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The History and Use of the Tithe

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    Chapter 5—Another Case of Gross Distortion

    Another case in which Mrs. White’s words relating to freewill gifts are erroneously applied to the tithe is found in some of these privately published tracts in close proximity to the sentences dealt with above. Here is the statement and its supposedly-supporting quotation taken from the Testimonies:HUT 36.1

    “Before the Lord directed Sister White where to pay her tithe, she for a while paid tithe to the Seventh Day Adventist Publishing Association. Later on she could not conscientiously do so for she writes: ‘When means has been pressed upon me, I have refused it, or appropriated it to such charitable objects as the Publishing Association. I shall do so no more.’”—Testimonies for the Church 1:678. (Taken from page 5 of a privately published tract.)

    In this statement, penned in 1868, Mrs. White is not speaking of the tithe in any sense. This is made clear by reading the sentences quoted in their context in the full paragraph. It is found to be in the setting of the distressing experience of the mistreatment of Hannah More. Mrs. White declared:HUT 36.2

    “We see outcasts, widows, orphans, worthy poor, and ministers in want, and many chances to use means to the glory of God, the advancement of His cause, and the relief of suffering saints, and I want means to use for God. The experience of nearly a quarter of a century in extensive traveling, feeling the condition of those who need help, qualifies us to make a judicious use of our Lord’s money. I have bought my own stationery, paid my own postage, and spent much of my life writing for the good of others, and all I have received for this work, which has wearied and worn me terribly, would not pay a tithe of my postage. When means has been pressed upon me, I have refused it, or appropriated it to such charitable objects as the Publishing Association. I shall do so no more. I shall do my duty in labor as ever, but my fears of receiving means to use for the Lord are gone. This case of Sister More has fully aroused me to see the work of Satan in depriving us of means.”—Testimonies for the Church 1:678, 679.

    Here Mrs. White points out that when those who had been benefited by her patient toil in writing out what the Lord had revealed to her for them [and they] wished to give her something by way of remuneration, she had refused. Or if it was accepted she did not keep it, but gave it to such organizations as the Publishing Association. Now, as she saw the pressing needs about her, she declared that she would accept such gifts and use the money to help the needy. There is no reference here at all to tithe. The discovery of such use of the Spirit of Prophecy writings should lead all to approach privately published tracts with great caution, and should underscore the absolute necessity of looking up in the full setting every Ellen G. White quotation employed.HUT 36.3

    But this is not all. Not satisfied with this clear distortion, the author of the privately published tract referred to here, after the brief distorted statement just given, adds:HUT 36.4

    “Why she could not conscientiously pay her tithe to the publishing of Seventh Day Adventist literature any more is seen better by a testimony given out later on: ‘I feel a terror of soul as I see to what a pass our publishing house has come. The presses in the Lord’s institution have been printing the soul-destroying theories of Romanism and other mysteries of iniquity. This is taking all sacredness from the office. The managers are loading the guns of the enemy and placing them in their hands, to be used against the truth. How does God regard such work? In the books of heaven are written the words: Unfaithful stewardship. Thus God regards the publication of matter which comes from Satan’s manufactory—his hellish scientific delusions.’ Mrs. E. G. White in A Solemn Warning, read to the Review and Herald Board, in November 1901. Published by the Pacific Press, Oakland, California, 1903.”

    We have pointed out that the tithe is in no sense involved. Mrs. White stated in 1868 that because of the pressing needs of those about her she would use funds given to her, not as a gift to the Publishing House, but to help the destitute.HUT 37.1

    But the writer of the privately published tract, first removing from its context the 1868 E. G. White statement, “I shall do so no more,” unequivocally declares that the shift in Mrs. White’s liberalities was because of the type of literature published at the Review office, and quotes a 1901 statement in support.HUT 37.2

    Concerning the objectionable literature published for a brief period in the Review office, we have ample information in Testimonies for the Church 7:164-168. It was not until the early 1890s that this problem arose, a full 25 years after Mrs. White wrote her statement regarding the objectives of her liberalities.HUT 37.3

    Surely such falsehood and gross distortion of the Spirit of Prophecy writings should alert readers to the true objectives of those who make such use of the precious counsels which mean so much to the church.HUT 37.4

    To all who really wish to know what Mrs. White has actually taught, we would urge the reading of the Spirit of Prophecy counsels in the E. G. White books themselves rather than in privately issued tracts and mimeographed sheets.HUT 37.5

    March 1959.

    Revised February, 1990

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