The Unknown Prophet

by Delbert W. Baker, Raymond H. Woolsey (Editor)

Ellen G. White is recognized by Adventists as being signally used by God. Repeatedly she received visions to encourage and instruct God's people following the Great Disappointment and beyond. However, few may know that she was not the only one to receive visions – that she was the third in a series of persons to whom God gave visions during the middle 1800s. Fewer still may know that the first of the three was William Ellis Foy, a young Black man who lived in Boston in 1842. Volumes have been written about Ellen White. Very little has been written about the other two people – William Foy and Hazen Foss. Foss's history is fairly straightforward. He himself admitted that he had refused to relay the messages God had given him, and subsequently he showed no interest in religion. The history of William Foy is different. Until now Foy's background, his ministry, and even his visions have been lost in the shadows of time. What visions did he receive? Did he share them in obedience to the divine command? What were the circumstances that caused Ellen White and Foy to meet, and how did their experience compare? What became of Foy? This book will answer these and other vital questions in a clear, engaging manner. Delbert Baker has done a service to the history of Adventism by researching Foy's story and presenting it here for the first time – nearly 150 years after the fact!

160 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Liezel Patricio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an amazing biography of William Ellis Foy and how God used him in the ministry to further the work of the Millerite & Adventist movement during the time of the Great Depression & during the Great Disappointment. This book is well informative to its readers and corrects the misconception that he did not accept the calling that was appointed to him from God. He was a very faithful and loyal messenger and was used courageously by God to further the work and to prepare the way for our Advent leaders, one in whom we are familiar with, Ellen G. White.

[Mark Deshay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the research that Delbert Baker put into this book to clear the misconceptions about William Foy's experience with God and his visions that he published to the world prior to Mrs. E. G. White receiving visions. Solid information from a time period when records kept on activities by blacks was not well documented.