In one word, the answer for the delay in the second advent is: the sinful unbelief of the remnant church!
Following Minneapolis Ellen White portrayed emphatically to the leadership what had happened. The thrust of this counsel was published in 1923 when the first edition of Testimonies to Ministers was issued. If the world church had no other publication than this one book, we could clearly understand that we experienced a tragic crisis a century ago. But mysteriously when the second edition of this important book was republished in 1944 a drastically revised "Preface" muted the prominence of 1888 as revealed in the first edition.
Next, the third edition published in 1962 embarks upon an unprecedented course and gives to the church 22-pages of "Historical Foreword" and 44-pages of "Appendix Notes" not found in either of the previous two editions. These extra pages are heavily biased toward an interpretation of our 1888 history in defiance of the true facts as stated by Ellen White. Irrespective of the attitude one may assume towards our history, here is published evidence beyond dispute.
In 1980, the church was provided with volume three of Selected Messages which contains 34 pages in Section 21, entitled, "Ellen G. White Reports on the Minneapolis Conference" (pp. 156-163). Seven pages of this section are extra comments written by the White Estate about the 1888 Conference to condition the reader not to take too seriously what the actual text by Ellen White says. We are told, the 1888 "session was quite routine" yet was "different from any other General Conference in Adventist history" and presaged "the gradual change for the better that ensued in the five or six years after Minneapolis."
This "Historical Background" declares that although Ellen White recognized a "tragic setback in the advancement of the cause of God," yet this was only relatively minor. She mentions this "usually in incidental statements" and she did not "intimate or declare that there was an official rejection by church leaders to the precious message." Such is the conflicting and bewildering appraisal of our history added to one of Ellen White's most solemn books.
But the Lord has a regard for truth that cannot be quenched. The church has written a record that cannot be ignored, rationalized, or denied and it will stand in the day of judgment. Until this history is recognized, the long delay must continue.
Providentially, in 1987 the church was given nearly 2000 pages of evidence printed in the 1888 Materials, all from the pen of Ellen White, almost without any human comment. This is a blessing for those privileged to have access to this material. But unfortunately the record is known only to a small segment of the church membership. But the "beginning" of the loud cry that came a century ago must continue to fruition.
The call for corporate repentance made by the Bridegroom will yet be heard by His bride-to-be. The church belongs to the Lord Jesus.
In the meantime we are immersed in a subtle legalism that sees statistical records as a world goal while we fail to see that Ellen White declared the gospel commission could have been completed within a few years following 1888--if the message had been believed[1]. Therefore, the "most precious message" which the Lord sent was to accomplish His final evangelistic purposes and prepare a people for translation.
Consequently:--"It is not the opposition of the world that we have to fear; but it is the elements that work among ourselves that have hindered the message."[2]
How can we explain the persistent official efforts since 1950 to contradict the inspired Ellen White evidence about 1888? Integrity has been cast aside. If our enemies were to research this history, we would be acutely ashamed and embarrassed.
Our mishandling of the evidence is more serious than financial fiascoes or moral lapses which effect isolated areas in the church. Our disdain for the truth of our own history impacts the world church. The Enemy of the plan of salvation knows the truth which the church has been told. As long as he can prevent this truth from reaching the hearts of God's people, by default he will continue to reign. This in substance was the warning that was given at the camp-meeting in Rome, New York in the 1888 era and published in the Review, Sept. 3, 1889:
"The present message--justification by faith--is a message from God; it bears the divine credentials, for its fruit is unto holiness. ... There is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject that is so necessary to our present and eternal welfare. ... The enemy of God and man is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken."
This is an appalling estimate of our spiritual condition--less than one percent of our membership "understands for himself" justification by faith. This is in contradiction to our own opinions. And then note that last sentence--"if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken"--a statement virtually unknown and unpublished since it first appeared over 100 years ago[3]. The seriousness of this diagnosis remains to be comprehended and accepted by the corporate body.
Meanwhile, what can heaven do so long as we insist that "within the last several decades" the church "has experienced a revival in its understanding of righteousness by faith"? We are assured that this "renewed understanding has spread" among classrooms, pulpits, and publications while it "has been accepted and proclaimed by church administrators, theologians, pastors, and lay people. It has brought assurance of salvation and revival of meaning to many lives"[4]. Yet the church remains lukewarm!
To the extent that some of the unique elements of the 1888 message are being recovered by a small minority in the church, this assessment of progress may be true. But there is no way to reconcile a self-congratulatory appraisal with the full truth of our history and current events in the church in general. The revelation of Christ's righteousness and the light of the angel whose glory will fill the whole earth, will go together. That glorious future will confirm that God's people will have demonstrated integrity.
Notes: