The Living Temple

This conference of 1903 closed with no open rupture between those advocating opposing principles. The controversial issues were not made public, but a delicate situation soon arose when the book The Living Temple was published, put on sale, and denominational tract societies were urged to carry it in stock and advertise it. Pressed by the inquiries that followed this action, the General Conference officials could only reply that while the General Conference Committee deemed it not proper “to pass formally upon any question of religious teaching, it was likewise not a proper thing to recommend the circulation of literature so seriously criticized,” especially in view of the instruction given at the recent General Conference session regarding the “spurious scientific theories ... coming in as a thief in the night, stealing away the landmarks.” (Letter sent by the president and the secretary of the General Conference to conference presidents, July 31, 1903.)SHM 322.4

In October, 1903, the Autumn Council met for the first time in Washington, D.C., to which place the Review and Herald Publishing Company and the General Conference headquarters had been moved. Attempts were made to press forward urgent matters pertaining to the worldwide movement; but, like a dark shadow over the council, again loomed the controversial questions regarding the teaching of The Living Temple and its circulation among and by the church members.SHM 323.1

After a day spent largely in the consideration of this perplexing matter, there arrived in the evening mail from faraway California a document from Mrs. White entitled “Decided Action to Be Taken Now.” Declaring that the communication followed the presentation of many things to her mind by the Spirit of God, she said regarding the serious implications that would follow the acceptance of the teachings in the book:SHM 323.2

“Few can see the meaning of the present apostasy. But the Lord has lifted the curtain and has shown me its meaning, and the result that it will have if allowed to continue.SHM 323.3

“Those doctrines, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They estimate as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give John to give to His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to be given special attention. They make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin, and rob the people of God of their past experiences, giving them instead a false science.”—Special Testimonies, Series B, 7:36, 37.SHM 323.4