Ellen G. White and Her Critics

16. “The Last Plagues and the Judgment”

FIRST PRINTING

In The Present Truth, November, 1850, page 86. (This is the first part of an extended contribution that carries only the salutation, “Dear Brethren and Sisters.” The second and third parts of this contribution are considered below under numbers 17 and 18.) EGWC 638.4

SECOND PRINTING

In Experience and Views, pages 33-35. (Early Writings, 52-54), with the deletion of the opening paragraphs, as follows: EGWC 638.5

Deletion

“Dear Brethren and Sisters—I wish to give you a short sketch of what the Lord has recently shown to me in vision. I was shown the loveliness of Jesus, and the love that the angels have for one another. Said the angel—Can ye not behold their love?—follow it. Just So God’s people must love one another. Rather let blame fall on thyself than on a brother. I saw that the message ‘sell that ye have and give alms’ had not been given, by some, in its clear light; that the true object of the words of our Saviour had not been clearly presented. I saw that the object of selling was not to give to those who are able to labor and support themselves; but to spread the truth. It is a sin to support and indulge those who are able to labor, in idleness. Some have been zealous to attend all the meetings; not to glorify God, but for the ‘loaves and fishes.’ Such had much better been at home laboring with their hands, ‘the thing that is good,’ to supply the wants of their families, and to have something to give to sustain the precious cause of present truth. EGWC 638.6

“Some, I saw, had erred in praying for the sick to be healed before unbelievers. If any among us are sick, and call for the elders of the church to pray over them, according to James 5, 14, 15, we should follow the example of Jesus. He put unbelievers out of the room, then healed the sick; so we should seek to be separated from the unbelief of those who have not faith, when we pray for the sick among us. EGWC 639.1

“Then I was pointed back to the time that Jesus took his disciples away alone, into an upper room, and first washed their feet, and then gave them to eat of the broken bread, to represent his broken body, and juice of the vine to represent his spilled blood. I saw that all should move understandingly, and follow the example of Jesus in these things, and when attending to these ordinances, should be as separate from unbelievers as possible.” EGWC 639.2

Comment on Deletion

There is nothing in this deletion that suggests embarrassing, abandoned belief that Mrs. White would wish to suppress. There is a general statement about the “loveliness of Jesus,” which can be duplicated in currently available works. The same is true of the statement about not supporting people in idleness. EGWC 639.3

The paragraphs dealing with healing the sick and the communion service set forth no strange doctrine. We turn aside from the world, we withdraw ourselves, the Bible says, when we seek the mercies of God, and engage in special services commemorative of Christ’s death in our behalf. There was probably a special appropriateness to this counsel at the time it was given. Few, if any, stable church companies had been formed. Various unruly individuals, troublemakers, and scoffers sometimes disturbed their meetings. EGWC 639.4

We have not found any critic citing this passage as an exhibit of “suppression.” EGWC 639.5