The Pocket Ellen G. White Dictionary

W

wagon, gospel —

wagon, gospel

A term used in conjunction with the wagon trains of the westward expansion and settlement of the United States. An individual wagon could take part in a wagon train, so Ellen G. White framed a spiritual analogy with similar language, such as joining a “gospel wagon.” During the 1890s, as urban centers in America grew, there were conscious attempts to use “a horse-drawn wagon decorated to attract attention and moved into a city to be used as a platform from which to present the message.” These gospel wagons were used by a variety of Christian groups, most notably by Dr. *J. H. Kellogg in conjunction with the Chicago Mission that he started there. Around 1899, Ellen G. White warned against large sums of money being spent on a gospel wagon ministry. While this was a noble

Waggoner, Ellet Joseph (1855—1916)

Physician and minister. After graduating from medical school in 1878, he briefly joined the staff of the *Battle Creek Sanitarium, but things did not work out. He then worked in ministry in Iowa. Ellen G. White rebuked him for his headstrong manners and inability to work well with others, which troubled his early ministry (4T 437—439). He moved to California, where he experienced a dramatic *conversion at the 1882 California camp meeting. He worked briefly at the Rural Health Retreat (later the St. Helena Sanitarium). By 1883, he switched to full-time ministerial work that included assisting his father, *J. H. Waggoner, in editing the Signs of the Times. *A. T. Jones joined the staff in 1885, and by mid-1886, they became coeditors. Waggoner is best known for his *revival message presented with Jones around the time of the *General Conference Session of 1888. Ellen G. White described the resistance to this message as the most difficult time period of her life. In the late 1890s, Waggoner was influenced by the *pantheism of Dr. *J. H. Kellogg. He subsequently apostatized from the denomination and left his wife to marry a nurse in England.

Waggoner, Joseph Harvey (1820—1889)

Minister, editor, and missionary. He was converted in 1851 and afterward was an itinerant evangelist. In 1878, he moved to California where he became the editor of Signs of the Times. Ellen G. White admonished both Waggoner and his wife, Mariette (1823—1908), due to their critical spirit. At various stages in their lives, both Mariette and Joseph experienced moral failings. After Joseph had an affair with Lottie Chittenden in California, he returned to Battle Creek, Michigan. Once

Waldenses or Waldensians

A group of ancient Christians from the Alps of northern Italy and southern France who coalesced during the medieval period. They are known for their preservation and translation of the *Bible. During the twelfth century, they became particularly well known under the reforms and leadership of Peter Waldo, a rich merchant from Lyon who adopted a strict life of simplicity and poverty. The Waldenses were excommunicated by Pope Lucius III in 1184 and faced a series of severe *persecutions. The narrative of the Waldensians occupies a prominent place in Ellen G. White’s history of the *great controversy conflict between Christ and Satan during the High Middle Ages (GC 65). See also Albigenses.

ward

A nineteenth-century term for a section of a prison or a jail (PP 408); also a hospital ward or a political division of a city.

water treatment

Medical treatments utilizing hot and cold water as a natural remedy.

weal or woe

Weal means to be in a healthy, sound, or prosperous state. Woe means to suffer challenges, poor health, or adversity. Both terms come from an old English expression. Ellen G. White warned that one of the important lessons from Solomon’s life is “the power of influence for good or for ill.” She stated that each person exerts “an influence for weal or woe” (PK 85). Similarly, a proper *education “is bound up [with] life’s weal or woe” (Ed 234).

Wesley, John (1703—1791)

Minister and revivalist; co-founder of the *Methodist movement that was a part of the transatlantic evangelical *revival. John and his brother Charles Wesley (1707—1788) were Armenians who believed in free will, as opposed to *John Calvin’s emphasis that only the elect are saved. It is difficult to overestimate the influence of Wesley and *Methodism in American religion. Methodism went from a modest movement in the mid-eighteenth century to the largest and most significant denomination in the first half of the nineteenth century. Ellen G. White grew up in a Methodist home with a strong Arminian focus. Many of her sensible values about *sanctification are a direct result of her Methodist understanding of the relationship between law and *grace. Despite the fact that Ellen and her family were disfellowshiped from the Chestnut Street *Methodist Church in Portland, Maine, for their *Second Advent views during the *Millerite revival, she appeared to have held a high regard for the core of Wesley’s theology, even though she was somewhat critical of American Methodism in general. See also Methodism.

W:stern Health Reform Institute

See Health Reform Institute.

White, Arthur Lacey (1907—1991)

Grandson of Ellen G. White, third son of *W. C. White, and secretary of the *Ellen G. White Estate Inc. (1937—1978). After the death of his father, he assisted in relocating the unpublished writings of Ellen G. White and other historical materials in the *Elmshaven vault to the General Conference headquarters in Takoma Park, Maryland. In retirement, he wrote a six- volume biography of Ellen G. White’s life.

White, Ellen Gould (Harmon) (1827—1915)

Visionary, church leader, and author. Ellen G. White was born

White Estate, Ellen G., Inc

Organization that was set up at the request of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to honor the wishes of Ellen G. White to create an organization, led by a board originally composed of five trustees, to preserve and promulgate her writings after her death.

White, Henry Nichols (1847—1863)

Oldest son of James and Ellen G. White. Henry was named after the family’s friend Henry Otis Nichols. He was born in Gorham, Maine, at a time when his parents were impoverished. Soon afterward the family moved in with Stockbridge and Louisa Howland. Ellen G. White, then nineteen years old, hoped to stay home more; but after a brief illness, she believed that God wanted her to travel and share the messages she received with the nascent Sabbatarian Adventist believers. For the first fi e years of his life, Henry lived with the Howland family. In 1863, after a period of spiritual renewal, Henry was baptized with a group of friends by his father, *James White, in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. Tragically, Henry died of pneumonia on December 8, 1863, after being treated with conventional *drugs. In Ellen G. White’s later years, she wished that at this early time she had known what she later did about *health reform: “If we had only known then what we know now, we could have saved Henry.”

White, James Edson (1849—1928)

The oldest surviving son of James and Ellen G. White, minister, and missionary.

White, James Springer (1821—1881)

Minister, publisher, author, and a cofounder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He was ordained as a Christian Connexion minister and became an itinerant Millerite preacher in Maine. After the *Great Disappointment, he met Ellen G. Harmon, became convinced of the genuineness of her visions, and assisted her in her travels. In 1846, they were married. Together they actively participated in a series of *Sabbatarian Conferences from 1848 to 1850, out of which the core theological framework of the Seventh-day Adventist Church came together. In 1848, Ellen G. White encouraged James to start publishing, which led to the publication of the Present Truth (1849) and the *Advent Review (1850), which were combined into the Review and Herald. After a series of moves, they relocated by 1855 to Battle Creek, Michigan. Once there, James White was a dynamic powerhouse behind the development of the fledgling denomination, especially with regard to choosing a name (1860), the formation of a publishing association (1861), and the organization of a General Conference (1863), among many other various aspects. After 1855, he turned over the editorship of the Review and Herald to Uriah Smith but remained actively involved in its publication as well as helping to develop and promote a wide variety of other Adventist periodicals and entities. Of special note was his poor health that led him and his wife, Ellen, to seek treatment at James C. Jackson’s “Our Home on the Hillside” in Dansville, New York. He afterward was a strong supporter of the Health Reform Institute, which became the *Battle Creek Sanitarium. James White was also a strong supporter of early Adventist education, not the least of which was so that his own children could benefit from the training of people such as *Goodloe Harper Bell. Tragically, James White died from malaria in 1881, which Ellen White attributed at least in part to his consistent tendency to overwork.

White, John Herbert (Sept. 20—Dec. 14, 1860)

Fourth and youngest son of James and Ellen G. White. He tragically developed *erysipelas.

White, William Clarence (1854—1937)

Third son of James and Ellen G. White, minister, administrator, and editor. Born in Rochester, New York, he grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he attended the fledgling school started by *Goodloe H. Bell, and was baptized at the age of twelve. He started his denominational employment at the Pacific Press Publishing Association. He married Mary Kelsey in 1876, and together they prepared for missionary service by attending *Battle Creek College. He held a variety of responsible positions in the *church, such as being elected to the General Conference Executive Committee in 1883. After the death of his father in 1881, he worked closely with his mother to support her ministry until her death in 1915. He traveled with her both to Europe (1885-1887) and Australia (1891-1900). After Mary’s death in 1890, he married Ethel May Lacey in Tasmania (1895). After his mother’s death, he was responsible for managing her literary estate, the *Ellen G. White Estate Inc.

Wolff, Joseph (1795-1862)

Missionary and author. A Jew who converted to Roman Catholicism, he eventually became a *Protestant missionary under the influence of Edward Irving. Ellen G. White regarded his missionary travels in which he promulgated his convictions about the *Second Coming as a prophetic fulfillment of a worldwide Advent awakening.

womanliness

In *Victorian America, this was a frequent reference to female *virtue. Ellen G. White counseled that young girls “should be taught that the true charm of womanliness is not alone in beauty of form or feature” but “in patience, generosity, kindness, and a willingness to do and suffer for others. They should be taught . . . to trust in God and fear Him” (CG 140). See also manliness.

wonted

Regular or habitual (PK 342).

work

Ellen G. White had a strong work ethic and believed that Christians should hold high, ethical work standards. At times she admonished some individuals for their laziness, and in other situations, people for workaholism. She often spoke of the “work of God” as God working through the ministry of the church, which today “extends over all the earth” (AA 337-338).

works, human

Ellen G. White repeatedly urged “the impossibility of fallen man meriting anything by his own best good works.” For her, “salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.” “If man cannot, by any of his good works, merit salvation, then it must be wholly of grace, received by man as a sinner because he receives and believes in Jesus. It is wholly a free gift” (3MR 420). But once a person is in a right relationship with God through justification by faith, “there is yet another work to be accomplished, and this is of a progressive nature. The soul is to be sanctified through the truth. And this also is accomplished through faith. For it is only by the grace of Christ, which we receive through faith, that the character can be transformed” (ST Nov. 3, 1890). These “good works” are the result of *sanctification and are “dependent on a power outside of ourselves” (COL 160). Thus Ellen G. White condemned human works of “creature merit” (3MR 420) but affirme “good works” of faith through the experience of sanctification. Her emphasis was always on Christ and His righteousness rather than human works: “The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven [justification] and our fitness for it [sanctification] are found in the righteousness of Christ” (DA 300).

worsted

As a noun, worsted is a fine, smooth yarn spun from combed long wool (e.g., a “worsted suit”). As a verb, it is used to describe someone who has been defeated, such as when *Martin Luther presented his case before the German princes. By his testimony, “the partisans of Rome had been worsted” (GC 161).

worthy poor

Some individuals who, through no fault of their own, experience misfortune and thereby significant hardship and poverty. Ellen G. White repeatedly cared for and shared her own resources—financially or by providing food and clothes. She furthermore urged that each church should have “a fund to aid such worthy poor families who love God and keep His commandments” (CCh 284).

writings, interpretation of

Ellen G. White recognized the danger of distorting her writings and enunciated principles of interpretation in order to understand her writings in a healthy and balanced way. Such principles apply similarly to the *Bible and her writings, although she recognized that the Bible, as an act of *revelation, is the final *authority. Adventist scholars have recognized eight basic hermeneutical principles. See introductory essay “How to Interpret Ellen G. White’s Writings.”

Chronology

Aug. 4, 1821 James White is born in Palmyra, Maine. Nov. 26, 1827 Ellen G. Harmon is born near Gorham, Maine, to Robert and Eunice Harmon. Late 1836 Ellen G. Harmon receives concussion after being struck by a rock. Mar. 11—23, 1840 Ellen G. Harmon listens to William Miller preach in Portland, Maine. Sept. 1841 Ellen G. Harmon attends Methodist camp meeting in Buxton, Maine. June 26, 1842 Ellen G. Harmon is baptized by John N. Hobart in Casco Bay, in Portland, Maine. Sept. 1842 James White begins preaching. Sept. 2, 1843 The armon family is expelled from the Chestnut Street Methodist Church for their Millerite views. Oct. 22, 1844 The reat Disappointment results when Christ does not return on this day. Summer 1844 James and Ellen G. White first meet.

Dec. 1844 Ellen G. Harmon has her first vision in Portland, Maine. Jan./Feb. 1845 Ellen G. Harmon presents her views for the first time in public at Megquier Hill in Poland, Maine. Jan. 24, 1846 Ellen G. Harmon’s first vision published in The ay-Star. Apr. 6, 1846 First broadside published by Ellen G. Harmon, titled “To the Little Remnant Scattered Abroad.” Aug. 30, 1846 James White, age 25, marries Ellen G. Harmon, age 18. Fall 1846 James and Ellen G. White accept the seventh-day Sabbath. Aug. 26, 1847 Henry Nichols White is born. 1848—1850 Series of Bible Conferences to develop and expound on core beliefs of Sabbatarian Adventist movement. July 1849 The first issue of the Present Truth is published July 28, 1849 James Edson White is born. 1851—1855 TheWhites relocate to 124 Mount Hope Avenue in Rochester, New York. Aug. 29, 1854 William Clarence White is born. Nov. 1855 James and Ellen relocate to Battle Creek, Michigan. Dec. 1855 Testimony for the Church, no. 1, is published. It is the first of what eventually became a series of nine volumes.

Dec. 1856 James and Ellen G. White visit Waukon, Iowa. Mar. 14, 1858 Ellen G. White receives far-reaching great controversy vision in Lovett’s Grove, Ohio. May 13, 1860 The first legally organ ed Seventh- day Adventist Church is established in Parkville, Michigan. Sept. 20, 1860 John Herbert White is born Oct. 1, 1860 The nameSeventh-day Adventist is officially adopted in der to give a legal name to the publishing house. Dec. 14, 1860 John Herbert White dies. Jan. 12, 1861 Ellen G. White receives a vision about a long and expensive American Civil War Oct. 5—6, 1861 First state conference organized in Michigan. May 20—23, 1863 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is organized. June 6, 1863 Ellen G. White receives a comprehensive health reform vision in Otsego, Michigan. Dec. 8, 1863 Henry White dies at the age of 16 in Topsham, Maine. Aug. 16, 1865 James White experiences first st oke. Fall 1865 James and Ellen G. White visit “Our Home on the Hillside” water cure run by *James Caleb Jackson in Dansville, New York. Dec. 25, 1865 Ellen G. White receives a vision about the need for a health institution.

Aug. 1866 TheHealth Reformer journal begins publication. Sept. 5, 1866 Opening of the Western Health Reform Institute. 1868 James and Ellen G. White relocate to Greenville, Michigan. 1872 TheWhites make first of many trips to California. 1872—1874 James and Ellen G. White periodically take retreats to Colorado. Apr. 1, 1874 Ellen G. White receives a vision about the need for an overseas missionary presence. Aug. 24, 1874 Battle Creek College opens. Jan. 3, 1875 Ellen G. White receives a vision about publishing houses around the world. Aug. 24—29, 1876 Ellen G. White speaks to possibly her largest crowd, an estimated 20,000 people, at Groveland Camp Meeting, Massachusetts. 1878—1879 TheWhites spend the winter in Texas. Apr. 20, 1879 The attle Creek Dime Tabernacle is dedicated. Aug. 6, 1881 James White dies of malaria. 1885—1887 Ellen G. White goes on a missionary tour of Europe. 1886 Ellen G. White’s first major stat ment about inspiration.

1888 Ellen G. White moves to Healdsburg, California. Oct.—Nov. 1888 General Conference session is held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during which Ellen G. White supports the emphasis of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner on a more Christ- centered perspective of Adventist theology. 1891 Ellen G. White delivers a historic presentation entitled “Our Duty to the Colored People” at the General Conference session, appealing for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to embrace systematic outreach for black people in the South. 1891—1900 Ellen G. White works in Australia. 1892 Ellen G. White counsels Nathaniel D. Faulkhead against affiliation wit secret societies. 1892 Steps to Christ is published by Fleming H. Revell; it is the only book to be published by Ellen G. White with a non—Seventh-day Adventist publisher. 1894 TheMorning Star missionary boat is launched by James Edson White. The boat tra els along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and the workers aboard start schools and churches primarily for African Americans. Dec. 25, 1895 Ellen G. White moves into “Sunnyside,” located at Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia.

1896 Oakwood Industrial School, now known as Oakwood University, is founded. Ellen G. White serves on the board and strongly supports this venture to educate black Americans. Oct. 5, 1896 Ellen G. White lays cornerstone for first building at the * vondale School, now known as Avondale College of Higher Education. 1897 Ellen G. White urges the establishment of church schools. 1898 The esire of Ages, on the life of Christ, is published. Sept. 1900 Ellen G. White purchases “Elmshaven” near St. Helena, California. Apr. 2—21, 1901 Ellen G. White participates in church reorganization at General Conference session held at *Battle Creek, Michigan. Summer 1901 Battle Creek College moves to Berrien Springs, Michigan, and is renamed Emmanuel Missionary College (since 1959, known as Andrews University). Feb. 18, 1902 The Battle Creek Sanitarium is destroyed by fire. Dec. 30, 1902 The Review and Herald publishing house is destroyed by a fire. Oct. 1903 The General Conference head quarters are relocated to Takoma Park, Maryland.

1904 Ellen G. White lends her support to the founding of the self-supporting Madison College near Nashville, Tennessee. May 26, 1905 Ellen G. White directs John Burden to purchase property in Loma Linda, California, for a medical institution. Apr. 15, 1906 Ellen White speaks at the dedication of Loma Linda Sanitarium, located in Southern California. May 1909 Ellen G. White attends her last General Conference session. She concludes one of her addresses by standing at the pulpit, lifting up the Bible, and challenging delegates, “I commend unto you this Book” (6BIO 197). Feb. 9, 1912 Ellen G. White creates trusteeship for her writings. May 1913 Ellen G. White’s last messages sent to General Conference session. June 14, 1914 Ellen G. White pens her last writings before her death. Feb. 13, 1915 Ellen G. White breaks her hip in her Elmshaven home near St. Helena, California. July 16, 1915 Ellen G. White dies at Elmshaven at the age of 87. July 18, 1915 Ellen G. White’s funeral is held at Elmshaven.

July 19, 1915 Another funeral is held at the Richmond, California, camp meeting. July 24, 1915 Ellen G. White’s funeral is held at the Battle Creek Tabernacle. Dec. 1916 Ellen G. White’s last book, Prophets and Kings, published posthumously.