A Pioneer Speaks

One of the pioneer workers in the advent movement was J. H. Waggoner. His keen analytical style of writing and preaching suggested that he must have been a lawyer before coming into the ministry. But the fact was, he had been editor of a newspaper. He wrote this paragraph in 1887:SPIAM 114.2

“These ‘Testimonies’ are not the productions of the mind of the one who writes them. This affirmation is stronger than any question of mere reasoning or external proof; there are scores and hundreds who know it is true. Indeed, there is no one who has had anything like a close connection with, or knowledge of, this work for a period of ten or twenty years, who does not know that this is true.SPIAM 114.3

“When the king of Syria accused his servants of treachery [revealing his plans to the king of Israel], one of them said: ‘Elisha the prophet that is in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.’ 2 Kings 6:12. No one could possibly claim that such communications to the king of Israel were the productions of Elisha’s own mind. No one can, by the mere moving of his mind, tell the words of another that are spoken in secret; much less can he tell the unexpressed thoughts of his heart. But this has been done by the writer of the ‘Testimonies for the Church.’ Many can rise up and testify to the truthfulness of what is here said, and many knew the same fact who are fallen asleep.”—The Review and Herald, May 3, 1887.SPIAM 114.4

Those who have been connected with general executive affairs have seen this fact illustrated again and again. It was a matter of common knowledge and experience.SPIAM 114.5