The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

III. James White-Organizational Leader Committed to Conditionalism

JAMES WHITE (1821-1881), preacher, editor, publisher, and resourceful administrator, was one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. His father, Deacon John, was of Baptist background, then of Christian Connection fellowship. James was baptized into the Christian Connection, and prepared for teaching. But he turned to the Christian Connection ministry, and not only preached for them but was frequently invited to speak to the Freewill Baptists and Methodists. Of fine presence and dynamic character, White was a born leader, possessing marked executive ability. CFF2 671.8

White wrote no book exclusively on Conditionalism. But from his first brochure in 1847 onward, he interwove incisiv e paragraphs and portions of editorials on vital aspects of the Conditionalist view on the nature and destiny of man. These reveal his unvarying position. Conditionalism runs like a golden thread throughout his writings. And in his key position as editor of the three earliest Seventh-day Adventist periodicals he encouraged and published strong articles on the question by others. (Pictured on page 672). CFF2 672.1

White’s thinking was bold, clear, and logical, and he was an able disputant. He always sought anchorage in unassailable facts and sound principles. He was progressive in his planning, had acute perceptions of right, and would not yield to discouragement. He was a wise builder, and was the father of church organization and ecclesiastical polity among the Sabbatarian Adventists. He thus played a major role in setting the doctrinal pattern of the movement. CFF2 673.1

He had a statesmanlike vision of the future, and fostered the first in a series of publishing, educational, and medical institutions that have now encircled the globe. ³ He launched the Sabbath schools and the foreign missionary enterprise of the Adventists, who sent out their first overseas missionary, J. N. Andrews, in 1874. White’s writings were therefore thoroughly representative of early Adventist leadership. Here are his earliest statements. CFF2 673.2

“WORD TO THE ‘LITTLE FLOCK’” CLEARLY CONDITIONALIST

In the opening article of his initial twenty-four-page tract, A Word to the “Little Flock” (1847), White speaks of the saints as still “in their mortal state.” This he repeats, saying that “the saints are in their mortal state.” ⁴ The next article (“The Voice of God”) concerns the Second Advent, when Jesus will “send his angels to ‘gather the elect,’ from the four winds,” and describes how the “voice of God” raises the saints (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17). ⁵ This event is to be followed by the simultaneous translation and immortalization of the living saints. Then article three (“The Time of Trouble”), commenting on Daniel 12:1, 2, speaks of “the resurrection of the just, to everlasting life,” ⁶ and again refers to “the deliverance [and immortalization] of the living saints” at the time of the “first resurrection.” ⁷ CFF2 673.3

Finally, in the article on “The judgment,” in speaking of the resurrection, White states succinctly: CFF2 674.1

“The event which will introduce the judgment day, will be the coming of the Son of Man, to raise the sleeping saints, and to change [through immortalization] those that are alive at that time.” ⁸ CFF2 674.2

He then turns to “the end of the 1,000 years, when the wicked dead will be raised” to receive “sentence by the King,” with the words:
“‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,’ Mat. 25:41. If this is not the final sentence of the judgment on the wicked, I think we shall not find it in the bible. Therefore the wicked are not sentenced before Christ comes; but they will hear their sentence after they are raised, at the close of the 1000 years.” ⁹ CFF2 674.3

The next event, White continues, will be the “execution of the final judgment,” after the wicked have lain “silent in the dust, all through the 1000 years.” Then the “fire” will “come down ‘from God, out of heaven’” and devour them. “This will be the execution of the final judgment on all the wicked.” ¹⁰ White then comments, “That will be at the second death,” and adds: “Then God will have a clear Universe; for the Devil, and his angels, and all the wicked, will be burnt up ‘root and branch.” ¹¹ CFF2 674.4

This all conforms to the Conditionalist position-and this was his earliest brochure. White’s periodic editorial comments in the Present Truth, Advent Review, and Review and Herald will be noted later. CFF2 674.5