Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventists, Vol. 1

414 Pages·2013·14.6 MB·English

Origin and History
of
Seventh-day Adventists
FRONTISPIECE
PAINTING BY HARRY ANDERSON(cid:9) © 1949, BY REVIEW AND HERALD
As the disciples watched their Master slowly disappear into
heaven, they were solemnly reminded of His promise to come
again, and of His commission to herald this good news to all
the world.

Origin and History
of
Seventh-day Adventists
VOLUME ONE
by
Arthur Whitefield Spalding
REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
COPYRIGHT © 1961 BY THE
REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
OFFSET IN THE U.S.A.
AUTHOR'S FOREWORD TO FIRST
EDITION
THIS history, frankly, is written for "believers." The reader
is assumed to have not only an interest but a communion. A
writer on the history of any cause or group should have suffi-
cient objectivity to relate his subject to its environment with-
out distortion; but if he is to give life to it, he must be a con-
frere. The general public, standing afar off, may desire more
detachment in its author; but if it gets this, it gets it at the
expense of vision, warmth, and life. There can be, indeed, no
absolute objectivity in an expository historian. The painter
and interpreter of any great movement must be in sympathy
with the spirit and aim of that movement; it must be his cause.
What he loses in equipoise he gains in momentum, and bal-
ance is more a matter of drive than of teetering.
This history of Seventh-day Adventists is written by one
who is an Adventist, who believes in the message and mission
of Adventists, and who would have everyone to be an Advent-
ist. To the degree that he has been successful in portraying the
inward fire and the environmental fuel of this movement, he
serves the interests and ambitions of his people, and, please
God, the purposes of heaven. The merely curious may discover
in the furnace the outlines of that historical design which will
not be injured by the fervency of the narration.
The special purpose of this work is to acquaint the mature
youth and the adults of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with
the beginnings and the progress of the cause to which they are
committed by birth or choice. As the pioneers of this move-
ment, known to us of the middle generation, have one by one
died, the living sources of knowledge have passed away. Their
presence among us, the reminiscent minds of some of them,
the fervor of their spirits at which we warmed our souls, pro-
vided inspiration for which the cold chronicles of the day are
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6(cid:9) Author's Foreword
a poor substitute; and such of their fire as may be preserved
in an account of their adventures and their ponderings is a
necessity. It is not, indeed, in the annals of our fathers that
we shall find the source of power that animates and must
animate the soldiers of Christ's last legion: that source is the
Holy Spirit, through whom the Father and the Son pour forth
the abundance of their vision and energy and grace. The
Word of God is the storehouse of the heavenly treasure, and
in its prayerful and careful study lies the secret of translation
from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. But the
history of our spiritual forebears is not negligible; for not only
are we given the riches of their discoveries, but we are heart-
ened and incited to heavenly emulation by the accounts of
their sufferings and deeds.
A comprehensive history of this people which would include
every act and every worthy name, would make a work beyond
the bounds of judgment or reading interest. It is rather in
significant episodes of that history that the spirit and meaning
of the movement may be caught, and that is the plan of this
book. The student devoted to the search may find in other
extant works many incidents illustrating further the faith and
devotion of the pioneers; and he may know or he may learn
of more than one noble servant of God whose service has no
mention here. It would be impossible, especially in the last
decades of this movement, worldwide as it has become, to
inscribe the name and the deeds of every heroic warrior for
Christ. The effort is made to set forth the spirit and the power
of the movement rather than to call the roster of the saints.
Out of the fragmentary but vivid accounts with which the
pioneers in their haste blazed the trail, I offer these volumes
to the youth and their elders of this church, and to whatever
public is interested in the field, as a partial but true account of
the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.
ARTHUR W. SPALDING.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our of the scores of helpers who have supplied information,
suggested sources, given encouragement and constructive criti-
cism, and assisted in various other ways in the preparation of
this history, to select a few for special mention would seem
almost invidious. Yet to neglect all would suggest an assumption
of competence which is far from the truth.
To the several writers on Adventist history who have gone
before, particularly M. E. Olsen, Matilda Erickson Andross,
and Emma E. Howell, I declare my sincere appreciation for
leads and intelligence. Although I have gone as far as possible
to original sources (which several of their books are), their
writing has often pointed out these sources and provided view-
points for comparison and discussion, and their unity of pur-
pose has been an inspiration.
Of the friends most responsible for the inception and com-
pletion of this project, my thanks are due, first, to Walter P.
Elliott, former manager of the Review and Herald Publishing
Association, now secretary of the General Conference Publish-
ing Department, who initiated and made possible the, begin-
ning of the work; to Harvey A. Morrison, present manager of
of the Review and Herald, who has given every aid and en-
couragement to it; to Lora E. Clement, editor of the Youth's
Instructor, who first made the suggestion which eventuated
in the enterprise; to Francis D. Nichol, editor of the Review
and Herald, and author, whose keen but sympathetic criticism
has been a main force; to John D. Snider, manager of the
Review and Herald book department; to Edith McClellan,
librarian of the Review and Herald, and Mary Moore, librarian
of the Southern Publishing Association, where much of my
research centered; to LeRoy E. Froom, secretary of the Minis-
terial Association of the General Conference; to Arthur L.
White and D. E. Robinson, of White Publications; to Merwin
R. Thurber and H. M. Tippett, book editors, whose steering
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8(cid:9) Acknowledgments
of the book through the rugged channels of criticism has been
admirable; and to T. K. Martin and his associates of the art
department, for their zeal and skill in illustration.
And I bow my knees in thankfulness to the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, whose giving and sustaining of life to the
humblest of His creatures is the source and power of all the
enterprises of men.
A. w. s. [1949]
EDITOR'S NOTE: The reader will find it profitable to study
the illuminating notes in the Appendix to this volume, for
much factual information and many items of human interest
are contained there that were not found vital to the main
narrative. Footnote references to these addenda at the end of
chapters make these notes easy of access whenever they are
pertinent to the better understanding of particular points in
the text.
CONTENTS
Chapter (cid:9) Page
1. The People of the Advent (cid:9) 11
,j2. Sabbath Apostle and Pioneer (cid:9) 25
3. James White, Intrepid Leader (cid:9) 43
4. The Lord's Chosen Messenger (cid:9) 57
5. At God's Appointed Time (cid:9) 79
6. The Disappointment Explained (cid:9) 97
7. Banners of Truth (cid:9) 115
8. Light Through the Darkness (cid:9) 131
9. The "Shut Door" Controversy (cid:9) 153
10. Three Angels' Messages (cid:9) 171
11. Early Publishing Ventures (cid:9) 187
12. Mighty Men of the Movement (cid:9) 207
13. Foundations of Faith (cid:9) 233
14. Expansion North and West (cid:9) 247
15. Centering in Battle Creek (cid:9) 265
16. A Providential Journey (cid:9) 279
17. Organizing the Church (cid:9) 291
18. The Bitter War Years (cid:9) 312
19. Launching a Health Program (cid:9) 335
20. Medical Ministry (cid:9) 352
21. Wearing Apparel and Moral Issues (cid:9) 378
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