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The Times of Volume Two
While volume I of the
Testimonies
presents counsel having to
do largely with the inception and development of the teachings, ex-
periences, and enterprises of the newly established remnant church,
volume 2 is devoted almost entirely to the personal piety of its mem-
bers. During the thirteen years paralleled by the fourteen testimony
pamphlets now forming volume I, the publishing work was solidi-
fied, the church was organized, its system of finance was established,
and it had launched into a great health program. When the closing
article was written, literature was pouring in a steady stream from its
presses at the Review and Herald publishing plant at Battle Creek,
Michigan, and, near by, the newly established sanitarium was in full
operation. The dark hours of the Civil War years were in the past,
and for the church it was a day of opportunity. The task before it
was to hold the ground gained and to enlarge its borders. Vital to the
continued success of the church was the integrity of its individual
members
.
Early in 1868, as explained in an article now found near the close
of volume I, Ellen G. White began to publish, for the benefit of the
church as a whole, certain personal testimonies which up to that time
had not been distributed generally. Of these personal testimonies
she stated: “They all contain more or less reproof and instruction
which apply to hundreds or thousands of others in similar condition.
These should have the light which God has seen fit to give which
meets their cases.”—Vol. I, p. 631
.
Such instruction addressed personally to individual church mem-
bers through the three-year period of February, 1868, to May, 1871,
comprises almost the entire content of
Testimonies
Nos. 15-20, now
embodied in this volume 2. The instruction is pointed and practical,
dealing with almost every phase of personal experience and religious
interests, from
[6]
Gossip, the indulgence of appetite, and the marriage relationship
to misdirected zeal, avariciousness, and fanaticism
.
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