The Emerging Church and the One Project? part 11, The New 1888 Message?

This PowerPoint is adapted from part 3 of a series of
presentations shared with a small group at Andrews University
October 10 and 11, 2014, dealing with the subject of 1888 and
its aftermath. The original presentations can be accessed at:
http://www.gospelstudygroup.org/?page_id=626

Before we look at the One Project and the history of its
beginnings it must be ardently stated that the information
we share here is not based on mere hearsay, but only on
statements from official documents representing the
Project and its leaders or supporters. At the same time we
must be clear that we are not judging the motives or
sincere intent of those supporters of the Project who sense
a need for change in our church in regard to our Laodicean
condition. However, we sincerely question if the agenda of
the One Project and its leaders, as seen in their own
individual history, is what our church really needs. To the
contrary, we must ask if this movement is not in fact that of
which we have already been warned for over 100 years.
The ONE Project
The New 1888 Message?

The ONE Project
As the story goes, the
ONE Project had its
beginnings in July 2010,
just following the 2010
General Conference
Session. It is stated that it
started with five Adventist
leaders in North America,
and through NAD (North
American Division)
backing and support has
quickly grown to a
worldwide movement.
But what is the movement
really about?

The ONE Project
In Their Own Words
Terry Swenson
Alex Bryan
Japhet De Oliveira
Tim Gillespie
Sam Leonor
“It is the One project. The story of its inception is reminiscent of a modern day parable.
For two days, they prayed. They fasted. They shared in communion. They reflected
upon a simple statement: Jesus. All.” (http://www.andrews.edu/news/2011/03/one_project.html)
“In July 2010, five simple Jesus followers (Alex Bryan, Japhet De Oliveira, Sam Leonor,
Tim Gillespie and Terry Swenson) got together in room 602 at the Holiday Inn in
Denver. … After two days of prayer, fasting, communion and reflection we looked
across the room at each other and acknowledged again that Jesus was number one.”
(Japhet De Oliveira, “The One Project: Our Purpose and Mission,” http://the1project.org/ assets/documents/the-one-project.pdf)

The ONE Project
In Their Own Words
“It sounds incredibly simple, but it was our ‘ah-ha’ moment. We spoke
in truth and freedom that Jesus should be number one in everything
we do. We remembered the energy that started the Seventh-day
Adventist Church was a deep desire to see Jesus return. Our
movement was led by youth and adults, and like the 12 disciples,
burned with a passion to know Jesus and make Him known.” (Japhet De
Oliveira, “The One Project: Our Purpose and Mission,” http://the1project.org/ assets/documents/the-one-project.pdf)
“As their conversations unfolded, their mission began to take shape.
After returning home to their respective ministries, they began to talk
about the One project and invite others to join them. … ‘We dreamed
of starting something to stimulate the preaching, worship and
adoration of Jesus within and throughout the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. … The One project is a partner of the Center for Youth
Evangelism, a training and resource center for claiming, training and
reclaiming youth and young adults for Jesus Christ. It is located on the
campus of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich., as part of the
Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary.”
(http://the1project.org/assets/documents/article-campus-connection.pdf)

The movement which was started by a few youth leaders in America quickly
became the focus of many articles in the Adventist Review, Spectrum,
Adventist Today, and other Union papers, all giving glowing reports.
The official Seventh-day Adventist church paper, the Adventist Review,
gave some more insights into the growing One Project in February 2012.
The ONE Project
In Their Own Words

The ONE Project
In Their Own Words
“The group agreed to meet annually to focus on Jesus. Each invited
friends for a similar meeting the following year in Atlanta. More than
170 people showed up. For that 2011 gathering in Atlanta, participants
may not have fully understood what they were coming to De Oliveira
said…. The invitation then was simply, ‘Come have a two-day
conversation about Jesus.’…
“This year’s gathering of the One Project on February 13 and 14
[2012] brought more than 700 people to Seattle for conversations on
practical applications of Jesus’ ministry in their own lives, churches,
and communities. De Oliveira hopes it’s an environment in which
people can honestly look at their own priorities, examine the core of
Christianity, and promote Jesus in their theology as Seventh-day
Adventists. For some it’s a place to challenge and even question one’s
own beliefs.” (cont.)

The ONE Project
In Their Own Words
“‘We’re trying to create a safe place to say Jesus is the center of our
church and always has been,’ said De Oliveira, chaplain for missions
at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He’s especially
looking to support those who may become frustrated with the church.
‘We love our church. I really do believe that God has called the
Seventh-day Adventist Church, and I’m tired of losing people when we
work so hard to bring them in,’ he said.
“The One Project is short on programming and long on discussions.
De Oliveira says the event format grew out of his wish to make a
gathering similar to the best part of the numerous conferences he
attends each year—talking with people individually. A small stage is
set in the middle of a banquet room, and speakers are allowed 20
minutes to present. The event is then geared toward the 40 minutes of
discussion at each table following the speaker….
“The Conversation continues later this year [2013] in Australia and
Denmark, and next year in Chicago.”
(http://www.adventistreview.org/article/5193/archives/issue-2012-1508/08cn-one-project-focuses-on-adventists-
relationship-with-jesus. For more on the 2012 gathering see, http://www.slideshare.net/ronduff/the-emerging-church-
and-the-one-project-part-10)

The ONE Project
“The One project operates
as a ministry of the
Seventh-day Adventist
Church, and as such is
formally a denominationally
supported activity.”
(https://the1project.org/about/bylaws)
“We deeply value the
blessing and support from
the General Conference,
Divisions, Unions,
Conferences and Missions.
So, in short, we are not a
supporting/independent
ministry.”
(https://the1project.org/about/faq)
By 2014 the One Project claimed that the ministry is not an independent or
even supportive ministry, but rather a ministry of the SDA Church.

The ONE Project: the New 1888 Message?
The One Project has also elicited several declarations in the last year, that
perhaps the movement represents the new 1888 message for the 21st century!
Two noteworthy articles were posted on Spectrum Magazine’s site, one in
February and the other in August, 2014. The first was written by Charles
Scriven, Adventist theologian, former President of Kettering College (2000-
2013), and Chair of the Board of Adventist Forums, publishers of Spectrum.

“Is it the second coming of 1888? Is it radical Christo-centrism
birthing a bold, new prophetic Adventism? Is it spiritual snack
food—a feel-good Jesus—doled out like cookies for the all-too-
comfortable? Such questions invite the one activity that the One
Project … seems bound to stimulate. That activity is
conversation among the troubled, hopeful people who bring
thought to their experience in Adventism….
“The One Project mantra is “Jesus. All.”—or, as said repeatedly
from the ballroom stage, “Jesus…full-stop. All…full-stop.” In
that spirit, and in Monday’s first talk, Bill Knott, editor of the
Adventist Review, cited Paul’s point, from Colossians 1, that
Jesus is the “image of the invisible God.” The implication was
that the Bible takes readers to a culmination—in a word, to
Jesus…. (cont.)

“On Tuesday morning guest speaker Leonard Sweet, from George Fox
University, noted that both the Amish, who retain their children well,
and Jews, who make outsized contributions to society’s well-being,
build their children’s identity around a story much repeated, most often
at the dinner table. Instead of what he impishly called “versitis,” there
is story-telling, with children encouraged to imagine themselves in the
goings-on.
“For members of a church struggling to retain its youth, the point
suggested that it may be time, as One Project leaders say, to
‘recalibrate.’ If Adventist mission comes down, as some insist, to a
‘warning message’ based on inside information, does it really address
the whole person?...
“But Jesus wasn’t bored or threatened by their words. Nor were the
Adventist pioneers. This is one thing, but not a small thing. It belongs
to any story that would truly and deeply engage the whole imagination
of people who intend, despite their brokenness and by God’s grace, to
hold fast to the whole faith of Jesus.” (Charles Scriven, “Jesus...Full Stop...All...Full Stop,”
Spectrum, Feb. 2014; http://spectrummagazine.org/node/5818)

A second noteworthy article was written by Marcos Torres and Nathan Tan, both
Pastors in Australia. They posted the following article after attending the One
Project gathering in Perth Australia, August of 2014. The article avowals to answer
the questions and concerns that had been leveled against the One Project up to
that time, but also draws parallels several times between the One Project and the
1888 crisis. Their article was picked up immediately by Spectrum and Union papers.

“When I (Marcos) first arrived in Western Australia I had
no intention of attending the One Project…. But as providence
would have it, my wife and I were offered tickets our first
Sabbath back. I gladly accepted the offer, though a sense of
trepidation remained. Nathaniel expressed the same concerns to
me as we dialogued about the One Project and the concerns we
had heard. However, being familiar with those who argued that
we stick to the ‘old landmarks’ in 1888, we were not willing to
embrace a position that would find us fighting against God….
“Interestingly enough, another criticism labeled against the One
Project is its Christ-focus, as seen in the slogan ‘Jesus. All.’…
We must also remember as Adventists that this anti-Jesus-only
thought pattern, this ‘suspicion’ of doctrinal dissolution in the
name of ‘Christ-centeredness,’ is exactly what took place during
the 1888 crisis…. (cont.)

“Those who opposed the message that Jones and Waggoner
were preaching did so partly because they felt that it was a
threat to Adventist identity and to embrace it would result in
widespread compromise on the truth that God had given the
church. Their arguments were pious. They sounded righteous.
They sounded firm and grounded in the truth. And they were
wrong. Dead wrong. It is from this [1888] crisis that the One
Project appears to build some of its philosophy. Many of its
statements actually reflect the thought pattern of Ellen White’s
life-long ministry, especially the ones she made following the
1888 crisis….
“In conclusion, we affirm and support the mission and vision of
the One Project and we understand that mission and vision to be
incompatible with ecumenism, emergent theology, and
mysticism. We see in the One Project an enormous blessing for
the Seventh-day Adventist church.” (Marcos Torres and Nathaniel Tan, “The One Project:
Danger or Blessings?” Spectrum Blog, Aug 25, 2014; http://spectrummagazine.org/blog/2014/08/25/one-project-danger-
or-blessing; and http://www.pomopastor.com/2014/08/the-one-project-danger-or-blessing.html. Pastor Torres has since
suggested that his article was meant only to “generate a level of understanding between those who are opposed to the
1P and those who are for it so that we could talk about any present issues from a platform of trust instead of suspicion,”
and that he did not state that “One Project is the 21st centuries equivalent to the 1888 message.”)

Thus Pastor Torres and Pastor Tan both concluded that the One
Project was not ecumenical in nature, did not promote emergent
theology or mysticism, but rather seemed to draw some of their
philosophy from the 1888 history and message which God gave
the church long ago. Therefore to speak out against the One
Project would be reminiscent of those leaders who fought
against the message in 1888.
But is the One Project really the 1888 Message for the 21st
century? Was A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner’s Christ centered
message the same or even similar to the message of the One
Project? To help us answer these questions we now turn to the
history of 1888 and to the two men who brought 1888 Re-
examined to our attention in the 1950s, along with the context in
which the original manuscript was written!
(We will return to the One Project on slide #165)

Re-Examining “1888 Re-Examined”
Robert J. Wieland & Donald K. Short
The story of 1888 remained carefully guarded by the church until 1950
when Robert Wieland and Donald Short came on the scene. But before
we look at their monumental work of 1888 Re-Examined, written after the
1950 General Conference, we need to understand their history and how
they even came to understand that there were issues surrounding 1888.

 Donald K. Short was born in Indiana in 1915, and was
baptized in 1930 as the result of a series of evangelistic
tent meetings in Daytona Beach, Florida. From his
second year in high school, he attended denominational
schools and graduated from Columbia Union College in
1940 with a bachelor's degree. During his college years
he earned a living operating a private printing business.
 In the fall of 1940 Short and his family sailed for Africa to
serve at Mbeya Mission, Tanganyika. He would later
transfer to Gendia, Kenya where he would work for the
East African Union along with Robert Wieland, who was
in Uganda.*
(ALL SUMMARY PARAGRAPHS ARE WRITTEN BY RON DUFFIELD TO HELP TELL THE STORY IN
AN ABBREVIATED FORM. SUCH PARAGRAPHS ARE SIGNIFIED BY THE DIMOND SYMBOL
PRECEEDING THE PARAGRAPH AND TAKEN PRIMARILY FROM RECORDED INTERVIEWS WITH
ROBERT WIELAND*)

 Wieland was born in 1916 into a Lutheran home. After his mother
died when he was only two the family attended the Methodist and
then Presbyterian church. At the age of twelve Wieland discovered
the Sabbath truth, and soon thereafter in 1929 he was baptized into
the Seventh-day Adventist church along with his father.
 After standing as the lone SDA in his Florida high school, Wieland
attended Southern Junior College (now SAU) and Washington
Missionary College (now WAU). While at WMC in 1938 Wieland
discovered the book The Glad Tidings, and fell in love with the
gospel. He knew nothing of E. J. Waggoner, A. T. Jones, 1888 or
Ellen G. White’s endorsement of their message. Wieland copied on
his typewriter large portions of Waggoner’s book, then out of print,
and eventually took it to Africa.
 Wieland graduated in 1939, went to Florida as literature evangelist
for a year, then joined the conference evangelistic team. After his
marriage to Grace in 1942, Wieland held his first pastorate. A short
time later (1944) he was called to be the Mission director for the
Uganda field in the Southern African Division. A year and a half later
he was appointed as president of the Uganda field. Donald Short,
whom Wieland had been acquainted with since high school days,
was already in Kenya.

 In 1947 or 1948 Wieland was challenged by a false
revival called “Abalokole,” which came from the Church
of England into their African churches and swept into
Uganda. The movement also made its way into the
Adventist churches, into which many of the converts
from the church of England had come. Although initially
there seemed to be a great revival of joy in the gospel,
there was an emphasis on a purely legal or forensic
declaration only of justification by faith. Wieland went
along with the “revival” for a short while, but was
confronted by older pastors who pointed out the
increasing immorality among those in the movement.
 After some serious study and counsel with other
missionaries, Wieland discovered the concept of Agape
love in the cross of Christ, and confronted the false
revival by presenting the genuine message of
righteousness by faith paralleled with the concept of the
cleansing of the sanctuary.

“The genuine SDA righteousness by faith is always a doctrine
parallel to and consistent with the unique Adventist
understanding of the cleansing of the sanctuary. I read Early
Writings, pages 55, 56, and saw significance in it; deep
significance. in this particular setting. At about this time I also
discovered a copy of Andre Nygren’s Agape and Eros, the first
edition, which at first was too much for me, I just couldn't grasp
it. But finally I’d take the book on my safaris and read and read
until I finally got the point and I saw the place of the cross in
genuine righteousness by faith.
“Then I saw the cross in Ellen White’s writings. I began to preach
it, I began to preach the cleansing of the sanctuary. I began to
preach the concept of agape, the love that Early Writings, page
55, 56, mentions as "unique” to Christ's ministry in the Most Holy
apartment of the sanctuary. As I preached this to the Africans,
the tide turned, the Africans united, we only lost a very small
handful of believers because of the abalokole movement.” (Robert
J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview, p. 6*)

 Soon after successfully meeting this challenge of a
false evangelical revival in Africa, Wieland took
furlough in 1949 and returned to America. Donald
Short returned on the same passage and they became
more fully acquainted during the several weeks of
travel. While on layover in England, Wieland obtained
by providential happenings a copy of The Glad Tidings
for himself and re-read the entire book on his voyage
to the United States.
 Rosa Spicer, an old lady in her nineties that Wieland
ran into in England, had known E. J. Waggoner, and
so Wieland asked if she had a copy of the Glad
Tidings? She did and finally agreed to give her copy to
him right before he left for United States.

SDA Theological Seminary Fall 1949
Re-Examining Minneapolis 1888
In 1949 the Adventist Theological Seminary was located on the
Campus of Washington Missionary College in Takoma Park, where
Wieland and Short would pursue their Masters degrees in theology.

 Upon arrival in the United States, Wieland and Short enrolled
in the Theological Seminary in Washington D. C. and began
classes. Wieland was particularly excited to be taking a
special class then offered on Righteousness by faith. The
teacher referred the students to an 1888 General Conference
and to the literature then available on the topic of this
monumental event: L. H. Christian’s, A. W. Spalding’s and N.
F. Pease’s works, along with the 1893 General Conference
Bulletin. For the first time in his life Wieland was introduced to
the fact that there was a special message sent the church in
1888, which he especially discovered from reading the 1893
Bulletin articles. This message was identified as the beginning
of the latter rain and coincided with the message found in the
book by Waggoner that he had just read again on his trip to
America.
SDA Theological Seminary

“The teacher … referred us to the 1888 Conference and the
literature that was available. Shortly before this, Norvel Pease
had written his masters thesis on 1888, and we were advised to
read it; and what Spalding said, and L. H. Christian and we were
also advised to read the 1893 Conference Bulletin. So I read up
on all these things. And I was thrilled to find that the author of my
book, The Glad Tidings, was one of the messengers that the
Lord had used to bring the 1888 message, the beginning of the
latter rain.
“As I read those, the 1893 Bulletin, in particular I found clear,
strong evidence that the message was not merely a re-emphasis
of what Luther and Calvin had taught back in the 16th Century; it
was actually the beginning of the latter rain, acceptance would
have finished God’s work in that generation. All this was just
thrilling to me. As I read the message, itself in 1893, my heart
was thrilled also and I couldn’t help but sense the tremendous
difference between that message and what was being taught
usually at that time [in 1949].” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone
interview, pp. 7-8*)

Adventist Literature on 1888 History in the
1940s
The reason Wieland and short noticed a difference in
thought on 1888 was because the readily available
Adventist material on the history of 1888 produced by the
church was a Masters Thesis by Norval Pease (1945, later
to become By Faith Alone), and books by L. H. Christian
(1947), and A. W. Spalding (1949). The theories purported
were of an 1888 victory, and describing the message as
simply a reemphasis of the 16th century Reformation
gospel. But these were written primarily as a defense to
the charges made by Taylor Bunch in the 1930s that there
had been a rejection of the message in 1888 and following,
and were also written as a response to break-away groups that identified the year 1888 as the time
from which the church had become Babylon (i.e. SDA Reform, Shepherd’s Rod, and Rogers
Brothers)* These same books were promoted in the Seminary classes in 1949:

“‘As a body of workers, we are familiar with
the crisis on this matter which occurred in
1888 at the General Conference in
Minneapolis. The two outstanding
instruments were young men from the
West Waggoner and Jones. Mrs. White
approved and supported their work, and a
denomination-wide revival among
Seventh-day Adventists was seen….
“In the early 1920 s Elder A. G Daniells, former president of
the General Conference, with several associates, revived the
revival of the 90s…. Perhaps the clearest picture of the
movement is given by L. H. Christian in his book Fruitage of
Spiritual Gifts.’” (G. E. Vandeman, Mimeographed lessons, Pastoral Counseling, Winter
Term, 1949-50, S. D. A. Theological Seminary; in 1888 Re-Examined [1950], p. 25)

 Wieland’s heart thrilled as he was personally studying the 1888
message of Righteousness by Faith as found in the 1893 GC Bulletin,
which he recognized as more than just a re-emphasis of the 16th
century Reformation gospel. However, he began to sense that the
lessons from his class were instead promoting Evangelical concepts
of Righteousness by Faith along with apparently spiritualistic
concepts similar to the false Abalokole revival he had dealt with in
Africa. And the contrast between these two gospels was accentuated
in his mind by his personal studies of the 1888 message itself.
 Wieland soon discovered that much of the material, concepts, and
even illustrations presented in the Righteousness by Faith class at
the Seminary were taken from non-Adventist works, such as Francois
Fenelon (1651-1715, a Roman Catholic archbishop, mystic, author of
such books as The Inner Man, and an active participant in the
counter-reformation in France); Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911, a
lay speaker in the Holiness movement with Quaker and Christian
Universalist roots, active in the Women's suffrage movement, and
author of The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life [1875], an extremely
popular book of Christian mysticism); E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973,
20th-century Methodist Christian missionary to India, theologian and
prolific author of over 30 books).
Questionable Curricular Content

“I got caught up in the class on righteousness by faith which was
offered at that time. The first impressions were, ‘This is
absolutely tremendous. This is just what we need. This is what's
going to finish the work. This will bring us into the kingdom.’ That
was my first impression. Just a glorious presentation, I thought.
But as the days went by … it began to dawn on me that
something here wasn't right. And the more I studied, I took one
Thursday night off and prayerfully reviewed all the lessons that
had been printed to try to find out what it was that disturbed me.
“And I found the same thing that I found in the abalokole
teachings. The Abalokole version of righteousness by faith was
the complete detour around the cross. No concept of agape, and
no cross for the believer to bear. Then I found that these lessons
in the Seminary were exactly the same…. There was no concept
of the cleansing of the sanctuary no concept of agape. And I felt
deeply impressed, this is the same thing I had to meet in
Uganda.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview, pp. 7, 8*)

“The lessons referred to are introduced as designed to
present the plan of righteousness by faith in the simplest of
terms, illustrated so that men and women can tangibly use
it. The lessons profess to regard the Bible and the Spirit of
Prophecy as the shortest distance between two points, and
thus the student is assured that what will be presented in
the lessons is straight. The lessons proceed to weave Spirit
of Prophecy quotations on a foundation of concept,
admittedly indebted to Fenelon, (a Roman Catholic
archbishop) and Hannah Whitall Smith’s Christian Secret of
a Happy Life which has already been referred to in this
essay. The lessons do not credit E. Stanley Jones, but a
careful reading of the latter’s Victorious Living will reveal
how largely the basic ideas presented are taken from his
work.” (Robert J. Wieland and Donald K. Short, 1888 Re-Examined [1950], p. 182)

“[E. Stanley] Jones conception of the righteousness by faith is presented
with quotations from Mrs. White interwoven, so that it is difficult to tell where
Mrs. White ends and [E. Stanley] Jones begins:
“We ask the worker to carefully ponder these last words (Evangelism, pp. 191,
192.) Inner pardon, inner peace, inner poise and power these a man must
possess if he is to expect a well-adjusted Christian personality to faithfully live
this message. (“Transforming Friendship,” S. D. A Theological Seminary Lessons [Winter
Term, 1949-1950])
“One writer [E. Stanley Jones, Victorious Living, pp. 111, 112] has said that the
center of the old life is self . . . Self is the last thing we give up. But how quickly
our people would loathe it and drop it freely at the feet of Christ if they knew how
it defeats them. We must point out that here the real battle begins. Every other
has been but a mere skirmish. (“Transforming Friendship,” Lessons).
“Fenelon, one of the great spiritual thinkers of the past, living in the 17th century,
wrote in one of his spiritual letters.... This is a truly penetrating statement ...
strikes at the very heart of the problem.... Right here it will be urged that the
student study carefully the spiritual letters of Fenelon, entitled ‘Self-
Renunciation,’ as well as the abundant Spirit of Prophecy quotations regarding
this barrier to victory. (“Transforming Friendship,” Lessons).
“We should learn that to talk about self is not sufficient in presenting
righteousness by faith, for Rome does as much. Borrowing so heavily from
E. Stanley Jones, Hannah Whitall Smith … and Fenelon, the [truth of the]
offence of the Cross is neatly removed from such teaching.” (Quoted from, Robert
J. Wieland and Donald K. Short, 1888 Re-examined [1950], pp. 181-183)*

E. Stanley Jones
But who is E. Stanley Jones and why were Robert Wieland and
Donald Short concerned about his teachings being promoted in our
Adventist seminary?

“Eli Stanley Jones (1884–1973) was a 20th-century
Methodist Christian missionary and theologian. He is
remembered chiefly for his interreligious lectures to the
educated classes in India…. He spent much time with
Mohandas K. Gandhi, and the Nehru family. Gandhi
challenged Jones and, through Jones’ writing, the
thousands of Western missionaries working there … to
include greater respect for the mindset and strengths of
the Indian [culture and religion] in their work.
“This effort to contextualize Christianity for India was the
subject of his seminal work, The Christ of the Indian
Road which sold more than 1 million copies worldwide
after its publication in 1925.” [He wrote over 30 books,
The Way to Power an Poise was published in 1949].
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Stanley_Jones, accessed Nov. 13, 2013)
Lifelong Work of Eli Stanley Jones

“His work became interdenominational and world-wide.
He helped to re-establish the Indian ‘Ashram’ (or forest
retreat) as a means of drawing men and women together
for days at a time to study in depth their own spiritual
natures and quest, and what the different faiths offered
individuals. In 1930, along with a British missionary and
Indian pastor and using the sound Christian missionary
principle of indigenization (God’s reconciliation to
mankind through Jesus on the cross. He made Him
visible as the Universal Son of Man who had come for all
people. This opening up of nations to receiving Christ
within their own framework marked a new approach in
missions called ‘indigenization’ [E. S. Jones, Christian
Ashram, p. 2]), Dr. Jones reconstituted the ‘Ashram’ with
Christian disciplines. This institution became known as
the ‘Christian Ashram.’” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Stanley_Jones,
accessed Nov. 18, 2013).
Lifelong Work of E. Stanley Jones

Ashram, Definition: “a place where a
person or a group of people go to live
separately from the rest of society
and practice the Hindu religion.”
“The residents of an ashram regularly
performed spiritual and physical
exercises, such as the various forms
of yoga. Other sacrifices and
penances, … were also performed.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashram)
The Christian Ashram movement had its beginnings
with a Jesuit in the 19th century, who tried to reach
Hindus through an ecumenical marriage of Christianity
and Hindu practice. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Ashram_Movement)
E. Stanley Jones and Christian Ashrams

“The following papers in this volume were
presented to the Sat Tal Ashram group…. This
Ashram is situated in the Himalayas at Sat Tal,
a name which literally translated means ‘Seven
Lakes.’ This beautiful Himalayan retreat has
three hundred acres of wooded land…. But the
place could not make the Ashram. There must
be a soul to inhabit this beautiful body. We
have tried to put a soul into it—a worthy soul.
The purpose of the Ashram is to yoke the
Christian spirit and the Indian spirit….
The Teachings of E. Stanley Jones
“We feel very definitely that unless Christianity becomes more
truly Indian and more truly Christian it will not make much
headway into the soul of India. In the Ashram we try to produce
the Indian spirit, or rather to let it have full play….
“In order to help this process we have established the Sat Tal
Ashram. We gather together about twenty-five picked men and
women, Indian and foreign, to spend the whole or part of the two-
and-a-half months in this quiet retreat…. (cont.)

“First of all, we try to create an atmosphere that is Indian in the truest
sense of that term. If we are to think through our problems in the
framework of India’s culture and life, it is necessary that that framework
should have definite attention. If we are to stand in the stream of India’s
thought and life and interpret our Gospel from that standpoint, it is
necessary that the spirit of the Ashram should be truly Indian….
“Among the other meetings on Sunday we have an intercommunion,
some clergyman of the Free Churches or of the Church of England
alternately administering it to the group on successive Sundays. Church
union is a living fact as well as a vital question for discussion. We meet
on a basis of complete equality, the only
possible basis for church union.
“On some of these Sunday mornings we
turn our group into a Round Table
Conference, where we bare our souls
and tell what religion is meaning or not
meaning to us in experience.” (E. Stanley
Jones, The Message of Tal Sat Ashram, pp. 1-3, 7)

“With the impact of the Gospel on India, many
things should be destroyed. But there are
many things that are good and beautiful and
true in India’s culture and religions. The
Christian movement will not be indifferent to or
hostile toward these things, but will take them
up and embody them in itself . . . I’m not come
to destroy, but to fulfill is an open door to this
attitude….
“Our call, they say, is to share with non-
Christian faiths, and this sharing means
not only giving out what one has to non-Christians, but
sharing what they have in their own faiths….
“The sharing seems to mean not merely that our Church-
life, our civilization and our Christianity, which has been
built up round Christ and our creedal and devotional
expression of Him, should be added to and supplemented
by the non-Christian faiths; but it means that Christ
Himself has deficiencies, which are to be supplied by
other faiths. It means that Christ is not merely to fulfil the
non-Christian faiths, but is to be fulfilled, or completed, by
these faiths.” (E. Stanley Jones, The Message of Sat Tal Ashram, pp. 285, 291)

“Stanley Jones too was so overwhelmed with a passion for
Jesus Christ that he sought to know Christ not only through
his own personal experience but also through the experience
of others of Christ. He believed that, ‘... each nation has
something distinctive to contribute to the interpretation of the
universal Christ ... each individual ... has something distinctive
to contribute to the fuller interpretation of Christ’ (1944:7-8).
“While as an evangelist he eagerly presented Christ to others,
he was equally eager to learn more about Christ through
others. In his classical first book entitled The Christ of the
Indian Road (1925), he describes with passion the Christ
whom he had discovered through the cultural context and
spiritual quests of the people of India.
“True to his own cultural heritage, he also sought to discover
Christ from a North American perspective through another
book called The Christ of the American Road (1944). Affirming
that we could always learn about Christ from each other's
experience and interpretation, he wrote another book called
The Christ of Every Road (1930).” (Rev. Martin Alphonse, “E. Stanley Jones’
Strategy for Mission: Lessons for Today,” Focus, July 2014, p. 13)

“The Urges Redeemed: The three driving
urges of the personality are self, sex, and
the herd. We saw that they cannot be
eradicated or replace—they must be
redirected through discipline. Take the
first—self. It is the primary urge and the
first to be developed….
“Now what does Christianity do with this
primary urge of self? Does it try to wipe it out and make
one selfless? Try to crucify it and make it impotent? The
answer to both questions is ‘No!’ Christianity believes in the
self, for the self is God-given and is not given to be
cancelled out. ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ The
self is to be loved, even as the neighbor is to be loved. The
self is affirmed, and is worthy of love. It is your right and
your duty to be the best possible self you can be.” (cont.)

“Christianity therefore accepts the struggle for life that goes
on in nature, expressed in the survival of the fittest; in lower
nature the unfit are eliminated. If they do not excel they are
exterminated. This is a hard and ruthless law; and
Christians have drawn back from accepting such a
process, questioning whether such a merciless manner of
survival can have anything to do with God. It seems utterly
at variance with the plan of redemption. But I am coming
more and more to feel that this ruthless process is
redemption—it redeems those that are fit into the physical
environment and eliminates those that will not.
“[Prayer]: My Father, I see that Thy school is strict, but the
end is redemption. Thy law, however uncompromising, are
our salvation…. Help us then not to chafe at them as
enemies, but to embrace them as friends. For Thy laws are
Thy loves. I thank Thee. Amen.” (E. Stanley Jones, Abundant Living, p. 121)

“We have been studying the fact that the Holy Spirit
cleanses primarily from inner division, especially the
division between the conscious and the subconscious
minds. These minds, under His cleansing and control,
become one mind—the mind of Christ….
“Someone has suggested that there ought to be
another Beatitude: ‘Blessed are they who save us
from our self-despising.’ When the Holy Spirit is
within, then there can be no sense of self-despising
for you have within you nothing less than the Divine. You cannot tell
where He ends and you begin, and where you end and He begins. For
your thoughts are His and His are yours—life is one, and yet separate….
The Holy Spirit saves from all self-despising. You reference the within,
for Another is there.
“O Spirit Divine, within me—I fear nothing, not even myself, for Thou art
controlling me too…. I shall love myself in Thee this day.” (E. Stanley Jones, The
Way of Power and Poise, p. 113)*

Voicing Concerns to Denton E. Rebok
Denton E. Rebok was President of the Seventh-day
Adventist Theological Seminary at Washington
Missionary College from 1943 to 1951, and Chair of the
White Estate Board in 1952. It was to Rebok that Wieland
would now turn.
Denton E. Rebok

 In Dec. 1949 Wieland was called into D. E. Rebok’s office,
Seminary President, to clear up an issue with his registration.
While Wieland was there, he decided to share some of his
concerns over what was being taught in the class on
Righteousness by faith in contrast to what he was reading from
Jones and Waggoner and Ellen White about 1888:
“I communicated with him quite frankly my concern that the so-
called righteousness by faith that was being taught there in the
Seminary was not what the Lord had sent to Seventh-day
Adventists in the 1888 message; that this was rather a concept
borrowed from the popular churches—not the real thing that the
Lord wants Adventist to understand. And, of course, I was full of
enthusiasm, I was only 33. I had just been caught up on the thrill
of the 1888 history and had been immersing myself in the 1893
message. I saw its importance and communicated that to Elder
Rebok and I am sure I was very outspoken in my declaration that
what was being taught by our workers there in the Seminary was
not that message. Well, his reaction was negative—very, very
decidedly so. And right quickly he made up his mind that I should
leave the Seminary.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview, pp. 9, 10*)
Voicing Concerns to D. E. Rebok

 Thus Wieland was contrasting in his own mind the differences
between the two messages: 1). The one he had just been reading in
the 1893 Bulletin—through the preaching of A. T. Jones who quoted
largely from Ellen White, and the writings of Waggoner who he had
also just come to know was one of the 1888 messengers. 2). And
the message being presented by his Seminary teacher, taken from
the Evangelical teachings of the mystic* E. Stanley Jones along with
other Evangelical writers. As a result of voicing his concerns
Wieland was dismissed from the seminary.
 Before he left however, he finished reading the 1893 Bulletin, typing
many pages on his portable typewriter:
“The more I read the more I copied and the more thrilled I was with
the truth of this history, that really the 1888 message was not
accepted. If it had been, we’d be in the kingdom by now. This leaped
at me from the pages of this 1893 Bulletin….
“Now this was not generally known or recognized, and as I read [A.
W.] Spalding and [L. H.] Christian I found that they had an entirely
different view of the significance of the 1888 history. To them, the
message had been accepted at least in the end, and all was pretty
well. And the blessings of the message were with us.” (Robert J. Wieland,
quote taken from 1978 phone interview, p. 11**)
The Fallout from Voicing Concerns

Ellen G. White Estate
General Conference Office, Takoma Park
The Ellen G. White Estate had moved from Elmshaven, California to
the General Conference Office in Jan. 1938, following the death of
W. C. White. What did the White Estate have on the 1888 subject?

 As Wieland realized there was such a contrast between
what he was reading in regard to this 1888 message
which he had just come to learn about, and the popular
Evangelical message of Righteousness by faith in his
Seminary class, from which he had now been expelled,
he decided to go to the White Estate and see if he could
get to the bottom of this issue once and for all.
 When Wieland arrived at the White Estate he was told
that the Ellen White material on 1888 was a sensitive
subject and people were not generally allowed to access
it.* After some deliberation he was allowed to look at one
of the document files which he began to copy, with
permission, on his typewriter. But when he returned the
following day his access to the file was denied. Now he
was kicked out of the Seminary, unable to access Ellen
White’s material on the subject of 1888, and yet the
incredible interest into the subject from what he had
already read was a fire burning in his bones.
Robert J. Wieland and the White Estate

“As I walked out to the hall, into the sunshine that
December morning, I was determined in my heart that, if
God would help me, that I would get to the bottom of this. I
couldn’t understand why I couldn’t finish that file. Why this
reticence, why the desire to cover up this tremendous
history of the beginning of the latter rain—the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit that was to finish God’s work in all the
earth? Why must this be covered up?
“I just couldn’t understand it. Here’s what Ellen White
called ‘a most precious message’, and the White Estate
was maintaining secrecy about it, covering up what Ellen
White had to say about it. And it was obvious that what
Ellen White said was in complete contradiction of what
Spalding and L. H. Christian and our textbooks had been
saying about it.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview*)
Robert J. Wieland and the White Estate

 So as Wieland headed out from Takoma Park back to
Tennessee and then to Florida, he began contacting
many retired Adventist pastors who might have known
Ellen White and who might have information on 1888,
including Ellen White letters regarding the subject.* In a
short time Wieland amassed a large collection of
unpublished Ellen G. White material regarding 1888 and
its aftermath. The more Wieland read the more he
realized that his observations from his earlier reading
were correct. Something significant had happened in
Adventist history and our Church was facing a choice
between a message God sent long ago, and a
Evangelical, mystical message promoted through the
writings of such men as E. Stanley Jones.
Robert J. Wieland: Collecting Resources

The Ministry: Book Review
Then in Feb. 1950, Ministry Magazine, published a book review of the
newest E. Stanley Jones book, The Way to Power and Poise, (published
1949), recommending the book to all Seventh-day Adventists. The
reviewer was a popular Evangelist at the time and the same teacher of
the class from which Wieland had been expelled from the Seminary.

“This most recent volume from the pen of the noted
Methodist spokesman and missionary to India promises to
have an excellent sale, perhaps larger than the two
previous daily reading volumes, Abundant Living and The
Way. We believe that every Seventh-day Adventist worker,
who comes close to human problems and deals daily with
men and women, will find in this little volume a safe
balance in the help given by the mental sciences and the
saving provisions of fundamental Christianity. Perhaps the
most helpful of these daily reading volumes written by this
man was his first, written in 1936, entitled Victorious Living.
The simplicity with which he illustrates the great truths of
righteousness by faith have not been repeated in any of
these other volumes.” (George E. Vandeman, “Elective Reviews—Initial January
Suggestions: The Way to Power and Poise, E. Stanley Jones,” The Ministry, February, 1950, p. 8;
https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archives/1950/MIN1950-02.pdf)
E. Stanley Jones for Every SDA!

 After reading the article in Ministry, Wieland bought a
copy of E. Stanley Jones’ latest book The Way to
Power and Poise. He quickly saw that the book was
laced with a mix of spiritualistic Evangelical concepts
that he had dealt with in the Abalokole movement in
Uganda. He also realized that this book could bring
serious confusion regarding the gospel of
righteousness by faith, particularly in contrast to the
message which came to the church in 1888, of which
he had just become aware:
“I found that E. Stanley Jones was not teaching genuine
righteousness by faith at all but was teaching
something closer to spiritualism, identification of, well
confusion of, spiritualism with Christianity.” (Robert J.
Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview*)
E. Stanley Jones for Every SDA?

“For example, E. Stanley Jones confused telepathic
communication with the dead with the reception of the
Holy Spirit, and how he was completely opposed to any
concept of our bearing the cross or [that] our own self is
[to be] crucified. He taught self-love which Great
Controversy, identifies as an earmark of spiritualism.”
(Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview*)
 Wieland expressed his concerns in a letter to General
Conference president J. L. McElhany, and the
Ministerial Association leaders. In general, Wieland’s
letter was not well received, although he received a
letter of appreciation from the president.
E. Stanley Jones not for SDAs!

 Elder Wieland also wrote to the author of the article in
Ministry magazine, who had also been the teacher at
the seminary for which he had been expelled. A
correspondence followed for a number of weeks that
ended with the author telling Wieland he still believed
that E. Stanley Jones was genuine; that his concepts
were correct and would Wieland please say no more
about it.* Because the author was a well known
minister, evangelist and teacher, and at the age of 33
was one of the youngest members to join the
Ministerial Association as Associate Secretary in the
General Conference in 1947**, very few were willing to
question his positions on E. Stanley Jones. We will
now let Wieland tell the story in his own words:

“[I questioned whether] Seventh-day Adventists
understood and preached righteousness by faith as
the Lord gave us the message in 1888, or whether we
preached what the popular churches were teaching,
which was tinged with spiritualism. The Ministry
editors were completely unconcerned about it and
hostile to any appeal for consideration of the issues. I
could sense that the same confusion that afflicted our
church in Africa was afflicting our church in North
America. It was widely assumed that men like E.
Stanley Jones and Billy Graham were preaching
genuine righteousness by faith and, if we would just
add to what they were preaching certain distinct
concepts, such as the Sabbath, we would be able to
produce Seventh-day Adventists. It seemed that
nothing could be done about it.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978
phone interview*)

“Spreading Cloud of Mysticism”
In April 1950, the Review and Herald ran an editorial article titled
“The Spreading Cloud of Mysticism,” written by W. A. Spicer,
former General Conference president from 1922 to 1930.
W. A. Spicer

“Forty-eight years ago our denomination was guarding the
faith from peril of spreading religious mysticism. It was in
books and papers and pulpits, floating in everywhere like a
cloud of poison gas. It was a mixture of Western science
(‘falsely so called,’ as Paul wrote of the science of his day)
and Eastern mysticism….
“It might be asked, What peril could such a movement be to
people having the Advent message? But the author of error
knows well how to label his wares. These things were
offered us as a higher view of the third angel's message.…
“The gift of the Spirit of prophecy that helped us then
forewarned us that the same errors would attack us again
and again. All who see the trends in the world today know
that the ideas of mysticism are all abroad in our time.” (cont.)

“Only recently I have been surprised to see how these
ideas get into books and promotions where it would seem
they have no logical place. It is as though some master
mind is moving everything to bring in the final deceptions.
We dare not go to sleep to these things now.
“For instance, only a few days ago I received a book sent
free by a religious group working for international peace.
Once this peace was to be fostered ‘through the churches.’
Now it is to be ‘through religion.’ Apparently it means to
suggest a commingling of all religions, a merging of
different faiths. Twelve religious, social, and educational
workers—all men of high aims—contribute sections. In the
first part there is a strong flavor of evolutionism….
“The book just sent me cites the ideas of Aristotle, the
Greek philosopher, about man's being a creature of three
levels….” (cont.)

“The ancient Oriental philosophy can harmonize with all
this. A man of India in the group of contributors, a scholar
versed in the learning of the East, tells how Hinduism
ages ago was pointing the way of peace:…
“The poise he speaks of is translated ‘mind poise’ by
some translators into English of the ancient scripture of
Hinduism. Poise has been a slogan in Eastern
philosophy these two thousand years or more. In recent
times New Thought teachers have made the word
familiar to us in the West. One such teacher says:
“‘Poise develops plus-entity. You do not need the
background of three or four generations of culture to
acquire poise. You can learn it as you learn the A B C's,
and it ought to be included in all curriculae of learning. . . .
Repeat this incantation: I'm graceful and strong. I'm part of
the Supreme Being. I'm harmonious with the Powers. Keep
on repeating it.’” [no reference given] (cont.)

“We must keep in mind the fact that we are surrounded in
these days with the mysticism of the ancient times adapted
to modern ideas. I have avoided giving names of people
and of books, not wishing to lead anyone to handle these
things unless necessary. One kind of error is just an error.
Another kind of error bears a contagion in the handling of it.
To handle it in mere curiosity may be like picking up an
innocent-looking live wire. It is charged with a power.
“The Lord told His people Israel that they were not so much
as to inquire how the heathen round about worshiped their
gods. But they were continually led astray by the very
names and ornaments of the evil way. The fact is, we need
the special protection of our God from the things all abroad
today. The truths of the Advent message are our defense”
(W. A. Spicer, Editorial, “The Spreading Cloud of Mysticism,” Review and Herald, April 6, 1950, p. 3:
http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/RH/RH19500406-V127-14__B.pdf#view=fit)

 Although W. A. Spicer did not mention E. Stanley Jones,
nor the Ministry book review in his editorial, it seemed
evident to Wieland that he had in fact written in
response. After Wieland read Spicer’s article, in which
he had quoted from E. Stanley Jones without references,
he wrote Spicer a letter and asked if he was responding
to the Ministry book review, which recommended Stanley
Jones’ books for all Adventists? Wieland also wrote
Spicer about his experience at the Seminary and his
concern about what was being taught there by the same
individual. We will now let Wieland tell the story in his
own words:
Wieland’s Correspondence with Spicer

“So I wrote Elder Spicer a letter. Told him who I was and
about my research and about my experience at the
seminary and my discovery of E. Stanley Jones and what
Jones was teaching. How I found that E. Stanley Jones
was not teaching genuine righteousness by faith at all but
was teaching something closer to spiritualism, identification
of, well confusion of, spiritualism with Christianity.
“For example, E. Stanley Jones confused telepathic
communication with the dead with the reception of the Holy
Spirit, and how he was completely opposed to any concept
of our bearing the cross or our own self is crucified. He
taught self-love which the Great Controversy identifies as
an earmark of spiritualism.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone
interview, cont.)

“Elder Spicer replied immediately and said—yes, that’s
exactly what he had referenced to. That he regarded E.
Stanley Jones as doing about the worse work of any
modern religious agent. He felt deeply concerned for our
people who were being confused by it, and was so happy
that I had discerned the evil in that book and had protested
to the General Conference as I had. He added that if others
would protest as I had done, it might do some good. I wrote
back immediately and said, ‘Elder Spicer, why don’t you
protest? I’m nobody, I can’t say anything; nobody will listen
to me, but you’re somebody, they’ll listen to you.’” (Robert J.
Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview, cont.)

“But you can imagine the impact that Spicer’s letter had on
me. Here I was, all alone, standing for what I believed was
right against the Seminary, and the Ministry magazine and
General Conference personnel in the positions that they
took. And suddenly an ex-General Conference president
takes his stand by my side, emphatically and unequivocally.
This, of course, encouraged me. Maybe after all I wasn’t
completely crazy. Here was somebody else, a former
General Conference president, who saw like I did, that two
and two makes four.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone
interview)*

 W. A. Spicer responded to Wieland and agreed that he
would more thoroughly protest the incoming tide of
spiritualistic teachings coming into the church:
“He wrote back and said, well he would protest but at
this particular time nobody would listen to him because
everybody was concerned about the coming General
Conference session to be held in San Francisco, and
that he would write something for the Review after the
GC session and then people would read it. And sure
enough the following summer he did write an article in
which he mentioned E. Stanley Jones by name and
came out openly.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone
interview)*
Spicer Agrees to Protest

“Stand Fast in the Faith”
Spicer did finally write another protest, following the summer
General Conference session, which was published in the
Review and Herald, November 9, 1950. This time he called our
E. Stanley Jones and other mystical writers.
W. A. Spicer

“There was a graphic picture of our time drawn by the
pencil of prophecy in the year 1892. Mrs. E. G. White, the
agent in the gift of the Spirit of prophecy for this remnant
church, was in Australia at the time…. Note how much of it
we have seen fulfilled:
‘We are standing upon the threshold of great and
solemn events. The whole earth is -to be lightened with
the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the channels of
the great deep. Prophecies are being fulfilled, and
stormy times are before us. Old controversies which
have apparently been hushed for a long time will be
revived, and new controversies will spring up; new and
old will comingle, and this will take place right early….’
[“An Appeal to Our Ministers and Conference Committees,” Feb. 18, 1892] (cont.)

“This reference to revival of ancient controversies, new and
old commingling, makes it clear that we who live today will
need the guidance of the Lord in meeting last-day religious
issues. The apostle Paul foretold the ‘falling away’ that was
to come after his day. All know how in early centuries
unfaithful church leaders mingled truth with pagan
philosophy….
“That is a familiar story to us. So the early ‘falling away’
came about, and the Roman Papacy grew into power. In
our time we have seen for years a growing tendency to
count it not a falling away but a matter of gain to accept
religious conceptions from pagan sources.” (cont.)

“To show how this method is being advocated today, we quote
from two speakers at a gathering for devotion and study held in
India…. Again, a few words from Dr. E. Stanley Jones, Indian
missionary and advocate of the union of the great churches in
America. He said at this gathering in India:…
‘Our call, they say, is to share with non-Christian faiths, and this
sharing means not only giving out what one has to non-Christians,
but sharing what they have in their own faiths…. It means that
Christ Himself has deficiencies, which are to be supplied by other
faiths.’ [The Message of Sat Tal Ashram, p. 291]
“Thus the ancient controversies are revived. And these ideas are
becoming increasingly prevalent. The apostle Paul's last counsel
to Christian teachers was, ‘Preach the word.’ Mr. Jones says, ‘If
Christ is to be presented He must be presented out of
experience. Our message must not be merely a message
passed on from a book.’” [Ibid., p. 298] (cont.)

“Think of this in a time when mankind can find help only in the
gospel of Christ. Men today do not hesitate to depreciate the
Holy Scriptures by putting them in the class with other sacred
writings. And Christ is depreciated by being set forth as having
deficiencies to be supplied by other faiths. This is not the Christ
of the Scripture that is set forth. Yet in these days ideas of this
kind pass as liberal and deep. The worst of it is that too much of
this miscellaneous literature of unbelief is being read among our
own people.
“It is a perilous time in which we live, and we need to be
grounded in the faith of Jesus and in the one Bible of inspiration.
Out of these philosophic teachings that spring from the
commingling of all religions comes the mysticism that is
sweeping the world. Some of our workers and people got the
introductory view of it at the General Conference in Oakland,
California, in early 1903. If now and then we remind ourselves of
its nature [pantheism], we shall be better prepared to recognize
its features as it appears more fully in the very last of the last
days.”(cont.)

“It was the Spirit of prophecy in those days that delivered us from
that immediate menace. But the same Spirit of prophecy
repeatedly warned our people that these ideas out of the
mysticism of the East would reappear….
“If the agent in the gift of the Spirit of prophecy trembled for us
as she was shown the deceptive nature of the teachings that
would be urged in the very last days, it behooves us to be on
guard. ‘We need a Pilot on board now,’ sure enough….
“The message that built up this work is the message that will
finish it. The message loses none of its force in the third angel's
onward flight, we have been told. All the way, these many years,
we have seen stray groups rise with variations and amendments
to the message. I heard them at it when I was but a child. Now
and then we find them still. But the message that builds up the
people in every land keeping the commandments of God and the
faith of Jesus is the plain, straight message of Revelation 14.”
(W. A. Spicer, “Stand Fast in the Faith,” Review and Herald, Nov. 9, 1950, pp. 12-13, 18-19)

1950 General Conference Session
San Francisco, California
The upcoming forty-sixth General Conference
session was to take place July 10-22, 1950, at
the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco,
California. Donald K. Short and Robert J.
Wieland were to be delegates to the General
Conference representing the East African Union
Mission. Wieland spent the months preceding
the conference collecting more material on the
subject of 1888 and its aftermath.

 While Donald Short continued his education at the
Seminary in Tacoma Park, Robert Wieland continued to
research and study on the topics of 1888 and Adventist
history:
“I spent the winter in study of the material I had copied [at
the seminary and White Estate]. Donald Short would
send me other things that I corresponded [about] with
him as he was still at the Seminary. I read deeply into the
history of the 1888 era as far as I could go and
corresponded with these retired ministers who had
known Sister White personally and who expressed
concerns to me and convictions. I felt that time was short,
WW3 could come anytime. We were not ready, we were
not giving the trumpet a certain sound and the 1888
message was all but completely unknown to our brethren
in the General Conference, our minsters, and to the
church at large.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview, cont.)
Wieland and Short Prepare for 1950 GC

“It seemed too that genuine righteousness by faith was
indeed the third angel’s message in verity. I had seen the
affect of these concepts on the Africans. I had already
had abundant evidence of their affect on the minds of our
own church members here in this country, as a result of
the various Sabbath sermons I was invited to give here
and there [before the General Conference]. I saw that
the lay members welcomed the 1888 message concepts
whereas [many] of the ministers seemed not to
appreciate them. Genuine justification by faith is a
humbling of self. It lays the glory of man in the dust, that
of course is unwelcomed to the carnal mind. It was
abundantly obvious that righteousness by faith always
involves controversy.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview*)
Wieland and Short Prepare for 1950 GC

The General Conference Presession Begins
“Several days of presession meetings
of committees and departments
preceded the General Conference. The
evangelistic, educational, medical, and
publishing interests of our world work
received consideration in these
councils, and plans were laid for an
aggressive forward movement in all
lines.” (H. M. Tippett, “The Spiritual Appeal of the Great Mid-century
General Conference Session,” Review and Herald, Aug. 24, 1950, p. 5)

“The preconference sessions have been going on since
Thursday, July 6. Each department of the General Conference
has held well-organized meetings scheduled for morning,
afternoon, and evening hours. Devotional talks and many
seasons of prayer have interspersed the hours of these
councils. A ringing note of evangelism and revival has
characterized the discussions. God's spirit has been felt in a
special measure. One gets the impression that the church
militant is earnestly preparing the way for the church
triumphant.” (H. M. Tippett, “The Mid-century Session,” Review and Herald, July 11, 1950, p. 2)
“For a number of days preceding the session we have been
meeting to study various questions vital to the success of the
Advent Movement. As the days passed, the conviction grew
upon us that one question above all others had claim upon
our time and our most serious study: How may we quicken
our own spiritual life and how may we help to make this
General Conference session the most spiritual of any session
ever held?” (H. T. Elliott, “Proceedings of the General Conference: First Meeting,” Review and
Herald, July 11, 1950, p. 15)
The 1950 General Conference Presession

 A mere reading of the pre-session reports could easily bring
the reader to the conclusion that all had gone well, and that
there was great hope for revival reformation during the
upcoming Conference. But there is more to the story. The
pre-session meetings were conducted by the Ministerial
Association. The Secretary of Association was also the
Seminary teacher who had been actively promoting E.
Stanley Jones in his class on righteousness by faith and
recommending Jones’ new book through the columns of
Ministry magazine. Is it possible that some of the same
concepts were being presented during the pre-session?:
“The motto of the Ministerial Association [during the
conference], ‘A World-encircling Brotherhood in Spirit-filled
Evangelism,’ crystallizes the fervent devotion and purpose
of every other department of our organized work.” (H. M. Tippett, “The
Spiritual Appeal of the Great Mid-century General Conference Session,” Review and Herald, Aug. 24, 1950, p. 5)
Growing Concerns About the Presession

 Attending the pre-session of the General Conference in
San Francisco, beginning Thursday, July 6, 1950, both
Wieland and Short once again shared a sense of
concern as some of the same spiritualistic sounding
concepts were shared in the supposed “Christ-centered
preaching” of the meetings:
“In the Ministerial pre-session there was much emphasis
on so-called righteousness by faith. I attended all the
meetings and listened carefully. I saw that there was no
difference in the concepts presented and those being
taught by Billy Graham, for example. This was not by
any means the third angel’s message in verity.” (Robert J.
Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview, cont.)

“The common idea that was held and which was, of course
taught by L. H. Christian and A. W. Spalding and in Norval
Frederick Pease’s thesis*… the common idea was that the
1888 message was merely a re-emphasis of 16th century
reformation concepts. Nothing more than that. And that had
been accepted as if God had given the same message to
the popular evangelicals of that day and even since.
“The general idea was that Seventh-day Adventists are
merely a ‘me-too’ people echoing the same message with a
few doctrinal distinctive thrown in, such as the Sabbath and
the health message. Nothing whatsoever related
righteousness by faith to the cleansing of the sanctuary or
the final atonement that Ellen White speaks of. My heart
was deeply stirred. What could I do?” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken
from 1978 phone interview**)

 But all was not lost. L. K. Dickson,
the Sabbath morning speaker for
the presession, made a strong
appeal for the upcoming
conference, pointing out the perils
confronting the world and the
church:
L. K. Dickson
“Sabbath, July 8, was a great day. The spacious First
Congregational Church, procured for the purpose, was filled
with twelve hundred workers who had gathered for Sabbath
school and church worship….
“Our keynote for the world conference just convening was
sounded in the sermon preached by L. K. Dickson, vice-
president of the General Conference, at the eleven o'clock
hour. The solemn conditions and the perils that confront the
world and the church, he pointed out with graphic appeal,
indicate that the greatest need for the spiritual crisis of the
present hour is a deeper personal knowledge of God.” (H. M.
Tippett, “The Mid-century Session,” Review and Herald, July 11, 1950, p. 2)

Elder Dickson’s powerful message was not without
effect: “The message brought the entire body of
delegates to their feet in a prayer of reconsecration
to the world task” (Ibid.). But the reports of his sermon
fail to mention an important point that he made; a
call to correct the mistakes of 1888. This point
Wieland did not fail to notice:
“Then the Sabbath Preceding the General
Conference session, in the Sabbath service, L. K
Dickson made a statement that in the coming
session we must make a right turn were we made a
wrong turn in 1888. This impressed me. Maybe
somebody was thinking after all.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote
taken from 1978 phone interview*)

1950 General Conference Session
Begins
 Finally on Monday evening, July 10, 1950, the
General Conference officially began with nearly
900 delegates from around the world, including
Robert J. Wieland and Donald K. Short. Great
expectations were stated for the upcoming
Conference during the opening meeting:
“It is a far cry from the first gathering … to the
present gathering of 889 delegates from all
parts of the globe to deliberate on plans for the
finishing of the work begun so heroically a
hundred years ago.” (H. M. Tippett, “The Mid-century Session,”
Review and Herald, July 11, 1950, p. 2)
“I extend a hearty welcome to all the delegates and friends to this great
world conference. With you I hope and I pray that this session may bring
to us a Pentecostal experience and blessing. I trust that this session will
go down in history as the best General Conference we have ever known.”
(A. V. Olson, “Proceedings of the General Conference: First Meeting,” Review and Herald, July 11, 1950, p. 15)

James L. McElhany’s Farewell Address
 The evening of the commencement of the General
Conference was capped off with Elder James L.
McElhany giving his President’s address. He had
served as General Conference president for fourteen
years, but due to a sudden illness had just been
released from the hospital in time to attend the
Conference. A large portion of his address was read
by his secretary, Elder A. W. Cormack.* However,
McElhany would stand to give his own final appeal
before announcing that he should not be considered
to serve again as President. Elder Wieland recalls
being greatly encouraged by McElhany’s Address:
“I’d hoped Elder Spicer would say something or Elder
McElhany. And Elder McElhany did say something.
As I recall, he did warn earnestly against becoming
confused as to the meaning of our message.
Something apparently had rubbed off on him, that he
was [now] going out of office.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken
from 1978 phone interview*)

“The greatest dangers we face today are not
from without but from changing emphasis and
shifting attitudes from within. These dangers
are personified not necessarily by some enemy
who infiltrates into our ranks but by our own
thinking, by our own misplaced emphasis, and
by our attitudes toward the fundamental
principles of the message we preach. Nor do
these dangers arise from those who with great
pretense stand on the outside and seek to
oppose and hinder the work of God. The
messenger of the Lord gives a clear description
of our dangers in these words:
“‘….The Lord is coming with power and great glory. And Satan knows that
his usurped authority will soon be forever at an end. His last opportunity to
gain control of the world is now before him, and he will make most decided
efforts to accomplish the destruction of the inhabitants of the earth.’” (cont.)

“‘Those who believe the truth must be as faithful sentinels on the
watchtower, or Satan will suggest specious reasonings to them, and
they will give utterance to opinions that will betray sacred, holy
trusts. The enmity of Satan against good, will be manifested more
and more, as he brings his forces into activity in his last work of
rebellion; and every soul that is not fully surrendered to God, and
kept by divine power, will form an alliance with Satan against
heaven, and join in battle against the Ruler of the universe.’—
[Ellen G. White] Life Sketches, pp. 323, 324….
“Is it too much to expect that all those who stand as leaders in this
movement shall, in the way they teach and in the manner in which
they live out the principles of this message, clearly reveal that they
are sanctified by the truth?
“By way of emphasizing this point I here quote a paragraph from my
address to the 1946 session of the General Conference: ‘I lift my
voice today in solemn warning against any attempt from whatsoever
source to set aside, to modify, or to compromise these great
principles of truth that have made this movement what it is. We must
not allow these truths to become, the casualties of war.’” (cont.)

“‘We are living amid the perils of the last days. God's people in the
past have been brought into deep and perplexing troubles…. Be the
emergencies of war ever so great or the perils of this world ever so
abounding, this people must stand as one the world around in
defense of the great outstanding principles of this message. I feel
that I cannot speak too emphatically when I earnestly appeal to
every representative of this message the world around to be loyal,
true, and forthright in his advocacy of, and obedience to, the truth.’
—Review and Herald, June 6, 1946.
“Again I appeal to every delegate and visitor to this 1950 session to
make sure that we do not compromise the principles of this
message by misplacing the emphasis on any one of these principles
by either our teaching or our practice. Time has shown that because
of the protection and blessing of the Lord the detractors and
enemies of this movement have been unable to carry out their
cherished plans for the destruction of this cause. This could be
accomplished far easier by those who in teaching the message
change their emphases.” (J. L. McElhany, “The President’s Address,” talk given Monday
night, July 10, 1950; in Review and Herald, July 11, 1950, p. 6)

A Day of Fasting and Prayer
 Following the President’s address, home
and foreign General Conference officers
shared their growing conviction: “How may
we quicken our own spiritual life and how
may we help to make this General
Conference session the most spiritual of
any session ever held?” Their request was
to make the first day of the Conference a
day of fasting and prayer:
“Conscious of our continued need and of the
great problems and opportunities before this
session, we come to you with the earnest
appeal that the first day of the session be a
day of fasting and prayer for God to make all
of us assembled here the men we should be to complete His work in the
world, and that certain adjustments be made in the day program to permit of
more than the usual amount of time, prayer, Bible study, and testimony
service. We believe that the particular purpose for our prayer should be: (cont.)

1. “For God to point out our individual sins and to give us grace
to confess them and put them away.
2. “For the reception of the Holy. Spirit to purify our hearts and
to give us enlarged vision and courage in planning for the
work of God in this session.
3. “For the Advent believers in certain lands where it is now
impossible to carry on freely the work of God.
4. “For the discovery of ways and means to take advantage of
the opportunities for expanding the work that now opens
before us in other lands.
5. “That God will in this hour of threatening war, hold the winds
of strife that the work may go forward into all the world.”
(H. T. Elliott in, A. V. Olson, “Proceedings of the General Conference: First Meeting,” Review
and Herald, July 11, 1950, p. 15)

 The following morning, Tuesday, July 11,
A. V. Olson started the day of fasting and
prayer with a heart-searching devotional
message followed by a time for
testimonies:
“If the Advent Movement is not making the
impact upon the world that God expects of
it, if it is not advancing as fast as it should,
may not the fundamental reason for this be
that there is a lack of power? Are we not all
convinced that this is the case? Do not all
of us sense this morning our need of more
of the Spirit and power of God in our midst?
“A new experience must come to the Advent Movement. We must catch a
new and enlarged vision of the fields already white unto harvest. There
must come to us a keener sense of the tremendous responsibility that rests
upon us for a perishing world…. Brethren and sisters, what we need and
must have is the outpouring of the promised latter rain…. (cont.)
A. V. Olson

“Before we can hope for the
outpouring of the latter rain in all
its fullness, a change must take
place. We must experience a
revival in our midst….
“Brethren and sisters, is it not time
for this revival to begin? Is it not
time for us to move into line? God
grant that such a revival may
begin at this Mid-century General
Conference session, and that
from here it may spread to our
churches around the world.”
(A. V. Olson, “The Hour Has Struck for a Mighty Conviction
to Grip the Advent People,” First Morning Devotional Study,
Review and Herald, July 13, 1950, pp. 19-21)

 Following the morning devotional an
appeal was made for delegates to
share their testimonies and deepest
convictions. For the first time in General
Conference history a public address
system was used. A long line formed as
people came forward to share:
“In the morning prayer and testimony
service, those who testified moved to
the platform to stand before the platform
microphone to give their testimonies….
Every word could be heard distinctly by
every person in the vast auditorium.
There were present in both services an
impressive air of deep seriousness and
a sense of the urgency of these days
and the developments facing us in the
world.” (Carlyle B. Haynes, “The Story of the Day: Tuesday,
July 11,” Review and Herald, July 13, 1950, p. 35)
“An Endless Line of Worshipers Moved Onto the
Platform to Offer Their Testimony Through the
Microphone, in Connection With the Special
Devotional Service Held Tuesday, July 11, a Day
of Fasting and Prayer.” (Photo Caption, Review and
Herald, July 17, 1950, p. 128)

 After all that had happened to Robert Wieland during the past
few years—his experience in Africa with the Abalokole
movement, the growing convictions he had following his
experience at the Seminary, the White Estate, with the
Ministry article and the correspondence which followed, and
now the pre-session of General Conference—the stirring
address by the outgoing president and the appeal to the
delegates to share their convictions, led him to take action.
But what could he do? A one minute testimony was not
enough to express his concerns:
“At the beginning of the session itself, a public appeal was
made for delegates to express themselves, to speak their
deepest convictions. There was a long testimony service and
many went to the microphone to express their convictions
and their concerns. I didn’t go because I knew that I could not
say anything in one minute’s time that could be understood.”
(cont.) (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview, 1 of 3 slides)
Wieland and Short: A Call to Action

“So deeply concerned and burdened with
the seriousness of the situation I sat down
to my typewriter in my hotel room and wrote
an appeal to the officers of the General
Conference. In it I set forth the results of my
research and an appeal for the brethren to
appoint a study group to go into these
things carefully and rediscover what the
basics of the Adventist message really are
as concerning righteousness by faith and
the danger of being confused by a
counterfeit message coming from Babylon
which is fallen. That there’s danger of false
doctrine producing an infatuation with a false Christ and a false holy spirit,
such as the charismatic movement. And that our people are not prepared to
meet issues of the charismatic movement without a clear understanding of
the 1888 message, which was practically unknown.” (cont). (Robert J. Wieland,
quote taken from 1978 phone interview, 2 of 3 slides)

“Well, I wrote this letter. My heart was
stirred. I poured out my heart in that letter.
Of course, it was strongly worded because
my heart was in it, but I felt I don't dare
trust my own judgment alone. Who can
help me? Who can tell me if maybe I’m just
dead wrong here? I wanted some help …
[but] I couldn’t think of anyone…. So I
turned to Donald Short; I knew Short had
good judgment. I knew he was consecrated
and he would consider the issues and he
would be honest with me. So I said,
“‘Donald, please read this letter. If you think I’m a crazy fool, tell me so, be
honest with me.’ So Donald read the letter carefully. Never said a word until
he got done. When he finished he laid it down and he said, Bob, I’ll sign
that letter too.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview, 3 of 3 slides*)

“Dear Brethren, On this day of fasting and prayer, we as a people are
to seek not to the god of Ekron, but to the God of truth, the Author
and Finisher of our faith, the God who has led the remnant church
these 106 years, as He led Israel of old. The President’s stirring
address last night, calling upon us to guard the faith once delivered
to the saints, and to speak forthrightly in defense of it, presents a
challenge. With this in mind, it is imperative that we know exactly
what it is that should be guarded, for certainly there is great
confusion in our ranks.
“This confusion was evident in the ‘Christ-centered preaching’ urged
upon us repeatedly in the Ministerial Association meeting of the past
four days…. No one for a moment could disparage the preaching of
the true Christ as the center and substance of the three angel’s
messages. However, in the confusion, it has been discerned that
much of this so-called ‘Christ centered preaching’ is in reality merely
anti-Christ centered preaching. It vitally affects the outcome of this
General Conference session. To make such a statement to the
General Conference Committee sounds fantastic. But starling things
are not unexpected by the church in the last days.” (cont.) (R. J. Wieland and
D. K. Short to The Members of the General Conference Committee, July 11, 1950; in Faith on Trial [self-published, 1993],
pp. 39-43, 1 of 6 slides)
“To the Members of the General
Conference Committee: July 11, 1950”

“No Seventh-day Adventist can deny for a moment that Satan will take
the religious world captive, appearing as an angel of light, to deceived if
possible the very elect. Through a three-fold union of apostate
Protestantism, Romanism, and Spiritualism, he will present the most
bitter opposition to the three angel’s messages ever encountered. Men
such as E. Stanley Jones, Leslie Weatherhead, Norman Vincent Peal,
and Bill Graham, are allying themselves with Spiritualistic forces, robed
in garments of light. They indeed preach a winsome, lovable, always
smiling ‘Christ’. But, with the aid of the Bible, this ‘Christ’ can be proven
to be identifiable with the father of all lies, the author of Spiritualism and
Romanism.
“Need it be said that we have nothing to do as Seventh-day Adventists
with such a false ‘Christ’? Ought we not to realize that our cruel and
bitter enemy knows by now far too well the fallacy of trying to allure us
with apparent evil, gross and crude Spiritualism? In these last days, he
will assume the form of good, and seek to allure us and charm us with
specious reasonings, apparently holy, causing men, as we heard last
night, ‘to give utterance to opinions that will betray sacred, holy trusts.’ It
could be proven, as simply and as clearly as that [the] Seventh-day
Sabbath is the true one, that the ‘Christ’ of these modern men is
identifiable with the god of modern Spiritualism.” (cont. 2 of 6 slides)
Conference Committee”

“In the sermons and exhortations of the past four days, no clear distinction
whatever has been made between the Christ of Seventh-day Adventism,
and this false Christ. While lip service has been paid to the preaching of
our distinctive doctrines, they have been openly and repeatedly disparaged
as secondary, this ‘Christ’ being considered primary….
“It is true that our fasting, praying, and seeking for the outpouring of the
Spirit will be tragically hindered until this matter is clarified? The most
earnest, intercessory, pleading prayers offered unwittingly to Baal will not
avail Israel one drop of heaven-sent rain, in this time of spiritual drought. Is
it not true that the ‘Christ’ of these modern Spiritualistic actors is in reality
Israel’s ancient enemy, Baal, under a new and more highly refined guise?
“The following facts are worthy of consideration:
“1. Our history proves, in the history of Dr. Kellogg’s apostasy … that
trusted men amongst us can think themselves in harmony with our faith
… and yet be deceived by a refined species of Spiritualism….
“2. Plain, unequivocal [Ellen White] statements … indicate that the
spiritualistic sophistries which deceived Dr. Kellogg and a great
proportion of our trusted leaders fifty years ago, will again deceive our
people….” (cont. 3 of 6 slides)

“3. This deception of refined Spiritualism constitutes a species of virtual
Baal worship. The old enemy of ancient Israel has deceived many in
modern Israel.
“(a) Baal is simply a false ‘Christ’, and is Satan disguising as the god
who led Israel out of Egypt….
“(b) Ancient Israel did not realize that they had apostatized into Baal
worship. It was gradual, unconscious apostasy…. Modern Israel’s Baal
worship has also been gradual and unconscious….
“(c) An unequivocally plain prophecy occurs in Testimonies to Ministers,
pp. 467, 468, that as a consequence of not discerning the light of
righteousness by faith revealed in 1888, ‘many’ amongst us would be
deceived into virtual Baal worship.*
“(d) This modern Baal worship and highly refined Spiritualism
constitutes a spurious and counterfeit species of righteousness by faith.
This revival of ‘Christ centered preaching’, being practically identical
with the ‘gospel’ of modern Babylon, is not a true revival such as Jones
and Waggoner and Sister White brought us 62 years ago.
“(e) This spurious faith in ‘Christ’ can never prepare the remnant church
to stand in the day of God, nor is it a distinctive message which will
lighten the earth with the glory of God.” (cont. 4 of 6 slides)

“(e) (cont.) Followed to its logical end, it will rob us of the distinctive
message God has given us for the world. It is a call back to Egypt…
“4. Modern Spiritualism is not clearly discerned by our people. It constitutes
not merely crude peeping and muttering of the dead, but also a counterfeit
Holy Spirit. Thus Baal worship includes a false god, a false ‘Christ’, and a
false “Holy Spirit’. Other religious bodies are earnestly seeking a ‘latter rain’
as are we, but their Spirit will prove to be an Unholy Spiritism. The church
appeals to the ministry to make this distinction clear to our workers and
people….
“5. It is certain that there are keen minds in the world who will someday be
able to prove conclusively from history and theology, that the ‘Christ’ of
modern Babylon, of Billy Graham, E. Stanley Jones, etc., is the ancient
Adonis, or Tammuz, of old pagan religions, and the false Messiah of
Mithraism, and the anti-Christ of Romanism.
“(a) It can be proven logically and clearly, as much as so as we prove
the Sabbath or Sanctuary truths that the ‘Christ’ of popular ‘Christian’
experience is identifiable with the old pagan Christs.” (cont. 5 of 6 slides)

“(b) It can be proven conclusively that the type of Christian experience
preached amongst us to-day is practically the same as that advocated
by E. Stanley Jones and others; and that this species of experience is a
manifest departure from the truth taught in the Bible and Steps to Christ.
“(c) It can be proven that this modern ‘Christ centered preaching’ is a
subtle reappearance of the ‘other gospel’ which Paul so sharply warned
the Galatians against receiving. Gal. 1:8, 9. If we make any mistakes in
this field of Christian experience, it is damnable confusion. You will
recall that that ‘other gospel’ ‘bewitched’ the Galatians….
“Our dear people, could they voice their unconscious desires, would thus
appeal to this highest Committee of authority, gathered at this world session
in 1950, to clarify this highly important matter of the difference between the
true God and the false, the true Christ and the anti-Christ, the true Holy
Spirit and Spiritualism, and true Christian experience and false supposition.
No matter before this gathering can possibly be as weighty with serious
import as this. Very sincerely yours, R. J. Wieland D. K. Short.” (R. J. Wieland
and D. K. Short to The members of the General Conference Committee, July 11, 1950; in Faith on Trial
[self-published, 1993], pp. 39-43; 6 of 6 slides)

A Lifetime Defined by a Moment
Little did Wieland and Short realize that Tuesday morning,
July 11, 1950, that the remainder of their life long service
in the Adventist church would be driven, guided,
influenced and defined by the letter of concern they wrote
to the General Conference Committee. Yet they remained
faithful to their deaths with the conviction that before we
can make it to the heavenly Canaan, we must revisit 1888.

 As Wieland and Short waited for a response
to their letter of concern, they hoped and
prayed for a recognition of the serious issues
facing the movement and that repentance
would come to the leadership of the Seventh-
day Adventist church now in session. Only
then could revival and reformation take place.
On Friday night, July 14, L. K.
Dickson preached just that;
It was time to seek the Lord:
“It is Time to Seek the Lord”
L. K. Dickson
“Can we not today prostrate ourselves before the
Lord and repent of our sins to that point which our
forefathers and the apostles reached, where we too
will find God as they did. Is it not time to seek the
Lord?” (cont.)

“Adventism today is suffering, not only from terrific assaults of the
enemy, not only from inroads of apostasy, not only from an
inadequate treasury, and a dearth of manpower, but from an
inability on the part of many who are members of God's great
family to comprehend what it really means to reach out after God,
find Him, behold His glory, and be changed from feebleness to
strength. Only a twilight perception of Christ's excellence and
power has dawned for the souls of a very large percentage of the
church….
“The urge to attempt the apparently impossible, as did the early
pioneers of this great work, is weakening. Unquestionably this lack
has prevailed for many years and was pointed out by the
messenger of the Lord as far back as 1888, and even before.
“God is calling for a new seeking after Him and His presence and
power such as the church once possessed in apostolic and
pioneering days. It is time to seek the Lord. What shall we do? The
first step toward a return to primitive godliness will be a new
seriousness in facing our spiritual problems. We need to
understand more fully the issues at stake in the conflict in which we
are engaged.” (Cont.)

“Then we need to face these issues—take the steps to which we
are called of God. To this clear understanding of the issues which
we face in the tragic spiritual lack in our lives and in our ministry
must be joined a new realization of the supreme danger now
facing the church.
“If this is done, we shall find very quickly that it is entirely wrong for
us to continue to conceal facts or to camouflage the state of the
church and each one of our lives before the all seeing eye of God.
The art of camouflage is very useful to hide things from an enemy,
but it becomes dangerous when it is used to cover up facts that
should be known about ourselves to ourselves. Statistics, for
instance, can dangerously disguise a situation.
“The second step toward a return to a realization of the possession
of the presence and power of the Lord God of Elijah is for the
church now to move into a new spirit of confession and repentance
and a turning to the Lord to seek for His presence and power and
great glory. Everywhere we look we see the results of the waning
piety among us and a lack of spiritual possession which leaves us
unsatisfied, cold, unattractive, and powerless.” (L. K. Dickson, “It is Time
to Seek the Lord,” Review and Herald, July 16, 1950, pp. 91, 92)

 As W. H. Branson, the new General Conference president, picked up
where Elder Dickson left off the night before, it did not take long for
Wieland to realize the change in emphasis and the direction this would
take the Conference session. Although repentance was sought in the
context of forgiveness for personal sins, no acknowledgement was
made of the deep issues facing the church nor the insult the Holy Spirit
had suffered in 1888. How could they just “claim” the Holy Spirit now?:
“Then [on the first] Sabbath of the session and the new General
Conference president, Elder W. H. Branson, preached a powerful
sermon on receiving the Holy Spirit as the latter rain. He developed the
idea closely akin to the popular evangelical ideas of receiving the Holy
Spirit but you receive Him by simply assuming that you have Him as in
conversion. It was a purely forensic declaration as [the claim] you are
justified by faith as a purely forensic, legal declaration completely
unrelated to any change of heart, so you now likewise assume that you
have received the latter rain. You believe you have the latter rain and
believing you have it you go out and you finish God’s work…. It was
plainly fanaticism … and I recognized there, that … Sabbath of the
session that the same doctrine could by no means bring to the
Seventh-day Adventist Church the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the
latter rain.” (Robert J. Wieland, quote taken from 1978 phone interview*)
“Sabbath Morning Sermon”: Just Claim It

“The newly elected president of the General
Conference, W. H. Branson, is the speaker at
the morning service. He confronts us at once
with the one supreme and indispensable
requirement of this movement and this people
if the work committed to us is ever to be
finished—the gift and the personal indwelling
of the third person of the Godhead, the Holy
Spirit…. The reception of the Holy Spirit and
the way He is to be received were incisively
“Sabbath Morning Sermon”: Just Claim It
dealt with and impressively emphasized by the preacher. His sermon,
should be faithfully and thoroughly studied. The sermon was brought
to an end by a simple request for all to rise and sincerely and
earnestly claim by faith, knowing fully what this would mean in altered
lives, the precious gift of the Spirit.” (Carlyle B. Haynes, “Sabbath, July 15,”
Review and Herald, July 16, 1950, p. 89)

“I was very happy that Elder Dickson spoke to
us last night on this subject, and I felt that we
should continue this study and direct our
earnest attention to this question until we have
received the Holy Ghost….
“Now, the question: How may I receive the Holy
Spirit? That is really the subject of my talk this
morning. Jesus breathed on His
disciples and said unto them,
‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost.’…
“Sabbath Morning Sermon”
W. H. Branson
“I sat in one of these seats the other day while some-
one was talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit in our
first day’s program. Someone sitting by me said,
‘Brother Branson, how will we know when the Spirit
comes? Will we see some physical manifestation? Will
we feel something? How shall we know when the Holy
Spirit has visited us in another Pentecost?’” (cont.)

The Emerging Church and the One Project? part 11, The New 1888 Message?

The Emerging Church and the One Project? part 11, The New 1888 Message?

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