Today we post the following manuscript release which deals with the Apocrypha. This has been prepared by the White Estate and carries the name of Arthur L. White as the author.
Because we have some comments about it and it is an official position paper on the Apocrypha we present it in full, all emphasis is their’s with the exception of colorized text.
MR No. 1148 – Ellen G. White and the Apocrypha
[A STATEMENT PREPARED BY ARTHUR L. WHITE IN 1969 AND NOW REQUESTED FOR CLASSROOM USE BY RON JOLLIFF, RELIGION TEACHER AT SOUTHWESTERN ADVENTIST COLLEGE. THE PARAGRAPH FROM MANUSCRIPT 4, 1850, HAS NOT HERETOFORE BEEN RELEASED.–R. W. OLSON.] {15MR 65.1}
This gives a good picture of exactly how manuscript releases happened.
WHILE ELLEN G. WHITE IS NOT KNOWN TO HAVE QUOTED FROM THE APOCRYPHA
Maybe Ellen never quoted from it, but God did. No. 20, pages 42-49 God tells us that the Spirit of Prophecy is not to give new light. In the first published vision, in The Day-Star, God gave to the church a view of 2 Esdras 2:43 and insured the correct interpretation.
THERE IS SOME DOCUMENTATION OF THE EARLY YEARS WHICH MAY BE OF INTEREST IN CONNECTION WITH A STUDY OF HER RELATIONSHIP TO IT. JAMES WHITE, IN HIS PAMPHLET, A WORD TO THE LITTLE FLOCK, IN HIS FIRST ARTICLE ENTITLED “THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES” INCLUDES TWO REFERENCES TO THE APOCRYPHA. {15MR 65.2}
PAGE 2: “THE SEED IS ROTTEN UNDER THEIR CLODS, THE GARNERS ARE LAID DESOLATE, THE BARNS ARE BROKEN DOWN, FOR THE CORN IS WITHERED.”–SEE JOEL 1:15-18; JEREMIAH 30:23, 24; DANIEL 12:1; HABAKKUK 3:12, 13; ZEPHANIAH 1:17, 18; 2 ESDRAS 15:10-13. {15MR 65.3}
PAGE 3: “I WILL BRING THEM (THE SAINTS) WITH A MIGHTY HAND AND A STRETCHED-OUT ARM, AND SMITE EGYPT WITH PLAGUES AS BEFORE,” ETC. –2 ESDRAS 15:11. {15MR 65.4}
AS HE FURNISHED SCRIPTURE REFERENCES TO TWO ELLEN G. WHITE VISIONS, INCORPORATED IN A WORD TO THE LITTLE FLOCK, HE ALSO INCORPORATED SOME REFERENCES TO THE APOCRYPHA. HIS EXPLANATION WHICH PRECEDES THE PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST VISION STATES: {15MR 65.5}
“THE FOLLOWING VISION WAS PUBLISHED IN THE DAY STAR, MORE THAN A YEAR AGO. BY THE REQUEST OF FRIENDS, IT IS RE-PUBLISHED IN THIS LITTLE WORK, WITH SCRIPTURE REFERENCES, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE LITTLE FLOCK.”–A WORD TO THE LITTLE FLOCK, P. 13 {15MR 65.6}
AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGES 15 AND 17 THERE ARE REFERENCES KEYED TO THE E. G. WHITE TEXT, ONE REFERENCE TO 2 ESDRAS 2:43, (P. 15) AND THE OTHER TO 2 ESDRAS 2:19, (P. 17). {15MR 65.7}
Checking my copy of A Word to the Little Flock, we find Arthur remiss in doing his job, or was it intentional? Something to minimize the Apocrypha maybe? We may never know. What we do know is the following: page 15, one reference; page 17, one reference; page 19, four (4) references; page 20, one reference. I rather doubt Arthur happened not to have seen page 19. His reference to only two pages, with one reference each to the Apocrypha, is disingenuous to say the least.
We will further state in particular that 2 Esdras 2:43 is a pure confirmation that it is Christ alone that places the crown on the head of each saint. Something God showed his people through Ellen in the first vision given her, of which WLF carries a reprint and James added the texts.
IT IS CLEAR THAT JAMES WHITE SAW SOME SIMILARITIES BETWEEN WHAT ELLEN WHITE WROTE AND SOME THINGS HE HAD READ IN ESDRAS, AND SO USED THESE REFERENCES AS HE DID SCRIPTURE REFERENCES WHICH HE SAYS HE SUPPLIED. {15MR 66.1}
The implication here is that James was doing his own thing, hardly!!! Here is what 2 Esdras 2:43 says. “And in the midst of them there was a young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one the their heads he set crowns, and was the more exalted; which I marvelled at greatly.” It’s not something only James saw, the text states it very plainly.
THE HIDDEN BOOK
IN A REPORT SIGNED BY THREE EARLY BELIEVERS REFERENCE IS MADE TO THE HIDDEN BOOK AS ELLEN WHITE UTTERED CERTAIN WORDS IN VISION. HERE IS THE ACCOUNT: {15MR 66.2}
“AT ANOTHER TIME AT A MEETING HELD AT BROTHER CURTIS’ IN TOPSHAM, MAINE, SHE WAS TAKEN OFF IN VISION, AND AROSE TO HER FEET, TOOK THE LARGE FAMILY BIBLE FROM THE TABLE, AND HELD IT ON HER HAND SOME TIME AT AN ANGLE OF FORTY-FIVE DEGREES, AND SAID THE HIDDEN BOOK WAS NOT THERE. WHEN SOME ONE ASKED IF THE APOCRYPHA WAS NOT IN THE BIBLE, BROTHER CURTIS REMARKED IT WAS NOT. SHE TALKED SOMETIME ABOUT THE HIDDEN BOOK. NO ONE KNEW BUT BRO. CURTIS FAMILY THAT THE APOCRAPHA [APOCRYPHA] WAS NOT THERE.
MRS. S. HOWLAND
REBECCA HOWLAND WINSLOW
FRANCES HOWLAND LUNT” {15MR 66.3}
IN THE REPORT OF A VISION GIVEN TO ELLEN WHITE AT OSWEGO, NEW YORK ON JANUARY 11, 1850, AND CARRYING A COPYING DATE OF JANUARY 28, 1850, ELLEN WHITE MAKES A REFERENCE TO THE HIDDEN BOOK. HER DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WAS SHOWN TO HER IN THE VISION CONTAINS MANY ITEMS AND AS ON FILE COMPRISES FOUR AND A QUARTER TYPE-WRITTEN PAGES.
This is an interesting piece of information. In The Present Truth, No. 9, page 71, right column, Ellen informs us that she was given this vision on January 26. The “copying date” of January 28, 1850 would probably be the re-writing of the vision and adding to it some details left out of the first writing, perhaps after having sent the first writing to the editor of The Present Truth, James.
We can not be sure who made the mistake of writing January 11, or even if January 28 is correct. We do know that the White Estate was not in existence at the time of the publication of The Present Truth and we therefore place the greatest weight on what it proclaims, January 26, to be the correct date of the vision being given, and it being copied and added to some time after, with the 28th, a Monday, perhaps appropriate.
NEAR THE CLOSE OF HER STATEMENT WE FIND THESE WORDS: {15MR 66.4}
“All, all who keep the commandments of God, will enter in through the gates into the city and have right to the tree of life and ever be in the presence of that lovely Jesus whose countenance shines brighter than the sun at noon day. I then saw the word of God pure and unadulterated, and that we must answer for the way we received the truth proclaimed from that word. I saw that it had been a hammer to break the flinty heart in pieces, and a fire to consume the dross and tin, that the heart might be pure and holy. I saw that the Apocrypha was the hidden book, and that the wise of these last days should understand it. I saw that the Bible was the standard book, that will judge us at the last day. I saw that heaven would be cheap enough, and that nothing was too dear to sacrifice for Jesus, and that we must give all to enter the kingdom.”–Manuscript 4, 1850, (A copy of E. G. White’s Vision which she had at Oswego, N.Y.)
ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS REFERENCE IS MADE TO THE APOCRYPHA IN ARTICLES IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD. THESE ARE OF INTEREST, AND COPY OF THE MATERIALS IS ATTACHED. {15MR 66.5}
I do not currently know what these are as they were not with this MR.
THE FULL MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE E. G. WHITE STATEMENT OF 1850 IS NOT CLEARLY SEEN. IT SHOULD BE OBSERVED THAT ELLEN WHITE MAKES NO REFERENCE TO THE APOCRYPHA AT ANY TIME IN HER WRITINGS IN THE SUBSEQUENT 65 YEARS. IF WHAT WE HAVE IS A CORRECT COPY OF WHAT SHE WROTE, AND AT TIMES THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY AS TO THE ACCURACY OF SOME OF THE STATEMENTS BEARING THESE EARLY DATES, AT NO TIME SUBSEQUENT TO THAT, DID SHE HAVE OCCASION TO CALL THE ATTENTION OF THE CHURCH TO THE APOCRYPHA TO URGE ITS READING OR TO EXPLAIN ITS SIGNIFICANCE. THIS BEING THE CASE, OUR COUNSEL WOULD BE TO GIVE THE MATTER A MINIMUM OF ATTENTION. SURELY THE SILENCES IN HER PUBLISHED WRITINGS ON THIS SUBJECT CARRY SIGNIFICANCE. ARTHUR L. WHITE Ellen G. White Estate Washington, D. C. Release Date June 6, 1985 {15MR 67.1}
At this juncture it is important to point out something missed by most readers. There is actually quite a list of items, some listed only once, that are left and never brought up again. We will address this tomorrow, as well as the significance of silence.
God Bless your study
