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- At the McDearmon Home
- The Plano Camp Meeting
- The Fluctuating Plans of James and Ellen White
- Working at Home in Denison, Texas
- Miss Marian Davis Joins the White Forces
- The Home Situation
- Outreach in Missionary Endeavor
- Evangelism in Nearby Communities
- Texas, a Needy Field of Labor
- Preparing for the Exodus from Texas
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- A New President for Battle Creek College
- The College Problems Enumerated
- New Schools in the East and the West
- The Healdsburg School
- Ellen White Finds a Home Base
- The Battle Creek Church, Uriah Smith, and the Testimonies
- The Fourth of July Picnic
- The E. G. White Home in the Town of Healdsburg
- Healed at the Camp Meeting
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- Early Writings of Ellen G. White
- New Year's Day, 1883
- Holiday Articles in the Review and Signs
- Practical Gift Suggestions
- Spirit of Prophecy, Volume 4
- Instructed to Trace the History of the Controversy
- Chapters Published in Signs of the Times
- The Relation of Ellen White's Articles to D'Aubigne
- Sketches from the Life of Paul
- The Call for an Ellen G. White Lesson Help
- Testimonies for the Church, Volumes 1 to 4
- The General Conference on Record Regarding Inspiration
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- The Meetings in Sweden
- The Conference Session
- The Two Weeks in Christiania
- Dealing Carefully and Firmly with the Church Situation
- The Week in Denmark
- The European Missionary Council
- The Week-Long Council Meeting
- Evangelistic Labor in Nimes, France
- The Visit to the Watch Factory
- The Third Visit to Italy
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- News of D. M. Canright's Final Defection
- Writing Letters and Preparing Book Manuscript
- Visit to Zurich
- Starting on the Long Journey Home
- Meetings at Vohwinkel
- The Meetings in Copenhagen
- First European Camp Meeting at Moss, Norway
- The Fifth Session of the European Council
- The Well-Attended Meetings in Sweden
- On to the British Mission
- The Illness of Mary K. White
- Across the Atlantic on the City of Rome
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- The Law in Galatians at Last Introduced
- Satan's Diverting Strategy
- The Landmarks and the Pillars
- Ellen White's Objective
- A Heart-Searching Appeal
- The Conference Session Closes on the Upbeat
- W. C. White's Appraisal
- W. C. White Acting General Conference President
- The Story that Contemporary Records Tell
- Righteousness by Faith Defined
- A Personal and Frail Experience
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- Her Resume of Labors Through 1889
- Michigan State Meeting at Potterville
- Ellen White's Sixty-First Birthday
- The Remarkable Revival in Battle Creek
- The Revival at South Lancaster
- Revivals Across the Land
- The Williamsport Camp Meeting
- The 1889 General Conference Session
- E. G. White Review Articles Tell The Story
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- Attention Turned to the Great Controversy
- An Enlightening Experience
- Experience in Europe Benefited the Book
- Enlargement of Chapter on Huss
- Deletion of Materials Especially Intended for Adventists
- The Great Controversy Finished at Healdsburg
- Materials Quoted from Historians
- Patriarchs and Prophets
- Life Sketches of James and Ellen G. White
- Testimonies for the Church,
- Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene
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- Consolidation of Denominational Interests
- Opening the Way for the Enemy to Control
- Reading and Working in Battle Creek
- Schools for Ministers
- Early-Morning Devotionals Drew Large Attendance
- Ellen White's Bold Testimony Bears Fruit
- The Backbone of Rebellion Broken
- The Spirit of Prophecy the Real Issue
- A Statement Clarifying Issues
- What is the Evidence?
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- The 1891 General Conference Session
- Religious Interest at a High Point
- References to the Salamanca Vision
- Instructed to Tell what She Saw at Salamanca
- Ellen White's Report
- An Abundance of Testimony
- The Experience Brought Unity
- General Conference Business
- Uriah Smith's Spirit of Prophecy Sermon
- Ellen White Asks for Time
- The Question of Consolidation
- Cheering, Positive Attitudes
- Ellen G. White Following the Session
- Ellen White Shared in Carriage Accident
- To Go or Not To Go
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A New President for Battle Creek College
A change in administration at the college that thrust Dr. A. McLearn to the front greatly hastened the degenerating trend. McLearn was placed at the head of Battle Creek College in July, 1881, and school started in the autumn. The move was a hasty one, the result of the resignation, for health reasons, of Sidney Brownsberger. McLearn only recently had been baptized as a Seventh-day Adventist. He was highly educated along conventional lines (holding the degree of Doctor of Divinity). But he had no acquaintance with either the history of the Seventh-day Adventists or the philosophy of their educational work.3BIO 188.3
This new man had become known to church leaders back in early June, on a Sabbath morning at the Spring Arbor camp meeting. James White, in the Review, wrote of it:3BIO 188.4
Brother McLearn arose and stated that he was but a young convert, and knew nothing of the past of which others had spoken. The truth was all light to him, and he saw no cause for discouragement. Brother McLearn is a highly educated Christian gentleman. He has made great sacrifices in coming with us. We should be pleased to see him holding a position of importance in the cause.—The Review and Herald, June 7, 1881.3BIO 188.5
Unwisely for himself and the cause, he was placed in such a position in less than two months, much too soon.3BIO 188.6
The college did not have dormitories. Students boarded with families in the community or on their own. This exacerbated problems of discipline. Hosts, naturally inclined to sympathize with and to accredit the reports of the respective students who boarded with them, took sides on school-related issues. This brought divisions in the Battle Creek church, itself a church without a pastor.3BIO 188.7
Goodloe Bell, virtually the founder and father of the school, remained as a teacher. He was an excellent educator, but he lacked good public relations. His insistence on thoroughness of drill, his concepts of methods of education, and his devotion to principles on which the college was founded were in marked contrast with the liberal, compromising policies of McLearn.3BIO 189.1
Ellen White described the situation in Battle Creek in July, 1881, just before McLearn took over as principal.3BIO 189.2
I have been shown that there are unruly tongues among the church members at Battle Creek. There are false tongues that feed on mischief. There are sly, whispering tongues. There is tattling, impertinent meddling, adroit quizzing. Among the lovers of gossip, some are actuated by curiosity, others by jealousy, many by hatred against those through whom God has spoken to reprove them. All these discordant elements are at work. Some conceal their real sentiments, while others are eager to publish all they know, or even suspect, of evil against another.3BIO 189.3
I saw that the very spirit of perjury that would turn truth into falsehood, good into evil, and innocence into crime is now active, doing a work which savors of hell rather than of heaven. Satan exults over the condition of God's professed people. While they are neglecting their own souls, many eagerly watch for an opportunity to criticize and condemn one to whom God has entrusted responsibilities in his work. All have defects of character, and it is not hard to find something that jealousy can interpret to his injury.—Testimony for the Battle Creek Church, 80.3BIO 189.4
In such an atmosphere, and with the contrasting positions of two prominent men in the college, the conservative Bell was crowded out. He was not without some weaknesses and defects, of course. The published 1872 Testimony to the Church at Battle Creek, based on Ellen White's vision of December 10, 1871, makes this clear. But he was also the subject of many words of commendation from Ellen White, of which the following is typical:3BIO 189.5
The Lord has shown me the value of Brother Bell's labors. The Lord has commended his thoroughness as a teacher, both in the college and in the Sabbath school. When it was suggested that Brother Bell travel and labor in the Sabbath school interest in different States, I said at once that I did not see how he could be spared from the college.—Ibid., 31.3BIO 190.1