IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITH
The
Truth About Seventh-day Adventists
A
REPLY TO CANRIGHT
by
William
H. Branson
16. THE WORK OF MRS. E. G.
WHITE
ONE Of Mr. Canright's
most bitter attacks is launched against the life and work of Mrs. E. G.
White, who, until the
time of her death, was a respected, beloved worker in the Seventh-day
Adventist
Church. He devotes an
entire chapter to her, and frequently attacks her in other chapters.
Besides, there was
published under his
name, just about the time of his death, a volume of 201 pages devoted
entirely to an
effort to discredit her
work.
We do not hesitate to
say that Seventh-day Adventists recognize in Mrs. E. G. White's work a
special manifestation
of the gift of the Spirit spoken of in the Bible as the Spirit of
prophecy. (See
Revelation 19:10.) Nor
is this a strange or new doctrine, since among the spiritual gifts
promised to the
church, and ranking
with apostles, evangelists, teachers, etc., is the gift of prophecy, and
its work has been
recognized by the
church in all ages.
Thus Paul speaks of
these gifts as follows: Now you are the body of Christ, and members
in
particular. And God
bath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets,
thirdly teachers, after
that miracles, then
gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 1
Corinthians 12:27, 28.
In speaking of the last
stage of the church of Christ, John the revelator describes it and the
experience of its
members thus: The dragon was wroth with the woman [the church], and
went to make
war with the remnant of
her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of
Jesus
Christ. Revelation
12:17.
The church of God, here
spoken of as a remnant, and against whom the dragon (Satan) will be
especially angry in the
last days, was foreseen as a commandment-keeping company who would have
the
testimony of Jesus
Christ. if we inquire as to what is meant by the testimony of
Jesus, we find an
answer to our query in
Revelation 19:10, where the angel, (Gabriel) clearly explained to John
that the
testimony of Jesus is
the Spirit of prophecy. These two characteristics will therefore
distinguish the true
remnant church of God
in the latter end of the history of the world. Its members will be
commandment
keepers, and the Spirit
of prophecy will be manifested among them.
To this also agree the
words of Paul' recorded in 1 Corinthians 1:54: That irk everything
you are
enriched by Him, in all
utturance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was
confirmed in
you: so that you come
behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let it be noted that as
the church waits for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, she is
to come
behind in no gift.
Therefore, all the gifts of the Spirit are to be found in her. And lest
there should be a
question about the gift
of prophecy, this is especially mentioned by the inspired writer:
Even as the
testimony of Christ was
confirmed in you. Verse 6. And the testimony of Jesus is the
Spirit of prophecy,
or the prophetic gift.
Seventh-day Adventists
believe that this gift of the Spirit was early manifested among them
through the work and
writings of Mrs. White. They believe that just as in past ages God
raised up prophets
and messengers to
perform a special work for the church, and to counsel and warn God's
people in times of
special peril and need,
so He raised up Mrs. White and bestowed upon her the gift of prophecy;
and that He
has used her life and
work to bless and unify the church.
Someone perchance may
be ready to say, Then you have another Bible. We answer, No. That
God sends special
counsel, admonition, and help through some specially chosen servant is
no evidence that
the Bible is thus added
to or taken from. Were there not prophets and prophetesses in the
apostolic church
who gave counsel and
instruction to the church in their day, but whose writings did not
become a part of
the Bible?
Luke tells us of one
'Philip the evangelist, and says of his family, The same man had
four
daughters, virgins,
which did prophesy. Acts 21:9. Here, then, in the early church, were
four prophetesses
from one family. And
while it is definitely stated that they exercised their gift and did
prophesy, yet no
prophecy of theirs is
recorded in the Bible.
In 1 Chronicles 29:29,
30, we read of two other prophets whom God raised up to do a work of
local import, who wrote
books, and whose influence extended over Israel and over all the
kingdoms of the
countries round about,
and yet whose writings form no part of the Bible, which was handed down
to
succeeding ages. Now
the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in
the book of
Samuel the seer, and in
the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer, with
all his reign
and his might, and. the
times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of
the
countries.
Why should Nathan the
prophet or Gad the seer have written books under inspiration of God, and
then the books be
allowed to be lost? We answer, Because God desired to give to the church
in that day
special counsel and
instruction, warnings and entreaties that applied especially to that
time and age, and
that would not be
present truth, to succeeding ages.
The Bible contains the
revealed will of God, and if followed, is sufficient to furnish men
thoroughly unto all
good works. (See 2 Timothy 3:16,17.) It contains all the instruction
necessary to
salvation. But the
difficulty is that men ate so prone to wander away from the written word
and ignore its
silent witness, that it
has been necessary from time to time for God to raise up an Elijah to
call the people
back to the worship of
the true God and the keeping of His commandments, and to destroy the
heresies
brought into the church
by the priests of Baal. (See 1 Kings 18:17-4l).
Such is the work God
has done through Mrs. White, and for this cause she was raised up. Her
appeal was ever to the
Bible. Her entire life was spent in a supreme effort to lead men to a
clear
understanding of the
Book of God. She never claimed verbal inspiration for her writings; but
she claimed
that through the gift
of the Spirit special light was shed upon the written word, and this has
been written out
in her own words and
given to the church and the world for their edification.
We dare say that no
candid person can read through one of the many volumes from her pen
without being
constrained to admit that thus many old familiar Bible texts are made to
shine forth with new
brilliancy and that
many obscure passages have become clear and understandable. New rays of
light are
thus received, not
because they are found in Mrs. White's writings, but because they now
clearly shine forth
from the Old Book. It
is not a new or additional Bible that the church needs today, but
inspired counsel that
can help the befogged
minds of the people of the world to grasp the glorious truths of the
Bible we have.
Does someone reason
that this gift is no longer necessary to the church? We inquire then,
What
mean the words of Peter
when he said: It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I
will pour out My
Spirit upon all flesh:
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men
shall see
visions, and your old
men shall dream dreams: and on My servants and on My hand maidens I will
pour out
in those days of My
Spirit; and they shall prophesy? Acts 2:17, 18.
Here is a positive
statement that the gift of prophecy will be seen in the church in the
last days.
And why not? Has God
entirely removed Himself from His people? Is He not as able today as in
former
times to give them
needed counsel, reproof, and encouragement? Has the channel of
communication
between heaven and
earth become so obstructed that nothing more can flow through? We think
not, for in
these last days of
abounding iniquity God will have, as He has had in former ages, a
glorious church, not
having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing; but . . . holy and without blemish
(Ephesians 5:27), and He
promises to enrich it
with all utterance, and all knowledge, through the full
bestowal of the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. Thus the
church will come behind in no gift, as it waits for the coming
of our Lord Jesus
Christ. (See 1
Corinthians 1:5-7.)
When Mr. Canright was
preaching for the Seventh day Adventists, he was well aware that they
made a distinction
between the Bible and the writings of Mrs. White. And while still among
them he wrote
a clear testimony to
that effect. Here it is:
Right here let me
say that we do not throw away the Bible, and take Mrs. White's visions
instead. No; if
there is a class' of
people under heaven who believe the Bible strongly, who love it
devotedly, who study it
and go to it for
everything, it is Seventh-day Adventists. Here is our storehouse of
doctrine and truth. We
preach this everywhere
and always. We have no other authority. We go to this to test and prove
the
genuineness of Sister
White's labors and visions. If they did not harmonize with this in every
particular, we
would reject them. It
is wicked for men to cry, 'The Bible, the Bible, the Bible,' and profess
to follow that
implicitly when they
reject one of the plainest doctrines of the Bible, -the doctrine of
spiritual gifts. Of
course, I have no time
here to take up an argument on spiritual gifts, or enter into a lengthy
statement of her
[Mrs. White's] labors,
their nature, etc. We believe, however, that no doctrine of the Bible is
plainer than
that of the perpetuity
of spiritual gifts, and particularly that these gifts are to be restored
in the last days.
Joel 2:28-32; Rev.
12:17; 19:10; 1 Thess. 5:1-21, etc. D. M. CANRIGHT in Review and
Herald, April 19,
1877.
In his later statement
that they [Seventh-day Adventists] have another Bible, just the same
as the Mormons
have Adventism
Renounced, p. 136), Mr. Canright stands convicted by his former
testimony. It seems
difficult to believe
that he was not willfully misrepresenting the facts as to the
distinction well understood
by the Seventh-day
Adventists between the Bible and Mrs. White's writings.
Mrs. White has
published to the world her own estimate of the absolute and final
authority of the
Scriptures, and of the
'relationship of her writings to the Bible. The following is from her
pen:
In His word, God has
committed to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy
Scriptures are to
be accepted as an
authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard
of character, the
revealer of doctrines,
and the test of experience. 'Every scripture inspired of God is also
profitable for
teaching, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man
of God may be
complete, furnished
completely unto every good work.' 2 Tim. 3:16, 17, R.V.
Yet the fact that
God has revealed His will to men through His word, has not rendered
needless the
continued presence and
the guiding of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit was promised
by our
Savior, to open the
word to His servants, to illuminate and apply its teachings. And since
it was the Spirit of
God that inspired the
Bible, it is impossible that the teaching of the Spirit should ever be
contrary to that of
the word.
The Spirit was not
given-nor can it ever be bestowed -to supersede the Bible; for the
Scriptures
explicitly state that
the word of God is the standard by which all teaching and experience
must be tested.
Says the apostle John,
'Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
because many
false prophets are,
gone out into the world.' 1 John 4:1. And Isaiah declares, 'To the law
and to the
testimony: if they
speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them.' Isa. 8:20. The
Great Controversy, p.
vii.
Mrs. White always
emphatically declared that her writings were not to be, considered an
addition to the
Word of God, and that
anyone who claims this for them puts them in a false light. Her
Testimonies were
intended to bring men
to a clearer understanding of the Scriptures. On one occasion she
wrote:
`Brother R. would
confuse the mind by seeking to make it appear that the light God has
given through the
Testimonies is an
addition to the word of God; but in this he presents the matter in a
false light. God has
seen fit in this manner
to bring the minds of His people to His word, to give them a clearer
understanding
of it.' 'The word of
God is sufficient to enlighten the most beclouded mind, and may be
understood by those
who have any desire to
understand it. But notwithstanding all this, some who profess to make
the word of
God their study, are
found living in direct - opposition to its plainest teachings. Then, to
leave men and
women without excuse,
God gives plain and pointed Testimonies, bringing them back to the word
that they
have neglected to
follow.' 'The word of God abounds in general principles for the
formation of correct
habits of living, and
the Testimonies, general and personal, have been calculated to call
their attention more
especially to these
principles.'
Testimonies for the
Church, vol. 5, pp. 663, 664.
MRS. WHITE'S CHARACTER AND WORK
In his book Mr.
Canright makes damaging statements regarding the character and
personality of
Mrs. White. Before
quoting some of these, let us note a former statement regarding her
character and work,
written by him before
he left the ' Seventh-day Adventists. The following was written by Mr.
Canright in
1877, while he was
still an Adventist:
As to the Christian
character of Sister White, I beg leave to say that I think I know
something
about it. I have been
acquainted with Sister White for eighteen years, more than half the
history of our
people. I have been in
their family time and again sometimes weeks at a, time. They have been
in our house
and family many times.
I have traveled with them almost everywhere; have been with them in
private and
in public, in meeting
and out of meeting, and have had the very best chances to know something
of the life,
character, and spirit
of Brother and Sister White. As a minister, I have had to deal with all
kinds of persons,
and all kinds of
character, till I think I can judge something of what a person is, at
least after years of
intimate acquaintance.
I know Sister White
to be an unassuming, modest, kindhearted, noble woman. These traits in
her
character are not
simply put on and cultivated, but they spring gracefully and easily from
her natural
disposition. She is not
self-conceited, self-righteous, and self important, as fanatics always
are. I have
frequently come in
contact with fanatical persons, and I have always found them to be full
of pretentions,
full of pride, ready to
give their opinion, boastful of their holiness, etc. But I have ever
found Sister White
the reverse of all
this. Any one, the poorest and the humblest, can go to her freely for
advice and comfort
without being repulsed.
She is ever looking after the needy, the destitute, and the suffering,
providing for
them, and pleading
their cause. I have never formed an acquaintance with any persons who so
constantly
have the fear of God
before them. Nothing is undertaken without earnest prayer to God. She
studies God's
word carefully and
constantly. I have heard Sister White speak hundreds of times, have read
all her
Testimonies through and
through, most of them many times, and I have never been able to find one
immoral sentence in the
whole of them, or anything that is not strictly pure and Christian;
nothing that leads
away from the Bible, or
from Christ; but there I find the most earnest appeals to obey God, to
love Jesus, to
believe the Scriptures,
and to search them constantly. I have received great spiritual benefit
times without
number, from the
Testimonies. Indeed, I never read them without feeling reproved for my
lack of faith in
God, lack of devotion,
and lack of earnestness in saving souls. If I have any judgment, any
spiritual
discernment, I
pronounce the Testimonies to be of the same Spirit and of the same tenor
as the Scriptures.
For thirty years
these Testimonies have been believed and read among our people. How has
it
affected them? Has it
led them away from the law of God? Has it lead them to give up faith in
Christ? Has
it led them to throw
aside the Bible? Has it led them to be a corrupt, immoral people? I know
that they will
compare favorably with
any other Christian denomination. One thing I have remarked, and that
is, that the
most bitter opponents
of the visions of Sister White admit that she is a Christian. How they
can make this
admission is more than
I know. They try to fix it up by saying that she is deceived. They are
not able to put
their finger upon a
single stain in all her life, nor an immoral sentence in all her
writings. They have to
admit that much of her
writings are excellent, and that whoever would live out all she says
would be a good
Christian, sure of
heaven. This is passing strange if she is a tool of the devil, inspired
by Satan, or if her
writings are immoral or
the vagaries of her own mind. Review and Herald, April 26, 1877.
This earnest tribute to
the character of Mrs. White, based on an intimate acquaintance of
eighteen
years, was written by
Mr. Canright in 1877. In 1885 he again bore testimony to his confidence
in the
integrity of Mrs.
White's work:
The tendency and
influence of the Testimonies is not, like the teachings of Spiritualist
mediums,
to lead away from the
Bible, away from God, and away from faith in Christ; nor, like
Mormonism, to lead
to sensuality,
dishonesty, and crime; but they lead to faith in the Holy Scriptures,
devotion to God, and a
life of humility and
holiness. Can a corrupt tree bear good fruit? Jesus said not. What is a
tree known by?
Its fruit. Here is a
tree which has been standing among us for forty years, and bearing
fruit. What has been
the nature of that
fruit? What have been its effects upon those who have partaken the most
of it?
It seems to me now
that no one who has ever felt the power of the Spirit of God upon his
own
heart can candidly read
through the four volumes of 'Spirit of Prophecy' without being deeply
convicted
that the writer must
live very near to God, and be thoroughly imbued with the same Spirit
that inspired the
Bible, and animated the
apostles and prophets. Such lofty thoughts of God, of heaven, and 'of
spiritual
things cannot come from
a carnal heart, nor from a mind deceived and led by Satan. . . .
You certainly know
that our people hold all the cardinal doctrines of salvation, -faith in
God, the
Bible, Jesus Christ,
repentance, a holy life, etc. Isn't this safe? You know that Sister
White and all our
ministers not only so
teach, but exert all their influence to have our people live lives of
devotion, of
honesty, of purity, of
love, of plainness, of sacrifice, and of every Christian virtue. You
know that every sin
is condemned among our
people, and the most solemn warnings are constantly given against even
the
appearance of evil. You
know that in almost every church of our people there are at least some
who are
living blameless
Christian lives. You know that there is not one immoral doctrine taught
or practiced by our
people. Bad men and
poor examples there are, to be sure; but they are such in spite of all
our efforts to
make them better. You
know that if any man will strictly live up to the teachings of the
Testimonies and
our people, he will
certainly be saved. Ibid., Feb. 10, 1885.
These testimonials
regarding Mrs. White and her writings express the sum of his
convictions
resulting from
twenty-six out of the twenty-eight years of his labors among the
Seventh-day Adventists.
What shall we say
regarding the consistency of entirely opposite statements, when we are
asked to accept
his derogatory
caricature of this same individual, written just a few years later? At
that time he declared:
I long studied Mrs.
White to determine for myself her real character till her case is clear
to my mind.
Seventh day Adventism
Renounced, p. 137.
Let us note a few of
his most flagrant contradictions on this point. From his volume under
review we quote
the following
statements published in 1889. Mr. Canright the Baptist speaking:
She has a harsh,
uncharitable spirit.... Her severity and harshness have driven many to
despair.' Ibid., p.
160.
In 1877 Mr. Canright
the Adventist said:
I know Sister White
to be an unassuming, modest, kindhearted, noble woman. These traits in
her character
are not simply put on
and cultivated, but they spring gracefully and easily from her natural
disposition.
In 1889 he said she
is simply a religious enthusiast, and a fanatic, and is always
telling what great things
she has done.
Hear her laud herself.
In 1877 he testified of
her:
She is not
self-conceited, self-righteous, and self-important, as fanatics always
are. .'. . I have ever found
Sister White the
reverse of all this.
Of her writings he
said, in 1889:
These inspired
'Testimonies' now embrace ten bound volumes. Thus they have another
Bible, just the
same as the Mormons
have.' Seventh-day Adventism Renounced, p. 136.
In 1877 he said of
these same writings that there is nothing that leads away from the
Bible, or from
Christ; and in 1885,
just four years before he wrote his renunciation of Adventism, he added:
The
tendency and influence
of her Testimonies is not, like the teachings of Spiritualist mediums,
to lead away
from the Bible, away
from God, and away from faith in Christ; nor like Mormonism.
Now we submit to our
readers that Mr. Canright could not have been sincere in both instances
when these
conflicting statements
were made about the character and work of the same person. If he was
sincere in his
published utterances
regarding Mrs. White in 1877, when he claims to have had eighteen years'
acquaintance with her,
and in 1885, at which time his acquaintance had lengthened to twenty-six
years,
then he could not have
been sincere in 1889 when he clearly contradicted all that he had
previously written
of her. On the other
hand, if he was sincere in his later statements, it surely proves
insincerity on his part in
what he had formerly
said.
Mr. Canright, after
renouncing Adventism, also said of Mrs. White:
Mrs. White received
no school education, except a few weeks when a child. She, like Joanna
Southcott,
Ann Lee, and Joseph
Smith, was wholly illiterate, not knowing the simplest rules of
grammar. Ibid., P. 35.
What he failed to tell
in connection with his portrayal of Mrs. White's gross ignorance, is how
such a person managed
to produce ten bound volumes which he calls the Seventh-day
Adventist Bible.
Usually persons in such
a terrible state of mind and body, and with only a few weeks' schooling,
do not
become great authors.
After Mr. Canright
published his book, this same woman continued to write and publish until
the
number of volumes
produced by her increased to thirty-six, besides hundreds of articles
published in
religious journals, and
many tracts and pamphlets. Her published volumes include some enlarged
revisions
of earlier
publications, and when laid flat and stacked one on top of another, make
a column higher than a
man's head.
Many of her writings
are highly regarded by Christians of all denominations. Her little
volume
Steps to Christ ranks
among the best sellers of religious books published in modern times, and
has been
translated into more
than a score of languages. Her large Conflict of the Ages
Series-Patriarchs and
Prophets, Prophets and
Kings, The Desire of Ages, Acts of the Apostles, and The Great
Controversy -are
studied by many
ministers of other churches, and pronounced by them to be among the most
helpful
commentaries.
Her work
Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, has brought blessings to thousands.
Her
volume Gospel Workers
insists upon a standard of purity and holiness for the ministry
unsurpassed by any
other publication, and
the volumes of counsels to the church, of which Mr. Canright speaks,
have brought
light and courage, as
well as instruction and reproof, to their many readers.
Mrs. White's books on
the principles of Christian education, written for the guidance of
teachers in
the denominational
colleges and schools, have been commended by educators of the world. The
head of
one training college
for teachers, in one of the world's greatest cities, gave many copies of
the book
Education to his
graduates, recommending it as the best book he knew on educational
principles. In one
country the staff of
the university brought out the book Education in part, translating it
from the English,
and the university
issued it for the benefit of educators.
Strange, this! An
ignorant, sickly woman, with a bad temper, starts on a mission of
deception, gets
a following of People
as illiterate as herself, and then, behold, she becomes a well known
author, producing
some of the most prized
religious books; goes on long lecture tours through many countries of
the world,
where thousands hang on
her gracious words and are led to Christ through her labors. And
stranger still,
these ignorant
followers of hers start colleges in all continents, conduct a Grade A
medical school, operate
sanitariums and large
publishing houses in many lands, become noted for their piety, and
extend their
missions to nearly all
countries of the earth. One would hardly have expected such excellent
results from
such an inauspicious
beginning.
Shortly before Mr.
Canright's change of church affiliation from the Seventh-day Adventist
to the
Baptist, he gave the
following unsolicited testimonial for one of these books:
I have read many
books, but never one which has interested me so intensely and impressed
me so
profoundly as Volume IV
of 'The Great Controversy,' by Sister White. . . . The historical part
is good, but
that which was of the
most intense interest to me, was the last part, beginning with 'The
Origin of Evil.' The
ideas concerning the
nature and attributes of God, the character of Christ, and the rebellion
of Lucifer in
heaven, carry with them
their own proof of inspiration. They moved the depths of my soul as
nothing else
ever did. I feel that I
have a new and higher conception of the goodness and forbearance of God,
the awful
wickedness of Satan,
and the tender love of Christ. I wish everybody could read it, whether
of our people or
not. Get it, brethren,
and read it care fully. Review and Herald, Jan. 6, 1885, P. 9.
We believe that to the
unbiased reader it will already be apparent that in his eagerness to
deal Seventh-day
Adventists a fatal
blow, Mr. Canright has caricatured the picture of Mrs. White. The things
he says of her
now, and the facts of
her life work and influence as recognized by himself in earlier years,
cannot be
harmonized.
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