E.  S.  Ballenger

1949



 


Ellen White   --   Early Critics
 

     Lucinda Burdick       O. R. L. Crosier Snook & Brinkerhoff       H. E.  Carver
      Miles Grant       Charles Lee       H. C.  Blanchard       Norwich Tract
       


Ellen White and the Men of Battle Creek
 

      A. T. Jones - 1       A. T. Jones - 2 "To those...perplexed"       David Paulson
      William Sadler       Dr. Chas. Stewart       A. T. Jones       JHK  -  Interview
      Merrit Kellogg       A. T. Jones - 3    


Ellen White  --  Later Critics
 

      A. F. Ballenger       E. S. Ballenger    


William Miller and 1844
 

An Exposition of the
Prophecies, Supposed
by William Miller to
Predict the Second
Coming in 1843

(1840)
Miller Overthrown:
Or, The False Prophet
Confounded
By a Cosmopolite
(1840)
Canright on
Wm. Miller
(1889)
.
.
.
.
.


The Shut Door
 

  The Camden Vision
  Genuine
 
(1979)
    .
.
.


The Sanctuary
 

Canright on the
Sanctuary doctrine

(1889; 1919)
Cast Out for the Cross of Christ
A. F. Ballenger

(1909)



.
.
.


The Sabbath
 

   The $200 Text:  A
   Written Discussion
   of the Sabbath
    .
.
.

 

 

 

 

FACTS   About

Seventh Day
Adventists

 

by

E. S. Ballenger 

  

c.   1950


 

 

Table  of   Contents


Introducing the Author
The Beginning of SDAs

Misrepresenting Facts
Were the Pioneers Planning
            a World-wide Work?
Uriah Smith's Testimony
Uriah Smith doubted the Testimonies
Who Taught the Shut Door?
Mrs. White on the Shut Door
Mrs. White Reproved for giving up the
            Shut Door   (in her first vision)
Bates on the Shut Door
Spicer Very Unreliable
J. N. Loughborough Very Deceptive
Her Publishers Guilty
A Petition They Dare Not Grant
Mrs. White's Position Among Her People
Mrs. White Claimed that Every Thing
            She Wrote was Inspired
Importance of the Sanctuary
How the Sanctuary was Defiled
First Angel's Message the only one to
            go to the World
They teach that the Blood of Christ
            defiles the Heavenly Sanctuary


History of the Church Manual
"We have no Creed but the Bible"
Employing a Catholic Attorney
Mrs. White's Plagiarisms
One of Her Books forced off the Market
Deceitful Defense of Her Plagiarisms
An Editor reproves Mrs. White
Examples of Her Plagiarisms
Unholy Boasting
She was influenced to write Testimonies
Mrs. White in the field of Science
Mrs. White's Astronomy Faulty
Mrs. White in debt $90,000
Beginning the Sabbath at 6:00 p.m.
The 1856 Vision
Mrs. White Teaches Evolution
666 Fallen Protestant Churches
Abuse of Other Churches
The Daniells - Kellogg Quarrel
SDAs on the Atonement
Asking Help from Philistines
A Monument of Deception
October 22 the Wrong Date



 


 
Introducing  the  Author

 
To most readers a brief sketch of the writer adds interest to the material presented.  We will therefore offer a brief sketch of Edward S. Ballenger, the writer of this pamphlet.

He was born and reared on a woodland farm in northern Illinois, in 1864.  His father was a SDA minister for over 50 years, beginning about 1858.  His brother and two sisters were workers "in the cause."  Young Edward quit a good position in the public schools to enter Battle Creek College, where he spent four years to prepare himself for the Lord's work.  He was a member of the faculty of three of their colleges, and was closely connected with the establishment of three of their successful sanitariums.  He spent the better part of his middle life as a worker among the SDAs.  His childhood home was known by the neighbors as the Advent Hotel, because of the many ministers who enjoyed their hospitality.

Mr. Ballenger was a firm believer in the teachings of the denomination, including the inspiration of Mrs.White's writings.  He was intimately associated with Mrs. White and her son "Willie" for a number of years.  His first doubts were kindled by his contact with Mrs. White, her helpers and many of the General Conference workers.  These doubts were confirmed by his study of the earliest documents of the pioneers which came into his possession.  He has been editor of The Gathering Call for over 28 years, at a great financial loss.

We will let Mr. Ballenger present his attitude toward his former brethren and his purpose in publishing these things:

I have no grudge against my brethren, neither am I trying to tear down their work; on the contrary I am trying to lead them to correct their creed and bring it into harmony with the Word of God.  Our contention is not one of a difference of interpretation; but our aim is to lead them to correct their teachings on points where they know they are out of harmony with the Bible, and to tell the laity "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

 

Beginnings  of  the  Seventh-day  Adventist
Movement

 
The history of this denomination began with the Millerite movement of 1844.  Wm. Miller was an honest man; but possessed a very limited education.  He became a very earnest Christian after spending some time in infidelity, and after his conversion began an intensive study of the Bible, specializing on time prophecy.  He honestly thought he found at least five time prophecies which terminated in 1843, which later were adjusted to terminate in the fall of 1844.  Mr. Miller was an unselfish, honest man with a deep Christian experience.  His education was too limited to quality him as a reliable interpreter of unfulfilled prophecy.

  Who  Was  Mrs.  E.  G.  White?..

Ellen Gould Harmon was born No. 26, 1827 and died July 16, 1915.  She passed through the 1844 movement as a firm believer in the teaching of William Miller.  She was married to James White, August 30, 1846.  To this union four boys were born, two of whom reached maturity, Edson J. and William C.  The chief point of interest and controversy which surrounds this remarkable character centers on what she and her followers call "visions from the Lord" and the source from which she received these visions.

We have no railing accusation to bring against Mrs. White now many years dead.  We would be glad to let her rest with our benediction were it not for the unreasonable attitude her followers maintain toward her writings, and the manner in which those in authority deal with those who decline to accept her writings as the voice of God.

There is no sin which is dealt with more quickly and sternly than is the sin (?) of publicly refusing to accept her writings as infallible.   Not a few of their most efficient workers have been cast out as a thing unclean for no other wrong (?) than doubting the authority of her word, or teaching doctrines contrary to her interpretation.

James White, Joseph Bates and Ellen G. Harmon were the outstanding trinity of founders of the Seventh-day Adventist branch of the Miller movement.  Ellen Harmon, who became the wife of James White in 1846, began soon after the disappointment to have visions.  This gift under the direction of Elder White gave them all but an undisputed leadership.

Fanaticism and extremes in practice and teaching ran wild for at least a decade after the disappointment and not a few of these crude beliefs have been cemented into the very foundation of their denominational structure.

With their many errors they have mingled some well fortified Bible truths which they have broadcast to the world with commendable zeal.  Our purpose in publishing this document is to influence these people to separate the chaff from the wheat that the truths which they teach may not be clouded or obscured by the errors with which they are entangled.

  Miller's  Five  Prophetic  Periods..

Miller had a fertile mind in selecting time prophecies that he thought terminated in 1843.  He presented at least five.

  The 2300 Days..

His most important date was the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14, which he started from 457 BC, at the time of the beginning of the 70 weeks of Dan. 9:24.

SDAs retain only the 2300 days of Miller's five periods, even though Mrs. White mentions "periods" (plural) eleven times in Early Writings.

  The Earth 6000 Years Old in 1843..

The earth would be 6000 years old in 1843.  Then the seventh 1000, or millennium, would begin.

  The 2520 Years..

"I will punish you seen times more for your sins."  Lev. 26:18.   This he interpreted to mean seven prophetic years of 360 days of 2520 literal years.  This period had to begin when Manasseh was taken captive to Babylon, in 677 BC.

  The 50th Jubilee..

The Jews had a special celebration every fiftieth year, called a Jubilee.  The last one they held, according to Miller, was in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, 607 BC.  The fiftieth Jubilee of Jubilees would be held in 1843.  That is 49 Jubilees had been missed, a period of 2450 years, and the coming of the Lord would introduce this fiftieth Jubilee.

  The 1335 Days..

Miller had the 1335 days of Dan. 12:12 begin in 508 AD and terminate in 1843.

In Early Writings Mrs. White no less than eleven times speaks of "prophetic periods" (plural) as terminating in 1844, yet the denomination retains only one of these periods -- the 2300 days.



The  Review & Herald Continues
To Misrepresent
Facts

 
On May 5, 1959, the General Conference put out a special issue of the Review & Herald, containing 52 pages.  On the front cover of this special is a reproduction of a beautiful painting representing Mrs. White in her youth looking upward at a globe with a soft light emanating from the eastern part of the United States, and going entirely around the world.  Sitting by her are James White and Joseph Bates, the latter having a tablet in his hand, indicating that he is taking down what Mrs. White is saying in vision.  Again, we say it is a very attractive illustration.

  Deceiving  By  A  Picture..

On page 39 they have recorded an explanation of this painting.

Harry Anderson has sought, in this beautiful painting, to capture a scene in the early history of the Advent Movement.  Mrs. E. G. White thus describes the scene she saw in her vision of the beginnings of the publishing work:
         "At a meeting held in Dorchester, Mass., November, 1848, I had been given a view of the proclamation of the sealing message, and of the duty of the brethren to publish the light that was shining upon our pathway.
         "After coming out of vision, I said to my husband: 'I have a message for you.  You must begin to print a small paper and send it out to the people.  Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first.   From this small beginning it was shown to be like streams of light that went clear round the world.' " -- Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, p. 125.
         It was in July, 1849, that James White responded to this vision by starting the publication of Present Truth, which was shortly renamed Review and Herald.  From this small beginning has indeed grown a world work, as Mrs. White forecast in vision.
         In the background of this picture are shown James White and Joseph Bates taking notes.

We wrote to the Review & Herald Publishing House asking permission to reproduce this painting.  They refused to grant our request.

  The  Editor  Guilty..

The most important portion of this description of the cover is found also on page 5 from the pen of the editor.  In addition to quoting that portion referring to light going around the world, the editor also says: "James White believed that he had present truth to present to the world."  This statement is represented as being taken from one of Mrs. White's earliest visions which was given her at Dorchester, Mass., Nov. 1848.  The vision from which this was taken has never appeared complete in any of Mrs. White's publications.  We have a complete copy of this vision which we expect to reproduce in the next issue of the Gathering Call.  The length of it prevents our using it in this issue.  That portion which relates to seeing the lights going around the world is not in the Dorchester vision.

Joseph Bates wrote this vision while Mrs. White spoke it; and there is no reference whatsoever to light streaming clear around the world.  It is a disgrace to any people to publish such illustrations or such statements in regard to the Dorchester vision.

  Mrs. White  was  58  Years  Old  When..
  She  First  Saw  Lights  Going
..
  Around  the  World
..

The first time that Mrs. White gave utterance to seeing lights encircling the globe was when she was visiting Europe, in 1885 or 1886.  It was first published in the RH July 26, 1887.  If Mrs. White saw this in 1848, why was it not published until 1887, nearly 40 years later?  In proof of this we reproduce her first publication of her seeing lights going clear around the world.  It is found on page 379 of the old edition of Gospel Workers, published in 1892.

In my very girlhood the Lord saw fit to open before me the glories of heaven.  I was in vision taken to heaven, and the angel said to me, "Look!"  I looked to the world as it was in dense darkness.  The agony that came over me was indescribable as I saw this darkness.  Again the word came, "Look ye!"  And again I looked intensely over the world, and I began to see jets of light like stars dotted all through this darkness; and then I saw another and another added light, and so all through this moral darkness the starlike lights were increasing.

In this Dorchester vision Mrs. White saw that they should begin printing the message but she had no idea of printing the message for the world, for in that vision she stated that they had received the "shut door," which meant that they believed probation had closed.

Another illustration is presented in this Special on page 7.  It represents James White and his wife together with other workers bowing around a stack of their first paper, the Present Truth, and asking God's blessing to go with it as they mailed it out to their friends.  Present Truth was an 8-page paper which was edited by James White from July 1849 to November, 1850.  The eleven issues were bound together and had a wide circulation in the early days.  Mrs. White states that they bowed around very issue of this paper, and asked God's blessing upon it.  There was hardly a number of this paper that did not contain arguments trying to prove that probation had closed in 1844.  One number is largely given to the shut door.

Mrs. White's Topsham vision given on Sabbath, March 24, 1849, contains the positive evidence that she believed and taught the "shut door."  Those who have copies of this Present Truth, will find the portion relating to the shut door at the bottom of col. 1, page 22.  It is this portion of the Topsham vision that is omitted from all of Mrs. Whit's subsequent reproductions.  James White, Mrs. White, Joseph Bates, Hiram Edson and others of the pioneers wrote for the Present Truth condemning the 1st-day Adventists and other churches for trying to save sinners, because God had rejected all of the world excepting the Advent believers.

  Mrs.  White  Asking  God's  Blessing..
  On  The  Shut  Door
..

The inconsistency of these pioneers including James White and his wife bowing down and asking God's blessing to attend the contents of this document which was saturated with the teachings of the "shut door," and then a century later, trying to make all people believe that Mrs. White was shown in vision that they were called to publish and send the message clear around the world, is a shame to any people.
 

  Were  The   Pioneers  Planning..
  A  World-Wide  Work?
..

The centennial of the RH begins with the publication of Present Truth, the first periodical put out by James White in July, 1849.  After he had published six numbers he wrote:

When I commenced the "Present Truth," I did not expect to issue more than two or three numbers. 
                              Present Truth, p. 45.

In the first number of Present Truth he wrote:

The four Angels are holding the angry nations in check but a few days, until the saints are sealed.

There is not anything in this that would indicate that they were planning a world-wide work.  It plainly specifies what they were trying to do.  He was writing for the benefit of the "scattered remnant," and he stated that "what is done to spread the truth, must be done quickly."  Also as quoted above: "Angels are holding the angry nations in check but a few days"; and for what purpose?  "until the saints are sealed."

This certainly is contrary to the teachings of the denomination, and to the testimonies of Mrs. White, that they were planning a world-wide work, and that she saw jets of light encircling the world.
 

  In  1859  Uriah  Smith  Didn't  Believe..
  They  Were  to  Go
  Outside..
  The  United  States
..

On page 25 of this Special, Arthur W. Spalding quotes from an answer in RH from the pen of Uriah Smith regarding the work of foreign missions:

When a correspondent inquired, "Is the Advent message to be given outside the United States?" Uriah Smith replied, "This might not perhaps be necessary to fulfill Revelation 10:11, since our own land is composed of people of almost every nation."  RH, Feb. 3, 1859, p. 87.

On page 12 of this Special is another illustration with the inscribed legend:

"We have nothing to fear for the future, except that we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teachings in our past history."

  Their  First  Missionary..

If the pioneers were instructed by Mrs. White to carry the message to all the world, they were mighty slow about acting upon it.  J. N. Andrews was the first missionary that they sent outside of the U.S.A.; and that was in 1874, twenty-six years after Mrs. White says she saw jets of light going clear around the world.

  SDAs  Commandment  Breakers..

SDAs repeatedly claim that they are the only people that represent God in this world; and two of their strongest arguments to prove this claim are that they keep the commandments of God, and have a prophet.  But she died in 1915.  Their claim to be commandment-keepers of course refers to the keeping of the 7th-day Sabbath; but, anyone who breaks the 9th commandment cannot be classed among command-keepers; and everyone who teaches that the pioneers began in their early history to carry the message to the world, is a commandment-breaker in that they are teaching that which is not true.  We admit that many ministers are honestly, but ignorantly, teaching this error; but we cannot excuse the leaders, because they know positively that instead of laying plans to carry the message around the world, they were teaching that probation had closed, and that their only job was to search out the followers of Miller, and teach them the "shut door" and the 7th-day Sabbath.  The pioneers claimed for at least the first seven years of their existence that the present truth was the "shut door" and the 7th-day Sabbath.

It is time for SDAs to quit violating the 9th Commandment, or quit claiming to be the chosen people of God because they keep the Ten Commandments.

 

The  Review and Herald  Special

 
Editor F. D. Nichol of the RH introduces their centennial issue with a most boastful declaration:

       No more serious danger could ever confront the church of God than for its members to drift into the belief and feeling that Seventh-day Adventism is simply one more Protestant church in the world, peculiar, perhaps, in certain doctrines, but essentially like all other churches.  Our difference lies, not simply in our different doctrines, but in our different origins....
       This number really finds its justification in the words of Mrs. White: "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history."  -- Life Sketches, p. 196.

Editor Nichol is a young man, and it is possible that he is not familiar with the early history of the denomination.  We are not prepared to accuse him of deliberate deception; but his youth ought to caution him to be careful in regard to presenting the origin of SDAism.  Any church that lays claim to being the only church thereby gives evidence to thinking Christian people that they are most sadly deceived.  In this one item, SDAs are patterning after the R.C. Church.  Anyone looking over the field, and seeing the great work that most of the Protestant churches are carrying on all over the world, especially in the needy foreign fields, would be led to see that God is using other churches.

How much more modest it would be for the denomination to take the position that they are one of God's churches instead of boasting that they are the only "favorites of God."  SDAs should be the last people to make the statement that the only thing to fear is that they would "forget the way the Lord has led us and His teachings in our past history."

The RH would not allow an exact history of the pioneers to be put in print.  We would be glad to furnish a good lengthy article on the early history of the denomination without comment, taken from their original documents.  Furthermore we would give them $25 a column if they will print what we furnish, as stated above.  In support of our contention, we wish to present briefly some facts regarding denominational history.

For many years after the disappointment, the pioneers called First Day Adventists, Laodiceans, and they taught that nobody could be saved in the Laodicean church -- that they had to leave it and join with them in the Philadelphian church; but for close to a century they have declared that they were the Laodicean church.  The SDA church is the only Protestant church in existence that was established on an error or false teaching.

 

Elder  Uriah  Smith  Doubted
the Testimonies

 
Elder Uriah Smith was connected with the editorial staff of the RH for fifty yeas, most of the time as editor in chief.  His works on the prophecies are still considered standard in the denomination.

In a letter written March 22, 1883, he said:

It seems to me that the Testimonies, practically, have come into that shape, that it is not of any use to try to defend the erroneous claims that are now put forth for them....  Bro. Littlejohn has preached on the subject here treating it mostly from a theoretical standpoint.  But that does not touch the question at issue among us at all.  I presume you noticed in the Review of March 13, Bro. Waggoner's extinguisher of the Mormon gifts.  But, if the same reasoning will not apply somewhat to our own experience, I cannot see straight.  The cases of F----, C----, and S---- S---- are stunners to me.
       If all the brethren were willing to investigate this matter candidly and broadly, I believe some consistent common ground for all to stand upon could be found.  But some, of the rule or ruin spirit, are so dogmatical and stubborn that I suppose that any effort in that direction would only lead to a rupture of the body.

Elder Smith was editor of the R. & H. for thirty years before he discovered that any omissions had been made from the early visions in Early Writings.  We have a letter in his own handwriting stating this fact.

The three people referred to above were all prominent workers in the Advent cause, associated with James White and his wife; but were very immoral in their conduct; yet Mrs. White never knew of their immorality until the women who were involved confessed their sin.  The fact that she did not know of their vileness was a "stunner" to Elder Smith.  It is a sad fact, however, that Elder Smith after writing these things, smothered his conscience and attempted to defend the inspiration (?) of Mrs. White.

 

Who  Taught  the  Shut  Door?
 

  The  "Shut Door"  a  Hot Point..
  of  Discussion..

The followers of William Miller approached Oct. 22, 1844 with the utmost confidence that the Lord would come and redeem them that day.  As the day approached, they ceased their labors for the salvation of sinners, believing their work for the world was finished.  Their disappointment was keen beyond description.  For weeks, if not for months, they lived in almost daily expectation, while the world and many of the churches laughed them to scorn.  They met the jeers and jibes of the rabble with the declaration that they had passed the day of salvation unprepared and were forever lost.

It was amid these surroundings that Ellen Harmon had her first vision.  She was only slightly passed 17 years of age.  This first vision was published in a 24-page pamphlet entitled A Word to the "Little Flock" May 30, 1847.  A part of this vision has been a source of keen dispute for more than 100 years.  Her critics declaring that she and her followers believed and taught that probation for all the world except the Advent believers closed on Oct. 22, 1844, and her defenders emphatically denying this charge.  We will present the facts and let the readers judge for themselves.

  Mrs.  White  Defines  the..
  Shut  Door..

The keenest controversy has centered around the question of the "shut door."  To properly understand the early documents, one must bear in mind that this term meant the close of probation on Oct. 22, 1844 to all the world excepting the Adventist believers.  In speaking of Adventist believers and their experiences after the disappointment, Mrs. White says:

All this confirmed them in the belief that probation had ended, or, as they then expressed it, "the door of mercy was shut."
                              Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 268.

This definitely defines the "shut door" to mean the close of probation.

They constantly referred to Matt. 25:10 -- "They that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut."

We will now introduce the testimony of Mrs. White herself:

For a time after the disappointment in 1844, I did hold, in common with the advent body, that the door of mercy was then forever closed to the world.  This position was taken before my first vision was given me.  It was light given me of God that corrected our error, and enabled us to see the true position.
                              Quoted by F. M. Wilcox,
                              The Testimony of Jesus, p. 76.

How can this be so when it was that "first vision" which taught of "all the wicked world which God had rejected," as seen below.

  Mrs.  White's  First  Vision,  Dec. 1844,..
  Taught  the  "Shut Door"..

Some of Mrs. White's later defenders such as F. M. Wilcox, former editor of the R. & H., and the late A. G. Daniells, for twenty-one years president of the General Conference, admit that the pioneers, including Mrs. White, believed the "shut door"; but they deny that she ever taught it in vision.

That Mrs. White believed and taught the "shut door" is evident from several of her early visions.  We introduce a paragraph from her first vision which was published in A Word to the "Little Flock" in 1847.  This paragraph is found on page 14.

The light behind them went out leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and got their eyes off the mark and lost sight of Jesus, and fell off the path down in the dark and wicked world below.  It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again and go to the City, as all the wicked world which God had rejected.  They fell all the way along the path one after another, until we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus coming.

  Her  Topsham  Vision  Taught..
  An  Extreme  "Shut Door"..

Another damaging evidence is found in what is known as the "Topsham Vision" given to her March 24, 1849.  This was published in No. 3 of Present Truth, August 1849.  The portion which we reproduce is found on page 22:

I saw that the mysterious signs, and wonders,
and false reformations would increase, and spread.  The reformations that were shown me, were not reformations from error to truth; but from bad to worse; for those who professed a change of heart, had only wrapped about them a religious garb, which covered up the iniquity of a wicked heart.  Some appeared to have been really converted, so as to deceive God's people; but if their hearts could be seen, they would appear as black as ever.  My accompanying angel bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be.  I looked but could not see it; for the time of their salvation is past.

From 1844 to 1851, Mrs. White and her followers were teaching that all the world were rejected of God, and therefore no one except Advent believers had any chance for salvation.  They taught that the Spirit of God had been withdrawn from the world,and hence no one could be convicted of sin.  They were looking for the Lord to come in 1851.  In this year Mrs. White collected together most of her visions during that period of seven years and published them in a booklet entitled Experience and Views.  She and her husband at the time of the publication of this booklet had given up their former teaching regarding the "shut door."  Therefore, they left out all of the above quotations printed in italic type which showed beyond all controversy that before eliminating these positive statements, she believed that probation had closed.  Had she published these statements complete all of her followers would have recognized she was a false prophet because both of these testimonies were revealed to her while in vision, and were gross mistakes.  In her first vision she saw that God had rejected the world as well as all Advent believers who gave up their faith.  That she believed that probation had closed in 1844 is proven by the testimony of her husband, published in their first document A Word to the "Little Flock" (p. 22).

  Mrs.  White  Was  Reproved..
  in  Her  First  Vision  For..
  Giving  Up  The..
  Shut  Door..

Elder White is trying to prove to his followers that Mrs. White's visions were not based on previous teaching or what she had learned from her associates.  In referring to her first vision he says:

However true this extract may be in relation to reveries, it is not true in regard to the visions; for the author does not "obtain the sentiments" of her visions "from previous teaching or study."  When she received her first vision, Dec. 1844, she and all the band in Portland, Maine, (where her parents then resided) had given up the midnight-cry, and shut door, as being in the past.  It was then that the Lord shew her in vision, the error into which she and the band in Portland had fallen.  She then related her vision to the band, and about sixty confessed their error, and acknowledged their 7th month experience to be the work of God.

In this vision Mrs. White saw that God had rejected "all the wicked world" and Elder White sates in this defense that she and the people with whom she was associated had given up the idea that the door was shut on Oct. 22; but her first vision showed her that she and the group in Portland had made a mistake in giving up the "shut door"; that is: the Lord revealed to her in the first vision that the view that she had held and given up was the truth and that she and all the band in Portland acknowledged that they had made a mistake in giving up the "shut door" and came back to the truth (?) and accepted afresh the teaching that probation had closed.  Bear in mind that this correction was given to her in vision.  So her first vision was given to her to confirm the teachings of the pioneers that probation closed on Oct. 22.

The first vision was given in Dec. 1844 or the spring of 1845.  The Topsham vision was given in March 1849, at least five years after her first vision.  During this period there was a most bitter controversy over the "shut door" between the followers of the Whites, who were called Seventh-day Adventists, and the followers of Miller, Himes and others who were called First-day Adventists.   The later renounced the "shut door" in April, 1845 and for at least seven years the followers of Mrs. White called them Laodiceans and rebels against God for giving up the "shut door."  The First-day Adventists were active in gospel work and were winning many souls to Christ from all classes of people.  They cited their remarkable conversions to the Seventh-day Adventists in proof that the door was not shut.  The Seventh-day Adventists met this argument by declaring that what they called conversions were nothing but the work of the devil.  As Mrs. White put it "those who professed a change of heart had only wrapped about them a religious garb, which covered up the iniquity of a wicked heart.  Some appeared to have been really converted, so as to deceive God's people but if their hearts could be seen, they would appear as black as ever."

In another place she says: -- "I saw false reformations every- where."  If she did not believe that probation was closed, what did she mean by these statements, and if she did not believe that everyone who read these statements would recognize that she believed and taught in vision that probation had closed, why did she leave them out?

  Mrs.  White  Taught  that  the..
  Sabbath  and  Shut Door..
  was  "Present Truth"..

At the time of her Topsham vision, 1849, she believed that "present truth" was the "shut door" and the commandments.  She says:

there I was shown that the commandments of God,
and the testimony of Jesus, relating to the shut door, could not be separated.
                              Present Truth, p. 21.

The omissions from Mrs. White's first vision should appear between the words "below" and "soon" in the ninth line, on page 15 of the new edition of Early Writings.  The omitted portion from the Topsham vision should appear between the expressions "from error to truth" and "My accompanying angel" in the fourth line on page 45.

Mrs. White frequently speaks of the "shut door" in her early visions, but our space will not permit reproducing them.

  Only  A  Few  Months  Left..
  In  1850..

But now time is almost finished, and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months.
                              Early Writings, p. 67.

This was written in the middle of the year 1850.  The pioneers, especially Capt. Bates, were teaching that the seven times that the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat (Lev. 16:14) represented seven years which would be occupied by Christ making atonement in the most holy place.  This period would terminate Oct. 22, 1851, at which time they confidently expected that Christ would return.  They had been nearly six years in arriving at their conclusions, but the Laodiceans that came in after this, would have to learn in a "few months" what they had been six years learning.  These few months didn't leave much time for a "world-wide campaign."  These few months have stretched out to over 100 years.

  Making  the  First-day  Adventists..
  Ashamed  for  Giving  Up  the..
  "Shut  Door"..

In the Review and Herald of May 2, 1935 Elder W. C. White, speaking of his mother and father says:

       "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 Present Truth ...  The cause calls for it.  I hope to get out six numbers."

Bear in mind that Mrs. White told her husband that the Lord showed her that he should write this document, the Advent Review, containing "testimonies that the leading Adventists published in '44" showing what they believed and then taught for the purpose of making them "ashamed."  This was the purpose of publishing the Advent Review.  The reader should not confuse the Advent Review with the Review and Herald.  It was an entirely separate document.  James White associated with him in this publication four other outstanding leaders, Hiram Edson, David Arnold, George W. Holt, and S. W. Rhodes.

After publishing four issues of 16 pages each they saved the type of most of these 64 pages, selecting out of them 48 pages which they bound together and issued in 1850 under the same title, "The Advent Review."  The whole trend of this compilation is to take the First-day Adventists to task for departing from the truth by showing that formerly they believed and taught the shut door.  It is saturated with statements taken from the leading Adventist [Millerite] teachers including Miller, Himes and others, showing that they formerly believed that probation closed in 1844, and denouncing them for giving it up.

It is true that Wm. Miller and practically all of his followers felt that their work for the world was completed just before Oct. 22, 1844; but they soon abandoned that position, and began diligently working for the salvation of sinners.

  Importance  of  The Advent Review..
  In  the  Mind  of..
  James  White..

The importance of this document in the mind of James White is well illustrated in the ads which he published recommending it.  We reproduce a few:

The Advent Review, containing thrilling testimonies, written in the Holy Spirit, by many of the leaders of the Second Advent cause, showing its Divine origin and progress, 48 pages.
                              RH, Vol. 1, page 7,
                              November 1850.

In introducing the Advent Review, Elder James White says: --

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 fulfilment 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."
                                                            p. 1.

After the passing of the time in 1851, they still had quit a large supply of this Advent Review on hand.  Inasmuch as they had changed their views in regard to the "shut door," Elder White printed a page and pasted it into each unsold number in which he said: --

In regard to the letters of Bro. William Miller, we would say that they expressed the views and feelings of the Advent brethren generally, at that time.  No one then saw the work of the third angel, and the general impression was that our work was done.  We may now see that Bro. Miller applied Dan. 12:10; Zech. 12:13; Mal. 3:18; and Rev. 22:11, to the wrong period.

In the face of these well-known facts, how can any honest man deny that the pioneers taught that probation closed in 1844?

  Joseph  Bates  a  Rabid  Believer..
  In  The  "Shut  Door"..

James White, Mrs. E. G. White, and Joseph Bates constitute the trinity of founders of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.  The latter was very pronounced in his convictions and even more pronounced in expressing them.  He was extremely hard on William Miller and his followers who afterward were called the First-day Adventists.

  The  Shut  Door  Caused  the  Division,..
  Not  the  Sabbath..

At a conference of Advent believers held at Albany, N.Y., April 29, 1845, a committee under the chairmanship of William Miller drafted a series of resolutions which were adopted by the body.  So far as we can learn none of the leaders of the Seventh-day Adventists were present at this conference.  We quote a couple of paragraphs from these resolutions, or address, as it was called.

 
Plan of Operations

In the midst of our disappointed hopes of seeing the King of Glory, and being made like him, and still finding ourselves in a world of sin, snares, and death, the question forces itself upon us,

What Now Is Our Work?

To us it seems clear that our first work is to make straight paths for our feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way.  We are in duty bound to give the household meat in due season, and to build ourselves up in our most holy faith.  While doing this, we are to continue, in obedience to the great commission, to preach the gospel to every creature.
                              Memoirs of William Miller,
                              by Sylvester Bliss, p. 305.

 
In the RH of December 1850, is a four-page article by Capt. Bates under the title, "Midnight Cry."  This article is so saturated with the strongest kind of denunciations against the Laodiceans for abandoning the "shut door" that the whole article should be read to be appreciated.

After referring to their oft-repeated statement that they believed in their past experience, he says:

When they say they believe it, they prove themselves liars; for after the formation of the Laodicean state of church at Albany, N.Y., April 29, 1845, the greater portion of the lecturers went out through the land advocating an open door, in direct and immediate opposition to the work of the Midnight Cry.  For that work shut the door without the shadow of a doubt."

We continue to quote from Joseph Bates:

  First-day  Adventists  "Rebels"..
  for  Giving  Up  the..
  Shut  Door..

Here was a general acknowledgement of all the past; and yet after the organization of the Laodicean church, April, 1845, they came out in open rebellion against the very vital point, that gave them any title to the name of Adventists.  Consistency would have required them to have adopted their proper Scripture name; (Rebels;) then all the honest believers would have understood them, and avoided their treacherous dealings against the Lord, and the "strange children" they have begotten in connection with fallen Babylon.  If by any means whatever, they could prove from all their past six years' united labor, through this land, England, or the West Indies, that they had gained one single convert to God, then they would appear in a hundred fold more heinous light than they now do.  For, by their own published, standing confessions, (as before stated,) the Lord Jesus, as Maser of the house, (before described,) had shut the door and no man could open it.  See Rev. 3,7; Luke13,25; Matt. 25,10.  This was the last day's work of the Midnight Cry, where the fullness of the Gentiles came in, Rom. 11,25.  Now if they have opened the door, then they have gained the victory over the Son of God, and proved him to have uttered a falsehood.   In no other way could they get one true Gentile convert.  But there need be no fear on this case.  Jesus has done this work, and he is now advocating the cause of all true believers in the house of Israel.  We know that these people are saying, and will still insist, that they have reclaimed hundreds of backsliders, and that scores have been converted to God, under their teaching, since the Albany Conference, April 1845.

  Impossible  for  Them  to  Get..
  One  Convert..

We say, that as long as they continue rebellious against their lawful Prince, it is morally impossible for them to beget for him one peaceful subject.

Again he says in this same article:

Talk about searching out sinners, that the work of the Midnight Cry left in outer darkness six years ago!
                              RH, Dec. 1850, pp. 23, 24.

In 1850 he published a tract of sixteen pages on the Sanctuary.  On the last page of this leaflet we find the following statement:

"The Present Truth," then, of this third angel's message, is,  THE  SABBATH  AND  THE  SHUT  DOOR."

The closing sentence of this leaflet reads thus:

Hence the door is shut before the Sabbath is given in the message.

Bates called the FDAs [First-day Adventists] Laodiceans, rebels, liars, traitors, etc.  And for no other reason than that they were working for the salvation of sinners, and thus giving up the shut door.

Remember that the term "The Shut Door" always meant the close of probation.  In view of these facts what did Mrs. White mean, what only could she mean, when she saw in vision:

It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again and go to the City, as all the wicked world which God had rejected.
                              A Word to the "Little Flock"
                              p. 14.

The reformations that were shown me, were not reformations from error to truth, but from bad to worse; for those who professed a change of heart, had only wrapped about them a religious garb, which covered up the iniquity of a wicked heart.  Some appeared to have been really converted, so as to deceive God's people; but if their hearts could be seen, they would appear as black as ever.
                              Present Truth, p. 22.

Both of these quotations are omitted from Early Writings.  The first one from page 15, and the second one from page 45.

  Mrs.  White's  Defenders..

The older defenders of Mrs. White's inspiration denied that the pioneers, including Mrs. White, ever believed that probation closed in 1844.  Elder Geo. I. Butler who served as president of the General Conference for eleven years writes:

  Geo.  I.  Butler  Denies..

But we do emphatically deny that S. D. Adventists or Mrs. White believed that any repentant sinner who would come to Christ would be refused.  It is a slander to say the contrary.  We also declare, with no fear of contradiction, that during this very period when Eld. C. and other opposers of the same ilk [allege] that she and others believed that there was no salvation for sinners, she and they were laboring for the conversion of sinners.  Hence their statements cannot be true.
                         Replies to Elder Canright's Attacks
                         on Seventh-day Adventists, p. 100.

  James  White  Declared  They..
  Believed  and  Taught..
  the  Shut  Door..

In speaking of their early experience, Elder White refers to a number of statements regarding their belief in the "shut door" and then remarks:

In view of such testimony, it is vain for any man to
deny that it was the universal belief of Adventists,
in the autumn of 1844, that their work for the world was for ever done.
                              Life Incidents, p. 190.

Again he says: --

Some of this people did believe in the shut door, in common with the Adventists generally, soon after the passing of the time.  Some of us held fast this position longer than those did who gave up their Advent experience, and drew back in the direction of perdition.  And God be thanked we did hold fast to that position till the matter was explained by light from the heavenly sanctuary.
                              Ibid., p. 207.

  Elder  W. A. Spicer  Unreliable..
  In  The  Extreme..

Elder W. A. Spicer was president of the General Conference from 1922 to 1930.  In 1926 he wrote a series of six articles under the title Moments with the Old Volumes and the Pioneers in defense of Mrs. White's inspiration.  At least seven times in this series of articles he states that the pioneers, including Mrs. White, were working for the salvation of sinners during the years from 1844 to 1851.  We introduce a few quotations from this defender: --

So far from the shut door meaning to those believers that probation closed in 1844, the new view of the shut door and the Sabbath truth was an incentive to go out and work for the salvation of others.

  An  Unadulterated  Untruth..
  Repeated  Eight  Times..

On the contrary, the record shows that the spirit of prophecy was ever calling the pioneers to shape their plans to carry the gospel message to sinners in every land.  And all through those years Sister White herself was out preaching the gospel and seeking to save sinners.
                              RH, April 15, 1926.

And mark this, all the time, from the very beginning the spirit of prophecy was not only setting forth an open door, but was telling these pioneers of a great world-wide work of which they had little idea.

No less than eight times is this statement made in some form in
this series of articles.  Yet there isn't a single quotation from the writings of Mrs. White between 1844 and 1851 that even hints
at a "world-wide movement," while on the other hand there is
an abundance of evidence to the contrary.  Elder Spicer couldn't  turn the pages of these early papers for a few moments without discovering some of these strong statements against his teaching.

  The  Son  of  The  Prophet..
  A  Willing  Supporter..
  Of  Deception..

The denominational leaders have been challenged repeatedly to produce a single piece of evidence that the pioneers were working for sinners aside from the advent believers during the seven years ending in 1851 but they never attempted to met the challenge.  Practically all of the defenders of Mrs. White's inspiration use this argument to prove that the pioneers and Mrs. White did not believe in the "shut door," and, of course, if they were out working for sinners in general, it would be a very positive evidence that they did not believe the "shut door."

Elder W. C. White accused me of misrepresenting his father and mother because I declared that they were not working for anyone except the advent believers from '44 to '51.  When proof was demanded of Elder White that this was a misrepresentation, he stated that he did not have it at hand but as soon as he returned to the office, he would look it up and send it to me.  This was in 1926 and we urged him over and over again to produce the evidence, but it has never been produced, and the reason is that here is no evidence to produce.  A bolder misrepresentation was never put in print than the statement on the part of Elder Spicer that the spirit of prophecy was calling the pioneers to a world-wide movement.  In 1850 Mrs. White wrote: --

But now time is almost finished, and what we have
been years learning, they will have to learn
in a few months.
                              Early Writings, p. 67.

At this time they were expecting the Lord to return in the fall of 1851.  Would she be urging them to conduct a world-wide campaign when they had only a few months to wait for the Lord's return?  This shows that she was not working for the salvation of sinners but was condemning others who were working for the salvation of sinners.

  A. G.  Daniells  Knew  Better..

Of the defenders of Mrs. White's inspiration, no one outranks Elder A. G. Daniells.  He was president of the General Conference for 21 years, and for many years was very closely associated with Mrs. White and her son, W. C.  When he wrote in her defense he was not doing it ignorantly, but with full knowledge of the facts -- not simply the ones we have published, but with scores of others of like significance.

In the Review and Herald of Nov. 25, 1926, Elder Daniells presented a lengthy article dealing with the question of the shut door in relation to Mrs. White's writings between the years 1844 and 1851.  His article, together with an editorial by Elder F. M. Wilcox, was published in tract form.

He introduces his article with eight general statements.  We introduce the main portion of statement 8:

       But while, after the passing of the time in 1844, they continued for a period to believe that salvation for sinners was past and that Christ would quickly appear, there was no statement from Mrs. E. G. White to the effect that it had been revealed to her that probation for the world had closed, and that there was no longer salvation for the unsaved.
       There is a vast difference between holding a personal belief regarding a question, and declaring that this belief has been obtained by a direct revelation from the Lord.  To illustrate: The apostle Peter and his associates believed that the gospel message they were to proclaim was to be confined to the Jewish nation....  They not only believed this, but clung to it tenaciously.  None of them, however, declared that this had been revealed to them in a vision or revelation from God.

                              The Shut Door, pp. 5, 6.

  A  Boomerang  Illustration..

His illustration would have been most fitting had he completed it.  But suppose Peter had written his first epistle before he went to the home of Cornelius, and in it had said: "Those Jews who accepted Christ and later lost sight of Jesus fell off the path on which we are traveling.  It was just as impossible for them to be redeemed as all the wicked Gentiles which God had rejected."  And in another chapter had written: "The reformations which Paul and his associates are reporting among the Gentiles are not reformations from error to truth; but from bad to worse; for those who professed a change of heart had only wrapped about them a religious garb, which covered up the iniquity of a wicked heart.  Some of these Gentiles appeared to have been really converted, so as to deceive us, the converted Jews; but if their hearts could be seen, they would appear as black As ever."  Then after Peter had visited Cornelius he decided to put out a new edition of his epistle, but for fear someone might misunderstand his divine revelation (?) he thought it best to eliminate all these references to the Gentiles.  What then would you think of Peter's inspiration and honesty?

There is this difference between Peter and Mrs. White.  Peter probably did believe that the Gentiles could not be saved; but God kept him from expressing his false belief in his inspired epistles; but Mrs. White wrote her false views in what she claimed was a divine revelation.  The illustration that Bro. Daniells uses is very fitting indeed, but not as he intended it.

  She  Eliminated  Them  Because..
  They  Would  be  Understood..
  Not  Misunderstood..

Elder Daniells affirms that Mrs. White eliminated the damaging statement regarding the close of probation from her first vision because she saw that some might misunderstand it.  He also contends that to understand it to mean the close of probation makes it "conflict with the message of which it forms a part."  Page 15.  Both of these statement are entirely false.  She eliminated them because she knew the reader would understand them just as she understood them when she wrote them.  In these eliminated sentences there isn't the slightest conflict with the rest of the message nor with any other message during that period, either from the pen of Mrs. White or any of the pioneers.

The last work which occupied the attention of the late Elder A. G. Daniells was the preparation of the manuscript for his book The Abiding Gift of Prophecy.  It was published in the early part of 1936.  It is devoted to the defense of Mrs. White's inspiration.  In speaking of Mrs. White's first vision, he says: --

It is, however, worthy of note that this vision was not of such a nature as to confirm them in what they already believed.  Not only they, but Ellen Harmon herself, prior to this vision, had become persuaded that the "midnight cry" movement, through which they had passed, was a mistake.
                                                             P. 271.

  Why  do  They  Omit  "and Shut Door"..
  If  Not  to  Deceive?..

"Midnight Cry" is placed in quotation marks and taken from the Testimony of James White regarding his wife's first vision.  Why did he not also repeat "and shut door" in this place?  It is a part of Elder White's statement.

Elder Loughborough and Elder Daniells, both omit these three words when referring to Mrs. White's first vision.  There must be a reason.  Bear in mind that this argument is introduced to lead the reader to believe that Mrs. White's first vision was contrary to her own convictions or belief, as well as to the belief of the group of something like sixty Adventists.  In this he states the truth, but by omitting those three words, "and shut door," he leads the reader to believe that which is not so.  Miss Harmon and the group with whom she was associated had given up belief in the midnight cry, but at the same time they had given up their belief in the "shut door."  True, this vision did change their belief, but it did not change them from error to truth, but from truth to error.  They had come to the conclusion that the door of mercy did not close Oct. 22, 1844 and this vision confirmed them in the belief that the door of mercy did close in 1844.

Our standard of morals will not permit of such omissions for the purpose of misleading the reader.  If those three words had been put where they belonged in Elder Loughborough's or Elder Daniells' quotation, their readers would have recognized that Mrs. White taught the "shut door."

  Elder  J. N.  Loughborough..
  Most  Deceptive..

Elder J. N. Loughborough was born in 1832, and died in 1924.  He began his ministerial labors with the First-day Adventists and did not unite with the Sabbath-keeping branch till 1852.  He was not one of the original pioneers but was considered a standard bearer till his death.

Of all the defenders of Mrs. White he was the most bold and reckless.  He was their outstanding historian, and his carefully kept diary coupled with three score years experience with the leadership qualified him to fill such a position.

In 1892 the denomination published his Rise and Progress of Seventh-day Adventists.  This was revised and published in 1905 as The Great Second Advent Movement.  For many years the revised edition was used as a text or reference book in their intermediate and advanced schools.

After quoting a paragraph of Mrs. White's Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 268 in which Mrs. White states that all the Adventists believed for a time "that probation had ended, or, as they then expressed it 'the door was shut,' " he then adds this comment: 

In this quotation Mrs. White states the position taken by the First-day Adventists.  She does not even intimate that she believed it.
                              The Great Second Advent
                              Movement,  pp. 221, 222.

Even as late as the year 1848, there remained here and there an individual who held that there was no more mercy for sinners.  These, however, were not Seventh-day Adventists.
                              Page 234.

  No  Greater  Deception..
  Ever  Put  in  Print..

As stated before, a most bitter controversy was conducted between the Seventh-day Adventists and the First-day Adventists over the "shut door" for at least seven years after the disappointment.  The SDAs were chiding the other faction for apostasy from the truth for no other reason than laboring for sinners, thus abandoning the "shut door."  SDAs were teaching during this period that the "shut door" and the Sabbath constituted "present truth" for that generation.  Elder Loughborough was a minister among the First-day Adventists, and in a personal letter to the writer [i.e., to E. S. Ballenger], he states that he never heard of the "shut door" until 1849, and then he heard it from an SDA.  Yet knowing these facts from personal experience, he declared that SDAs never taught the "shut door" but that FDAs were guilty of this blunder.  He, as above quoted, denies that Mrs. White ever believed or taught the "shut door"; yet he had in his possession a letter written to him by Mrs. White August 24, 1874 in which she said:

With my brethren and sisters, after the time passed in '44 I did believe no more sinners would be converted.  But I never had a vision that no more sinners would be converted. 
                              Quoted by F. M. Wilcox in
                              Testimony of Jesus, p. 86.

  His  Deceptions  Multiply..

But we have still more positive evidence of his dishonesty.  In 1861 the leaders presented an address to the conference at Battle Creek, Mich., with the view of persuading the brethren to organize a general conference.  This address was published in the RH, June 11, 1851.  We reproduce one paragraph:

If we go back to a period of from six to nine years,
we find the believers in the Third Angel's message
few in number, very much scattered, and in no place assuming to take the name of a church.  Our views of the work before us were mostly vague and indefinite, some still retaining the idea adopted by the body of the Advent believers in 1844, with Wm. Miller at their head, that our work for "the world" was finished, and that the message was confined to those of the original Advent faith.  So firmly was this believed that one of our number was nearly refused the message, the individual presenting it having doubts of the possibility of his salvation because he was not in the '44 move'.

This was signed by J. H. Waggoner, James White, J. N. Lough- borough, E. W. Shortridge, Joseph Bates, J. B. Frisbie, M. E. Cornell, Moses Hull and John Byington.  These were all prominent leaders at that time.  In reply to an inquiry on the part of the writer [i.e., on the part of Ballenger] as to who the person was that was "nearly refused the message," Elder Loughborough replied: "I am the 'one' referred to in that document, 'The Conference Address.' "   And the one who thought he couldn't be saved "because he was not in the '44 move'," was none other than the outstanding leader and writer, J. N. Andrews.

After spending eight years among the First-day Adventists, part of the time as a minister, and never hearing them preach the shut door, and then at late as 1852, being convinced of the Sabbath, by a very prominent Seventh-day Adventist, who almost refused him communion with them because the minister, J. N. Andrews, was so sure that the door was shut; and after signing the above statement, Elder Loughborough so submerged his conscience as to deny that Seventh-day Adventists ever believed or taught that probation closed in 1844.

  Still  Not  Through..

And still we are not through, for we have not yet reached the climax.  On page 263 he quotes a statement from Joseph Bates regarding Mrs. White's visions taken from A Word to the "Little Flock", p. 21:

I believe the work is of God, and is given to comfort and strengthen his "scattered," "torn," and "peeled people" since the closing up of our work . . . in October, 1844.

But he left out the three words "for the world" where the three periods app[ear.  Why didn't he put in those three words?  Unquestionably because he knew that the reader would see that Bates believed the door was shut in 1844.

In this Mrs. White was equally guilty, for she left out the same three words in quoting this same statement.  See Life Sketches, p. 98.

We will introduce one more "exhibit" and then rest the case of Elder Loughborough with the jury of honest readers.  He again quotes a statement from James White taken from page 22 of A Word to the "Little Flock".  It is a defense of Mrs. White's visions.

The author does not "obtain the sentiments" of her visions "from previous teachings or study." When she received her first vision, December, 1844, she and all the band in Portland, Maine (where her parents then resided,) had given up the "midnight cry" as being in the past.  It was then that the Lord showed her in vision the error into which she and the band in Portland had fallen.  She then related her vision to the band, and they acknowledged their seventh-month experience to be the work of God.
                              The Great Second Advent
                              Movement,  pp. 263, 264.

  A  Bold,  Deliberate  Deception..

The omission of the words "for the world" was bad enough but he was honest enough to indicate that something had been omitted.  But in the last he made no [such] notation.

In the original it reads: "had given up the midnight cry and shut door as being in the past."  Why this dishonesty?  Because he knew that if he printed those three words, "and shut door," every reader would recognize that she taught the shut door while in vision, for the Lord showed her in vision that it was wrong to give up the shut door.  And Mrs. White herself defines the "shut door" to mean the "close of probation."

These sins were called to the attention of Elder Loughborough at least five years before his death, but instead of confessing his sin, he tried to justify his course.

But someone may ask:  What bearing has this on Mrs. White and her work?  It has a very vital bearing, for Mrs. White instructed Elder Loughborough to encircle the world in defense of her visions.  She must have been much more ignorant than anyone ever supposed her to be if she did not know what Loughborough was teaching in the pulpit and in his book, knowing that he was misrepresenting the facts wherever he went.  Mrs. White encouraged him to spend his whole time in going from continent to continent, from church to church and from camp meeting to camp meeting to exalt her as an inspired writer.  Mrs. White claimed it was a part of her duty through the Spirit of God to reveal secret sin.  Yet here was a man who was violating the ninth commandment in almost every speech and in his book; nevertheless the prophet was sending him forth as her personal representative deceiving the people.

  Mrs.  White's  Publishers..
  Guilty..

After the publication of Experience and Views in 1851, and a new edition in 1854, those who were familiar with the early visions accused the publishers of omitting a part of Mrs. White's vision relating to the shut door.  In the Publishers' "Preface to the Second Edition," of Early Writings, after speaking of the addition of a few dates, and two dreams this preface says:

Aside from these, no changes from the original work have been made in the present edition, except the occasional employment of a new word, or a change in the construction of a sentence, to better express the idea and no portion of the work has been omitted.