The Question—Shall We Publish?

As Ellen White on October 22 read the eight-page letter from the president of the General Conference telling of the bewildering reports from Battle Creek that were reaching the field, a heavy burden rolled onto her heart. Her diary for the next three days tells the story:6BIO 62.1

October 23: I have not had a night of sleep but a night of much prayer. The cause of God is in peril as Dr. Kellogg and those who are deceived with him are prompted by the same spirit which led to rebellion in the heavenly courts.6BIO 62.2

October 24: I thank the Lord with heart and soul and voice I have slept well during the night, notwithstanding I carry a heavy burden for the responsible men of Battle Creek.6BIO 62.3

October 24: This has been a day of distress of soul, represented to me by some things I shall trace upon paper. My heart is wrung with anguish.6BIO 62.4

W. C. White and his mother have had a praying season and it has seemed we were, as represented to me, in a strong current, trying to swim against the tide.—Manuscript 177, 1905.6BIO 62.5

Then she mentions one of the points of criticism:6BIO 62.6

I learn reports are circulated that W. C. White manipulates his mother's writings.

All have known how much W. C. White manipulates his mother's writings, when he has been separated from me very much of the time for the years before this year 1905, and we have, when we could get together, planned much and done so little in issuing books. But I utterly deny the charges.— Ibid.6BIO 62.7

The charge of manipulation on the part of W. C. White would be one of the major ones emerging from Battle Creek for months to come. Kellogg and his cohorts were foremost in advancing it. A great deal concerning the Battle Creek situation had been written by Ellen White to church leaders and others, but the question with her was, When should it be broadcast generally? She explained the delay:6BIO 62.8

I thought I would take up this matter before, but light came that Dr. Kellogg, united with his associates, was doing a special work. Their plans were being laid, and I was to allow them to make the first move; for then there would be a necessity to “meet it,” and I would be saved from much blame.—Letter 322, 1905. (Italics supplied.)6BIO 63.1

The announcement in the September issue of the Medical Missionary, published in Battle Creek, of plans to launch the “university” in Battle Creek, was the “first move.” Two years before, steps being taken to open Battle Creek College were laid aside because of Ellen White's clear counsel. Now the counsel itself was laid aside, and articles and catalogs proclaimed the opening of a number of schools—virtually a university (AGD to WCW, Oct 12, 1905).6BIO 63.2