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- Foreword
- About The Author
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- The Place Of The Vision In Confirming The Sanctuary Truth
- The Seventh-day Sabbath
- New Responsibilities
- Careers Changed
- Establishing The Pillars Of Faith
- The Volney Conference
- Bible Study Aided By Special Revelation
- Streams of Light (Story of the Publishing Work: Present Truth and the Review and Herald)
- The Eight-Page Present Truth
- Writing For The Press
- Beginning The Review and Herald
- Difficult Days in Paris
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- Establishing a Publishing Office in Rochester, New York
- The Publishing House Family
- The Tour East
- Publishing The Visions
- Ellen White's First Book
- Expanding By Tent Evangelism
- The Move To Battle Creek
- A Transition Evidencing The Maturity Of The Church
- The Review Office To Go To Battle Creek, Michigan
- A Power Press For The Review Office
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- The Battle Creek Conference
- The Autumn Trip East
- Guiding Toward Organization the Vital Need for Church Organization
- Initial Steps Toward Church Organization
- James White Joins In Calling For Gospel Order
- Need For Organization For Publishing Interests
- Adopting A Denominational Name
- Seventh-Day Adventists The Name Chosen
- Winning The Struggle For Church Organization
- Meeting Opposition
- Vision At Roosevelt, New York
- The Battle Creek Church Sets The Pace In Organizing
- The Formation Of The Michigan Conference
- Other States Organize
- Confessions Of Negative Attitudes
- The Call For A General Conference
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- The Battle Of Manassas
- Eyewitness Account
- The War And The Work Of The Church
- The Tide Begins To Turn
- Governor Blair's Reply
- A Call To Importune God To Stop The War
- The Devastating War Suddenly Ends
- The Clouds Of War And The White Family
- The Extended Eastern Tour In The Summer And Autumn Of 1863
- Diversified Activities In New England
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- The Otsego Vision
- General Counsels On Health
- First Visit To Dansville
- Active Teachers of Health Reform
- The Health Reformer
- Extremes Taught In The Health Reformer Bring Crisis
- Ellen White's Moderate Positions
- Lifesaving Therapy For The Health Reformer
- Practicing New Light
- Two of The Three White Children Stricken
- Henry: Death From Pneumonia
- Funeral Services In Topsham And Battle Creek
- Willie's Bout With Pneumonia
- Ellen White Tries The Meatless Diet
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- A Surprise Vacation In The Rocky Mountains
- Caravan to Hot Sulphur Springs
- Crossing The Continental Divide
- A Week at Hot Sulphur Springs
- Calls From California Cut Short The Vacation
- The Whites Discover California
- In San Francisco
- Tent Effort In San Francisco
- Organization Of The California Conference
- Interlude
- Back To Colorado
- At Home In Santa Rosa
- The First Issue Of The Signs Of The Times
- The Separation Ended
- James White Again In The Saddle
- Back In The East For Camp Meetings
- The Fourteenth Session Of The General Conference
- Looking Ahead
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- Ministry In The Bay Area
- Camp Meeting Versus Writing And Publishing
- Camp Meetings Again
- The Groveland Camp Meeting
- Pioneering In Texas
- At The McDearmon Home
- The Plano Camp Meeting
- Marian Davis Joins The White Forces
- The Home Situation
- Outreach In Missionary Endeavor
- Texas, A Needy Field Of Labor
- Trip By Caravan
- The Caravan Divides
- Still On The Caravan Trail
- On To Emporia
- The Kansas Camp Meeting
- The Health And Temperance Society
- Home Again In Battle Creek
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- Oh, To Know What To Do!
- Two Weeks In England
- On To Basel, Switzerland
- Organization Of The Work In Europe
- A Mini-General Conference
- A Profitable Council
- A Visit To Scandinavia
- Visit To Denmark
- A Visit To Sweden
- Christiania, Norway
- Return Trip To Switzerland
- The Visit To Italy
- Marian Davis Joins the Force
- Ellen White's Second Missionary Journey
- Sweden
- Norway—Christiania
- Denmark
- England
- France
- At Valence, France
- Third Visit To Italy
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- Haskell Pioneers Work In Australia
- The General Conference Takes Action
- To Go Or Not To Go
- Arrival At Sydney
- Recognized The Printing Presses
- Fourth Annual Session Of The Australian Seventh-Day Adventist Conference
- The Business Session Of The Conference
- A. G. Daniells Elected President
- Ellen White Begins Work In Melbourne
- Ellen White Anointed
- The Bible School Established
- The Bible School Opens
- Growing Stronger
- The Secret Signs
- N. D. Faulkhead And The Convincing Testimony
- Ellen White Gives The Secret Signs
- Faulkhead Resigns From The Lodges
- Another Interview With Ellen White
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- Voyage To New Zealand
- Ellen White Meets The Hare Family
- First SDA Camp Meeting In The Southern Hemisphere
- The Winter In New Zealand
- A Mother's Anxiety
- Dental Problems
- Determined To Win New Zealand
- A New Approach In Gisborne
- The Wellington Camp Meeting
- Evangelistic Thrust In Australia
- A Union Conference Is Born
- Far-Reaching Influence Of The Brighton Camp Meeting
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- The Brettville Estate
- Ellen White Explores The School Site
- Report To The Foreign Mission Board
- Making A Beginning
- Work At Cooranbong Brought To A Standstill
- Avondale College: On Hold
- Norfolk Villa In Granville
- Running A Free Hotel
- The Ashfield Camp Meeting
- A Wedding In The Family
- Tasmania
- Starting A College From Scratch
- The Manual Training Department Succeeds
- A Start With Buildings For Avondale College
- The Sawmill Loft Put To Use
- Setting A Target Date For Avondale College To Open
- Ellen White Calls A Work Bee
- The Avondale School Opens
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- The Health Home
- The Successful Treatment Of A Very Critical Case
- A School For Nurses
- Firm Plans For Erecting A Sanitarium
- A Surprise Move
- Medical Missionary Work At Cooranbong
- The Health Food Work
- The Medical And Surgical Sanitarium, And The Use Of Meat
- Long-Distance Counselor
- Meeting Offshoot Teachings
- Good News From America
- The Anna Phillips Experience
- J. H. Kellogg And The Medical Missionary Work
- Meeting The Inroads Of Pantheism
- Correspondence With G. I. Butler
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- The Paradise Valley Property
- The New Well
- The Glendale Sanitarium
- Loma Linda, The Hill Beautiful
- “I'll Consult No One,” Said Ellen White
- The Search For Money
- Ellen White Inspects Loma Linda
- The First $5,000 Payment
- Faith Rewarded: Meeting The Payments
- Two More Payments
- Dedication Of Loma Linda Sanitarium
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- More Than A Prophet
- The Seeds Of Unbelief
- Questions Calling For Careful Answers
- Who Manipulated Her Writings?
- The San Francisco Earthquake
- News Of The San Francisco Earthquake
- The Tour Of Ravaged San Francisco
- Consuming Fire That Followed The Earthquake
- Martial Law
- Destruction In The Central City
- Adventists And Adventist Properties
- The Earthquake Special Of The SIGNS
- The Trip Home To Elmshaven
- Finding A Site For Pacific Union College
- The Buena Vista Property
- The Angwin Property A Better Place
- Ellen White Describes The New School Property
- Faculty And Staff
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- Considerations Initiated By Plans For A New Edition
- Finding Sources For The Quotations
- Progress Report To Elder Daniells
- E. G. White Settles The Question Of The D'Aubigné Quotations
- Clarence Crisler's Testimony
- A Review Of What Was Done To The Book
- E. G. White Reads And Approves Changes
- Time Running Out; Important Counsels
- Book Preparation
- Ellen White's Last Trips To Loma Linda
- On Hand for The 1911 Constituency Meeting
- The Visit of Bookmen
- The General Conference Session Of 1913
- “Courage In The Lord”
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- Frequent Visitors
- Review and Signs Articles
- Her Eighty-Seventh Birthday
- The Accident and Its Aftermath
- The Vision of March 3
- Waning Strength And Death
- Ellen White At Rest; Awaiting The Life-Giver
- Funeral Notice
- The Richmond Funeral
- The Battle Creek Funeral
- The Funeral Service
- The Public Press
- “My Writings Will Constantly Speak”
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Guiding Toward Organization the Vital Need for Church Organization
As the number of believers increased, it became clear that there was a pressing need for some guidance and controls. Except for the messages that came from God through the visions given to Ellen White, there was no authoritative voice, no voice of an organization, to endorse doctrinal holdings or to certify to the integrity and the qualifications of those who chose to represent themselves as ministers to the Sabbathkeeping remnant. Some who felt called gave no real evidence of such a call. Some organization was needed.WV 71.5
One matter that required agreement was the time to begin the Sabbath. Joseph Bates was considered the father of the Sabbath truth. As captain of his own vessels, he had sailed far and wide and was acquainted with the matter of time-keeping in various parts of the world. It was his conclusion that time as kept at the equator, with sunset uniformly at 6:00 p.m., was the proper guide to Sabbathkeeping, regardless of season of the year or location. The Scriptures called for evening to mark the beginning of the new day, and the words “from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:32) were cited in support of this view. The April 21, 1851, issue of the Review carried a three-column article by Joseph Bates in support of the 6:00 time.WV 71.6
In the state of Maine in 1847-1848 some took the position that the Sabbath commenced at sunrise, quoting as support, Matthew 28:1: “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week” (see The Review and Herald, February 25, 1868). A vision given to Ellen White checked this error in principle, for the angel repeated the words of the scripture “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.”WV 72.1
There were a few who observed the Sabbath from sundown to sundown (JW to “My Dear Brother,” July 2, 1848; see also Ibid., February 25, 1868), but the majority stood with Bates, as did James and Ellen White. In June 1854 James White requested D. P. Hall in Wisconsin to study the matter and come up with an answer (Ibid., December 4, 1855).WV 72.2
When this request failed to yield fruit, he asked John Andrews to take his Bible and bring evidence to settle the question. Andrews prepared a paper on the matter. As he passed through Battle Creek with his parents in November on his way to Iowa, he left this in the hands of James White. The reading of this paper became the Sabbath morning Bible study at the conference in Battle Creek. From nine texts in the Old Testament and two from the New, Andrews demonstrated that “even” and “evening” of the Sabbath were identical with sunset (Ibid.).WV 72.3
As the paper was read that Sabbath morning, it could be seen that while the 6:00 time advocated by Bates was in principle not incorrect—for it called for beginning the Sabbath in the evening—in detail there was an error. Now with the position of sunset time so amply supported by Scripture evidence, all the congregations, which included the church's leaders, readily accepted the light and were prepared to shift their practice. All, that is, but two—Joseph Bates and Ellen White.WV 72.4
Bates's position had been generally accepted and defended. He was the venerable apostle of the Sabbath truth. He was unready to accept what had been presented by the youthful John Andrews, and he would stand in defense of his position. The vision given to Ellen White in 1848, correcting the sunrise time and confirming “evening time,” had nothing to say about the 6:00 time being in error.WV 72.5
Ellen White reasoned that the 6:00 time had been a matter of practice for nearly a decade. The Sabbath so kept had been a great blessing to her, and the angel had said nothing about its being in error. Must a change be made now? Thus matters stood through the rest of the Sabbath and through Sunday as the members met in conference, but this was a rather touchy point of division that was bound to widen as time went on. Then the God of heaven stepped in.WV 72.6
Of what took place Ellen White wrote:WV 72.7
November 20, 1855, while in prayer, the Spirit of the Lord came suddenly and powerfully upon me, and I was taken off in vision (Testimonies for the Church, 1:113).WV 73.1
Her attention was called to many points, among them the time to commence the Sabbath. She discussed the matter with the angel. This conversation was very enlightening:WV 73.2
I saw that it is even so: “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.” Said the angel: “Take the Word of God, read it, understand, and ye cannot err. Read carefully, and ye shall find what even is and when it is.”WV 73.3
I asked the angel if the frown of God had been upon His people for commencing the Sabbath as they had. I was directed back to the first rise of the Sabbath, and followed the people of God up to this time, but did not see that the Lord was displeased, or frowned upon them.WV 73.4
I inquired why it had been thus, that at this late day we must change the time of commencing the Sabbath. Said the angel: “Ye shall understand, but not yet, not yet.” Said the angel: “If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject.”WV 73.5
I saw that it was in the minds of some that the Lord had shown that the Sabbath commenced at six o'clock, when I had only seen that it commenced at “even,” and it was inferred that even was at six.WV 73.6
I saw that the servants of God must draw together, press together (Ibid., 1:116).WV 73.7
And they did. The vision set Ellen White and Joseph Bates straight, and they accepted the vision wholeheartedly. The matter of the time to begin the Sabbath was settled—settled on the basis of Bible study, confirmed by vision.WV 73.8