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viii
Early Writings
As for mesmerism, we have ever considered it dangerous, there-
fore have had nothing to do with it. We never even saw a person in a
mesmeric sleep and know nothing of the art by experience
.
We send out this little work with the hope that it will comfort the
saints
.
James White
.
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.,
.
August, 1851
.
[vii]
Historical Prologue
Early writings
is a work of lasting and special interest to Seventh-
day Adventists, for it embodies the earliest Ellen G. White books.
These were written and first published in the 1850’s for the edifica-
tion and instruction of those who with the author had passed through
the experiences of the sabbathkeeping adventists in the 1840’s and
the early 1850’s. This being so, the author assumed on the part of
the reader a familiarity with the history of the advent awakening
and the development of the Seventh-day Adventist movement that
emerged in 1844. Consequently experiences well understood at the
time are in some instances merely alluded to, and expressions are
employed which to be correctly understood, must be thought of in
the framework of the history of the sabbathkeeping adventists in
those early years
.
In 1858, in writing of the sounding of the messages of the three
angels of
Revelation 14
, Ellen White deals with the experiences of
those who participated in the work and draws lessons from these
experiences, rather than giving as one might expect, a clear-cut
presentation of the character of these messages. See pages 232-
240; 254-258. She at times employs such now unfamiliar terms as
“nominal adventist,” “shut door,” “open door,” et cetera
.
Today we are removed by more than a century from those heroic
times. The reader must keep this clearly in mind. The history which
was so well known to the contemporaries of Ellen White we shall
now review, touching some of the high points of the experiences of