The Pocket Ellen G. White Dictionary

O

Oakwood Industrial School — overreach (also overreaching)

Oakwood Industrial School

A boarding school begun for black Americans on November 16, 1896. The school was begun largely through the urging of Ellen G. White, who saw in a night vision that a school should be begun in

Compliance with a request, order, or law. Ellen White described the *law of God as timeless and unchanging. It existed before the world was made and, through the example of Jesus while on this earth, is a “perpetual obligation” (MB 48). Jesus came “to give an example of perfect conformity to the will of God” (MB 49). “Christ testified to its immutable character and proved that through His grace it could be perfectly obeyed by every son and daughter of Adam” (MB 49). Ellen G. White also noted that “true obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness” (COL 97). “Good works do not purchase the love of God,” she noted, “but they reveal that we possess that love” (COL 283).

Olsen, Ole Andres (1845—1915)

Minister and administrator. Originally from Skogan, Norway, he immigrated to Wisconsin in 1850. He accepted the Adventist message in 1854. He began ministerial work in Wisconsin in 1869 among Scandinavian immigrants. Ordained in 1873, he served as the conference president in Wisconsin (1874-1876; 1880-1881), Dakota (1882-1883), Minnesota (1883-1885), and Iowa (1884-1885). In 1886, he served as a missionary to Scandinavia. After the tumultuous *General Conference Session of 1888, Olsen was elected as church president because he was perceived as a spiritual and capable leader as well as a neutral person in the conflict.

one-idea man

An expression used by Ellen G. White to describe certain individuals who had one-track minds (3T 34). They emphasized one idea to the exclusion of everything else. Such individuals were *fanatics.

opprobrious

An adjective expressing scorn or *criticism. Ellen G. White described the opposition Millerites faced by stating that *William Miller himself was subject to “opprobrious epithets” for his belief in the *Second Advent (GC 336).

ordination

The formal recognition of ministry by the laying on of hands. Early Adventist ministers primarily came from *Methodist and Baptist backgrounds. During the 1850s, some ministers were rebaptized and reordained. During the 1860s and 1870s, young ministers were ordained to the ministry as a recognition of God’s calling. These early services largely reflected *Protestant ordination services that merely recognized God’s call and did not confer any special privilege or status.

organization, church

Early church leaders were suspicious of any and all forms of organization. During the *Millerite revival, some argued that any steps toward organization led to Babylon. Thus, early Sabbatarian Adventists strongly resisted attempts to organize. Yet pragmatic considerations, largely driven by the need to own and operate a press along with church publications, and mounting financial obligations led to repeated appeals to consider the possibility of

overcome (also overcomer)

The Christian has a responsibility through the *grace of Jesus Christ to develop a *character that reflects Jesus and prepares the person to live a better life both now and in the world to come. In her *testimonies she frequently appealed for people to become overcomers. “Though the impacted grace of Christ,” she wrote, each believer “may be enabled to overcome. To be an overcomer means more than many suppose it means” (1SM 380).

overreach (also overreaching)

The tendency of some people to extend beyond their own responsibilities. For example, Ellen G. White talked about church members who pry into the business of others or who have a *faultfinding spirit.