years later. The
Whites were desperately in need of funds to continue publishing the
Present
Truth. Unfortunately, Bates was highly critical of the periodical approach
to disseminating the message. He favored the pamphlet approach. At the
most
critical point of disagreement and lack of funds, Ellen White had a vision
that the periodical, "was needed . . . . that the paper should go . . .
that
it would go where God's servants cannot go."
When Bates heard of Mrs. White's endorsement, he dropped his opposition
and
lent his influence to the developing publishing work.8
Young Daniel Bourdeau, at the age of twenty, was doing missionary work for
the Baptist Church in Canada when he heard that his parents and older
brother (Augustin C.) had joined the Sabbatarian Adventists in northern
Vermont. In his attempt to dissuade them, he discovered that they had
persuaded him regarding the Sabbath and other doctrines.
But Daniel was still an "unbeliever in the visions" until Sunday morning,
June 21, 1857, when he observed Ellen White in vision at Buck's Bridge,
New
York. He was told that he could examine her during the vision. In his
words,
"to satisfy my mind as to whether she breathed or not, I first put my hand
on her chest sufficiently long to know that there was no more heaving of
the
lungs than there would have been had she been a corpse. I then took my
hand
and placed it over her mouth, pinching her nostrils between my thumb and
forefinger, so that it was impossible for her to exhale or inhale air,
even
if she had desired to do so. I held her thus with my hand about ten
minutes,
long enough for her to suffocate under ordinary circumstances. She was not
in the least affected by this ordeal. . . . Since witnessing this
wonderful
phenomenon, I have not once been inclined to doubt the divine origin of
her
visions."9
Ellen White's longest vision (four hours) occurred in 1845 before her
marriage to James. One of the allegations against her was that she could
not
have a vision if James White and her sister, Sarah (both persons
accompanied
Ellen on her early travels) were not present. Otis Nichols, hoping to
expose
the charge, invited Ellen and Sarah to his home, leaving James in
Portland.
Among those in the Boston area who contested the validity of Ellen
Harmon's
experience were fanatical leaders, including Sargent and Robbins, who were
also advocating that it was a sin to work.10
Sargent and Robbins were invited and came to Nichols home, but when they
learned that Ellen Harmon was present, they quickly withdrew, warning
Nichols that her visions were "of the devil." Before they left, Nichols
told
them that Ellen Harmon would like to attend their next meeting in Boston,
to
which they gave their approval.
But the night before the proposed meeting, Ellen was shown in vision that
these men had no plan to meet with her; they had alerted their followers
to
gather in Randolph, thirteen miles south of Boston. In that vision she
also
was told that she should meet with this group in Randolph, that God would
give her a message that would convince "the honest, the unprejudiced ones,
whether her visions were of the Lord or from Satan."11
When Ellen Harmon and her party arrived, Sargent and Robbins groaned in
surprise. Robbins told Sarah, Ellen's sister, that Ellen could not have a
vision if he were present! In the afternoon meeting, according to the
report
of Otis Nichols, Ellen was "taken off in vision with extraordinary
manifestations and continued talking in vision with a shrill voice which
could be distinctly understood by all present, until about sundown [about
four hours]."
What did Sargent and Robbins do during this time? "They exhausted all
their
influence and bodily strength to destroy the effect of the vision. They
would unite in singing very loud, and then alternately would talk and read
from the Bible in a loud voice in order that Ellen might not be heard,
until
their strength was exhausted and their hands would shake, so they could
not
read from the Bible."
Henry Family Bible
[Top of Document]
Mr. Thayer, the owner of the house, was not convinced that Ellen Harmon
was
of the devil. He had heard that one test of whether the visions were from
Satan was to lay an open Bible on the person in vision. He asked Sargent
to
do so, but he refused.
Being a man of action, Thayer took his heavy family Bible, opened it, and
laid it on Ellen Harmon's chest (who was inclined against the wall). She
arose immediately and walked to the middle of the room, holding the Bible
high with one hand. With her free hand, her eyes looking upward and not on
the Bible, she began to turn the pages of the Bible, placing her finger on
certain texts.
Many in the room who were able to look at the passages where her finger
was
pointing while her eyes were looking upward, noted that she was quoting
them
correctly. But Sargent and Robbins, though now silent, continued to steel
themselves against the dramatic refutation of all they had said.
Nichols reported later that this "No-work Party" became even more
fanatical,
declaring themselves free from all sinning. About a year later, the group
was scattered amidst the revelations of "shameful acts of their lives."12
In 1852 a very personal event convinced Marion Stowell that Ellen White's
visions were genuine. On one of their itineraries through northern and
western New York, the Whites found Marion exhausted after two-and-a-half
years of caring for Mrs. David Arnold. They asked her to join them in
their
sleigh as they continued their journey.
Marion Stowell recalled later in a letter to Mrs. White: "We had not gone
many more miles when you said, 'James, everything that was shown me about
this trip has transpired but one. We had a little meeting in a private
family. You spoke with great freedom on your favorite theme, the near
coming
of Christ."
James responded: "It is impossible [for this] to transpire on this trip as
there is not an Adventist family between here and Saratoga. We will put up
at a hotel tonight, and we surely wouldn't have a meeting there, and
tomorrow afternoon will reach home. It must occur on our next trip. . . ."
Ellen replied: "No, James, it was surely on this, as nothing has been
shown
me of the next one, and it is three months before we take another. It was
shown me on this trip, yet I can't see how it can come to pass."
Near sundown the Whites, recalling that a recently married friend lived
nearby, stopped for a visit and were happily welcomed.
Marion Stowell continued the story: "Supper over, Emily said, 'Brother
White, would you mind speaking to my neighbors on the near coming of
Christ?
I can soon fill both rooms. They have heard me tell so much about you
both,
they will come.'"
And they came. Not until the traveling party were on their way to the next
stopping place, Saratoga Springs, did anyone remember the connection
between
the earlier vision and that evening meeting. Marion confided to Ellen
White:
"Not once from that time to this has Satan ever tempted me to doubt your
visions."13
Many are the stories, each unique, that reveal how men and women became
convinced regarding the genuineness of Mrs. White's visions. The
experience
of Stephen Smith is typical. Reports in the Review and Herald indicated
that
Smith had a series of experiences in the 1850s that led to his being
disfellowshipped. During this period, Mrs. White wrote him a testimony.
When
he received it, he thrust it, unopened, deep within a trunk for
twenty-eight
years!
During these years Mrs. Matilda Smith remained faithful and received the
Review and Herald weekly. Eventually her husband picked up the copies,
read
them, and was softened by articles written by Ellen White, whom he
remembered from the 1850s. Then he attended a revival meeting in the
Washington, New Hampshire church, a church that he had been ridiculing for
nearly three decades. After making a public confession one Sabbath of how
wrong he had been, the following Thursday he remembered that unopened
testimony in the bottom of his trunk. The following Sabbath he returned to
the Washington church and gave his story:
"Brethren, every word of the testimony for me is true, and I accept it.
And
I have come to that place where I finally believe they [the testimonies]
all
are of God, and if I had heeded the one God sent to me, as well as the
rest,
it would have changed the whole course of my life, and I should have been
a
very different man. . . .
"The testimonies said there was to be no more 'definite time' preached
after
the '44 movement, but I thought that I knew as much as an old woman's
visions, as I used to term it. May God forgive me! But to my sorrow, I
found
the visions were right, and the man who thought he knew it all was all
wrong, for I preached the time in 1854, and spent all I had when if I had
heeded them, I should have saved myself all that and much more. The
testimonies are right and I am wrong. . . . I want to tell our people
everywhere that another rebel has surrendered."14
How Visions Were Remembered
[Top of Document]
Most of Ellen White's visions or dreams probably were written down in
broad
outline soon after she received them. As time went on, she would fill in
the
details.15
The vision given on Christmas Day 1865, at Rochester, New York, was
especially comprehensive. By 1868, according to James White, Ellen White
had
written "several thousand pages" based upon that one vision.16 The many
concerns in that vision became an important part of her agenda for the
next
three years.
Mrs. White did not remember at any one time all elements of the vision.
When
she visited churches and families on her eastern tour in late 1867 and in
northern Michigan in 1868, she saw many faces that instantly brought back
the messages for them which she then delivered orally or in writing.17
Many times, those who had special testimonies given to them orally wanted
a
written copy. Obviously these were serious believers who wanted to bring
their lives into harmony with the prophet's admonition. In reference to
this
practice, James White wrote in 1868: "We wished to say to those friends
who
have requested Mrs. White to write out personal testimonies, that in this
branch of her labor she has about two months' work on hand."18
This practice of not writing out the whole vision at once was not
uncommon.
In 1860 Ellen White reflected: "After I come out of vision I do not at
once
remember all that I have seen, and the matter is not so clear before me
until I write, then the scene rises before me as was presented in vision,
and I can write with freedom.
"Sometimes the things which I have seen are hid from me after I come out
of
vision, and I cannot call them to mind until I am brought before a company
where that vision applies, then the things which I have seen come to my
mind
with force. I am just as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating
or writing a vision, as in having the vision. It is impossible for me to
call up things which have been shown me unless the Lord brings them before
me at the time that He is pleased to have me relate or write them."19
Not All Visions Written Out
[Top of Document]
Occasionally Ellen White did not write out the specifics of a vision; what
we know about the vision has come from observers. For example, her first
health vision in 1848 was reported by her husband James twenty-two years
later in the Review and Herald, November 8, 1870.
Her first vision on the Civil War, received at Parkville, Michigan,
January
12, 1861, does not seem to have been recorded. However, after coming out
of
the twenty-minute vision she related to the audience soon-to-be-enacted
events. J. N. Loughborough was present and took copious notes.20
Timeliness of Delivering Visions Often Crucial
[Top of Document]
Often a letter from Ellen White would arrive in a distant committee
meeting
or a crucial church meeting on exactly the day when needed, even when she
would be thousands of miles away. Other times, not a letter but her
presence
would alter the direction of a meeting, chiefly because of being
instructed
by a vision. In 1887 at Vohwinkel, Prussia, she was to speak on Sabbath
morning, May 28. During Friday night, she had a dream of what she would be
facing Sabbath morning. In the dream the elder of the church "seemed to be
trying to hurt someone . . . . the assembling together had not been
refreshing to anyone." A Stranger, who had earlier seated Himself in the
assembly, arose to speak at the end of the service, pointing to Jesus as
their example in all things.
After Ellen White concluded the sermon (that she had entitled, "The Prayer
of Christ, that His disciples may be one as He was one with the Father")
in
which she described the dream, confessions and weeping and rejoicing swept
through the congregation. The church service continued for three hours as
the "mellow light of heaven" filled the room.21
General Conference sessions were frequent occasions for Ellen White's
direct
intervention. While the 1879 session was in progress, she had a vision, of
which she wrote: "November 23, 1879, some things were shown me in
reference
to institutions among us and the duties and dangers of those who occupy a
leading position in connection with them." Seventy pages followed, filled
with counsel, reproof, and encouragement-all of which provided the
substance
for several talks she gave to the assembly.
Before the session concluded, the following action was voted: "Whereas,
God
has again most mercifully and graciously spoken to us as ministers, in
words
of admonition and reproof through the gift of the Spirit of Prophecy; and
"Whereas, These instructions are just and timely, and of the utmost
importance in their relation to our future labors and usefulness;
therefore
"Resolved, That we hereby express our sincere and devout thanksgiving to
God
that He has not left us in our blindness, as He might justly have done,
but
has given us another opportunity to overcome, by faithfully pointing out
our
sins and errors, and teaching us how we may please God and become useful
in
His cause.
"Resolved, That, while it is right and proper that we express our
thankfulness to God and His servants in this manner, yet the best manner
of
expressing our gratitude is to faithfully heed the testimony that has been
borne to us; and we hereby pledge ourselves to make a most earnest effort
to
reform on those points wherein we have been shown to be deficient, and to
be
obedient to the will of God thus graciously made known to us."22
The crucial presence of Ellen White during the March 1891 General
Conference
in Battle Creek, Michigan, kept the leadership from making a serious
mistake
regarding the church's religious liberty program and other publishing
policies.23 The usefulness of the vision's purpose and relevancy is
highlighted in the timing of its presentation in public. Although given to
Mrs. White in November 1890, and though she found many opportunities to
apply much of the vision's message to current conditions, the central
feature of the vision was held from her memory until the exact moment when
it would be most effective.
If she had reported the whole vision (as she tried to do on several
occasions) at any other time than after that famous Saturday night secret
meeting, it would have been considered patently false information.24
But it was not only with General Conference matters that denominational
leaders recognized the timely counsel provided through the Spirit of
prophecy. Those involved in crises such as the proposed sale of the
Boulder
(Colorado) Sanitarium would never forget the prompt, propitious, and lucid
direction that the situation demanded-wisdom that leadership could not see
without the inspired witness of Ellen White.
The Boulder Sanitarium crisis in the closing months of 1905 is a case
study
in how "reasonable" certain business plans may appear, even when higher
principles and purposes are neglected. At that time conference leadership
and leading laymen believed that they were doing the denomination a favor
by
selling the institution. However, Ellen White made clear that it was not
in
God's purpose that another sanitarium should be built in Boulder or in
Canon
City, one hundred miles south of Boulder-at least not by Adventists. Her
unambiguous counsel written to the key players turned the tide although
such
admonition came as a heavy blow to the leaders.25
Foreign Language Tensions
[Top of Document]
Also in 1905 another festering problem was coming to a head. The leaders
in
foreign-language work in North America were striving hard to have separate
printing establishments for work in the German, Danish-Norwegian, and
Swedish languages. Further, these leaders wanted separate conferences for
the three ethnic groups. At the Foreign Department Council of the General
Conference held at College View, Nebraska, on September 5, 1905, church
leaders gathered with great apprehension.
Ellen White, residing in California, was asked for counsel. In addition to
gathering previous relevant materials, she wrote three new testimonies.
The
central theme of her counsel, clearly stated in her two years in Europe
where the subject was always in front of her, was: "According to the light
given me of God, separate organizations, instead of bringing about unity,
will create discord. . . . I must write plainly regarding the building up
of
partition walls in the work of God. Such an action has been revealed to me
as a fallacy of human invention."26
G. A. Irwin, vice-president of the General Conference who was present at
the
College View meeting, wrote after the council: "I am glad to tell you that
the Lord has given the victory here just as signally as He did in Colorado
[Boulder Sanitarium crisis, same year]. The communications from Sister
White
came in just the right time, and answered the most important questions
before us. They made the matter so clear and plain that even the most
extreme agitators of a separation were led to accept them."27
During the 1905 controversy with John Harvey Kellogg, many people in
Battle
Creek were convinced that he had been abused, or, at least, misunderstood.
Kellogg's usual response to Mrs. White's interventions in the early1900s
had
been: "Somebody has told Sister White!"
The Kellogg crisis was perhaps more severe than any previous
denominational
conflict. Ellen White, on December 21, 1905, had sent a telegram to A. G.
Daniells, president of the General Conference, that she had special
counsel
for him and others at that critical time. The package of manuscripts
arrived
on December 26 and were read to an overflow audience in the Battle Creek
Tabernacle. What proved to be astonishing to all was that two of the
manuscripts were written much earlier (August 1903 and June 1, 1904) but
were not copied out until she was impressed to do so on the previous
Thursday when she had sent her telegram.
The effect of the manuscripts, read without comment, was stunning. Several
men who had been captivated by Kellogg's arguments approached Daniells
immediately, saying that the notable meeting held with Kellogg the night
before was clearly described by Ellen White in the manuscripts written
many
months before and copied only days before. They also said that "if there
had
been a doubt in their minds regarding the source of the testimonies, it
would have been swept away by their own statements [as set forth by Ellen
G.
White] in the testimonies."28
The shortest testimony Ellen White ever gave was a telegram received by M.
N. Campbell, pastor of the Battle Creek church (Tabernacle), during the
1906-1907 struggle over the ownership of the Tabernacle. The Sanitarium
group was determined to secure the property. Most of the church trustees
were inclined to support the Sanitarium group's wishes.
But the young pastor, equally determined that the property would remain in
denominational hands, called together a few of the leading members for
special prayer before the last, and most crucial, meeting. Campbell
recorded
the event:
"They were all good, faithful men but I don't know that I ever saw a set
of
men more scared. Old Brother Amadon,29 one of the finest Christians that
ever lived, moaned, 'If only Sister White were here, if only Sister White
were here.'"
Everyone knew that Ellen White was in California, but Amadon continued,
"Oh,
if only Sister White were here."
Shortest Testimony
[Top of Document]
A few minutes later, ten minutes before the opening of the tense meeting,
a
telegram arrived for Campbell. It contained this message: "Philippians
1:27,
28. (Signed) Ellen G. White."
That text and her intended message braced the men for what had to be done.
Campbell wrote: "That settled the question. That was a communication from
Sister White that we needed right at that moment. God knew we were holding
that meeting, and that we had a group of scared men, and that we needed
help
from Him, and so He gave us the message that came straight to us in the
nick
of time. It sounded pretty good to us."30
At times, Ellen White would plead with individuals prior to a serious and
life-changing decision, warning them of their own impending crisis. Her
concern for her long-time friend, D. M. Canright, while he was going
through
his final defection, is one example of many.
Canright had asked that his name be dropped from the church books in
Otsego,
Michigan-a request that was granted on February 17, 1887.31
Although in Europe, Ellen White was not surprised at these sad
developments.
In vision she had seen Canright going through "rough waters." She pleaded
with him to "Wait, and God will help you. Be patient, and the clear light
will appear. If you yield to impressions you will lose your soul. . . ."
This letter was later printed in Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 571-573, with
"Brother M" referring to Canright. But Canright did not wait, and Mrs.
White's
prediction that his "sun will surely set in obscurity" was tragically
fulfilled.32
In 1900 Daniel H. Kress, an Adventist physician, was appointed to head up
the medical work in Australia. He zealously advocated dispensing with all
animal products. But in his frequent travels at the turn of the century he
found it difficult to get suitable foods for a balanced diet. As a result,
he developed pernicious anemia at the age of forty. When Ellen White saw
him
in vision, he was at death's door.
In her usual straightforward manner she instructed him to "make changes,
and
at once. Put into your diet something you have left out. . . . Get eggs of
healthy fowls. Use these eggs cooked or raw. Drop them uncooked into the
best unfermented wine [grape juice] you can find. This will supply that
which is necessary to your system."33
Her counsel, prompted by the vision regarding Kress's dire physical
condition, was exactly what the ill physician needed. He fully recovered,
and lived fifty-two years longer in a life of medical service and
administration.34
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