Ellen G. White: The Early Years: 1827-1862 (vol. 1)

A Soul-Stirring Vision

James and Ellen White were crushed, and hope died within them in the days following the funeral of John Herbert, Monday morning, December 17. A week went by. On Sunday night, December 23, as they retired, Ellen could not sleep. She suffered a severe pain in her heart and she fainted not once but several times. James hardly knew what to do, but he sent for trusted friends, George Amadon, J. P. Kellogg, and Cyrenius Smith. In response to their earnest prayers, relief came, and she was taken off in vision. Of this she wrote: 1BIO 433.2

I was shown that we had a work to do, that we must still bear our testimony, straight and pointed. Individuals were presented before me who had shunned the pointed testimony. I saw the influence of their teachings upon God's people.—Ibid., 1:248. 1BIO 433.3

She hastened to write out and get into print the messages based on this vision. In five weeks’ time this notice appeared in the Review: “Testimony for the Church, No. 6, will be ready in a few days.”—The Review and Herald, January 29, 1861. The little pamphlet opened with the words: 1BIO 433.4

Dear Brethren and Sisters,

The Lord has again visited me in mercy, in a time of bereavement and great affliction. December 23, 1860, I was taken off in vision, and was shown the wrongs of individuals which have affected the cause, and I dare not withhold the testimony from the church to spare the feelings of individuals.—Testimonies for the Church, 1:210. 1BIO 433.5

The writing for publication of what was revealed to her in this vision filled sixty-eight pages of the testimony pamphlet and is currently found in Testimonies for the Church, 1:210 to 252. The titles of the articles reveal well the nature of the messages, opening with “Slackness Reproved” and followed by “Duty to Children,” “Systematic Benevolence,” and then “Our Denominational Name.” Among the ten articles that follow, one carries the significant title “Fanaticism in Wisconsin.” 1BIO 434.1