“In Divers Manners”

The Word of God abounds in references to visions, but rarely do we find a description of just what took place in connection with their reception. In the writings of Mrs. E. G. White there are also numerous references to visions, yet rarely did she speak of the circumstances of the visions.EGWMR 5.3

It seems clear that no one set of facts can be related as constituting an invariable description of the circumstances connected with the visions given to God’s prophets. Nor can any one rule be formulated by which we may determine the manner in which the light of divine origin was imparted to God’s messengers, to be given in turn by them to others. Not a few, having read or heard a vivid description of the physical phenomena accompanying certain of the visions, have assumed that all were given in the same manner. A study of the question reveals that “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past ... by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1), did not alter His methods in speaking to the remnant church through His chosen messenger for the last days.EGWMR 5.4

As it is the purpose of this and the succeeding chapters to deal particularly with the manifestation of the prophetic gift in the Seventh-day Adventist, or remnant, Church, the Scripture record will only occasionally be cited, and reference, in the main, will be confined to the experience of Mrs. E. G. White. We shall use such of her statements as seem to draw the curtain back and reveal, almost always in a casual or incidental way, the elements which, when pieced together, form an illuminating composite picture, instructive and helpful both in its detail and in its larger, over-all aspects. This E. G. White witness will be supplemented by the testimony of close associates, who have spoken of certain important features scarcely ever referred to by Mrs. White herself.EGWMR 5.5