Ellen White's 1888 ReversalBy Dirk Anderson, Jan., 2025 (adapated from Anderson's The Spirit of Hypocrisy, chapter 18)
After focusing on law and judgment for 44 years, in 1888 Ellen White had the good fortune of discovering the gospel message of grace and hope. This led to a dramatic reversal in the focus of her ministry. This event raises many thorny questions that must be answered:
Preaching Law and JudgmentThe preaching of the Millerite Delusion of 1844 focused on the Judgment and the imminent return of Christ. One minister wrote in 1844 that Millerism "loses sight of the cross, and aims to accomplish the great purposes of the Gospel by proclaiming the judgment."1 This same focus was continued in the early Adventist Movement led by James and Ellen White. After Adventists adopted the Sabbath, they developed a keen focus on the Law. To this they added doctrines such as the Investigative Judgment, Soul Sleep, and the visions of Ellen White. The formation of the SDA sect was truly unique. Instead of focusing on the Great Commission of Christ to spread the gospel to the lost as all other Christian churches did, SDAs imagined it was their mission to convert other Christians to adopt the Sabbath and other peculiar SDA doctrines. Thus, their evangelistic efforts became singularly focused on convincing other about the importance of the Old Covenant law and the validity of SDA teachings about the books of Daniel and Revelation. Core Protestant doctrines like salvation by grace and righteousness by faith were shoved into the background. As a result of this misguided focus, the sect became virtually devoid of the gospel of Christ. Even Ellen White admitted this: As a people, we have preached the law until we are as dry as the hills of Gilboa that had neither dew nor rain.2
Misguided Emphasis from a Misguided ProphetEllen White was at the forefront of promulgating SDA doctrines instead of gospel truth. If anyone doubts that, examine her writings between 1844 and 1888. She wrote extensively on doctrines such as the law, the Sabbath, the Seal of God, the Mark of the Beast, soul sleep, the imminent return of Christ, the Investigative Judgment (and its requirement for character perfection), prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, the dangers of masturbation, marital excess, reading novels, Veganism, and dress reform. Ellen White taught her followers through her visions that their emphasis was to be on judgment: I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, “Fearful is his word, awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal or bind the wheat for the heavenly garner.” These things should engage the whole mind, the whole attention.3 The Adventist people must have been amazed as they heard their young prophet describe from her visions and communications with angels that the all-consuming focus of their message was the judgment. Thus, this supposed prophet led the way in focusing on SDA doctrines versus the Cross of Christ. For 44 years, the main tool of SDA evangelism was to generate fear and dread of the judgment and convince non-SDAs that the only way to escape such horrors was to start keeping the seventh day Sabbath and adopt belief in Ellen White as the Spirit of Prophecy. The fruit of the first 44 years of Ellen White's prophetic ministry was a legalistic sect focused on character perfection. Mrs. White lamented that the "world" was saying "that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ."4
Where Did the Prophet Learn the Truth about the Gospel?Did God give Ellen a vision to reveal to her the utmost importance of the gospel message? Did He send an angel to talk to her about changing her focus (like He supposedly sent one to her in 1853 to tell her that the Adventists' focus was to be solely upon the judgment)? From whence did it come? E.J. Waggoner was a brilliant physician and the son of SDA pioneer J.H. Waggoner. One day in 1882, while residing in California, Waggoner had a revelation that Christ and his love were the central themes of the Bible. A few years later, while teaching at the SDA school in Healdsburg, he linked up with a young man named A.T. Jones. Jones immediately caught the spirit of Waggoner's Christ-centered theology. In 1886, the two became co-editors of the SDA periodical Signs of the Times. Instead of focusing on judgment and Bible prophecy, Waggoner and Jones changed the magazine's focus to be more Christ-centric. They focused on salvation via the completed work of Christ rather than character perfectionism.
Waggoner soon published nine articles in Signs of the Times regarding the law in Galatians. In these articles, Waggoner took the position that the law in Galatians 3 was the moral law (the Ten Commandments). This set him up for conflict with SDA corporate leaders in Battle Creek, such as General Conference President George Butler
I have no hesitancy in saying you have made a mistake here. You have departed from the positive directions God has given upon this matter, and only harm will be the result. This is not in God's order. You have now set the example for others to do as you have done, to feel at liberty to put in their various ideas and theories and bring them before the public, because you have done this. This will bring in a state of things that you have not dreamed of. 5 One likely reason why Ellen rebuked Waggoner is that his articles ran contrary to the official SDA teaching on Galatians 3. This teaching had been established decades earlier by a vision Ellen had. She reminded Waggoner that she had rebuked his father over the same subject years before, based upon her vision: I had been shown his [J.H. Waggoner's] position in regard to the law was incorrect, and from the statements I made to him he has been silent upon the subject for many years. Waggoner paid little heed to the testimony. Perhaps one of the reasons is that he already had W.C. White on his side.6
The Reversal on Galatians 3Waggoner and Jones soon influenced W.C. White and S.N. Haskell to adopt the doctrine of righteousness by faith. W.C. was close to his mother and handled many of her affairs after the death of James. Haskell was president of the SDA California Conference. According to James White, Haskell had an enormous influence over Ellen. In 1881, James warned: "She has been very much impressed by Butler and Haskell."7 In another letter, he wrote, "Elders Butler and Haskell have had an influence over her I hope to see broken. It has almost ruined her."8 In the summer of 1888, Waggoner, Jones, W.C., and others attended a private meeting in California where they studied Galatians and came to the mutual conclusion that the "law" in Galatians 3 was the moral law, not the ceremonial law. This became the foundation of their teaching on Righteousness by Faith. With Haskell and W.C. onboard, all that remained was to convince Ellen White.
Influencing Ellen WhiteEllen returned to Healdsburg from Europe in late 1887. She observed firsthand the intense interest that the SDA people had in the message of Righteousness by Faith. Having subsisted for decades in a sterile environment virtually devoid of the cross of Christ, they were thirsting for the gospel message. People were drinking in the sermons, lectures, and writings of Jones and Waggoner. On the West Coast of America, Waggoner and Jones were riding a wave of popularity. With her son W.C. and her close friend Haskell onboard with the doctrine, Ellen must have felt pressured that it was time for the Spirit of Prophecy to make her voice heard. After all, with the messengers being so popular, and with so much interest in the subject, it would no doubt be lucrative for her book-writing ventures. Thus, arrangements were made to have Waggoner and Jones speak at the 1888 General Conference session. Although a year earlier she had demanded that Waggoner avoid a confrontation with the brethren in Battle Creek, now that she saw firsthand Waggoner's popularity and realized W.C. and Haskell were backing him, she decided the time was ripe for a confrontation.
The 1888 ConfrontationMrs. White likely underestimated the fierceness of the upcoming confrontation. Roots ran deep on this subject. It all started in the 1850s. Before 1854, SDA pioneers, such as James White, Joseph Bates, and J.N. Andrews all accepted the teaching that Galatians 3 was describing the moral law. However, they felt pressure from Protestants who used this passage to undermine the Adventist doctrine of the Sabbath. Thus, in 1854, the sect modified its doctrine to teach that Galatians 3 included the ceremonial law. Not everyone agreed with that decision. J. H. Waggoner wrote in a book "It is evident that none but the moral law is spoken of in Galatians 3."9 This set up a confrontation between James and Waggoner. Uriah Smith, always an ardent defender of the Whites, took the side of the Whites against Waggoner. To settle the matter, Mrs. White was called upon to supply a vision supporting her husband's view. She readily did so, informing Waggoner that his position on Galatians 3 being the moral law was wrong.10 Thus, by 1856, Galatians 3 as the ceremonial law became the formal position of the SDA sect, James took Waggoner's book out of print, and everyone thought it was forever settled. Over three decades after the matter was forever settled by the Spirit of Prophecy, Smith was surprised to see E.J. Waggoner advocating the same position taken by his father. Both Butler and Smith were aghast that anything would be published in SDA papers that contradicted Ellen's visions. To them, that would be undermining people's confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy. If the SDA people lost faith in the "identifying mark" it could do serious damage to the sect's image. Butler and Smith had a second concern. They feared Waggoner's teaching would weaken the sect's Sabbath argument. Smith wrote in 1884: If it can be maintained that the distinction between the two laws does not exist, Sabbath-keeping at once disappears from the list of Christian duties.11
Mrs. White originates nothing. In her visions she always sees just what she and her friends at the time happen to believe and be interested in. Her husband and other leading men first accept or study out a theory and talk it till her mind is full of it. Then when she is in her trance that is just what she sees.12 If Mrs. White changed her stance on Galatians 3 due to the influence of W.C. White and Haskell, it would play right into the hands of critics like Canright. Butler and Smith likely wondered how many more would leave the sect if faith in Ellen White was further weakened. On October 17, 1888, the conference and the battle commenced in Minneapolis. Waggoner was given the most speaking time. J.H. Morrison was selected by Butler to defend the traditional position, but he was undermined by Ellen White who publicly rebuked him during a speech on October 24: "I hope Brother Morrison will be converted and handle the Word of God with meekness and the Spirit of God."13 Morrison was no doubt astonished by Ellen's attitude because he was trying to defend her earlier vision. Ellen, on the other hand, was livid that her devotees would not overlook her earlier vision and accept this new interpretation: Never before have I seen among our people such firm self-complacency and unwillingness to accept and acknowledge light as was manifested at Minneapolis.14 Although many left the conference in opposition to or undecided upon the subject of Righteousness by Faith, it was the beginning of the end for those who held onto the older view—the one that Ellen White saw in vision was the correct view. During the session, Ellen feigned a position of neutrality: "I have not taken any position… I cannot take my position on either side."16 However, after the conference, Ellen endorsed Waggoner and Jones over 200 times in her writings. She traveled with them around the country visiting SDA camp meetings and trumpeting the good news of salvation. Many were amazed to hear the Protestant message of Righteousness by Faith for the first time. To a church that was as "dry as the hills of Gilboa," the message was much-needed refreshment. SDAs crowded to any meeting where Waggoner or Jones were preaching. Before long, Waggoner and Jones were the most recognizable names within Seventh-day Adventism. By 1894, the debate was over. Waggoner and Jones won the hearts and the souls of the SDA people. Haskell gleefully reported that the "battle has been fought, and the victory gained."17
Better Late Than NeverThe SDA sect was supposed to be the remnant church that had the truth for the last days. However, they had ignored the most vital truth of all. Even though the SDA sect was guided by a supposed prophet for its first 44 years, they somehow neglected the most important doctrine: The gospel of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, instead of the prophet receiving light to correct the problem from her frequent visions and angelic contacts, it came through E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones—men who got their light from the Word of God. For many SDAs, hearing the gospel message for the first time from the lips of Waggoner and Jones led to their conversion. One example of that was J.H. Kellogg. Ellen White boasted: After the meeting at Minneapolis, Dr. Kellogg was a converted man, and we all knew it. We could see the converting power of God working in his heart and life.18 Why did it take Kellogg, then 36 years of age, so long to become converted? After all, he had grown up in an SDA home in Battle Creek, the heart of Adventism. He was well-acquainted with the Whites. In fact, he was almost like a son to them in his early years. Despite his close association with the supposed prophet and regular attendance at SDA meetings and events, he was not converted until he heard the true gospel message from Waggoner in 1888. As for Mrs. White, when she realized her son and Haskell were behind the new theology, and when she got a taste of how popular it was with the people, she abandoned her vision of the 1850s that taught the opposite. It mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again. When questioned about it, she could not seem to recall the details.
White Claims She Was Preaching the Gospel All AlongIn a sermon she preached in Rome, New York, on June 19, 1889, Mrs. White claimed that she had been preaching the 1888 message all along. I have been presenting it to you for the last 45 years—the matchless charms of Christ. This is what I have been trying to present before your minds. When Brother Waggoner brought out these ideas in Minneapolis, it was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard, excepting the conversations between myself and my husband.19 Was she really presenting it for 45 years? When one candidly examines the content of her visions and writings from 1844 to 1888, there is precious little said about the "matchless charms of Christ." Did her visions before 1888 teach a Christ with matchless charms? The White Estate put together a document called The Great Visions of Ellen White.20 It does not include visions that were not so great, like her 1845 vision of Jesus frowning at her, or her 1846 solar system vision where she saw tall people on Jupiter. In surveying her "great" visions between 1844 and 1888, there is little said about the matchless love of Christ:
Ellen's "great" visions teach little or nothing about the love of Christ. In reviewing her testimonies, books, and articles during this period, much of it consists of judgmentalism and legalistic character perfection. This is not to say that she never said anything positive about Christ or God's love. She did. The problem is, those rare statements are buried under a mass of material on judgment, condemnation, perfectionism, legalism, frightening warnings about the last days, health reform, and dress reform. Ellen White's focus was certainly not on the matchless charms of Christ prior to 1888. In 1889, Mrs. White complained about SDA ministers: The ministers have not presented Christ in his fullness to the people, either in the churches or in new fields, and the people have not an intelligent faith. They have not been instructed as they should have been, that Christ is unto them both salvation and righteousness.21 If the SDA ministers and people were not instructing the people correctly about the most important subject in Christianity, then whose fault was that? Why did the supposed prophet do little or nothing to correct that problem from 1844 to 1888? Why did she pen no testimonies telling SDA ministers to preach more on the matchless charms of Christ?
Yet Another ContradictionAfter 1888, Mrs. White appears to suffer ongoing confusion about the "schoolmaster" in Galatians 3, writing contradictory statements:
Another Reversal?After Jones and Waggoner defected, the 1888 message lost steam. Just as a dog returns to its vomit, Ellen White refocused the sect on their primary mission of warning other Christians they would be lost if they did not accept SDA interpretations about the Three Angels' Messages: In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists...have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.23 Thus, Ellen White moved the sect back to where they started in 1844.
ConclusionSmith continued to find it unfathomable that Ellen had the gall to switch her stance on something she had supposedly seen in her vision. In 1890, he wrote to her saying that E.J. Waggoner's position on Galatians was, "the same which you had condemned in his father" and when she "endorsed his position as a whole...it was a great surprise to many."22 At one time an ardent defender of the Whites, Smith never made any further attempt to defend Ellen as the Spirit of Prophecy. Ellen White can be applauded for having the nerve to reverse her position on the law of Galatians 3 even though it drew attention to the fact she had a false vision, providing further ammunition for her critics that she was a false prophet. After 1888, Mrs. White capitalized on the popularity of the message by directing her staff of talented writers to produce several books on Righteousness by Faith. In 1892, she published Steps to Christ. She later followed with Desire of Ages, Christ's Object Lessons, and Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing. The profits from these books would make the post-1888 period the most profitable part of her life. In these Christ-centered books, her editors made heavy use of material from non-SDA authors who belonged to denominations that she derided as "Apostate Protestantism." Perhaps the reason her book-makers turned to non-SDA authors is because SDA authors, including the prophet, had written so little for them to plagiarize on this subject. Thus, Sister White appropriated the righteousness-by-faith message as her own, began preaching it, writing about it, and maintained she and James had known it all along, but for 44 years they somehow failed in trying to communicate it.
Citations1. E. Thomson, The Ladies' Repository, and Gatherings of the West, vol. 4 (Cincinnati, OH: R.P. Thomson, December, 1844), 379. 2. Ellen White, Review and Herald, Mar. 11, 1890. 3. Ellen White, Manuscript 3, 1853. 4. Ellen White, Special Testimony to the Battle Creek Church (1896), 36. 5. Ellen White, Letter 37, 1887. 6. Ibid. Note: Ibid. The original vision and letter/article sent to J.H. Waggoner has mysteriously disappeared from the historical record. However, this Letter 37 (1887) proves that she had a vision contradicting Waggoner's view on Galatians 3 and that vision ended discussion on the subject. 7. James White, Battle Creek, Michigan, July 13, 1881. 8. James White, Battle Creek, Michigan, May 24, 1881. 9. J.H. Waggoner, The Law of God : An Examination of the Testimony of Both Testaments (Rochester, NY: Advent Review, 1854), 15. 10. Uriah Smith to W. A. McCutchen, Aug. 8, 1901. 11. Uriah Smith, Synopsis of Present Truth (Battle Creek, 1884), 258. 12. D.M. Canright, Seventh-day Adventism Renounced (Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo Publishing Co., 1888), 49. 13. Ellen White, Manuscript 9, 1888. 14. Ellen White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, 191. 15. Ibid., 295. 16. Ellen White, Manuscript 9, 1888. 17. S.N. Haskell, op. cit., George R. Knight, "Failure at Minneapolis on the Authority Issue," Lake Union Herald, Aug. 2017, 8. 18. Ellen White, General Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903. 19. Ellen White, Manuscript 5, 1889. 20. Roger W. Coon, The Great Visions of Ellen White (White Estate, 2018). 21. Ellen White, Review and Herald, Sep. 3, 1889. 22. Uriah Smith Letter to Ellen White, Feb. 17, 1890. 23. Ellen White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9 (1909), 18. |