Ellen G. White and Her Critics

5. Her Endorsement of Crosier’s Article

Mrs. White endorsed the O. R. L. Crosier article mentioned in the preceding chapter. In her letter to Eli Curtis she wrote: EGWC 217.2

“I believe the Sanctuary, to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days, is the New Jerusalem Temple, of which Christ is a minister. The Lord shew[ed] me in vision, more than one year ago, that Brother Crosier had the true light, on the cleansing of the Sanctuary, &c; and that it was his will, that Brother C. should write out the view which he gave us in the The Day-Star, Extra, February 7, 1846. I feel fully authorized by the Lord, to recommend that Extra, to every saint.”—Ibid. EGWC 217.3

One of Mrs. White’s critics secured from Crosier, in 1887, a letter in which he affirmed, concerning that Day-Star article: “The object of that article was to support the theory that the door of mercy was shut.” Therefore, of course, Mrs. White, by endorsing Crosier’s article, was endorsing the doctrine that the “door of mercy was shut.” EGWC 217.4

As the preceding chapter showed, the great point of controversy between Millerites in general and the little group of which Mrs. White was a member was over the question of what the sanctuary is and what constitutes its cleansing. Crosier’s lengthy article is devoted very largely to answering these questions. Mrs. White agreed with those answers and hence endorsed the article. Seventh-day Adventists still agree with his answers. We can accept his discussion of the sanctuary and its cleansing without feeling it necessary to conclude that the “door of mercy” was shut. ^* EGWC 217.5