The vision at Lovett's Grove, Ohio, on a Sunday afternoon in mid-March, 1858, was one of great importance. In this the theme of the great controversy between Christ and His angels on the one side and Satan and his angels on the other, was seen as one continuous and closely linked chain of events spanning six thousand years. This vision has put Seventh-day Adventists into a unique position with clear-cut views of the working of Providence in the history of our world--a viewpoint quite different from that held by secular historians, who see events of history as the interplay between the actions of men, often seemingly the result of chance or natural developments. In other words, this vision and others of the great conflict of the ages yield a philosophy of history that answers many questions and in prophetic forecast gives the assurance of final victory of good over evil.
For the setting of this vision, we must go back to the turn of the year and notice some of the intervening activities. There had been a very favorable response to the reading of the Ellen G. White testimony at the conference held in Battle Creek the preceding November, with a strong standing vote calling for its publication. Also at that conference, James White had made a stirring presentation on "the unity and gifts of the church." This, it was reported, "seemed to have a place in the hearts of the people" (Ibid., November 12, 1857), with many expressing their pleasure on seeing this subject taking its "proper place in the church."
In response, White re-presented the subject in four Review and Herald articles carrying through the turn of the year. Also, the December 31 issue and the second published in January carried articles by him entitled "A Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Present Truth." These warmed the hearts of the believers.
In the same issues were numbers 8 and 10 of a twenty-eight-part series by Uriah Smith titled "Synopsis of the Present Truth." These were some of the first Review articles to be accompanied by illustrations. Woodcuts made by Uriah Smith himself, through the skillful use of his woodcarving tools, depicted the beasts and images seen by Daniel and John in prophetic vision.
Notice was given of the progress in publishing tracts in French and German (Ibid., December 24, 1857), soon to be available to those who wished to spread the third angel's message to the people of other countries and languages. J. H. Waggoner, in a series of four significant articles, was holding before readers the "nature and tendency of modern spiritualism." Among the appointments were those for J. N. Loughborough and James White, who were now often associated in ministering on weekends in nearby churches (Ibid., December 24, 1857; Ibid., January 28, 1858). Ellen White, of course, accompanied them.
Meetings in Ohio
S. W. Rhodes, laboring in Ohio, announced in the Review that a conference would be held in Green Spring, to begin at 2:00 P.M., Friday, February 26. James White appended a note:
It is our design to be at the conference at Green Spring the twenty-sixth, and to meet in conference with the brethren in Gilboa, March 6 and 7. We may spend three or four weeks in Ohio.--Ibid., February 18, 1858
James and Ellen White, traveling by carriage with two new converts, Mr. and Mrs. Tillotson, met the Gilboa appointment. The church there was delivered from darkness through a vision given to Ellen White. They were at Lovett's Grove the next weekend, March 13 and 14. Meetings were held in the public schoolhouse and attended by converts brought into the message through the fruitful ministry of G. W. Holt (Ibid., March 25, 1858). James White reported the experience:
March 13 and 14 we enjoyed freedom with the young church at Lovett's Grove. Brother Holt's labors have been greatly blessed in this place. He thinks about forty are keeping the Sabbath in this place. A few weeks since there were none. We enjoyed great freedom with these brethren.
On First-day God manifested His power in a wonderful manner before the crowded assembly. Several decided to keep the Lord's Sabbath and go with the people of God.--Ibid.
The Great Controversy Vision
As Ellen White told the story of the meeting held that Sunday afternoon, she reported:
At Lovett's Grove the Lord met with us, and His blessing rested upon us. First-day afternoon there was to be a funeral at the schoolhouse where our meetings were held. My husband was invited to give a discourse on the occasion. The people could not all get into the house. My husband was blessed with freedom, and the power of truth seemed to affect the hearers.
When he closed his remarks, I felt urged by the Spirit of the Lord to bear my testimony. As I was led to speak upon the coming of Christ and the resurrection and the cheering hope of the Christian, my soul triumphed in God. I drank in rich draughts of salvation. Heaven, sweet heaven, was the magnet to draw my soul upward, and I was wrapt in a vision of God's glory. Many important things were revealed to me for the church.--Spiritual Gifts, 2:265, 266.
The vision lasted for two hours (WCW, in The Review and Herald, February 20, 1936), the congregation in the crowded schoolhouse watching with intense interest all that took place. When the vision ended, the friends and relatives of the deceased, along with a portion of the congregation, bore the casket to the cemetery. Others remained to hear Ellen White relate some of what was shown to her, in the vision, of the glorious reward of the faithful.
Many matters were opened up to her. A portion of the vision was for the instruction and encouragement of the new believers in Ohio, some of whom were parts of families divided in the acceptance of the message:
Counsels for New Believers
I saw that those who profess the truth should hold the standard high, and induce others to come up to it. I saw that some would have to walk the straight path alone. Their companions and children will not walk the self-denying pathway with them.
Patience and forbearance should ever characterize the lives of those lone pilgrims following the example of their blessed Master. They will have many trials to endure, but they have a hope that makes the soul strong, that bears them up above the trials of earth, that elevates them above scorn, derision, and reproach. Those who possess a hope like this should never indulge a harsh, unkind spirit. This will only injure their own souls, and drive their friends farther from the truth. Treat them tenderly. Give them no occasion to reproach the cause of Christ; but never yield the truth to please anyone. Be decided, be fixed, be established, be not of a doubtful mind.--Spiritual Gifts, 2:266.
Basing her remarks on the vision, she gave some practical counsel concerning the attitudes that should be taken toward close relatives who were unbelieving:
But if your companions and children will not come, if you cannot win them to yield to the claims of truth, make their lives here as pleasant as possible; for all they will ever enjoy will be this poor world. But let not your duty to them interfere with your duty to God. Pursue a straightforward course. Let nothing they may do or say provoke an angry word from you.
You have a hope that will yield you consolation amid the disappointments and trials of life. Your companions and children who will not be induced to tread the narrow, cross-bearing pathway with you, have not this divine consolation. They should have your pity, for this world is all the heaven they will have.--Ibid., 2:266, 267.
Another phase of instruction given to her will be understood in the light of a comment made by James White in his report of the Lovett's Grove experience. He wrote: "We regard the cause in Ohio in a prosperous condition. There is much wealth among the brethren which we fear will drown many of them in perdition."--The Review and Herald, March 25, 1858. Continuing her counsel, Ellen White wrote:
I was shown that all who profess the present truth would be tested and tried. Their love for Jesus' coming will be proved, and manifested to others, whether it is genuine. All, I saw, would not stand the test. Some love this world so much that it swallows up their love for the truth.
As their treasures here increase, their interest in the heavenly treasure decreases. The more they possess of this world, the more closely do they hug it to them, as if fearful their coveted treasure would be taken from them. The more they possess, the less do they have to bestow upon others, for the more they have, the poorer they feel. O the deceitfulness of riches! They will not see and feel the wants of the cause of God.--Spiritual Gifts, 2:267.
The philosophy of benevolence was revealed to her:
I saw that God could rain means from heaven to carry on His work, but He never would do this. It is contrary to His plan. He has entrusted men on earth with sufficient means to carry forward His work, and if all do their duty there will be no lack. But some will not heed the call for their means.--Ibid., 2:267, 268.
Then Ellen White was shown the response that should come from the hearts of those entrusted with means:
I saw that they should cheerfully say, Here, Lord, is the little of earth's treasures Thou hast lent me; take any portion of it; take it all, it is Thine. Let me do my part in saving my fellowmen, and let me be raised up with the redeemed to dwell with Thee forever.
Tremblingly will such disciples lean upon the strong promises of God. Earth fades before their vision. Heaven magnifies, and no sacrifice is too dear for them to make for the far more, the exceeding, and eternal weight of glory.--Ibid., 2:270.
A View of the Agelong Controversy in its Broad Sweep
In one brief paragraph Ellen White introduced what is thought of today as the principal topic of the March 14 vision!
In this vision at Lovett's Grove, most of the matter of the great controversy which I had seen ten years before was repeated, and I was shown that I must write it out.--Ibid.
Most likely it was scenes from this vision that she dwelt upon as she addressed the people in the schoolhouse after the funeral was over. She reported that "great solemnity rested upon those who remained."--Ibid., 2:271. And it was a solemn experience to Ellen White herself, for she was shown, in connection with the instruction to write out the vision of the controversy, that "I should have to contend with the powers of darkness, for Satan would make strong efforts to hinder me, but angels of God would not leave me in the conflict, that in God must I put my trust."--Ibid., 2:270.
What did this mean? She was to learn before ever she reached home. Monday the Tillotsons drove them in their comfortable carriage to the railroad station at Freemont, where the next day they took the train for Jackson, Michigan. At this point Ellen White picks up the account:
While riding in the cars we arranged our plans for writing and publishing the book called The Great Controversy immediately on our return home. I was then as well as usual.
On the arrival of the train at Jackson, we went to Brother Palmer's. We had been in the house but a short time, when, as I was conversing with Sister Palmer, my tongue refused to utter what I wished to say, and seemed large and numb. A strange, cold sensation struck my heart, passed over my head, and down my right side. For a while I was insensible; but was aroused by the voice of earnest prayer.
I tried to use my left arm and limb, but they were perfectly useless. For a short time I did not expect to live. It was the third shock I had received of paralysis, and although within fifty miles of home, I did not expect to see my children again. I called to mind the triumphant season I had enjoyed at Lovett's Grove, and thought it was my last testimony, and felt reconciled to die.--Ibid., 2:271.
As earnest prayer was continued in her behalf, she soon felt a prickling sensation in her arm and leg, and she praised God that she could move them a little. Writing of it, she declared, "The Lord heard and answered the faithful prayers of His children, and the power of Satan was broken." Three months later in a vision given to her in Battle Creek there was opened up to her what was really behind the distressing experience suffered in the Palmer home.
I was taken off in vision. In that vision I was shown that in the sudden attack at Jackson, Satan designed to take my life to hinder the work I was about to write; but angels of God were sent to my rescue, to raise me above the effects of Satan's attack. I saw, among other things, that I should be blest with better health than before the attack at Jackson.--Ibid., 2:272.
The night after the stroke was one of great suffering, but the next day she seemed sufficiently strengthened to continue the journey by train to Battle Creek. On arrival home, she was carried up the steep stairs to the front bedroom in their Wood Street home. She reported:
For several weeks I could not feel the pressure of the hand, nor the coldest water poured upon my head. In rising to walk, I often staggered, and sometimes fell to the floor. In this condition I commenced to write The Great Controversy.
I could write at first but one page a day, then rest three; but as I progressed, my strength increased. The numbness in my head did not seem to becloud my mind, and before I closed that work, the effect of the shock had entirely left me.--Ibid.
As she wrote of the vision in her 1860 autobiographical work My Christian Experience, Views, and Labors in Connection With the Rise and Progress of the Third Angel's Message, she stated that in the Lovett's Grove vision "most of the matter of the great controversy which I had seen ten years before was repeated." Is this a reference to a particular vision in 1848, as it seems to imply? Or does it refer to phases of many visions received in the late 1840s, in which she witnessed segments of the conflict between Christ and His angels and Satan and his angels? A number of these presented the ultimate triumph of the righteous and the final destruction of sin and sinners. The absence of a contemporary reference to a specific, all-inclusive great controversy vision in 1848 would seem to point to the latter. Many of the visions of the late 1840s gave glimpses and at times rather detailed accounts of controversy and the triumph of God's people over the forces of Satan.
Ellen White Tells the Story at the General Conference in May
While engaged in writing the great controversy story, Ellen White had an opportunity to relate what had been shown to her to some four hundred believers assembled in Battle Creek for the general conference called for May 21 to 24. James White wrote of this in recounting the happenings of the conference on Sunday, May 23:
During the forenoon, Sister White related a portion of the views she has had concerning the fall of Satan, the plan of salvation, and the great controversy between Christ and His angels, and Satan and his. It abounded in startling facts and vivid descriptions. And when the course of the narration had brought us down to the days of the first advent, the humiliation, the suffering, and finally the crucifixion of the Saviour, especially then did not only the silent tear but even the audible sobs of many in the congregation announce their hearts were touched by the sufferings of the Son of God for rebellious man.
When we view the great controversy as now going forward--its field the world, its subject man--we see not how anyone can long hesitate upon which side to enroll himself. And at least the justice of that sentence is very apparent, which condemns those who will persist to the end on the side of the power of darkness, to the same ruin which overwhelms the first rebel and his worthy sympathizers.--The Review and Herald, May 27, 1858.
But she was not finished with her account. In the evening she continued her narrative until nearly ten o'clock; then the people, deeply stirred, wanted to say something. There was a testimony meeting until nearly eleven, which was closed off only by giving everyone present an opportunity to express their response by standing to their feet.
A month later it was reported that the forthcoming book was "in the press," meaning that the publishers had received some of the copy and were setting type. By mid-August Ellen White had completed her writing, and the book was printed--The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels. It was introduced by a twelve-page statement from the pen of Roswell F. Cottrell that had appeared in the Ibid., February 25, 1858, under the title "Spiritual Gifts." For this wider use, Cottrell amplified it somewhat.
The E. G. White text opens with the words:
The Lord has shown me that Satan was once an honored angel in heaven, next to Jesus Christ. His countenance was mild, expressive of happiness like the other angels. His forehead was high and broad, and showed great intelligence. His form was perfect. He had a noble, majestic bearing.--Spiritual Gifts, 1:17.
No one can mistake that Ellen White is here describing what she had seen--true, in vision, but nevertheless a very real experience. And so it is through the entire volume, with such expressions as "I was shown," or "I saw," or the equivalent, averaging once for each page of the book. The account passes from Creation very briefly down through the experiences of Old Testament history, touching those points prominent in the conflict between the forces of good and of evil. It traverses in more detail the life and ministry of Jesus and the experience of the apostles. At this point Ellen White goes beyond the Bible records and describes the apostasy, at times in symbolic representations. Then she moves into a brief chapter on the Reformation, describing what she saw of the ministry of Martin Luther and Melanchthon. This represented the conflict through post-Biblical centuries, and bridged the story to the Advent movement. Twenty chapters fill the last half of the book and trace the history, past and future, to the new earth. In this little volume there emerged for the first time the concept that links features in world history and church history as a part of the picture of the conflict of the ages.
The Review and Herald, September 9, 1858, carried on its back page, under the title "Spiritual Gifts," the notice that the book was ready. It read:
This is a work of 224 pages written by Mrs. White, with an introductory article on the perpetuity of spiritual gifts by Brother R. F. Cottrell. Price 50 cents.
A listing of the forty-one chapters followed, in which eighteen lines were devoted by James White in advertising the book. The little volume was well received and became a part of the regular stock of denominational publications. This first writing of the great controversy may be read in a facsimile reprint of Spiritual Gifts, Volume I, and in Early Writings, where it constitutes the third and major section of the book.
The Choice of Title for the Forthcoming Book
James and Ellen White agreed upon the title for the anticipated book as they traveled homeward from the Ohio appointments. It is probable that the idea of the title came from a little volume of 167 pages received at the Review office from its author, H. L. Hastings, of Rochester, New York. That title read The Great Controversy Between God and Man: Its Origin, Progress, and Termination. (Neither then nor now have there been any copyright restrictions on book titles.) Uriah Smith gave editorial notice to the Hastings book in the Ibid., March 18, 1858, and described its contents. Ellen White's approach to the subject and breadth of coverage, based on the visions of the late 1840s and 1858, is very different from that represented in the Hastings book.
A Startling and Thought-Provoking Object Lesson
In mid-March, while on the trip to Ohio, it seems that Ellen White sent to Uriah Smith a solemn message for the church, to be published in the Review. The two-column article, which made reference to several visions, appeared in the issue of April 15 under the title "A Warning." In it Ellen White reviewed the experience of a family of some means who had moved from New England to Illinois about the year 1855, there to engage largely in farming. There were three, the father, mother, and a grown daughter. Her article opens:
Brother Smith: As I consider the responsibilities and dangers of the people of God, I am led to fear for many, and I wish to set before them the following, which I consider a most solemn warning.
As it became evident a few years since that the burden of the third message would be in the West, a brother, who had much of this world's goods, resolved to move west with his family, and thus introduce the work in the West.
He went with one intention, his wife with another. His intention was to proclaim the truth, but her intention was to have all their means laid out in house and lands, that the means not only be secured, and kept from the cause of God, but that her husband's time be also employed in building, planting, sowing, et cetera.
He was convinced of his duty to dispose of a portion of his means to advance the cause of God, but it was a great sacrifice for him to make, for he loved this world, and he was easily persuaded by his wife and daughter to gratify their desire and love of their earthly treasure and retain it. He disobeyed the call of God to gratify his wife and daughter, and was too willing to excuse or cover up his love of the world under a show of duty to his family.--Ibid., April 15, 1858
While this family was professing to be looking for the coming of Jesus and to be a part of His peculiar people, Ellen White was shown that they were investing in large land holdings, showing that this world was their home and their treasure was here on earth. And the wife was holding the husband back from doing what he knew to be his duty. Wrote Ellen White:
I was shown the wife of our brother, that she was engrossed in the spirit of this world, and loved and worshiped it; that she must unfasten her grasp, that she was a stumbling block in her husband's way, she was holding him back, and was unwilling that he should sell and give alms, also unwilling that he should go out to talk the truth to others. I saw that unless she got out of her husband's way, cut loose from the world, and distributed to the necessity of God's cause, the Lord would visit the family with judgment, and move her out of the way.--Ibid.
The message of warning was not heeded; while she was in the midst of making improvements to stay in this world, disease and affliction came, and her life record was closed. Soon after this James and Ellen White visited the place of their residence and found the husband struggling for freedom of soul. Ellen White was there given a vision, and light began to shine in upon the benighted father, but still the victory was not won:
As our brother would come up to the point to give up the world, and get it out of his heart; as he would lay his farm upon the altar, and say he would sell a part, or all of it, then the daughter would act the same part the mother had done, to pull him back, and she would plead for their treasure here.--Ibid.
There could be no mistaking that God was in earnest with those rich in this world's goods, who claimed to have surrendered their lives to Him and yet tenaciously clung to their earthly treasures:
Before I left that place I was shown in vision that God had taken the mother away, ... and unless the father and daughter submitted to God, unless they cut loose from the world and had their affections weaned from it, God would step over the threshold again in judgment. I was astonished at what was shown me in vision.
I saw that this brother loved this world more than he ever thought he did, and that it was a snare to him--it deceived him. I saw that he was so close and snug in deal, it really carried him beyond the bounds of strict truth and honesty. Said the angel, "The deceitfulness of riches causes many, many of its possessors to stumble over their riches to perdition, while only a few with the unrighteous mammon will make friends, and finally be received into everlasting habitations."--Ibid.
In the vision she was shown the selfish character of the daughter. If her father, whether he lived or died, should leave her a few thousand dollars, "it would be enough to ruin her, and displease God." All this, with anguished soul, she related to the father.
Again a vision was given to Ellen White aimed at saving the man. Of this she wrote:
Last summer [1857] I was again shown this brother's case, that he was not moving fast enough, that he was not using his means to advance the cause of God as fast as he should. The next news I heard was that he was dead, and had left his large property to his daughter. Nothing was bestowed upon the cause of God.--Ibid.
He was 51 years of age. In a subsequent vision, Ellen White was shown Satan's strategy:
I saw that Satan had it just as he wanted it at his death, that nothing be left to the cause of God.... I saw that it was the design of Satan to keep all the means from the ranks of the truth that he could, and to use it as a stumbling block for souls. He is willing that those who profess the truth, and are snug, selfish, and covetous should have means in their possession, for they idolize it. They nourish it, and it will prove their ruin; for they lay up treasure on earth, and lose their treasure in heaven.--Ibid.
As Ellen White brought the account of this startling object lesson to a close, she gave the reason for hastening it into print:
As I have seen that the reward of covetousness thus far upon this family should be a warning to the church, I cannot withhold from the people of God what has been shown me respecting them.--Ibid.
M. B. Czechowski, the Converted Catholic Priest
On the back page of the Review of April 15, 1858, in which Ellen White sounded the warning cited above, James White addressed an appeal, "To the Benevolent." It gave a brief account of the experience of a conscientious converted Catholic priest with a knowledge of persecution and travel and poverty--a man versed in seven languages. Now a bookbinder by trade, he attended a tent meeting in Findlay, Ohio, and joined the Sabbathkeeping Adventists. He found his way to Battle Creek, was taken in by James White, and was employed at binding up volumes of back issues of the Review and Herald. Early collections of denominational literature benefited by his skillful work, including that assembled by James White, now rebound for continuous service as a part of the library of the Ellen G. White Estate. White's editorial appeal closed with this paragraph:
It was recently suggested that he should now go to northern New York, and teach the present truth to his old and warm friends. His heart leaped with joy at the thought of taking his Bible and the French tracts (one on the Sabbath, and the other on the Advent), and with his family return to Mooers, where he has a house and ten acres of land and a horse. He owes on his place $50. His name is M. B. Czechowski. He must have help now. We will be one of thirty to raise $150 at once. The sum must be raised before our conference. We make the beginning.
James White $5.00
Ellen G. White $5.00
Four weeks later the sum had swelled to $58.50, and there was an urgent call for more. Sabbathkeeping Adventists were to hear more of Czechowski as he became a laborer in the cause. A few years later, under the auspices of another religious group, he crossed the Atlantic, carrying the Sabbath truth to some of the countries of Central Europe.
The appeal of James White for the support of this man reflects the dire financial needs of the emerging church without a treasury, whose ministry was precariously supported by chance gifts from those to whom they ministered. At the same time, as noted in the story told by Ellen White above, there were those who could well support the growing work. Relatively few, however, did. A system of regular financial support, desperately needed, was yet a year away.