The announcement on January 6, 1863, that in a few days there would be available to Seventh-day Adventists Testimony No. 9, with the lead article being on the war and Adventists' duty in relation to it, brought assurance to the hearts of many, especially men of draft age and their families. Whether the article was based on a single vision or on several, we do not know, but Ellen White's repeated reference to what she was shown or what she saw makes it clear that a vision or visions formed the immediate background. The visions at Parkville, Michigan, January 12, 1861; at Roosevelt, New York, August 3, 1861; and at Battle Creek, January 4, 1862, put Adventists in the unique position of knowing, first, of the coming war and its ferocity and long duration, and then, its philosophy, with the assurance that God had a controlling hand in the affairs of the nation. They had an inside view of victories and losses and the potential of its becoming an international conflict.
Now, a year later, there was further light for the church whose members regarded as binding the claims of the Ten Commandments, and who now faced the prospects of a national military draft. The counsel filled a good portion of the original Testimony pamphlet, and may be found in volume 1 of the current Testimonies, under the chapter title "The Rebellion," pages 355-368. True to its advance notice, it contained counsel as to how Seventh-day Adventists should relate to the war. There was as yet no national draft. The men in the Army had volunteered for military service, thus surrendering all claims they might have to positions of conscience. It was on this basis that Ellen White wrote as she did. Conscription, although a real threat, was yet months away.
Forecasts of the War's Outcome
Again Ellen White presents to the church insights given her as to the final outcome of the conflict, and one reason that it was so protracted.
God is punishing the North, that they have so long suffered the accursed sin of slavery to exist; for in the sight of heaven it is a sin of the darkest dye. God is not with the South, and He will punish them dreadfully in the end.--Testimonies for the Church, 1:359.
In the heart of the article there is further assurance, given at a time when the outlook was particularly dark:
I saw that God would not give the Northern army wholly into the hands of a rebellious people, to be utterly destroyed by their enemies. I was referred to Deuteronomy 32:26-30.--Testimonies for the Church, 1:365.
She quoted the scripture referred to, which points out that were it not for the manner in which enemies would look upon God's just dealing with His wayward people, blaming God for an appropriate retribution for a rebellious course of action, He would rally to their deliverance. Ellen White's remarks closed with the repetition of the view of the outcome:
I saw that both the South and the North were being punished. In regard to the South, I was referred to Deuteronomy 32:35-37: "To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted?"--Testimonies for the Church, 1:368.
Strange Factors at Work
Separated from the full context of the chapter, the above statements concerning God's relation to those involved in the conflict may seem severe. However, her portrayal of conditions, no doubt based on both special insights and reports of what was going on, sets the stage. There were, among statesmen and generals, disloyalties, treachery, greed, and determination to use the war for personal advancement and supremacy. These elements removed from the Union forces the singleness of purpose necessary to reach a quick victory, and the crime of slavery prevented success to attend the South. In addition, Ellen White brings to view in this chapter another factor--that of the spiritualistic influence of evil angels guiding some of the generals in their decisions and strategies:
Very many men in authority, generals and officers, act in conformity with instructions communicated by spirits. The spirits of devils, professing to be dead warriors and skillful generals, communicate with men in authority and control many of their movements. One general has directions from these spirits to make special moves and is flattered with the hope of success. Another receives directions which differ widely from those given to the first. Sometimes those who follow the directions given obtain a victory, but more frequently they meet with defeat.--Ibid., 1:363, 364.
She contrasted the guidance God would give with that of the great adversary, Satan himself:
The great leading rebel general, Satan, is acquainted with the transactions of this war, and he directs his angels to assume the form of dead generals, to imitate their manners, and exhibit their peculiar traits of character. The leaders in the army really believe that the spirits of their friends and of dead warriors, the fathers of the Revolutionary War, are guiding them.
If they were not under the strongest fascinating deception, they would begin to think that the warriors [supposedly] in heaven (?) did not manifest good and successful generalship, or had forgotten their famed earthly skill.
Instead of the leading men in this war trusting in the God of Israel, and directing their armies to trust in the only One who can deliver them from their enemies, the majority inquire of the prince of devils and trust in him. Deuteronomy 32:16-22. Said the angel: "How can God prosper such a people? If they would look to and trust in Him; if they would only come where He could help them, according to His own glory, He would readily do it."--Testimonies for the Church, 1:364, 365.
Counsel to Seventh-day Adventists
Ellen White set forth principles that should guide Seventh-day Adventists in their relation to the war.
I was shown that God's people, who are His peculiar treasure, cannot engage in this perplexing war, for it is opposed to every principle of their faith. In the army they cannot obey the truth and at the same time obey the requirements of their officers. There would be continual violation of conscience. Worldly men are governed by worldly principles.... But God's people cannot be governed by these motives....
Those who love God's commandments will conform to every good law of the land. But if the requirements of the rulers are such as conflict with the laws of God, the only question to be settled is: Shall we obey God, or man?--Ibid., 1:361, 362. (Italics supplied.)
When this statement was published in January, 1863, there was not yet a draft. Military service in the Union forces was on an enlistment basis.
In connection with the attitude Seventh-day Adventists should take to the war, Ellen White wrote on what their relation should be to the government of the nation:
I saw that it is our duty in every case to obey the laws of our land, unless they conflict with the higher law which God spoke with an audible voice from Sinai, and afterward engraved on stone with His own finger. "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people."
He who has God's law written in the heart will obey God rather than man, and will sooner disobey all men than deviate in the least from the commandment of God. God's people, taught by the inspiration of truth, and led by a good conscience to live by every word of God, will take His law, written in their hearts, as the only authority which they can acknowledge or consent to obey. The wisdom and authority of the divine law are supreme.--Ibid., 1:361.
Instruction Concerning the Imminent Draft
During the months of civil war, Adventists had been counseled to take a low profile, to say as little as possible but make it clear they had no sympathy with slavery. As the possibility of a national military draft loomed, some in Iowa, in the ministry and among the laity of the church, rushed ahead in making bold and boastful statements. They even petitioned the State legislature for exemption. Wrote Ellen White:
In Iowa they carried things to quite a length, and ran into fanaticism. They mistook zeal and fanaticism for conscientiousness. Instead of being guided by reason and sound judgment, they allowed their feelings to take the lead. They were ready to become martyrs for their faith.--Ibid., 1:356, 357.
Asking if this led them to God or greater humility, she answered herself, "Oh, no! Instead of making their petitions to the God of heaven and relying solely upon His power, they petitioned the legislature and were refused." She pointed out that this served only to bring Sabbathkeepers into special unfavorable notice, adding:
I saw that those who have been forward to talk so decidedly about refusing to obey a draft do not understand what they are talking about. Should they really be drafted and, refusing to obey, be threatened with imprisonment, torture, or death, they would shrink and then find that they had not prepared themselves for such an emergency. They would not endure the trial of their faith. What they thought to be faith was only fanatical presumption.--Ibid., 1:357.
Then she set forth the position that should be taken at that time, and later if there was a draft:
Those who would be best prepared to sacrifice even life, if required, rather than place themselves in a position where they could not obey God, would have the least to say. They would make no boast. They would feel deeply and meditate much, and their earnest prayers would go up to heaven for wisdom to act and grace to endure.
Those who feel that in the fear of God they cannot conscientiously engage in this war will be very quiet, and when interrogated will simply state what they are obliged to say in order to answer the inquirer, and then let it be understood that they have no sympathy with the Rebellion....
I was shown that as a people we cannot be too careful what influence we exert; we should watch every word. When we by word or act place ourselves upon the enemy's battleground, we drive holy angels from us, and encourage and attract evil angels in crowds around us.--Ibid., 1:357-360.
The records available regarding the impact of the war on Seventh-day Adventists in the various Northern States are meager. [The work of the Church had not yet entered the southern states, hence the problems brought by the war were confined to the north.] It would seem that there was some diversity on how the States raised their quota of men in answer to President Lincoln's call to supply the ranks. A very few Seventh-day Adventists were drafted quite early. The Review and Herald, October 21, 1862, carries a letter from Martin Kittle, written from Camp Mansfield, Ohio. It opens:
Brother White: I have been drafted into the United States service. As far as I know, I am the only one in Ohio. I feel anxious to know if any other Sabbathkeepers have been drafted from any other place.--Ibid., October 21, 1862
Two weeks later, a letter to the editor contained this postscript:
Brethren S. Babcock and H. Burdick of Clymer, Pennsylvania, received notice of their being drafted last Sabbath, and left Tuesday for Wellsborough, and from there to Harrisburg.
Brother Babcock is anxious to have his Review continued, so that his wife may forward it to him as often as she can. He was in haste for the church in his place to be organized, but knew not why, but now rejoices that it was done in season for him to leave his companion and dear children under the watchcare of a body so constituted that when one member suffers, all suffer with it.--Ibid., November 4, 1862
On March 3, 1863, the Congress of the United States passed a law calling for the enrollment of all men between the ages of 20 and 45; this would form the basis of a national draft. It now looked as if one man in three would be called to military service. Certain provisions of this act brought a sigh of relief to Seventh-day Adventists:
That members of religious denominations, who shall by oath or affirmation declare that they are conscientiously opposed to the bearing of arms, and who are prohibited from doing so by the rules and articles of faith and practice of such religious denomination, shall, when drafted into the military service, be considered noncombatants, and shall be assigned by the Secretary of War to duty in the hospitals, or to the care of freedmen, or shall pay the sum of $300, to such person as the Secretary of War shall designate to receive it, to be applied to the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers:
Provided, That no person shall be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of this section, unless his declaration of conscientious scruples against bearing arms shall be supported by satisfactory evidence that his deportment has been uniformly consistent with such declaration.--"The Views of Seventh-day Adventists Relative to Bearing Arms," pp. 3, 4.
The Tide Begins to Turn
With President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863, the tide in the war began to turn. When a national fast was appointed for April 30, 1863, Seventh-day Adventists felt they could join in its observance, for the government was lining up more in harmony with the testimony of Isaiah 58. In early July a decisive battle was fought at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with the Union forces gaining the victory.
There were still many difficult days ahead, but the provision that by paying $300 a drafted Seventh-day Adventist could gain freedom from military service brought relief till well into 1864. The newly organized church had a breathing spell. Yet such a payment was equivalent to somewhat more than the wages for a year of employment, and James White saw the provision, as beneficial as it was, a threat to denominational income. He warned in an editorial in the Review, November 24, 1863, that many good causes could be found for the use of the Systematic Benevolence funds being gathered by the churches for the support of the ministry, as providing for the worthy poor, the care of war orphans, et cetera. He added:
The advancement of the third message is the highest object on earth for which we can labor. Whatever suffering there may be elsewhere, this cause should be the last to suffer for want of means.
Should our brethren be drafted, they should if necessary mortgage their property to raise the $300, rather than to accept means that should go into the Lord's treasury. We would say this even of our ministers. The draft will probably come closer and closer.
We pay into the S. B. fund annually $40. Let that be used as designed. We have $40 more to help drafted ministers if needed. We say then let the plan of systematic benevolence be carried out sacredly, and let it accomplish its designed object, namely, to send forth the last merciful message to the world.--The Review and Herald, November 24, 1863.
Moses Hull Yields to Spiritualism
The war, with its insatiable demand for men, was only one of the concerns of church leaders through much of 1863. The wavering and then the final apostasy of Moses Hull, a prominent evangelist who in the fall surrendered to the agents of Satan, was a difficult and sad experience. He preached an evangelistic sermon on the night of September 20, 1863, and then within a few weeks joined the forces of the Spiritualists.
There are many lessons in the account of the experience of Moses Hull, especially when we have before us the insights given through vision to Ellen White. Hull began preaching for Seventh-day Adventists in 1858, and for five years was accounted among the ministry of the church. Through dedicated and effective service he worked himself into the respect and confidence of his fellow ministers. The harboring of doubts, selfish interest, covetousness, lack of management ability, and undue trust in self were weaknesses that Ellen White, through the last two years of his ministry, pointed out as being the foundation of his problems (Testimonies for the Church, 1:441, 442; Testimonies for the Church, 2:625; Ibid., 3:212). Added to this was a negative home influence, for his wife did not give him proper support.
The name Moses Hull appears occasionally in the Review and Herald in 1861 and 1862 as he reported on his work, attended conferences, and worked on committees. In the spring of 1862 the Michigan Conference Committee recommended that Hull work with J. N. Loughborough with the Michigan tent. Of this Loughborough reported:
This we did, using our tent in three places--in Charlotte, June 5 to July 13; in Ionia, July 15 to August 12, and in Lowell from August 16 to September 7. Brother I. D. Van Horn was our tentmaster, it being his first experience with the tent. In each of these places some souls were won to the truth.
Moses Hull had a debate with a Methodist minister in the tent at Charlotte, on the immortality question, which aided in settling many minds on that question. At both Ionia and Lowell he had debates with Spiritualists.--Pacific Union Recorder, June 6, 1912.
Loughborough recognized that the Lord blessed Hull in these efforts for the truth:
The doctor with whom he debated in Ionia expected to meet someone who believed in the immortality of the soul. He was not prepared to meet the doctrine of the unconscious state of the dead. He stated publicly at the close of the debate that he was defeated, but said it was because the spirits left him and helped Hull.
The debate at Lowell was with S. P. Leland, a Spiritualist lecturer. This was a complete triumph for the truth, and resulted, shortly after, in Leland's renouncing Spiritualism and becoming a Christian. The Lord surely helped Hull in the debate. But afterward it seemed to "turn his head," and he thought he would be a match for the Spiritualists anywhere.--Ibid.
But there was another factor that contributed to Hull's apostasy. This was disclosed in vision to Ellen White--he had doubts as a result of seeds carelessly and unwittingly sown by some of his fellow ministers. While, as Ellen White declared, "he needed all the strength and help from his brethren he could get," some of the more experienced brethren told some of "their difficulties and perplexities to him."
It seemed they had no particular object, only to talk out what was on their minds--unbelief and darkness. They passed on, but Brother Hull was just in that weak condition where the words of his brethren whom he had confidence in could take root and spring up and bear fruit. Some few difficult passages of Scripture were thrown into his mind. He came to meeting and honestly told his feelings....
He gravely told James and the brethren he could not preach, for he did not believe the Bible anymore. They thought him merely under the influence of temptation and tried to turn his mind, but it was of no avail. In this state Brother Hull went some miles distant to discuss with a Spiritualist.--Letter 11, 1862.
Loughborough reported of this discussion:
He engaged to debate with one Jamieson, at Paw Paw, Michigan, a strong Spiritualist center, where there was no interest in the truth, and not one of our people to stand by him. On the other hand, the Spiritualists got some of their strongest mediums and sat in a circle around the speakers.
Hull admitted to me afterward how he went into that debate. He said, "I thought: Let them bring on their devils. I am enough for the whole of them. But when I arose to make my second speech, my tongue was seemingly as thick as my hand, and what I had often used before as an argument seemed to me like nonsense. I was defeated."
Jamieson, who has since renounced Spiritualism, and resides in Colorado, said of that debate, to Brother States: "Hull was mesmerized, and I told him so there; for before the first day of the debate was over he came to me and said, "I am all ready to go out and advocate Spiritualism."--Pacific Union Recorder, June 6, 1912.
Ellen White stated, "He came back charmed with the man and was as much fascinated as ever a bird was fascinated by a rattlesnake. He was a changed man. He looked so strange, talked so strange. He had got far ahead of us all--far beyond us, almost out of sight of us. We could not help him. Oh, no."--Letter 11, 1862.
Loughborough picks up the account of this strange story that was taking place right before the eyes of the church in Battle Creek, for Paw Paw was only thirty-five miles away:
For two weeks after the Hull and Jamieson debate at Paw Paw, Michigan, Hull, in Battle Creek, seemed like a man half "off his base." Finally he seemed to arouse to some sense of his condition. He got Brother and Sister White and Elder Cornell to come with him to my house in Battle Creek for a talk and a praying season for him. This was on November 5, 1862. In the praying season Sister White was given a vision on his case.--Pacific Union Recorder, June 13, 1912.
Writing immediately after the event, Ellen White reported:
The object of our meeting Wednesday night [November 5, 1862] was to pray for Brother Hull, he being present. I had been very sick for above a week, threatened with fever, but I went to the meeting. In that meeting I was taken off in vision and shown many things. And the case of Brother Hull was shown me--that he had been mesmerized, charmed by a special agent of Satan.
Already had Satan, I saw, claimed him as his prey. Already had evil angels telegraphed to Satan's agents upon earth that Brother Hull would soon leave the Seventh-day Adventists and join their ranks, and the Spiritualist medium with whom he discussed must be all gentleness, and charm him and fascinate him. He was almost continually in the company of this Spiritualist medium, and Satan exulted at the conquest he had made.
Then I saw how cruel, how dishonoring to God, to have ministers or private members talk out or lisp their unbelief and infidel feelings to other minds, and by so doing have Satan use them as agents to transmit his fiery darts through them to others. I saw that there was much of this done, and Satan exults that he works unperceived in this way. Much more I saw which I cannot write; it would take so much time.--Letter 11, 1862.
She continued:
I related the vision to Brother Hull. He remained unmoved. I wrote it the next day and read it to him. He manifested some feeling while I was writing the testimony. All the females who had faith met to pray for Brother Hull. All worked with energy.
The Spiritualists flocked around him, and wanted to visit and talk with him. We tried to prevent an interview and did. Wednesday evening I took George Amadon, Martha, and Brother and Sister Myron Cornell, and I read distinctly and emphatically the testimony the Lord had given me. [See Testimonies for the Church, 1:426-443.] He there promised me he would try to arouse and make an effort again. He had so given up to the powers of darkness that there was no collision of spirits. He was at perfect rest and peace.--Ibid.
After the vision was read, it was then and there decided that Hull should go with James and Ellen White to hold meetings with the churches in Michigan. Hull promised to go with them, and left that night for Monterey. Then the Amadons, the Cornells, and James and Ellen White, as described by Ellen White, "had a long and ...powerful prayer meeting for him." She picks up the story:
Early the next morn we started for Monterey. Sabbath morn at family prayers the Lord led me out to pray for Brother Hull. I felt that I had got hold of the arm of God and I would not let go until the power of Satan had broken and His servant delivered. Prayer was heard and Brother Hull was set free and he labored with us through the conference at Monterey. We dare not leave him yet. He will stay with us until he is free and rooted and grounded in the truth.
I saw that when ministers talked unbelief and doubts they attracted evil angels in crowds around them while the angels of God stood back in sorrow, and everywhere these ministers go they carry that darkness until they with fortitude resist the devil and he flees from them.--Ibid.
While laboring at Wright, Michigan, Ellen White continued the account. She reported that "Brother Hull has told me recently what the Spiritualist medium told him (also a lady medium), that the spirits had informed them that Brother Hull would soon leave the Adventists and become a Spiritualist, confirming what had been shown me in vision."--Ibid. James and Ellen White were exerting every energy to prevent this; that is why they were where they were, and Hull with them. "The good work is being carried on here at Wright," she wrote.
Meetings will continue here for a day or two, then we shall go to Greenville. Brother Hull is quite free again, for which we feel very thankful. He will accompany us to Greenville, and then will return to Wright to give a course of lectures.--Ibid.
On November 5, 1862, Ellen White wrote on the background of Hull's distressing experience:
Just as long as Brother Hull maintained a conflict, his mind was reined up, and there was a collision of spirits. He has now ceased the conflict, and the collision ceases. His mind is at rest, and Satan lets him have peace. Oh, how dangerous was the position in which he was shown me! His case is nearly hopeless, because he makes no effort to resist Satan and extricate himself from his dreadful snare.
Brother Hull has been dealt with faithfully. He has felt that he was too much restrained, that he could not act out his nature. While the power of the truth, in all its force, influenced him, he was comparatively safe; but break the force and power of truth upon the mind, and there is no restraint, and the natural propensities take the lead, and there is no stopping place. He has become tired of the conflict, and has for some time wished that he could more freely act himself, and has felt hurt at the reproofs of his brethren.
He was presented to me as standing upon the brink of an awful gulf, ready to leap. If he takes the leap, it will be final; his eternal destiny will be fixed. He is doing work and making decisions for eternity.... If he leaves the ranks of those who bear the bloodstained banner of Prince Immanuel, and joins the company who bear the black banner, it will be his own loss, his own eternal destruction.--Ibid., 1:427.
Hull chose to take that leap into the ranks of the Spiritualists.