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Historical Foreword
xi
and leading out in the establishment of a college and a sanitarium in
that continent
.
This volume bears the title of
Testimonies to Ministers and
Gospel Workers
. It is not devoted essentially to instruction as to how
the work of the minister should be conducted, as is
Gospel Workers
.
This volume contains messages given to admonish, warn, reprove,
and counsel the ministers of the church, with special attention given
to perils peculiar to men who stand in positions of responsibility.
Some of the reproofs are severe, but the assurance is given that
God in his chastening, “wounds only that he may heal, not cause to
perish.”—
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 23
.
The reproofs and counsels directed to ministers and especially
administrators were not published initially by Ellen G. White, but
rather by the President of the General Conference, and later the Gen-
eral Conference Committee. For the most part they were messages
directed originally to the President of the General Conference, O.
A. Olsen, and his associates in administrative work, particularly in
Battle Creek. He and his committee placed them in print that their
fellow ministers and fellow administrators might have the benefit
of the reproofs which pointed out wrongs, and the counsels and
encouragement associated with the reproof
.
[xvii]
A Review of Significant History
As we review certain situations in our church history which form
the background for the messages of the 1890’s, we uncover clues
which enable us better to understand these messages. Let us turn
back the pages of history and look at some important developments
.
From the very outset, Sabbath-keeping Adventists were char-
acterized by their eagerness to understand God’s will and to walk
in his way. In their Advent experience of the mid-1840’s they had
witnessed the stable Protestant churches, with their creedal stakes
firmly driven, turn from great truths taught in the word of God. Many
of these Adventists had been cast out of these churches because of
their Advent hope, a hope which sprang from the Scriptures. They
had seen their former brethren enter into active opposition to those
who held and expounded Bible truths. This led them to be fearful of
formality and church organization. But as the way began to open for