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    JAMES WHITE

    Picture:APBP 24

    APOSTLE PAUL OF THE MOVEMENT
    August 4, 1821 — August 6, 1881
    APBP 24.1

    Seventh-day Adventists have never known a more talented and capable executive and missionary leader than James Springer White. He was also a powerful public evangelist. Not only did he participate with William Miller and Joseph Bates and scores of other preachers in announcing the advent of our Lord near in the 1840’s, but he outlived the Millerite movement to become the first great apostle of the Seventh-day Adventist cause.APBP 24.2

    The word “first” applies to James White as to no other minister in the church. He was the publisher of the first periodical issued by Seventh-day Adventists, Present Truth (1849). He was the first editor of the Review and Herald (1850), the Youth’s Instructor (1852), also the Signs of the Times (1874). He could have been the first president of the General Conference but he declined the honor offered to him by the brethren mostly because he had been the chief advocate of church organization. He did not want people to think that he was making a job for himself. He was president of the General Conference, however, between 1865-1867, 1869-1871, 1874-1880.APBP 24.3

    James White’s contribution to the church was in the field of the publishing work as much as in church leadership and administration. If there was a founder of the Review and Herald Publishing Association it was he and his wife, Ellen White. The same can be said of the Pacific Press Publishing Association. James White was the sponsor and promoter of both great institutions.APBP 24.4

    He died August 6, 1881, when he was only sixty. He literally worked himself to death. He towered to such a stature that it was difficult to persuade other men to undertake the work they thought he was qualified to do so much better. His wife counseled him to share his responsibilities. This he tried to do, but James White was an impressive figure, an excellent financier and manager, writer, evangelist, and executive. The brethren leaned on him so heavily that the towering figure fell. His sixty years of life were spent unselfishly and sacrificially. No other Seventh-day Adventist minister did more than he to build high principle and efficiency into the life of our churches and institutions.APBP 24.5

    See: Captains of the Host, pages 45-57; Footprints of the Pioneers, pages 117-122; Pioneer Stories Retold, 59-76.APBP 24.6

    A Story About James S. White

    James S. White was born in Palmyra, Maine, August 4, 1821. The fact that he was brought up on a rocky Maine farm and lived in a humble home only adds interest to the story of his life.APBP 25.1

    In his youth he was a school teacher. He became a minister of the Christian denomination of Maine. He accepted Miller’s views on the second advent and was successful in preaching the doctrine of the soon coming of the Saviour.APBP 25.2

    “In January, 1843, in the midst of a cold Maine winter, he left on horseback, thinly clad and with no money, for his field among strangers more than one hundred miles away. On one occasion a large mob, incited by non-believers, gathered around the meetinghouse and took out the windows. When the youthful minister began to pray, a snowball whistled through the window and spattered on the ceiling. This was the beginning of a fusillade of snowballs that broke on the ceiling and showered over him and the Bible. Closing his Bible, he began to picture the terrors of the day of God. He was inspired to give such a sermon as he had never been able to give before. Soon, under the spell of his eloquence, the rowdy crowd became quiet. As he talked, he drew a spike out of his pocket, which had been hurled and hit him on the forehead the night before. Holding up the spike, he said:APBP 25.3

    “‘Some poor sinner cast this spike at me last evening. God pity him. The worst wish I have for him is, that he is at this moment as happy as I am. Why should I resent this insult when my Master had them driven through His hands?”APBP 25.4

    “At that moment he raised his arms and placed his hands upon the wall behind him in the position of Christ on the cross. With tears streaming down his cheeks, the youthful minister called on sinners to repent. The effect was powerful. More than a hundred were in tears, and nearly that many rose for prayers.APBP 25.5

    “Closing the meeting, the young man started out through the subdued crowd. Someone locked arms with him and guided and assisted him through the throng. He did not know this person, and yet he seemed strangely familiar. When Mr. White got through the crowd, he missed his companion and never found out the identity of this heaven-sent protector. His lectures continued in that place three or four evenings without the least opposition, and resulted in a general revival.” -Pioneer Stories Retold, pp.64,65.APBP 25.6

    In one place the youthful James White held public meetings and two hundred converts were added to the churches.APBP 25.7

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