Rejection of Sanctuary Message and Spirit of Prophecy was part of Alpha of Apostasy.
Here is excerpts from a article by Vance Ferrell that outline the apostacy and shows that today, many followers and even very faithful believers, are now going back to the Alpha of over eighty years ago, and are accepting it as gospel truth!
"To understand the Alpha is to be forewarned against it. A clear insight into the issues there developed can also help us better grasp many of the essential issues that would be later developed in the Omega. - Vance Ferrell"
" By November of that year (1902), Daniells wrote the following summary note to a member of the General Conference Committee:
"...During the past summer, four medical institutions have been erected, or launched, at a cost of at least $30,000. This does not include the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which in all probability will add $300,000 to its indebtedness. Thus in one short year, almost half a million dollars of sanitarium and food factory debts have been created."-A-G. Daniells, letter dated November 6, 1902, to N.W. Allee.
Kellogg was deeply angry at being frustrated in his plan to have the Church pay his debts for him. He began discussing around Battle Creek of the need to get Daniells out of office and put someone more cooperative into the presidency of the General Conference, someone like A.T. Jones. But if Jones had gotten in, he would have been the ruin of us all. For, against the repeated advice of Ellen White, Elder Jones had become a close associate of Dr. Kellogg. Whatever Kellogg thought, suggested or theorized, Jones backed it. The two had become something of an inseparable match. All this was to John Kellogg's liking, for with Jones' Minneapolis Conference background, he had, throughout the 1890s, acquired a strong influence all over North America. Even today, there are those who consider that whatever A.T. Jones did or wrote must be somewhat infallible. We deeply appreciate his excellent messages at the 1888 Conference and immediately thereafter-but we cannot accept the fact that he was more than an erring human.
Exhausted with the continual controversy that Kellogg now surrounded him with, Elder Daniells wrote near the end of the year:
"I must confess that I do not like this strife. I am not a fighter; I do not like to disagree with men. I would rather pack my satchels and go to the heart of Asia."-A.G. Daniells, letter dated December 4,1902, to W.O. Palmer.
Soon another General Conference Session would be nearing, and keenly disappointed with Daniell's stonewall personality, Kellogg sat down and wrote a seventy-page letter to Ellen White. From his many years superintending the Battle Creek Sanitarium and greeting the wealthy of America and Canada and the titled and royalty of Europe, Kellogg was a past master at winning friends and converting enemies to his views. Kellogg's letter was not mailed until early or mid-February of 1903. We know that it was read to Ellen White on March 16. About a week later, on the 23rd, she arrived in Oakland, California for the opening of the General Conference Session. The next morning she met Daniells.
"Grasping his hand in a warm greeting and looking him in the eye, she said, 'Do you know we are facing a great crisis at this meeting?'
"'Yes, Sister White,' he replied.
"She gripped his hand tighter and with a snap in her eyes said, 'Don't you waver a particle in this crisis.'
"To this Daniells replied, 'Sister White, those are the most precious words I ever heard. I know who you are and what you mean.' "-A-L. White, in "The Early Elmshaven Years," quoting from "How the Denomination was Saved from Pantheism," pp. 16, 17.
Her next words to Daniells were highly significant:
" 'Let me tell you,' she said, 'Satan has his representatives right here at this place now, and the Lord has bidden me, Have no interview with Dr. Kellogg, no counsel whatever with that man.' "-Ibid.
But at this point, we need to turn back the clock to the preceding December. You will recall that we earlier mentioned that when Dr. Kellogg was offered the suggestion of writing a simple book on physiology and health-care that could be sold by colporteurs, he jumped at the opportunity and wrote "The Living Temple," with its Hinduistic sentiments. Working rapidly, Kellogg dictated the contents of the book to a secretary who then typed it out. Soon the book had been typeset at the nearby Review and Herald office, and galley proofs of "The Living Temple" were handed to W.W. Prescott to look at. He was shocked and took them to Elder W.A. Spicer. Now, it just so happened that Elder Spicer had been for many, years a missionary in India?and when he read Kellogg's book, he was astounded. Here was Hindu pantheism right in front of him, and slated to be printed soon and sent out to the four winds for reading and selling by Seventh-day Adventists across North America!
"Some sit in judgment on the Scriptures, declaring that this or that passage is not inspired, because it does not strike their minds favorably. They cannot harmonize it with their ideas of philosophy and science, 'falsely so called' (1 Timothy 6:20). Others for different reasons question portions of the Word of God. Thus many walk blindly where the enemy prepares the way. Now, it is not the province of any man to pronounce sentence upon the Scriptures, to judge or condemn any portion of God's Word. When one presumes to do this, Satan will create an atmosphere ford him to breathe which will dwarf spiritual growth. When a9 man feels so very wise that he dares to dissect God's Word, his wisdom is, with God, counted foolishness. When he knows more, he will feel that he has everything to learn. And his very first lesson is to become teachable."
-1 Selected Messages, page 42.
But when questions came to Kellogg or his associates about the matter, they replied that it was "advanced light" for the Church, and that should settle the matter. The book was no problem to Kellogg's associates for he had been grinding these ideas into their minds for several years.
Waiting for Kellogg's return to town from a business trip, Spicer then made an appointment to visit with him at his large home. Spicer later wrote up the afternoon discussion:
" 'Where is God?' I was asked. I would naturally say, He is in heaven; there the Bible pictures the throne of God, all the heavenly beings at His command as messengers between heaven and earth. But I was told that God was in the grass and plants and in the trees . .
"'Where is heaven?" I was asked. I had my idea of the center of the universe, with heaven and throne of God in the midst, but disclaimed any attempt to fix [locate] the center of the universe astronomically. But I was urged to understand that heaven is where God is, and God is everywhere-in the grass, in the trees, in all creation. There was no place in this scheme of things for angels going between heaven and earth, for heaven was here and everywhere. The cleansing of the sanctuary that we taught about was not something in a faraway heaven."-W.A. Spicer, in "How the Spirit of Prophecy Met a Crisis," p. 18.
It should be remembered that the apostasy of Kellogg and Ballenger in the 1903-1905 crisis was termed the "alpha" of apostasy by Ellen White. She warned that the "omega" would follow later and be even worse. Keep in mind that the "alpha" involved-both by Kellogg and by Ballenger, a repudition of our basic Sanctuary Message: a two-apartment actual building in heaven, with Jesus as our High priest in that Sanctuary from A.D. 31 on down to 1844 in the first apartment, and from 1844 onward to the close of probation in the second, as he carries out the final atonement in connection with an examination of the records of all who have professed faith in Him down through the ages (the Investigative Judgment) [see "Great Controversy, chapters 23-24, 28 for the clearest, most accurate portrayal of this extremely important doctrine).
A careful study of both aspects of this twin apostasy of 1903-1905 will disclose that both denied these basic truths. The "new theology" in our day denies it also, and many of our young pastors no longer believe in a two-apartment sanctuary in heaven or in several other of the above stated points of tithe ministry of Christ within it.
But what about Elder A.T. Jones? Earlier, holding the position of co-editor of the "Signs of the Times" at Pacific Press in Oakland, California, Jones in 1897 became a member of the General Conference Committee and editor of the "Review and Herald." John Kellogg worked hard to cultivate his close friendship, which he succeeded in doing. In 1901, Jones accepted the position of president of the California Conference, which at that time was second only to Michigan in size.
In the summer of 1903, he visited Ellen White at Elmshaven and told her that Dr. Kellogg had requested that he return to Battle Creek and teach Bible in the Adventist college there...
Ellen White urged Elder Jones not to go to Battle Creek. "Do not go there!" she told him. A.T. Jones had quite a bit of self-confidence in his abilities to handle any situation he might meet, and he replied that she need not fear, he would be careful and all would be well. But she continued to urge him not to go to Battle Creek. Soon she had a vision in which she learned that if he went to Battle Creek, he would become cap-tivated by Kellogg's smooth words, flattering statements, and erroneous sentiments ?and would be overcome. She then wrote to Jones and told him of the vision and his danger.
"In vision I had seen him [A. T. Jones] under the influence of Dr. Kellogg. Fine threads were being woven around him, till he was being bound hand and foot, and his mind and his senses were becoming captivated."-Letter 116, 1906.
But it did no good. He went anyway. At first, he planned to remain in Battle Creek only one year, but he was so cordially received by the doctor, and so fully caught up in his work of building a great Babylon at Battle Creek, that Jones continued on, year after year. In February 1905, she succeeded in getting him out of Battle Creek, and to General Conference headquarters in Washington D.C. for a very short time. But soon he was back in Battle Creek.
At the 1905 General Conference Session (the crucial session that dealt with the Ballenger crisis), Ellen White spoke with A.T. Jones, for she had been warned in vision again only two days before. But of the conversation, she later wrote: "I pointed out his danger. But he was self-confident." (Letter 116, 1906). He told her that there was no danger, that Dr. Kellogg's views in "Living Temple" were in full agreement with the Spirit of Prophecy, and that both he and Kellogg accepted the Spirit of Prophecy.
Jones had been with Kellogg so long, he sounded like him. When anyone asked Dr. Kellogg about the controversy, he would express fullest confidence, belief, and harmony with the Spirit of Prophecy writings, thus disarming the inquirer, and then he would proceed to undermine her teachings through cleverly devised comments, arguments, and objections.
Regarding that conversation with A.T. Jones, she later wrote:
'I warned Elder Jones,' wrote Ellen White, 'but he felt that he was not in the least danger. But the fine threads have been woven about him, and he is now a man deluded and deceived. Though claiming to believe the testimonies, he does not believe them.' "-Letter 116, 1906.
We have all received many blessings from the writings of Alonzo T. Jones, but we should be aware of the fact that he later chose to remain with Kellogg. Neither you, nor I, nor any other person in this world is safe-except as we cling to the inspired writings and make them our own day by day. Only the little children will inherit the kingdom of God. Only those humble enough to put the Word of God before their own position, prejudices, and objectives will make it safely all the way to the end.
On the final Tuesday morning of the 1905 General Conference Session, Ellen White spoke concerning Dr. Kellogg and the problems at Battle Creek.
"It has been presented to me that in view of Dr. Kellogg's course of action at the Berrien Springs meetings (May 17-26, 1904), we are not to treat him as a man led of the Lord, who should be invited to attend our general meetings as a teacher and leader."-Manuscript 70, 1905.
Several months later she wrote:
"Had the theories contained in Living Temple been received by our people, had not a message been sent by the Lord to counteract these theories, the third angel's message would no longer have been given to the world, but pleasing fables would have been proclaimed everywhere. Men would have been led to believe a lie instead of the truth of the Word of God. An army of those who take pleasure in unrighteousness would have sprung into action.
"The roll was spread before me. The presentation was as though that against which the Lord was warning His people had actually taken place. I shall not attempt to describe the presentation, but to me it was a living reality. I saw that if the erroneous sentiments contained in Living Temple were received, souls would be bound up in fallacies. Men would be so completely controlled by the mind of one man that they would act as if they were subjects of his will. Working through men, Satan was trying to turn into fables the truths that have made us what we are."-Letter 338, 1905.
On the last day of the 1905 General Conference Session, Ellen White spoke to the assembled delegates. Deeply concerned over conditions at Battle Creek, she unburdened her heart. Here are some of her words:
"Our sanitariums should not be linked up with the Medical Missionary Association at Battle Creek . . The book Living Temple contains specious, deceptive sentiments regarding the personality of God and of Christ. The Lord opened before me the true meaning of these sentiments, showing me that unless they were steadfastly repudiated, they would 'deceive the very elect.' .. It has been presented to me that in view of Dr. Kellogg's course of action at the [19041 Berrien Springs meeting, we are not to treat him as a man led of the Lord." Manuscript 70, 1905.
In that presentation, she said that confidence could only be placed in him again when he "receives the messages of warning given during the past twenty years" and "bears a testimony that has in it no signs of double meaning or of misconstruction of the light God has given."
"The only way in which I can stand right before this people is by presenting to our physicians and ministers that which I have written to guard and encourage and warn Dr. Kellogg, showing how God has been speaking to him to keep him from the position which, unless he changes his course, will result in the loss of his soul."-Ibid.
"By mid-1905 church leaders found strong anti-Spirit of Prophecy sentiments rampant in North America and overseas. It was being reported that the Spirit of Prophecy could not be 'safely relied upon to guide us in our affairs' (A.G. Daniells, letter dated October 3, 1905, to W.C. White). In almost every case such sentiments could be traced to Battle Creek and particularly to Dr. Kellogg."-Ibid.
"From some of the doctor's letters the concept emanated that testimonies 'were sent out with Sister White's stamp upon them, which she herself never saw,' but that W.C. White and 'her assistants had made up a testimony and signed her name, and sent it to Dr. Kellogg."-A.G. Daniells, letter dated October 3,1905, to W.C. White.
The September and October 1905 issues of Kellogg's monthly, "Medical Missionary," told of forty courses that would be offered, leading to various diplomas and degrees. All of these were to be offered to any Seventh-day Adventist youth who had no money. Expenses could be met by employment at the nearby Battle Creek Sanitarium.
"Get the young people of the Church; call them to a college that will teach our errors-and it will change the whole Church. Within 25 years we will have the entire denomination! "This was part of the plan in the alpha of apostasy. We see similar workings today. Church leaders began to fear that if Kellogg's plan succeeded, hundreds of our best youth would soon be caught up in it
At this time, Ellen White decided to gather together many past messages about the Kellogg and Battle Creek problem, and write new ones; all of which were to be published in a small book.
The Week of Prayer was to take place at the Battle Creek Tabernacle in the middle of December. The West Michigan Conference asked Elder A.G. Daniells to be present and give part or all of this Week of Prayer. After counseling with others, he decided to accept the invitation.
The Week of Prayer began on Friday evening, December 15. Elder Daniells arrived with Elder W.C. White on the preceding Tuesday. On Friday evening, he began reading some of Ellen White's testimonies, which included statements such as these:
"I cannot specify all now, but I say to our churches, Beware of the representations coming from Battle Creek that would lead you to disregard the warnings given by the Lord about the effort to make that a great educational center. Let not your sons and daughters be gathered there to receive their education. Powerful agencies have been stealthily working there to sow the seeds of evil.
"I must speak plainly. It is presented to me that the condition of things is just what we were warned that it would be, unless the messages of heaven were received by the leaders of the medical work in Battle Creek. But notwithstanding the warnings given, some to whom they have been sent stand up in self-confidence, as if they knew all that it was needful for them to know..
"Very adroitly some have been working to make of no effect the testimonies of warning and reproof that have stood the test for half a century. At the same time, they deny doing any such thing. .
"Again, I say to all, keep your families away from Battle Creek. Those who have so often opposed the efforts to remove from Battle Creek will some of them be seduced from the truth."-Manuscript 100, 1905.
That same weekend, Ellen wrote this to Elders Daniells and Prescott:
"I have lost all hope of Dr. Kellogg. He is, I fully believe, past the day of his reprieve. I have not written him a line for about one year. I am instructed not to write to him.
"I have been reading over the matter given me for him, and the light is that we must call our people to a decision." Letter 333, 1905.
Receiving word from Ellen White that she was sending a packet of testimonies, Elder Daniells remained in Battle Creek till they arrived. By this time, so much doubt had been spread by Kellogg about the testimonies that some of the faithful hardly knew what to do. Read the following passage carefully.
"On Tuesday, December 26, Daniells went to his office early (probably his old office in the West Building) to see whether the communications from Ellen White had come. They had not. A few minutes later one of the physicians from Battle Creek Sanitarium came to see him.
"The physician was in great perplexity of mind. He had been brought up to look upon all messages given by Ellen White as emanating from the Lord. But now he was bewildered and confused. The night before, he, with many other leading Sanitarium workers, had attended a meeting lasting from five o'clock to eleven in which Dr. Kellogg had outlined the recent controversy as he saw it. Kellogg told this group of responsible Sanitarium workers that he believed in the Spirit of Prophecy and believed Ellen White 'is a good woman and that she had been inspired of the Lord.' But he continued, 'All of the communications which were sent out could not be relied upon as coming from the Lord.'
“Now, said the doctor, addressing Elder Daniells, 'I want, if possible, that you shall make it plain to me what messages we are to understand are from the Lord, and which ones emanate from men who are influencing Sister White.'
"Elder Daniells told him that he could not give him any light on the point, that to him they were 'all genuine,' that 'they were all either from the Lord or from the devil.'
"While the men talked there was a knock on the door, and a messenger handed Elder Daniells a large envelope with 'Elmshaven,' Sanitarium, California, as the return address. We will let Daniells tell the story as he did the next day:
”Now; said I, 'Doctor, we will open this envelope, and you shall be the first one to look upon these testimonies; take them, look them over, and tell me whether they are genuine or spurious -whether they were given to her by the Lord, or by some man.'
"He took them and looked at the titles, the dates, and the signatures, and handing them over, he said to me, 'Well, I cannot tell you whether these are from the Lord or from man, whether they are reliable or unreliable. It looks to me,' said he, 'that is a question of faith on my part as to whether Sister White is a servant of God or a wicked pretender.'
“Well,' said I, 'you are just as able to tell me who inspired these communications as I am to tell you; you have seen them first; you know just as much about them as I do; I cannot give you the slightest information that you do not possess.'
“Now,' said I, 'the only ground for me to occupy is absolute confidence that God is revealing to His servant that which the church needs to understand, and that every single communication which she sends out emanates from God and not from man.' (A.G. Daniells, letter dated December 27, 1905, to G.A. Irwin.)
"The physician said that he saw the whole point and that 'he must stand fully on this ground."-The Later Elmshaven Years, pp. 68-69.
Of the two documents from Ellen White which had just arrived, one had been penned in August 1903, and the other on June 1, 1904. On Thursday, December 1, 1905, she had had them copied and mailed to Daniells.
A special meeting was immediately called for 7:30 that evening in the Tabernacle. And it was packed when the time arrived for the meeting to begin. John Kellogg was not present, but most of the other principals on both sides of the contro-versy were. Both manuscripts were read to the assembled congregation, first "The Result of a Failure to Heed God's Warnings," and then "A Solemn Appeal." Although one was penned two years before the other, both were as fresh as that day's newspaper, for the explicit analysis and directives that they contained for the situation existing then in Battle Creek.
"They persist in trying to make it appear as if they have made no mistakes, and have not been led by seducing spirits, when I know that they have; for thus saith the One who is truth.
"No dependence can be placed in a man whose words and actions reveal that he is spiritually blind . . What can be said regarding a man who . . in his life practice disregards a plain 'Thus saith the Lord'? He has a bewildered mind, an uncertain experience.
"Oh, how many he has influenced to view things as he has viewed them! How often he has led other to think, 'Somebody has told Sister White!' "-Manuscript 120, 1905,
"The Result of a Failure to Heed God's Warnings."
As the sixteen pages of messages were read, the closeness with which they answered to the charges made the night before in that same building by Dr. J.H. Kellogg were obvious to all. Prayer was called for at the conclusion of the meeting "in the north vestry," but so many wished to have a part in the prayer service that it was held in the main auditorium. The prayer service continued from 9:15 to 10 p.m.
In comparing the two meetings-the six-hour Monday night meeting by Kellogg with the hour-and-a-half meeting on Tuesday night, -many expressed their thankfulness for the Tuesday meeting and some said that if they had not been well grounded, the Monday-evening meeting would have turned them entirely from the Testimonies. One said that he would have been driven to infidelity if he had believed what the doctor had told him.
Later, Ellen was to write:
"The men who sustain Dr. Kellogg are in a half-mesmerized condition, and do not understand the condition of the man. They honestly believe that he is to be trusted.
"But the spirit of satanic deception is upon him, and he will work any deception possible. He has been presented to me as exulting that he could hoodwink our people, and get possession of all the property in Battle Creek.
"We must call our people to a decision. God calls for every jot and tittle of influence to be placed on the side of truth and righteousness. We are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves . .
"I have put in print most decided testimonies. A volume of lies will be circulated to counteract the very work God would have me do. But guard the outposts. Let every precaution be taken. Let us watch and pray. 'Ask, and ye shall receive.' We must have increased faith. We must watch unto prayer. I know that our God is a strong defense, and that He will lift up for us a standard against the enemy.
"My brethren, you and I must not lose our faith in God. Every man is being tested and tried . .
"We must now look for battles, but we must not be disheartened, afraid, or ashamed."-Letter 333, 1905.
Although Dr. Kellogg had closed down the Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, he continued to publish its journal, "The Medical Missionary." With most of the other Adventist periodicals virtually closed to him by this time, he found the "Medical Missionary" a way to keep sending his bitter, acrimonious messages to Seventh-day Adventists.
In addition, Kellogg worked earnestly to obtain legal control of the Battle Creek Tabernacle. He would visit with the trustees of that large church, and flatter, cajole, and urge them to see things his way. Attacks on General Conference leadership were interspersed with his regular ones about Ellen White: she didn't know what she was doing, her writings were not trustworthy for they were full of errors. She let other people write letters and then she would sign them. And on and on it would go. When asked for proof, John could always pause as though the font of wisdom in the presence of ignor-ance, and then say "I know, and they [the leaders] know, and she [Ellen White] knows too." Everything was a grand conspiracy against [him]. And Ellen White was at the heart of it. Thus he would reason with everyone that he could...."excerpts from THE ‘ALPHA OF APOSTASY' by Vance Ferrell.
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Topic: Rejection of Sanctuary Message & Spirit of Prophecy was part of Alpha Apostasy (Read 6362 times)
