It had been hoped that in connection with the destruction of the book plates in the Review and Herald fire, Dr. Kellogg would abandon the matter of publishing The Living Temple. But instead he sent the manuscript to a commercial printer in Battle Creek. Three thousand copies of the book were printed and began to make their way among Seventh-day Adventists.
When the book came from the press, discerning readers clearly saw that certain chapters were literally peppered with pantheistic teachings. Those in sympathy with the new philosophy held that this understanding of God would lead to holy living and to a deeper religious experience. As Seventh-day Adventist workers met, the conversation inevitably turned to the "new light" set forth in The Living Temple. Ellen White was still silent on the matter. The book was now in the field and being pressed upon the conferences with the urging that its sale would help to meet the costs of rebuilding the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
The leading officers of the General Conference, on July 31, 1903, wrote a letter to conference presidents, pointing out that the book had been considered at the 1902 Autumn Council, and that certain teachings in it were seriously questioned:
"It seemed to the Committee that while it was not a proper thing for a General Conference council to pass formally upon any question of religious teaching, it was likewise not a proper thing to recommend the circulation of literature so seriously criticized."--DF 15c, W.A. Spicer, "How the Spirit of Prophecy Met a Crisis," copy A, p. 31.
In the meantime, the attention of many church leaders was much taken up with moving the Review and Herald and the General Conference headquarters. As mentioned earlier, in August they took possession of the property they had rented in Washington at 222 North Capitol Street, where they set up headquarters. Autumn Council had to be planned for, and it was decided that it should be held right there in Washington.
As Elder Daniells listed the important points to be considered at the Council, the matter of pantheism and The Living Temple was not included. He mentioned a number of progressive moves that he hoped could be made. He referred to the experience of the Autumn Council the year before in Battle Creek, which was disrupted by elements that made it impossible to do aggressive planning. This was likewise so, he said, of the General Conference session held in Oakland. Now he fondly hoped the meeting planned for October would be "a council of peace, harmony, and hard work" (AGD to WCW, October 23, 1903). He felt sure that in the quiet of Washington the leaders could get down to the business that needed to be done.
In his own heart Daniells hoped that the question of pantheism would not be brought up, but he did not mention this in the letter to the union presidents. He stated that while they were together in Washington they must give study to the work there, give attention to the various features that must be developed, and establish priorities. He wrote:
Every step taken thus far has been in obedience to the instruction the Lord has given us through His servant, Sister White. Every suggestion we have to make regarding the development of the work will be based on the same instruction. How fast and by what means we should carry out this instruction, which must eventually be fully obeyed, must be decided by the Committee in council.--AGD to General Conference Committee, September 4, 1903.
In due time in the summer of 1903 a copy of The Living Temple arrived at Elmshaven, but Ellen White did not look at it. This was not unusual, for often in a crisis she refrained from reading materials that had a bearing on the situation, lest it be said she was influenced by what she had read. On the basis of the light she received from the Lord, however, from time to time she mentioned the book.
Finally, as the crisis developed, Willie suggested to her that perhaps she should read some of the passages. So on September 23 he sat down by her side and went over some of the statements dealing with theological matters (22 WCW, p. 219). This put her in a better position to speak more specifically in regard to the book.
When she was questioned as to why she had not spoken publicly about it earlier, she stated that she had assumed that those who were leading the church should have wisdom to know how to deal with problems of this character.
The 1903 Autumn Council
The Autumn Council of the General Conference Committee opened in Washington, D.C., according to plan on October 7, with meetings in the newly acquired M Street church. The brethren entered into their work with dedication and earnestness. In the early days of the Council, Dr. E.J. Waggoner, Elder A. T. Jones, and Dr. David Paulson arrived in Washington. Dr. Kellogg came Sabbath morning, October 17. As the men from Battle Creek presented themselves, it was evident to Elder Daniells and his associates that they would again be confronted with The Living Temple and the teaching of pantheism.
Although these elements were not included on the agenda for the Council, the regular work was laid aside and a day was given to the consideration of the pantheistic philosophy. The representatives from the field were confused. All day they wrestled with the matter. Some wavered and waffled. At about nine o'clock in the evening Elder Daniells considered it time to adjourn the meeting, but he did not dare call for a vote. People were too confused and uncertain, and he did not wish to take a step that would solidify any conclusions. So he dismissed the meeting, and the people started to their lodging places.
Dr. Paulson, who was strongly supportive of Dr. Kellogg, joined Daniells. As the two walked along they continued with the discussion of the day. Reaching the home where Daniells was staying, they stood under a lamppost and chatted for a time. Finally, Dr. Paulson shook his finger at Daniells and declared:
"You are making the mistake of your life. After all this turmoil, some of these days you will wake up to find yourself rolled in the dust, and another will be leading the forces."--AGD, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, pp. 336, 337.
Elder Daniells straightened up in his weariness and in his discouragement and replied firmly:
"I do not believe your prophecy. At any rate, I would rather be rolled in the dust doing what I believe in my soul to be right than to walk with princes, doing what my conscience tells me is wrong."-- Ibid., 337.
After parting, Daniells entered the home, where he found a group of people awaiting him. They seemed lighthearted and exclaimed: "'Deliverance has come! Here are two messages from Mrs. White.'"-- Ibid.
The Messages from Sister White
"No one can imagine," recounts Daniells, "the eagerness with which I read the documents that had come in the mail while we were in the midst of our discussions. There was a most positive testimony regarding the dangerous errors that were taught in The Living Temple."-- Ibid. The message had come just at the crisis hour. As he read, his eyes fell on these words:
I have some things to say to our teachers in reference to the new book The Living Temple. Be careful how you sustain the sentiments of this book regarding the personality of God. As the Lord presents matters to me, these sentiments do not bear the endorsement of God. They are a snare that the enemy has prepared for these last days....
We need not the mysticism that is in this book. Those who entertain these sophistries will soon find themselves in a position where the enemy can talk with them, and lead them away from God. It is represented to me that the writer of this book is on a false track. He has lost sight of the distinguishing truths for this time. He knows not whither his steps are tending.
The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error....
In the visions of the night this matter was clearly presented to me before a large number. One of authority was speaking.... The speaker held up Living Temple, saying, "In this book there are statements that the writer himself does not comprehend. Many things are stated in a vague, undefined way. Statements are made in such a way that nothing is sure. And this is not the only production of the kind that will be urged upon the people. Fanciful views will be presented by many minds. What we need to know at this time is, What is the truth that will enable us to win the salvation of our souls?"--Letter 211, 1903.
The entire manuscript of seven pages was devoted to the subject and may be read in The Review and Herald, October 22, 1903.
In another document received from Sister White addressed to "Leaders in Our Medical Work" and dealing with medical missionary work, the control of medical institutions, and pantheism, he read:
After taking your position firmly, wisely, cautiously, make not one concession on any point concerning which God has plainly spoken. Be as calm as a summer evening, but as fixed as the everlasting hills. By conceding, you would be selling our whole cause into the hands of the enemy. The cause of God is not to be traded away. We must now take hold of these matters decidedly. I have many things to say that I have not wanted to say in the past, but now my mind is clear to speak and act.
I am sorry to be compelled to take the position that I am forced to take in behalf of God's people. In taking this position, I am placed under the necessity of bearing the heavy burden of showing the evil of the plans that I know are not born of heaven. This is the burden that many times in the past the Lord has laid upon me, in order that His work might be advanced along right lines. How much care and anxiety, how much mental anguish and wearing physical labor, might be saved me in my old age!
But still I am under the necessity of going into the battle, and of discharging in the presence of important assemblies the duty that the Lord has laid upon me--the duty of correcting the wrong course of men who profess to be Christians, but who are doing a work that will have to be undone at a great loss, both financially and in the shaking of the confidence of the people.--Letter 216, 1903.
The Tide is Turned
The next morning church leaders assembled for their Council. After the prayer, Elder Daniells arose and told the brethren he had received two important messages from Sister White. Everyone was eager to hear them. They sat in thoughtful silence while he read. As statement after statement setting forth the falsity of the teachings of The Living Temple was presented to the assembly, many loud amens were heard and tears flowed freely. It was at that moment that the tide was turned.
So overwhelmed was Elder Daniells with these events that he could not refrain from mentioning them again and again in his correspondence in the days that followed. On Tuesday morning, October 20, he wrote to Ellen White:
We are in the midst of our Council, and I am terribly pressed with work, but I must take a minute this morning to tell you what a wonderful blessing your communications have been to our Council. Never were messages from God more needed than at this very time; and never were messages sent from Him to His people more to the point than those you have sent to us. They have been exactly what we have needed, and have come at just the right time from day to day in our Council. You can never know, unless the Lord Himself causes you to know it, what a great blessing your communication regarding The Living Temple has been to us. It came at just the right time exactly. The conflict was severe, and we knew not how things would turn. But your clear, clean-cut, beautiful message came and settled the controversy. I do not say that all parties came into perfect harmony, but it gave those who stood on the right side strength to stand, and hold their ground.--AGD to EGW, October 20, 1903.
In his letter he referred to specific documents received:
But the most wonderful of all was the message we received yesterday morning, written August 4, and copied October 12, addressed to the leaders in our medical work. Dr. Kellogg had been with us two or three days. His attitude had brought more or less confusion in the minds of a number of our ministers--men who do not really know where they stand. Your message came on just the right day--a day earlier would have been too soon. I read it to the council yesterday, and it produced a most profound impression.-- Ibid.
Daniells then stated:
At the close of the reading one of the ministers arose and stated that he felt impressed to ask all who proposed to take a firm stand with Sister White in this great struggle, to arise to their feet. Nearly every person in the room arose.-- Ibid.
In touching terms Daniells referred to his own experience:
As for myself, when I received this last communication, I could only sit and weep. For a whole year I had been under a terrible mental strain. I had seen the evil thing, but had not dared to say all that I knew ought to be said. I could not surrender an inch of ground. I knew that it would be wrong to do so, and yet many of my brethren misunderstood me, and charged me with a hard, unyielding spirit, and with a desire to make war....
This communication, calling our brethren to take their stand, brought great relief to me, and the terrible load that had at times almost crushed me, has, in a measure, rolled off from me.-- Ibid.
A few days later he wrote to W. C. White, opening his letter with these words:
It will be impossible for me to find language to state as clearly and forcibly, and I fear, as accurately as I would like the facts relating to the reception, presentation, and influence of the testimonies received from your mother during our recent Council. Never in my life have I seen such signal evidences of the leadership of an all-wise Being as I have seen in connection with the experiences referred to. Only the divine mind could have foreseen our condition and needs, and have sent us the exact help we needed at precisely the right moment. I believe that this is the feeling of nearly every member of the Council.--AGD to WCW, October 23, 1903.
Why the Messages Came When They Did
On receiving these communications from Elder Daniells, Ellen White wrote to him explaining why he received the messages just when he did:
Shortly before I sent the testimonies that you said arrived just in time, I had read an incident about a ship in a fog meeting an iceberg. For several nights I slept but little. I seemed to be bowed down as a cart beneath sheaves. One night a scene was clearly presented before me. A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, "Iceberg just ahead!" There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, "Meet it!" There was not a moment's hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like thunder upon the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the collision, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stern, like a living creature. Then she moved forward on her way.
Well I knew the meaning of this representation. I had my orders. I had heard the words, like a living voice from our Captain,"Meet it!" I knew what my duty was, and that there was not a moment to lose. The time for decided action had come. I must without delay obey the command, "Meet it!"
This is why you received the testimonies when you did. That night I was up at one o'clock, writing as fast as my hand could pass over the paper.
We have all stood at our posts like faithful sentinels, working early and late to send to the council instruction that we thought would help you.--Letter 238, 1903.
The Backup Work at Elmshaven
In crisis situations such as this Ellen White often began her work at midnight. When her workers came to the office in the morning, they began copying the sheets on which she had written. These were then passed to her for editing. In the meantime she had been writing still more, and all through the day they worked. Then secretaries worked all through the night to get the material ready so that it could be sent on the early-morning train.
They worked to the last minute, and when they heard the whistle of the train at Barro Station, to the north of Elmshaven, D. E. Robinson, one of the secretaries, jumped on a bicycle with testimonies in his pocket. He raced the train almost two miles to the crossing and then to the station to drop the letters in the mail car. Days later they arrived at their destination just at the hour they were needed. Everyone understood that God's hand was in the work.
When the messages were read at the Council in Washington, Dr. Kellogg responded favorably, saying that he accepted the testimony and that he would modify the wording in The Living Temple dealing with theological matters. But his statements were rather erratic and changeable. His attitude alternated, and it finally turned out that the doctor never really changed.
Warnings Against the Threat of Pantheism
During the crisis of 1903 and into 1904, Ellen White wrote concerning pantheism, its threat to the church and to the religious experience of those who were drawn to it. On August 4 she wrote:
The doctor is ensnared in a net of specious deception. He is presenting as of great worth things that are turning souls from the truth into ... forbidden paths.--Letter 216, 1903.
On September 18 in a letter to Elder Daniells, she referred to Kellogg's experience as a young man back in 1882:
The Lord presented this matter to me, revealing that the result of such teaching was a subtle beguiling of the mind, and that the doctor himself did not foresee this result of his extreme views in regard to God in nature.... I told him that the Lord was greatly dishonored by being thus represented, and that such ideas would lead the people into spiritualism. [Note: As noted, this term was several times used in this setting to indicate a spiritualizing away of such basic truths as the personality of God.]--Letter 271a, 1903.
While Kellogg himself gave up the ideas at the time, Drs. W. B. Sprague and W. J. Fairfield, who were associated with him, were lost to the truth, most likely as the result of the doctor's early interest in pantheism.
In another September 18 letter Ellen White wrote:
Dr. Paulson's mind is becoming confused.... Extreme views of "God in nature" undermine the foundation truths of the personality of God and the ministration of angels. A confused mass of spiritualistic ideas takes the place of faith in a personal God.... Let Dr. Paulson take heed that he be not deceived. He may say, "Sister White's own words are repeated in Dr. Kellogg's teachings." True; but misinterpreted and misconstrued.--Letter 271b, 1903.
Writing on October 2 to Dr. E. J. Waggoner, she said:
I am authorized to say to you that some of the sentiments regarding the personality of God, as found in the book Living Temple, are opposed to the truths revealed in the Word of God. ... Had God desired to be represented as dwelling personally in the things of nature--in the flower, the tree, the spear of grass--would not Christ have spoken of this to His disciples?
I have seen the results of these fanciful views of God, in apostasy, spiritualism, free loveism. The free love tendencies of these teachings were so concealed that it was difficult to present them in their real character. Until the Lord presented it to me, I knew not what to call it, but I was instructed to call it unholy spiritual love.--Letter 230, 1903.
In a letter addressed to Dr. Kellogg, but held, as she did at times in critical situations, until certain attitudes or situations developed, she wrote:
I have been given words to speak to you that I cannot withhold. A portion of the matter that is printed in the book Living Temple is incorrect and misleading, and ought not to be placed before the people.... In regard to the book Living Temple, I have been instructed by the heavenly messenger that some of the reasoning in this book is untrue, and that this reasoning would lead astray the minds of those who are not thoroughly established on the foundation principles of present truth.--Letter 232, 1903.
Writing to Elders Prescott and Daniells on October 11, she compared The Living Temple to forbidden fruit, and stated:
Like Adam and Eve, who took the apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and ate it, our own sheep and lambs are swallowing the deceptive morsels of error offered them in the pages of this book. I am instructed to warn our brethren and sisters not to discuss the nature of our God.--Letter 224, 1903.
The principles involved were not new to Ellen White, as she disclosed in one of her letters on October 13:
Before I was 17 years old, I had to bear my testimony against them [sentiments regarding God such as are found in The Living Temple] before large companies. In New Hampshire, two prominent men, who professed to believe in the Lord's soon coming, were active in disseminating ideas regarding God similar to those presented in The Living Temple.--Letter 217, 1903.
On the night of October 13, 1903, she had a vision regarding Dr. Paulson. She saw someone looking over his shoulder and saying, "'You, my friend, are in danger.'" She warned him against trying to make it appear that the testimonies sustained Dr. Kellogg's position, and revealed to him what she had seen at Oakland: "Angels clothed with beautiful garments, like angels of light, were escorting Dr. Kellogg from place to place, and inspiring him to speak words of pompous boasting that were offensive to God."--Letter 220, 1903.
While the Autumn Council was in progress in Washington, she wrote:
If a change does not take place during the council meeting... it may be that I shall have to go to Battle Creek, and bear a decided testimony for God and for the truth in behalf of God's people.-- Ibid.
The warnings and counsels continued into 1904. In Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, published that year, are these words on page 47:
That which has been said in the testimonies in regard to Living Temple, and its misleading sentiments, is not overdrawn. Some of its theories are misleading, and their influence will be to close the minds of those who receive them against the truth for this time. Men may explain and explain in regard to these theories, nevertheless they are contrary to the truth. Scriptures are misplaced and misapplied, taken out of their connection and given a wrong application. Thus those are deceived who have not a vital, personal experience in the truths that have made us as a people what we are.
On August 7, 1904, Ellen White wrote:
Separate from the influence exerted by the book Living Temple; for it contains specious sentiments. There are in it sentiments that are entirely true, but these are mingled with error. Scriptures are taken out of their connection, and are used to uphold erroneous theories.... It will be said that Living Temple has been revised. But the Lord has shown me that the writer has not changed, and that there can be no unity between him and the ministers of the gospel while he continues to cherish his present sentiments. I am bidden to lift my voice in warning to our people, saying, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked."--Testimonies for the Church Containing Letters to Physicians and Ministers Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists, 49 (Selected Messages 1:199).
I am instructed to speak plainly. "Meet it," is the word spoken to me. "Meet it firmly, and without delay." But it is not to be met by our taking our working forces from the field to investigate doctrines and points of difference. We have no such investigation to make. In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given.--Testimonies for the Church Containing Letters to Physicians and Ministers Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists, 50 (Selected Messages 1:200).
The issues were now in the open. Physicians, nurses, ministers, and church members, particularly in Battle Creek, were taking sides. How could the real issues be made clear? It was a life-and-death struggle for souls. What others did not see, Ellen White saw clearly, and it weighed heavily upon her.
To sound a warning to the church throughout the land, Ellen White hurried the production of Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, with its section on "The Essential Knowledge," dealing with God and nature and a personal God. She dwelt at length on the danger of speculative knowledge, her message buttressed with abundant scripture evidence of a personal God. The book The Ministry of Healing was in preparation at this time; there was included in it also a section entitled "The Essential Knowledge," dealing with speculative knowledge and the false and true in education. Thus Ellen White went on record with warnings that would continue to sound.