Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Mingling of Two Beliefs

Slowly the holders of the two doctrinal beliefs, Edson’s view of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, and the seventh-day Sabbath, began to commingle. In the dim shadows of one hundred years ago, with few contemporary records, we see three figures standing out sharply in this newly forming religious group, with a few others occasionally coming into focus. Those three figures were Joseph Bates, a former sea captain, who had been a prominent Millerite preacher; James White, a young Millerite preacher in his twenties; and Ellen G. Harmon. EGWC 173.2

The year 1845, the first after the great disappointment, brought forth no published writings from this primary group. In fact, in that year James White was actually anticipating, with others, the coming of Christ that very October. Here are his words: EGWC 173.3

“It is well known that many were expecting the Lord to come at the 7th month [Jewish reckoning], 1845. That Christ would then come we firmly believed. A few days before the time passed, I was at Fairhaven, and Dartmouth, Mass., with a message on this point of time. At this time Ellen [Harmon] was with the band at Carver, Mass., where she saw in vision that we should be disappointed, and that the saints must pass through the ‘time of Jacob’s trouble,’ which was future.”—A Word to the “Little Flock,” p. 22. EGWC 173.4

James White was evidently carried along with the general enthusiasm and hope of those around him. The theological thinking of the pioneers was not yet formulated. A new theological system, harmonious in all its parts, is not generally formed in a day—or in a year. But it is significant to note that a voice was heard declaring that the Lord would not come in 1845 and calling attention to events that must yet take place before His return in glory. EGWC 173.5