Printed in the Review and Herald, May 2, 1935
On their return from the eastern trip of about five weeks, Elder White reported that he had seen tenfold more accomplished in Vermont and Canada East than he had expected. Now as he was about to resume the work of printing and publishing, Ellen White received in vision specific instruction as to the character of what should be printed and put in circulation.
Up to this time the Present Truth had been largely composed of articles presenting in a clear and convincing way the claims and sacredness of the true Sabbath. Now there must be borne to the perplexed Adventists a decided testimony regarding the soon coming of the Saviour, accompanied by the evidences of divine guidance in their past experience, and proof that the great prophetic period spoken of in Daniel terminated in 1844.
The little paper advocating the Sabbath message had begun to attract attention, and was made the target for criticism and opposition by writers in other Adventist papers. The majority of the Adventists, with their leaders, had rejected light regarding the sanctuary and the Sabbath. As early as April, 1845, they had met in conference at Albany, New York, where they drew up articles of belief, and prepared for a concerted movement. Here they officially stated that they would have no "fellowship for Jewish fables and commandments of men, that turn from the truth, or for any of the distinctive characteristics of modern Judaism." In this veiled language they took their stand in opposition to those who were accepting the seventh-day Sabbath.
Having rejected the Scriptural explanation of their disappointment, as found in the light shining from the heavenly sanctuary, and having refused to follow in Sabbath reform, they soon questioned and doubted the main features on which they had been united before the autumn of 1844. As time went on, they freely stated they had been entirely mistaken in fixing upon the year 1844 as the termination of the 2300 days. Some made new adjustments of the chronology and set new times for the second-advent. Others denied that this prophetic period had any significance for our time.
Thus while the great Adventist body was becoming disunited, they were strongly united in their opposition to the few who still maintained their faith in God's guidance in their former advent experience. These, they declared, were an offshoot, while they themselves professed to be the main body of Adventists, walking onward in the light.
The instruction given to Ellen White was that her husband should now "publish the testimonies of those who acknowledged the work done, and the advent move of God after 1844." "The Lord showed me," she wrote, that he (Elder White) "must take the testimonies that the leading Adventists published in'44, and republish them, and make them ashamed."
"This is my first work," wrote James White to Leonard Hastings, July 21, 1850. "I expect to get out a paper called the Advent Review, 16 pages, the size of the Present Truth. ... The cause calls for it. I hope to get out six numbers. 3,000 copies each will cost $250. I shall move as the means comes in."
For this important work, James White felt the need of able helpers. He called on Hiram Edson, David Arnold, George W. Holt, and Samuel W. Rhodes to be associated with him as a publishing committee.
Publishing at Auburn
At Auburn, New York, a thriving city thirty miles south of Oswego, James White found a favorable place for the printing of these papers. And at the home of Brother and Sister Harris, in Centerport, six miles north of Auburn, they found a hospitable welcome. Although humble in appearance, the Harris home was a place of unbounded hospitality. Not only did the White (family find a welcome there, but the other brethren on the committee of publication were entertained a week at a time, while helping James White in planning and writing for the new paper.
The complete files of the six numbers of the journal are not before us. But as we look at one of the numbers, containing 16 pages, we note on its brown paper cover the title, "The Advent Review, Containing Thrilling Testimonies, Written in the Holy Spirit, by Many of the Leaders in the Second Advent Cause, Showing Its Divine Origin and Progress. 'Call to Remembrance the Former Days.'" [1]
The introductory article states the aim and object of the publication, in the following words:
"Our design in this review is to cheer and refresh the true believer, by showing the fulfillment of prophecy in the past wonderful work of God, in calling out, and separating from the world and nominal church, a people who are looking for the second advent of the dear Saviour.
"Those who claim to be Adventists should, to be consistent, acknowledge the means that God in mercy has employed to bring them to the light of the advent truth, and which has made them what they are. No one will deny the fact that it was the proclamation of the time, 1843, as it was written on the chart, that aroused the advent people to look for the Lord. If that alarm had not been given, none would have been waked up to see the true light, and those who rejoice in the 'blessed hope,' would now, doubtless, be covered up in the mist and darkness of the nominal church.
"We cannot, therefore, see the least consistency in the position of those who call themselves Adventists, and at the same time call the very means that has brought them to this Scriptural faith and hope, 'a mistake,' 'fanaticism,' 'mesmerism,' and, as some have said, 'of the devil.'
"What! shall we rejoice in the 'blessed hope,'and then turn round and curse the means that Heaven has employed to bring us to its light and glory? God forbid it. Such a course, and such a position is not only inconsistent in the extreme, but blasphemous.
" 'Call to remembrance the former days,' and 'ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise; for yet a little while, and He that is to come will come,' etc. [Heb. 10:26, 27], are words applicable to our ease, and were designed for our instruction and comfort,who had faithfully given the warning to the world, and were disappointed, when we passed the point of time, to which we so confidently looked for the Lord.
"In reviewing the past, we shall quote largely from the writings of the leaders in the advent cause, and show that they once boldly advocated, and published to the world, the same position, relative to the fulfillment of prophecy in the great leading advent movements in our past experience, that we now occupy; and that when the advent host were all united in 1844, they looked upon these movements in the same light in which we now view them, and thus show who have 'left the, original faith.'"
In the quotations that follow are passages from the Voice of Truth, the Advent Herald, the Advent Testimony, and the Midnight Cry. The selections chosen were from such prominent Adventist leaders as William Miller, Joshua V. Himes, J. B. Cook, Joseph Marsh, O. R. Fassett, O. R. L. Crosier, and F. G. Brown, names familiar to those who had read the Adventist publications both before and after the disappointment. Most of the quotations were written shortly after the passing of the time, before they had abandoned their faith in the divine leadership in the proclamation of the prophetic period of Daniel. Then their faith was in harmony with the fundamental principles still held by the editor and adherents of the Present Truth.
As characteristic utterances of these leaders immediately following the disappointment, when a scoffing world looked for words of humiliation and despondency, we note a few passages, taken from the Advent Review before us:
"We can see that God was with us. It was a soul-purifying work; and the children of God bowed themselves in His presence and received blessings to their souls, unprecedented in the history of the advent cause. And yet we are disappointed--the day passed away and we were still here. And those who only looked on, and passed by, were ready to exclaim that it was all a delusion; and that now of a certainty we must relinquish all our hopes, and abandon all our expectations.
"We, however, do not thus feel. As great a paradox as it may be to our opponents, yet we can discern in it the leadings of God's providence; and when we are reviled and censured by those to whom the world look as the Gamaliels of our age, we feel that they are only speaking evil of the things they understand not. ...
"The effect that this movement produced upon the wicked, also greatly served to confirm us in our belief that God was in it. ... In view of all the circumstances attending this movement, the blessed effect it has produced on the minds of God's children, and the hatred and malice His enemies have displayed, we must still regard it as the true midnight cry. ... A little delay is therefore no cause for discouragement, but shows how exact God is in the fulfillment of His work. Let us therefore hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful who has promised."--Vol. I, No. 1, pp. 4-7; quoted from the Advent Herald, Nov. 13, 1844, J. V. Himes, S. Bliss, and A. Hale, editors.
"We have had, and still have, a conscience void of offense in this matter toward God and man. God has blessed us abundantly, and we have not a doubt but that all will soon be made to work together for the good of His dear people, and His glory.
"We cheerfully admit that we have been mistaken in the nature of the event we expected would occur on the tenth day of the seventh month; but we cannot yet admit that our great High Priest did not on that very day, accomplish all that the type would justify us to expect. We now believe He did."--Id., p. 7; quoted from, Joseph Marsh in the Voice of Truth, Nov. 7, 1844.
Commenting on this remarkable statement, James White in a footnote says:
"So do we. The type (see Leviticus 16) in connection with the 2300 days of Daniel 8:13, 14, 'justified us to expect' that on the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844, Jesus, our High Priest, would enter the holiest of all, to cleanse the sanctuary."--Id., p. 7.
Among other articles chosen for reprinting in the Advent Review is one from the pen of J. B. Cook, on the Sabbath, giving his reasons for the observance of the seventh day. In this article he states:
"Every enactment relative to the religious observance of the first day originated with the pope or potentates of Rome and those who in this matter sympathize with them; but every enactment that ever originated in heaven relative to the keeping of the Sabbath confines us to the seventh day. The seventh day is 'the Sabbath of the Lord our God,' Id., No. 2, p. 15.
The last eleven pages of the Advent Review are a reprint of the greater part of the epochal article by O. R. L. Crosier regarding the sanctuary, which first appeared in the Day Star Extra, of February 7, 1846. In this is reached the conclusion:
"The sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of 2300 days is also the sanctuary of the new covenant. ... We see that the sanctuary of the new covenant is not on earth, but in heaven."--Id., No. 3, p. 43.
The circulation of several numbers of the Advent Review did much to clarify among the Adventists the views advocated by the Present Truth, for it made evident the fact that the same views had been held by their leaders for a time, and had been clearly stated by some of their own number, and printed in their official papers. The injustices of many of the charges that were made against the little company of Sabbath-keepers became apparent. As a result, a number of readers were won to the truth regarding the sanctuary service in heaven and the seventh-day Sabbath.
Note:
1. The reader should not confuse this series of six papers printed during the summer of 1850 with the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, published from November, 1850, and onward.