Adventist c iielltageVol 5 Nol

HON.GEORGE A.WILLIAMS

GR 7 S W OL D CSOVE Pri01-1

STAT r. of N E BRAS HA EXECUTIVE OF FILE LINCOLN

July 1946.

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Nebraska Governor Dwight Griswold, long-time friend of Williams, was unable to attend the funeral. He wrote this letter to Carl Sundin, one of the minis- ters who officiated at the service. cAdventistcHentage A JOURNAL of ADVENTIST HISTORY

EDITORS Gary Land Summer, 1978 / Volume 5, Number 1 Andrews University Jonathan M. Butler Loma Linda University Published by Adventist Heritage Publications ISSN 0360-389X ASSISTANT EDITORS Ron Graybill Loma Linda University Libraries Ellen G. White Publications Eric D. Anderson Pacific Union College

CONSULTING EDITORS Godfrey T. Anderson Editor's Stump Loma Linda University 2 C. Mervyn Maxwell Articles Andrews University TI Richard W. Schwarz • f—T, Andrews University Ethical Politics: Adventism and the 3 Case of William Gage MANAGING EDITOR James R. Nix by John Kearnes Lorna Linda University Walter E. Read and the British Union Conference 16 EDITORIAL ASSISTANT by Nigel G. Barham Patti A. Hansen Loma Linda University Lieutenant Governor George A. Williams: 25 DESIGN/LAYOUT An Adventist in Politics Fred Knopper C by William White, Jr. Loma Linda University

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS The Bible Research Fellowship: A 39 Jerome Clark Pioneering Seventh-day Adventist Everett N. Dick Organization in Retrospect Frederick Hoyt by Raymond F. Cottrell Maurice D. Hodgen Wayne Judd Paul J. Landa Heirloom Donald R. McAdams Wm. Frederick Norwood Uriah Smith's Small Epic: The Warning 53 V. Norskov Olsen Voice of Time and Prophecy J. G. Smoot by John 0. Waller MANAGING BOARD Norman J. Woods, Chairman Bookmarks James R. Nix, Secretary Adventism and Politics 62 Godfrey T. Anderson by John Kearnes Dalton D. Baldwin Jonathan M. Butler Maurice a Hodgen Marginal NoteA_ 64 Gary Land Paul J. Landa George G. O'Brien* George V. Summers

•Adventist Heritage is published semi-annually by the Department of Archives Library. Loma Linda, California 92350. and Special Collections, Lorna Linda University Library. Bulk rate postage *Adventist Heritage invites manuscripts. Each will be considered, but no paid at Lorna Linda, California. Copyright 1975 by Loma Linda University responsibility will be assumed for unsolicited material. Library, Loma Linda, California 92350. *Adventist Heritage is indexed En the S.D.A. Periodical index and The •Subscription rates: $2.50 a copy; $5.00 a year {additional postage outside American Historical Review. U.S. Y. Available back issues are sold at the single copy rate. •Adventiat Heritage is available In microform from University Microfilms Inter- •SubSCriptiOn orders, change of address notices, editorial correspondence, and national. manuscripts should be sent to: Adventist Heritage, Loma Linda University

As the Seventh-day Adventist Church has devel- of denominational leadership. In telling this oped from a small group of rather poor believers to a story, William White does not speculate on whether well-established and prosperous world-wide body it the changed attitude toward politics was simply an has experienced growing pains. Sociologists de- aberration of the times or a reflection of a deeper scribe the process as one of movement from sect to change in the Adventist world view whereby denomination. Whatever the terms one uses, Adventists had become more accepting of their however, the development process itself has been at social environment. To answer that question will times difficult. Three of the articles in this issue require wide-ranging research and analysis — work directly chronicle some of the changes and pains that needs to be done. involved. Where the controversy over political involvement The early Seventh-day Adventists opposed politi- causes us to examine the relationship of Adventists cal activity — at least beyond voting — by church to the larger society, Raymond Cottrell's memoir of members. They believed they had a more important the Biblical Research Fellowship reminds us of the task than working for earthly kingdoms, and further- tensions resulting from intellectual development more felt that such involvement would compromise within the church. The Seventh-day Adventist both denominational and personal integrity. Ironi- commitment to education has — and again it seems cally, the strong Adventist temperance position inevitable — produced scholars interested in study helped push one of the church's ministers into the and research with the result that sometimes long- political arena of Battle Creek, a town where Advent- held views are re-examined. Such activity has not ists constituted a significant part of the population. always sat well with administrators who are In retrospect, it seems as if entrance of an Adventist primarily concerned with action rather than reflec- into politics on the basis of the temperance issue was tion, nor has it easily fit into the denominational self- inevitable. Whether or not it was, William Gage's image as possessor of "the Truth." Whether term as mayor proved difficult, as John Kearnes Cottrell's story of the Fellowship's rise and fall shows, thereby confirming the negative view teaches us how to face such problems is for others to Adventists held of political activity. decide, but it certainly carries the message that A little more than thirty years later, though, change, though inescapable, is not dealt with easily. another Adventist, George A. Williams of Nebraska, Perhaps by understanding the process of change entered politics. Rising to lieutenant governor and as it occurred in the past we can more successfully candidate for governor, he surprisingly received the deal with the present. G.L.

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JOHN KEARNES

ITHIN THE CHRISTIAN tradition the ed that year's presidential election. He raised the moral ambivalence of the state has question whether Adventists should vote for John C. been cogently summarized by Herbert Fremont and the non-extension of slavery. He con- Butterfield in his Christianity and cluded that his vote would not help the slave —and History: more importantly, that Bible prophecy had predicted There has come down in the Christian tradition that the United States, as symbolized by the two- a profound paradoxical system of teaching on the horned beast (Revelation 13) would make effectual subject of the origin of government. On the one laws for the observance of Sunday (the mark of the hand government is regarded as being due to the beast, verse 17). Fall of Man, a consequence of human sin, while at "Dear Brethren," Hewett wrote, "it will be a the same time it is looked upon as being of Divine dreadful calamity indeed to be found with any of institution, the creation of Providence.... Though those parties that break God's holy and immutable government does not cure men of sinfulness any more than the institution of the idea of property law, and make an image to the beast, . . . ." eliminates human selfishness, the evil is mitigat- He further pleaded: ed by institutions that are a gift of God, and it is My brethren, shall we spend our time in brought under regulation by the orderings of political campaigns to elect Buchanan or Fre- society. mont, when we so soon expect Christ in all the glory of his Father, and all the holy angels with Within the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, the him, when he shall sit upon the throne of his development of an ethic on politics presents a unique glory? Will not that be far better than a mortal illustration of this paradox. president elected for four years?....Where is the Perhaps the earliest statement made for general blessed Jesus? He has set down at the right hand distribution by Adventists on the subject of political of God. 0 may our treasure and hearts be there. involvement appeared in their church paper, Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, in 1856. David Hewett John Kearnes teaches political science at the of Battle Creek, Michigan, in an open letter discuss- University of Minnesota, Morris.

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versity Her itage Room an articleprobablywrittenbythepaper'seditor, tists didnotwiththeirvotesandinfluence"labor answered, "ourviewsofprophecyleadustothecon- against theeviltendencyoftimes,"writer clusion thatthingswillnotbebettered...wefeelit Uriah Smith.TothedirectquestionastowhyAdven- selves, andothers..forthegreatfinalissue our dutytoconfineeffortspreparingour- from heaven..." pressing uponus—therevelationoftheSonman ran formayorofBattleCreek,Michigan,in1882and finally resultintheformation oftheimage the contrary,"Ishallvote againstthefulfillmentof beast. Thismeantthatvoting wouldeitheraidinthe reasoned thatthepresentpoliticalcontestwould formation ofthisimagein theUnitedStates,oron was electedasthecandidateoftemperance prophecy, ..Therefore, Icannotvoteatall." William C.Gage,anordainedAdventistminister, forces inthecity. 4 These sentimentsweresharedinthesameissue A monthlaterR.F'.Cottrell,anAdventistminister, slavery becausetheimagewouldbeagainst asked tovoteagainstCatholics,becausetheimage Cottrell alsofeltthathecouldnotvoteagainst would notbethebeast,butsomethingthatresem- man tooffice,foritwouldruinhim." not voteforabadman,thatisagainstmyprinci- bles it.Thislefthimonlyoneconclusion."...1can- school teacherandfrequentcontributor,wrotean state ofpolitics,Icouldnotwishtoelevateagood ples; and,underthepresentcorruptandcorrupting asked ofhim—"'Youwillvoteatourspringelection article forthe government. ItlegalizedswearingbyidolgodsCa earthly kingdoms.Therefore,"itcannotbeconsis- won't you[?]"'Clarkerepliedthatasanambassador for Christheprayedthecomingofthatheavenly "bond aswellthefree."Andhecouldnotbe tent forChrist'schildrentomeddlewithpolitical sanctioned slavery,andthegenocideofIndian. state whathethoughtwaswrongwithournational kingdom whichwouldresultintheoverturnofall affairs." Asiftoclinchhispoint,Clarkewenton form ofpaganism),itlegalizedSabbath-breaking, offices ofthe on politicsconsistentlyagreedthatpoliticalpartici- diary entrywasBattleCreek,Michigan,wherethe could evenbeviewedbysomeascombiningwitha early headquartersofthechurchdeveloped. future evil. pation detractedfromtheirevangelisticpurposeand temperance. EllenWhite wrote: for meninthecitywhostoodprincipleof A yearlater,JosephClarkeofPortage,Ohio,a These earlyAdventistswhopublishedtheirviews It seemsthattheissuewaswhetherornottovote government asantichristian[sic],unworthy[of] darkness." its penalties. worthy offellowship.Ifmynameisenteredupon "have nofellowshipwiththeunfruitfulworksof the poll-bookIthenbecomepartofbody- the fellowshipofelect.IfIenterlistsasa voter, Idoinfactendorsethisgovernmentas politic, andmustsufferwiththebody-politicinall the subjectofvotingwasconsidered anddwelt interesting meeting.After it wastimetoclose, upon. Jamesfirsttalked,then BrotherAndrews Let me"comeoutandbeseparate," What moreneedbesaidtocondemnthis Attended meetingintheeve. Hadquiteafree, G. White,whowithherhusbandJames was instrumentalinfoundingthe 1859. ItisrecordedinthediaryofEllen Adventist Church.Thesettingforthis SIGNIFICANT CHANGEoccurredin Review Review had beenestablishedandthe to answeraquestionoften courtesy: Loma Linda University Heritage Roam problem in Battle Creek, it was enough to convince him that voting, in itself, was not an intrinsic evil. This also seems to have been the concensus of most of the other members of that group. Adventist leaders were now concluding that voting for temper- ance was not the same as voting for a president or a non-extension of slavery. This type of voting was not "fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness," but on the contrary, was a means to disappoint the work of Satan. James White expanded upon this concept during the 1860 presidential election. In an editorial he counseled: The political excitement of 1860 will probably run as high as it has for many years, and we would warn our brethren not to be drawn in to it. We are not prepared to prove from the Bible that it would be wrong for a believer in the third message to go in a manner becoming his profession, and cast his vote. We do not recommend this, neither do we oppose. If a brother chooses to vote, we cannot condemn him, and we want the same liberty if we do not. But we do believe that he who enters into the spirit of the coming contest, loses the spirit of the present truth and endangers his own soul. Our brethren out with the tents will probably see it necessary to move back into small places away Pr from the heat of political strife, or close up the season in holding tent conferences. Elder George I. Butler, President of the General Conference, had some misgivings about the RE- Adventists, because of their New England heri- VIEW AND HERALD endorsing Gage for mayor of tage, had consistently been sympathetic to the Battle Creek in 1882. abolition of slavery. The coming of the Civil War in 1861 forced them to determine what their attitude should be toward participation in the conflict as it talked, and it was thought by them best to give related to this worthy objective. James White pre- their influence in favor of. . .temperance men sented an editorial in August, 1862 that solidified the being in office in our city instead of by their church's answer to this question. silence running the risk of having intemperate men put in office. Brother Hewett tells his White began by reaffirming the anti-slavery experience of a few days [since] and is settled that position of Adventists. He also revealed that in the [it] is right to cast his vote. Brother Hart talks last presidential election that "Those of our people well. Brother Lyon opposes. No others object to who voted at all . . . to a man voted for Abraham voting, but Brother Kellogg begins to feel that it Lincoln." He asserted that he did not know of one is right. Pleasant feelings exist among all the Seventh-day Adventist who was sympathetic with brethren. 0 that they may all act in the fear of the secession of the southern states. God. One of the reasons that White gave for Adventist Men of intemperance have been in the office non-participation in the civil struggle was an argu- today in a flattering manner expressing their ment that he had first offered in 1856 for not voting approbation of the course of the Sabbathkeepers in that year's election. He reasoned that since the [in] not voting and expressed hopes that they will prophetic word had revealed the continuation of stick to their course and like the Quakers, not cast some form of slavery until the end of the world, it their vote. Satan and his evil angels are busy at was not for Adventists to cherish the hope that this this time, and he has workers upon the earth. war would end it. But, even more importantly, the May Satan be disappointed, is my prayer. position that Adventists had taken on the "perpe- it is probable that the Brother Hewett mentioned tuity and sacredness of the law of God," was "not in here was the same individual who wrote the open harmony with all the requirements of war." In par- letter to the Review in September of 1856 in which he ticular, this included the fourth commandment, condemned the act of voting in that year's presiden- "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," and tial election. Whatever his experience with the liquor the sixth, "Thou shalt not kill."

5 courtesy: Willard Library, Batt le CreekMic higan On theissueofdraft,Whitewrote: though bythispracticegovernmenthadassumedthe tian's responsibilitywas: their shoesforfearofthemilitarydraft."TheChris- to Canada,orEurope,standtremblingin trials, hebelieved.Whitefeltthatthosewhowould be loyaltoGodwouldthelastmen"'sneak'off active resistancetotheauthorityofstateshould objective. Thereshouldnot,however,beactive the lawofGod,tojointhosewhoarelivingin violation ofthelawGod.Theonlypointatwhich be considered,waswhen"civilenactmentsshall resistance onthepartofAdventiststodraft,even passed andenforcedtodriveusfromobedience 6 Hall builtin1869. Gage's mayoralofficewas intheBattleCreekCity Adventists musthavefaithinGodtomeetthese think, intakingtheresponsibilityofsuicide. some spotonGod'sfoot-stoolwherethereisno are God's."(Matthew22:21)Thosewhodespise assumed theresponsibilityofviolation civil law. evil law,shouldatoncepackupandbeofffor who wouldresistuntil,intheadministrationof law ofgoodanditwouldbemadnesstoresist.He But inthecaseofdrafting,government military law,hewasshotdown,goestoofar,we Jesus, "RenderthereforeuntoCaesarthethings which areCaesar's,anduntoGodthethingsthat . tohonoreverygoodlawofourland.Said tion toseveralimportantissues.Some HITE'S EXPOSITIONgaverecogni- Adventists didvoteinthepresidential election. Adventistsshouldnotpartici- pate inwarevenforalaudable the city'spublicschoolaswellservingamem- courtesy: LomaLlndaUniversityHeritageRoom ber oftheBoardPublicWorks. was activeincommunityaffairs.Heatrusteeof Prior torunnningformayorofBattleCreek,Gage and bloodshedasbeinginconsistentwiththeduties compelled todeclareallparticipationinactsofwar enemies andtowardallmankind."Onthesubjectof enjoined uponusbyourdivineMastertoward voting thesessionresolved: resolved thatthechurchrecognizecivilgovernment as ordainedofGod,butunderstandthat"weare official positionofthegrowingchurchatThird ists heldinBattleCreek,May,1865.Thereitwas Annual GeneralConferenceofSeventh-dayAdvent- therefore circumscribedbyloyaltytoGod. Revelation 13:15-17."Participationinthiswarwas rebellion againstthegovernmentofHeaven,see ticipation thatemanated fromtheexerciseof this factintimateaboutother formsofpoliticalpar- norm fortheAdventists'relation topolitics,whatdid was thenextoccasionthat promptedJamesWhiteto franchise? Thespiritedand bitterelectionof1880 The viewsofJamesWhiteandothersbecamethe If votingformoralprincipleswasnowanaccepted intemperance, insurrection,andslavery,we is initselfblameless,andmaybeatsometimes But wewoulddepreciateanyparticipationinthe that shallstrengthenthecauseofsuchcrimesas highly proper;butthatthecastingofanyvote regard ashighlycriminalinthesightofHeaven. spirit ofpartystrife. exercised inbehalfofjustice,humanityandright, That inourjudgment,theactofvotingwhen write in the Review about the dangers for Adventists explained in an editorial of April 11, 1882, that in being caught up in political campaigns. He William C. Gage had been nominated and subse- admonished them to "stand free from the strife and quently elected as mayor of Battle Creek: corruptions of the parties that are striving for the For years past the question of temperance has mastery." In the face of White's admonition, what been a prominent issue in this city. We have some would be the Adventist political ethic if the campaign laws in its favor, but not so many as we would be was based upon a moral issue? Would there be an glad to have, and shall labor to secure. But the inescapable logic that if it were ethical to vote on an friends of temperance have been very solicitous issue of moral principle, would it also be ethical to that at least such laws as we have should be support a political candidate in a campaign for a faithfully enforced. This has been a question at moral principle? The situation for such a develop- each annual election, and the dominant party ment appeared in the Adventist position on the have been profuse in their promise to stand by the temperance reform so far as the law would allow. temperance issue. But the temperance people have found them- In 1880 Ellen G. White addressed the relationship selves and their cause so often betrayed, between temperance and politics: "Intemperate men especially of late years, that they saw no way to should not by vote of the people be placed in be true to their principles, except to put a ticket of positions of trust," In the following year she wrote a their own into the field. To do otherwise would be major article for the Review on the same subject. She to voluntarily surrender to the enemy with their began: eyes open. There is a cause for the moral paralysis upon Then came the question of a candidate for the society. Our laws sustain an evil which is sapping office of mayor. The minds of those who have the their very foundations. Many deplore the wrongs best interests of the temperance reform at heart which they know exist, but consider themselves centered upon Bro. Gage, who has been here, as free from all responsibility in the matter. This in the East, an active worker in the temperance cannot be. Every individual exerts an influence in cause. He declined. Other possible candidates society. In our favored land, every voter has some were considered. The day of election drew on. voice in determining what laws shall control the Suffice it to say that no other candidate was found nation. Should not that influence and that vote be available; and then the question of acceptance cast on the side of temperance and virtue? . . presented itself to Bro. G. and leading brethren in the light of a duty, to the point on which S.D. . . .The advocates of temperance fail to do their Adventists are exceedingly vulnerable. When it whole duty unless they exert their influence by appeared that to decline absolutely would be to precept and example—by voice and pen and jeopardize the interests of the temperance cause, vote—in favor of prohibition and total absti- he accepted, and the people ratified the nence. We need not expect that God will work a nomination, giving him a plurality of one hundred miracle to bring about this reform, and thus and thirty-six over the higher of the two party remove the necessity for our exertion. We our- candidates. selves must grapple with this giant foe, our motto, no compromise and cessation of our efforts till the victory is gained. These sentiments assumed a strong emotional and moral endorsement for the use of the ballot in the cause of temperance. They also provided a context for an enlarged ethic of political participation by Adventists. If the situation were posited that no temperance candidate could be found for whom Adventists could vote, would it be an acceptable alternative to have an Adventist candidate?

Y 1882 THERE WAS a sizeable concen- tration of Adventists in the West End of Battle Creek, Michigan. The recent history of the city had proven that the elected city officials had betrayed the cause of temperance in the city by not enforcing the liquor control laws on the books and by conniving Unpaved roads and board sidewalks are clearly with liquor interests to prevent further restrictions evident in this scene, as one looks east along Main on the selling of liquor in the city. It was for these Street in Battle Creek about 1880. The City Hall is in reasons that Uriah Smith, editor of the Review, the right foreground of this photograph. courtesy: Willard Library, Battle Creek Michigan 7 41.

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" BATTLE CREEK COLIEGE. BATTLE CREEK, MICH. ESTABLISHED 1874. Gage was a member of the Board of Trustees for the The Adventist institutions in Battle Creek had grown Adventist's Battle Creek College. to this size by the time Gage was elected mayor. —.D. courtesy: Loma Linda University Heritage Room courtesy. Loma Linda University Heritage Room

William C. Gage was an employee of the Review the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and Herald and a credentialed minister in the George I. Butler. Butler expressed these reserva- Adventist Church. He was born in Massachusetts in tions in the same issue of the Review in which Smith 1842 and reared in New Hampshire where he had had endorsed Gage. been apprenticed to the printing trade. He first came Under the auspices of "Politics and Temperance, " to work for the Review in 1867, but soon returned to Butler summarized the accepted Adventist ethic: New Hampshire because of ill health. After an "There is no question but that there is a feeling quite interim of seven years he again returned to work for prevalent among us that it is not safe to dabble much the Review. in the pool of politics." According to Butler, getting Gage was also a member of the Board of Trustees one's feet wet in politics was dangerous for two of the Adventist college located in Battle Creek, significant reasons. The first was the personal which at this time was chaired by Uriah Smith. He spiritual risk to the individual: was active in community affairs as a trustee of the Can a man handle pitch, and not be defiled? It is city's public school and a member of the Board of difficult voluntarily to mingle much with modern Public Works. political influences without its affecting our William C. Gage is apparently the only political interest in religion, and lowering our standards of candidate the Review has ever endorsed. This step morality. We are almost sure to partake of the was taken, with some misgivings, by the President of prevailing spirit; and imperceptibly to ourselves,

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THE MEDICAL& SURGICAL SAN ITORIU M. eArrer CAFfEthr. Ml CIC we find our interest transferred from God's work duties of mayor because on Saturday "the cause of to political issues and political successes. Temperance and morality would require special Butler went on to indicate that even if a person attention." The writer indicated that the city's overcame the temptations inherent in public life, present mayor, who was not an Adventist, did not an Adventist's religious beliefs, if for no other even help the cause of temperance or morality on any reason, ought to keep him from holding public office. day of the week. His appeal was that "Mr. Gage is He referred to the keeping of the seventh not a milk and water man. He won't undertake to day—which was the busiest—as the Sabbath. This ride both the whiskey and temperance horses at the would continually bring difficulties to the church same time." members who would almost be forced to compromise The enthusiasm of the temperance cause was their faith. Butler conceded that there might be enough to generate an electoral victory. Almost all of those who would be able to stand faithful under such the temperance candidates were elected to their

circumstances, but that it is far better to keep oneself from temptation. He reminded his readers that "we Room are commanded to pray, 'Lead us not into e

temptation.' How, then, can we voluntarily place itag ourselves in it?" Her

Butler argued that a second major reason for the Silken Short Answers to Sixteen Cominon Objections ity Adventist to shun participation in politics was the ivers duty of Christian discipleship. Adventists have a AGAINST THE Un

message of vast importance to the world. And Butler da observed that "we are not doing, as a people, one-

Second Advent Faith. Lin twentieth of what we might do and ought to do to carry it forward. We have no time or ability to waste Loma in the arena of politics while the cause of God is Bruit vs the most common form of argument is ob- languishing." However, Butler cautioned, this does jection ; nr, more properly speaking, objections are not mean to say that where there is a moral principle, C4)111M only presented in place of argument. When a soriptute subject is urged upon the consideration of such as temperance, that Adventists could not go to the people by means of sound arguments and fair rea- the polls to express their preference and then go soning, the majority are willing to base their faith up- on a single objection, rather than upon the mass of quietly about their own business. But he considered testimony. Especially is this the case with regard to it "a sad and mortifying spectical [sici to see those an unpopular truth; one which strikes against pre- who are professing to be God's peculiar people, conceived opinion, or involves a cross or change of for- mer life. That this is the tendency at the present preparing for the coming of Jesus, swinging their time, all who have had any experience in Bible truth hats and hurrahing for this or that candidate...." will admit; and it is a matter much to be regretted, as such a disposition shuts out the truth of God's word On the nexus of temperance and politics, Butler from many minds that otherwise might be benefited by suggested that it makes quite a difference as to how it. No person whose mind is filled with objections or the issue is raised. If the temperance issue comes in prejudices, can fairly and candidly weigh an argu- ment, nor can he come to a right decision until those the form of a proposition before the voters, then prejudices are removed. This is illustrated in the fact there is a clear choice for the Adventists to make. that in civil tribunals important decisions cannot be entrusted to men who are already prejudiced, or who But if it assumes the shape of voting for men, have objection s against the laws involved in the case; "There are...complications and personal influences as 110 man is allowed to serve on a jury under such cir- which make the question more uncertain...." Even cumstances. If it is important that the mind be pre- pared for candid investigation in matters pertaining to though we ought to vote for men of temperance, our temporal welfare, how much more important in Butler cautioned, "We cannot always tell what men matters concerning our eternal welfare. When the subject of Christ's second coming near, will do after they are elected." On the question of is presented to the people, its advocates are assailed temperance itself, Butler advised the church people with objections, real or fanoied, almost without num- about being absorbed and carried away over it or any ber. ffow far this difficulty may beremedied it would other moral issue: ". . . temperance itself is but part of Christianity. Let us not consider a part greater than the whole, or the prohibition of liquor-drinking more important than the eternal salvation of our 1 souls and those of our fellow-men." William C. Gage authored more than one work. Notwithstanding Butler's words of caution, Gage "Sixteen Short Answers to Sixteen Common had been a successful candidate for mayor. His Objections to the Adventist Faith" was written about campaign was very brief. In a letter to the editor of 1860, while he was an Adventist minister. Battle Creek's Nightly Moon, signed "Temperance," Gage's candidacy was defended. It seems that there were those who questioned whether William C. Gage's other work, "Chicago to the or not Gage could devote the necessary time to the Sea," was a travel guide printed in 1883. courtesy: Loma Linda University Heritage Room 10

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Smith endorsedGage'scandidacyformayorof As editoroftheREVIEWANDHERALD,Uriah against Gage.Iamafraidhisbeingelectedwill gentleman's success."Andthenthe dimension tothisinfighting,italsohadethical church. candidate formayorthroughhisjealousyofthat introduced apartyspiritintothemembershipof implications. ThefirstelectionofanAdventisthad exercised overthewayKellogg...wentbackon The that Dr.JohnHarveyKellogg,aleadingtemperance the citywere"'enforcedinsuchamannerthatno um, hadactivelyworkedagainstGage'selection. saloons torunonthatday.Andheconcludedbysay- street andbridgeworkdoneonSundayorallowthe perance causeovertheelectionofGage.Itappears advocate, prominentAdventistphysician,and one willknowwhetherIamanAdventora director oftheworld-famousBattleCreekSanitari- crowd assembledinfrontofthemayor-elect'shome ing thathewoulddohisbesttoseethelawsof elected, thecitywouldbewithoutamayoroneday week. Hepromisedthathewouldnothaveallthe where Gagegaveashortspeechtocelebratethe Kellogg assaying,"'I'msorryIworkedsohard Methodist.' " the electionresultswereknown,abandandlarge victory. Hepledgedhimselfanewtofightforthe votes. Itwasahigh,drydayforBattleCreek.After he alsocommentedonthechargethatifwere respective officesandGageledthethree-wayrace principles oftemperanceinhisadministration,and injure mypopularity.'"Whateverthepersonal for mayorwith613votestohisnearestrival's477 courtesy: Loma Linda UM y Her itage Room The Moon Nightly Moon indicated that"theAdventistfeltgreatly reported afissureinthetem- Moon quoted city. ItwasinevitablethatGage'sstrictapplication This SundayclosinglawfulfilledapledgethatGage temperance platform. alcoholic beveragesonSundayandlegalholidays. Common Councilalawthatbannedthesaleof Creek Sanitariumandaleadingproponentofhealth candidacy eventhoughhewasrunningona of fourtothreerejectthe application. of theliquorcontrollawswouldbedefiedbylocal Gage forciblystatedthathethoughtArnoldwas came tolightafewweeks later.ItseemsthatArnold implement thelawsonregulationofliquorin whom wasAdamC.Arnold,alocalsaloonkeeper. with thequestionofbondingthreegentlemen,one Dr. JohnHarveyKellogg,superintendentofBattle liquor interests. and temperanceamongAdventists,opposedGage's the CommonCouncilonAugust25inconnection he wouldrefusetocarry itout.Themayor's bonding, andthatiftheCouncilapprovedbond neither morallynorfinanciallyqualifiedforsuch ness withwhichthenewmayorintendedto had madeinhiscampaign.Itdenotedtheserious- adamance nodoubtinfluenced theCouncilbyavote Gage's administrationpushedthroughthecity's The reasonforGage'sanimosity towardArnold The firstrumblingsoftheirchallengecamebefore courtesy: PacificUnionCollegeLibrary was selling liquor after hours and Gage, through a "He [Gage] was elected on a simple issue, and it is 1 fine piece of detective work, had caught Arnold red- evident that the issue developed the right man." handed. Gage detailed the account of his coup in the Battle Creek Journal. The mayor made this public comment in order to clear up false rumors and exaggerated statements about the episode. When he IA assumed the office of mayor he had issued a notice to all local liquor dealers that the laws regulating the traffic would be strictly enforced under his administration. For a few weeks there was general compliance with the laws. Then it came to his atten- tion that violations were on an increase. In fact, it appeared to Gage that the saloon operators were generally evading the law. The difficulty with this information was that Gage needed legal evidence in order to bring the culprits to justice. Here he decided ESPITE HIS APPARENT success at to employ an outside detective so that there would be enforcing the temperance policy, Gage an honest presentation of the evidence at the trial. became involved in a denominational Gage went off to Chicago to obtain some "Fearless controversy that resulted in his depar- Fosdick." ture from politics. A conflict arose at The weekly reports of the detective cited /numer- Battle Creek College over the social and educational ous instances of liquor being sold after hours and policies of Alexander McLearn, who had assumed gave names of people who patronized these estab- the presidency of the school in 1881, shortly after lishments. The detective indicated that some of accepting Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. After these patrons were professed temperance people several months of argument the College Board, on and that they should be summoned to testify in the which Gage served, asked McLearn to resign and Court. But Gage knew how treacherous the memory Goodloe Harper Bell, Chairman of the English of such unwilling witnesses could be. The problem Department and a principal figure in the problem, was how to obtain witnesses who would testify and left the school. not be bought or "run out of town." After much deli- The controversy had done much harm. The beration, Gage decided to be a witness himself. faculty, students, community, and local church had In order to accomplish this the mayor went incog- been divided over the issue. A letter from Ellen G. nito. Donning a set of false whiskers and a pair of White in March, 1882 to Uriah Smith had reproved green glasses, he approached Arnold's establish- the way that he and others had handled the affair. ment after regular business hours. He found Arnold Mrs. White intended the letter to be read before the putting out bottles for the night trade and asked him whole church but Smith demurred. There followed a for a small bottle of whiskey. Then, to quiet any second letter that was read before the church in suspicion, Gage told him that he was going off on the May, and then a "Special Testimony" that the Battle train that night—which was correct. For twenty-five Creek Church heard in November. This "Special cents, Arnold sold the whiskey and himself. It was Testimony" criticized not only Smith and the church charged by some that this act by Gage had for their lack of wisdom and forebearance, but it also demeaned the office of mayor and was an described in detail Gage's part in the controversy. entrapment under false pretenses. The mayor Ellen White related that through her dreams she replied, "If the voice of the people as manifested in was present in their meetings and that she was my election last spring meant anything, it meant that writing what had been revealed to her about the there should be radical reform in the method of language and spirit of the men involved. She dealing with the liquor traffic, and as I thus interpret indicated that some had humbled their souls before it, I propose to act accordingly." The Daily Chronicle God but that Smith, McLearn, and Gage seemed to reported that there was a prospect of general prose- feel no spirit of confession. These were the very men cution and that a number of men who identified who had brought the church into so much difficulty, themselves with the cause of temperance by wearing she stated, and McLearn and Gage had worked a red ribbon had urgent business out of town. especially against the Spirit of God in her previous Needless to say, the temperance people in Battle testimonies to the church. They had treated these Creek were ecstatic at the conclusion of Arnold's warnings indifferently, as though they were the prosecution and conviction. The next day they cele- voice of humans rather than the voice of the Divine. brated with a picnic and a speech by Mayor Gage, Coming to Gage, Mrs. White was explicit: where he again detailed his sleuthing activity. It was Wm. Gage is wholly unfitted to engage in the a high moment for the temperance cause in Battle work of God. He does not see or sense his true Creek. As one temperance supporter summarized, condition. He has not an experimental knowledge of heart holiness, of communion with God. He In my dream, which seemed a reality, I was talks glibly, poll-parrot like, but the genuine work listening to these men, and that which the Lord of grace upon the heart he knows but little about. had shown me they would do was enacted in the Oh, how often he catches at Satan's bait, which is meeting. Wm. Gage would with his cunning presented in various forms. He has not been speeches, take off the edge of the Testimonies; balanced by the Spirit of God. He has not guarded and then, with a smile of satisfaction, look around the first risings of desire to hold every emotion as though he had done a smart thing for which he and passion in calm subjection to reason and should be congratulated... conscience. He has not been careful to suppress . . .These cunning speeches serve the purpose of all unsanctified imaginings, and bring into Satan. Self-inflated, self-deceived souls are captivity every thought to obedience to Christ. deceiving others. Eld. Smith has had poor Wm. Gage will prove a snare to the people of God companions and supporters. He sat in silence. wherever he shall take an active part; for he will God pity these men who are blinded and lead away from right principles to carelessness deceived. and indifference in religious things. He has ever been a curse to the church in Battle Creek, and „ .God despises the flippant, chaffy spirit of Bro. ever will be unless he is a thoroughly converted Wrn. Gage, for he makes God's people to err, he man. He will mingle in the company of removes the sacredness of divine things, and worldlings, full of wit and mirth, and then rise in brings them on a level with common things. the desk and preach a straightforward discourse. Smart, sharp, and apt he is regarded by many; "Walk in the light." Such men will do tenfold but I forebear to tell how the Lord regards all such more harm than good; because their daily life ones. contradicts their teachings. They are destitute of .Some will go to their graves with their sins the spirit of truth, unsanctified, unholy. I warn unconfessed because Wm. Gage, Bro. McLearn, the people of God not to take this man as their pattern. I present such as beacons to warn, and and several others have thrown themselves as not examples to imitate. bodies of darkness between God and the people, that the light he has sent them should be of no Of no other individual mentioned in this letter was account. such an extended and cutting appraisal given. And it seems that the impetus for these remarks about Of the church at Battle Creek, it was Mrs. White's Gage was that he, according to Ellen White, was lament, "you are not a converted people" and "the foremost in diluting her previous testimonies about true condition of the cause of God in Michigan is the Bell-McLearn controversy. deplorable." The affair, which was reported in the public press, had no less consequence for Gage. He was dismissed from his job at the Review because he "did not attend to his duties enough." And he lost Even though he was president of the Adventists' his ministerial credentials. Gage then decided to Battle Creek College, Alexander McLearn had never begin his own printing company in Battle Creek and officially become a member of the church. The refused to run for another term as mayor. As a result controversy that subsequently arose over his social there was no temperance ticket in the spring election and educational policies at the college also resulted of 1883, for the temperance backers moved their in Gage's eventual departure from politics. support over to the regular party candidates. Tem-

perance reform had reached another apogee in m Battle Creek and the catharsis for reform had spent Roo

e itself. itag Her

ity S THE FIRST Adventist political office- holder of whom we have record, ivers William C. Gage presents an ironic Un picture. He was persuaded by his brethren in the "light of duty" to run drews

An for mayor of Battle Creek. And yet, Ellen White later

: argued a spiritual poverty in his life that, from an tesy r Adventist standpoint, ought to have disqualified him

cou for any such moral crusade. Furthermore, when Gage had indicated he would run his office in such a way that no one would know whether he was an Advent or a Methodist, he revealed a secularity of thought that may have relegated his religion into a private sphere. Long before Gage had been elevated to promi- Messages of Revelation 14. This meant that any nence, George I. Butler had estimated his character other type of association was sub-Christian at best, in terms similar to those stated by Mrs. White. In a and that any other mission was to deny the essential letter to James and Ellen White written in 1874, vocation of Adventists. Here was a strong emphasis Butler stated that he had had a long talk with Gage on discipleship as an unconditional corporate about his faults, lack of conscience and faithfulness. response to the key elements of Adventism. "If Gage only had religion, how useful he might be," The temperance issue transformed this type of Butler concluded. It was from this personal perspec- discipleship. The church leadership gave sanctity to tive that Butler wrote the article in the Review that the view that God's purposes can work through the accompanied Smith's editorial acclaiming Gage's instrument of the state. This meant the use of non- election for the cause of temperance. Butler's state- religious institutions under religious norms and ment in the Review was a cautious reflection on reflected a more Lutheran view of the Christian Gage's character. He had warned about the dangers vocation. It tacitly recognized that there could be an of entering into the political thicket: "We have no equal sanctity between religious and non-religious time or ability to waste in the arena of politics while activities. the cause of God is languishing. And no Seventh-day As a result, a tension appeared in the Adventist Adventist who is in the light, and feels the burden of view of discipleship which William Gage's political work upon his soul as he ought to feel it, will want to and denominational activities brought to a focus. The do it or consent to do it." Butler concluded the article conflict between the demands of the church's by stating: corporate mission and the validity of the individual The cause of God includes all the good there is. believer's participation in a non-religious group was The message is based upon the "commandments the product of time. The apparently delayed Advent of God and the faith of Jesus," embraces temper- of Christ had worked its own dialectic on a people ance as one of its principles, . . . But the message who were still in the world but not of the world. and its success is greater than this one issue. Let us never forget our specific work and the claims of God upon us. SELECTED SOURCES What Butler seemed to suggest was that if a BOOKS Gardner, (The Honorable) Washington. History of Calhoun County, Michigan. person has a sensitivity for the whole work of God, 2 Vols. Chicago and New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1913. VandeVere, Emmett K. The Wisdom Seekers. Nashville, Tennessee: Southern he would refuse to enter politics, even for a moral Publishing Association, 1972. issue. The type of individual who would, in contrast, White, Ellen G. Temperance. Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publish- enter politics had secularized large areas of his life ing Amilation, 1949. ADDITIONAL SOURCES so that the issue was greater than the message. Various periodicals, including the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Butler's argument sought to resolve questions 1856-57,1860, 1862, 1865, and 1880-82; Battle Creek Daily Journal; Rattle Creek Journal; Daily Chronicle; and The Nightly Moon. resulting from the strong Anabaptist flavor of early Ellen G. White's "Special Testimony to the Battle Creek Church." Copy from Adventist views of political activity. The first Ellen G. White Estate, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. believers had regarded the church as a community of regenerated Christians whose ultimate purpose was This 1882 Testimony to the Battle Creek Church to evangelize the world with the Three Angels' contains a warning by Ellen G. White against the influence of Gage and others in the church. in several testimonies to the Battle Creek Church Ellen G. White warned against Gage being trusted with responsible positions in the church because he lacked a sincere religious character. TESTIMONY

FOR TRH

BATTLE CREEK CHURCH,

Be MR-9, E. G. WErrE.

OAKLAND, CAL.: PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING HOUSE. 1882. an tneAter, nionl erencead

NIGEL G. BARHAM

HE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST Conference as well as one of the denomination's Church in Great Britain has produced leading Biblical scholars. It is, however, with his many leaders, administrators, and earlier career and contribution to the growth of the missionaries who have significantly British Union Conference that we are here con- 16*contributed to the worldwide expansion cerned. of the denomination. Walter Edwin Read (1883- The first major expansion of the Seventh-day 1976) was one of the more important of these British Adventist Church outside of North America began stalwarts. He is the only Britisher to have been appointed President of the Northern European Divi- A member of the history department at Oakwood sion, and he later became President of the Caribbean College, Nigel Barham wrote his dissertation on the Union and a field secretary of the General history of British Adventism.

16 when John Andrews left for Europe in 1874. On his future educational secretary of the General Confer- way he stopped in England; four years later John ence. The facilities were very inadequate during that Loughborough started the British Mission around first full school year and Read and the other seventy- Southampton on the south coast. The denomination- odd students had to find lodgings in the city as there al beliefs spread slowly during the rest of the century were no dormitories available. The next year there and by the time the British Union Conference was were still no science laboratories and only 250 vol- organized in 1902 there were only about 850 church umes in the library, and the conditions were some- believers. The membership increased more than six times so cramped that as many as four different times in the next thirty-four years, however, and classes were held in the same room at the same time! Read was connected in one way or another with most The course of study for the ministers was fairly thor- of the significant developments of that period. ough, though not leading to a degree. Read studied Hebrew and church history under Salisbury, and Greek and theology under H. Camden Lacey, later ALTER READ was born in Southamp- the second principal of the college. ton on November 17, 1883, just as After completing his studies in 1905, Read Loughborough was completing his five- returned to Wales, where he remained for the next year term as superintendent of the six years gaining practical experience as a licensed British Mission, having organized its minister. In many respects this involved real pioneer first church there two months earlier. Read's Baptist work, for although the Seventh-day Adventist doc- parents were not among those first converts, trines had been introduced into the country twenty however, and later they moved to Newport on the years earlier they had spread slowly among the one southeast coast of Wales. There, in 1902, Walter and a half million inhabitants, and there were only studied part-time for the Baptist ministry while also about forty believers when the Welsh Mission was working in a grocery store. That year proved to be organized in 1902. Ballenger had been a very active one of the turning points of his life and a period of superintendent, however, and when Read returned major significance to the Seventh-day Adventist in the summer of 1905 the membership had quad- Church in Great Britain, for he was attracted to an rupled, being concentrated in the four small effort being held there by the dynamic preacher churches at Newport, Cardiff, Pontypridd, and Albion Ballenger, superintendent of the newly- Abertillery. organi7ed Welsh Mission. As a result of these meetings, Read was baptized and immediately demonstrated the dedication and sincerity which characterized his entire Christian life by giving up his job to become a colporteur. This was at a time when the denomination had only a handful of canvassers in Britain, with no publishing secretary or organized assistance available. Ballenger as- signed the best salesman in the area to advise and help the fledgling colporteur. Read later recalled his first day, selling Ellen White's book Christ ❑ur Sa- vior in the small village of Cwmbran, which: had one street of 36 houses on each side. He started at one end. I started at the other and we were to meet in the middle. Then we did the other 18 houses on each side, and when we finished we checked up to see how many orders we had. He had sold one outright and had three orders. I had sold three outright and had six orders, so he said, "You don't need me any more." Read continued selling denominational literature for the next three years, but his desire to utilize his abilities to spread his new-found faith more fully resulted in his attending the ministerial training college during most of that period, using his can- vassing talents to pay the fees. Duncombe Hall Missionary College was the only educational institution operated by the denomination in Britain and had just been opened in North London Elder John N. Andrews stopped in England on his in 1902 under the leadership of Homer Salisbury, the way to the European continent in 1874.

17 courtesy: Pacific Union College Library Ballenger in Newport and had attended Duncombe Hall Missionary College, and whose father was on the denomination's Welsh Executive Committee. In 1911 the denomination sent the couple to work in the Irish Mission for four years, during which time their only child—a daughter Eileene—was born in Lisburn near Belfast. Ireland is a larger country than Wales with about three times as many inhabitants, but an even harder region in which to gain Seventh-day Adventist con- verts. Though missionaries had first arrived in 1885, there were only about a hundred members when the mission was organized in 1902. Most of these members were in the north where the only two churches were at Belfast and Banbridge. Two more small churches had been formed by the time Read arrived, and another was begun in Dublin in the south while he was there, but by 1915 the member- ship had reached just over 150. Read had worked hard, holding evangelistic efforts in such places as Belfast, Portadown, Lurgan, and Lisburn, though with little success. In 1914 he had been ordained as a minister and appointed to the Irish Executive Committee, but with only one other minister to help him and three Bible workers, obviously little could be accomplished. The religious and political situation in Ireland was the basic cause of the denomination's meager prog- ress, however; not the need of more workers and money. The majority of the southern people were Catholic and followed their priest's instructions not to attend other church services or even accept a religious tract. The few Protestant denominations in the south were almost as hostile, and on one occasion in Dublin not one Baptist church would allow the The British Mission was organized in 1878 by Elder John N. Loughborough. He remained for five years, serving as its first superintendent.

For the first year Read had the administrative re- sponsibility of being the secretary-treasurer of the young mission in addition to his ministerial duties. This was partly because of his recognized ability to organize efficiently and give attention to detail, but also because of the tremendous shortage of workers. In fact, during his entire six-year ministry in Wales there were never more than eight workers in any one year, and this included the lady Bible workers and usually only one ordained minister. Nevertheless, the membership increased to over 260 by 1911, with new churches established at Blaenarvon, Swansea, and Mountain Ash. Read's tent efforts at such places as Newport and Wrexham had contributed to this growth. The progress was still slow, however, par- ticularly in the north of the country where the lack of a Welsh-speaking worker and Welsh literature was an almost insurmountable barrier. Albion Ballenger, superintendent of the newly- During his stay in Wales, Read married Emily organized Welsh Mission, converted Bead to May Powell, who also had been converted by Adventism in 1902. courtesy: Loma Linda University Heritage Room

18 courtesy: Lo ma Linda University Heritage Room Read attendedDuncombeHallMissionaryCollegein ted literatureattackingAdventistdoctrines,par- North London.Itwastheonlyeducationalinstitution Seventh-day Adventiststheuseofitsbaptistry.The and foreignreligion.Nordidthepoliticaltensions dence fromGreatBritainwasnotconducive,either, engendered bytheoutbreakoffirstWorldWar increased desireandcampaignforIrishindepen- ly, andoppositionwasencounterednotonlyfromthe to missionariesarrivingfromEnglandwithayoung ticularly theSabbathandSpiritofProphecy.The Plymouth Brethrenwhoheldmeetingsanddistribu- Presbyterians andAnglicansbutalsofromthe Protestant majorityinthenorthwasnomorefriend- help matters. appointed SecretaryoftheBritishUnionConference. churches, hisdutieswerevaried.Theyincluded workers wasstillinadequatetocareforoverseventy Departments, aswell as carryingoutregular But astheSeventh-dayAdventistmembershiphad Missionary, SabbathSchool, andYoungPeople's ministerial responsibilities. Thiswasadifficulttime being secretaryofthe recently-formed Home not yetreachedthreethousandandthenumberof T THEENDOF1915ReadleftIreland and forthenextsevenyearsworkedin Great Britainandtheheadquartersof the vicinityofLondon,capital the denomination.Tobeginwithhewas ,4 6 Z: ; r „.; affecting evangelisticcampaigns. and growth,airraidsblackoutsinevitably church paperoftheBritishUnionConferencebegun editing the with conscriptionhurtinginstitutionalmanpower for thechurchinmidstoffirstWorldWar, and businessabilities,thatthedenominationchose operated bytheSeventh-dayAdventistChurchin operated bytheAdventistsinBritainattime, ience, aswelltherecognitionofhisorganizational in 1897.Itwaspartlybecauseofthiseditorialexper- Britain. him in1918tomanagetheonlypublishinghouse other printingmaterials. of propertyhadjustbeenchosenasthenewhead- canvassers, thepapershortage, andhigherpricesof having beenopenedin1902. loss insalesduetothehardshipofwar, few milesnorthwestofLondon.Thisparticular London afewyearslaterandeventuallyfound a Wilcox producedthemonthlymagazine northern seaport)inEngland1884whenMilton Stanborough Park,afifty-fiveacreestatesituated a particularly theconscription ofmaleworkersand publishing plantclosedin1916becauseofthemajor permanent locationinabuildingerected1907on Truth. quarters forthedenominationinGreatBritain.The During thelatterpartofwar,Readbegan It washopedthatRead's leadership wouldenable The publishingworkhadstartedinGrimsby(a This smallpublishingplanthadmovedto Missionary Worker, the officialmonthly Present piece 19

credit: BritishAdven t Mes Pacific Union College Library including Greek.During Lacey's administrationthe college wasmovedfromManor GardenstotheStan- college, Readstudiedvarious theologicalsubjects Under H.CamdenLacey,secondprincipalofthe borough ParkEstate. 20 college whichhadalsobeenrelocatedonStan- college andpublishinghouse,thisestate,the the introductionofUriahSmith'sbookon the returnofmaleworkersandcanvassers. ters hadjustbeenmovedfromSouthamptontoNorth borough Park.Then,asaresultofhispastexper- prophecies of summer of1921onethemoreimportant Sales rapidlyimprovedwhennormalproduction and itdid.Duringthefirstofhisthreeyearsas a healthfoodfactoryandsanitarium.Whenthe administrative centerofthedenomination,alsoheld administrative positionsintheBritishUnionCon- activity foralmosttwentyyears,heattainedinthe Conference. included StanboroughPark.Inadditiontothe ience andsuccessinvariousareasofdenominational extension tothebinderydepartment. its presentone—TheStanboroughPressLimited. ing house,thenameofwhichwaslegallychangedto ference, thatofPresidenttheSouthEngland manager, heservedalsoassecretaryofthepublish- the institutiontorecoverfromsetbackofwar, London whereamajorevangelisticthrustwas Press, ReadtaughtcoursesinBibledoctrinesatthe north ofEnglandandmoreimportantinsofarasit beginning, waslargerthantheconferencein highly successful,sothatitwasnecessarytobuildan resumed aftertheliftingofwartimerestrictionsand Truth During histermasmanageroftheStanborough The SouthEnglandConference,whoseheadquar- and Good Health Daniel andRevelation magazines wererevisedand proved tobe Present In 1904thecollegemoved toManorGardenswhere history toRead. two largehousesprovided bothlivingaccomodations and classrooms. Hall MissionaryCollege,taughtHebrewandchurch Homer R.Salisbury,firstprincipalofDuncombe Courtesy: LomaLindaUniversityHeritageRoom

British Advent Messenger conference had been organized in 1902 the member- In this 1906 student group at Manor Gardens ship was less than 300, but now it had grown to College, Read is pictured in the third row from the around 1,500 in about 30 churches, the chief ones top, fourth person from the left (with glasses and being in London and its suburbs. moustache). credit: British Advent Messenger

EAD WAS PRESIDENT of the South ary cut. On January 1, 1932, a further salary reduc- England Conference for just over a year tion of seven percent was implemented and many before receiving even higher denomina- more workers were asked to go canvassing. Another tional recognition of his abilities. For five percent salary cut came on May 1. This one was

the next ten years he occupied impor- tant positions in Europe, first as Foreign Missions Secretary of the European Division, and then as ham Bar

Secretary of the Northern European Division. He a l

was then recalled to England in 1932 to serve as the e

President of the British Union Conference, only the Nig second Britisher to receive such an appointment. : During Read's absence the membership of the tesy British Union Conference—which consisted of the cour south and north England conferences and the three missions in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales—had in- creased by almost one-third to nearly five thousand, and by the end of his four-year term it had gained even more. In 1932 and 1933, however, the growth was very slight due to the effects of probably the worst financial crisis to hit the denomination in Britain. The Wall Street crash of October, 1929, in the United States had spread economic chaos in Britain and the resultant Depression deeply affected the church there in 1931. On January 1, all travel expenses had been cut by twenty percent and gen- eral expenses by five percent. Several workers were laid off or told to canvass part-time, and by October Walter E. Read married Emily May Powell. In 1911, the remaining employees received a five percent sal- their only child, Eileene, was born in Belfast.

21 During histermasmanagerofStanboroughPress, Read taughtcoursesinBibledoctrinesatthecollege which hadalsobeenrelocatedonStanboroughPark. growth), hadreduceditsallocationoffundstothe divisions. due toafurthereightpercentreductionintheappro- courtesy: LomaLindaUniversityHeritageRoom faced withadeclineintithesandofferingsduring forced, inturn,becausetheGeneralConference, the Depression(despitecontinuedmembership priation fromtheNorthernEuropeanDivision; The Britishpublishingplant hadbeenestablishedon Stanborough Parkin1907. Duetolossofsales to recoverfromthesetbacks ofthewar. during WorldWarI,ithad tobeclosed.However,it was reopenedunderBead's leadershipandwasable 22

credit: Review andHe raldPu blishing Association in thesouthwestcornerofStanboroughParkestate. to raisemoremoneybysellingtenacresofwoodland the BritishUnionConferenceExecutiveCommittee, under thefirmsupervisionofRead,finallydecided suit. Tohelpalleviatethisacutefinancialproblem, one ofonlyfiveinBritain,hadbeenforcedtoclose decreed anothereightpercentsalarycutforworkers corporation inBritainfromSeventh-dayAdventist improved. in 1933,butfromthenonconditionsgradually 1,000 poundsinincomeandpropertytaxes,butmore The salebrought5,000pounds.Committee Sanitarium, theStanboroughPressLimited,New- and missions.Thismeantanannualsavingsofabout admitted thecorporationasabodyestablishedfor also helpedtheeconomicsituation.AfterHigh and theoneatStanboroughParkalmostfollowed Court ofJusticeonJuly10,1933formallyapproved charitable purposesonly.TheDepartmentalsoex- expand. Thehealthfood factoryinstallednew important forthepresentcrisiswasarebateofover Department oftheInternalRevenueGreatBritain Union Limited,toBritishAdventMissions, the salarycuts—easedfinancialproblems.In tended thisclassificationtotheStanboroughPark the change,followingdayCharityClaims bold MissionaryCollege,andthelocalconferences sanitarium madeplans to widenthescopeofits activities. fact, thatsameyearsome institutionsbeganto machinery tomodernize itscerealplant,andthe 4,000 poundsfromthepastfewyears'taxes. Changing thenameofdenomination'slegal By thenthechurchschoolatChiswickinLondon, This sum—withthesaleofpartestate,and courtesy: Nigel G. Barham years when more money was available. This resulted in a membership gain of 615—with thirteen new churches and five companies (the first stage before forming a local church) being organized. British Adventism now had a total membership of 5,358; eighty-two churches; and forty-one companies. Read then left the British Union Conference in 1936 to become President of the Northern European Division. Selected chiefly because he had success- fully guided the British church during a critical period, his earlier experience in various areas of denominational work had also significantly contri- buted to the growth and success of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Great Britain, and prepared him for his many future years of service abroad.

BIBLIOGRAPHY This article is based on the author's doctoral dissertation, "The Progress of the Seventh-day Adventist Church In Great Britain, 1878-1974," Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan. 1976. ADVEN '1 REVIEW andSabbathHerald Through the years Read held several administrative F:AcsimiLm positions in the British Union. In 1932 he was asked to serve as President of the Union, and was only the second Britisher to serve in that capacity. Volumes 1-12 Some 2,000 pounds was spent in converting the old college building into a small twenty-six bed hos- 1850-1858 pital, which opened in January, 1934. The next year a baby clinic began, and in 1936 the Stanborough $72.00/set Maternity Home was dedicated. .A_Liac) Sips of the Times HE RECOVERY FROM such an acute financial condition was probably the FACSIMILE greatest contribution that Read ren- dered to the British Union Conference during his term as president. It was not M.,,NPMEIT just his business and organizational talents which helped the denomination, however, but also his orderly supervision and sound advice. Although the Volume1,1840 appropriations received from the General Confer- ence for 1932-35 were down about thirty percent, still $10.00 each a total of 107 public evangelistic campaigns were ADVENTIST HERITAGE. PUBLICATIONS held during that period, most of them in the last two Lorna Linda Library. Lorna Linda. CA 92350

23 hz '41 - 461 r i

The Honorable George Arthur Williams was the first Seventh-day Adventist to serve as lieutenant gover- nor of a state. courtesy: Ada Williams Turner William G. White

EORGE ARTHUR WILLIAMS was • nearly a year old when his father Charles first saw him. Charles, a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell, had joined the Union Army shortly after emigrating with his family from England to La Fayette, Illinois. George was born there in August, 1864, while his father was using his professional blacksmithing skills in the army. George attended school in Galva, Illinois, but never graduated from high school. In 1888 he married Mabel L. Grubb. Two years later, they moved to Fairmont, Nebraska, where they broke sod on 320 acres of virgin prairie land the Grubb family owned. George's parents were Baptists, and George and Mabel followed their example. In 1893, however, courtesy: Ada Williams Turner courtesy: Ada Williams Turner

Mabel Grubb became the wife of George Williams George Arthur Williams as he appeared shortly be- two years after this photograph was taken. fore his marriage in 1888.

they attended meetings held by William Byington the college and the publishing association moved, White, President of the Nebraska Conference. Much and the sanitarium was destroyed by fire, Williams to the regret of both their families, George and moved to Franklin, Kentucky, and opened a Mabel became convinced of the correctness of mercantile business there. Less than a year later, in Seventh-day Adventist teachings and were baptized December, 1903, he assumed the management of the into church membership at the conclusion of those Southern Training School store in Graysville, meetings. Tennessee. While at Graysville, Williams completed Two years after joining the Adventist church, the a business course at the school and concluded his Williams family moved to Alabama as self-support- formal education. ing missionaries. Under Williams' leadership, a Having demonstrated his business abilities at church was organized at Citronelle and a building Graysville, Williams was called to Atlanta in 1908 to erected. Williams found that he could not support his serve as manager of the Atlanta Sanitarium. In expanding family, eventually to become seven December, 1909, he took his family back to Nebraska children. Concerned about Adventist educational where they settled in Harlan County. After two years opportunities for his children, he moved the family to of farming he became business manager of the Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1901, where he opened Nebraska Sanitarium in Hastings. He operated a and operated a successful mercantile business. After farm north of Hastings and while there served as elder of the Hastings church. After twenty years away from the Fairmont farm, Williams returned William White serves as assistant principal of the there in 1914 and once again took up full-time Andrews University Academy. farming.

26 courtesy: Loma Linda University Heritage Room ILLIAMS WAS well-liked and respected f• 4 by his neighbors and fellow farmers. During World War I he served on the Fillmore County Council of Defense and managed the county's second American Red Cross fund drive. He was also a longtime mem- ber of the Sons of Union Veterans. During the spring and summer of 1918, his friends convinced him to run for a seat in the state House of Representatives. Before filing for the Republican nomination from the Forty-first District, Williams sought counsel from Nebraska Conference officials. Receiving their bless- ings, he entered the August Republican primary, was nominated, and then elected in the November general election. His record apparently pleased his constituents, for in the 1920 primary he ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Endorsing Williams for a second term, the Nebraska Signal said: The same integrity and high sense of morality that has always characterized his home life and his business relations marked his course in the legislature. He was always found on the right side of questions involving morality, clean citizenship and that have to do with the rights of the people.

George and Mabel Williams are pictured with five of William Byington White, president of the Nebraska their eight children. This portrait was taken about Conference, converted Williams and his wife to 1902 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Seventh-day Adventism in 1893.

.5111. .1117(1,11..W.0.5110. .111. V 0 -""ordentw- olt, IOW r Ota vat IP%IDA r wars: ...wow laforiworregor.o. ne 114 Ma fa, r

IoN Tu yr, Whams Ada PIE' :

410 tesy kon cour

*it

an. A.0 Pk.0 4,40,0 0 0 0.0.kaditp. 0 Arse.. 0 0 0, 04.. 0 0

27 courtesy: Nebraska Slate Historical Society

co. AtiOAD REV' BLit" II FOlt I13E

unty District, Fillmore Co dl at Clean, honest, capable, progres. sive. Qualified by many years experience in active business life both in town and on the farm. Believes in the square deal for every man with special favors for none. Will bea under men. thePledged control to ofgive no his group best service to Fillmore county and the smote

Solicited and our SupportWill be appreciated Williams represented the Forty-first District in the Yo Nebraska State House of Representatives for two terms.

more committees and only five members of the 100 served on as many committees as did Mr. In 1918 George Williams ran successfully for the Williams. He was chairman of the railroad Nebraska State House of Representatives on the committee, secretary of the road and bridge Republican Party ticket. courtesy: William G White committee and a member also of the committee on school lands and funds, conference committee, code committee and sifting committee. Member- Being a man of broad education and wide ship on the sifting committee, appointed near the business experience, and the same hard worker in close of each session, is always eagerly sought. At the legislature that he is on his farm, he was able various times Mr. Williams was chosen to preside to impress his personality on his fellow members over the house while in committee of the whole and exert an influence that was somewhat and not even in the heat of debate were any of his unusual. The daily newspaper frequently referred rulings ever questioned. Mr. Williams alone or in to him as one of the leading members of the house connection with other members introduced and his counsel was frequently sought by thirteen bills, ten of which became laws. members of both houses and by state officials. No The Signal also endorsed Williams for the speak- member of the house was made a member of ership of the House which he had indicated his willingness to accept, but which he was not actively seeking. The paper said, About 1911 Williams became business manager of No doubt there is considerable excellent the Nebraska Sanitarium in Hastings, Nebraska. material in the house for the speakership, but E probably no member is better qualified by rc8 education and wide experience than Mr. •I. Williams. He is a man of fine education. He is a good parliamentarian and an able public speaker. His ability as a presiding officer was demon- I strated on several occasions during the session

two years ago. He has had a wide experience in

ive business as a farmer. He is a real dirt farmer and

Un has been such for a number of years and he is an

da intelligent student of the many trying problems

Lin that now confront the farmer and the stock raiser. An element not always considered in the selection Loma of men for public place is Christian character and the study of manhood that puts their possessor Instead hesoughttheRepublicannominationfor as lieutenantgovernorfrom 1925to1931,fouryears Governor ArthurJ.Weaver. was toserveaspresiding officer ofthestateSenate. with GovernorAdamMcMullen, andtwoyearswith 1924 andwaselectedintheNovembergeneralelec- tion. Re-electedtwicemoreinsuccession,heserved nomination forlieutenantgovernorinthespringof second term,said, Secretary ofStateinthe1922primary—andlost. college withdirectelectionofthepresident. constitutional amendmenttoreplacetheelectoral interest instateandlocalpolitics.Hecorresponded with hisfriend,UnitedStatesSenatorGeorgeW. third capitol.OnenewspaperinreportingWilliams' tution andledinthedevelopmentofciviladmini- Norris ofNebraska,andsupportedNorris'proposed Even thoughoutofoffice,Williamslostnonehis Williams ransuccessfullyfortheRepublican Williams alsofavoredNorris'unicamerallegislative stration codeandmanyothermeasures.Oneofhis plan forNebraska. ance law.Heardentlysupportedratificationofthe Capitol Bill,attherequestofGovernorSamuelR. legislation, andwassingularlyresponsibleforthe McKelvie, whichinitiatedconstructionofNebraska's most pleasanttaskswasco-sponsoringtheNebraska ture heintroducedtheglaringheadlightbill,wasa term asastaterepresentative.Whileinthelegisla- Eighteenth AmendmenttotheUnitedStatesConsti- passage ofasound,workablecooperativehailinsur- strong leaderintheframingandpassageofhighway Williams, however,didnotrunforgovernor. The primaryfunctionof the lieutenantgovernor After athree-yearabsencefromstatepolitics, In November,1920hewaselectedforasecond the anti-administrationcrowd,ofwhichfour several conferencegroups,hisdutieswereatall other memberofthelowerhouse.Heisclassified diplomacy, andofanalyticmind.Aschairman close tothegovernor.Thismadehimtargetof even thoughsometimessingedbyhisown Democrats werenottheringleaders. the sessiontonewmembersasalreadyitwas times difficult.Thefactbecameknownearlyin the committeeonrevenueandtaxation tious, diplomaticleaderinthecauseofhisparty that heindulgedinmoreworkandworrythanany known tooldmembersthatMr.Williamswas as level-headed,acleanhardfighter,conscien- did notmakepoliticalhay,althoughitisprobable committees, andprominentamongtheseveral ial materialontheRepublicanside.Mr.Williams floor leaders,isgenerallyconsideredgubernator- more, chairmanofthehousecommitteeon detail oflegislationandeveryelementpublic tuents maynotalwaysagreewithhimonevery policy. above pettysuspicion,eventhoughhisconsti- Representative GeorgeA.WilliamsofFill- the prominentNebraska politicianswithwhom United StatesSenatorGeorge W.Norriswasoneof Williams waspersonallyacquainted. lieutenant governor'sofficeinthenewbuildingand talented parliamentarian.Itwasreportedthatduring never madeaparliamentarymistake. as themajorissuesofthatperiodandregion:pro- officials, membershipwasviewedasanassetinmost capitol building. witnessed thefruitionofcapitolbill,whichhe the firsttopresideoverstateSenateinnew had co-sponsored;hewasthefirstmantooccupy his sixyearsaspresidingofficeroftheSenatehe he washighlyrespectedbybothpartiesasafairand While nolongerinvolvedintheformulationofbills, siderable popularityinNebraska,claiming15,000 members bytheearly1930's.Commonamongstate Republican circles,becauseitstoodforthingsseen with somehumoraswell.Alwayspopularthe ladies, Williamswouldsometimesbeginanaddress men havebroughtyourdaughterswithyou." be agatheringofhusbandsandwives,butIseeyou by sayingsomethinglike"Iunderstoodthiswasto and patriotichistoricalevents.Williamswasa as thestatefair,homecomings,churchmeetings, good publicspeakerandalwayslefthisaudiences with somethingseriousaboutwhichtothink,and speaking inallpartsofthestateatgatheringssuch legislative sessionswasspentintravelingand During hissixyearsaslieutenantgovernorhe Throughout the1920'sKuKluxKlanhadcon- Much ofWilliams'timeawayfromthefour-month 29

credit: Encyclopaedia Britannica courtesy: Nebraska State Historical Society S LIEUTENANT governor, Williams rendered valuable assistance in prepar- ing Union College, the Seventh-day Adventist school located in Lincoln, for accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. He approached the chancellor of the University of Nebraska and persuaded him to give Union College whatever moral and professional support possible. The University was of some help to the college and even offered President Milian Lauritz Andreasen an honorary doctorate if he could secure accreditation for the school, thus insuring Lincoln of one of its three collegiate institutions. Andreasen accepted the offer of help but turned down the honorary degree. Williams was elected to the Nebraska legislature Union College finally achieved accreditation as a while it was meeting in the second state capitol degree-granting liberal arts college in 1937. building. Sensing the impending disaster of the Republican Party in the 1930 election, Williams did not enter the primary. His third term as lieutenant governor ended hibition, antipornography, separation of church and in January, 1931. Shortly after leaving office, his state, prayer in public schools, antisexual promis- advice was sought by his Democratic successor, cuity, and law and order. It is apparent that Williams Lieutenant Governor Theodore W. Metcalfe. It had ties with the organization, though records are seems that Governor Charles W. Bryan (who along nonexistent. Long before the upsurge of human with his brother William Jennings Bryan were rights issues, however, Lieutenant Governor Wil- friends of Williams) left the state without notifying liams demonstrated his personal concern on these the lieutenant governor. Metcalfe discovered his matters that would seize national attention in the absence and assumed his duties as acting governor. 60's and 70's. Indeed, his own Republicanism and Bryan was outraged. Williams' advice to Metcalfe on his Christian conscience would not have permitted how to handle the unpleasant situation is unknown, him to adopt stances such as identified the Klan later for he kept no copy of his reply. in the century—as his life and his 1932 statements In late 1931 Williams began working to secure the attest: release of an inmate at the Nebraska State Peniten- My father, a Civil War veteran, taught me the tiary. James Hickman (fictitious name) had murder- principles of Lincoln republicanism when a boy. ed two women in Valentine, Nebraska, in 1916. The For more than forty years I have by vote and voice eighteen-year-old youth had been found guilty and supported those principles. All thru [sic] the sentenced to be executed on June 23, 1916. On June years I have never waivered in the belief that 22, the state Supreme Court stayed the execution. In those principles enunciated by Lincoln and August the court commuted the sentence to life exemplified in the lives of McKinley, [Theodore] imprisonment. Jimmy was a good prisoner and by Roosevelt, and a host of others have been the 1931 had apparently been converted from Roman chief factor in the wonderful progress and prosperity of our country.... Lincoln's great Catholicism to Seventh-day Adventism as a result of concern was for the welfare of the people; for the the prison ministry of Lincoln businessman Charles preservation of the rights and privileges. His McWilliams. By 1931 Williams and Elder Sherman great heart was touched and his indignation E. Wight, formerly of Lincoln and then president of aroused as he marked the evidences of oppression the West Michigan Conference, were trying to and inequality. He stood for equal opportunity for secure Jimmy's release and remove him to his home all, high or low, rich or poor, but his chief concern state of Michigan. Hickman was released in was for the common people who could not protect February, 1935 and audited classes at Emmanuel themselves. Missionary College in Berrien Springs, Michigan, Williams also believed in economy in government. that spring. During the summer he worked at a In remarks to the state Senate in 1929, he informed lumber camp in Hastings, Michigan. Elder Wight the senators that the 1927 session of the legislature had become president of the Indiana Conference and cost the taxpayers $184,328 and the cost per day for put Hickman to work that fall on the construction each branch was $1,152. He broke this down to the crew at Indiana Academy. He also arranged a job for point that a five-minute speech cost the people $24 him as engineer in an Adventist-owned mine at and a one-minute speech cost $4.80. He concluded, Lafayette, Indiana. Hickman hoped to earn enough "True economy is the economy of time. Are your money by the following September to enroll at speeches in harmony with this principle?" Emmanuel Missionary College. However, he never

30 courtesy: Nebraska State Historical Society reduction in automobile license fees and reform of the property tax system. Despite his efforts and his spotless personal and public record, he decided to withdraw from the primary. Between April and November, Williams campaigned for Republican nominee Dwight Griswold and for the national ticket at the request of the Republican National Commit- tee. Ultimately, 1932 was a disastrous year for the Republicans both nationally and in Nebraska. Charles W. Bryan was reelected governor. By 1934 the Democrats exercised such control over state politics that Williams gave little thought to running for public office. However, by 1936 he con- templated running for Secretary of State. Many of his friends in government urged him to run for lieutenant governor. They felt his experience and abilities would be valuable as Nebraska launched its unicameral legislature in 1937. He sought and obtained the lieutenant gubernatorial nomination, and in the campaign that followed pledged himself to support a revision of the tax system, a teacher retirement plan, an increase in teaching credential During Williams' terms as lieutenant governor of requirements, and the ratification of the child labor Nebraska, the third state capitol was constructed amendment. around the second building. The original one was eventually demolished as work on the new building progressed. The Nebraska State Capitol Building as it appeared after completion. Having sowed seed by hand in his youth, Williams questioned the correctness of the returned to college and there is no further record of stance of the sower. courtesy: Harry C. Turner James Hickman. Williams was missed in Lincoln and by 1931 supporters from all over the state were urging him to run for governor in 1932. With the support of ministers, judges, farmers, state legislators and others, he entered the Republican primary in the spring of 1932. Unfortunately, the Republican primary elicited comparatively little press coverage. Williams' staunch support of prohibition seems to have weighed against him, and he saw that his chance of winning was poor because of American Legion support for his two opponents. During the campaign Williams was commissioned by Lieutenant Governor Metcalfe as an admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska. Writing to Metcalfe, a Democrat, Williams said, "I understand the chief responsibility resting upon the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska at this time is to see to it that the coming election shall result in every position in the Ship of State being filled with worthy republicans [sic] and that the democrats [sic] be cast into the depths of the sea to the end that Nebraska may again resume her rightful place as the greatest state...." Williams' primary campaign was characterized by extensive traveling and speech-making. Some of his efforts were undermined, though, by a self- appointed, well-meaning campaigner who irritated some influential voters. Williams proposed a I I I I credit: Pacific Press Putitishing Association

When the SIGNS OF THE TIMES published this Williams paid nearly $900 for 50,000 copies which special "Prohibition Issue" on September 25, 1928, were distributed throughout Nebraska. courtesy: Ada Williams Turner

The farm near Fairmont, Nebraska, to which Wil- asked Williams to keep him informed of his opinions liams brought his family after an absence of some on political matters. In 1944, at Senator Wherry's twenty years, appeared like this before the remodel- request, Senator Hugh Butler placed a letter from ing and modernizing began. Williams concerning agricultural legislation in The Congressional Record. Williams also corresponded During the years that he served in elective office, with his good friend, Representative Carl T. Curtis, and even afterwards, Williams was a faithful reader whom he had early encouraged to run for public of the newspaper and the Congressional Record. office. Williams came out of retirement in the spring of 1942 to serve for about four months as interim pastor of the Lincoln City (now Capitol View) Seventh-day Adventist Church. He had attended this church while serving in the legislature and as lieutenant governor. During his brief pastorate there in 1942, he led the congregation in paying off the church mortgage. Called upon to help solve a war-time visa problem for an Adventist minister, Williams called on Senator Butler for assistance. In working out this problem, Senator Butler wrote to a State Department official, "...former Lieutenant Governor George Williams of Fairmont, Nebraska, ...is one of the out- standing citizens of the state, known perhaps to more people individually than any other man in the state. No one has a better reputation than Mr. Williams...." Williams' health had begun to fail during the early 1940's. After several hospitalizations and surgeries, George A. Williams died at Boulder Sanitarium in

rner Tu ms illia W Ada

: tesy cour

July, 1946. Funeral services were held in Fairmont An informal portrait shows George and Mabel Wil- with Elders Neal C. Wilson, Carl Sundin, and Daniel liams relaxing on vacation at Laguna Beach, Califor- E. Venden officiating. nia.

EW SEVENTH-DAY Adventists have political successes and failures can probably be ever been elected to public office, and attributed to the same characteristic—devotion to most of the exceptions have been in principle. His unswerving support for economy in recent years. Yet George A. Williams — government and for prohibition cost him votes in his a devout Seventh-day Adventist, and a later campaigns. But while losing his last two dirt farmer with little formal education—was promi- election bids, he never lost the respect of the leaders nent in Nebraska politics for nearly twenty years. His of both parties. Writing to Williams in late 1944, Senator Wherry's chief aide said, "You little know, George, how much all of us appreciate hearing from

er rn Tu C. Harry

8 Williams came out of retirement in the spring of 1942 to serve for about four months as interim pastor of In October, 1938 the Williamses celebrated their the Lincoln City (now Capitol View) Seventh-day 50th wedding anniversary. Adventist Church.

37 . "i INS you because every [sic] since my first contact with you in 1936 I have realized how fundamentally sound and sincere you are. Frankly, you're my ideal of a Former Lieut real public servant and a real American." A Nebraska state official once wrote "[you are]...one politician who never trimmed his religious ideals one particle for popularity or votes. Such men are all too Governor Dies few...." Adventist Leader Perhaps a Republican Party leader said it best in Long Active In 1932 when discussing with Williams his primary State Dry Forces campaign possibilities. He concluded by saying, "George, you're just too honest to be elected THREE * THREE governor." Among the letters, speeches, sermons, George Arthur Williams, 81, and other materials left behind by Williams, there is former lieutenant governor and a yellowed and worn carbon copy of a quotation, member of the legislature of Ne- now well-known among Adventists, from a book braska and long a leader in the Seventh-Day Adventist church, which at the time had not yet been printed. It reads died Sunday morning at a sani- in part, tarium in Boulder, Colo, ...Are you ambitious for education that you While a member of the leg's-. may have a name and a position in the world? lature from 1919 to. 1921, he was Have you thoughts that you dare not express that one of the introducers of the you may one day stand upon the summit of Nebraska Capitol bill, as well as being a strong leader in the fram- intellectual greatness, that you may sit in deliber- ing and passage of highway legis- ative and legislative councils and help to enact lation. He was also a ].eader in laws for the nation? There is nothing wrong in the civil administrative code and these aspirations.... You should be content with many other measures. no mean attainments. Aim high and spare no Williams served as lieutenant pains to reach the standard. governor from 1925 to 1931. He had also held membership and George Arthur Williams aimed high and reached official positions in many civic the standard. bodies of the state. He was well known for his active participation in the Ne- braska Anti-Saloon league, serv- ing at one time as president of the organization. Born in Lafayette, Ill., in 1864, he took business training at Graysville, Tenn., before coming to Nebraska in 1888. With

the exception of a few years spent in the mercantile business in Ten- rner Tu nessee, he farmed near Fairmont until 1926, at which time he moved into Fairmont. He mar- liams Wil

ried Mabel Lucretia Grubb in 888 at Galva, Ill. Ada

trial will be at Fairmont. : tesy cour

SELECTED SOURCES BOOKS Who's Who In Nebraska. Lincoln: Nebraska Press Association, 1940. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS State of Nebraska. Senale and House Journals of the Legislature of the State of Nebraska, 1925-30. The Nebraska Blue Book. Lincoln: Legislative Reference Bureau, 1918-1930, ADDITIONAL SOURCES George A. Williams Correspondence. Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University Heritage Room. Various periodicals, including the Central Union Reaper, Nebraska Signal, Slate Journal, The Fillmore Chronicle, The Lincoln Star, and Valentine Republican. Interviews with Alonzo L. Baker, Mrs, Estelle Williams Jackson, Mrs. Mauveth Mabel Grubb Williams was born in 1870 and died in Kuehl, Nebraska State Treasurer Frank Marsh, Mrs, Irma Minium, Mrs, Alice Jackson Saunders, Ned Saunders, Harold K. Schilling, and Mrs. Iva 1959. courtesy: Ada Williams Turner Speidel.

38 THE BIBLE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP Piot/eerily Sevefrith-day Advedist Orgamizatioll it, Retrospect

Raymond F. Cottrell

[Editor's note: The Bible Research Fellowship, and procedures in religious education, and to various conducted by the college Bible teachers of North aspects of Biblical hermeneutics, interpretation, and America between 1943 and 1952, was the pioneer theology. organization of the church devoted to cooperative At the close of the 1940 Bible Teachers' Council in Bible study on the research level. The author of this Takoma Park, Maryland, consideration was given to article, who served as secretary of the Fellowship means by which the college Bible teachers could throughout its brief lifetime, has preserved a share with one another their individual endeavors to complete file of documents and correspondence understand the Bible more perfectly, in order that all related to the Fellowship. The majority of the might benefit from the labors of each, and that each historical facts presented here are taken from this might benefit from the constructive criticism of all. documentary archive. The secretary's complete per- The minutes of the 1940 Council conclude by report- sonal file of all papers presented to the Fellowship is ing: in the Heritage Room of the James White Memorial At the conclusion of a very wonderful convention Library, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, all expressed their delight at having been Michigan.] present, and a fellowship was organized called the "College Bible Teachers' Fellowship." Elder Andreason was unanimously elected as the OR MANY YEARS, the Seventh-day organizing secretary. An annual fee of $2.00 for Adventist college Bible teachers of each member was agreed upon, this money to be North America have met following the used in providing a monthly report from the quadrennial/quinquennial session of secretary, as a kind of exchange medium between the General Conference, under General Conference auspices, to counsel together on matters Formerly an associate editor of the REVIEW AND of mutual interest and concern. The agenda has con- HERALD, Raymond Cottrell is now retired and sisted of topics relating to principles, methodology, living in California.

39 the Bible teachers, and it was emphasized that Pacific Union College, for example—to assure their when any one of the group found something of congregations that the entry of the Sunrise Kingdom particular interest that he would pass it on to the into the conflict made certain that World War II others through this Fellowship. The Seminary would climax in the Biblical Armageddon. was asked to become the treasury for the Fellow- In response to these confident assertions from ship and inasmuch as by our vote we had pledged ourselves to stand behind the Seminary, with our Adventist pulpits and in the Adventist press, and prayers and our support, the Seminary thus with a view to ascertaining their true import, Bible becoming the graduate school of our colleges, it teachers gave these prophecies careful study. In this seemed the normal course for us to look to the setting, the local study group at Angwin chose the Seminary as the center of such an organization. name "Eschatology Society, " and at its first meeting read and discussed my contextual-linguistic study on The thirty-five or so Bible teachers present paid "The Kings of the East." the stipulated annual dues to Milton Earl Kern, first After listening to Dr. Caviness' account of the president of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological monthly meetings at Angwin over the preceding year Seminary. Elder Milian L. Andreasen, a teacher at and a half, the college Bible teachers asked Elder the Seminary and chairman of the Council, never im- Rebok to transfer their dues from the custody of the plemented the planned College Bible Teachers' Seminary to Dr. Caviness, requesting that they be Fellowship, however, and Elder Kern turned over accepted as corresponding members of his study the dues intact to his successor, Denton E. Rebok, in group at Angwin. Returning home, Dr. Caviness re- 1943. At the 1944 Bible Teachers' Council Elder organized the Eschatology Society as the Bible Rebok proposed returning the dues, but the teachers Research Fellowship, with the Bible teachers of the reaffirmed their intention with respect to the pro- colleges in North America as members. posed Fellowship. Some suggested that the General Over the next six years the Bible Research Fellow- Conference Ministerial Association be asked to ship grew rapidly. All but six of the sixty-six Bible operate the proposed medium of communication; teachers at the Seminary and in all Adventist Eng- others averred that such an arrangement would give lish-language colleges around the world became it too "official" a "flavor." members. Several colleges reimbursed their Bible At this point Dr. Leon L. Caviness, Biblical teachers for membership dues in the Fellowship, on languages teacher at Pacific Union College, told of the basis that it was a professional organization. the monthly Sabbath afternoon meetings of the Bible Most of the 190 or so Bible research papers teachers there. On the last Sabbath afternoon of contributed to the Fellowship during its Lifetime of March, 1943, they had met informally with a few ten years were written by these members. A number other teachers at his invitation. The afternoon was of pastors, evangelists, editors, and administrators devoted to reading and discussing a Bible research also requested membership and were accepted. paper I had recently completed summarizing one of Dues, originally $2 per year, were later raised to $4. my personal study projects. At the close of the dis- Principal expenses of the Fellowship were the cussion those present agreed to meet on Sabbath duplication and mailing of papers, and correspond- afternoon each month to consider a paper to be ence. Dues and other funds were deposited jointly in presented by some member of the group. Over the the names of Leon L. Caviness and Raymond F. next fifteen months others joined the study group Cottrell in the St. Helena branch of the Bank of and a few elsewhere in California became "corre- America. sponding members." Although the Bible Research Fellowship was brought into being by the college Bible teachers of N THE YEARS leading up to, and North America specifically to meet their own felt including World War II, international need for an organized way in which to make coopera- events concentrated the attention of tive Bible study possible, the organization was never Seventh-day Adventists on last-day more than quasi-official. Initiated at one of their prophecies, particularly the identity of official quadrennial councils with the tacit blessing of the king of the north in Daniel 11 and the battle of the General Conference, under whose auspices these Armageddon in Revelation 16. In the decade prior to councils met, it was in the strict sense of the word Pearl Harbor, Adventist evangelists and publica- always unofficial. tions, notably the Signs of the Times, were In keeping with the request of the college Bible confidently identifying Armageddon as a political teachers for membership in the Pacific Union battle in Palestine; Japan and the other nations of College study group, and by common consent, Dr. the Orient as the kings of the east; and Turkey as the Caviness continued to serve as paterfamilias of the king of the north, a pattern of interpretation to which organization. He motivated the formation of the not a few of the Bible teachers took increasing excep- original nucleus around which the Eschatology tion. The extension of hostilities to the Pacific led Society, and later the Bible Research Fellowship, some Adventist ministers—William R. French at grew. His qualifications for this assignment were his

40 competence in Biblical languages, teaching experi- the Bible teachers in attendance at the 1950 Council: ence, a sound concept of Biblical hermeneutics, and VOTED, that we extend an expression of skill in personal relations and group dynamics. His appreciation to the officers of the Bible Research personal interest in research-level Bible study was Fellowship for the splendid work they have done reflected in the considerable clerical work required in bringing into existence such a valuable in evaluating, processing, duplicating, and distribut- organization, and for the service it offers ing the many papers; in extensive correspondence ministers and Bible teachers in the exchange of with individual members and the several chapters; in ideas and interpretations of difficult passages of his faithfulness to the trust the college Bible teach- Scripture. ers reposed in him; in his initiative in counseling In 1951 membership stood at 204, and finally in with the Ministerial Association, the Ellen G. White 1952 at 256. Ninety-one percent of all Bible teachers Estate, the Theological Seminary, and other agen- in all sixteen English-language colleges around the cies of the church; and in his loyalty to the church world were members. Basically, the Bible Research and its leaders in everything and at all times. The Fellowship remained their organization and served church is deeply indebted to him for pioneering what the purpose for which they designed it, but persons proved to be a highly successful program of coopera- interested in serious Bible study serving the church tive Biblical research and study. Throughout the in many different capacities eventually made up the lifetime of the Fellowship he continued to serve as majority of its membership. chairman, and I served as secretary. As an unofficial organization, the Bible Research As time passed, additional chapters began meet- Fellowship functioned with a minimum of organiza- ing regularly on seven other campuses, and one con- tional structure. It had no elected officers. Dr. ference president organized the pastors of his Caviness continued to lead in its activities, having conference into a Fellowship chapter. In my official been asked to do so by the college Bible teachers of secretary's report to the college Bible teachers at the North America, who appreciated his approach to 1950 Council at Angwin, I reported a membership of Bible research, the principles on which he succeeded 157 in the Fellowship. Of these, sixty-five were in getting thinking men of diverse minds to college teachers and another twenty-eight resided cooperate on sensitive matters, and the demon- outside of North America. Seven (eventually seven- teen) were from the General Conference, and the remaining eighty-five were conference presidents, Participants in the 1940 Bible Teachers Council in departmental leaders, doctors, editors, pastors, and Takoma Park, Maryland, voted to organize the evangelists. In response to the secretary's report, College Bible Teachers Fellowship.

n tio ia Assoc ing h lis b ld Pu d Hera an iew v Re

it: d cre chapter participated in the evaluation process, and eventually a panel of six non-resident members was set up to assist in the evaluation and to give counsel when requested. These non-resident members were appointed by Dr. Caviness from a list prepared at his request by the General Conference Ministerial Association. This panel included an evangelist, a pastor, two administrators, and two Bible teachers. From time to time lists of papers awaiting evaluation were sent to the nine organized chapters for an opinion as to which should be accepted for consid- eration, and the priority to be assigned various papers. As might be expected, manuscripts varied in quality. They were judged on the basis of their intrinsic quality as research papers and their poten- tial value for study, irrespective of their point of view. As a rule, research-type papers only were At the 1944 Bible Conference, the teachers pre- accepted. Occasionally several papers dealing with sent reaffirmed their interest in a Bible teachers the same topic, and perhaps expressing diverse fellowship. Elder Denton E. Rebok, second president points of view, were grouped together for considera- of the Theological Seminary from 1943 to 1951, tion at the same meeting. transferred dues from the Eschatology Society to Dr. Once a paper was accepted, preliminary sugges- Leon L. Caviness for the proposed Bible Research tions to strengthen the author's presentation —which Fellowship. credit: Review and Herald Publishing Association he was free to accept or reject—were often forward- ed to him prior to duplication. The duplicated paper was then sent out to all members and a date was set for reading and discussing it. Later, papers accepted strated success of the Fellowship's predecessor, the for consideration were duplicated in their original Eschatology Society of Angwin. form and sent out to all chapters. Suggestions from the chapters were collated and sent to each author, N ALL OF THE Fellowship delibera- who might choose to revise his paper before it was tions and exchanges of opinions over its duplicated in final form and sent to all members. ten years of life, mutual respect pre- At the Angwin chapter meetings the author, if vailed for the sometimes diverse views present, would read the paper and members would of its members. No vote was ever taken ask questions and make comments. If the author for or against any particular point of view, or on any were not present, one of the resident members was paper presented for consideration. It never adopted appointed in advance to read it for him, to represent or advocated any particular interpretation of his point of view as accurately as possible, and to Scripture. It made no attempt to decide between answer questions for him as best he could. The alternative views. It never expressed an opinion on reading was followed by general discussion of the any subject, nor did it attempt to disseminate the subject. The secretary recorded, collated, and findings of any of its members. Papers were never summarized the comments for the record and for supposed to be given, loaned, or sold to non-mem- passing on to the author to use as he saw fit. bers by anyone other than the author. The sole Each Fellowship paper bore this notation im- purpose of the Fellowship was to provide a means of mediately below the title: communication and interaction among its members Presented to the Bible Research Fellowship in their individual research, for their own edification, Though presented to the Bible Research in order that all might benefit from the labors of each Fellowship, like all other papers it and that each might benefit from the comments and represents no pronouncement of the constructive criticism of his peers. Fellowship. Research papers considered by the Fellowship Members were requested to hold Fellowship papers were sometimes requested, but usually were sub- in confidence. They were considered the personal mitted voluntarily by members as reports of their property of their respective authors, who retained personal study projects. Of approximately 190 full control of them. An author might secure papers evaluated during its lifetime, about 120 were additional copies of his paper for personal use, with accepted for formal consideration. At first the chair- the above notation and mention of the Fellowship man and the secretary evaluated papers submitted. deleted, and was free to use them as he deemed Later, two other resident members of the Angwin appropriate.

42

The broad scope of Fellowship research is evident from this sampling of titles: "The Soul-Winning Motive" "The Two Covenants" "The Shut Door" "The King of the Lombards" "Har-Mageddon" "The Jubilee Calendar" "Before the Veil"

"Mekhisedec" "This Generation" e lleg

"The Divorce Question" Co

n

"The Deity of Christ" io "The Sealing of the Saints" Un fic "The Three Angels' Messages" i

"Development of the Mystery of Iniquity" Pac

"The Place of Christ in Spiritualism" it: d re

"Spiritual Significance of the Sanctuary" c "The Four Divisions of Alexander's Empire" Dr. Leon L. Caviness, a Bible languages teacher at "The Eternal Priesthood of Christ" Pacific Union College, was chairman of the Bible "The Chronology of the Hebrew Monarchies" Research Fellowship during the entire ten years of "How Long Shall Be the Vision?" its existence. "The Prohibition of Unclean Meats" "The Glory That Lightens the Earth" "Pioneer Views on Daniel and Armageddon" During the period of its existence, approximately 140 "The Privileges and Conditions of Stewardship" papers were evaluated by the Bible Research "Historical Setting and Background of the Term Fellowship and about 120 were accepted for formal `Daily"' consideration. The Fellowship never adopted or "Meteoric Showers Seen as Heralds of the advocated any particular interpretation of Scripture; Advent" its sole purpose was to provide a means of communication and interaction among its members Among the authors were: in their individual research. courtesy: Loma Linda University Heritage Room Wilfred J. Airey Albert W. Anderson Henry F. Brown Leon L. Caviness Raymond F. Cottrell LeRoy E. Froom "DAILY'" Edward Heppenstall HISTORICAL SETTVO AHD BACKG'ROUITD by R. E. Hoen L. E. Proofs George D. Keough Stewart Kime Presented to the Bible Research Fellowship A. F. J. Kranz Number 5, 1951 Herbert C. Lacey (Though presented to the Bible Research Pellowship, like all Roland E. Loasby other papers, it represents no pronouncement of the Fellowship) Charles S. Longacre esent to the Bible Teachers' Council Meade MacGuire backgrounds of Andrew Nelson Walter A. Nelson Albert V. Olson H. O. Olson George McCready Price Paul E. Quimby THE GLORY THAT LIGHTERS William A. Spicer THE 2ARTH

Edwin R. Thiele by Jean Vuilleumier Guy F. Wallkill Meade MacGuire Alonzo J. Weenier C. L. Woods Presenteu to the Bible Research ?ellowship Number 12, 1951

(Though presented to the Bible Rese:_rcil Fenowehlp, like all other cripers it represents no pronouncement of the Fellowship)

A little over a century ago God led Wm. prophecies, which broualt Miller to a study of the - credit: Review and Herald Publishing Association HE BIBLE Research Fellowship sub- scribed to the great fundamentals of the Christian faith on which there is general agreement among Seventh-day Adventists. Its primary attention was *I;devoted to aspects of these fundamentals and to passages of Scripture with respect to which there was not yet substantial concensus, with a view to clearer understanding of Scripture at these points. Such matters obviously required the attention of those in the church who, by training and experience, were best qualified to investigate them on the basis of sound principles of exegesis, in an environment conducive to such study. The Bible Research Fellow- ship was the corporate response of the college Bible teachers of the church to the emphatic counsel of Ellen White: There are mines of truth yet to be discovered by the earnest seeker. [We should enter into] a diligent study of the Scriptures and a most critical examination of the positions which we hold. God would have all the bearings and positions of truth thoroughly and perseveringly searched, with prayer and fasting. Believers are not to rest in suppositions and ill-defined ideas of what constitutes truth. When no new questions are started by investiga- tion of the Scriptures, when no difference of opinion arises which will set men to searching the Bible for themselves, to make sure that they have the truth, there will be many now, as in ancient time, who hold to tradition, and worship they know not what. The initiators of the Bible Research Fellowship be- Elder William H. Branson, President of the General lieved that a full and fair investigation of all the Conference from 1950 to 1954, misunderstood the evidence is essential to genuine research, and pro- purpose of the Bible Research Fellowship and motes unity. recommended that it be disbanded. In its place was Fellowship members respected each other's per- established the Committee for Biblical Study and sonal integrity as dedicated Seventh-day Adventists. Research of the General Conference. Each was left free to form his own opinions and to draw his own conclusions. The Fellowship's role was to provide an environment in which effective group study could take place. As Proverbs states, "In an abundance of counselors there is safety." editors, and many pastors and administrators in local Paradoxically, the Bible Research Fellowship, vol- conferences and in the General Conference. Many of untarily but under pressure, terminated its activities their individual expressions of appreciation are on at the height of its success, in December, 1952, and record in the Bible Research Fellowship correspond- initiated the transfer of its role to the General Con- ence file. The collective expression of the Bible ference. From an original membership of thirty-five teachers is on record in the minutes of the 1950 in 1940-44, it had grown to more than 250 by 1952. College Bible Teachers' Council. To my knowledge, Two fundamental reasons were responsible for its no member of the Fellowship ever questioned its demise. objectives, its spirit, or its modus operandi. First, there existed a deep-seated difference of On the other hand, some non-members who knew opinion in the church with respect to the value and little, if anything, about the Fellowship or about importance of research-type Bible study. In favor of research-level Bible study objected to its existence. the Fellowship and its approach to collective Bible They found its detailed analysis of Bible passages study on the research level were the college Bible and the investigation of alternative possible interpre- teachers in all sixteen Adventist English-language tations of these passages—with a view to providing colleges around the world, other college teachers, the church with a firmer Scripture basis for the proc-

44 courtesy: Andrews U iversity Heritage Room around theworld,withoutadministrativesuper- completely loyaltothechurch,itsleaders,and events deservesnarrationatsomelengthasacase institutional lines,throughoutNorthAmericaand together inalethalcombinationthatprecipitated the church. study continuestoencounter. study oftheproblemsseriousBiblicalresearchand so; ourquestandconcernwasfortruthofvalueto Several individualsheldthispositionirrespectiveof action onthepartofElderBranson.Thecatena Conference, arealsoamatterofrecord. developed inAustraliabroughtthesetwoelements considered bysomeadministrators—includingthe its fundamentalteachings.Tomyknowledge,no leadership atanylevel.Itneveroccurredtousdo the viabilityofFellowship.Butasituationthat member hadevercriticizedorquestionedchurch the factthatFellowshipwasineveryrespect tion ofgenerallyaccepteddenominationalprotocol. Fellowship tofunctionacrossadministrativeand William H.Branson,presidentoftheGeneral sufficient inandofitself,however,tocompromise president oftheGeneralConference—tobeinviola- vision andcontroloftheGeneralConference,was Dr. VernonHendershot,presidentoftheTheological S, ninaryfrom1951-1952,chairedthe1950Bible Secondly, foranunofficialorganizationsuchasthe Neither ofthesetwofactorsseemstohavebeen Ichers' CouncilheldatPacificUnionCollege. Teachers' Councildealtwiththepresentationofcon- this paperwastoberead,IsuggestedDr.Vernon troversial subjectsintheclassroom.Themorning other pioneerAdventistBiblestudentsbutdiffered geddon weresimilartothoseofJamesWhiteand disapproval, Werepersistedinpresentingand from thoseofUriahSmith,whichchurchleadersin Australia favoredatthetime.Despitetheiremphatic publishing hisviews. at considerablelengththeresultsofhisBiblestudy. for discussionintheyearsleadinguptoandduring search. Research attheGeneralConferenceandtosetupa permanent committeeforBiblicalstudyandre- A subjectonwhichWerewroteatsomelengthwas asked todirectthenewly-establishedOfficeofBible the kingofnorthandArmageddon,alivetopic World WarII.HisviewsonDaniel11andArma- student, hehadpublishedanumberofbooksand At the1952BibleConference,WalterE.Readwas pamphlets onvarioussubjectsinwhichhesetforth an Adventistminister,hehadlefttheministryasa along withafewotherinterestedteachers.Formerly from July23to30,andonhisowninitiativeBrother Were attendedanumberoftheCouncilmeetings result ofindiscretiononhispart.AnardentBible Council metonthecampusofPacificUnionCollege General Conference-sponsoredBibleTeachers' One oftheassignedpapersat1950Bible the 1950GeneralConferenceSessionin San Francisco(July10to19)athisown 01.TIS F.WEREofAustraliaattended expense andspentseveraldaysat Angwin followingthesession.The1950

courtesy: NigelG. Barham Hendershot, president of the Theological Seminary quarters some cause for concern." The Fellowship and chairman of the Council, that it might be inter- had become "a major denominational problem," he esting to poll the teachers present on their views continued, because of its "chapters or branches in with respect to a number of subjects that had occa- the various Divisions," and "the General Confer- sioned controversy over the past half century. He ence Officers, who recently gave considerable study concurred, and I prepared a form on which each of to reactions from the field, expressed considerable the Bible teachers could indicate his own under- concern over the situation that is developing." He standing with respect to the various points of contro- lamented that: versy. This was done immediately following the A very wrong impression is being given to the reading of the paper on controversial views. Among world field as to the loyalty of many of the the items listed in the poll were various interpreta- Fellowship members to the old fundamentals of tions that had been given the king of the north and the Advent message [Uriah Smith's view of the Armageddon. king of the north and Armageddon], and that The poll revealed general unanimity on all of the scores of our workers and college students are formerly controverted points, and complete agree- becoming confused as to many points of ment with respect to the king of the north and denominational faith and teaching. Armageddon. A chorus of fervent "amens" greeted He specifically objected to inclusion of the poll on my announcement of the results, and someone pro- controversial subjects in the official report of the posed that we sing the Doxology—which we did. The 1950 College Bible Teachers' Council, and identified Bible teachers voted that the poll results be included the unanimity of the Bible teachers with respect to in the official minutes of the Council. Armageddon and the kings of the east (counter to The Bible teachers' agreement on the identity of Uriah Smith's view) as the theological crux of his the king of the north and the nature of the battle of objection. Armageddon coincided with that for which Louis Curiously, Elder Branson addressed this four- Were had been severely criticized in Australia. He page letter to "L.L. Caviness, Ph.D.," and "Prof. returned to Australia, wrote K. J. Reynolds of the Raymond' F. Cottrell" but sent it to administrators General Conference Department of Education, with around the world and not to either of us. Puzzled the "report that the best theological brains among inquiries from Fellowship members around the the Adventists in America were giving full support to world a few weeks later provided our first intimation the things he had been teaching for years in Austra- of such a letter. Our first copy came from a personal lia against the opposition of the leading brethren. friend of Dr. Caviness, a Bible teacher at Helderberg So you see, he has stirred up quite a tempest." As a College in South Africa, who was a member of the result Neal C. Wilson, Sr., president of the Division, Fellowship. As Elder Branson stated frankly in his appealed to Elder Branson of the General Confer- letter, he himself knew little about the Fellowship ence to deal appropriately with the situation. Elder and what little he did know had come to him in the Branson responded by issuing a letter warning form of "repercussions from the field"— from church administrators against the Bible Research people who evidently did not know much more about Fellowship, setting up an ad hoc committee to study it than he did. Neither he nor they had sought first- the king of the north and Armageddon, and schedul- hand information about it from any of the Bible ing a large ecumenical Bible Conference for Septem- teachers or from the officers of the Fellowship before ber, 1952, that would lay down the official line on taking action. these and other subjects. As chairman and secretary of the Fellowship, Dr. Caviness and I both wrote Elder Branson requesting ONFUSING THE 1950 quadrennial information about the letter and an explanation of his council of the college Bible teachers at reason for sending it out. It was clear to us that he Angwin with the Angwin-based Bible and his informers were unwitting victims of misinfor- Research Fellowship, Elder Branson's mation which none had made an attempt to verify. presidential letter, issued to church Two months later Roger Altman, administrative administrators around the world, warned them secretary to Elder Branson, sent each of us a copy of against the Bible Research Fellowship—which was the letter with an apology for the omission of our in no way involved with the situation in Australia names from the list of recipients. For some months that precipitated his correspondence. Dr. Caviness and I sought unsuccessfully to clarify In this letter, dated October 7, 1951 (immediately matters with Elder Branson, explaining the role of preceding the Fall Council), Elder Branson acknowl- the Fellowship as a study group initiated by the edged that he had "received very little of the materi- college Bible teachers and assuring him of our al being sent out by the Fellowship, so [I] actually individual and collective, complete and undivided know little about its activities except as I receive re- loyalty to the church and its leaders. But he had percussions from the field [Australia]." Some of evidently decided that the Fellowship posed a grave these, he wrote, "give to those of us here at head- threat to the church, and that settled the matter. All

46 PROGRAM

Seventh-clay iliventist BIBLE CONFEREKE

The Spacious Sligo Church in Which the 1952 Bible Conference Is Being Held in Takoina Park

ME I AdiddidamiL He]. ic I] i 111 in 1\ 11:4•1.1 First 1838 B .11 , 1V ClIalferciCe Was Held at Rocky Hill, Connecticut

SEPTEMBER 1-13, 1952

IIELI) IN HIE

Sligo Seventh-day .7(dvenlist ellurch

FLOWER AN!) CARROLL \ 1"/ \t 1.S

rAKONIA PARK. NVANIil\r.

courtesy: Loma Linda University Heritage Room efforts to clarify the situation proved futile. few days later, Elder Branson personally invited him The immediate effect of his letter was to create an to attend the Autumn Council and to participate in even greater interest in the Fellowship than had arrangements for establishing the office of Bible existed before. Twice as many membership applica- research and the new Bible Research Committee. tions were received during the year after his letter as Walter E. Read of the General Conference secre- during any comparable period prior to it. tariat was appointed chairman of the ad hoc After some months of correspondence with Elder committee set up to make an in-depth study of the Branson, I reluctantly concluded that further king of the north and Armageddon, and to present attempts to clarify matters would be futile and that this subject at the 1952 Bible Conference. On behalf more harm would result from defending the Fellow- of the committee and in preparation for the ship than from discontinuing it in deference to the conference, he corresponded with me at length over well-being of the church as a whole. The key factor in a period of several months. Among other things, he my decision was reluctant acceptance of his opinion requested copies of a number of papers I had written that denominational protocol precluded its existence. on various aspects of the subject for the Fellowship. The Fellowship was serving the Bible teachers of all The ad hoc committee was eventually merged into sixteen Adventist English-language colleges around the Bible Research Committee, which presented a the world and had members in every world division formal report in the March, 1954 Ministry. This of the General Conference except one, and in every report listed several of these papers, among others, union conference except one. accepted their conclusions, and gave the papers Accordingly, upon three occasions during the appropriate credit. The report consisted essentially winter of 1951-52 I proposed to Dr. Caviness that we of a resume of my paper, "Pioneer Views on Daniel return the Fellowship to the college Bible teachers at 11 and Armageddon." the proposed 1952 Bible Conference in Takoma Park, Maryland, with the recommendation that it be dis- N ORDER TO counteract what he felt to banded. I also proposed that we request the General be the objectionable influence of the Conference to make provision for Bible research Bible Research Fellowship (all of the within the framework of the General Conference. He Bible teachers of the church, collec- reluctantly agreed that that would be the best course tively), Elder Branson, as previously of action under the circumstances. noted, decided to convene a large ecumenical Bible But it was nevertheless, a deep disappointment to Conference to reaffirm the historic position of the all of the Bible teachers, to be so misunderstood and church on important points of Biblical interpretation misrepresented around the world—for what was as he understood them. That conference met in the intended to be sincere and dedicated service to the Sligo Church in Takoma Park from September 1 to church and to see the effective ministry of the 13, 1952, a few days before the 1952 Autumn Fellowship brought to a close. The impasse to which Council. Most of the delegates to this conference we had come was a modern version, in a religious were from North America, but many from overseas setting, of the age-long difficulty town and gown came early to attend both gatherings. Major atten- have always experienced in trying to understand and tion was given to certain points of interpretation cooperate with each other. However, attempts to listed in the questionnaire at the Bible Teachers' resolve this particular difference of opinion—be- Council two years before, to which Elder Branson tween the college Bible teachers and the General had taken particular exception, and especially to the Conference administration—were marked on both king of the north, the battle of Armageddon, and sides, from beginning to end, by goodwill and related events. The Bible Conference was so mutual respect; relations never deteriorated to the structured that only what might be called the personality level. "official position" was to be mentioned publicly, and Simultaneously with my proposal that the Fellow- no provision was made for discussion on the floor— ship be disbanded, I drew up a formal recommenda- though there was considerable "locker room" tion that the General Conference establish an office discussion. To this end all papers were carefully of Bible research and appoint a Bible research screened in advance, as were written questions from committee. I sent copies of this recommendation to the floor. In his lengthy, two-part presentation of several persons at the General Conference and to Armageddon and related subjects, Elder Read took other persons of influence in church affairs with the same position as that reflected by the college whom I was personally acquainted. I then arranged Bible teachers in the 1950 poll. with Clifford L. Bauer, president of the Pacific Union Bible teachers attending the 1952 Bible Confer- Conference, for Dr. Caviness to attend the Bible ence agreed to disband the Fellowship, and the Conference as a delegate of the Pacific Union, Autumn Council a few days later (September 17 to specifically that he might work out, with the Bible 27) appointed Walter E. Read to direct the office of teachers and the General Conference, the transfer of Bible research and set up a permanent "Committee Fellowship activities to the General Conference. A for Biblical Study and Research." Dr. Caviness

48 Fra.onr L E. Hew.nstell tosiso S H Horn

'N.;:4111116, Ateet Speakers at tke BIBLE CONFERENCE

The speakers here shown were those who presentee 01-e 1514041 swbiects at

the conference I. addition to those nen the Sabbath roemlien and the

leaden of the dereehaner ,.trice,, whole P.CIVre, ere 1howr, elsewhere

I.

T. H. Jamison A 5 Mi%well W McFarrand W c C Murdoch F S Nichol

John C Yrerer Fl E Read ❑ E H L Red, The 1952 Bible Conference met in the Sligo Church privilege to attend every meeting of the Fellowship September 1 to 13. Bible teachers attending that from 1943 to 1952, and every meeting of the new conference agreed to disband the Bible Research Bible Research Committee from 1952 to 1975. Fellowship because the General Conference was establishing its own permanent office of Bible HE INFLUENCE OF the Bible Re- Research. courtesy: Review and Herald Publishing Association search Fellowship did not cease with formal termination of its activities. In ten short years it made an impact on the thereupon laid plans to disband the Fellowship as of denomination that has vitally affected December, 1952, when membership dues already church life and work. There were both immediate, received would expire. In November the new tangible results, and less tangible but equally committee met for the first time under the chairman- important long-range results. The principal tangible ship of Elder Read. The guidelines drawn for it by results consisted of: the General Conference officers specified the 1. A permanent General Conference office of objectives and procedures pioneered by the Bible Bible research, established in 1952, the year of Research Fellowship. With the approval of their transition. authors, some thirty research papers awaiting con- 2. A permanent General Conference Committee sideration by the Fellowship were turned over to the for Biblical Study and Research, also established in new committee, and Dr. Caviness wrote to the nine 1952. local chapters inviting them to deal directly with 3. The ecumenical Bible Conference of 1952, in Elder Read and the new committee. Through the Takoma Park. columns of The Ministry an announcement was 4. The principles of interpretation built into the made of the new committee and an invitation issued SDA Bible Commentary, 1952 to 1957. Practically all for research papers to be contributed. There was of the writers and the two editors of the Commentary thus direct continuity between the Bible Research were Bible teachers and members of the Bible Re- Fellowship and the new Committee for Biblical Study search Fellowship at the time they accepted their and Research. assignments. The Commentary reflects the spirit, The Bible Research Fellowship thus terminated the hermeneutical principles, and the interpretation nearly ten years of pioneering ministry to the church, of Scripture encouraged by the Fellowship, and is a during which time the Angwin chapter met regularly living monument to it. These hermeneutical princi- one Sabbath afternoon each month. It was my ples are also set forth at some length in my chapter

50 on principles of Bible interpretation in the book scholars of the church could take reports of their in- Problems in Bible Translation; in my article on "The dividual study for evaluation and constructive Role of Israel in Old Testament Prophecy" in criticism by their peers; that is, persons competent Volume 4 of the Commentary; and in numerous to evaluate research-level study projects. Ellen unpublished papers on the subject. White counseled those who, in their study of the Less tangible results of the Fellowship include: Bible, find what they take to be a clearer under- 5. A demonstration of effective group dynamics in standing of truth, to submit their findings to persons cooperative Bible study on the research level for the of experience—obviously persons with more exper- first time in the history of the church. It brought the ience than their own: college Bible teachers of the church—with their . . .the only safety for any of us is in receiving no concern for such study—together in a permanent, new doctrine, no new interpretation of the cooperative working relationship in which mutual Scriptures, without first submitting it to brethren respect and confidence, complete freedom of ex- of experience. Lay it before them in a humble, pression and investigation, and a spirit of dedication teachable spirit, with earnest prayer; and if they and loyalty to the church prevailed. see no light in it, yield to their judgment; for "in 6. A demonstration of the atmosphere necessary the multitude of counselors there is safety." for creative, cooperative research-level Bible study. But to whom can those with the best training and This atmosphere is composed of willingness to highest degree of competence in Biblical studies go recognize the Holy Spirit as the author, guardian, for such counsel? Obviously, only to their peers; that and arbiter of truth, and to follow wherever the Spirit is, persons with comparable training and experience leads; willingness to deal objectively and fairly with in Biblical studies. The Bible Research Fellowship all of the available evidence; and willingness to listen provided a forum in which the results of Bible study attentively and with an open mind to the other on the research level could be evaluated by a panel of person's perspective of the truth, in the realization other competent Bible scholars, in an atmosphere of that he may have a more accurate understanding of mutual respect and confidence. some facets of it than I do, and with sincere respect 8. A demonstration that freedom to investigate for his perception of truth and confidence in his the Bible objectively, under the guidance of the Holy personal integrity, dedication, and loyalty to the Spirit, with an open mind and in mutual confidence, church. Such an atmosphere is vital to a successful is a far more effective catalyst for unifying compe- corporate quest for truth. tent, responsible, thinking persons than regimenta- 7. Its provision of a place to which the Bible tion of thought. The Fellowship was unofficial in its

51 organization and operation, and therefore had no author's presuppositions, his hermeneutic, his need to take a position or make a pronouncement. It reasoning process, and the validity of his conclusions never did so. Its purpose was simply to help its in terms of the evidence he presented was also of in- members in their individual quests for truth. Inas- estimable value. much as the Fellowship eventually included virtually The church is deeply indebted to the Bible all the college Bible teachers of the church, through Research Fellowship and to the dedication and vision them it made a major contribution to our collective of its founder and leading spirit, Dr. Leon L. perception of truth. In this unofficial atmosphere the Caviness. The church might well be served today by investigation of alternative possible interpretations a revival of the objectives, the incentives, the and points of view could proceed in a relaxed, secure principles, the atmosphere, the procedures, and the atmosphere of mutual respect and confidence, spirit of fellowship in the quest for truth it provided without fear of being misunderstood, or of recrimina- those who participated in it. tion or reprisal. The responsible scholarly exchange and examination of alternative interpretations and SELECTED SOURCES points of view in such an atmosphere seem essential BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS to any genuine quest for truth. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Our Firm Foundation. 2 Vols. 9. A demonstration that cooperation with others Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1959. in the quest for truth is a highly desirable safeguard Were, Louis F. Armageddon: The Battle of the Great Day 01 God Almighty. Privately printed, no date. against weak spots in one's own reasoning process, The King of the North in Jerusalem. Privately printed, no date. and that the experience of working with others in the White, Ellen G. Counsels lo Writers and Editors. Nashville, Tennessee: Southern Publishing Association, 1946. quest binds hearts and minds together in a richer Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 5. Mountain View, California: Pacific understanding of God's word. I feel that one of the Press Publishing Association, no date. most valuable byproducts of the Bible Research Fel- LETTERS lowship was the spirit of unity and fellowship it K. J. Reynolds to R. F. Cottrell, January 14, 1951. provided for its members in their collective quest for W. H. Branson to L. L. Caviness and R. F. Cottrell, October 7, 1951. W. J. Harris to R. F. Cottrell, January 21, 1951. truth. W. H. Branson to L. L. CavIness and R. F. Cottrell, January 21, 1952. 10. Its powerful incentive to diligent, thorough, ADDITIONAL SOURCES persevering Bible study on the research level, with a Other articles, pamphlets, manuscripts, and statements are from the personal view to ascertaining as accurate and complete an files of the author. understanding of the import of Scriptures as possi- ble. It brought individual endeavor to understand the Bible into sharp focus. The experience of critically evaluating many scores of papers, analyzing an VAY0 YAN AYNA °NV The S.D.A. PERIODICAL INDEX will Elder R. F. Cottrell was secretary of the Bible convert your back issues of Seventh-day Research Fellowship during the entire period of its Adventist periodicals into a valuable existence. Besides writing some of the papers resource. Ideas and information for discussed by the Fellowship, he attended every one sermons, research papers, devotional of its meetings from 1943 to 1952 as well as every talks, and church programs will meeting of the later Bible Research Committee from be right at your finger tips 1952 to 1975. courtesy: Pacific Union College when you subscribe to the INDEX. You will receive two semiannual issues of the INDEX for $7. Send your subscription request today to: S.D.A. PERIODICAL INDEX LOMA I.1NDA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES Riverside, California 92515 t VA AVA VW FAS%4 Ma Ann rin r-1 ?1-1 WAUVIAL

Uriah Smith's Small Epic: THE WARNING VOICE OF TIME AND PROP CY John kiiialier

HE ENTIRE FRONT page that week— March 17, 1853—of The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. III, No. 22, was covered with the lines of a single blank verse poem entitled "The Warn- ing Voice of Time and Prophecy." And the poem continued to appear in eight more installments for a total of something more than 3,000 surprisingly skillful, often powerful lines. The poet, Uriah Smith, was just twenty-one years old, a graduate of the prestigious New England preparatory school, Phillips Exeter Academy, where he seems to have been a sort of unofficial poet among his fellow students. For two successive years, 1850 and 1851, he had composed creditable but undistinguished odes for anniversary exercises of the academy's Golden Branch Society. Amateur psychologizers who like to correlate poetic activities with physical handicaps might feel reinforced to hear that young Smith walked on an artificial limb, having lost his left leg to an infection at age thirteen. Only a few months before his long poem began to run in the Review, Smith, who had already been deeply stirred as a boy by the Advent movement of 1844, had accepted the seventh-day Sabbath, and was now on fire to do something really effective to advance the new cause. That same spring he joined the Review 's small working staff where he remained

Chairman of the English Department at Andrews This is one of the earliest photographs of Elder Uriah University, John 0. Waller is also interested in early Smith, taken about ten years after he wrote his epic Adventist history. poem. courtesy: Review and Herald Publishing Association

53 Tri.1V G3211OQ1a, AND SABBATH HERALD.

"Here la the Patience or tkc saint,. i Here ak.a they that keep lite torookondinenti of God and the Faun ersesusto

o r., 1 1 I it 0 Ll II EIS' T Et, N. V., TIIUliSDAY, 31 A It t! II 17, l ft 5 3. No. 22.

JOSEPB BAT4Si f, n. AND11.4,AVS rimnd his throne their solip uf triumph raise, Nay ! 'ti. not so ; false reasouingt how absurd Publishing Cionmllire and Jo:1mm TIAKEIL Arid then go forth—inimortal forums and fair--- hod is not nttx•ked ! nor mve his works in vain! .7AmES WILLTE. Editor. Witli shining crowns, and harps or glittering gold, Alta his eternal truth will stand, unmoved, Nor in one jot or Little fail, till heaven rueusiten 94mt-01corr11 TO dwell for ever oil time earth renewed, And earth Shan pass. Ay, it will triumph; Ai South El rote ,tzt, Sates Blot •, No. 21, Third Floor . And praise for ever their Yternal K TerMS—G RATES. it 19 expended that all Mo friends of [tic And as they, wondering, gazed, slid saw events, And ris it onward moves, majestic, high, canoe will aid in its publication, as. the Lord bath prosporeil Sublime, and slietis afar its radiance luright. them. Crowding lipifill eVel316, in order come. communications, (inlets, and remittances, should be As the last great event drew swiftly on ; O'er the dark waves of error, sin and death, addressed to JAstEs wittTE, Editor ref mho Review and ner- All. nit who witl, may then time light receive, ald, Mscbentr, N. Y. ('out-imici ) Anti saw mid mighty revolutiens. am They rolled around the world, kingdoms arise All viw nject, alone the guilt must bear, TIIE WARNING VOICE A11(1 fall. as others rose and fell. in turn, Itut Hod will hate a people, who, above great kingduat was Set lip, The world's tut loud amid unceasing strife, FL- 1:11h1 the hat Which should not lie destroyed, 1 10 r have nit cull; By earth-born cares unbound, from passions fere, TIME!, AND PROPIIIICIC• Ti Len trust Ell'sbasked they, wheel these thing~ should ; Shall ever tot its bright unfading beams, eV 1.151411 tot Omit gout gave them time, prophetic Mon, Their steady put direct, and heed it well. O'en all the morel world, where, others tee, l'hat they might know—turd se (tiro' them the Ivor/d— And who with honest hearts, and pure. tit shrine No light would ensile, or through its midnight gloom ile.. [lines that I led in wisdom has ordained, For his own precepts—holy, just and good— No cheering ray appear, to dissipate Ilk purpose to fulfill anti end his plans; Shall with unwearied steps, and fervent seal, 'The darkness, Hod has set a guiding star— And knowing, thus, might ail keep pace a ith truth. Press ever tin to where it points—to Heaven. A luminary bright—whose rays divine Rut man ! unthinking Iiiati how prone to err! The wise shall understand ;" there it remains, Should pierce the night—the deep'ning shades dispel, And let earth's vain allurements, like a mist, Bright on the list of his unfailing words; Which o'er the earth in sullen silence brood. Obscure the light, and misdirect his steps ; Anti though men laugh and mock, and fiercely strive Nay, more, a ray of God's own brightness, sent For when the path of truth too elese becomes, With worldly wisdom, vain, to prove it false— Direct to man from oil' his radiant throne ; Too 0.o-row and too strait, for worldly pride, Iti living, flaming characters of light, That those who gladly should the light meek e, And gaudy trappings. rain. with which lie loves f t still remains, "The wise shall understand." And follow where it led, should here enjoy TO leek his poor, frail tenement of clay, Thus spoke the Angel to the Seer beloved: A glorious foretaste of the bliss of Heaven. Full soon he turns aside, to folly clings. " 0, Daniel, thou, the vision close and seal; It is God's Holy Wont, immtitalsie, Anil in hi`' own self-righteousness exclaims: The book shut up, until the time of the end ; Through life's bewildering man alone can guide •'d neer can think the little means, a Fine Fur increased knowledge be, and to and fro The wandering traveler to eternal rest. So straight to draw, or standard raise so high; Shall tonny run; and then the wicked shall Without it, man were lost—lost in the deep, As for myself, I can see nothing why Do wickedly, and none of them the truth Dark labyrinth of dread uncertainty— am not with my friends en equal ground, Shall know; but alt! The wise shall understand," Where doubts distract, and fearful thoughts arise— And just as good—as well prepared for Heaven." And losing thus his guard, lie lets his pride With nought his steps to le:ul, save the dim hoop Time of the end! Time when thee day draws bear, Of human reason; whose ntisgniding flame PASS Judgment on bud's word, and shape his course ; In which the linger of Almighty God, Would serve to make the gloom still more profound, Makes a criterion of his fellow men, The final period shalt place to this The darkness deeper, and more keenly felt. Instead of trials, by which to judge himself World's history : when the great cluck of time, limit hear hint snore, thought farther yet from right: lint 'twas not God's design to leave man thug, Probationary time, which now has beat, L"Flie visions, prophecies, prophetic missed, In error's devious paths, to grope Ids way; For near six thousand years, earth's rapid course, Ily prophets written of old, of standing long, So, through big Sacred Ward, his will revealed, Shall toll its final hour, mid all merge in We cannot comprehend, or understand ; And pointed out the narrow path, that bright The endless cycles of eternity, ns they're closed and scaled, and deep involved And brighter shines, e'en to the perfect day. Time of the end! Time then above all time, In an impenetrable mystery; And none need err therein, nor is this world's That man the age should know in which he lives, Expressions figurative, denoting what, Vain wisdom requisite. or judgment deep, Awl throwing off the garb of worldliness. 1$ something yet for man to ascertain ; Or reason proud; for in their loftiest strain, A covering of righteousness and truth Or if, indeed. in meaning literal, These all arc nought but foolishness with Out]. Secure, with which to be protected then. Stuid, a fulfillment we shall neer behold; The least the truth may know, so plain it is. Will well Isecome hint in the day of His For what portends it, or proclaims it. what 7 And known and followed, leads us through to liestven. Uutimingled wrath, and awful vengeance dire, Why then in useless toil our strength exhaust, Our daily course defined, and ditty shown, Which day, appointed, [lad will surely bring. On scent, hidden things, front which to draw Indebted more to mercy infinite, For man to thus prepare, is wisdom true, Rut idle. groundless theories, at best! In that ere this designs lie cousumsnatos, But folly, worse than folly, to defer, hire op tit what of truth we already know ; Or mighty schemes purees. or judgments sends Tinze orthe end! When is it 1 Who shell know 7 Thix doing we are safe.-and all is well." Upon a guilty world—man is forewarned. Who would nut ktiow, and so in time prepare And to his chosen ones, the pinstilitAtt, men it, peace :Ind sorely ! Baneful sentiment! For things to conic'? For man to strive to know, Of holiness and truth—and worthy ail Siren of death to all map's future hope; I-i 1,VindinU to,, ; thl ii let Its ail he wise, Fur what in worldliness they wish might he, Of favors so divine—he has revealed Amin for o ursa. II is x aw ill; if rk,reh4m,o, 'fl icy to their ltosomu fondly, blindly hug, The secrets of his purposes anti plans. The time foretold is nut already lure, Yea, its their visions, lie removed the veil, Till forced belief [acclaims the [Amnions true. And we the very ones fur whom to sleep— 'Tis this oft baffles conscience, stops her voice. The mysterious veil which o'er the future hangs, On rain's tronliling verge to sleep—is fraught And makes plan slumber on the verge of death, And bade them look fat-down the stream of Limo, W ith danger awful ; thus to put far off Nor rums themselves to ace or know the truth ; Until that stream was in eternity's The evil day, Lill nil e a thief it come, Lulled by the Siren song to calm repose. Vita ocean 1014L—Ven to the day And take us 1111,11,Vai:eS—ale harvest past, itas God for nought his secrete, then, revealed When this dark, weary, groaning earth, again, The summer ended: and our souls nut saved, For nought his word bestowed on man, to guide, In Eden glory shall rejoice anew ; Time of eke end/ Momentous, solemn time: Because in mystery so deeply veiled? The curse, the blighting curse, of aims removed, IV hen signs and wonders shall Ise tonnitbst, And have his servant.' prophesied in vain, And all its hideous progeny destroyed; To warn a world of its approaching doom. Until the righteous from ail ages eared, And poured their warnings on the empty air, Rejoieieg 11t the glory of their God, Since none their meaning or their import know 7 In the last days, with God, shall come to And in eternal life through Christ the Sun, Is such God's wisdom, or his judgment such'? That in the heavens above, and earth beneath, with only brief interruptions until his death on March Cry, and finally the 1844 "great disappointment at 6, 1903, barely two weeks short of the fiftieth the passing of that time, and its immediate effects." anniversary of the first installment of the poem. Part II, after opening with "an apostrophe to the During thirty-four of those fifty years, including the 'Blessed Hope,' to which a few still clung, and were last two, he was the editor. sustained in all their trials," went on to show "the For James White, Review editor in 1853, it was no more gradual effects of the disappointment . . . the trivial matter to devote an eighth or more of an entire numerous divisions which crept in and scattered the precious number of his paper to a single poem, to say flock." Then an explanation of "the Sanctuary . . nothing of doing it for nine successive weeks. wherein lay the cause of the disappointment;" from Evidently White believed in the practical power of there, "the third angel's message," based on the poetry to carry a message, not merely to supply prophecies of Revelation; and the Sabbath truth. sentiment or typographical variety. In fact, several of There were addresses to the lukewarm Laodiceans the issues carrying the Smith poem also carried one and to former Adventists "gone back into the or more smaller poems by other authors. (Smith, in world." Then came "a warning to the shepherds" his private life, moved in a circle of versifiers. His and to the world; mention of "the Spirit manifesta- mother, Rebekah, wrote poems, as did the woman he tions, Satan's last scheme to deceive mankind;" married, Harriet Stevens. His sister Annie, who died and, finally, a forward look at "distress of nations," in 1855 at the age of twenty-seven, remains the best- the "coming storm," the "time of trouble, and the known of early Seventh-day Adventist poets and seven last plagues," the "final battle," and the hymn-writers.) "Restitution," in the New Earth. In that same year, 1853, James White published For students of Adventist history, the poem Smith's Warning Voice of Time and Prophecy as a provides a unique source for inwardly experiencing small book (110 pages of poetry plus ten of preface the powerful imaginative self-image of the small and notes). circle revolving around James and Ellen White at. Rochester in the early 1850's. Less than nine years PREFACE BY Smith explains his removed from 1844, these people felt themselves poem's intent "to give a general outline firmly positioned as nothing less than the God- of the foundation, rise and progress of directed protagonists in the central epic of the the Advent movement up to the present universe. In Smith they had a youthful poet who, time, showing that it was the work of under the spell of that conviction, was almost equal God, also, its connection with prophecy, and the to the artistic challenge of capturing this overwhelm- prophetic fulfillment upon which it is based." ing feeling in words and lines and soaring poetic The poem was written in two parts. Part I, periods. It is a poem composed for the voice—sight- showing the Bible and its prophecies to be "man's reading will not do here—a poem to be declaimed, only guide" covered the period "from the Com- intoned, to reach and move the believing heart by mencement of the work to the passing of the time in way of the listening ear. 1844." It described the signs in the sun, moon, and True to the outline in the preface, the poem opens stars; the "state of the world just previous to the with lengthy, eloquent praise of Biblical prophecy as preaching of the Advent;" the first angel's message, "a guiding star," the only light efficacious to lead *Tear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his man through a morally bewildering maze on to the judgment is come," and Daniel's prophecies, basis Eternal Kingdom: of the message; the "voice of Time, showing the ful- O'er all the moral world, where, otherwise, fillment of those prophecies in the past;" the going No light would come, or through its midnight forth of a pilgrim band to proclaim the message, its gloom rejection by "the Nominal Church . . . hence the No cheering ray appear, to dissipate second angel's message, 'Babylon is fallen, is The darkness, God has set a guiding star — fallen;" the 1843 Disappointment, the Midnight A luminary bright—whose rays divine Should pierce the night—the deep'ning shades dispel, Which o'er the earth in sullen silence brood. Uriah Smith's poem, "A Warning Voice of Time and Nay, more, a ray of God's own brightness, sent Prophecy," ran on the first page of the REVIEW Direct to man from off his radiant throne; AND HERALD for nine weeks. That those who gladly should the light receive, courtesy: Loma Linda University Heritage Hoorn 55 And follow where it led, should here enjoy paragraph is tied together not only by ten long A glorious foretaste of the bliss of Heaven. but also by five long e's, and the alliterative effect of It is God's Holy Word, immutable, seventeen d sounds, including six initial d's. The Through life's bewildering maze alone can guide metaphor of God's prophetic word as a guiding The wandering traveler to eternal rest. star—indeed, "a ray of God's own brightness, sent / Without it, man were lost—lost in the deep, Direct to man from off his radiant throne" —pene- Dark labyrinth of dread uncertainty— trating through the moral confusion hanging like a Where doubts distract, and fearful thoughts cloud sullenly over the earth is well sustained into arise— the second paragraph. With nought his steps to lead, save the dim lamp Smith's compositional unit throughout his long Of human reason, whose misguiding flame poem—and in this respect more than in any other he Would serve to make the gloom still more demonstrates control of his blank verse—is the profound, sentence, or even the paragraph, and almost never The darkness deeper, and more keenly felt. the single line. Any truly competent blank verse will But 'twas not God's design to leave man thus, do no less. But the English poet from whom Smith In error's devious paths, to grope his way; had learned the most was one of the two greatest of So, through his Sacred Word, his will revealed, them all—John Milton. Obviously Smith knew And pointed out the narrow path, that bright Paradise Lost, and Milton's peculiar way with the And brighter shines, e'en to the perfect day. blank verse line had drilled itself deeply into his . . . consciousness. From Milton, Smith learned to avoid And to his chosen ones, the prophets, men the worst pitfalls of blank verse monotony—specifi- Of holiness and truth—and worthy all cally, how to vary the pauses within his lines, and Of favors so divine—he has revealed how to sweep his thought past the death-trap of. The secrets of his purposes and plans. excessive end-stopping. The reader is left free to Yea, in their visions, he removed the veil, concentrate upon Smith's thought and feeling, not The mysterious veil which o'er the future hangs, overly conscious of his lines. And bade them look far down the stream of time, Here is Smith's description of the signs in the Until that stream was in eternity's heavens—the dark day and darker night, and the Vast ocean lost. —E'en to the day more recent falling of the stars: When this dark, weary, groaning earth, again, The day has passed, the day of terror, when In Eden glory shall rejoice anew; The sun his glories veiled, and dim, withdrew The curse, the blighting curse, of sin removed, Behind the thick'ning gloom; when darkness rose, And all its hideous progeny destroyed; And over mid-day brightness, giant-like, Until the righteous from all ages saved, His sable mantle threw—unfettered then, Rejoicing in the glory of their God, With freedom stalked, throughout a frightened And in eternal life through Christ the Son, land. Shall round his throne their songs of triumph And when the night came on, and fair, and full, raise, Down from her lofty throne, the moon refused And then go forth—immortal forms and fair— To give her light, the pall of darkness dense, With shining crowns, and harps of glittering gold, And denser yet. became, e'en to be felt. To dwell for ever on the earth renewed, And not far back, among the wonders rare, And praise forever their Eternal King. — Of modern times, behold, in bold relief, The poetry here, and throughout, inspected as The fearful night, when fell the stars from heaven; poetry (not only as message), impresses with its con- As her untimely figs a fig-tree casts, siderable metrical virtuosity. The sound of the first When fiercely shaken of a mighty wind: line is somewhat disappointing, with its retarding When all the starry hosts, innumerable, early cluster of three o-r-1 combinations, trailed by In wild confusion seemed, and sad dismay; two more r's; but at its end the line recovers, pauses And countless myriads of meteors, bright, suspensefully, sets the pleasing long i motif which Shot flaming forth, east, west, and north, and will do so much to help organize the next nine lines, south, then eases the reader into the more open second Marking their swift career with vivid lines line, and thence through the syntactically admirable Of coruscating light, which meeting oft, seven-line first sentence. The twelve-line first All heaven appeared a net-work, bright, of flame,

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cuityreitr-N7rie -

And earth with floods of dazzling brightness filled. Men, however, recovering from their initial wonder and fright, soon rationalized such wonders, and ignored the significance of other signs on earth. "Oh what can rouse them," cried the poet, "ere the pent-up storm / Of fiery indignation held in store / For an ungodly and a wicked world, / Shall on them burst in fury, and involve / In ruin, irretrievable and sure. . . ?" Satan, knowing his time short, grimly assembled his diabolical "dark legions" to hoodwink mankind with "dead'ning opiates, and with siren songs, / And fables cunning of a world's reform, / An age to come, a bright millennial age / Of peace, and happiness, and plenty, ere / The Saviour should to earth descend again." To counteract such deceptions God commissioned the mighty First Angel of Revelation 14:6, 7, speed- ing him off to earth with his message, "Fear God and give him glory; for his hour / Of judgment now is come." Men by the thousands awoke to search the prophecies as never before: "a thousand echoes back, / Gave deep response, a thousand voices took / The Heaven-born message and proclaimed the cry." The prophetic books, long "closed and sealed," lay open at last—the prophecies of Daniel 2, and Daniel 7, and Daniel 8 (all energetically recounted in Smith's iambic pentameter). To interpret the prophetic symbols, Smith dramatically created an allegorical character, the personified voice of Time (earthly history). Poor Time was old and tired, "drooping and weary," The influence of John Milton and his poem being so close to his "journey's end," but he spoke "Paradise Lost" on Smith's writing style is evident unequivocally as he reviewed his own long, troubled in "The Warning Voice of Time and Prophecy." history—Assyria, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome —in light of the prophetic words. Finally Time reached the feet of the great image with its toes of iron and clay: Waits but to perish in the burning flame. "Thus far I've gone; The 'little horn' has risen, and in the face Four universal kingdoms have I seen Of Heaven has flung defiance; but his time Arise and fall, and of the last, behold Is almost o'er, yea, his dread doom draws near. The crumbling fragments, only, now remain; Then to your Chart, and search the future well; And but for one more kingdom can we look, For that which is to come is no less sure The endless kingdom of the God of Heaven. Than that which has transpired; I only speak The image have I followed, till we stand, Unvarnished facts, and they can never lie." Even now upon the ends of its ten toes, Full well matured and ready to receive Hearing the new message, Christians of diverse The fatal blow of that great 'stone,' which, as denominations "paused and listened, and forgot It grinds the whole to powder, fills the earth— awhile, / In mute suspense—while on their ears the And next in order comes. loud / Alarm-notes fell—their favorite phantoms And I have seen each; / And ceased awhile to dream their darling The lion, bear, and leopard all expire; dream, / Of happy ages yet on earth to dawn." An And now the body of that fourth great beast, enraged Satan soliloquized his counterpian: to brand

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the new message a "delusion," make it unpopular the revised interpretation of Daniel 9:23-27, seeming by ridicule, and to corrupt the popular churches to point to the tenth day of the seventh month through their love of worldliness. "That is the cord (October 22), precipitated the electrifying Midnight by which I'll hold them down; / For I will strengthen Cry: now their love of earth, / Its pleasure and its forms, The hour came on, its pride and show, / Its luxury and wealth, and vain And with it came, as on the whirlwind borne, esteem." "I will join," Satan plotted, "professors "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out and divines, / Church-men and worldly-men, drunk- To meet him!" Then, swift as the lightning shoots ards and thieves, / And every being, vile, both heart From cloud to cloud, quick as the thunder bursts, and hand, / In one grand mass, to crush this rising Deaf'ning through all the air—so quickly ran truth." The spirit of that cry throughout the land, The consequent rejection by the popular churches So quickly utterance found in one great shout led to the fearful message of the second angel calli. That, rising, shook, throughout, heaven's lofty out the true believers: dome, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen!" dread words "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out With solemn import full, and terrible To meet him;" nor could a shock, electric, In meaning. . . Sooner have roused to life a faltering band, Who now immediate from slumber sprung, And from the gilded galleries where rose, And with full many a cheer, rallied again, In worldly pomp, the measured anthem, deep, With ten-fold vigor 'round their standard bright, Now beating back in mournful notes, and slow— Now brighter, far, than ever, gleaming forth, To which the vaulted ceiling, high, returned, The Lord is coming, while all doubts and fears, In corresponding tones, the notes again— And ghostly shadows gath'ring fast around, These startling words fell heavy on the ear: Scattered precipitate, with headlong route. Babylon is fallen, is fallen! At once, And Prophecy raised high her gilded page, With simultaneous impulse, thousands rose, From which blazed forth, at once, redoubled light, And broke, with her, their bonds of intercourse; Clear as the sun, and unmistakable. . . . Left the dull place where they no food received, "Up to the seventh month, meanwhile, the world, No spiritual benefit, no life, no light, / Under Time's rapid hand was rolling on, / Nearing Left and unshackled, free, themselves declared; th' appointed day." The believers left their fall har- Free from her sects, unfettered by her creeds vests ungathered: "the fields, unreaped, I Nodded their heads of yellow grain, and sere, / As if t'affirm, Lo! now on all her shrines there settled down "The Lord is at the door." / Such was the faith, The speedy gath'ring death-mould, thick and fast; through deeds made manifest. . . ." A death-damp issued forth in all her aisles, In reliving the final weeks, Smith's verse takes on And all her lamps of piety and love, slow suspense, then funereal disappointment: Of godliness and truth, for ever quenched, Meantime the distance shortens; weeks depart, Behold, through all her courts, now reigned Weeks, intervening, dwindle into days, The blackest moral darkness deep and dead... Which soon alone remain, while brighter burns Hope and the love of God, among the saints, UT THE FAITH OF the believers was And from their ranks, songs of thanksgiving rise, severely tried when the year first And shouts of praise, up to their glorious King, predicted for Christ's coming, 1843, Whom they so soon caught up will be to meet. passed uneventfully. "Doubt, fell can- In such proportion, so much fiercer, burns kerworm of Truth, crept in, / And 'Mong all the wicked, malice, wrath and hate, striking boldly at the inmost roots / Of their belief, Though fearful, lest the warning yet be true. there gnawed assiduous." To hours are days reduced—to moments hours— And many, gazing vacant, wavering stood, Fast sifting through the ceaseless glass of Time; As some ship's canvass, idly fluttering, hangs, Till dawns at last the much expected day; When two opposing winds strive opposite. In dead suspense and breathless stood the world. They moved, bewildered, depressed, into 1844: "a The wise prepared it found, and waiting then heaviness crept on / And weighed their spirits, till To make their exit to their glorious home; all began / To droop and slumber." But suddenly But ah! it passed away, and, waiting, still,

58 2

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As editor of the REVIEW AND HERALD at the time, James White made the decision to print the recently- converted Smith's poem.

Left them all here; no King from heaven appeared; This Washington Hand Press was acquired by the The world breathed easier and calmly Time's Adventists only a few months before Smith's poem Great wheels moved on, unstopped, and undis- appeared in the REVIEW AND HERALD. Roth the turbed. issues of the REVIEW carrying the poem and the . . . . later book versions were printed on this particular The time pass'd by, but bro't no outward press. change! Heavy the blow came down, with crushing weight, On that devoted flock, as if `twould send believers who had survived the disappointment. The Hope, reeling, to its grave; and faith destroy; Review was attempting to round up as many as And to destruction scatter all belief; possible of these—from cities, small towns, remote And blot out trust in truth or prophecy. farms, east, west, and south—and rally them around Through every trusting heart, like some keen shaft the newly embraced Sabbath truth. Patience in With triple barbs it pierced: and tore away, waiting upon the Lord's own time was now the virtue A shield from off their breast, and from their grasp to be cultivated—patience and steadfast readiness. An anchor wrested; while they stood exposed, Many had lost courage, abandoned their faith. E'en as shorn lambs to the bleak, wintry blast, Perhaps they could be revived through hearing the entire Third Angel's Message, including the ISTORICALLY CONSIDERED, Smith's Sabbath doctrine. Smith was calling with special narrative had reached its climax, but intensity to such persons as these. "Ho! all ye his poem was only half-finished. We scattered ones," he cried, in what is probably his have followed him to page 55 of his 110 most eloquent passage: poetic pages. Indeed, the most urgent Ho! all ye scattered ones, who ever once rhetorical tasks he had assigned himself were Stood on the side of God and fought for truth, scarcely begun. Smith was not aimlessly versifying, Into whatever lone and dreary path, nor White publishing a poem for art's sake alone. The cloudy day and dark has seen you stray, No doubt most Review and Herald readers in 1853 Return around the standard of your King! were already of the remnant of Second Advent `Tis the last rallying-call that bids you come!

59 The last recruiting officer that Heaven, ings into error, reviewing the Sabbath truth, To bid men join its army, e'er shall send, exhorting the lukewarm Laodiceans to new zeal, and Is out upon his final mission now; calling the scattered ones, Smith turned to preach Ere, then, too late, enroll your names again, again Christ's sure coming and the beauty of the To aid the glorious cause you once did love. earth made new. The last quarter of the book is a The bright remembrances of former days, powerfully versified Second Advent sermon: Bid ye return—thoughts of the holy joy 0 world! 0 devotees of fashion! 0 That filled your souls while struggling for the truth Ye glittering sons of pride! Ye worshipers In scenes gone by, bid ye return—the sun, At pleasure's empty shrine! Of what avail Fast counting off the numbered days of time, Will it soon be that ye have followed here Telling how swift the coming end draws near, The paths of worldly happiness? What joy Bids ye return—and loud the rolling earth Will the reflection bring, that ye have thrown Trembling beneath its weary load of years, Your years away in chasing empty dreams — Palsied and old, like one who seeks the grave, "Once did the Saviour come, lowly and meek, / To Bids ye return—and louder still the voice pay the penalty for guilty man, / And point the way Of Heaven's last messenger to sinful man, to never-ending life. / Once more he comes; but not Deep in its warning tone, bids ye return, as then he came; / He comes a king, to whom all And fight the battle through and win the prize. power is given / In Heaven and earth, and all 0 that a soul should perish now, who e'er dominion given. . ." The young poet, his verse Has borne the cross and trod the heavenly road! enriched with Scriptural paraphrase, reaches near- Should almost reach the blissful land of rest, ecstasy in his contemplation of the beauty of the Then turn, through disappointment, from the world to come: path! Then through the massy gates, each gate a pearl Should brave the conflict 'till 'twas almost o'er, Enter the City, bright, for them prepared, Then lay their armor by, and miss the crown! Decked with the glory of its maker God; Should, with the Golden City just in view, And like a jasper stone, the light thereof, Yea, almost on its threshold standing, turn As crystal clear; and all whose holy streets, Away from truth to error's poisonous cup. With purest gold, even like transparent glass, Ho! all ye wandering ones, who ever once, Are dazzling paved; which ever fair reflect Stood on the side of God and fought for truth, Bright back again the living gorgeousness; Who've borne the cross and trod the heavenly And never-fading splendors ceaseless glow; road, And beauty answers beauty, deep'ning still, Who e'er have felt the holy love of God, And grandeur, grandeur, ever leading on Within you burn, and fed on heavenly food— Through scenes of glory, new, ineffable. Where will ye find it now? Whence will ye draw Subsistence for your hungry, starving souls? Radiant in light the holy city stands; Whence will ye seek it? In a godless world? Nor bath it need of moon, or shining sun; Behold it drenched in sin, alien from God, For God's surpassing glory lightens it, Full of all lust, iniquity and pride, And through its gates of pearl, night never comes. Driving deliriously on to death! And hope ye then for spiritual comfort there? In youthful freedom, then will earth again Whence will ye seek it? In a fallen church? Rejoice, its fetters broken, and its voice Behold it dead, a withered lifeless thing, Long choked by Sin and Death to notes of wo Enveloped deep in shades of moral death! Shall rise in anthems loud of grateful joy. O'er which the baleful fixes of that most Heaven All shall be Eden, all be paradise, Insulting sin, a cold formality, The garden of the Lord; abundantly, Sheds its sulphurous glare, and makes the gloom With joy and singing shall the desert bloom More hideous still. And blossom as the rose, and Lebanon's Bright glory share, and Cannel's excellence. Both the scattered ones, called back, and the remnant who had stood by needed to have their But all shall lovely be, all shall be pure. vision renewed and reinforced. After briefly recount- The trees shall clap their hands, and fields shall ing the post-disappointment bickerings and wander- smile

60 Bright in the cloudless sunshine of their God, And fear no blasting storms, nor fear decay. Nor turbid waters in the streams shall flow, But fountains, pure, make glad the face of earth. All with abundance swells; in tree and flower, And shrub, arid creeping vine and clustering fruit And lawn and fertile field, behold no lack. Thus to its primal purity restored, Thus glorious and beautiful shall be The earth, renewed, the saints' eternal home. Smith addresses the Earth: "Haste then, 0 Earth, haste and fulfill complete, / The appointed circles of thy gloomy course. / Time in his warning voice, proclaiming loud / That his last trembling sands are falling now, / Has a sweet tone for thee; it tells, thy years / Of mourning, wo and grief are closing fast. . . ." He turns and addresses man's evil passions: "A little space is left you yet, to rule; / To urge men on in wickedness; but lo, / Your days are numbered, and your tomb prepared. / In the great, final day, all these shall die / A death that has no hope of life again." And in his final verse paragraph, he calls out to the saints: "Sing honor, praise, and glory unto God, / Who gives us foretaste of the coming joy / To cheer our weary way: who grants so great, / So glorious prize to crown so short a race." Soon in the holy City shall we strike Our golden harps, to glory's anthems tuned. Earth's toil will then be done, earth's care all o'er, Its woes, its griefs, its passions and its tears, Al] gone and all forgotten; while we raise, With seraphim and high arch-angel joined In silver tones our hallelujahs, Loud, After the poem appeared in the REVIEW AND Wide o'er the fields of bliss; and Heaven shall ring HERALD, it was published in both hard cover and With high hosannas, and sweet notes of joy paper cover editions. Blessing and honor to our God, and to The Lamb, who hath redeemed us by his blood, To reign with him in glory evermore And share his blessing, ages without end. Miriam Wood,CONGRESSMANJERRYL.PETTIS: to serveintheHouseofRepresentatives.First the factthathewasfirstSeventh-dayAdventist the severaldistinctionsthatcoverthisman'slifeis Jerry L.Pettis,haswrittenasympathetic,brief biography aboutanextraordinaryperson.Among one offivechildrenan Adventistschoolteacher. essences ofJerryL.PettisaspresentedbyWoodare elected in1966,herepresentedCalifornia'sThirty- that Pettishadallofthesequalities. many lives."Inreadingthebook,oneisimpressed she disclaimsanydefinitivesaboutthebook.The "boundless energy,ambition,anddedicationtohis "the essenceofthemanhimself."Forthisreason He laterlefthometowork hiswaythroughan seventh CongressionalDistrict. John Kearnesteaches politicalscienceatthe University ofMinnesota, Morris. 62 Press PublishingAssociation,1977. Miriam Wood,aformerclassmateandfriendof HIS STORY.MountainView,California,Pacific Jerry PettiswasborninArizonaonJuly18,1916, Wood statesthatshehasattemptedtocapture JERRY L.PETTIS CONGRESSMAN John Dunes 1975, claimedthisnoblelife. Command. Hefollowedthiswithacareerinpublic College, wherehemajoredinreligionandspeech. citrus rancher.Hisfinalvocation—thatofpolitician II, heservedasapilotfortheAirTransport The firstofhismanyliveswasthatapreacher, Union CollegeinNebraska.Then,duringWorldWar Arizona. Afterthis,hebecameaspeechteacherat Adventist academy,andthenthroughPacificUnion beginning asanevangelistinhishomestateof relations; andthenfoundedhisowncompany, prise, Pettisenjoyedhissuccessasanavocadoand physicians. Inadditiontothesuccessofthisenter- providing tapeddigestsofprofessionalmaterialsfor achieved successinoneendeavor—togoontonew development. Shedetailsincidencesthathighlight careers isacertainrestlessdrive—oncehehad energy, whowasdeterminedtoovercomeobstacles in hislife.OneskeinrunningthroughallofPettis' man. AtragicairplanecrashonValentine'sDay, very dedicatedperson,giftedwithboundless his positivecharacteristics;andalsosome,asshe reminiscences ofPettis'friendstoreconstructhis picture onegetsofthesubjectthroughoutisthata puts it,thatPettiswouldratherhaveforgotten.The —lasted forthenineyearsheservedasCongress- Wood usesherownpersonalrecollectionsandthe

credit: Pacific Press Publishing

courtesy: Doug 1-tacItremar5 challenges. In this respect, the book presents an example of what can be done, not only through providence, but through sheer determination. Despite the biographical details, one comes away from the book with a certain ambiguity about the "essence" of the man. This seems to be particularly true in the recounting of Pettis-turned-politician. Even though the author begins her narrative by conjecturing that someday Pettis might have been President, there is no solid evidence that he had any serious interest in politics per se. It is more apparent that his entry into politics was the result of a combination of events, including the fact that the incumbent had left office, and that Pettis had friends in the local Republican Party who encouraged and supported his candidacy. In a relatively conservative district, his winning the seat on his second try made it plausible that he could make a career out of the House of Representatives. One learns very little about Pettis' political philosophy, except that he believed government was too big and too removed from the people and that it was his primary role as a representative to serve in the interests of his constituents. In this regard Pettis played the delegate role in the Jeffersonian model of representation. And this delegate role set provides a possible unfavorably upon such a career. But, in circuitous insight regarding the relationship or tension that manner, he climaxed his life as a lawmaker. Pettis found in being a politician and a Seventh-day Explanation needs to be made for the develop- Adventist. It is a matter of record that when the ments that allowed Pettis to enter into an analogous House of Representatives was considering an career of politics; when, years before, the church's amendment to the Constitution to overrule the hesitancy kept him from a legal career. Supreme Court's decisions on prayer and Bible There is an ironic parallel between the life of the reading (which forbade the government to sponsor first Adventist politician of whom we have record, such religious activities in public schools), Pettis William C. Gage, and that of the first Adventist to supported the amendment, which would ostensibly attain the high office of United States Congressman. allow prayer in public schools. He gave as his reason Both men left the ministry to enter careers in for doing so that his constituent sentiment over- business and politics. whelmingly favored such an amendment. It may be that as the Seventh-day Adventist The leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church began with the Anabaptist view of religion Church and its Religious Liberty Department and politics, so do Adventist politicians make that opposed such an amendment, testifying to Congres- generational journey across the Reformation to sional committees that it was unnecessary and Luther's stance on religion and public life. threatening to the separation of church and state. One view of these events is that there was no unanimity of opinion among Adventists as to the essential relationship of religion to the state. But what is missing in this biography is even a glimmer of introspection about this discontinuity. In this regard, Wood's biography is a call for serious scholars of Adventism to get inside the lives of their men of public life and trace the intellectual tensions and the secularization process inherent in their careers, instead of just presenting hero models for Adventist youth. The only career Pettis wanted to enter upon graduation from college was law. He did not enter law, however, because church leaders who counseled him at that time indicated that the church looked

63

Marginal Notes

Dear Editor: Ah! where it happened, when and how, " • ..Thank you for this outstanding piece of work! This way or that, no matter now; My only criticism [of the last issue] is that there were Myself from blame I cannot shake— several spelling errors!!" For there it is, that sad mistake. Very sincerely yours, Guilty, condemned, I trembling stand, Evelyn B. Brown With pressing cares on every hand, Without one single plea to make, Dear Editor: For leaving such a bad mistake. "I have just finished reading Volume 2, Number 4 From morn till night, from night till morn, of Adventist Heritage, and have very much enjoyed At every step, weary, forlorn, the splendid contents. My attention was distracted Whether I sleep, or whether wake, time and again, however, by the totally inadequate I'm haunted still with a mistake. proof-reading . . ." If right, no meed of praise is won, Very sincerely yours, No more than duty then is done; Irene Wakeham If wrong, then censure I partake, Dear Editor: Deserving such a gross mistake. "As Professor Emeritus of History at Walla Walla How long shall I o'er this bewail? College I enjoyed reading the recent issue of Ad- "The best," 'tis said, "will sometimes fail;" ventist Heritage. However, for a professional journal Must it then peace forever break— to allow so many typographical errors there is no ex- Summed up, 'tis only a mistake. cuse . . . I sincerely hope the next issue will be more A smile is my delight to share, indicative of a professional journal and that the typist A frown is more than I can bear; and/or proof-reader will do a better job!" How great the sacrifice I'd make, Sincerely yours, If I could cease from a mistake. Frank E. Meckling "I'll try," my motto yet shall be— Whate'er I hear, whate'er I see, We apologize for the mistakes that appeared in the And for my own and others' sakes, last issue of ADVENTIST HERITAGE. Though they Look out betimes for all mistakes. occured during a time of change in the editorial personnel of the journal, there was still no excuse for letting so many errors get into print. We are at- tempting to insure that it doesn't happen again. MEDICAL AHD SURGICAL Obviously, we are not the first editors who have had problems with typographical errors. Sometime SANITARIUM before her death in 1855, Annie Smith, sister of Battle Creek, Mich. The Largest and Most Complete Eleattb Uriah Smith and an early worker in the REVIEW Institution 1I the Weat. l'srtiated teetlftles 1',r th0 irtlatilleerle el chronic office in Rochester, New York, wrote the following 1..01 aerigitsa eee.e. Bathe. Elertricky, Mes.ge. ei en the ImAt epprined fern.; ef treatment. poem entitled "Proof-Reader's Lament." It pretty P.• re, eteemle, ..1110n•s.A.S1 -tx docile Creel. Mict, well sums up our feelings. —The Editors Proof-Reader's Lament What news is this falls on my ear? What next will to my sight appear? Have you considered giv- My brain doth whirl, my heart doth quake— ing a gift subscription of Oh, that egregious mistake! the Adventist Heritage to "Too bad! too bad!!" I hear them cry a friend? "You might have seen with half an eye' Strange! passing strange!! how could you make So plain, so blunderous a mistake!"

64

6 CENTRAL UNION REAPE

Elder Roth visited the Hutchinson in public, voicing the convictions dear to his church List Sabbath and reported a v heart, ery Mrs. Williams and the entire family can with goad interest. He also reported that an confidence look forward to that resurrection morning when Christ will come and call forth unusually good midsruniner offering was His sleeping saints. Surely it can be said of received. One party alone gave a check Brother Williams that "his works do follow him," for $250. Words of comfort were spoken by Elder N. C. Wilson, and Elder Carl Sundin and the Professor E. R. Maas has returned writer assisted in the service. Brother Williams from his trip to the west and is now waa laid to rest in the cemetery at Fairmont to await the call of the Life-Giver, preparing for the opening of school at D. E. VENDEN Enterprise. A large attendance is ex- ALLES.—Mrs. Josephine Alles was born March pected. 30, 1902, at Lincoln. Nebr., and passed away at the Bryan Memorial Hospital May 22, 1948, Brother R. E. Bowles, manager of the in the blessed assurance of the first resurrection. Mrs, Alles was the daughter of Theodore and Omaha branch of the Pacific Press, spent Minnie Kline of Lincoln, Nehr. On Dec. 13, a day with Brolher Earl Gregg in th 1939, she waS joined in marriage to Henry Alles, who preceded her in death by four years. Kansas Book and Bible House gettin Except for a year in Galveston, Tex., and a literature ready for our coming cam short stay in Kansas City, Kans., she spent her life in Lincoln. Her education was gained in meeting. the Lincoln Seventh-day Adventist parochial school and the Lincoln public schools. Miss Blanche Griffith is doing ewe She was baptized into membership in the Seventh-day Adventist church at 14 years of banal work in favor of the temperance age, and renewed her membership shortly he- movement in the city of Hutchinson, It floc she passed away, Sister Alles is survived by four brothers, would be a splendid thing if many more Albert F. Kline, George E. Kline, Wiliam J. of our people would take an interest Kline, and Charles W, Kline; and two slaters, HON. GEORGE A. WILLIAMS Nettie Jones and Carrie Wright, all of Lincoln. this line of work. May God in His mercy comfort those Ithat WILLIAMS.—Honorable George A. Williams mourn. was born Aug. 17, 1864, in Lafayette, Ill., CARL SUNDIN. and fell asleep in death at the Boulder Sani- tarium, Boulder, Colo., Sunday, July 7, 1948. WY 011IN4 Brother Williams was always a sincere Christian. He and Mrs. Williams Mined the Adventist Business Notices E. H. OSWALD, President church in r11173 after hearing the message H. D. JOHNSON, Sec,-freas. preached bylder W. B, Whiteo then president 604 South Wolcott St. of the Nebraa Conference. ..,„„..,„., EXILE TO FREEDOM" Telephone 1053 Throughout the years he has held several This thrilling book, just off the press, contains places of leadership and responsibility in con- rpages of human interest plus a number of nection with the denomination. For several oral photographs. At the request of thou- years he served as manager of the Atlanta s who have heard his lectures, the author, Sanitarium, Atlanta, Ga. After returning to S. Jeaske, has put in print his personal at- Meeting at Rawlins Nebraska he became business manager of the mem in the land of Bolshevism. Hastings Sanitarium. nit can now read of Mr. Jesske's breath- It was in connection with the state elections 15 experiences white in Siberian exile, how Sabbath. July 27, will long be remen of 1918 that he became interested in politics funeht wolves and starvation, was chased by hued by the brethren and sisters as and was persuaded to run for representative of atives to be killed, and how his two sisters and the Nebraska State Legislature to which he was a loather last their lives. Thrilling tales of sembled at Rawlins. Almost every ehurt elected and served two terms from 1917 to his escape from Siberia and final escape from in the district was represented. A gay 1921, under Governor Sant R. McKelvie. In 1111N5iLl to the "Land of Stars and stripes.' bring 1926 he was elected lieutenant-governor of the this story ta a drarnutie climax. spirit prevailed, and the Lord spoke Ye state of Nebraska. He served two terms in this Yoe may send to the following address for capacity under Governor Adam McMullen and copy of this book: W. S. Jesske, 785 Grape definitely to the hearts of His people. one term under Arthur J. Weaver. a, Denver 7, Colorado. Price 81.35 post- Victories were gained and decisions made, Since retiring from active participation in state politics, he has served in various capacities WANTED: Peach pickers. Good wages of- The isolated who were there expresse in connection with the Local church and con- fered. Uareest begins ahnut Aug. 18. Write ference. For the past eleven years he served Lawrence Axel:ton, Palisade, Colo. their determination to continue whole as a member of the local conference committee 91-2 heartedly in the faith and to be mor for Nebraska. For the past four years he was AN OPPORTUNITY For a couple who can a member of the Central Union Conference aorne work to make home with aged sister in earnest and sincere in preparing for the committee, serving also during this time as ton, alissoari. For particulars write Mrs. corning of the Savirmr, We are greatly a member of the Union College board, the . Stack, cio Dr. 1, D. Shively, 416 S. Main Boulder Sanitarium board, and the Porter Sani- . 1, Clinton, Mo. 30-3 interested in our people who arc isolated tarium board. R SALE: Three-roam house and three lots and do not have the opportunity of meek During his last sickness he manifested a very ed in Centralist, Mo. Price 823.50. Nice patient attitude, with confidence and expliett '. for anyone interested in Sunnydale Acacia- ing with those of like precious faith. trust in his heavenly Father. y. Silas Diisis. Centralia, Mn. 32-1 Left to mourn are irds devoted wife, Mrs. The attendance was oat large, but the Mabel Lucretia Grubb Williams of Fairmont, 'EOLOC.Y AND THE FLOOD, a complete forty people in attendance gave liberally Nebr.; seven children; rthur F. of Bridgeport, y — N rat', fossils, glaciation, earth strut- Ma., Mrs. Mary Ada McIntyre of Peewee Val- in harmony with creationism -- is now of their means to support God's work at ley, Ky., Boss of Mansfield, Mo.. Mrs. Estelle able in .The Naar Difursiali.on. by Harold Jackson of Bruning, Nebr., Mrs. Mildred Alkali home and abroad. An offering of $503 Click. 250 paues. Sla x 11, Omit-118h print, of Los Angeles, Calif.. George A., Jr., of - aisition (ma: a-, nearly 100 cuts, 18 Mates, was received in pledges and cash. We aratarrooga, Term., Mrs. Ada Turner of Los x a3.25 plus 10e For mailing. Science Angeles, Calif.; 19 grandchildren, nine great- [Ions. Angwin, Calif. 32-1 are greatly encouraged with the spirit of grandchildren, and a host of friends. May God bless the memory of one who was much loved liberality manifested by the Lard's. and highly esteemed, In the Wyoming Conference. Not only the country, state and community Sabbath Begins sustained a great loss in the passing of Brother The brethren returned to theit Williams, but the denomination has lost a mem- Friday 9 Aug. / greatly encouraged and inspired, ber who has done much through the years in Ioradrs, Denver 7:0.3 6:56 the interest of the church and the cause of eve have every reason to believe tisa God. Often he seemingly was the man quali- Topeka 7:26 7:17 fied and in a position to be used of God to 7:21 7:12 God will abundantly bless the progress make the right contact with men of affairs in .souri. Kansas City .... +of the work in Wyoming. the state and nation. He was a great lover of raskit, Lincoln _____ 7:34 7:25 civil turd religious liberty, and was always E. H OswA willing and ready to speak both privately and diming, Casper __. _. 7:22 7:11

The death of George A. Williams on July 7, 2946, was reported in newspapers as well as the Advent- ists' Central Union Reaper.