Ellen G. White: The Early Elmshaven Years: 1900-1905 (vol. 5)

Testimonies, Volume Eight

There was the work on Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, which followed quickly on the heels of volume 7. The crisis over the pantheistic teachings at Battle Creek and the turn the medical work was taking under Dr. J. H. Kellogg's leadership called for the early release of counsels Ellen White had written to meet the many different solutions, oftentimes in letters to individuals. 5BIO 311.6

As work proceeded in assembling material to deal with the pantheistic issue, Ellen White instructed her staff “to leave out much of the personal matter,” “giving the cautions without naming individuals.” (Testimonies for the Church 8:85). An effort, she wrote, was made “to put into this book those things that will be of the greatest help to our people” (Letter 7, 1904). In her articles on “A Personal God” and “A False and True Knowledge of God,” she drew in scores of Bible texts that showed the fallacy of the pantheistic philosophy. 5BIO 311.7

W. C. White expressed the hope “that this book will do much to open up to our people an understanding of the peculiar situation that we are in, and to quiet the minds of those who are perplexed and confused because of conflicting views regarding the work at Battle Creek and Washington.”—23 WCW, p. 121. 5BIO 312.1

Not all of that first selected could go into the book, the content of which was projected as 350 pages, and there was early talk of volume 9. The book in preparation, volume 8, carried five sections: one general in nature, one consisting of warnings to the Battle Creek church, one comprised of letters to physicians, one on centralizing and Battle Creek issues, and the last, of 81 pages, dealing with pantheism. The book came from the press in March, 1904. 5BIO 312.2