About This Collection of Ellen G. White Documents

The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials consists exclusively of Ellen G. White letters, manuscripts, articles, and sermons that relate directly or indirectly to the Ministerial Institute and General Conference session held by Seventh-day Adventists in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from October 10 to November 4, 1888. No General Conference session in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist church has undergone such analysis and scrutiny, or has elicited as much comment as the 1888 meeting.1888 3.1

The White Estate Trustees believe that the key to understanding the 1888 General Conference session, as well as the history of subsequent years, is to be found in the writings of Ellen G. White. Mrs. White had much to say at the time, and in later years as well, about her experience in Minneapolis. In the decade following 1888, she frequently referred to Minneapolis and the spirit that was manifested there.1888 3.2

Since 1988 marks the centenary of the 1888 meeting, and since the attention of Seventh-day Adventists everywhere will be focused on 1888 throughout the year, the White Estate Trustees feel that there will be a keen interest in knowing what Ellen White had to say about the Minneapolis meeting. Thus the Trustees are making available to our church members this comprehensive collection of all the E. G. White manuscripts and letters that in any way refer to Minneapolis. In most cases the entire manuscript or letter has been included even though only a portion may be germane to this subject. Names have been left in just as Ellen White used them, except in one or two instances where the file copy has a blank instead of a name.1888 3.3

Nearly all the manuscripts and letters have been copied directly from the file drawers where they are housed, hence misspellings have not been1888 3.4

corrected, nor have the documents been improved in any other way for publication. Where complete letters or manuscripts have already been released, these are reproduced in their grammatically edited, more legible, “Manuscript Release” form. Otherwise, previously released materials are noted only on the margin of each page. Most of the materials in this collection have never been released or published before in any form.

Although the sermons given by Ellen White at Minneapolis have been published for many years in Thirteen Crisis Years (formerly Through Crisis to Victory) by A. V. Olson, they are repeated here. One sermon and portions of another not found in Thirteen Crisis Years have been added as well. We have made every endeavor to make this collection as complete as possible; however, if a pertinent sermon, letter, or manuscript has been inadvertently overlooked and comes to our attention later, it will be added to any subsequent printings of these materials.1888 4.1

This collection is not a compendium on the subject of righteousness by faith. Ellen White preached often on justification and sanctification by faith in the years following 1888, but only those sermons in which reference was made to the Minneapolis conference are included here. The reader is referred to the Ellen G. White book Faith and Works and the E. G. White Review and Herald Articles for additional presentations on the subject of Christ and His righteousness.1888 4.2

We regret that a number of pages are barely legible, but these are the best copies that could be made from the documents as they exist in our files. We feel it is better to make these materials available now, in their present condition, than to wait till some future date when grammatical editing and retyping can be done. All manuscripts and letters have their own pagination, though this has not always been reflected by the copy machine.1888 4.3

To all who seek to understand the 1888 event from God's perspective, we recommend the study of these letters, manuscripts, articles, and sermons. We believe they will serve as a helpful guide to every Seventh-day Adventist who desires to benefit from lessons our spiritual ancestors learned or failed to learn one hundred years ago.1888 5.1

The Trustees of the
Ellen G. White Estate.

October, 1987.