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1851 1EGWLM 274

Lt 6, 1851 1EGWLM 274

April 1, 1851, Paris, Maine 1EGWLM 274.1

Letter to
Reuben and Belinda Loveland.1

Identity: This letter is addressed “Reuben Loveland, Johnson, Vt.” For “Belinda” as his wife's name, see, for example, 1860 U.S. Federal Census, “Belinda Loveland” and “Reuben Loveland,” Vermont, Lamoille County, Johnson, p. 819.

1EGWLM 274.2

Portions of this letter are published in Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 3, p. 63; idem, Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, p. 252.

Belinda Loveland questions the source of Ellen White's vision regarding Nelson Hollis. The influence of Hollis's accusations against James White causes crushing discouragement for the Whites. 1EGWLM 274.3

Dear Brother and Sister Loveland:

We have just returned from a visit to Topsham [Maine] and Gorham [Maine]. On our return we found a number of letters, and among them was one from you. Many things in your letter I do not understand. You speak of your telling me concerning Brother Hollis [Nelson A. Hollis].2

Identity: The only “Hollis” mentioned in the Review throughout the 1850s and early 1860s is Nelson A. Hollis. This identity is confirmed by Ellen White in Spiritual Gifts, where, in narrating what appear to be the same events, she refers to “N. A. H.”

See: Search term “Hollis” in Words of the Pioneers; Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 145, 146.

 I cannot remember that you told me anything about [him]. I know that if you told me anything it affected me not or I could now remember it. But, dear sister, what if you had said ever so much? Would that affect the visions that God gives me? If so, then the visions are nothing.3

The issue raised here and in the fifth paragraph concern the genuineness of Ellen White's vision. Had the vision been “influenced” by what Belinda Loveland told Ellen White concerning the Hollis case? The question of whether Ellen White had prior knowledge of matters shown her in vision was seen by some as of central importance. But she makes the point in this letter that even if she had had prior information about Hollis, “would that affect the vision that God gives me? … My opinion has nothing to do with what God has shown me in vision.”

See also: Lt 3, 1847 (July 13), note 7.

 1EGWLM 274.4

God has shown me the true state of Brother Hollis. I know from the vision that his influence has been bad and against us.4

In what way had Hollis's influence “been bad and against us”? In a parallel account in Spiritual Gifts Ellen White says of “N. A. H.” (Nelson A. Hollis) that he was the “instigator” of accusations that “Bro. White was making money” and “had too good a horse.” James White had as a result “sunk beneath his trials.”

See: Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 145-147.

 How could Brother Hollis say that he had not said anything about it anywhere else when he told Brother Bates,5

The names Bates, Rhodes, Andrews, Heath, and Barrows appearing in these two paragraphs do not play central roles in the narrative, so no attempt is made here to annotate them.

 Brother Rhodes, and Andrews, and they did not know but [what] we were wrong from what he said, and came to the conference with that feeling? Since I have had the vision, I have seen Brother Bates and he told us that he reproved Brother Hollis for his feelings towards James. He told Brother Bates the same that he told Brother Heath. This looks dark in Brother Hollis. How could he say he came on purpose to the Conference6

The reference to Waterbury makes it likely that the conference in Waterbury, Vermont, January 18, 19, 1851, is intended.

See: [Notice], Review, January 1851, p. 31; W. [James White], “Our Visit to Vermont,” Review, February 1851, p. 45.

 to confess, when Brother Rhodes asked him on his way to Waterbury [Vermont] if he did not think that he had wrong feelings toward James? He said, No, that he could meet him, and not feel condemned or as though he had done wrong. I cannot repeat it word for word, but that was the amount of it, and more that I cannot repeat, that makes things look very crooked in him. 1EGWLM 274.5

Brother Rhodes was astonished when he read the same in a letter from Brother Barrows, and you write the same that he went on purpose to confess. Brother Rhodes says it is the darkest thing he has seen in Brother Hollis. Poor soul, he is entirely deceived by the devil. 1EGWLM 275.1

Our spirits were completely crushed after the conference. James was about to return home in that state of things. I was taken very sick. The burden seemed as though it would crush me. God, in answer to prayer, healed me and showed me Brother Hollis was wrong and also showed me just what he had been about and that James must stop a while longer in Vermont. 1EGWLM 275.2

What you or any one else has said is nothing at all. God has taken the matter in hand and Brother Hollis knows not what manner of spirit he is of. God has shown Brother Hollis's case in vision and unless he soon becomes as a little child and breaks in pieces before God, he will be left to himself. What you have said, Sister Loveland, influenced me not at all. My opinion has nothing to do with what God has shown me in vision. But enough of this. 1EGWLM 275.3

We have received letters from some that we have never before heard from. There is a great call for publications. The work of the Lord is moving onward. We had consecrated ourselves anew to God, soul, bodies, and spirit to do His work. Oh, that we may do it faithfully; time is very, very short. What we do must be done quickly and we must be very humble or God will not use us in His cause. 1EGWLM 275.4

I am satisfied that we have lived too far from God. We must take hold upon His strength and then He will bless us. We have lived beneath our privilege. There is a fulness in Jesus. I feel my own unworthiness and I know that I deserve not the mercy and blessings of God. I have had severe trials of late. Pray for us. 1EGWLM 276.1

Much love to your husband, yourself, and children and all who love God in deed and in truth. 1EGWLM 276.2

In haste. 1EGWLM 276.3