False Picture of Early History

5. Finally, some of the primary charges have had to do with events at the very beginning of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in fact before there was such a church in the true sense of the word. By inference, at least, the one who listens to the charges is led to conclude that it is altogether reasonable to take hold of any stray sentence by any man connected with the earliest days of Adventism and declare: This is the historic teaching of Seventh-day Adventists. Ill-formed statements of belief, divergence of theological views by pioneers—all these serve only to provide what the critics would have their readers consider as clear evidence of the irrational, un-Scriptural teachings of this church. And in the midst of all this they have placed Mrs. White, hoping thereby to provide the strongest kind of proof that she was an uninspired, deluded visionary, because she was a leader of this whole religious group. But we have found the facts far otherwise.EGWC 533.2

For these and other reasons that might possibly be listed, the charges have seemed impressive and convincing to many who have heard them through the years. We trust that sufficient evidence has been presented in this work to show how unimpressive and unconvincing the reasoning of the critics really is. We say this, not because we rejoice in controversy, but because we wish to exonerate the good name of one who, we sincerely believe, was entrusted by God with the gift of the Spirit of prophecy, and because we wish to protect the reader against further charges that critics might someday bring.EGWC 533.3

Though we have come to the end of our examination of the charges against Mrs. White, we do not say that we have come to the end of the charges. But there are limits to the size of a volume. Nor do we think it necessary to refute every possible accusation that may have been framed in order to free Mrs. White from the dark suspicions with which critics have sought to surround her. However, we believe we can truthfully say that we have examined all the major charges that have come down through the years, plus a number of minor ones. ^{*In this connection it should be remembered that the purpose of this present book has not been to provide an encyclopedic commentary on every conceivable charge that anyone at anytime, even anonymously, might have raised. Rather the purpose has been to examine those charges most typical and most frequently presented. Even comprehensive works in defense of the Bible do not attempt more than this.}EGWC 534.1