The three-week-long General Conference session of 1901 was marked as a meeting of plain testimonies given and of immediate and hearty responses. True advance in God's work is seen not only by Heaven's messages of guidance, counsel, and reproof but by the miracle of men and women accepting such messages without hesitation. Only the strongest evidences that the words spoken by Ellen White were indeed the messages that God was addressing to His people could bring about such responses.
Two important factors contributed to this attitude. One was the feeling of frustration and misgiving that pervaded a large part of the delegation as they anticipated the meeting. They sensed that only if God were to step in and help could they come through triumphantly. The situation was desperate. Some solution must be found. But none knew of, or was ready to suggest, a solution.
Second was the evidence of the total dependence that Ellen White had upon God as she undertook her work. This brought the conclusion that she was but conveying God's message to His people. When as a teen-age maiden she was called to be God's messenger, it was recognized that God had chosen the weakest of the weak. There was nothing about her background, the vitality of her physique, or her education that could ever lead anyone to point to the individual and say, "See what she has performed." Now, as she ministered at the General Conference of 1901 at the age of 73, it was clear to all that God was working through her, sustaining her, speaking to her; only as He strengthened her could she do her work.
Returning to her home after the General Conference session, she opened her heart to Elder Haskell, recounting her attitudes and experiences in Battle Creek and immediately after:
Lately many perils have arisen; questions have come up which required a great amount of wisdom and grace and the love of Jesus to answer. The fear that the cause of God would be wounded and bruised kept me in a state of constant burden and taxation. At times my head has been so weary that it seemed as though I could not think at all. I have suffered severe pain in my left eye and cheekbone. Nevertheless, I must do the things I am expected to do.--Letter 125, 1901.
On the opening day of the session, she had called for a reorganization of the whole work of the General Conference. There was an immediate response, and the next three weeks were spent in bringing this reorganization about. On the second Friday of the session, Ellen White had called for the moving of Battle Creek College to a rural location. Before the meeting closed, the constituency had voted to move the college, and this had been affirmed by the delegates and by all the visitors present. Immediately steps were set in motion to establish Battle Creek College elsewhere.
During each of the last ten days of the session (April 14-23) except one, Ellen White carried speaking appointments.
At midsession there were many burdens still heavy on her heart. Perhaps one of the greatest was that of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the broad influence of the course of action that he might take. Along with this was the attitude of the ministry toward the medical work of the church, and, further, the personal experience of the ministers toward the health-reform principles to which God had called His people. Also, she was deeply concerned regarding the development of the work in the Southern States, both among the whites and the blacks. Up to midsession little had been done along this line.
On Sabbath afternoon, April 13, she listened to a mission symposium. Elder Daniells as chairman had arranged for six fifteen-minute presentations giving a cross section of the world work. First, L. R. Conradi reported on the work in Europe. Then J. E. White gave his report on the work in the South. W. A. Spicer was called on to report from India. J. O. Corliss reported on work in the large cities. Dr. A. J. Read told of God's providences in the island fields of the South Pacific, and H. Champness reported on the work in London. In meetings yet to come, Ellen White was to speak of the work in the South, the work in the cities, the work in London. All of these enterprises weighed heavily upon her heart.
During the session she was to deal with two disruptive elements. One was the case of Helge Nelson, who claimed the prophetic gift and insisted that he be given a hearing by the Conference. This being denied, he was granted an interview with Ellen White and the General Conference leaders. His burden was that she stood where Moses stood in the typical history of God's people, and he, Helge Nelson, was to stand where Joshua stood, for he claimed special guidance from God. Ellen White met the false claims squarely and in the interview declared, "I know that God never gave mortal man such a message as that which Brother Nelson has borne concerning his brethren. It is not like our God."--The Review and Herald, July 30, 1901.
She was to meet Nelson again at the General Conference session of 1903 in a rather dramatic way.
The other disruptive element that Ellen White was to meet, and this time before all the ministers of the cause, was the "holy flesh" fanaticism, which centered in Indiana. This would come on Wednesday evening.
On Sunday morning, April 14, taking the sermon hour at nine o'clock, she spoke in the Tabernacle on the Christian Life (Manuscript 62, 1901). Likely she joined the delegates as they were entertained at the Sanitarium that Sunday noon. "Three hundred persons sat down to a dinner" of what was said to be "the most toothsome delicacies, consisting of grains and vegetables exquisitely served, followed by delicious fruits and assorted nuts."--The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 225.
One of the guests remarked that he did not see why anyone, with such food in abundance, should desire to gorge himself with the flesh of a dead animal. Those who overheard him agreed that such a food program as was presented "was far preferable to the old system of a meat diet" (The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 225). In the matter of vegetarianism it had been a battle and a march through the years, but the new and better program was winning out. The Sanitarium itself, with Ellen White's encouragement, would soon discard meat in its dietary.
Monday morning at five-thirty, Ellen White spoke to the ministers, presenting "An Appeal to the Ministry." It was a solemn meeting at which she laid before the ministry of the church their large responsibilities. The leading ministers responded, declaring that they could see that the church had come to a turning point in experience.
Then on Tuesday morning, April 16, she spoke in the college chapel on the relations that should be sustained between the workers in the various branches of the cause and especially between the older and the younger workers. The report is that "the meeting was a deeply solemn one, and the impressions then received seemed to rest on the brethren all the day, to temper their words and conduct."--Ibid., 305.
Meeting the "Holy Flesh" Fanaticism
The workers' meeting at five-thirty on Wednesday morning, April 17, was not only solemn but exciting. Ellen White chose at that point in the session to meet the "holy flesh" fanaticism. She did so by reading a carefully prepared manuscript statement. Before the meeting closed, she told the audience that to meet this fanaticism was one of the reasons she had left Australia and returned to the United States. The situation with which she was dealing had been revealed to her in Australia in January, 1900, "before I left Cooranbong." And she declared, "If this had not been presented to me, I should not have been here today. But I am here, in obedience to the word of the Lord, and I thank Him that He has given me strength beyond my expectations to speak to the people."--Ibid., 426.
What was the holy flesh movement?
In 1898 and 1899 Elder S. S. Davis, conference evangelist in Indiana, developed and promulgated teachings that led to this movement. The basic features of this strange doctrine, which was called "the cleansing message," were that when Jesus passed through the Garden of Gethsemane He had an experience that all who follow Him must have. It was taught that Jesus had holy flesh, and that those who followed Him through this Garden experience would likewise have holy flesh. They were then "born" sons of God and they had "translation" faith. Having holy flesh like Christ, they could not experience corruption any more than He did; thus they would live to see Him come. This faith, it was claimed, was similar to that which led to the translation of Enoch and Elijah. Those who did not have this experience were "adopted" sons. They did not have translation faith; they must pass through the grave and thus go to heaven by "the underground railway."
Attempting to gain this Garden experience that would give them holy flesh, the people gathered in meetings in which there were long prayers, strange, loud instrumental music, and excited, extended, hysterical preaching. They were led to seek an experience of physical demonstration. Bass drums and the tambourines aided in this. It was expected that one, possibly more, of their number would fall prostrate to the floor. He would then be carried to the platform, where a dozen or more people would gather around and shout, "Glory to God!" while others prayed or sang. When this person regained consciousness, it was declared that he had passed through the Garden experience--he had holy flesh, he had translation faith!
Under the guise of a great revival and the outpouring of the latter rain, the movement swept through the Indiana Conference. Late in 1899 the president, Elder R. S. Donnell, became a strong advocate of these views and was joined by most of the ministers in Indiana. In arranging for the camp meeting of 1900, he planned great things. He was unwilling that the two visiting General Conference brethren, Elders S. N. Haskell and A. J. Breed, be given much opportunity to reach the people. He warned his workers that these men did not have "this experience" and the ministers should not allow themselves to be influenced by them.
As the conference president stood speaking one evening, he held his arms outstretched toward the congregation, and later reported that he had felt great power coursing down his arms and passing through his fingers out to the people.
Elder Haskell reported that there was indeed a power, a strange power, in this new message. The people were bewildered. None wished to miss the experience of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Translation faith seemed desirable. The teaching was a mixture of truth, error, excitement, and noise.
The camp meeting at which this experience took place was held in Muncie, Indiana, while Ellen White was on board ship returning to the United States. When James Edson White journeyed to the West Coast to greet his mother, he handed her a letter from Elder Haskell in which he described some of the things that had taken place.
To describe it, I hardly know what to say. It is beyond all description. I have never seen any company held with a firmer grasp by a certain number of the leading ministers, than they are held in Indiana. Brother R. S. Donnell is president, and they have an experience in getting the people ready for translation. They call it the "cleansing message." Others call it the "holy flesh": and when I say the "cleansing message" and the "holy flesh," no doubt these terms will bring to your mind experiences that illustrate what we saw....
There is a great power that goes with the movement that is on foot there. It would almost bring anybody within its scope, if they are at all conscientious, and sit and listen with the least degree of favor, because of the music that is brought to play in the ceremony. They have an organ, one bass viol, three fiddles, two flutes, three tambourines, three horns, and a big bass drum, and perhaps other instruments which I have not mentioned. They are as much trained in their musical line as any Salvation Army choir that you ever heard. In fact, their revival effort is simply a complete copy of the Salvation Army method, and when they get on a high key, you cannot hear a word from the congregation in their singing, nor hear anything, unless it be shrieks of those who are half insane. I do not think I overdraw it at all.--S. N. Haskell to EGW, September 25, 1900.
Haskell went on to describe the confusion and perplexity that were resulting from this preaching. One of the features of their teachings, along with holy flesh and translation faith, was that of "moral purity," for which they seemed to carry a great burden. It was all "a mixture of truth and error, with much excitement and music."
Haskell's letter to Ellen White indicated that in his opinion the work that was done by him, his wife, and Elder Breed had been of little consequence as far as most of the people were concerned.
Another communication that had reached Ellen White concerning this movement was a letter written June 1, 1900, by an Ida V. Hadley. The questions asked in this letter throw some light on the holy flesh teaching. Some of these questions were:
Was Mary's body made holy, sinless, in her flesh before conception, so that Christ was born from sinless flesh? And His own body sinless flesh of itself? (Hebrews 10:5)....
Is it Bible doctrine that men need never have died, but all been translated, if they only had grasped the "translation faith"? Was that why Enoch and Elijah were translated, because they grasped this fact, rather than others? (John 11:26)....
Is conversion a change of flesh from sinful to sinless? ...
Is it possible for us to arrive at that place in our experience where we do not always have to be overcomers? ...
Is it possible to get where we will not be tempted from within before Christ comes? ...
Do the Scriptures teach that there is a difference between born sons and adopted sons, that adopted sons go to dust, and born sons are translated?
We have no knowledge that Ellen White responded to the Hadley communication, which would have reached her just before she left Australia. In replying to the Haskell letter on October 10, 1900, she wrote from her Elmshaven home in northern California:
Last January the Lord showed me that erroneous theories and methods would be brought into our camp meetings, and that the history of the past would be repeated. I felt greatly distressed. I was instructed to say that at these demonstrations demons in the form of men are present, working with all the ingenuity that Satan can employ to make the truth disgusting to sensible people; that the enemy was trying to arrange matters so that the camp meetings, which have been the means of bringing the truth of the third angel's message before multitudes, should lose their force and influence.--Letter 132, 1900 (Selected Messages 2:37).
But Ellen White's letter to the Haskells did not constitute a confrontation with the issues or with those involved. The Haskell letter conveyed to her what was now in the open. Some may feel that these letters gave Ellen White her inspiration in this matter. In this her experience was much like that of Paul, of which she tells us:
Paul was an inspired apostle, yet the Lord did not reveal to him at all times just the condition of His people. Those who were interested in the prosperity of the church, and saw evils creeping in, presented the matter before him, and from the light which he had previously received he was prepared to judge of the true character of these developments.... The Lord had shown him the difficulties and dangers which would arise in the churches, that when they should develop he might know just how to treat them.
He was set for the defense of the church. He was to watch for souls as one that must render account to God, and should he not take notice of the reports concerning their state of anarchy and division? Most assuredly; and the reproof he sent them was written just as much under the inspiration of the Spirit of God as were any of his Epistles.--Testimonies for the Church 5:65, 66. (Italics supplied.)
Ellen White was shown in Australia in January, 1900, what would take place. The strange work was just then developing in Indiana, and she was shown what would take place at the camp meeting. Thus she was prepared to speak of the matter when she came to the General Conference session in 1901.
In her audience that Wednesday morning, April 17, were R. S. Donnell, president of the Indiana Conference; S. S. Davis, who had led out in this teaching; and many of the ministers from Indiana. Battle Creek was not far away from their home State. Ellen White said in part:
The Message Read to the Ministers
Instruction has been given me in regard to the late experience of brethren in Indiana and the teaching they have given to the churches. Through this experience and teaching the enemy has been working to lead souls astray.
The teaching given in regard to what is termed "holy flesh" is an error. All may now obtain holy hearts, but it is not correct to claim in this life to have holy flesh. The apostle Paul declares, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18). To those who have tried so hard to obtain by faith so-called holy flesh, I would say, You cannot obtain it. Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on the earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility. If those who speak so freely of perfection in the flesh could see things in the true light, they would recoil with horror from their presumptuous ideas....
Let this phase of doctrine be carried a little further, and it will lead to the claim that its advocates cannot sin, that since they have holy flesh, their actions are all holy. What a door of temptation would thus be opened! ...
I have been instructed to say to those in Indiana who are advocating strange doctrines, You are giving a wrong mold to the precious and important work of God. Keep within the bounds of the Bible. Take Christ's lessons, and repeat them over and over again....
Those who meet Christ in peace at His coming must in this life walk before Him in humility, meekness, and lowliness of mind. It becomes every human being to walk modestly and circumspectly before God, in harmony with the great testing truths He has given to the world.
But the late experience of brethren in Indiana has not been in accordance with the Lord's instruction. I have not during this conference held conversation with anyone in regard to this matter, but the Lord has given me a definite testimony that a strange work is being done in Indiana, the results of which are not after His order. This phase of religious enthusiasm is a dangerous delusion. The sentiments and exercises are not prompted by the Holy Spirit. They have led to very sad results.
Again and again in the progress of our work, fanatical movements have arisen, and when the matter was presented before me, I have had to bear a message similar to the message I am bearing to my brethren from Indiana. I have been instructed by the Lord that this movement in Indiana is of the same character as have been the movements in years past....
The manner in which the meetings in Indiana have been carried on, with noise and confusion, does not commend them to thoughtful, intelligent minds. There is nothing in these demonstrations which will convince the world that we have the truth. Mere noise and shouting are no evidence of sanctification, or of the descent of the Holy Spirit. Your wild demonstrations create only disgust in the minds of unbelievers. The fewer of such demonstrations there are, the better it will be for the actors and for the people in general.
Fanaticism, once started and left unchecked, is as hard to quench as a fire which has obtained hold of a building. Those who have entered into and sustained this fanaticism might far better be engaged in secular labor, for by their inconsistent course of action they are dishonoring the Lord and imperiling His people. Many such movements will arise at this time, when the Lord's work should stand elevated, pure, unadulterated with superstition and fables. We need to be on our guard, to maintain a close connection with Christ, that we be not deceived by Satan's devices.
The Lord desires to have in His service order and discipline, not excitement and confusion.--The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 419-421; Selected Messages 2:31-35).
Mrs. White stood before the congregation for an hour, first reading from the manuscript she had prepared for the occasion, then bearing impromptu testimony, which was also reported in the Bulletin.
She spoke of the fact that they still had in their midst "a few of the old pioneers who know something of the fanaticism which existed in the early days of this message. Here is Brother [J.L.] Prescott; he knows something about it. He is acquainted with phase after phase of the fanaticism which has taken place. Here is Brother Haskell. He knows something about it, and there are various ones of our older brethren who have passed over the ground, and they understand something of what we have had to meet and contend with. Then there is Brother Corliss; I speak of him because he knows something about fanaticism, not only in the early days, but in our later experience."--The General Conference Bulletin, 426. And she continued:
At great expense to myself, in sickness and feebleness, I have come a long way to bear this testimony before the congregation which was presented to me before I left Cooranbong. If this had not been presented to me, I should not have been here today. But I am here, in obedience to the word of the Lord.-- Ibid.
The Conference President Responds
The next day at the early morning workers' meeting, Elder Donnell rose and asked whether he might make a statement. It appears in the General Conference Bulletin under the title "Confession of Elder R. S. Donnell." He spoke in measured words:
I feel unworthy to stand before this large assembly of my brethren this morning. Very early in life I was taught to reverence and to love the Word of God; and when reading in it how God used to talk to His people, correcting their wrongs, and guiding them in all their ways, when a mere boy I used to say: "Why don't we have a prophet? Why doesn't God talk to us now as He used to do?"
When I found this people, I was more than glad to know that there was a prophet among them, and from the first I have been a firm believer in, and a warm advocate of, the Testimonies and the Spirit of Prophecy. It has been suggested to me at times in the past, that the test on this point of faith comes when the testimony comes directly to us.
As nearly all of you know, in the testimony of yesterday morning, the test came to me. But, brethren, I can thank God this morning that my faith in the Spirit of Prophecy remains unshaken. God has spoken. He says I was wrong, and I answer, God is right, and I am wrong....
I am very, very sorry that I have done that which would mar the cause of God, and lead anyone in the wrong way. I have asked God to forgive me, and I know that He has done it. As delegates and representatives of the cause of God in the earth, I now ask you to forgive me my sins, and I ask your prayers for strength and wisdom to walk aright in the future. It is my determination, by the help of God, to join glad hands with you in the kingdom of God.--Ibid., 422.
With this confession the holy flesh fanaticism was broken. The April 18 General Conference Bulletin carried this note on the opening page under the title "Our Best Meetings":
There are some features of the present General Conference which cannot be produced in the minutes of the proceedings, largely verbatim though they be. The unification of disjointed parts, and the blending of sympathy which has taken place as the result of efforts to reorganize the work on broader and truer lines, has to be seen, and felt in personal contact, to be appreciated.
Before the Conference convened, many throughout the field had grave apprehensions, lest grave obstacles should be met which would divide the sentiment of the workers, and so retard the precious message of truth. Those, however, who have been present in the meetings now greatly rejoice that the symptoms of such disturbance has abated, and delightful fellowship has become the prevailing condition.
This has not come through any human skill in diagnosing the case. The Great Physician has graciously bestowed His attention, in His ever-merciful way, to the healing of wounds that sin had made. This work has been largely carried on in the early morning meetings held by the ministers. In these the Lord has spoken through Sister White to correct wrong methods of policy and to reprove distracting theories. Those involved have responded, acknowledging the voice to be from heaven and pledging themselves to live in harmony with it.--Ibid., 305.
The Conference Moves to a Close
But Ellen White's work was not done. There were yet six days of the session. On Thursday morning at nine o'clock she spoke to the students at the college. At the sermon hour on Friday morning, Elder W. W. Prescott gave a report on the work in England. She followed with an extended appeal for the work in London, on the Continent, and in large American cities such as New York.
On Sabbath, April 20, she spoke again in the Tabernacle, presumably at the morning worship hour. Her subject was "His Wonderful Love." The sermon closed with the words: "At the last great day, if our characters are in harmony with the character of God, we shall be caught up to heaven to see the King in His beauty, there to sing the praise of our Creator through the ceaseless ages of eternity."--Ibid., 426.
It was a busy and momentous time. Ellen White was weary. But she spoke again on Monday, April 22, presenting instruction regarding school work. What a triumphant General Conference session it had been. How her heart was buoyed up with the thought of the hearty response to the messages that had been given.
But in some lines there was no response. This was particularly in regard to the attitudes of some who were leading out in institutional interests--the publishing house and the Sanitarium. How different the story of 1902, with its Battle Creek fires--first the Sanitarium and then the Review and Herald--would have been if all had heartily responded to the appeal for a consecrated work. How different if Dr. Kellogg had not resisted the appeals made. Ellen White was to write and speak of this on several later occasions. The chapter "What Might Have Been," published in Testimonies, volume 8, was one such, although Dr. Kellogg is not mentioned by name.
The farewell service was held at three o'clock Tuesday afternoon. Many of the workers spoke; one who pressed in early was J. N. Loughborough, who was present when the General Conference was first organized in a three-day session in 1863. He observed, "When we have heeded the light that He [God] has given, the cause has gone straight every time; and the difficulties in the way have been when we have not strictly heeded the instruction that God has given .... I thank God for what I have seen here in this work of reorganization during this conference."--Ibid., 460.
Ellen White spoke at length at this meeting. Among other remarks, she observed:
Wrongs--serious wrongs--have been committed in Battle Creek. I did not know how we would get along at this meeting. The Lord gave me instruction regarding this. I was referred to an incident in the life of the prophet Elisha.--Ibid., 463.
She recounted the appearance of the angels at Dothan, and then continued:
God presented this to me, and I did not know what it meant. I did not understand it. I pondered over it, and then, as the lesson was fulfilled, I began to grasp its meaning. I do not know that I would ever have seen the significance had it not been fulfilled right here.
Who do you suppose has been among us since this conference began? Who has kept away the objectionable features that generally appear in such a meeting? Who has walked up and down the aisles of this Tabernacle? The God of heaven and His angels. And they did not come here to tear you in pieces, but to give you right and peaceable minds. They have been among us to work the works of God, to keep back the powers of darkness, that the work God designed should be done should not be hindered. The angels of God have been working among us....
We have been trying to organize the work on right lines. The Lord has sent His angels to minister unto us who are heirs of salvation, telling us how to carry the work forward....
I was never more astonished in my life than at the turn things have taken at this meeting. This is not our work. God has brought it about. Instruction regarding this was presented to me, but until the sum was worked out at this meeting, I could not comprehend this instruction. God's angels have been walking up and down in this congregation. I want every one of you to remember this, and I want you to remember also that God has said that He will heal the wounds of His people.
Press together, press together. Let us be united in Christ.--Ibid., 463, 464.
By suppertime it was clear that more time was needed, so an evening meeting was arranged and the testimonies continued. In his closing remarks the newly chosen leader of the church's worldwide work, A. G. Daniells, said:
"God has answered the thousands of prayers that have gone up to Him during the past six months, that this might be a conference of peace. God has answered those prayers in a signal manner. Praise His holy name. I sincerely pray that this harmony and union may continue forever."--Ibid., 474.
And so the great General Conference session of 1901 came to a close as the Tabernacle clock struck the hour of ten, April 23.