Foreign Language Tensions

Also in 1905 another festering problem was coming to a head. The leaders in foreign-language work in North America were striving hard to have separate printing establishments for work in the German, Danish-Norwegian, and Swedish languages. Further, these leaders wanted separate conferences for the three ethnic groups. At the Foreign Department Council of the General Conference held at College View, Nebraska, on September 5, 1905, church leaders gathered with great apprehension.MOL 152.2

Ellen White, residing in California, was asked for counsel. In addition to gathering previous relevant materials, she wrote three new testimonies. The central theme of her counsel, clearly stated in her two years in Europe where the subject was always in front of her, was: “According to the light given me of God, separate organizations, instead of bringing about unity, will create discord.... I must write plainly regarding the building up of partition walls in the work of God. Such an action has been revealed to me as a fallacy of human invention.” ^{11Bio., vol. 6, p. 48.}MOL 152.3

G. A. Irwin, vice-president of the General Conference who was present at the College View meeting, wrote after the council: “I am glad to tell you that the Lord has given the victory here just as signally as He did in Colorado [Boulder Sanitarium crisis, same year]. The communications from Sister White came in just the right time, and answered the most important questions before us. They made the matter so clear and plain that even the most extreme agitators of a separation were led to accept them.” ^{12Spiritual Gifts 2:49.}MOL 152.4

During the 1905 controversy with John Harvey Kellogg, many people in Battle Creek were convinced that he had been abused, or, at least, misunderstood. Kellogg’s usual response to Mrs. White’s interventions in the early1900s had been: “Somebody has told Sister White!”MOL 152.5

The Kellogg crisis was perhaps more severe than any previous denominational conflict. Ellen White, on December 21, 1905, had sent a telegram to A. G. Daniells, president of the General Conference, that she had special counsel for him and others at that critical time. The package of manuscripts arrived on December 26 and were read to an overflow audience in the Battle Creek Tabernacle. What proved to be astonishing to all was that two of the manuscripts were written much earlier (August 1903 and June 1, 1904) but were not copied out until she was impressed to do so on the previous Thursday when she had sent her telegram.MOL 152.6

The effect of the manuscripts, read without comment, was stunning. Several men who had been captivated by Kellogg’s arguments approached Daniells immediately, saying that the notable meeting held with Kellogg the night before was clearly described by Ellen White in the manuscripts written many months before and copied only days before. They also said that “if there had been a doubt in their minds regarding the source of the testimonies, it would have been swept away by their own statements [as set forth by Ellen G. White] in the testimonies.” ^{13Bio., vol. 6, pp. 67-72. For a similar experience, occurring in 1903, see Schwarz, Light Bearers, p. 292. See pp. 200-204 for further discussion of the Kellogg/Pantheism controversy and another timely message from Ellen White.}MOL 152.7