Conclusions

The nature and role of the Holy Spirit has been a controversial issue in the history of Christianity, but especially within the American religious experience. Winthrop S. Hudson considers the plethora of sects as characteristic of American nationalism. ^{61Winthrop S. Hudson, Nationalism and American Religion (New York: Harper and Row, 1970).} Traditional inhibitions against dreams and visions by traditional Protestant Reformers, most notably Luther and Zwingli, had gradually become less rigid, as the boundaries of canon were blurred. This blurring process occurred as American religion developed in a unique new set of conditions. Even such seminal minds as Jonathan Edwards were cautious but allowed for the possibility of the supernatural. George Whitefield was far more open to dreams and visions, to the point that he actively encouraged and promulgated such phenomena.GOP 247.1

After the American Revolution the religious landscape changed considerably, as traditional churches, which tended to be Calvinist, no longer dominated American religion. Instead Armin- ian groups, such as Methodists and Baptists, gained a large share of the religious marketplace. Mormons created their own American-made text of scripture. Waves of revivals continued from the time of Edwards, but especially so during the 1820s and 1830s during a time known as the Second Great Awakening. Visionaries became commonplace, especially by the time of the Millerite revival of the 1840s. Within American revivalism, especially during the awakenings of the early nineteenth century, claims to dreams and visions were a common phenomenon.GOP 247.2

As people became increasingly open to dreams and visions, new forms of radical worship also became normative. Revivalists such as Charles Finney capitalized on this by claiming direct inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Ecstatic experiences such as being “slain in the Spirit” (an expression used for being so overcome with religious emotion that a person fell to the floor) were a common feature of such revivals. Within this context it is not surprising that a radical sect of Millerite revivalists emphasized the restoration of the gift of prophecy as a defining characteristic of God’s end-time church.GOP 247.3

A related issue was that of canon. Most visionaries, similar to Joseph Smith, Jr., made their revelations as a source of divine revelation either equal to or superseding the Bible. Smith set a precedent among Mormons that meant that new revelations superseded older ones. Ellen White is unique within her time because she resisted the title of prophet and, when she described her writings, did not place them on a par with the Bible. In fact, although she claimed that the revelations she received were from God, she refused to blur the edges of the canonicity of Scripture by elevating her own writings. In fact, her writings are not even an addendum or commentary on Scripture. Instead she consistently upheld the divine canonicity of Scripture. Even among some of her most loyal supporters she at times had to rebuke those who tried to use her writings to settle theological debates. Unlike her peers, Ellen White clarified rather than blurred the boundaries of Scripture. GOP 248.1