Special Testimonies, Series B

Ellen G. White

Copyright © 2018, Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.

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Special Testimonies, Series A

Special Testimonies, Series B

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Ellen G. White (1827-1915) is considered the most widely translated American author, her works having been published in more than 160 languages. She wrote more than 100,000 pages on a wide variety of spiritual and practical topics. Guided by the Holy Spirit, she exalted Jesus and pointed to the Scriptures as the basis of one’s faith.

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by Arthur L. White

Inquiry has been made concerning Special Testimonies, Series B as originally published in pamphlet form. There was a Series A and there was a Series B.

Special Testimonies, Series B consists of nineteen pamphlets published between the years 1903 and 1913. These pamphlets are out of print today. That is, the editions have been exhausted and they have not been republished. But before entering upon a discussion of Special Testimonies, Series B, let us look at the whole question of Special Testimonies.

Ellen White found several channels open to her in presenting to the people the light, the information, the instruction, the counsel, and the cautions which God revealed to her in vision. Perhaps we should list these:

(1) The Oral Presentation. Either in personal interviews with individuals or addressing formal groups, such as committees, boards, church gatherings, and General Conference sessions, Ellen White presented her message. At times these interviews and general presentations were stenographically reported and at times they were not. The record of those which were reported constitutes a part of our general E. G. White manuscript file, or, in the case of a number of sermons, have been presented to the church in a more general way through articles in the Review and Herald and other papers.

(2) The Written Message. In the early years, in handwritten letters, Ellen White passed on to others scores upon scores of personal testimonies dealing with the life and experience of the individuals whom she addressed. After typewriters came into use, copies were made in typewritten form and a copy was retained in Mrs. White’s files. Other copies were sent to the persons addressed, and to those who might be particularly interested. The file copies of these materials constitute a part of the E. G. White manuscript file. In some cases these communications later appeared in such books as Testimonies for the Church. The larger part of such communications, however, were not printed, because they dealt with special experiences and were in the form of messages addressed particularly to the individual. Especially if the truths touched on in these documents were well covered in the books, there was not occasion to repeat the counsel in printed form. We must recognize that over a period of 70 years Ellen White touched on the same subjects many, many times.

(3) The Printed Page. Through this means of communication Ellen White was able to reach a very large number of people and a permanent record could be made of her message which would serve the church. She reached the people generally by two modes of publication—her books in which her messages were [2] immortalized in print and made available to all who secured copies of these books, and the periodical articles, 4,500 in all, which appeared from week to week in the Review and Herald, the Signs of the Times, the Youth’s Instructor, the union conference papers, etc. The messages which reached our people in this form were timely. Their weekly appearance had an impact upon the readers which was large. Periodicals, however, are soon discarded, and the articles are lost sight of, but they have served in an initial way, just as a sermon serves a congregation, and the printed record may be drawn upon in the future.

All of these sources, except the oral word, are preserved in our vault at the General Conference office and constitute a reservoir of E. G. White materials available to the church. As we have reviewed the various ways in which Ellen White presented her prophetic message, it is observed that the materials naturally fall into two very general classes—that which was intended for the benefit of an individual or small group, and that which would be of service to the church generally.

In the specific volumes entitled Testimonies for the Church, Ellen White presented nearly 5,000 pages of counsel and instruction touching almost every phase of church work and points of Christian experience. The other volumes from her pen present a wealth of counsel and instruction. In her personal testimonies to individuals, sometimes opening up sin, sometimes bringing messages of reproof, sometimes speaking words of encouragement and giving personal guidance, Ellen White was writing to the individual, dealing with matters which were between the Lord and that individual. Usually the messages were gratefully received. Changes were observed in the life. The testimony accomplished its purpose; it had done its work. Unless there was some special situation which would make that particular line of counsel of value to the church generally, touching points which had not been touched on in her books, Ellen White kept the personal testimony in confidence. To make it public would only injure the individual’s name, because it is a trait of human nature to remember an individual in the light of our knowledge of mistakes the individual has made or the sins he has committed, regardless of the fact that the wrongs may be rectified, and the sins forgiven, and a change taken place in the life.

As the years advanced and our churches grew and the workers increased in numbers, there were times when counsel and instruction written specifically to meet the needs of a given group, a church, a publishing house or sanitarium family, were put into print in pamphlets, and these were often called Special Testimonies. I have on my desk a number of such pamphlets. One is entitled, Special Testimonies Concerning the Work and Workers in the Pacific Press. These pamphlets presented matters which were of primary interest to the churches or to the institutions concerned. In some cases names are named, and there are references to specific experiences.

In this printed form, those who were concerned could have copies to read and reread. I have never observed any record of where the distribution of these was in any way restricted or limited, or copies withheld from those who wished copies. The counsel, by its very nature, limited the general field of circulation of such materials.

Special Testimonies, Series A

While Sister White was in Australia from 1891 to 1900, she addressed many communications of counsel to the president of the General Conference and [3] some other leading workers at Battle Creek. These had to do with the ministry, the standards of the ministry, and the welfare of the work in their hands. As these were received by the president of the General Conference in Battle Creek. Sensing that the materials would be of real service to our ministers generally, he arranged to have them printed in little envelope-size pamphlets. From time to time these came from the press as the materials from Ellen White’s pen accumulated in his hands. There were eleven of these pamphlets in all, and they were called Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers. There was a Series A, No. 12, published later which re related to our medical work.

Each of these pamphlets, after the first, bore a number, and the later numbers carried the title Special Testimonies, Series A. These were circulated freely. All who wished copies were supplied. Here again the counsel was addressed primarily to the working force of the denomination. It was of particular interest to them, and the field of circulation, while not being restricted, was in the main confined to this group. As explained later, much of this material is available today in the regular E. G. White books.

Special Testimonies, Series B

Ellen White returned to the United States in 1900. In the closing fifteen years of her life a number of special situations were met, and the church passed through certain crises. With the development of pantheism, espoused particularly by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and some of his associates, and with the efforts to separate the medical missionary work from the denomination, the roots of which go back into the 1890’s, there developed a serious crisis at the headquarters of our work in Battle Creek, ranging around the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The situation was very delicate The sanitarium was still the property of Seventh-day Adventists, but in the hands of a corporation. Its staff was largely Seventh-day Adventists; its group of employees were nearly all Adventists; yet wrong concepts were coming into the work, and Ellen White in 1903 assembled a group of six communications and they were published as Series B, No. 1, Letters to Physicians and Ministers. Most of this material is in Testimonies, vol. 8, today.

Series B, No. 2

In the year 1904, as the crisis developed and became more acute, Ellen White assembled a group of ten communications which were published in a pamphlet of 64 pages. This was called Series B, No. 2, Letters to Physicians and Ministers. While this did not bear the title of Special Testimonies on its cover, it is clear that it falls into that group, for we find this significant note on a slip of paper pasted in the pamphlet and signed by the General Conference Committee:

“Washington, D. C., August 18, 1904. Dear Friend: This copy of Letters to Physicians and Ministers, No. 2, which is herewith mailed to you, is sent out with the hope that it will be read and prayerfully studied by you, with [the] sincere desire that it may be a savor of life unto life to yourself and to others.

“These Letters are not intended for general circulation, nor for public use. Read it for your own instruction. Study it for yourself. Seek to understand the principles involved. Study it in the light of the love of Jesus Christ for every sinful mortal who is seeking for perfection. In reading the reproofs, remember that ‘whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons, for what [4] son is he whom the father chasteneth not.’—General Conference Committee.”

The delicateness of the situation is indicated by the tenor of this note. The crisis was a very real one. As Ellen White said, “The battle is on.” The fallacies of pantheism and the danger of calling a large number of our people to Battle Creek with its influences, are clearly set forth in this pamphlet.

Series B, No. 3

There were other issues that loomed large at the time and concerned a segment of the church, but not the church as a whole. That was the matter of the establishment of sanitariums in Southern California. Consequently, a group of E. G. White statements were assembled that related to the sanitarium work in Southern California and the principles that should govern the location of institutions and the conduct of our work. This is interspersed with some historical statements prepared by those who were on the ground dealing with the establishment of medical work in Southern California. The document, therefore, constituted a notice of what was being done, sprinkled with Spirit of Prophecy counsels as to how the work should be done, and this was planned primarily for those who were concerned with the work in Southern California. This is Series B, No. 3.

Series B, No. 4

Just at this time other problems, seeming at first to be somewhat of a local character, loomed on the horizon. That was the question of unity among the different nationalities in the United States, and how to reach them with the message. Consequently, Series B, No. 4, was issued in 1905 entitled Testimonies for the Church Regarding the Spirit of Unity That Should Be Maintained in the International Publishing Association and Among Laborers of All Nationalities in the Lord’s Harvest Field This pamphlet of 32 pages was of great service to those who were particularly interested in this line of work and concerned with it. At the outset it did not seem to be a matter that would concern the church generally, but in due time its broader ramifications were seen and the material was republished in the later volumes of the Testimonies for the Church.

Series B, No. 5

In the year 1905 a crisis also developed in the work of the Boulder, Colorado, Sanitarium. This institution, which had been operating for ten years, was doing good work. One of its physicians withdrew and moved to a community not far away and planned to erect a sanitarium in competition to the work being done at Boulder by the denominational institution. Counsel came from the pen of Ellen White directed to the promoters of the new medical institution, as well as to those who were carrying on the work at the Boulder Sanitarium. This group of counsels directed to those in Colorado, together with statements made by Ellen White at the General Conference of 1905 relating to the Boulder Sanitarium, were drawn together in a pamphlet of 80 pages made up of E. G. White material and statements from others giving the historical background, etc. This was called Series B, No. 5, although not all the copies were imprinted in that manner. The general title is Record of Progress and an Earnest Appeal in Behalf of the Boulder, Colorado, Sanitarium With Testimonies to the Church Read at Denver (Colorado) Camp Meeting held August 17-27, 1905.

Series B, No. 6

During all this time the crisis in Battle Creek grew more serious. Although Battle Creek College had been moved to [5] Berrien Springs, Michigan, and the work was being carried on there in a strong way, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, in spite of the counsels that had been given through the years warning against gathering large numbers of people at Battle Creek, made plans to reopen Battle Creek College, which would be operated by the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Invitations were sent to our young people throughout the country to come to Battle Creek for their education, but conditions from a spiritual standpoint, and from the standpoint of misleading theological views, had not changed in Battle Creek. Doctor Kellogg and his close associates were leading somewhat of an insurrection, and so in December, 1905, there was printed Series B, No. 6, Testimonies to the Church Regarding Our Youth Going to Battle Creek to Obtain an Education, Being Extracts from Addresses Published in the General Conference Bulletin, from Articles Published in the Review and Herald, and From Many Letters to Physicians and Ministers.

Because of the very delicate nature of the content of this pamphlet, Ellen White assumed the full responsibility for its publication. In other words, it was not issued by any organization, but carried on the title page, “Published for the Author.” The information just listed above, as given on the title page, reveals the full nature of the articles which comprised this 64-page pamphlet. (Its two leading articles are in Testimonies for the Church 8:223-229.) [6]

Series B, No. 7

While Series B, No. 6 sounded a warning particularly along the lines of the dangers of our young people going to Battle Creek for their education, conditions in the sanitarium continued to wax more serious, and the attitudes of its leaders became more divisive, and this led Ellen White in 1906 to issue Series B, No 7, Testimonies for the Church Containing Messages of Warning and Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists Regarding Dangers Connected With the Medical Missionary Work. Its fourteen articles dealt with the very serious situation existing in Battle Creek, and sounded a warning to those who might contemplate placing themselves under those influences, or following in the lead of the medical superintendent who had departed from the way of the Lord. A thousand copies were printed and the tract was used judiciously where there seemed to be a need for it. It was not the kind of material which would be sent out in a very general way. It dealt with people who were living in, and situations limited to, Battle Creek.

Series B, No. 8

Another year passes, and we come to a pamphlet entitled Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 8 This bears the title Testimonies to the Church Regarding the Strengthening of Our Institutions and Training Centers and a Plea for Medical Missionary Evangelists. In this document Ellen White looks over the whole country and makes an appeal in several articles for our institutions. On page 2, in the Introduction, we find this:

“We are mailing this tract to all Seventh-day Adventist ministers whose addresses we have. Anyone who is overlooked or missed may secure a copy by writing to his conference secretary. Others who desire copies will be supplied from our publishing houses or state book depositories.”

Carrying a price of five cents, this Special Testimony called the attention of our people to a special need as it existed at that time. Three of its articles of more general interest were reprinted in the Testimonies and Counsels on Health.

Series B, No. 9

Another appeal went into the field in 1907, published this time by the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and bore the title Special Testimonies, Series B. No. 9, Testimonies to the Church Regarding Individual Responsibility and Christian Unity. The four articles comprising this pamphlet, according to a note of introduction on page 2, are “Testimonies from Mrs. E. G. White, which were read at the session of the California Conference held at San Jose, January 25 to 29, 1907. In harmony with the request of that body, the Conference Committee have had them printed for general circulation among the churches and isolated members of our conference.” Here we have messages directed to a local conference and put into print on the action of the local conference committee for circulation among the churches and isolated members of the conference. This helps us to understand the nature of the Special Testimonies and their particular application, in this instance limited to a local field.

Series B, No. 10

In the same year some problems arose in Southern California relating to the attitude of certain administrators that led Ellen White to sound certain messages of warning. The introductory note explains:

“At the Southern California camp meeting, held in Los Angeles August 15-31, 1907, several testimonies were read to the congregation assembled. In behalf of those not in attendance at the meeting and also in behalf of those who wished a better understanding of the counsels given than they could have from once hearing the messages, many requests were made that these testimonies be published so that our brethren in Southern California could have the opportunity to read them. In this little tract will be found the testimonies read at the Los Angeles camp meeting, with others bearing upon kindred subjects.”

This pamphlet carries the title, Jehovah is Our King, and is comprised of six communications directed particularly to the workers in Southern California. Much of this is today found in the Testimonies and Testimonies to Ministers.

Series B, No. 11

Series B, No. 11 was published in 1908, and bears the title, The Madison School, An Appeal for Encouragement and Aid to Be Given to the Burden-bearers in the Nashville Agricultural and Normal Institute at Madison, Tennessee. No explanation is needed of its eight articles, for they relate to the topic.

Series B, Nos. 12-14

Four other Special Testimony pamphlets dealing with problems of particular institutions were also published in 1908: Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 12, The Oakwood Manual Training School, An Appeal for Encouragement and Financial Aid. Special Testimonies, Series B. No. 12x, bears the title The Huntsville School, the Development and Maintenance of the Oakwood Manual Training School, Huntsville, Alabama, for the Education of Workers to Labor Among the Colored People, and Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 13, which bears the title, The New England Sanitarium, A Review of the Providences Connected With the Establishment of the Sanitarium at Melrose, Massachusetts, Near Boston. Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 14, is entitled, The Paradise Valley Sanitarium, A Record of the Providences that Led to Its Purchase; and Timely Instruction Regarding the Importance of Its Work. Not only are the articles from the pen of Ellen White, but the introduction was written by her, and she closes with these words: [7]

“For years the work in southern California has needed help, and we now call upon our brethren and sisters who have means to spare to put it into circulation, that we may use to the very best advantage the places so well suited for our work.”

Series B, No. 15

It was in the year 1911 that Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 15 was published, entitled Letters From Ellen G. White to Sanitarium Workers, An Appeal to Workers in the Sanitariums to Raise the Standard by Purifying their Lives From All Cheapness of Character and Carelessness of Conduct. These four communications fill 24 pages. Two of these are in Counsels on Health.

Series B, No. 16

The same year (1911), Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 16, Selections From the Testimonies for Students and Workers of Our Sanitariums, was published. Its three articles fill 20 pages. It can be seen that Special Testimonies, No. 15 and Special Testimonies, No. 16 were made up of communications addressed particularly to our medical workers in Southern California, and to make the messages permanently available to this group, they were printed in these two pamphlets. One article from this is also in Counsels on Health.

Series B, No. 17

The year 1911 also witnessed another crisis of rather a local character in which a Seventh-day Adventist given to aggressive speculation was encouraging Seventh-day Adventists to make large investments in mines and irrigation interests. He made his decisions in vital matters by writing “Yes” on one side of a card, and “No” on the other side; he then offered prayer and tossed the card into the air. If, as the card came to rest on the floor, the “yes” side was apparent, large investments might be made up to $100,000. This experience brought to a climax the matter of speculation and the unwise use of money. As a result, the 40 page pamphlet, containing a number of statements which would be helpful to our people, was published as Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 17, entitled, The Unwise Use of Money and the Spirit of Speculation. This was especially helpful in meeting the situation in California involving the one who was investing money so recklessly. The heart of this pamphlet now appears in Counsels on Stewardship, 231-244.

Series B, No. 18

Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 18 is entitled, The Nashville Sanitarium, Extracts From Letters and Articles on Sanitarium Work at Nashville, Tennessee. This was published in 1912.

Series B, No. 19

Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 19, bearing the title, The Spirit of Sacrifice, was published in 1913. Its 40 pages are devoted to a presentation of matter from the E. G. White books and periodical articles, and some from her manuscript communications, dealing with the spirit of sacrifice which should govern institutional employees. See Counsels on Health, 299-318, for a good portion of this.

This completes the list of pamphlets entitled Special Testimonies, Series B. I have taken pains to review in considerable detail the content of these nineteen pamphlets, for this in itself is very largely an explanation for the fact that they have not in their entirety and in their original form been continued in current publication, and it makes it clear that the fact that they have not been continued in current publication has not been in any sense an indication, or a desire on the part of anyone, to withhold [8] from the field any testimony counsel which has been published.

As is now plain to the reader, not a few of the articles which were incorporated in Special Testimonies, Series A and Special Testimonies, Series B became increasingly significant with the passage of time, and they found their way into later volumes of the Testimonies, particularly volumes 8 and 9. This also was so with counsel as it related to instruction to physicians and ministers, the spirit of unity, and warnings against the situation in Battle Creek, and the hazards of our young people going there for an education. Some of the more general articles, having to do with encouragement along medical missionary lines, found their way into Counsels on Health. Other of the materials of permanent, universal value to the church were also reprinted as noted.

Testimonies to Ministers was published in the year 1923, in an endeavor to make available to all who wished to have it those portions of Special Testimonies, Series A and Special Testimonies, Series B, which would be of general, lasting value to the church and its workers. In saying this, we recognize, of course, that in any article presenting counsel and instruction, there are principles which are of universal value. But when the counsel is mainly in the framework of some local situation, either as to time or place, especially if it touches lines of counsel which are already well presented in the E. G. White books, it is considered as not being necessary for general circulation. A competent committee gave very careful study to each of the articles in both Series A and Series B of Special Testimonies, and selected those which they thought to be of a character to serve regardless of time or place.

At that time very careful study was given to Special Testimonies, Series B, Nos. 2 and 7, but because they were dealing primarily with a situation in Battle Creek which had changed materially, and we were not confronted at all with the problems with which these articles in the main dealt with, they were not drawn from for Testimonies to Ministers. From time to time since then it has been suggested that these two Special Testimonies should be reprinted. In each case, a review of the matter leads to the same conclusion. They were prepared to meet a special situation. They were called Special Testimonies. Some of the articles are quite personal. Persons are named, and used in the restricted way intended when they were issued in the areas where the crisis existed, this was understood. They helped in meeting that situation. Decades have passed since that time. Most of our people are not at all familiar with the historical background, and to attempt to apply the counsels in any specific way today, which some would do, leads to a misuse of E. G. White materials, except the more general statements, and these are of a character no different than we find in the books which present the testimonies to the church.

It has been reported that the Special Testimonies we have been discussing have been suppressed or are being withheld from the public, or that they have been destroyed to prevent their circulation. This is not true. The fact that certain materials issued as Special Testimonies to meet local or special situations are not continued in print for all time in their original form cannot be construed to constitute a suppression of such materials. In addition to including those articles of lasting general value to the church in permanent E. G. White books, we in our office have supplied copies of the original pamphlets until our stocks were exhausted. These have gone to either institutional libraries or to [9] workers in key positions. Most of this was done many years ago when copies were more plentiful than they are now. Our appeal to all is to study carefully the abundance of counsel found in the many E. G. White books available today.

Copies of Special Testimonies, Series A and Series B, in their entirety, are available today (1991) through Leaves of Autumn Books, Box 440, Payson, Arizona 84450.

Ellen G. White Estate
Silver Spring, Maryland
originally written in March, 1962
revised June, 1991.