Understanding History: Seventh-Day Adventists and Their Perspectives
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Research & Scholarship TEACHR Understanding history: Seventh-day Adventists and their perspectives Daniel Reynaud Associate Professor, Assistant Dean, Learning & Teaching, Faculty of Arts, Nursing and Theology, Avondale College of Higher Education, Cooranbong, NSW Key words: history, historiography, Seventh-day editions was entitled Evidences from Scripture Adventist, religious history and History of the Second Coming of Christ about the Year A.D. 1843, and of His Personal Reign for Introduction 1,000 Years (1833, 1st ed.). Miller always demanded History is never abstract. It is always the story of evidence; Scripture was, for him, authority; history how we came to believe and act the way we do merely spotlighted his era as the time when today. Understanding the history of a particular remarkable fulfilments of Bible prophecy were denomination can transform discussions of anticipated (Crocombe, 2011, p. 53; Knight, 1993, p. contemporary issues from divisive stone- 56). throwing to a more sensitive awareness of Early Sabbatarian Adventism cherished all how and why certain beliefs and practices are three of Miller’s components: evidence, Scripture current, or are currently under threat of change. and history. Two of its three co-cofounders were And a knowledge of a Seventh-day Adventist formerly ardent Restorationists: Joseph Bates understanding of history explains a great deal (1792-1872) and James White (1821-1881) had about the church and touches on many of been members of the Christian Connection as the key conflicts and controversies that have well as Millerite preachers (Reid, 1990). The third affected, and currently affect, the church. Hence, co-founder of Sabbatarian Adventism, Ellen Gould it is topical for the teacher in Adventist schools, Harmon White (1827-1915), was a Methodist drilled and by parallel, to teachers in all Christian in John Wesley’s notion of ‘Primitive Godliness.’ Under- schools. During a thirty-year period, 1858-1888, with the standing The importance of history to the Seventh-day concepts of Restorationism and Millerism in the “the history Adventist (hereafter Adventist) church is evident backs of their minds, Adventists idealised biblical/ … can in the place that history holds in the curriculum of prophetic, Protestant Reformation and Evangelical transform all Adventist tertiary institutions, as well as in the Revival history, envisioning themselves as discussions creation of institutional archives and of research completing the processes initiated by Christian of contemp- centres around the world tasked with exploring the reformers of earlier times. History was a means of orary issues legacy of pioneer Adventists. This article explores demonstrating the engagement of God in human from divisive the ways in which Adventist writers and scholars affairs, with the Adventists as the heirs of God’s stone- have approached history, the ways in which they promises and particular agents of his current throwing themselves have written works of a historical nature, activity in the world. The pursuit of history was in to a more and to what ends history has been put in the church. the hands of lay people or minimally-trained clergy sensitive Seventh-day Adventism emerged from the Millerite and teachers; professional historical endeavour awareness groups that survived The Great Disappointment of was little considered because it was seen as 1844, establishing its core doctrines, denominational lacking necessary spiritual insight. Thus, for early name and structure by 1863 (Schwarz & Greenleaf, Adventists, history was always subordinate to 2000). Core to Adventist theology has been a theology. They were not interested in history as a ” concern with history, which it owes to its Millerite discipline, but only as a product. roots. William Miller (1781-1849) swapped sceptical rationalism after his conversion to an Nineteenth-century idealists Evangelical Baptist faith in 1816 for a ‘common Four important Adventist writers who made sense’ hermeneutic that shaped his interpretation influential use of history in their religious writings of the Bible. With a kind of mathematical precision were Uriah Smith (1832-1903), the prominent editor (Arasola, 1990), Miller interpreted scripture in of Adventist publications; Ellen White (1827-1915), the light of history—his principal work in its many whose work gained major leverage through her 54 | TEACH | v10 n1 v10 n1 | TEACH | 55 TEACHjournal 10-1.indd 54 28/06/2016 9:50 am Research & Scholarship prophetic status; John Nevin Andrews (1829-1883), she characteristically described as “scenes” or who wrote an influential study on the history of the “views,” and which Willie depicted as “flashlight Sabbath, and Alonzo Trevier Jones (1803-1923), a pictures.” Willie emphatically declared that she was prolific writer on historical and theological issues. not dependent on historians as other writers were, Of the self-educated Uriah Smith’s three chief noting that on one occasion she was able to tell him works dealing with history, the most influential accurately about events described in a book he had were his apocalyptic commentaries, combined as not yet read aloud to her, having seen the events The Prophecies of Daniel and Revelation (1897), in vision. At the same time, Ellen White openly and is still in print. Smith used history to validate disavowed her writings as a standard of historical his interpretation of biblical apocalyptic, listing his accuracy, routinely quoting from established sources to indicate his reliance upon classic works Protestant historians, and revising historical details of Protestant history. His second major historical in later editions of her books, a process described by work was The United States in Prophecy, later her grandson Arthur L. White as “the subordination rewritten as The Marvel of Nations, which traced of historical detail to the purpose of the book.” American history from the perspective that divine (Ellen G. White, Letter 14, 1889; Letter 86, 1906; providence was guiding its development. He did Letter 56, 1911; Arthur L. White, “Toward a factual not discount conventional history, but he argued concept of inspiration, II,” Ellen G. White Research that “[i]f we believe that there is a God who rules in Centre, Avondale College, DF65-a, 20, 22, 24-25; the kingdoms of men (Dan 5: 21), we must look for White, 1950, p. x). Despite impressing Willie with his providential hand in human history, in the rise, her ability to recite history she had not yet heard, career, and fall of the nations and peoples of the Ellen in fact was well read in Protestant history over world” (Smith, 1887, preface). A third work was Our many years, and it is an exaggeration to claim that Country’s Future, which interpreted Bible prophecies her visions were the principal source of her historical deemed to apply to the future of the USA, with the writings (McAdams, 1980, pp. 28-31). Indeed, as as he felt that expectation that history would bear out his version. A. G. Daniells observed after her death, “we were these works Smith based much of his historical writing on existing warned against using Sister White as a historian. “had already histories, as he felt that these works had already She never claimed to be that” (Numbers, 2008, p. established established the facts; his aim was to provide what 360). Her frequent unacknowledged borrowing from the facts; they had missed – God’s point of view. Smith saw historians caused some distress to her followers his aim was prophecy and history on a continuum: one was from the 1880s onward; turmoil erupted when to provide history anticipated, the other was prophecy fulfilled. later generations of Adventists discovered that her what they Ellen White, the most influential writer during writings were not all directly from God, even though had missed Adventism’s first seventy years, received formal she had not made such a claim for herself in the first – God’s point education only until the third-grade. From that point place. of view. on, she was self-educated through a lifetime of However, Ellen White was unapologetic about reading, though her historical reading was limited her unacknowledged quotes, saying she gave no to the Protestant historians whose world-views specific credit where she borrowed, “since the were similar to her own. White outlined in five major quotations are not given for the purpose of citing that ” volumes – Patriarchs and Prophets (1890), Prophets writer as authority, but because his statement affords and Kings (1917), The Desire of Ages (1898), a ready and forcible presentation of the subject” The Acts of the Apostles (1911), and The Great (White, 1950, p. xii). More recent researchers Controversy (in various editions between 1858- have debated the extent to which White copied, 1911)—the activity of God in biblical and religious paraphrased, or even carelessly distorted the history from creation to the Second Coming. Like historians she quoted. It is evident that she borrowed Smith, White took an exclusively providential point significant segments of her history from Uriah Smith, of view, explaining each event in terms of God’s whose words were often a light paraphrase of other interaction with the affairs of men. writers. Therefore, some of White’s historical errors White’s use of history had a special import that are not original to her, having been copied from the writings of other Adventist authors of her era did Smith (Land, 1980, p. 93; McAdams, 1980, pp. 29, not possess. While others could be quite dogmatic, 34, 35). She did not follow Smith slavishly, however, none claimed direct revelation through supernatural at one point she censured him for using Gibbon visions as White did. The authority of her historically- as a source (White, 1885, p. 520). In fact, Ellen related writings was questioned, to which White White did not see herself as an historian and she and her son Willie made revealing comments on condemned much of the historical profession for her use of history.