The Pocket Ellen G. White Dictionary
C
caligraph/calligraph — Czechowski, Michael Belina
caligraph/calligraph
An early version of the typewriter. Ellen White incorrectly spelled it with two L’s (Lt. 19c, 1892).
calumny
False or defamatory statements. The *Review and Herald would sometimes carry warnings against “calumniators,” urging people to mind their own business and not condemn anyone unheard (RH Feb. 15, 1870).
Calvin, John (1509—1564)
*Protestant Reformer based chiefly in Geneva, Switzerland. Ellen G. White described him as one of the great heroes of the faith in the *great controversy between Christ and Satan. Calvin shaped his theological ideas around what modern interpreters describe as TULIP: total depravity of humanity, unlimited *grace, limited *atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. Some of his later adherents are known as *Pu- ritans; a portion of whom traveled to the United States to seek religious asylum. His name is often associated with Reformed denominations, such as various Dutch and German Reformed churches and the Congregationalist, Baptist, and Presbyterian Churches.
camp meeting
A general gathering, often held on a farm or in a grove of trees, with attendees sleeping in tents. The center of the camp meeting was the speaker’s stand with benches. In some places, a large tent was erected to protect from bad weather and the cold. Early camp meetings were primarily evangelistic in nature.
Canright, Dudley (1840—1919)
Adventist minister who joined the denomination in 1859, was ordained in 1865, and traveled widely as a minister. He authored numerous articles and books and was a close friend of James and Ellen G. White. After the death of his first wife, Lucretia Cranson, in 1879, his relationship with the *church grew uncertain. He left the denomination permanently and on March 5, 1887, joined the Otsego, Michigan, Baptist Church, which gave him a license to preach. He later became an outspoken critic of Ellen G. White’s prophetic ministry and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
canvasser
A term used to describe a colporteur or literature evangelist; someone who distributes literature by selling a variety of print materials door to door. “The canvassing work,” Ellen G. White wrote, “properly conducted, is missionary work of the highest order” (CEv 5).
carnival
A circus or large festive occasion. Ellen G. White warned against constantly seeking pleasure and making life merely a grand carnival (MH 91).
caste
Social division based on rank, privilege, or race. Ellen White was clearly against any form of this practice and used the term frequently. She was emphatic that “no distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God” (COL 386). “He who is closely connected with Christ is lifted above the prejudice of color or caste” (9T 209).
cavil
Petty or unnecessary objections. Ellen G. White described those who “cavil at the words of Christ”—especially the Pharisees (DA 241; cf. DA 267, 455).
chaplet
A term used for the wreath placed upon the Olympic champion during the ancient Olympic Games. Ellen G. White described a “chaplet of fading laurel” (AA 311).
character
The “thoughts and feelings combined,” according to Ellen G. White, “make up the moral character” (5T 310). A “properly balanced character” consists of the development of the physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions for each human being (4T 197, 198). “The path of the just is progressive” (3T 542); therefore, character development, or *sanctification, is the *work of a lifetime (4T 367). Ellen G. White noted that “to learn of Christ means to receive His grace, which is His character” (COL 271). True Christian character is a lifelong goal that is to “be reached” (Ed 18). The harvest of life is character, which determines our destiny (Ed 109; MB 90); “it is character that decides destiny” (COL 74). In one of Ellen G. White’s often-referenced quotations, she described this concept of character: “The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, . . . men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall” (Ed 57).
Christian courtesy
A Christian *virtue that, according to Ellen G. White, every Christian should exhibit to show kind respect for others.
Christology
Ellen G. White believed in the eternally divine person and *work of Jesus Christ, especially on Earth. It is therefore Jesus Christ who is the divine hope that spans across all ages. “Christ is the truth,” she wrote (COL 110). Jesus Christ is a central theme that spans from the beginning to the end of Ellen G. White’s prophetic ministry. While some during her lifetime sought to put Ellen G.White on a pedestal, she repeatedly and consistently urged people to look to Jesus (2T 118, 119).
church
The church is the body of believers. Thus the corporate experience, what Ellen G. White often referred to as being “in meeting,” was what was important, not the actual building (3T 518). Especially up through the 1880s, a church building was C frequently referred to as a “meetinghouse.” Adventist meetinghouses were to be orderly and well-built (2T 256, 257). Ellen G. White believed that as a corporate body, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is God’s remnant church, and despite flaws will eventually “come to port,” to describe a shipping metaphor that it will finally reach the culmination of prophetic significance when Jesus Christ returns. While the church was fla ed, she considered it to be a sin to purposefully embarrass the “weakness of Seventh-day Adventists” (2T 106, 109). Each church member should come into proper *church relation.
church discipline
See trials; ecclesiology.
church organization
See organization, church.
church relationship
Also: relation. Ellen G. White “made plain” the “obligation of church relationship,” in which each Chris-tian has a sacred *duty to interact and engage with one another in Christian fellowship (Ed 268). Every committed Christian
church
scavengers. A phrase used by Ellen G. White to describe those who gossip and backbite at church (4T 194). Such persons, unless they repent and are converted, will not see heaven.
churlish
Rude and selfish behavior, depicted in the behavior of the biblical character Nabal in his treatment of David and his men (PP 664). See also niggardly.
cider bibber
Apple cider can become fermented, and Ellen G. White described those who were addicted to this low-grade alcohol as a “cider bibbers” (5T 354).
cities
Sweeping social changes characterized the *Victorian era. America rapidly changed from a culture dominated by small towns and the countryside to one shaped by cities and suburbs. Waves of “uprooted” immigrants, together with rapid industrialization, created virtually insurmountable urban problems. Industrialization, with the drive for efficiency, contributed to the lessening of moral restraints and created new ethical, social, labor, and political problems. Ellen G. White warned about cities as places of *vice, often focused on pleasure and amusement, similar to the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah (COL 54). At the same time, Christ died to save all human beings, and this meant that it was essential for *evangelism to be done in the cities in preparation for Christ’s soon return (e.g., COL 234).
clarity of Scripture
See perspicuity of Scripture.
colaborers
A phrased used by Ellen G. White to describe the process of *sanctification. Throughout the Christian journey, every individual believer must be a “colaborer” with Christ. As a result, the Christian is led to do good and save souls (4T 615).
college home
A school dormitory. In one instance, Ellen G. C White recorded having dinner with students at the “college home” in South Lancaster, Massachusetts (Ms 42, 1890).
College of Medical Evangelists
Ellen White was closely involved in the purchase of a property in 1906 that became “not only a sanitarium, but also an educational center” (RH June 21, 1906, in MM 56). Today it is known as Loma Linda University.
common level
A common phrase typically contrasted with the “sacredness of the work” (4T 186). Ellen G. White sometimes used the term in conjunction with either Adventist beliefs or lifestyle practices to contrast the ways of the world with that of the “Bible standard” or “gospel standard.” Christians should never lower themselves on a “level with the common” (2SAT 72). Instead, “the Christian standard is high and exalted” (4T 37). “God’s standard of man is elevated to the highest meaning of the term” (4T 520). Believers should not compare themselves with other believers because the one and only true Example is Jesus Christ.
concert
Ellen G. White used this *Victorian verb to indicate the contrivance of a plan; for example, “Absalom secretly sent picked men . . . to concert measures for a revolt” (PP 730). It also meant to work together, to cooperate closely.
Confederacy
The league of eleven Southern states that seceded from the American Union in 1860 and fought against the Northern states during the Civil War to defend their way of life and slavery. Ellen G. White was a staunch Northerner (from the northern part of the United States at that time) who opposed the Confederacy and slavery. (See Jud Lake, A Nation in God’s Hands). Ellen G. White seems to make subtle allusions to the Confederacy when she describes Satan’s agents who “confederated with evil men” (DA 760). Similarly, she describes the “half-and-half service” of Christians “who claim to be soldiers of Christ” but instead are really “with the confederacy of Satan” (MB 94).
conference
A general meeting or session of an organization; also used to describe a grouping of churches.
Conflict of the Ages series
A series of books expounding on the biblical and historical narrative surrounding the *great controversy theme. This series of books initially began in Spiritual Gifts, volumes 1—4 (1858—1864), The Spirit of Prophecy, volumes 1—4 (1870—1884), and finall , in its most complete form, was published as fi e books: Patriarchs and Prophets (1890), Prophets and Kings (1917), The Desire of Ages (1898), The Acts of the Apostles (1911), and The Great Controversy (1888, 1907, 1911).
connection
Usually used to describe an association, such as a “church connection,” that indicates church membership. Ellen G. White also used the term in the sense of the literary context of her writings (1SM 44).
conscience
The ability to discern between right and wrong. Those who appease the conscience, or those who give a little to appease the conscience but who do not live a consistent life, are in grave danger (2T 238). While those who ignore the conscience are on one extreme, there are others who have too tender a conscience.
conversion
The experience of faith in Christ and Repentance through which the heart is awakened and the believer responds to Him in *faith. “God’s plan,” wrote Ellen G.White, “is first to reach the heart” (MH 157). She, from her C *Methodist background, emphasized the individual choice of every believer in this process. The ongoing walk of the believer after conversion is described as *sanctification. This continuing process is not the *work of a moment but that of a lifetime.
Cornell, Merritt F (1827—1893)
Adventist minister from Michigan who adopted the *Sabbath in 1852. In 1854, he held the first Sabbatarian Adventist tent meetings with *J. N. Loughborough. In 1855, he joined *Joseph Bates and *J. H. Waggoner as part of a committee of three who prepared an address for the 1855 General Conference Session. This ad-dress on spiritual gifts marked a turning point in building confidence in Ellen G. White’s prophetic gift. During his lifetime, she sent him a number of important admonitions.
Cottrell, Roswell F (1814—1892)
Adventist minister and administrator who came from a Seventh Day Baptist family. He became a Sabbatarian Adventist in 1851 and later traveled widely and wrote copiously in Adventist publications.
courtship
A term used by Ellen G. White to indicate an exclusive relationship in preparation for *marriage.
covenant theology
Also known as federal theology, this is a biblical theology that emphasizes that God relates to His creatures through covenants—binding relationships
covert
Something that is hidden, covered, or private. Ellen G. White warns not to “for one moment give place to an impure, covert suggestion” (CH 626) from Satan.
covetousness
A common term used to describe selfishness as an unlawful desire to possess some illegitimate thing. One of Ellen G. White’s strongest warnings against covetousness can be found in volume 3 of Testimonies for the Church (544—551). She equated the sin of covetousness with that of idolatry (PP 439). At one point, she define the term as the desire to grasp for more and more, which is a characteristic of those who worship “the god of this world,” *mammon (PK 63, 64). She furthermore stated that this is the most common sin and is “the most lightly regarded” (PP 496).
craven
Contemptibly lacking in courage; a coward. Used as in a “craven spirit” (DA 218).
credulity
A tendency to readily believe something that is not true (DA 59).
criticism
Ellen G. White warned against a critical spirit. The work of judging and condemning should be left with God (MB 58). See also trials.
Crosier, Owen Russell Loomis (1820—1912)
Millerite Czechowski, Michael Belina preacher and editor from Canandaigua, New York. He is best remembered for collaborating with *Hiram Edson to publish their views about the cleansing of the *sanctuary.
cumberer of the ground
A *Victorian expression with roots traceable to Middle English and Celtic; refers to weeds growing in a garden patch. Ellen G. White used the expression in the context of being spiritually weighed down or hampered (5T 139, 185).
cupidity
Greed for money or possessions (5T 202). This was Solomon’s downfall (PK 72).
cut and slash
The improper use of Ellen G. White’s writings by those who in their “zeal for the Testimonies” manifest “more self-righteousness than humility” (2T 20). Ellen G.White emphasized instead that individuals should focus on how to apply such Testimonies to themselves rather than to point out the faults of others in a critical way.
Czechowski, Michael Belina (1818—1876)
Polish Adventist missionary and minister. Originally trained to become a Roman Catholic priest, he became an Adventist in 1857. He subsequently worked among French-speaking Canadians and New Englanders. In 1864, he tried to convince the church leaders to send him as a missionary, but they did not acquiesce due to some concerns. Instead, he convinced the Advent Christian Church to sponsor him, although he continued to teach Seventh-day Adventist *doctrines. Thus, he became the first unofficia missionary to work in Switzerland. Later, some of his converts contacted the church leaders, which led to the sending of *J.N. Andrews as the first officia denominational missionary in 1874.