SEARCHING
FOR —
Changes in the Testimonies
“ ‘You are not
alone in the work the Lord has chosen you to do. You will be
taught of God how to bring the truth in its simplicity before the
people. The God of truth will sustain you, and convincing proof
will be given that He is leading you. God will give you of His
Holy Spirit, and His grace, and wisdom and keeping power will be
with you.’ ”
—The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the
Church, p. 11
A
friend recently phoned and said he had been told that the Testimonies had
been changed, and therefore were no longer reliable. This was a person I
considered almost as a son; for he had once been a teenager in a church I
pastored a number of years ago.
The
charge that the critics are making is this: “The Testimonies are
full of changes,—and all those changes have radically changed its
meaning. Those changes were made by evil men at the Review office. Ellen
White may not have known what was happening.”
I
have spoken with others who, because of this charge, are fearful to read
the Testimonies. When I ask what is the evidence, they say there
are supposed to be bad things written into the Testimonies, all
through them, but they haven’t found them yet.
In
other research studies, I have prepared a sizeable amount of material
validating the integrity of the Spirit of Prophecy writings. In this
present study, the changes in the Testimonies will be examined. We
want to know what this is all about.
As
the Spirit of God guided her, Ellen White wrote many letters, counseling
various individuals. Because those letters contained worthwhile
information needed by many others, she was instructed to gather together
her copies of these letters and have them printed. The first collection
was published in 1855. Containing 16 pages, it was entitled, Testimony
for the Church. Still more small booklets of testimonies were printed
later. By 1882, 31 had been printed.
At
Ellen’s request, the printed copies of the first 30 of those testimonies
(Testimonies, No. 1, Testimonies, No. 2, etc.) were carefully
proofed by her trusted helpers: Marian Davis (who began helping her in
1878) and her son, William C. White (who began helping her as soon as
James died in 1881). The plan
was to prepare them for reprinting in Testimonies for the Church, Vols.
1 to 4.
Under
Ellen’s continual oversight, working in her own home, those corrections
were made on the 30 Testimony
booklets. No proofing and corrections were made at the offices of the
Review. No printing house was ever permitted to do that. Only her own
helpers, working in her home, were entrusted with that task. Ellen
personally reviewed everything they did. When the task was completed,
those testimonies were typeset at the Review; the galleys were proofed
again by her helpers, and then Testimonies for the Church, Vols.
1-4, were printed. That was the preparatory procedure for all her
printed books, from 1851 onward, including those after 1878.
Testimonies,
No. 31 to 33, were also first
published as booklets and then, later, as Vol. 5. All later testimonies
were not first printed as booklets, but were directly printed in one of
the volumes of the Testimonies (Vols. 6 to 9).
All
of Ellen’s printed materials (whether they be articles or books), prior
to 1878, were proofed by James White; after that, Marian Davis and other
trusted helpers performed this task.
TESTIMONIES,
VOL. 1
As
noted above, our present Vol. 1 of the Testimonies was
published in 1885, and is a republication of Testimonies, No. 1-14.
It consisted of small booklets first issued between 1855 and 1868.
In
preparation for this present study, I carefully analyzed Testimonies,
Vol. 1, and found it to be filled with instruction, warnings,
reproofs, and corrections.
Vol.
1 is filled with instruction
and rebuke; yet a comparison of the original Testimonies, No. 1-14, with
our present Vol. 1 reveals no essential difference between the two!
This
is significant since, if wicked men later really had changed the testimonies,—it
would have been its high standards and reproofs of wrongdoing that they
would have changed! Yet this was not done.
The
Testimonies are filled with warnings and reproof. No wicked men
have removed them! Here are examples of the type of material that Vol.
1 contains:
Leaving
the Methodist Church, 35—The danger of relying on ministers and
leaders.
Be
Zealous and Repent, 141—Our church is worldly and needs to earnestly
repent. The members are in terrible spiritual condition.
The
Privilege and Duty of the Church, 178—Some in the church are living
right, but many are lukewarm or cold.
The
Shaking, 179—The chapter, also found in Early Writings (269-273),
is about how few will go through to the end and be saved.
The
Laodicean Church, 185—A strong testimony, pointing out of sin within
the church.
Houses
of Worship, 196—God’s people are hoarding money to themselves and
not giving to the forwarding of the work. / Lessons from the Parables,
197—Similar topics.
Errors
in Diet, 204—Those in the church are not doing right, in regard to
diet and other matters.
Slackness
Reproved, 210—Wrongdoing by the people, including leaders and Review
workers.
Fanaticism
in Wisconsin, 228—Ministers and leaders in Wisconsin doing wrong and
even leading out in fanaticism. / Concealing Reproofs, 233—Wrongdoing
in New York State. / The Cause in Ohio, 234—Serious problems in
Ohio.
Personal
Experience, 244—Last part urges ministers to reprove wrongdoing,
which they are not now doing.
Dangers
and Duties of Ministers, 368—Some of our ministers are slothful and
not doing their work properly.
The
Cause in the East, 409—Fanaticism among ministers and members in the
northeast.
Unconsecrated
Ministers, 438—Warning to our ministers not to be proud and
conceited.
Our
Ministers, 466—Our ministers need to be converted.
Sketch
of Experience, 570—The coldness toward the Whites by a large number
in Battle Creek.
Laborers
in the Office, 585—A variety of wrong attitudes and actions by
leaders and workers at the Review.
Conflicts
and Victory, 592—How those at Battle Creek were mistreating James
and Ellen.
Response
from Battle Creek Church, 609—A statement written and signed by
Uriah Smith and other Battle Creek leaders, expressing regret for what has
happened and affirming their continued support for the Spirit of Prophecy.
Cutting
and Slashing, 612—Strong testimony regarding slander against Ellen
and James.
Publishing
Personal Testimonies, 630—How people misuse her testimonies, but she
determines to publish them anyway.
The
Case of Hannah More, 666—A sad story of a convert who was so
mistreated by everyone at Battle Creek that she left and died with
non-Adventists.
In
addition to the above, other chapters in Vol. 1 provide additional
counsels, reproofs, and corrections on the following topics:
Parents,
wives, young people, local church, business contracts, diet and health,
tithe paying, the church name, care for the poor, stocks and speculation,
honesty, slavery, church organization, philosophy, family religion,
jealousy, dress standards, ministers’ wives, patent rights, recreation,
Sabbath observance, political involvement, lending and usury, the wealthy,
life insurance, missionary work, literature distribution, amusements,
improper cooking, and duties of husbands and wives.
—Yet
in all that material, we find essentially little variation between the
original Testimonies, No. 1-14, and our present Testimonies,
Vol. 1. And that variation was the result of thoughtful decisions by
Ellen White and her helpers.
A
TYPICAL TWO PAGES OF VARIATIONS
Here
are some samples of these variations between the original Testimony
booklets and our present Vol. 1. They will show you the type of
changes which were made.
First,
we will look at a sample of what the variations look like. This is from
the first two pages of variations in our Vol. 1, p. 113:1 to
the end of 115:0. We will show the variants from that found in the
original, which was Testimonies, No. 1, p. 1:1 to the bottom of the
next page (end of 2:2).
Vol.
1, p. 113:1—The location of “came” is changed in the sentence.
Vol.
1, p. 113:2—The original does not start a new paragraph, but
continues on as part of para. 1. / “A mere theory” is in the original;
in ours, it is “a mere theory of the truth.”
Vol.
1, p. 113:3—“The enemy is busy to destroy souls” in ours; “the
enemy was busy to destroy souls” in the original. / “This must be laid
aside” in ours; it is “It must be laid aside” in original.
Vol.
1, p. 114:2—“to their property. They flatter” from “to their
property, and flatter.”
Vol.
1, p. 115:0—“By their example they say to those around them
that” from “They set the example to those around them that.”
The
above are all the changes in Vol. 1, pp. 113:1 to the end of 115:0,
from the original booklet, which was Testimonies, No. 1-10, pp. 1:1 to
the end of the paragraph on 2:2.
It
is quite obvious that none of these changes are of any significance.
The first sentence in the original was:
“November
20, 1855, while in prayer, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly and powerfully
came upon me, and I was taken off in vision.”—Testimonies, No. 1,
p. 1:1.
It
was later changed to this:
“November
20, 1855, while in prayer, the Spirit of the Lord came suddenly and
powerfully upon me, and I was taken off in vision.”—Vol. 1, p.
113:1.
The
switching of “came” makes the revision flow more smoothly, without
changing the meaning.
The
other two variations on that page are equally inconsequential.
This
provides you with a very good sampling of what nearly all the other
variations are like.
TESTIMONY
13
Next
we go to Testimony 13. This was Ellen White’s earliest exposé of
the spiritual crisis which had come to the church in Battle Creek. The
most pointed passage in it is found in 1T 579:1b to 585:1
(Testimony 13, p. 14:4 to 180a).
I have carefully examined this passage in both the original and our
present Vol. 1, and this is what I find. This passage portrayed a terrible
picture of how the church was printed by the Review. THIS was a passage
the leaders would want to tone down—or eliminate entirely! Yet they did
not do so. Here are the changes:
Vol.
1, p. 579:1—“cold reception which he met” from “cold reception
he met.”
Vol.
1, p. 579:2—“I came home to Battle Creek like a weary child, who
needed comforting words and encouragement” was changed to improve the
chronological order of the paragraph, from its bottom to its top.
Vol.
1, p. 579:2—“large meeting, and that I was very weary” was
changed from “large meeting. I was very weary.”
Vol.
1, p. 580:1—“fellow laborer whom” from “fellow laborer,
whom.” / “as we met distrust and positive coldness instead of welcome
and encouragement” from “as we met, instead of welcome and
encouragement, distrust and positive coldness.”
Vol.
1, pp. 580:2-581:0—“Grieved in spirit beyond measure, I remained
at home . . for fear of being wounded” changed from “Grieved and
wounded in spirit beyond measure, I remained at home . . for fear of being
wounded.”
Vol.
1, p. 581:1a—“Was not my interest in the cause and work of God as
great . . My whole experience and life were interwoven with it” changed
from ‘Was not my interest in the cause and work of God as great . . My
whole experience and life were interwoven in the work and cause of God.”
/ “had invested everything in this cause, and had considered” from
“had invested everything in this cause. I had considered.”
As
you can see, the changes improved and smoothed out the grammatical
construction. Her powerful message was not toned down in the least, much
less removed. Read the passage for yourself.
A
similar strong testimony is Testimony 23, pp. 3-9 (Vol. 3, pp.
252-262); yet no real changes occurred.
TESTIMONY
NO. 31
Next
we will go to the strongest, most hard-hitting of Ellen White’s printed
testimonies to the brethren, in the books of the Testimonies. The
first is Important Testimony (5T 45-62); the second is The
Testimonies Slighted (5T 62-84).
They were both in Testimony No. 31 (which was also printed by
Pacific Press as a booklet entitled, Testimonies to the Battle Creek
Church, 1882). Unlike Testimony 13 which stated everything in
generalized terms, we have here two testimonies, of which Ellen later
recognized needed to have some of its identities removed.
In
the final printing, why did Ellen omit anything from those two
testimonies? Let her
tell us:
“During
the last nine years, from 1855 to 1864, I have written ten small
pamphlets, entitled, Testimony for the Church . . It has been
thought best to reprint them, as given in the following pages, omitting
local and personal matters, and giving those portions only which are of
practical and general interest and importance.”—3 Selected Messages
(4a Spiritual Gifts, facing p. 2).
“After
the matter for the Testimony is prepared, every article must be
read by me . . I try to bring out general principles, and if I see a
sentence which I fear would give some one excuse to injure someone else, I
feel at perfect liberty to keep back the sentence, even though it is all
perfectly true.”—3 Selected Messages, 98 (Letter 32, 1901).
It
was for the above stated reasons that, while preparing the final,
permanent edition of this material, Ellen decided to leave out part of it,
as we will learn below.
Here
is the background of this: Goodloe Harper Bell (1832-1899) was a
schoolteacher. He was converted during an illness when he was in the
Battle Creek Sanitarium. For a time, he operated a private school in the
community. Then, in 1872 he opened a school under the auspices of the
General Conference, which later became Battle Creek College. By 1881, Bell
was head of its English department. He strongly advocated Ellen White’s
principles of education, but some of the parents considered him a severe
disciplinarian. He clashed strongly with the principal, Alexander McLearn,
on the operation of the college. As a result, the college was closed for a
year and Bell resigned, moved east to become the head of the newly
established South Lancaster Academy. Two years later, he returned to
Battle Creek and gave private instruction. Later still, he greatly helped
in efficiently organizing our Sabbath schools.
On
March 28, 1882, shortly after Bell left for Massachusetts, Ellen wrote “Important
Testimony” (5T 45-62), in which she set forth certain matters which
she wanted Smith to read immediately to the Battle Creek Church.
It was true that Bell had made mistakes, but the church members had
mistreated him. Parents were not properly disciplining their children at
home, and were upset because Bell required obedience at school. Although
he made mistakes, Bell’s influence had been beneficial. The church
needed to understand the issues involved, so they would not repeat them
again.
There
were principles in “Important Testimony” and “Testimonies
Slighted” which should be published for the instruction of the
church as a whole; however there were portions of a private nature which
should not be circulated.
Therefore,
Testimony, No. 31, containing both testimonies in a small booklet,
was primarily printed for believers in Battle Creek. But, later, prior to
their reissuance in Vol. 5, Ellen decided to omit certain portions.
They were of too localized a nature for widespread circulation. She
recognized that, in future years, she would have to work with Battle Creek
and Uriah Smith at the Review; the messages had been written to them.
Therefore, for the permanent, widespread record in Vol. 5, certain
identifying passages were omitted.
Critics
make much of this, and charge that this proves that wicked men tampered
with the Spirit of Prophecy writings. But notice that, even here, although
some paragraphs were omitted, nothing was added. The obvious purpose is
not sinister; it was done to maintain privacy.
Ellen
knew she was going to have to deal closely with Smith and the folk at
Battle Creek for years to come, so she was guided to edit out part of
those two testimonies before publication in Vol. 5. You will not find what
leadership would have added, if it dared do so: praise of church leaders
and the duty of members to obey them. The only positive statement about
Smith was omitted! “Elder
Smith . . has been considered so mild, so kind, and so tender.”
Here
is an overview, in my words, of what was in the omitted portions.
(In order to conserve space: “sen” and “sen’s” = “sentence(s),”
and “para” and “para’s” = “paragraph(s).” “E” = end
of the paragraph, “a” = first part of the paragraph, “b” = middle
of the paragraph, “Testimonies, No. 31” = “T31.”
IMPORTANT
TESTIMONY (VOL. 5, 45-62)
5T
45:2E—Two sen’s were omitted, Some kept silent and Brownsberger
answered some questions (T31, 20:1).
5T
51:3 after sen 1—Some members had a wrong spirit towards Bell, who
had a wrong spirit in some matters. I have reproved him for this (T31,
26:1).
5T
54:0E—I hope not to make public all the cruelty done to Bell in this
case. [T31, 29:0 clearly shows she did not want all this widely
known.] Smith was considered mild mannered, but did wrong here. He will
have to answer for it in the judgment. He could have prevented this, and
was more accountable than anyone else. Smith can be firm when he wants, so
his course here is without excuse (T31, 29:0-2).
5T
55:0E—What you have done to injure Bell is written in heaven, and
you will have to answer for it. Bell could not take the pressure because
of problems he was, at the same time, encountering at home [something
personal, Ellen did not want generally published] (T31, 30:3-31:0).
5T
55:1E—Bell has done an outstanding work, which has helped our
schools and Sabbath school work everywhere. [Later, she says she does not
want Bell to learn of this appreciation, since it would not be good for
him to hear such praise] (T31, 31:3-4).
5T
58:0E—[At the end of 5T 58:0, which was not in T31,
Ellen ADDED this: “If Brother __ were all that you represent him to
be,—which I know he is not,—your course would still be
unjustifiable.” [This addition shows that Ellen was in charge of what
went into 5T; for neither Smith nor the members in Battle Creek would have
added it!] (not in T31, 34:2E).
5T
58:0,
after above addition—Your course has caused Bell the keenest suffering.
Because he has now left Battle Creek, I write this letter to you (T31,
35:1).
5T
59:1E—Wales and Miller both had bad attitudes (T31, 36:2-3 ).
5T
59:2E—“I do not wish these statements ever to come before Bro.
Bell. I would not utter a word of praise to come to any man. I fear the
poor human nature could not bear it” (T31, 37:2). [This omitted
two sen’s is a major part of the reason why she later omitted material
from these two testimonies.]
5T
59:2E—Miller and Ramsey have not treated Bell properly (T31,
37:3-38:0).
5T
59:3E—You celebrated the birthday of the poet Longfellow, while
treating Bell shabbily (T31, 38:2).
5T
61:2E—Gage has grave defects and would not bear what he has given to
Bell (T31, 40:2-41:0).
THE
TESTIMONIES SLIGHTED
(VOL. 5, 62-84)
Now
we begin the second letter. It was written because Smith waited several
weeks before reading the preceding one. The original title was “The
Testimonies Rejected”; but keep in mind that, as usual, both titles
were selected in the offices of the Review.
As you may know, Ellen generally did not write the titles for book
chapters. When Testimony No. 31 was initially printed by the Review
in 1882, this chapter was entitled The Testimonies Rejected. The
title was originated in the offices of the Review, as was the later title.
By the way, “rejected” and “slighted” mean essentially the same
thing. If I give you a message and you slight it, you have ignored and
rejected it. That is what the word, “slight,” means.
5T
63:0E—Smith withheld the testimony from the church for weeks, and
questioned whether it should be given at all. Shall he sit in judgment on
my work (T31, 42:1E-43:0)?
5T
63:1b—Smith is stubborn and persistent on the wrong side (T31,
43:1b).
5T
64:0E—You are going, step by step, away from the light (T31,
44:1E).
5T
64:3b—“Eld. Smith” omitted (T31, 45:1b).
5T
66:1E—In doing this, you have virtually rejected all the
testimonies. My work is like that of Elijah (T31, 46:3-47:2).
5T
67:2b—The document was not read until the General Conference
convened (T31, 49:1b).
5T
68:2E—Smith belittled the letter as my own opinion. The work he is
doing, he will later wish undone (T31, 50:2-3a).
5T
70:1E—It is terrible that this is occurring right at the heart of
the work (T31, 52:1E).
5T
71:1a—“to you in Battle Creek” omitted (T31, 53:1a).
Carefully
comparing three of the strongest passages in “Testimonies Slighted”
in Vol. 5, I found few typographical mistakes between Testimony
No. 31 and our edition (the chapter in Vol. 5). Marian was
probably a better proofreader than James earlier had been. As head of the
Review, he had many duties to tend to. But she was able to focus entirely
on proofreading and searching for typesetting errors.
The
following three passages, the ones printed in Vol. 5, are most
likely to be changed in order to soften them down. Read the passages for
yourself and see how strong they are.
Vol.
5, 66:2-67:1—No changes, other than changing “he” and “him”
to “He” and “Him” in reference to God.
Vol.
5, 69:0—“doubt is removed you will never” from ”doubt is
removed, you will never” / “perfect knowledge will never” from
“perfect knowledge, will never” / “promptings cease and will” from
“promptings cease, and will” / “resisted His Spirit” from
“resisted his Spirit” / “light to His people” from “light to his
people.”
Vol.
5, 71:1—“walk in the light has” from “walk in the light,
has”
Notice
that, in 68:3, it mentions that Ellen in vision was taken into
homes and heard their conversations. The critics claim she was ignorant of
how her books were being changed. Yet God could—and did—in vision
transport her into homes and committee meetings! Ellen White always knew
what was taking place, even when she was in Australia.
In
summary, it is charged that bad people have changed all the Testimonies.
But, in this study, we have only discovered a few typographical
corrections and two letters in which some paragraphs were omitted by
Ellen; nothing more.
As
mentioned earlier, the booklets, Testimonies, No. 1 to 30, were
published in 1885 as Vols. 1 to 4.
Testimonies,
No. 31 to 33, were also first
published as booklets, and then, later, as Vol. 5.
All
later testimonies were not first printed as booklets, but were directly
printed in one of the volumes of the Testimonies (Vols. 6 to 9).
Everything
printed in all of the Testimony books were selected by Ellen White.
All corrections and changes were done by her helpers in her home, under
her direction and review.
All
of Ellen’s printed materials (whether they be articles or books), prior
to 1878, were proofed by James White; from 1878 onward, Marian Davis and
other trusted helpers performed this task.
—vf
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