Testimonies for the Church Volume 7

Testimonies For The Church

by Ellen Gould White

By the time this volume of counsels for the Seventh-day Adventist Church was penned by Ellen G. White, the work of the church had grown to worldwide proportions. Literature was being distributed in thirty-nine languages from thirteen publishing houses. Five hundred ordained ministers, with a thousand other workers in various branches of denominational endeavor were serving 66,000 believers, who made up 1,892 churches.
With the growth of the church overall came the development of different departments (such as Sabbath School, Medical Missionary, and Religious Liberty) to meet different needs. While the organizational structure continued to evolve and strengthen, achieving balance during this state of growth was a real challenge. As a result, the needs of some fields were either neglected or lacked efficiency in management. Some branches of the church, which grew disproportionately and forged ahead within the independent organizational lines of their own creating, seemed to be "getting out of hand." Seeing these organizational deficiencies, Ellen White began calling for a thorough reorganization of the work in 1901. The task was large, but church leaders worked energetically, accomplishing most of the task by 1902.
During this time, tensions were rising between church leadership and leaders in the medical work (specifically, the Battle Creek Sanitarium). Having reached its zenith in power, the "San" began to tilt towards a vision of Christian medical missionary work quite undenominational in character, which, as they thought of it, would soon eclipse the work of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.
When the Battle Creek Sanitarium burned to the ground in 1902, Ellen White issued a call to spread out and establish many more medical institutions (rather than congregating in one place). The resulting articles, constituting the section on "Our Sanitarium Work," are included in this volume.
The publishing work, which had also run into some challenges, also received counsel. In order to keep the presses busy or "make ends meet," some of the presses were accepting commercial work or even publishing books which contained serious doctrinal errors. All of this called for, and received, additional counsel. Counsel was also provided to encourage and strengthen the publishing work in the Southern states, as well the health food production centers that had arisen. Work in the cities and retirement planning for workers who were advancing in age was also covered. Though devoted to fewer lines of instruction than some of the other volumes, Testimonies for the Church volume contains many far-reaching, vital counsels that continue to bear rich fruit.

Genres: Religion

220 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2022

About the author

In brief, Ellen Gould Harmon White was a woman of remarkable spiritual gifts who lived most of her life during the nineteenth century (1827-1915), yet through her writings she is still making a revolutionary impact on millions of people around the world. During her lifetime she wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books; but today, including compilations from her 50,000 pages of manuscript, more than 100 titles are available in English. She is the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature, and the most translated American author of either gender. Her writings cover a broad range of subjects, including religion, education, social relationships, evangelism, prophecy, publishing, nutrition, and management. Her life-changing masterpiece on successful Christian living, Steps to Christ, has been published in more than 140 languages. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Mrs. White was more than a gifted writer; they believe she was appointed by God as a special messenger to draw the world's attention to the Holy Scriptures and help prepare people for Christ's second advent. From the time she was 17 years old until she died 70 years later, God gave her approximately 2,000 visions and dreams. The visions varied in length from less than a minute to nearly four hours. The knowledge and counsel received through these revelations she wrote out to be shared with others. Thus her special writings are accepted by Seventh-day Adventists as inspired, and their exceptional quality is recognized even by casual readers. As stated in Seventh-day Adventists Believe ... , “The writings of Ellen White are not a substitute for Scripture. They cannot be placed on the same level. The Holy Scriptures stand alone, the unique standard by which her and all other writings must be judged and to which they must be subject” (Seventh-day Adventists Believe ... , Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington D.C., 1988, p. 227). Yet, as Ellen White herself noted, “The fact that God has revealed His will to men through His Word, has not rendered needless the continued presence and guiding of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit was promised by our Saviour to open the Word to His servants, to illuminate and apply its teachings” (The Great Controversy, p. vii). The following is a more detailed account of the life and work of this remarkable woman who, meeting all the tests of a true prophet as set forth in the Holy Scriptures, helped found the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Reviews

[Darwin Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

Views of Ellen White on how the Seventh-Day Adventists came to be and what they should believe and how they should act. So much of it is the product of late 19th and early 20th century culture (and the "bugaboos" of the period) that it is difficult to find much that is worthwhile for today. The so-called "Red Books" of Ellen White contain dated teaching and "prophecies" about what was worrisome at the time (such as "Blue Laws" and a potential "Sunday Law") that the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination today is looking back over its shoulder at challenges long since gone away, while missing those of today (cf., the Papal Encyclical on The Environment, or before that, on Nuclear Proliferation), because she is considered as "the last prophet before the end" and she is long since dead! At least the Catholics and the Mormons continue to have a contemporary prophetic voice! Still, Ellen White was a wonderful Christian woman. It has been said, however, that the SDA denomination "is as it is" today because of her; yet it "is" today, because of her husband, James White!

[Seth Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Ellen.

I love this volume as it spends considerable time looking at the work of ministers, business men, church finance, authors, and the work among the Slaves in the South. She has very pointed instructions concerning lengthy board meetings, not burdening ministers with tasks outside of the primary ones they have been called to do, and rebuking the church for not treating its creatives (authors) properly in terms of rights and pay.

You go girl.

[Canny Tay · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the shortest books of Testimonies series. It won't take you much time to finish the reading.