A Gift of Light

A Beginning Word to the Reader

In ranking religious organizations in terms of membership, the Seventh-day Adventist Church would not normally be considered a major player (nearly 860,000 baptized adult members in the United States and Canada, 9.3 million worldwide). ¹ Yet the extraordinary outreach of this comparatively small, conservative, evangelically oriented Protestant denomination continues to bring it prominently to international awareness through media attention. AGOL 9.1

Understandably, Adventists are often mistakenly identified in the public mind with the three other “native American” Protestant bodies, as a Gallup poll has demonstrated. ² Like the Mormons, they place a preeminent emphasis upon health/fitness and family values. As do the Jehovah’s Witnesses, they often conduct their door-to-door missionary endeavor in pairs (as Christ Himself recommended). And with the Christian Scientists, they place a high premium on prayer as a major agency in healing. But superficial similarities aside, there are major differences in Adventist doctrine, practice, and lifestyle. AGOL 9.2

Just who are these Seventh-day Adventists, anyway? AGOL 9.3

They are a growing people. In the mid-1980s Christianity Today identified them as the fourth most rapidly growing Protestant denomination in America, ³ and U.S. News & World Report noted their 36 percent growth rate for the most recent decade. ⁴ AGOL 9.4

They are a giving people. Money magazine once ranked Seventh-day Adventists as first among the top 10 major U.S. religions, contributing $2,400 annually per household (Presbyterians came in second, with $690; the United Church of Christ was third, with $510; and the Lutherans and Reform Jews tied for fourth place, with $480 each). ⁵ Adventist tithe (a tenth of personal income) contributed in 1996 alone amounted to $929.3 million worldwide, with $507.4 million of it coming from North America. ⁶ AGOL 9.5

And they are a long-living people. A 1997 Newsweek cover story on longevity and the rapidly increasing number of centenarians in our society attributed the Seventh-day Adventist vegetarian lifestyle as a major factor in prolonging the lives of George (age 100) and Gaynel (age 98) Couron of Sacramento, California. ⁷ Interestingly, a 1958-1965 scientific study of 50,000 California Adventists demonstrated not only that this group had a statistically significant lower incidence of death from virtually all forms of cancer, but also that Adventist males live six years longer than the average population, and their female counterparts live three years longer. ⁸ AGOL 10.1

With research funded by the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the U.S. Public Health Service, this particular study was merely one of an incredible—indeed, staggering—total of 254 major studies examining various facets of the Adventist health and lifestyle, published in scores of scientific journals from the early 1950s through September 15, 1997. ⁹ AGOL 10.2

So how does one explain the phenomenon of Seventh-day Adventists? AGOL 10.3

At the risk of oversimplification, perhaps three categories might aptly sum them up: AGOL 10.4

Conviction. Adventists are convicted that Jesus Christ will soon return to this world personally, visibly, and physically. He will then become its supreme ruler by abolishing all present political forms of government now in place on Planet Earth. Further, they are convicted that God has uniquely singled them out by calling them to help Him prepare a people for citizenship in this new world government. Finally, they are convicted that God has enabled them to pursue this task successfully by restoring within their midst the ancient gift of prophetic inspiration. They believe that this gift is embodied in the 70-year ministry of Ellen G. White [1827-1915], whose published writings in English today number more than 100 titles, with various individual works available in more than 140 languages. AGOL 10.5

Commission. Seventh-day Adventists believe that God has commissioned them to proclaim a special last-day message prefigured by the three angels depicted in Revelation 14—“to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (verse 6). This has caused them to establish their evangelistic, educational, health-care, and disaster relief operations in 207 of the 233 nations or geographical entities recognized by the United Nations. They proclaim their message in 717 major languages and dialects around the world. ¹⁰ AGOL 11.1

Commitment. As a consequence of the foregoing, Seventh-day Adventists operate 118 colleges, universities, and seminaries, 942 secondary schools, and 4,395 elementary schools worldwide, employing 46,108 teachers, and serving 912,162 students, ¹¹ constituting what is believed to be the largest unified Protestant K-16 system not only in North America but worldwide. ¹² AGOL 11.2

Adventists also maintain 506 health-care institutions (hospitals, clinics, dispensaries, etc.), an additional 99 nursing homes, retirement centers, orphanages, and children’s homes, and some 30 aircraft and river going medical launches. All of this concern to relieve physical suffering occupies the full-time attention of 3,675 church employed physicians and dentists, another 6,972 technologists and therapists, 15,439 graduate nurses, and 39,950 additional assistants in support roles. ¹³ AGOL 11.3

To help communicate their gospel message, as well as to aid in overcoming the worldwide plague of illiteracy, Seventh-day Adventists maintain 56 publishing houses. These produce literature in 78 languages, generating sales worth $99.3 million in 1995 alone. Some 7,485 full-time “literature evangelists” gospel salespersons—help distribute these publications door-to-door on all six continents. ¹⁴ AGOL 11.4

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA), an independent agency established by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1983 for the specific purpose of individual and community development, without regard to ethnic, political, or religious affiliation, is an outgrowth of the former Seventh-day Adventist World Service, Inc., which focused more narrowly and primarily on disaster relief. AGOL 12.1

ADRA today maintains offices in more than 140 nations around the globe, with a worldwide operating budget of goods and services that totaled $250 million in 1995. At the heart of its development work are many projects that benefit mothers and children (oral rehydration therapy, breast feeding and immunization, parent education in nutrition, hygiene, child spacing, and child care). Agriculture projects, water resource projects, small-enterprise development, food-supported programs, and institutional development round out the basic frame of ADRA’s developmental activities. ¹⁵ AGOL 12.2

This, then, describes briefly who Seventh-day Adventists are and what they are doing as they strive to make a better world in the here and now. But it still does not explain how they came into being. It is impossible to tell the story of the beginning and subsequent development of the church apart from the story of one of its cofounders, Ellen G. White. While she herself preferred the designation “special messenger,” it is significant that she never contradicted anyone who happened to refer to her as a prophet. AGOL 12.3

The Scriptures metaphorically liken the gift of prophetic inspiration (which biblically has always included a great deal more than mere prediction of yet-future events) to a “gift” (Ephesians 4:8; 1 Corinthians 12:1) and to a “light” or “lamp” (Psalm 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19). I have written this little volume, A Gift of Light, to recount briefly the absorbing story of Ellen White’s amazing life and ministry. I also wish to document the fruitage that it has produced—and continues to produce. AGOL 12.4

Roger W. Coon
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
March 1998