The year 1855 was a time when important administrative and theological problems were settled--the status and future of the Review and Herald office, and the time to begin the Sabbath. Both came to a culmination late in the year.
The issue of the Review dated February 20, 1855, carried an editorial written by James White titled "The Office." In this he described the rather desperate situation he was in as proprietor, financial agent, and editor. His repeated appeals to the readers for stronger support had gone largely unheeded. Not only was he burdened with financial embarrassment, but there was also the "unreasonableness of 'false brethren'" comprising the Messenger party. He pointed out that he was laboring from fourteen to eighteen hours a day. Altogether, this nearly ruined the health of 34-year-old James White. He made a rather startling declaration:
We cannot expect a tolerable state of health without a complete change in many respects. We are resolved on this change, even if we leave the office entirely. We hope to live, and, if possible, yet do some little good in the world.
Had we a constitution that could endure care and toil, we would cheerfully wear it out in the holy cause of Bible truth; but having worn out a good constitution in this cause, we can now hope for no more, than that by rest, and care, with the blessing of God, we may yet be able to do something....
Without capital, and without health, we cannot much longer bear the burden.--The Review and Herald, February 20, 1855.
He proposed (1) to take the proper steps to recover his health; (2) to divest himself and Ellen from the care of the large publishing house family, which would, of course, result in a higher cost of printing, for all in the work had been laboring for little more than their board and room at the White home; (3) to get rid of the office debt of $1,000. There was stock on hand that when sold would liquidate this. He acknowledged that the financial support came principally from understanding brethren in Michigan and Vermont, and declared: "They have our warmest gratitude for their real friendship in time of distress and need." This was his hope and plan, but it took eight months to implement it, and then only in part.
Under the circumstances he described, the most relaxing and seemingly beneficial course he could take was to travel leisurely by horse and carriage, visiting the churches and companies of believers. In the Review of March 20 he set forth his developing plans:
We are now calculating to leave the office for several months, and if health will permit, attend conferences in this State [New York]; and about the first of May start with private carriage for New England, and hold meetings by the way at Oswego, Lorain, Pottsdam, and Champlain. We should be happy to join the Vermont tent, in northern New York, and follow on with it through Vermont and New Hampshire, on our way to Massachusetts and Maine.
A hastily planned trip back to Michigan, however, delayed the start for the East. At Battle Creek a conference was held in "a private house," for as yet the Sabbathkeeping Adventists had no house of worship in the State. Here he had an opportunity to discuss the future of the Review and the Review office. He wrote of it as "a meeting of interest to God's people." The published report told why:
The brethren in Battle Creek and vicinity are generally awake to the wants of the cause, and are anxious to establish the Review office in that place. They are able and willing to do so, and manifest much anxiety to relieve us of those cares and responsibilities which we have too long borne. The climate, water, prices of rent, fuel, provisions, et cetera, seem favorable to the location.--Ibid., May 15, 1855
James and Ellen remained in Battle Creek through the week following the conference, and were with the church on Sabbath, May 5. Three men were present who, as James White put it, "preach constantly." But this time there was no preaching. In the veiled manner in which he usually referred in print to Ellen's having a public vision, he wrote:
The Lord took the lead in the meeting in an especial manner, and manifested His power and goodness in our midst. The saints were filled with joy and gratitude to God for the encouragement and instruction given at this meeting.--Ibid.
The extant records furnish little as to just what was the nature of the "encouragement and instruction," except one very interesting item preserved in the E. G. White manuscript files relating to her conversation with the angel about James:
I then inquired if James would be spared or would be removed before the time of trouble. Said the angel, "What is that to thee? Follow Jesus, follow the opening providence of God. Have unwavering faith in His promises." ...
In regard to the office and what our duty is in regard to it, I had no light, but was cited to other visions that God had given. "Look at them carefully; lose not sight of the opening providences of God. Carefully regard all His teachings and obey them."
I saw that no longer should those connected with the office bear burdens they have borne.... They must be free in mind, and then their health will improve.--Manuscript 3, 1885.
Through most of May they were in Michigan attending and assisting in the tent meetings. Returning home, James reported,
My health gradually improves, and my spirit is getting perfectly free while freed from the cares of the office, and mingling with the Lord's faithful, scattered ones.--Ibid., May 29, 1855
The Eleven-Week Tour Through New England
Rather than the first of May, as anticipated by James White, it was mid-June when the Whites actually got off by carriage on another trip through New England. As they traveled up through Vermont and met with friends of the cause their hearts were cheered.
As he interviewed leading workers he found them eager to move the Review office to Vermont and have the responsibility and burden of conducting it, unless the friends of the cause in some more central position would assume this responsibility. White declared:
We shall no longer bear the burdens we have borne in Rochester; neither shall we move the office, east or west. The office is the property of the church. The church must wake up to this matter, and free us from responsibilities that have been forced upon us, and which we have reluctantly taken. We must have freedom and repose, or go into the grave.--Ibid., August 7, 1855
The Review Office to Go to Battle Creek, Michigan
Having consulted with the brethren in Michigan and Vermont, the two States from which there had been the strongest moral and financial support, on his return to Rochester on August 30 James White was prepared to make the announcement of what seemed to be the consensus of opinion. He did so in early September under the title of "The Office":
We are happy to say that the brethren in Michigan cheerfully take upon themselves the responsibilities of the Review office. They will probably move it to that State this fall. Brethren in Vermont are willing and ready to do the same, but regard Michigan to be more the center of the future field of labor, and are willing that the press should be established in that State.
The Review will probably be issued weekly after the press shall be established at Battle Creek, Michigan. It will be our duty and privilege to be freed from the office at present, at least. God has raised up others who are better able to conduct the Review, and bear these burdens, than we are.--Ibid., September 4, 1855
A Transition Evidencing the Maturity of the Church
There were substantial brethren of good judgment in both Vermont and Michigan capable of assuming most of the responsibilities of which James White felt he must divest himself. The decision having been made that the press would go to Battle Creek, Michigan, the men there went into action. The Review of October 2 placed before the church the steps the Michigan brethren were taking:
1. The Advent Review office would remain the property of the church.
2. It would be moved to Battle Creek, Michigan.
3. A financial committee of three would be chosen, whose duty it was to move the office, and publish the Advent Review.
4. The church-at-large would be called upon to send their freewill offerings to defray the expenses of moving.
5. There was a call for a plan on which the editorial department of the Advent Review would be conducted (Ibid., October 2, 1855).
The next issue of the Review, published two weeks later, carried two significant back page items:
Special Notice. Change of Address. For the future, until further arrangements are made, all letters for the Review office should be addressed to Elder James White, Battle Creek, Michigan.
General Conference. Providence permitting, there will be a general conference at Battle Creek, Michigan, November 16.
The response from the field was uniform and favorable. The month of November was given over to erecting the little publishing house on the southeast corner of Washington and Main streets in the western edge of Battle Creek, and to moving both the press and the families connected with the Advent Review office. The White family moved into a little cottage that they rented for $1.50 a week. The general conference, which had been called for Friday, November 16, met in the newly constructed house of worship, a building eighteen by twenty-four feet, provided for the Battle Creek congregation of twenty-four (Ibid., August 22, 1935). It was one of three church buildings erected in 1855.
Actions of the conference included the appointment of Henry Lyon, David Hewitt, and William M. Smith, all of Battle Creek, to be a committee to investigate the financial condition of the Review office; and the appointment of Uriah Smith as the resident (or managing) editor, and five corresponding editors. These were J. N. Andrews, of Iowa; James White and J. H. Waggoner, of Michigan; R. F. Cottrell, of New York; and Stephen Pierce, of Vermont. The minutes also recorded:
8. That a vote of thanks be tendered to Brother White for his valuable services as an editor, in spreading the light of present truth.--Ibid., December 5, 1855
William C. White, who was a child of 14 months when the move was made but grew up knowing well the personnel and hearing the story from his parents, described the beginnings of the publishing work in Battle Creek:
James White, now freed from the cares and responsibilities of ownership, was asked to act as manager of the growing enterprise. Uriah Smith, whose approved ability as a writer and author was generally recognized, was chosen resident editor, which responsibility he carried for many years. Stephen Belden continued to act as superintendent, and foreman of the typeroom. George Amadon and Warren Bacheller set type and did the presswork.
And now for the first time the workers were granted a stated salary. Before this, they had worked for room and board, a small allowance for clothing, and such other expenses as were deemed absolutely necessary. But so eager were they that the printing office should pay its way, that they cheerfully accepted only $5 a week for their services.
In the same spirit, and to help make the newly established enterprise a success, James White at first accepted only $4 a week. Later, he drew $6, and when the success of the work was assured, $7 a week.
With the financial responsibility of the paper in the hands of the publishing committee ... the work began well. The paper was changed from a biweekly to a weekly, [Through 1855, up to the time of the conference, for lack of adequate financial support, the Review, Although a weekly through much of 1854, lapsed to a biweekly (see Ibid., January 9, 1855).] and the subscription price was fixed at "one dollar for a volume of twenty-six numbers" ($2 a year), with special concessions to the ministers and the poor. The paid subscription list, which stood close to 2,500 at the time of the move, grew rapidly, and the enterprise in its new location was assured of success.--WCW, "Sketches and Memories of James and Ellen G. White," Ibid., August 22, 1935
The Doctrinal Point--Time to Begin the Sabbath
On Friday evening, the day the conference in Battle Creek opened, those assembled commenced the Sabbath at six o'clock, although the sun had been set for an hour. The next day they closed the Sabbath at sunset. During that Sabbath a change in practice based on Bible study had been made. It was an interesting and instructive experience in doctrinal development.
As noted in earlier chapters, Joseph Bates was considered the father of the Sabbath truth. As captain of his own vessels, he had sailed far and wide and was acquainted with the matter of time-keeping in different parts of the world. It was his conclusion that time as kept at the equator, with sunset uniformly at 6:00 P.M., was the proper guide to Sabbathkeeping, regardless of season of the year or location. The Scriptures called for evening marking the beginning of the new day, and the words "from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath" (Leviticus 23:32) were cited in support of this point. The April 21, 1851, issue of the Review carried a three-column article by Joseph Bates in support of the six o'clock time.
In the State of Maine in 1847-1848, some took the position that the Sabbath commenced at sunrise, quoting as support, Matthew 28:1: "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week" (see The Review and Herald, February 25, 1868). A vision given to Ellen White checked this error in principle, for the angel repeated the words of the scripture "From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath."
There were a few who observed the Sabbath from sundown to sundown (JW to "My Dear Brother," July 2, 1848; see also Ibid., February 25, 1868), but the majority stood with Bates, as did James and Ellen White. The charismatic experience in Connecticut in late June, 1848, recounted in chapter 13, seemed to confirm the six o'clock time. Still the matter was not settled conclusively, and in June, 1854, James White requested D. P. Hall in Wisconsin to give study to the matter and come up with an answer (Ibid., December 4, 1855).
When this request failed to yield fruit, he turned to John Andrews with the earnest request that he take his Bible and bring evidence to settle the question. Andrews prepared a paper on the matter. As he passed through Battle Creek with his parents in November on his way to Iowa, he left this in the hands of James White. The reading of this paper became the Sabbath morning Bible study at the conference in Battle Creek. From nine texts in the Old Testament and two from the New, Andrews demonstrated that "even" and "evening" of the Sabbath were identical with sunset (Ibid.).
As the paper was read that Sabbath morning, it could be seen that while the six o'clock time advocated by Bates was in principle not incorrect--for it called for beginning the Sabbath in the evening--in detail there was an error. Now with the position of sunset time so amply supported by Scripture evidence, all the congregation, which included the church's leaders, readily accepted the light and were prepared to shift their practice. All, that is, but two--Joseph Bates and Ellen White.
Bates's position had been generally accepted and defended. He was the venerable apostle of the Sabbath truth. He was unready to accept what had been presented by the youthful John Andrews, and he would stand in defense of his position. The vision given to Ellen White in 1848, correcting the sunrise time and confirming "evening time," had nothing to say about the six o'clock time being in error.
Ellen White reasoned that the six o'clock time had been a matter of practice for nearly a decade. The Sabbath so kept had been a great blessing to her, and the angel had said nothing about its being in error. Must a change be made now? Thus matters stood through the rest of the Sabbath and through Sunday as the members met in conference, but this was a rather touchy point of division that was bound to widen as time went on. Then the God of heaven stepped in.
Of what took place, Ellen White wrote:
November 20, 1855, while in prayer, the Spirit of the Lord came suddenly and powerfully upon me, and I was taken off in vision.--Testimonies for the Church, 1:113.
Her attention was called to many points, among them the time to commence the Sabbath. She discussed the matter with the angel. This conversation is very enlightening:
I saw that it is even so: "From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath." Said the angel: "Take the Word of God, read it, understand, and ye cannot err. Read carefully, and ye shall there find what even is and when it is."
I asked the angel if the frown of God had been upon His people for commencing the Sabbath as they had. I was directed back to the first rise of the Sabbath, and followed the people of God up to this time, but did not see that the Lord was displeased, or frowned upon them.
I inquired why it had been thus, that at this late day we must change the time of commencing the Sabbath. Said the angel: "Ye shall understand, but not yet, not yet." Said the angel: "If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject."
I saw that it was in the minds of some that the Lord had shown that the Sabbath commenced at six o'clock, when I had only seen that it commenced at "even," and it was inferred that even was at six.
I saw that the servants of God must draw together, press together.--Ibid., 1:116.
And they did. The vision set Ellen White and Joseph Bates straight, and they accepted the vision wholeheartedly. The matter of the time to commence the Sabbath was forever settled--settled on the basis of Bible study, confirmed by vision. It was indeed a significant experience in God's leadings, one that Uriah Smith was later to comment on:
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.--The Review and Herald, August 30, 1864.
The Impressive Lesson Taught by this Experience
Some years later, James White, using the experience as a demonstration of the relation of the visions to Bible study, wrote:
The question naturally arises, If the visions are given to correct the erring, why did she [Mrs. White] not sooner see the error of the six o'clock time? For one, I have ever been thankful that God corrected the error in His own good time, and did not suffer an unhappy division to exist among us upon the point. But, dear reader, the work of the Lord upon this point is in perfect harmony with His manifestations to us on others, and in harmony with the correct position upon spiritual gifts.
It does not appear to be the desire of the Lord to teach His people by the gifts of the Spirit on the Bible questions until His servants have diligently searched His Word. When this was done upon the subject of time to commence the Sabbath, and most were established, and some were in danger of being out of harmony with the body on this subject, then, yes, then was the very time for God to magnify His goodness in the manifestation of the gift of His Spirit in the accomplishment of its proper work.
The sacred Scriptures are given us as the rule of faith and duty, and we are commanded to search them. If we fail to understand and fully obey the truths in consequence of not searching the Scriptures as we should, or a want of consecration and spiritual discernment, and God in mercy in His own time corrects us by some manifestation of the gifts of His Holy Spirit, instead of murmuring that He did not do it before, let us humbly acknowledge His mercy, and praise Him for His infinite goodness in condescending to correct us at all.
Then he admonished, reiterating his consistent position on the gift of prophecy in the remnant church:
Let the gifts have their proper place in the church. God has never set them in the very front, and commanded us to look to them to lead us in the path of truth, and the way to heaven. His Word He has magnified. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are man's lamp to light up his path to the kingdom. Follow that. But if you err from Bible truth, and are in danger of being lost, it may be that God will in the time of His choice correct you, and bring you back to the Bible, and save you.--Ibid., February 25, 1868
The Neglect of the Spirit of Prophecy
But there was another matter of large importance to which the conference addressed itself, and that was a seeming decline of the influence of the Spirit of Prophecy in their midst. Ellen White was to speak of it in reporting the vision given at the close of the conference: "I saw that the Spirit of the Lord has been dying away from the church."--Testimonies for the Church, 1:113. Looking back a few weeks later, she wrote:
The visions have been of late less and less frequent, and my testimony for God's children has been gone. I have thought that my work in God's cause was done, and that I had no further duty to do, but to save my own soul, and carefully attend to my little family.--The Review and Herald, January 10, 1856.
In his report of the conference James White wrote of the concern of those at the meeting for the spiritual welfare of the church. He mentioned that there were "remarks and confessions relative to the evident departure of the remnant from the spirit of the message, and the humble, straight forward course taken by those who first embraced it. Strong desires were expressed, and fervent prayers were offered to heaven, for the return of the spirit of consecration, sacrifice, and holiness once enjoyed by the remnant."--Ibid., December 4, 1855
Somehow the sense swept over them that this may have been the result of neglect on the part of the church in its relation to the visions. To avoid prejudicing those they hoped to reach with the third angel's message through the Review and Herald, they had published none of the visions in the paper for nearly five years, and only twice had James White referred to the visions in his articles or editorials. These exceptions were (1) in October, 1854, when under attack from the Messenger party for putting the visions ahead of the Bible, he reprinted an article that had appeared in the first volume of the Review on April 21, 1851; and (2) on October 16, 1855, in five brief articles, quite an extended defense of the position of the church in the issue. In one of these he may, in one statement, have gone a little too far in exercising his attempts to show that Seventh-day Adventist doctrines were not dependent on the visions. It seems this led some to conclude--quite contrary to his purpose--that he was downgrading the visions. In the one titled "A Test" he declared:
There is a class of persons who are determined to have it that the Review and its conductors made the views of Mrs. White a test of doctrine and Christian fellowship. It may be duty to notice these persons on account of the part they are acting, which is calculated to deceive some.
What has the Review to do with Mrs. White's views? The sentiments published in its columns are all drawn from the Holy Scriptures. No writer of the Review has ever referred to them as authority on any point. The Review for five years has not published one of them. Its motto has been "The Bible and the Bible alone, the only rule of faith and duty." Then why should these men charge the Review with being a supporter of Mrs. White's views?--Ibid., October 16, 1855
James White then called the attention of his readers to his consistent position during the past eight years. He referred to his published statements, beginning with what appeared in A Word to the "Little Flock" in 1847. There he had declared:
The Bible is a perfect and complete revelation. It is our only rule of faith and practice. But this is no reason why God may not show the past, present, and future fulfillment of His Word in these last days, by dreams and visions, according to Peter's testimony. True visions are given to lead us to God and to His written word; but those that are given for a new rule of faith and practice, separate from the Bible, cannot be from God and should be rejected.-- Ibid.
In attempting to make his point, he quoted other statements he had made through the years, which in no way downgrade the visions. But it was strong language he had used in mid-October, and it would appear that this, with the absence of visions in the Review, had undercut in the minds of some the importance of the gift of prophecy in the remnant church. This was felt at the conference in Battle Creek right after the move to that city.
At any rate, the conference was led to give consideration to the matter. Among its resolutions was the vote:
9. That Joseph Bates, J. H. Waggoner, and M. E. Cornell be appointed to address the saints on behalf of the conference, on the gifts of the church.--Ibid., December 4, 1855
That address, appearing in the same issue of the Review as the conference actions, is quite revealing and will be mentioned again shortly.
Now, back to the last meeting of the conference, James White, after writing of the distress of the brethren over the spiritual state of the church, reported:
Our long-suffering and tender Father in heaven smiled upon His waiting children, and manifested His power to their joy. The brethren separated greatly refreshed and encouraged.--Ibid.
The "Conference Address"
The disquieting situation sensed at the conference led to the action calling for a conference address "on the gifts of the church." This address opened with penitent words:
To the Dear Saints Scattered Abroad, Greeting: In view of the present low state of the precious cause of our blessed Master, we feel to humble ourselves before God, and confess our unfaithfulness and departure from the way of the Lord, whereby the spirit of holiness has been grieved, our own souls burdened, and an occasion given to the enemy of all righteousness to rejoice over the decline of faith and spirituality amongst the scattered flock.--Ibid.
The address comes immediately to the subject of the gifts of the Spirit in the church and confesses:
Nor have we appreciated the glorious privilege of claiming the gifts which our blessed Master has vouchsafed to His people; and we greatly fear that we have grieved the Spirit by neglecting the blessings already conferred upon the church....
We have also, in our past experience, been made to rejoice in the goodness of our God who has manifested His care for His people by leading us in His way and correcting our errors, through the operations of His Spirit; and the majority of Sabbathkeepers in the third angel's message have firmly believed that the Lord was calling His church out of the wilderness by the means appointed to bring us to the unity of the faith. We refer to the visions which God has promised to the remnant "in the last days."
The relation of the Spirit of Prophecy to the Bible was next dealt with:
Nor do we, as some contend, exalt these gifts or their manifestations, above the Bible; on the contrary, we test them by the Bible, making it the great rule of judgment in all things; so that whatever is not in accordance with it, in its spirit and its teachings, we unhesitatingly reject. But as we cannot believe that a fountain sends forth at the same place sweet water and bitter, or that an evil tree brings forth good fruit, so we cannot believe that that is of the enemy which tends to unite the hearts of the saints, to lead to meekness and humility and holy living, and incites to deep heart-searching before God, and a confession of our wrongs.
Squaring up to the crux of the matter, the authors of the address recognized an attitude that was surely displeasing to God:
While we hold these views as emanating from the divine mind, we would confess the inconsistency (which we believe has been displeasing to God) of professedly regarding them as messages from God, and really putting them on a level with the inventions of men. We fear that this has resulted from an unwillingness to bear the reproach of Christ (which is indeed greater riches than the treasures of earth), and a desire to conciliate the feelings of our opponents; but the Word and our own experience have taught us that God is not honored, nor His cause advanced, by such a course.
While we regard them as coming from God, and entirely harmonizing with His written word, we must acknowledge ourselves under obligation to abide by their teaching, and be corrected by their admonitions. To say that they are of God, and yet we will not be tested by them, is to say that God's will is not a test or rule for Christians.
There was more in the address, but the main points have here been brought forward. The fruitage of this humble confession and declaration of loyalty to God's leadings was soon evident. Wrote Ellen White of the painful experience and its hopeful outcome:
At our late conference at Battle Creek, in November, God wrought for us. The minds of the servants of God were exercised as to the gifts of the church, and if God's frown had been brought upon His people because the gifts had been slighted and neglected, there was a pleasing prospect that His smiles would again be upon us, and He would graciously and mercifully revive the gifts again, and they would live in the church, to encourage the desponding and fainting soul, and to correct and reprove the erring.--Ibid., January 10, 1856
The events and experiences at this conference of November, 1855, may well be considered as marking a turning point in Seventh-day Adventist history. With the church accepting the responsibility for its publishing work, and the Spirit of Prophecy now given its rightful place, added blessing attended the labors of the ministers, the publishing enterprise prospered, and the work moved forward.