The second angel's message or the fall of Babylon
By E. S. Ballenger
Note: E. S. Ballenger wrote three booklets: The First Angel's Message, The Second Angel's Message, and The Third Angel's Message. They are paged here the same as the originals (page numbers in brackets). These are very rare books and are really worth reading to understand Adventism and their false teachings.
Adventists apply most abusive language to all other Protestant bodies. They teach that all other churches are "children of their father, the devil;" that "Satan has taken full, possession of the churches as a body;" "their prayers, and their exhortations, are an abomination in the sight of God;" and that Satan answers their prayers. They teach that it is right to be wrong and wrong to be right; that God bestowed His rich blessings on those who taut error, and cursed those who refused to accept Miller's mistakes. They teach that Seventh-day Adventists "are the one object on earth dear to the heart of God." Read this pamphlet and then ask your Adventist neighbor to explain why they should be so abusive.
Chapter 1: What is the second angel's message?
"And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Rev.14:8.
No one can herald the second angel's message unless he has a right understanding of "Babylon." In the eighteenth chapter a call is given to God's people to come out of Babylon. How could one warn the people of God to come out of Babylon if he did not know what or where Babylon was?
Suppose Jonah had gone to Jerusalem instead of Nineveh and given the message committed to him, would it have been the message of God? San Francisco had a great destructive earthquake and fire in 1906. If God had committed a message of warning to one of His servants to give to that city before the catastrophe, would he have carried out the" commission if he had sounded a warning that Los Angeles was to lie destroyed? Such a message to Los Angeles would not only have been a failure but would have been an injustice to the southern city and a sin against San Francisco.
In like manner a wrong understand[2]ing of Babylon in the second message would not only be a failure but an injustice to some one.
What is Babylon?
Babylon is found six times in the book of Revelation, and in every case it is used as a symbol. She is also called a woman six times, and a whore four times. It is a universal principle of interpretation that when the Bible gives a definition of a symbol, that definition must be applied to every use of the symbol unless the context shows that another meaning is intended.
The seventeenth chapter of Revelation is the dictionary of the book; and no one can understand either the second or third message without accepting the definitions given in this chapter. Here is God's definition of the woman, Babylon: "The woman which thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Rev.17:18. R.V. The margin reads, "hath a kingdom over the kings of the earth ", and such a translation is according to the Greek.
The denomination accepts this definition of Babylon of the seventeenth chapter, therefore we will not introduce evidence beyond a quotation from Mrs. White.
" The woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17. . . . that for so many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom, is Rome. And no other power could be so truly declared [3] 'drunken with the blood of the saints' as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ." G.C. p.382.
Let us compare "Babylon the great" of the 17th chapter with "Babylon the great " of the 18th chapter.
Chapter 17 |
Chapter 18 |
V. 2. "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication." |
V. 3. "The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her." |
V. 2. "The inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." |
V. 8. "For all nations have drunk of the wine of t h e wrath of her fornication." |
V. 4." The Woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stores and pearls." |
V. 16. "Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!" |
V. 6. "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." |
V. 24. "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." |
The second angel's message is repeated and enlarged in the 18th chapter. Notice the similarity of the two.
Rev.14:8. "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all [4] nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
Rev. 18:2,3. "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. "
Can any one deny that "Babylon the great" of the 18th chapter is the same as "Babylon the great" of the 17th chapter? God defines Babylon of the 17th chapter as "that great city, which hath a kingdom over the kings of the earth," and Mrs. White says that Babylon in the 17th chapter is the Roman Catholic Church.
Since Babylon of the 17th chapter is admitted to be Rome, and Babylon of the 18th chapter is the same as Babylon of the 17th chapter, then Babylon of the 18th chapter must also be Rome. The same announcement is made against Babylon of the 18th, chapter, —and for the same cause, —as is made against Babylon of the 14th chapter, and if Babylon of the 18th chapter is Rome, then Babylon of the second angel's message is also Rome, and not fallen Protestant churches.
There is but one Babylon of the book of Revelation and any one who attempts to teach otherwise is ignorant, stupid, or blinded by a creed. My brother, if you contend that Babylon of Rev. 17 [5] represents Rome, and Babylon of Rev. 14:8 represents Protestant churches that fell morally in 1844, how can you meet the Sunday Sabbath advocate if he contends that "Sabbath" of the book of Acts, or "the Lord's day" of Rev. 1:10 means Sunday? One is no more inconsistent than the other. To contend that Babylon of the second angel's message represents fallen Protestantism one is obliged to ignore God's definition of Babylon and violate one of the most fundamental rules of sound interpretation.
No doubt some of our readers will ask, "Who teaches that Babylon represents Fallen Protestantism?" Seventh-day Adventists have taught it for 70 years, and some of them are still teaching
Chapter 2: The Fall of Babylon the Great
Having shown from the Scriptures there is but one Babylon the Great in the Book of Revelation; we will now inquire What is her fall?
Nearly all the old Protestant writers agree that Babylon the Great of Rev. 17, is Rome with its ecclesiastical kingdom which has "for many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom."
But if Babylon the Great of the fourteenth and eighteenth chapters is Rome, what is the meaning of the announcement that she "is fallen?" How can [6] Rome backslide when she has been morally fallen to the lowest depths for centuries?
The explanation is found in the truth that the term "fallen" has no reference to the backsliding of Babylon the Great, but to her destruction, her doom.
What is meant by her fall is plainly pictured in Rev. 18:21, as rendered in the Revised Version:
"And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all." The word "fallen" in Rev.14:8 and 18:2 is not the word for apostasy as used in 2 Thes. 2:3, "except there come a falling away first." The word is used twenty-one times in the Revelation, and in all other instances refers to a falling down and not a backsliding. "Rocks, fall on us and hide us," (6:16); "and the tenth part of the city fell," (11:13); "and the cities of the nations fell" (16:19) ; "five are fallen," (17:10) ; "I fell at his feet," (19:10).
Is the moral fall of protestants good news?
If the "fall" of Babylon is the moral fall of the Protestant churches as formerly taught, is it good news to announce that Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians have backslidden away from God? But it is good news to announce [7] the destruction of that apostate church system that has made herself drunk with the blood of the saints.
Now that it is clear that the fall of Babylon is her "final destruction," how is it that God's people are called out of Babylon, after the announcement of her fall? Is it not rather late to call them out after her destruction has come?
The term "is fallen" has led to the conclusion that it must mean a moral fall. For how could it refer to a "final destruction" when the call "come out of her." follows the announcement of her fall?
Had they studied the announcement of old Babylon's fall, this would have been explained.
In Jer. 51:8, we have the announcement of the fall of old Babylon, and the term "is suddenly fallen and destroyed" was used while she was in the height of her glory. The explanation of this is that the prophet sees in a vision the city in ruins, and announces what he sees, and therefore he uses the present tense.
Again in verses 41, 43 we have the prophet's vivid description of the ruin which his prophetic eye beholds:
"How is Sheshach taken! And how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and [8] a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth neither doth any son of man pass thereby."
That the prophet is describing a future destruction is clear from verses 60-64.
"So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Baby]on. and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever. And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her."
Here we have a complete parallel with the announcements concerning modern Babylon. First her destruction is announced in the present tense, then the people of God are called out (v. 45). And next a stone is tied to the prophecy and it is cast into the Euphrates with the announcement that "thus shall Babylon sink."
In like manner the "final destruction of modern Babylon" is announced in the present tense, because that destruc[9]tion is seen by the prophetic eye of Christ whose testimony the angel announces (Rev. 1:13), and this is followed by the call, "Come out of her my people:" and the nature of the fall is pictured by the "mighty fall" (R. V.) of a millstone cast into the sea, with the words announcing a future ruin.
"Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the Great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all." Rev. 18:21. R. V.
With this scriptural explanation of the use of the present tense, all is clear.
Chapter 3: The second angel's message in Advent history
The followers of Miller were looking for the Lord to come in 1843, but this disappointment was soon explained to their satisfaction by a recasting of their figures. They then centered their hopes on the spring of 1844—the time of the equinox. This disappointment was felt most keenly, while the world, and particularly the Protestant churches, turned sternly against them and their time-setting failures.
When they shifted their date to the fall of 1844, the churches were so disgusted with them that they closed their doors against them and denounced their predicted advent in no complimentary [10] language. This attitude of the churches was met on the part of the Adventists with the most severe denunciations. They declared the churches to be "the synagogue of Satan", The "Cage of every unclean and hateful bird", and called on the faithful to "come out of Babylon."
This call which was sounded during the summer was called the "Midnight Cry" or the second angel's message. Be it said to the credit of Miller that he never approved of this denunciation of the churches and took no part in it. The bitterness on the part of the Adventists toward the churches continued to intensify till the great disappointment of Oct. 22, 1844, and did not soften after this date for a generation or more.
The second angel's message finished in 1844
The pioneers taut that the second message was finished in the fall of 1844. Elder White taut that "The second angel's message reached to the fall of 1844, when the cry—'Come out of her my people' closed."
"This work is done. This angel has flown. Babylon, the nominal churches, is fallen. God's people have come out of her. She is now the 'synagogue of Satan'. Rev. iii,9. 'The habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and cage of every unclean and hateful bird.' Rev. xviii, 2." Present Truth, pp. 68,69,—1850. [11]
"The second angel's message [verse 8th] has also been fulfilled . . . . . . . It is a well-known fact that the burden of the first message was given from 1840 to the first part of 1844. It is also a fact that the announcement, 'Babylon is fallen,' was made in 1844, and that the burden of that message, which called many thousands from the different churches, closed in the Autumn of 1844." Signs of the Times, p. 113, James White, 1853.
The other pioneers, especially Joseph Bates, were as pronounced in their belief that the second message closed in 1844. James White also taut that no two of the messages were given simultaneously, but that they followed each other in succession. See R. & H. Vol. 1, P. 15.
That the second message was an announcement of the fall of Protestant churches and was given in the summer of 1844 is confirmed by Mrs. White.
"When the churches spurned the counsel of God by rejecting the Advent message, the Lord rejected them. The first angel was followed by a second. . . . . This message was understood by Adventists to be an announcement of the moral fall of the churches in consequence of their rejection of the first message. The proclamation, 'Babylon is fallen,' was given in the summer of 1844, and as a result, about fifty thousand withdrew from these churches. [12]
The term Babylon, derived from Babel, and signifying confusion, is applied in Scripture to the various forms of false or apostate religion. But the message announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to some religious body that was once pure, and has become corrupt.
It cannot be the Romish Church which is here meant; for that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. But how appropriate the figure as applied to the Protestant churches." Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, pp 232,-233.
That Babylon represented fallen Protestant churches was the united position of the denomination until 1911. Some of the Bible teachers among them began to recognize that there was but one Babylon in the book of Revelation, and in every case it referred to the Roman church. But the "Spirit of Prophecy" had said that it could not refer to Rome, so they had to correct "inspiration" as well as their creed.
In 1888 Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, was revised and published as The Great Controversy. On page 383 of this edition is found the following—
" The message of Revelation 14 announcing the fall of Babylon, must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of the Judgment, it must be given in the last days, therefore it cannot refer to the Romish, Church, for that church has been in a fallen con[13]dition for many centuries. Furthermore in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation, in a message which is yet future the people of God are called come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God's people must still be in Babylon. And in religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant faith."
Doctoring inspiration
In 1911 Great Controversy was again revised and an attempt was made to bring it into harmony with the Bible. Besides a few unimportant alterations two major changes were made above paragraph under the app Mrs. White herself.
The more important change was made by the insertion of the word "alone", making it read, "therefore it refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church has been in a fallen condition many centuries." The second is the omission of the words, "in a message which is yet future. "
If anyone of normal intellect will carefully read this doctored paragraph and note how inconsistently silly it now reads, further comment would be unnecessary. Yet the defenders of inspiration (?) contend that the insertion "alone" does not alter the meaning in the least, but only makes her meaning plainer. [14]
If you were tried for a capital crime and the jury brought in a verdict, "We find that the accused is not guilty of the crime charged against him," would it make any difference to you if the clerk read and recorded the verdict. "We find that the accused is not guilty alone of the crime charged against him?"
Read Rev. 14:8 and 18:1-5 and you will see at once that one is but the enlargement of the other. The 18th chapter only brings out the details of the second angel's message. The brethren saw this, so when they revised G. C., Mrs. White consented to leave out the statement that the message of the 18th chapter was still future. Why? Because if the message of the 18th chapter is still future then the second angel's message is still future.
Brother, which is inspired, the editions of 1884 and 1888 or the edition of 1911? One says the Roman church cannot be Babylon; the other says it is Babylon. One says the second angel's message is still future; the other says it was given in 1844. Both cannot be inspired. If both are inspired some one will have to manufacture a new name for this brand of inspiration.
The insertion of "alone" in G. C. paved the way for the denomination to put itself right on the second angel's message. In 1913 the Sabbath School lessons for the second quarter taut that the second message is still future and is [15] an announcement of the destruction of "Modern Babylon, the Church of Rome." It also calls it a "gospel message.
When Bible Readings was revised in 1916 it was made conformable to the previously published S. S. lessons. In speaking of the second message a note says, " The gospel message announcing her final overthrow should be a cause of rejoicing to every lover of truth and righteousness." The three closing questions of the study on the second angel's message are as follows:
- What final call to come out of Babylon is to go forth? Answered by Rev. 18:4,5.
- How complete is to be the fall of modern Babylon?" Answered by verses 21-24.
- What song of triumph follows the overthrow of Babylon? Answered by Rev. 19:6.7 Bible Readings, p. 258.
This same Bible Readings, slightly abbreviated, was again published in "Present Truth" Dec. 1, 1929.
The denomination has put itself right on the second angel's message, it is now in harmony with the Bible: but from 1844 to 1913 it was completely out of harmony with God's word. That is, for nearly seventy years they taut a message that was not the second angel's message; was not a message of the Bible at all, but of merely human invention. It was [16] not merely a false message but was a gross injustice to the Protestant world.
Again, the true second message has never been given to the world; then how about the third? Is the third angel's message to be given to the world before the second? Some more revising seems to be necessary. Some more very radical modifications must be made in Mrs. White's writings before the second message can be given by the denomination.
Chapter 4: When it was right to be wrong and wrong to be right
As previously stated, when the churches refused to allow the Millerites to no longer teach their mistaken predictions in their assemblies, the Adventists turned most bitterly against these churches and abused them in the most shocking language. In this abuse Mrs. White had no peers, as the following quotations will show.
The Devil answers the prayers of all other church members
Those who rejected the first message could not be benefited by the second; neither were they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary." Early Writings, p. 260.
"Like the Jews, who offered up their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the [17] apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare. " Do. p. 261.
"He also comes as an angel of light, and spreads his influence over the land. I saw false reformations everywhere. The churches were elated, and considered that God was marvelously working for them, when it was another spirit." Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 172.
Again, on page 22 of "Present Truth," published in August, 1849, we find the following:
"I saw that the mysterious signs and wonders, and false reformations would increase, and spread. The reformations that were shown me, were not reformations from error to truth; but from bad to worse; for those who professed a change of heart, had only wrapped about them a religious garb, which covered up the iniquity of a wicked heart. Some appeared to have been really converted. so as to deceive God's people; but if their hearts could be seen, they would appear as black as ever."
A part of the above quotation will be found on page 45 of Early Writings.
Their prayers an abomination to God
Satan has taken full possession of the churches as a body. E. W. p. 273.
I saw that since Jesus left the holy place [18] of the heavenly sanctuary, and entered within the second veil, the churches have been filling up with every unclean and hateful bird. I saw great iniquity and vileness in the churches; yet their members profess to be Christians. Their profession, their prayers, and their exhortations, are an abomination in the sight of God. Said the angel, 'God will not smell in their assemblies.' Do., p. 274.
Members of other churches are children of the Devil
I saw that if the false covering could be torn off from the members of the churches, there would be revealed such iniquity, vileness, and corruption that the most diffident child of God would have no hesitancy in calling these professed Christians by their right name, children of their father, the devil; for his works they do." Early Writings. Old Edition, page 93.
It is found on page 228 of the new edition where they have tried to soften it down by putting it in the past tense.
The period covered by the Miller movement was marked with many outstanding characters, such as Alexander Campbell, Charles G. Finney, Albert Barnes, Adoniram Judson, John G. Paton, Robert Moffat and David Livingstone, none of whom ever accepted Miller's teachings.
Alexander Campbell was in the prime of his power during the 1844 movement. He was the editor of a religious paper [19] known as the "Millennial Harbinger." No religious journal could ignore the excitement of the years from 1842 to 1844. Alexander Campbell in his publication frequently dealt with the Millerite movement. In a very kind and convincing manner he pointed out Miller's mistakes. He showed that Miller's chronology was faulty.
He also pointed out the fact that Babylon must fall before the coming of the Lord. Everybody could see that Babylon, which they all agreed was Rome, had not fallen. He also tried to convince the Millerites that the earth was not the sanctuary.
Dr. Campbell was not a scoffer. He spoke very highly of Miller and of many of his followers, and disapproved in very emphatic terms of the popular method of meeting Miller with ridicule and abuse.
Charles G. Finney
Charles G. Finney was one of the greatest, if not the most successful evangelists that the 19th century produced. Wherever he went, people of all classes and all professions were turned from their wicked ways to be faithful obedient servants of God. His whole active life reads almost like one continuous miracle of salvation.
He was a man given to much prayer, spending whole nights and sometimes, day and night in succession in private prayer. [20]
Finney tried to show Miller his mistake
This good servant of God, after he had been conducting these mighty revivals for twenty years, had the privilege of hearing William Miller in the great tabernacle at Boston. He listened to him a number of times carefully, and then invited Miller to his room for a personal interview. In a kindly spirit he showed Miller his mistake, and told him plainly that he would be disappointed. Miller acknowledged some of the arguments of Brother Finney, but his warning had no visible effect.
These were mighty men of God, leading sinners to repentance in this period but they did not endorse Miller's position. Can anyone doubt that these men were men of God, men that God used mightily in His kingdom? They passed thru the great '44 experience and all the time were working diligently with marked success for the conversion of sinners. This was as true after the 1844 period as it was before.
Charles Finney was conducting many of his revivals in the neighborhood where James White and his wife were laboring in northern New York, and were publishing the Review and Herald. So it is certain that Mrs. White came in contact with Finney's revivals near the time she wrote these condemnations. Whether this were true or not, Finney was included in the general denunciation of the revivals of that day. [21]
Let us paraphrase one of these denunciations: "Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, (Finney and his followers) offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians (Like Finney and Moody) to himself, to fasten them in his snare."
Such outstanding men as Moffat and Livingstone, laboring in the jungles of Africa, Judson in Burma, and Paton among the cannibals of the islands, were faithfully sticking to their posts unmindful of the Miller movement, and God was blessing their labors. Yet, according to Mrs. White, they were among those who were "rejected by God", and their "prayers and exhortations" were an "abomination to God". She says, "I saw false reformations everywhere," not here and there, but "everywhere." "Everywhere" includes the foreign as well (is the home field. You cannot escape it, brethren; you cannot explain it away; the only way out is to acknowledge the shame and suppress the book.
Yes, we are aware that Mrs. White says " I saw that God has honest children among the nominal Adventists and the fallen churches, and before the plagues shall be poured out, ministers and people will be called out from these churches, and will gladly receive the truth. " E. W. p. 261. None of these [22] men of God were "called out from these churches," and they are all dead, therefore cannot be called out "before the plagues shall be poured out", therefore they are all included among those whom God rejected, and whose prayers were "an abomination to God."
Rejected of God for refusing to believe an error
Now, what was the great sin which led these men to be captured by Satan, and made their prayers an abomination to God? It could not have been the Sabbath question, for the test on the Sabbath, according to Mrs. White, did not come until after the disappointment. Proof:
"I saw that the present test on the Sabbath could not come until the mediation of Jesus in the holy place was finished, and He had passed within the second veil."—E. W. p. 42.
Then what could it be that would cause these great servants of God to become agents of the devil? One of the above quotations explains the matter. It is because they rejected what Adventists were teaching as the first angel 's message of the proclamations of the second coming or Christ in 1844.
In other words these earnest, praying, Bible students saw that Miller was mistaken and refused to accept his mistake. Therefore for refusing to accept an error they were rejected of God. On the other hand those who accepted this error, this false teaching, this misinterpretation of [23] the Word, were blessed of God and were made His favorite, chosen people.
Another sin, according to the teachings of this denomination, which was sufficient to turn these men over to be led of the devil, was the sin of not knowing that Jesus moved from the first to the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary on the 22nd day of October, 1844.
Finney and all the Christians, except the followers of Mrs. White, believed that Christ entered "within the veil" into the second apartment at His ascension, instead of waiting till 1844. Heb. 6: 19,20. These godly people who refused to believe a mere supposition, without a scintilla of evidence—yes, plainly contradicted by the Word were rejected of God, and their prayers which were offered with simplicity and faith—with the same faith with which they were offered before the advent movement was started—never reached the Father, but were answered by Satan, simply because they didn't know that Mrs. White, James White, and Joseph Bates had moved the Saviour into the most-holy place on Oct. 22, 1844.
Seventh-day Adventists the one object on earth dear to the heart of God
Of what gross unrighteousness does this make a just God guilty! It makes God condemn His faithful servants who diligently studied His Word. And because they were familiar with His Word and therefore detected the errors in the [24] teachings of the Millerites and refused to accept these errors, and continued to do the work of their Master as they had done before, God rejected them but blessed with His richest blessings those who taut these errors and made them "a people in which all heaven is interested, and they are the one object on earth dear to the heart of God." Testimonies to Ministers, by Mrs. E. G. White, page 41.
Speaking of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Mrs. White says: "The church, enfeebled and defective, needing to be reproved, warned, and counseled, is the only object upon earth upon which Christ bestows His supreme regard." Do. 49.
The position taken by these pioneers would necessitate recasting 2 Thes. 2:10-13. It should read somewhat as follows: They, Finney, Judson, Livingstone, and others, received the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this cause God sent them strong delusions that they might believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not this error, but had pleasure in righteousness: but we are bound to give thanks to God for you, Seventh-day Adventists only, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God from 1844 hath chosen you to salvation thru the Spirit of Prophecy and the belief of Miller's mistakes.
We do not wish to cast any reflections on Wm. Miller. He was a godly man, [25] and honestly believed the message he gave. He was mistaken and after the time passed he acknowledged his mistake as all honest men should.
Any number of quotations could be produced from Mrs. White, James White, Joseph Bates, and the other pioneers to show that they considered revivals in other churches the work of the devil.
Moody was included
Such men of God as Moody were also included in these awful denunciations. In 1884 the denomination published "Synopsis of the Present Truth: a Brief Exposition of the Views of S. D. Adventists, by Uriah Smith." On p. 45 is found the following question and answer regarding the fallen condition of the Protestant churches, "What can be said, of the efforts of modern revivalists?"
"Their condition in this respect has not improved since; and the spasmodic and emotional efforts of a Knapp, Hammond. Moody, and other modern revivalists, are not affording any permanent improvement. There is an advance truth for this age, and no permanent work of religious reform can be accomplished except in connection therewith."
Any one who is familiar with the moral corruptions of some of the ministers among Seventh-day Adventists, wonders that they should use such language as the above in describing other churches. Immorality manifested itself [26] so much among their leaders that the general conference council was forced to take action to stem the growing sin.
The title to this chapter may have sounded strange to many readers, but it is confirmed in every jot and tittle by the teachings of the denomination. Every thinking man and woman familiar with the facts will say, shame! And will continue to say, shame! until the publishers correct this shameful teaching.
Strange as it may seem, Seventh-day Adventists still teach that it was wrong for Finney, Paton, Moffat and a host of others, to be right and it was right for James White, Mrs. White, and Joseph Bates, and their followers to be wrong, to teach error, and to lead people to believe that which was contrary to the Bible. They are the only people known to history who ever taut that it was wrong to be right and right to be wrong.
Early Writings disgrace to the church
Early Writings is a disgrace to the denomination, and not a few of the leaders share this conviction. I appeal to you, brethren, as individuals and as a body, in the name of the God of Justice; in the name of common honesty and decency; acknowledge these mistakes and indecent abuses by your prophet and cast this book to the limbo of theological gibberish. Christian courtesy demands it: common decency demands it; the Bible truths for which you stand demand it, [27] and all heaven will approve it. Will you do it or will you continue to merit the just indignation of all fair minded people?
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