Ellen G. White in Europe 1885-1887

The Light of the Advent Message

As the light of the Reformation appeared in France, centuries later the light of the Advent proclamation touched that historic land and French-speaking Switzerland. EGWE 227.1

“The light shone also in France and Switzerland. At Geneva, where Farel and Calvin had spread the truths of the Reformation, Gaussen preached the message of the second advent. While a student at school, Gaussen had encountered that spirit of rationalism which pervaded all Europe during the latter part of the eighteenth and the opening of the nineteenth century; and when he entered the ministry he was not only ignorant of true faith, but inclined to skepticism. In his youth he had become interested in the study of prophecy. After reading Rollins’ Ancient History, his attention was called to the second chapter of Daniel, and he was struck with the wonderful exactness with which the prophecy had been fulfilled, as seen in the historian's record.... EGWE 227.2

“As he pursued his investigation of the prophecies, he arrived at the belief that the coming of the Lord was at hand. Impressed with the solemnity and importance of this great truth, he desired to bring it before the people.”—The Great Controversy, 364, 365. EGWE 227.3

Gaussen printed his prophetic lessons and circulated them faithfully among young and old. He became one of the “most distinguished and beloved of preachers in the French language” (Ibid., 366). But he was “suspended from the ministry” because of his views on Bible prophecy and the coming of the Lord. EGWE 227.4