Summary

In order for us to understand early Adventist religious enthusiasm it is necessary to understand the spirit and attitudes existing in North America during the first half of the nineteenth century. The American Revolution produced a tremendous optimism combined with a spirit of freedom and independence. As Americans pushed west, a frontier disposition became increasingly dominant. The aristocratic Federalist Party began to fall into disfavor, while the popular ideas of freedom and individuality promoted by Thomas Jefferson were embraced. At the same time the older authoritarian state-sponsored Congregational and Presbyterian churches were seen to be out of harmony with the new American freedom and the needs of the common people. The result was the rise of the Baptist Church, followed rapidly by the even more popular Methodist Episcopal Church.1EGWLM 933.3

About the same period the Christian Connection Church was growing to be an important force in shaping popular religious thought. Contributing to the religious shift toward freedom and experimentation particularly within the Methodist Church were the camp meeting movement, the ideas of Phoebe Palmer, and the general mood of revival in America. The new “democratic” Christianity of Methodism, the Christian Connection Church, and others had a more demonstrative style of religious expression. Shouting, weeping, laughing, and losing strength—among other exercises—were usually seen as demonstrations of the moving of the Holy Spirit.1EGWLM 933.4

The Advent movement in America found its greatest attraction among the new and popular religious groups. Millerite Adventists brought with them from their previous churches their manner of worship expression, including sometimes physical exuberance. The message of Jesus’ imminent return intensified all aspects of their spiritual experience. They studied their Bibles intensely, gave testimonies intensely, and prayed intensely, committing their lives and belongings entirely to God. Yet amid that intensity, a deep sense of seriousness pervaded. Levity was absent. There was no time for anything that did not speak to the spiritual needs of the human soul. Clear and solid preaching of the Bible message and its requirements was always emphasized.1EGWLM 934.1

Before the 1844 disappointment Ellen White's experience, like that of her fellow believers, frequently included expressions of religious enthusiasm. Most common were shouting and physical prostration under the Holy Spirit's power. Ellen White reported several examples of shouting and prostration among her fellow Adventists as the great prophetic date approached.1EGWLM 934.2

After the Disappointment many of the scattered former Millerites were comforted and instructed by the prophetic messages Ellen White received. Her public visions usually began with the shout of “Glory, glory, glory,” followed by physical prostration. Up through the 1850s, James and Ellen White, with the rest of the coalescing movement, frequently expressed themselves with shouts of praise and a loss of physical strength. These exclamations were not in any way flippant or frivolous. Early Adventists battled daunting spiritual challenges and frequent physical illness. The physical demonstrations reported by Ellen White and others were clearly believed to be genuine workings of the Holy Spirit in response to God's physical and spiritual deliverance.1EGWLM 934.3

The confusion following the Millerite disappointment led to various forms of fanaticism. Ellen White consistently opposed this fanaticism and suffered significant opposition because of her interactions with fanatics. The key identifiable theological orientations of fanatics included spiritualizing, extreme literalizing, extreme sanctification, and mesmerism. She was opposed by the fanatics themselves as well as by the broader Adventist leaders for associating with those of a fanatical disposition. Her reason for interacting with fanatics was her concern to help those who were within her sphere of influence who still had confidence that something of prophetic significance had happened in October 1844. It was her prophetic guidance that helped protect the “little flock” of believers during the difficult first years following the 1844 disappointment.1EGWLM 934.4

Beginning in 1850 Ellen White wrote of the dangers of imbalance and an undue dependence upon physical manifestations of the Spirit's power. She urged a worship environment that would commend itself “to thoughtful, intelligent minds,” rather than “create only disgust in the minds of unbelievers.”⁶⁹

Ellen G. White, “Blessed Are the Pure in Heart,” General Conference Bulletin, Apr. 23, 1901, p. 421, published in idem, Selected Messages, book 2, p. 35.

Adding to her concerns were revelations that counterfeit exercises would be introduced to lead believers away from God's Word as the only reliable criterion of genuine experience and truth. These warnings intensified over the course of her ministry, and suggest a leading away from reliance on forms of religious enthusiasm that were common to the spiritual heritages of early Adventists.1EGWLM 935.1

Ellen White's fully developed teachings on the subject of charismatic-like experiences instruct believers that while they should be open to the Holy Spirit working in surprising ways, they should not seek or rely upon physical and emotional exercises. She repeatedly pointed to the Word of God as the solid foundation of the Christian's experience, and to conformity to its teachings as the safest evidence of the Spirit's presence. “When the Spirit of God moves upon the heart,” Ellen White wrote, “it causes the faithful, obedient child of God to act in a manner that will commend religion to the good judgment of sensible-minded men and women.”⁷⁰

Ellen G. White, “Who Are the Sanctified?” Signs of the Times, Feb. 28, 1895, p. 4.

1EGWLM 935.2