Ellen White: Woman of Vision

Elder A. T. Jones

The work of the 1905 General Conference session continued at an even pace. Ten times Ellen White addressed the session.”The Lord has helped me,” she wrote near the close of the meeting, “to make the discourses impressive....I still have a work to do on the grounds, for certain individuals” (Letter 149, 1905). One of these individuals was A. T. Jones, still a member of the General Conference Committee but now closely associated with Dr. J. H. Kellogg and in full sympathy with him. WV 480.3

Sometime during the session a vision was given Ellen White in which “Elder Jones's case was again presented to me” (Letter 116, 1906). This led her to have an extended interview with him in which she discussed the peril of his being in Battle Creek in close association with Dr. Kellogg. But the interview was unproductive, for Jones felt he was in no danger. His presence at the 1905 General Conference session marked the close of his connection with the church in an official capacity—a connection that in its earlier years was marked by outstanding contributions. WV 480.4

At the age of 23 Alonzo T. Jones, an officer in the United States Army, became a Seventh-day Adventist. An earnest, studious, self-made man, he prepared himself for the ministry, to which he was called in 1885. He soon distinguished himself as an associate editor of the Signs of the Times. Not long afterward he was joined by a physician-turned-minister, Dr. Ellet J. Waggoner. At the General Conference session of 1888 the two led out in presentations on righteousness by faith. They carried the strong support of Ellen White as advocate of this precious truth. When she could, she traveled and worked with them for two years following the session, carrying the message to churches, ministerial institutes, institutions, and camp meetings. WV 480.5

Elders Jones and Waggoner were catapulted into the position of the leading Bible expositors in the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists, a role they held through much of the 1890s. Jones attended all General Conference sessions, and it was not uncommon for each of the two men to lead out in 10 to 20 or more consecutive Bible studies. Jones spent much time in Battle Creek and stood as a prominent leader, holding several important positions. WV 481.1

But these two men, so highly honored of God because of their wide influence for good, became the special point of attack of the great adversary. The Ellen White communications to both men through a 15-year period following 1888 reveal that each had weaknesses in his experience, each was confronted with dangers, and each had made mistakes. This, however, did not disqualify them to do God's service. WV 481.2

Ellen White had occasion in April 1893 to caution Elder Jones regarding his extreme views in his presentation of the relation of faith and works (see Selected Messages 1:377-380). Again the following year she reproved him for giving wholehearted support to Anna Rice Phillips, who claimed the gift of prophecy (see Ibid., 2:85-95). From time to time she counseled him to exercise caution in his manner of speaking and writing so as to avoid giving offense. WV 481.3

In February 1897 Jones was elected as one of the 13 members of the General Conference Committee, and eight months later was installed as editor of the Review and Herald, a position he held for four years. With this arrangement it was stated that “instead of speaking to comparatively few of our people in annual gatherings, he will address all of them every week” (The Review and Herald, October 5, 1897). Through a portion of this time he was chairman of the board of the Review and Herald Publishing Association. WV 481.4

Jones took a prominent place at the 1901 session of the General Conference, and urged that in the reorganization of the General Conference there be “no kings.” He was influential in developing a constitution that did not provide for the election of leading General Conference officers by the delegates, but left the responsibility to an executive committee of 25. WV 481.5

Reappointed to the new General Conference Committee in 1901, Jones was assigned to general work that took him to the summer camp meetings in the West. After persuading local conferences in the Northwest to follow the lead of the General Conference and elect no presidents, he himself accepted the presidency of the California Conference. This conference, except for Michigan, was the largest and strongest local conference in the world. WV 481.6

His harsh, domineering spirit soon cost him the confidence of those with whom he worked. Ellen White labored with him diligently, and he promised to reform. Then, with her encouragement, he was elected to a second term in 1902. WV 481.7

In the summer of 1903, at a time when affairs in the California Conference were most uncomfortable, he had an interview with Ellen White at Elmshaven in which he told her that at the request of Dr. J. H. Kellogg he was planning to go to Battle Creek to teach Bible in the American Medical Missionary College. He hoped to be able to help Dr. Kellogg. She counseled him not to go. He promised her that he would be guarded. She had been warned in vision that such a move on his part would lead to his downfall. WV 481.8

Ellen White watched the inevitable results and agonized for his spiritual welfare. His plan to stay in Battle Creek only one year was soon forgotten as he became more and more entrenched there. WV 482.1

In vision Ellen White had been shown what Jones's attitude would be, and now she witnessed it. In “place of receiving the warnings, he was full of self-confidence” (Letter 116, 1906). WV 482.2

“I warned Elder Jones,” wrote Mrs. White, “but he felt that he was not in the least danger. But the fine threads have been woven about him, and he is now a man deluded and deceived. Though claiming to believe the Testimonies, he does not believe them” (Ibid.). WV 482.3

To watch a man who had been used mightily of God rejecting light and spurning every appeal weighed heavily on the heart of the Lord's messenger, and deeply troubled church leaders. In this experience at the 1905 General Conference session A. T. Jones took an important step in his apostasy. Matters reached such a point that in 1909 it seemed necessary to drop his name from the church rolls. WV 482.4