If Jones and Waggoner Lost Their Way, Should We Throw Their Writings in the "Scrap Heap"?
The Time has Come to Unmask a "Fatal Delusion"
If Jones and Waggoner lost their way eventually, does this mean that their message is dangerous? Should we lay them aside and read only Ellen White in order to recover the authentic 1888 message? Ellen White said that "the Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones" (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91, emphasis added). Hundreds of more times she endorsed their message, telling us we should listen to them. Why would the Lord send them if He intended Ellen White instead to proclaim the message?
She never claimed that she herself was bringing the "beginning" of the loud cry, or "showers from heaven of the latter rain." She claimed this for their message. Did the Lord make a mistake in choosing them to be (what she says) His "special," "delegated messengers"? If so, would it not reflect on His wisdom?
We can hardly accept Ellen White in sincerity and not accept what she has said hundreds of times.
If we take their eventually losing their way as an excuse to disparage or sidetrack their message, she warns that we will "enter into a fatal delusion":
"It is quite possible that Elders Jones or Waggoner may be overthrown by the temptations of the enemy; but if they should be, this would not prove that they had no message from God, or that the work that they had done was all a mistake. But should this happen, how many would take this position and enter into a fatal delusion....This is the very position many would take if either of these men were to fall..." (Letter S24, 1892; Ellen G White 1888 Materials, pp. 1044, 1045, emphasis supplied).
There was not a jealous bone in her soul. She gladly recognized the mission the Lord had given to them. She declares that she is not the one who brought the "1888 message." The Lord sent them with it, and if they had not brought it, we would not have had it: "If we place ourselves in a position that we will not recognize the light God sends or His messages to us, then we are in danger of sinning against the Holy Ghost. Then for us to turn and see if we can find some little thing that is done that we can hang some of our doubts upon and begin to question! The question is, has God sent the truth? Has God raised up these men [Jones and Waggoner] to proclaim the truth? I say, yes, God has sent men to bring us the truth that we should not have had unless God had sent somebody to bring it to us....I no more dare to lift my hand against these persons, because it would be against Jesus Christ, who is to be recognized in his messengers" (ibid., p. 608).
She never said, "Lay these messengers aside, and confine your attention to what I say."
On April 9, 1893, Ellen White wrote to Jones cautioning him against making extreme statements. She identified with his message, she said, but she heard him "in my dream" say that "works amount to nothing," and "there are no conditions." The other half of the truth is that Jones accepted that reproof, profited by it, never again made that mistake, and she wrote her most enthusiastic statements supporting him after April 9, 1893. (There is no printed record that he ever made the statements, "There are no conditions," "works amount to nothing." She heard it "in my dream," she says; she didn't read it in the publications. He was in danger of making such a statement and she nipped the weakness in the bud.)
Those who cite the 1888 messengers eventually losing their way as an excuse to reject their message perpetuate a century-old prejudice. In God's providence, the time has come for this "fatal delusion" to be unmasked. Both the church and the great world beyond need the clearer Good News which the Lord "sent." To refuse the message is to insult its Sender.
Author Unknown, this document was published by:
1888 Message Newsletter Supplement - July-August 1996
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