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J H Kellogg, Living Temple, & the Omega
Adventist history has been so badly suppressed, revised, and manipulated by the Takoma Park apologists that few today understand what really happened in Battle Creek. The White Estate has been especially dishonest about how the SDA church self-destructed after 1888, and they have taken great pains to hide the real issues and promote numerous diversions and myths.
Until the mid-1880's, the SDA's were united on doctrine and theology. They had developed a unique eschatological model that fit perfectly, (they thought), within a specific set of interrelated beliefs. But once Dr. E. J. Waggoner, (a former medical student of JH Kellogg in Battle Creek), discovered a theological error about the Two Covenants in 1886, both the unity and the credibility of SDA theology plummeted. It would never be the same again.
This unresolved battle over the Two Covenants led to great debate and division in Battle Creek, which was followed by a power play at the end of the century between the differing factions. Kellogg, Waggoner, and Jones were on the progressive side, while Uriah Smith and the Traditionalists were on the other.
Because Ellen White could support neither party, (Smith was terminated from the Review for legalism in 1902), she advised President Daniels to retreat from Takoma Park, leaving the Battle Creek San to the victorious progressives. Kellogg also kept the Health Magazine, which led the SDA's to start up Life and Health in Takoma Park, which was later changed to Vibrant Life.
Here are some links about Kellogg.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg
http://www.ajph.org/cgi/reprint/92/6/935.pdf
http://www.answers.com/topic/john-harve … cat=health
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/oracle/ … llogg.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62m97Reo2PM
http://www.adherents.com/people/pk/John … llogg.html
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/autho … llogg.html
Did Kellogg teach pantheism, and was this the reason why he separated from the church? Or was his book, The Living Temple, a convenient excuse for his enemies to brand him a heretic? And what about his attempts to keep the denominations health institutions "non-sectarian" and "undenominational?" Is this charge against Kellogg true?
Kellogg was the handpicked protégé of James and Ellen White. His mission to develop Health Reform for the church met with remarkable success, as the Battle Creek Sanitarium became world famous and the Denomination's Health Magazine became a leader in its field.
Young Kellogg grew up in Battle Creek. He interacted with both James and Ellen White, who were so impressed with his potential that they sent him to medical school in New York. Upon his return, they employed him to manage and further develop the denominations struggling Health Institute and Magazine.
Kellogg was well connected, talented, educated, and very energetic. But he was not a theologian, nor did he study or write theology. He was a "medical man" and a "business man." Thus he became a very successful and popular medical writer, authoring approximately 50 books, (as well as being the editor of a National Health Magazine).
Today one can go to Amazon.com and look up some books authored by J. H. Kellogg. Including his first book in 1878; Harmony of Science and the Bible on the Nature of the Soul and the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead.
Other, more typical titles are:
First Book in Physiology and Hygiene,
Plain Facts for Old and Young,
Man the Masterpiece
Rational Hydrotherapy,
The Stomach: It's Disorders, and How to Cure Them
The Home Handbook Of Domestic Hygiene And Rational Medicine,
The art of massage: A practical manual
Diphtheria: Its Nature, Causes, Prevention, and Treatment,
Colon Hygiene
Home Hand Book of Domestic Hygiene 2 Volumes,
The Itinerary of a Breakfast,
Ladies' Guide in Health and Disease.
The Everyday Health Series
The new method in diabetes: The practical treatment of diabetes as conducted at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, adapted to home use, based upon the treatment of more than eleven hundred cases.
Here is an online link where one can read two of JHK's books:
http://psp.manybooks.net/auth/kelloggj
It is obvious that JHK was not a religious author, nor did he pretend to be a theologian of any sort. While the use of religious terminology was normative for this time period, his book Living Temple is not to be judged as if it were an exposition on doctrine or theology. That is not fair.
In fact, the term "Living Temple" was the title of a poem by the famous Oliver Wendell Holmes in1858. The original title was supposed to be called "The Anatomist's Hymn." This is no doubt the origin of Kellogg's book title.
http://www.eldritchpress.org/owh/livt.html
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/html … m1031.html
Contrary to SDA propaganda, the book Living Temple was not meant to try and introduce pantheism into the church. In fact, it was designed to raise money for the debt laden Sanitariums. The book was for charity. Kellogg wrote it in an attempt to generate sales, and he had no intention of trying to make this work a doctrinal tool for the Third Angels Message. But was he a pantheist?
According to Dennis Hokama, a brilliant observer of Adventism, "To qualify as pantheism, one must believe that God is nothing but nature (God and the world are one), and therefore repudiate the notion of a personal God. Kellogg NEVER denied the idea of a personal God, but always affirmed it, so far as I know. Therefore, he CANNOT responsibly be called a pantheist. None of these church historians or theologians has ever defended the notion that Kellogg was a pantheist. Case closed. So it doesn’t matter that he thought God permeated the matter, and in that sense was “in us,” so long as he also firmly believed in a personal deity."
Here is Kellogg, the prototype of an intellectual, modern, Adventist, in his own words. He makes it pretty clear that he was never a pantheist and that is not guilty of the charges.
I am willing to confess that I am not a pantheist nor a spiritualist, and that I believe none of the doctrines taught by these people or by pantheistic or spiritualistic writings. I never read a pantheistic book in my life. I never read a book on "New Thought," or anything of that kind. Anybody who will read carefully the "Living Temple" from the first page right straight through to the last, and will give the matter fair and consistent consideration, ought to see very clearly that I have no accord whatever with these pantheistic and spiritualistic theories. Kellogg to Butler, February 21, 1904
http://www.truthorfables.com/JH_Kellogg … 1_1904.htm
See also: http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/white/spi … cer_05.htm
While Living Temple contained a number of objectionable points, (including a wrong view of the Gospel, which is normative for all SDA books), Kellogg agreed to allow whatever editorial changes needed to be made. But this was not the real issue, and neither was the charge against Kellogg about Pantheism.
Rather, this book represented the wholesale abandonment of the Three Angels Messages by the author. It represented a very different and philosophic emphasis that many SDA's were also taking in Battle Creek, including the popular theologian Dr. E.J. Waggoner. Thus, Living Temple took the Denomination far away from it reforming eschatological mission. It essentially ignored SDA eschatology. But Ellen White would not stand by as the Three Angels Messages were systematically ignored, marginalized, and dismantled for all to see.
"I am instructed to speak plainly. 'Meet it,' is the word spoken to me. 'Meet it firmly, and without delay.' But it is not to be met by our taking our working forces from the field to investigate doctrines and points of difference. We have no such investigation to make. In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given." Selected Messages Book 1, p. 200.
Living Temple was used by Kellogg's enemies to show that he did not believe in the objective view of eschatology as traditionally taught by the church. And this charge was true. But it was also true for the vast majority of the SDA's in Battle Creek during this time period. But Kellogg was no ordinary Adventist. He was a most revered and powerful leader, and he could not be allowed to blatantly dismiss the prophetic way marks and doctrines that defined Adventism. Nor could he be allowed to mortgage the church for his endless Health ambitions.
Thus Ellen White, and others, crossed swords with Kellogg and warned the church that Battle Creek, and specifically Kellogg, was out of control. Listen to Ellen White:
Some think it strange that I write, "Do not send your children to Battle Creek." I was instructed in regard to the danger of the worldly influence in Battle Creek. I have written hundreds of pages regarding the danger of having so large a sanitarium, and of calling so many people together in one place.
The young people in Battle Creek are in danger. They will come in contact with error. Years ago I did not think that they would meet these errors right in the sanitariums; but when "Living Temple" came out, and some of our ministers told me that there was in it nothing but what I had been teaching all my life, I saw how great the danger was.
I saw that blindness had fallen upon some who had long known the truth. I pray that the Lord will open the eyes of these ministers, that they may see the difference between light and darkness, between truth and error.
---Testimonies for the Church Containing Messages of Warning and Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists, page 36
http://www.tagnet.org/save/seventhday_adventism.htm
A decade after 1888, Kellogg, along with many others, including Dr. E J Waggoner, had lost faith in the credibility of the Third Angels Message. It was obvious that Traditional Adventism could no longer be credibly defended. Even the great Uriah Smith was demoted at the Review and then fired for promoting legalism. So there were glaring divisions within the church that were growing larger every year. If the religious leaders could not agree among themselves about doctrine, why should anyone be so dogmatic? What was the point? Many thought that it was time for SDA's to back off and lighten up. Here is where pluralism first surfaced in the SDA church.
However, when it involves the Three Angels Messages, Ellen White would never give in to either Canright, Kellogg, or Smith. She would stand firm against any that would harm or remove the Adventist Apocalyptic.
She also greatly resented that Kellogg was claiming that she supported his Living Temple viewpoints, which were devoid of the Three Angels Messages, when this was not really true.
As a practical matter, the fight was primarily about money. Kellogg wanted to develop a huge Health Empire, -- and he thought the Denomination should finance it for him, which was the original plan of James White. But Kellogg was amassing large amounts of debt in the name of the church, and when Daniels, with the urging of Ellen White, refused to finance the purchase of a Health Institute in England, there was a large rift that never healed.
Kellogg had developed a very unique and profitable health model, (with the help of James and Ellen White), and now he wanted to rollout an aggressive expansion campaign that would be financed by the church. But the leaders were fearful that he was creating too much debt AND that the Health Message was eclipsing the promotion of the Three Angels Messages. Which was the real problem.
JHK was obsessed with health, not theology or eschatology. While he embraced the Sabbatarian teachings of the SDA's, (his wife was a Seventh-day Baptist), he also thought that the point of the Advent Movement was more about health then anything else. He was a practical man, and when he saw how dysfunctional the Denominations theology became after 1888, he saw no need to try and beat a dead horse. The Third Angels Message did not work as advertised, so why not associate it with something that really worked, like Health Reform?
After 1888, when the Third Angels Message became confused and the credibility of Adventist eschatology fell, Kellogg was all too happy to remake the Denomination into a humanitarian enterprise that featured Health Reform. This was what his life was all about.
But Ellen White strongly rejected his plans for expansion and debt as well as his attempts to marginalize the Three Angels Messages. He in turn tried to take control of the church so that he could remake it into his own image. He almost succeeded.
The story of Kellogg's separation from the church has not been honestly told. In fact, the Takoma Park apologists demonized him and made it seem that he was a "pantheist" or a "spiritualist" when that was never true.
After 1888, Kellogg lost faith in SDA theology and doctrine, just like the vast majority of those in Battle Creek. Thus it was the unresolved doctrinal problems from 1888 that actually confused, divided, and almost destroyed the SDA Denomination.
It was the unresolved issues of 1888 that ruined the credibility of Adventist Eschatology and allowed Kellogg the opportunity to ignore the Three Angels Messages and use the church for his own ends. Had the church been united in the promotion of credible, Gospel eschatology, the great Battle Creek schism could have been avoided, and Kellogg would have remained an SDA.
At the end of the day, Kellogg cared little for the discredited theology of the Adventist Apocalyptic. He was a famous and popular health entrepreneur, and he wanted to promote Health Reform as if it were a religion. For him, it WAS his religion, and this was far better then promoting uncertain and confusing religious doctrines that the leaders could not harmonize. Thus he never apologized for leaving the divided and dysfunctional Denomination.
The Undenominational Question
Over the years, many SDA's have demonized Dr. Kellogg for trying to separate Health from religion. But this is not fair. This idea was the brainchild of James White, not Kellogg.
To understand the primary secret of Kellogg's success, it is necessary to comprehend the mind and the policy of James White, the founder of the Battle Creek Health Empire. From the very beginning of Health Reform in Battle Creek, James White let it be known that both Health the publishing and the Health Institutions must be "worthy of the patronage of an intelligent and candid public." In fact, the byline of the 1866 Health Reformer was not religious whatsoever. It was focused on nature; "Nature: Obey and Live."
Although many of the denominations theologians wrote articles for the paper, like Ellen White, JN Andrews, Loughborough, JH Waggoner, G.W. Amadon, etc, their articles were not theological in nature, as they all refrained from mentioning the Sabbath and promoting the Three Angels Messages. Why? Because that was the brilliant policy of James White. He knew that the Health Message had to stand on its own and be separated from sectarian influence in order to be viewed as credible by the public. And so he invented the term and the policy that he called "undenominational." Kellogg had nothing to do with this foundational policy other then carry it out. Which he did.
In July of 1874, Editor James White handed over the editorial ship of the Health Reformer to the young, 22 year old J. H. Kellogg, and instructed him not to veer from the "undenominational" policy that had allowed both the Health Magazine and the Institute to be such a success. Kellogg, who was not religious, embraced James White's policy with enthusiasm and within a few years, (1879) he changed the denomination's Health Magazine to "Good Health: A Journal of Hygiene" and turned it into an even greater success, even the largest circulation health periodical in the Nation.
Not only that, the Battle Creek Sanitarium underwent a constant expansion as the public responded to the non-sectarian emphasis on health that fueled its remarkable growth, reputation, and profitability.
In his 1874 farewell as editor of the Health Reformer, James White reiterated his policy of keeping both the magazine and the Sanitarium free from any proselytizing influence. He made it clear that the directors of the Western Health Reform Institute (the original name of the Battle Creek San) were "servants of the public good." He reminded his readers that both the magazine and the San were founded upon "such principles as to secure the fullest confidence and the most liberal patronage of the public."
He further reminded all his readers that the "plain and practical lectures" that were given at the San were not religious in nature, as they were focused on "how to get well and how to keep well." In other words, this was a legitimate Health Institution, and it was free from sectarian and religious influence, even though it was owned by the SDA's. It was not a front to make converts; rather, it was a serious and genuine health institution.
Thus, many SDA's today would be shocked at James Whites' policy because all Adventists have all been taught numerous myths from Battle Creek that did not reflect what the leaders actually did and taught.
In fact, the present policy of the church is the opposite of James White's policy, and this is why the name Adventist is plastered all over the hospitals, and religion has been mixed into the health publications in a futile attempt to use health as a marketing tool for the church. But it has never worked and it will never work. Rather, the modern policies of the General Conference have ruined the health message, bankrupted the health journal, and left the Adventist Community perplexed and puzzled as to why we cannot duplicate the success of the Pioneers, even when the market has never been better and the demand for Health Services is greater than ever before.
But the policy of James White was no myth. He was proud of his "undenominational" marketing plan that was not so well received by some Adventist in Battle Creek. Some back then also thought that religion and theology should be the basis for anything that took place in the denominations health institutions and periodicals. But James White knew better, and thus his marketing plan allowed the San to become a "fearless advocate of the true principles of the health reformation, but not radical, narrow, or bigoted."
If the SDA's ever want to become successful in the area of Health Reform, they must follow the policy of James White. The mixing of health and religion is a bad combination that will ruin both. But this is exactly what the modern SDA's have done, all the time thinking that it is what the Pioneers did, when they actually did the OPPOSITE.
But even James White had to struggle against those in the church that thought religion must be promoted through the health institutions. Although he had to apologetically admit that religion had sometimes played a role in the San by those that did not understand or support his "undenominational" policy, he downplayed such misguided attempts by saying:
"The Health Reformer as occasionally appealed to those who revere God upon the subject of hygiene as taught by the writers of our blessed Bible, yet at the same time we have guarded against anything of a sectarian cast." Health Reformer, Vol. XI, No. 7, July 1874, Our Health Institute, p 193 by James White.
Like most everything concerning Adventism, the history of the Health Message has not been correctly portrayed or accurately understood. James White's "undenominational" policy played a remarkable role in the success of both the Battle Creek Sanitarium and public health magazines of the 19th century. And Kellogg was correct to try and follow his policy.
http://www.atomorrow.com/discus/message … #POST48506
So Kellogg was telling the truth all along. But most SDA's don't know this. Listen to a typical Kellogg slander from someone that has no clue that James White invented the term and the policy called "undenominational." Such myths should not be allowed to stand.
One of Dr. Kellogg's concerns was to make Adventist denominational medical missionary work "undenominational." He felt that this would be a great step forward. In some respects he was aiming at something that we just about have arrived at in this our own day. His objective was the removal of the name "Seventh-day Adventist" from all our medical work, while still retaining the type of medical work that God originally gave this people. Today we have come around to it from the other side: Retain the name "Seventh-day Adventist" on the masthead of our medical units, but remove the special medical treatments given by the God of heaven through Ellen G. White, and carry on the work with a primarily non-Adventist work force.
In his travels, Dr. Kellogg had met a Dr. George 0. Dowkontt, who had developed a "Medical Missionary Society" in New York City that had no denominational ties to any religious denomination. And yet it advertised itself as a "Christian medical work." Kellogg admired this, and through the mid-1890s worked toward the goal of transforming Adventist medical work into something similar.
In 1895, Kellogg led in the opening of the American Medical Missionary College in Battle Creek. Quietly, carefully, Kellogg arranged that this institution was not to be identified with the Adventist Church:
"This is not a sectarian school. Sectarian doctrines are not to be taught in this medical school. It is a school for the purpose of teaching medical science, theoretically and practically, and gospel missionary work. It is not to be either a Seventh-day Adventist or a Methodist or a Baptist, or any other sectarian school, but a Christian medical college missionary medical college, to which all Christian men and Christian women who are ready to devote their lives to Christian work will be admitted. "Instructions to entering medical students, in "Medical Missionary," October, 1895.
There is no doubt that, by the mid-1890s, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg could not see things straight. In several respects, he was no longer a genuine Seventh-day Adventist. He had become self-deceived, and those listening to him or reading his writings from the mid-1890s onward were liable to be caught up in his errors. Dr. Kellogg had become a dangerous man. He had both pagan religious beliefs and non-Adventist organizational views.
http://www.temcat.com/Alpha/alpha-2.htm … %20TWO%20-
But are these charges correct? Was Kellogg becoming a "pagan" as well as a "dangerous man" that repudiated the policy of the church? Was he wrong to keep Health Reform separate and distinct from Sabbath Reform? Was he wrong to promote an "un-denominational" policy for the SDA Health Institutions?
No, no and no. This had been the policy of James White all along. And Kellogg knew this fact because he worked for James White. He was there when this policy was defended and enforced by James White.
So here is another myth and slander about Kellogg that must be corrected. But there are still more myths to clear up.
The Omega of Apostasy
During the 1970's, the church leaders charged Dr. Ford with the same type of heresy as Kellogg. Although such a comparison was very unfair and historically dishonest, the Review promoted this slander anyway.
Those that supported Traditional Adventism claimed that Ford had followed Kellogg in repudiating the Three Angels Messages, specifically the Judgment Pillar in the 1st Angels Message. They claimed that Ford's rejection of this point was the beginning of the great heresy that Ellen White predicted would-- one day-- overwhelm the church. To the paranoid and logistic leaders, Dr. Ford was playing the modern day role of Dr. Kellogg. He was the Omega Man that the church was warned about.
Consequently, at Glacier View, the Review and the White Estate teamed up to accuse Dr. Ford of following in the footsteps of Kellogg. They claimed that he was leading the church away from the concrete eschatology of the Three Angels Messages and repudiating the fundamentals from Historic Adventism when that was never the case. They even claimed he was not listening to Ellen White, when they were guilty of this charge, not Dr. Ford.
So regardless of the facts, Dr. Ford was exiled for representing the Omega of apostasy, of which Kellogg had been the alpha prototype.
Unlike Kellogg, Dr. Ford was a serious and competent theologian, and he correctly understood both the history and doctrinal development of Adventism.
More than that, he never repudiated the genuine version of the Three Angels Messages that others had forgotten, nor did he ignore Ellen White. He supported the fundamentals of the Adventist Apocalyptic, respected Ellen White and her gifts, and defended the true version of the Gospel and the Judgment from Historic Adventism.
But few understood this at the time. The Takoma Park leaders were so disoriented and self-deceived that they did not know how to correctly define the Three Angels Message, much less comprehend the true Judgment Pillar from Historic Adventism. The President of the General Conference in 1980 was Neal Wilson, and he had no idea what Arthur White had done. He did not know that the White Estate had been perpetrating a massive and complex fraud on the Adventist Community.
Although the leaders were stunned to hear Dr. Ford repudiate the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment, it was their own fault for failing to understand that the correct Judgment in Rev 14: 7 was the Second Coming, not the IJ. This was the unanimous position of every 19th century SDA, including Ellen White.
The Review and the White Estate were the ones confused and wrong. Not Dr. Ford or Ellen White, who agreed with Ford. She did not support Traditional Adventism as the church dishonestly claimed. Thus Dr. Ford, along with the Gospel and the correct version of the Judgment, was exiled because of the false testimony of the White Estate and the Review.
This is stunning! This is the Omega in action for all to see and marvel at.
The Takoma Park apologists had so badly misunderstood Historic Adventism that they failed to realize that the IJ had NEVER been part of the 1st Angels Message as the White Estate and the Review had taught for generations. Nor did historic Adventism embrace anything but the Protestant Gospel and the Second Coming.
Thus Dr. Ford was correct and those that supported Traditional Adventism were wrong. He was not promoting Adventist heresy, but fighting against it. He was not the Omega of Apostasy--the Review and the White Estate had fulfilled this role without knowing it.
This is shocking! How ironic that long after Kellogg was dead, his viewpoint would become embraced by the Takoma Park and Silver Spring General Conference. Not his so called pantheism, but his willingness to abandon the Three Angels Message in the pursuit of corporate expansion and church growth.
This was the Alpha of Deception that Ellen White warned against. She wasn't talking about Dr. Ford's correct Gospel theology or his correct view of the 1st Angels Message, but about the time when the leaders of the church would abandon the very fundamentals that define SDA theology so that they could pursue church growth and build up a profitable religious Empire for themselves to operate.
The present polices of Pluralism as well as the lack of doctrinal clarity, and the promotion of a false version of the Three Angels Messages reflects an utter disregard for Ellen White's views. Such behavior and policy reflects the mind of Kellogg, not Ellen White or Dr. Ford.
If Ellen White were alive today, she would point to the church leaders and condemn them for thinking and acting like Kellogg. She would disown Arthur White and denounce the White Estate, demanding that they repent and correct the record. Thus the policies and doctrines of the General Conference, the Review, and the White Estate represent the fulfillment of the Omega. This is a stunning turn of events for all to see.
Who knew in 1980 that Dr. Ford was defending the genuine version of the Three Angels Messages at Glacier View, the very same eschatology that Ellen White embraced. But the church leaders did not even comprehend what they were doing.
Why did Ellen White, through the White Estate, not speak up and explain to all that Dr. Ford was correct and Traditional Adventism wrong? Because the White Estate would not let her. They were intent on protecting the fraud of Arthur White who was caught hiding thousands of her documents so that he could promote the fraud of Traditional Adventism.
The Adventist Community was purposefully not informed that Ellen White did NOT support Traditional Adventism. The White Estate, who taught the opposite, deceived the church. Thus they are guilty of perpetrating a massive fraud on all.
This is the fulfillment of the Omega prophecy by Ellen White.
If any one man can be the Omega, it is Arthur White. He is the great deceiver that has led the SDA church into a cul-de-sac of fraud, schism, and apostasy. He is the man most responsible for the self-destruction of the modern Advent Movement. Shame on Arthur White and shame on the SDA leaders for defending this evil man.
"Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people." (Selected Messages bk.1, p. 203)
Now we can understand what Ellen White meant when she said that the Omega Heresy would shock and stun the Adventist Community. I am stunned, and so too is everyone that hears this story. The White Estate is the villain and the source of all the confusion and debate that has overwhelmed the church. They, and the Review represent the fulfillment of the Omega prophecy. How ironic is that?
"We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature." Selected Messages, vol.1, 197.
Today, the Adventist Community is confused and disoriented. They have been so deceived about so many things that it is no wonder they are angry and hurt. But the discovery of the hidden documents in the White Estate has allowed SDA history to be better understood. And when the true record is comprehended, Traditional Adventism becomes exposed as premeditated historical fraud that has NO SUPPORT from Ellen White.
This is shocking for any SDA. It almost seems impossible and surreal. But it is true.
The discovery of this great fraud in the White Estate, combined with the promotion of a false view of the fundamentals, fulfills Ellen White's prediction about the Omega. What has taken place is shocking as well as criminal. It will not stand.
"Past history will be repeated; old controversies will arouse to new life, and peril will beset God's people on every side." Testimonies to Ministers, 116
I trust that this answer about Kellogg was sufficient. As you can see, Adventist history is very complex and full of twists and turns. At this point, no one should trust the SDA Denomination to tell the truth about anything. They have taken great pains to hide the record and revise history. Shame on them!
The Ellen White of the White Estate is a fraud and so too Traditional Adventism. Nothing is, as the SDA's claim, because the historical record has been horribly manipulated and falsified. This is why the SDA church must be reformed. It is corrupt to the core.
It is time for the SDA's to wake up and clean up their own house. They need to hold their leaders accountable for what they have done, and for what they are still trying to do. Because the White Estate has not repented. They still teach one myth and falsehood after another about Ellen White, even as the leaders have no plans to repent for Glacier View or anything else. Pity.
Here are some links that will be useful in further study:
http://www.tagnet.org/save/seventhday_adventism.htm
http://www.temcat.com/Alpha/Alpha-1.htm … %20ONE%20-
http://www.sdayouth.net/battle_creek.htm
http://straighttestimony.blogspot.com/2 … stasy.html
http://www.gospel-herald.com/wieland/br … k_s109.htm
http://stepstolife.org/php/view_article … cle_id=532
http://stepstolife.org/php/view_article … le_id=1168
http://omega77.tripod.com/mfalphaomega.htm
http://www.restorationministry.com/Open … meset.html
http://www.temcat.com/Remnant-Resource/omega_llu.htm
http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/white/spi … cer_05.htm
http://www.ex-sda.com/john.htm
http://www.everythingimportant.org/seve … /alpha.htm
I hope this answers your question and gives you the necessary resources for further study.
Tom Norris for Adventist Reform
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There are things and denominations one cannot reform.
You can either accept them just like they are,
or you can abandon them
or you can start an schismatic movement of your own.
IMO Adventism in Finland is unredeemable as a movement, at least in this century. That is my prediction.
But on that issue there are opinions different from those of mine, too.
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IMO Adventism in Finland is unredeemable as a movement, at least in this century.
All it takes is a gifted public speaker who lives the Gospel and understands Adventism; who treats all people gently, including his opponents.
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Tom wrote:
However, when it involves the Three Angels Messages, Ellen White would never give in to either Canright, Kellogg, or Smith. She would stand firm against any that would harm or remove the Adventist Apocalyptic.
Tom uses several terms without defining them. Something quite common in Adventist circles.
I was pleased to see that wikipedia has a definition of the three angels messages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Angels%27_Messages
Do you Tom and others agree with the Wikipedia definition? Tom, is the Adventist Apocalyptic synomous with the three angels messages. And lastly what is the difference between the three angels messages and the third angels message as you used it in the above article, saying:
A decade after 1888, Kellogg, along with many others, including Dr. E J Waggoner, had lost faith in the credibility of the Third Angels Message. It was obvious that Traditional Adventism could no longer be credibly defended.
My daughters ss class is going to discuss the three angels messages soon and this would be helpful I also think it would be helpful if people defined their terms in general but this is one area where Adventists are most egregious in it's use assuming that people just know what they are talking about. Personally I think most don't. Which is why I always explain it by saying it is a code word for saying Adventist doctrines. Although with the breakdown between TSDA's and other SDA's as well as Tom with his call to reform the SDA church I am curious as to how he defines those terms.
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The Third Angel's Message seems to be the Adventist term for the two fold practice of keeping the commandments and having the faith of Jesus. The first doctrinal statement of individual congregations as they organized around 1860 included a simple agreement to uphold these two.
For years, these two features were included on the masthead of the Review and Herald.
This is the third angel's message. I suggest that most Adventists did not write about the harsher aspects of the "Mark" etc. that often, at least not in those early days.
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Pauli K. Heikkinen said: There are things and denominations one cannot reform. You can either accept them just like they are, or you can abandon them or you can start an schismatic movement of your own.
Pauli, do not underestimate the power of the Gospel or the lessons of history. Protestants are all about reforming the church. And so too Adventists. This is what they do. This is what happens when the Gospel becomes better understood. Things are REFOMRED, changed, and destroyed. Reform and progress is the hallmark of history.
Just ask the 1st century Jews and Romans if the Gospel has the power to change and reform the world. Just look at how the Gospel reformed everything in its path, both Jew and Gentile in the first few centuries. It reformed Judaism into Christianity, and then destroyed the Jews and left them homeless. Although the Gospel was initially outlawed, it soon was embraced by Rome, even as it reformed everything, even turning Pagans into a Christians.
Who saw that coming? But there was more to come.
It was only a matter of time before another stage of Gospel development would be unleashed upon the world. Thus the world that Christianity had developed and ruled was about to face Gospel Reform, much like the 1st century Jews. As a consequence, the world changed again, thanks to Luther's Gospel Reforms.
So there is a pattern developing, whereby Gospel Reform is normative in history. After the Reformation there were numerous reforms all around, and the process is far from over.
Even the Adventists have been very successful at "reforming" the eschatology of the entire church. When Miller promoted the Second Coming, none of his contemporaries had a correct understanding of eschatology. The churches at that time were all post millennialists, and thus they repudiated Miller's strange pre-millennial views about a fiery Judgment soon to come.
But guess what? Not one church or denomination today holds to post Millennialism! Miller was correct, and he was instrumental in reforming every denomination about the Second Coming. His basic reforms stand to this day, even though few give him or the Adventist Movement the proper credit.
The better the Gospel is understood, the more problems it makes for the status quo and those in charge of religion. Thus, the final events will include a period when the Gospel is clearly and forcefully proclaimed to all. This great work represents the 4th Angels Message of Rev 18. It represents the final reforms for the church, prior to the end of the world.
This final reform that completes the Protestant Reformation, is what the modern SDA's should be all about. It is their mission to prepare the church for the end of the world and the Second Coming as the Day of Judgment.
This final theological package will stun the world and cause great reform in the disoriented Laodicean church. The last Advent Message will overturn what everyone assumed was truth, just like the 1st Millerite Message did. The 4th will create a great sensation- just like Miller's views did in his day.
These Gospel reforms have already started with the work of Dr. Ford. Which is why there is so much turmoil and division in the SDA church today. This is the work of the Gospel. It overturns tradition and exposes the religious leaders as frauds and hypocrites for all to see. It challenges all to value truth above fiction and self-advantage and to be true to the Word no matter the cost.
So no one should think that either the Gospel Story or the Advent Movement is over. There is more church history to unfold, and Gospel Reform is part of this future history. (See Rev 18).
The question is this? Will the SDA's repent and reform so that they can play a positive role in eschatology?
At this point the answer is no.
Pauli said: IMO Adventism in Finland is unredeemable as a movement, at least in this century. That is my prediction.
No doubt it looks that way everywhere. Most thinking people do not take the Advent Movement or SDA theology seriously. That is why there must be reform. Because the present situation is not credible or sustainable. Adventism is a joke today, and that is not good. It has gone corrupt like all others. It needs Gospel Reform.
Don Sands said: All it takes is a gifted public speaker who lives the Gospel and understands Adventism; who treats all people gently, including his opponents.
Adventist Reform requires an admission of guilt and repentance from the leaders. This must precede any genuine, corporate reform. This is what the SDA church needs more than anything else. They must all stand up and admit that have the wrong Gospel and the wrong Judgment, and even the wrong Sabbath. They have to tell the truth and repent for what happened at Glacier View to Dr. Ford.
So it is going to take the leaders, like you Don, to admit that Traditional Adventism is wrong, and to repent for 1888 and Glacier View. All SDA's must admit that they have embraced one error after another that must be repudiated and corrected.
Are you ready to repent Don? Show us the way to Reform?
Ron Corson said: Tom uses several terms without defining them. Something quite common in Adventist circles. I was pleased to see that wikipedia has a definition of the three angels messages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Angels%27_Messages
Ron asked: Do you Tom and others agree with the Wikipedia definition?
Tom Norris said: It could be much better written. Let's take a look.
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Three Angels' Messages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Angels%27_Messages
The Three Angels' messages are the messages given by three angels in Revelation 14:6-12. The Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches that these messages are given to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and sees them as a central part of its mission.
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Tom Norris said: This is not too bad. But it fails to explain that these messages are chronological time periods from 19th century church history. And that only one Message can be operative at a time. The first Two Messages are Millerite. Only the 3rd Angels Message represents the SDA's. (Even though they annexed the first two Millerite Messages, and incorporated this theology into their eschatology).
It fails to explain the fact that Miler's views were very unique, even stunning. Everyone else taught postmillennialism, but Miller taught that Christ would appear to Judge the Earth before the Millennium. Because many expected the Millennium to start shortly, Miller's pre-millennial eschatology caused great concern and fear.
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[edit] First Angel
"I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.'" (Revelation 14:6,7 KJV)
The first angel's message is a prophecy that states that the gospel will be preached to every nation on earth.
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Tom Norris said: This is wrong.
The preaching of the Gospel and the Second Coming as the Day of Judgment represents the fulfillment of the 1st Angels Message. These are the two doctrinal pillars of the 1st Angels Message, which was discovered and proclaimed by William Miller.
The "Hour of Judgment has Come" was a reference to the Second Coming and the end of the world that William Miller predicted would take place in the Spring of 1844. It had zero to do with the later doctrine of the Investigative Judgment.
This prophetic text in Rev was correlated with Dan 8:14, and the termination of the 2300 days, which Miller taught, would result in the earth being cleansed with Fire at the Second Coming.
I note that the Gospel and the Second Coming are linked together in the NT, and so too here in the book of Revelation.
Rom. 2:16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
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[edit] Second Angel
"There followed another angel, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'" (Revelation 14:8 KJV)
The second angel's message is a call to repentance. Broadly taken, it is a call to everyone everywhere to leave their sins ("Babylon") behind them and give them up.
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Tom Norris said: This is wrong.
After Miller's date for the Second Coming failed to materialize, the Adventist Movement was discredited and it began to fade. Thus, the prophetic period of the 1st Angels Message terminated after the Spring of 1844. A new date was discovered that supposedly corrected a minor error in Miller's calculations. The new date would be Oct 22, 1844.
The proclamation of this new date was accompanied with a call for all to leave their "fallen" churches and join the Advent Movement. Thus the 2nd Angels Message allowed Adventism to become an organized and separate denomination. This Message terminated when the Second Coming failed to materialize.
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[edit] Third Angel
"The third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment will ascend for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'" (Revelation 14:9-12 KJV)
The third angel's message is a warning to the people of the earth, not to worship the beast or his image. (The "beast" and his "image" were introduced in chapter 13 of Revelation.) Those previous verses are the source of the famous mark of the beast.
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Tom Norris said: The 3rd Angels Message features the 7th Day Sabbath. The SDA's taught that Sabbath Reform must precede the Second Coming. So this is what they set out to do under the 3rd Angels Message. This is what SDA's were all about; the Sabbath. Moreover, they taught that the US would link up with the RCC and turn into a persecuting power that would enforce Sunday worship.
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[edit] Seventh-day Adventist interpretation
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has traditionally believed that it is the remnant church of Bible prophecy, and that its mission is to proclaim the three angels' messages.
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Tom Norris said: While this is true, it is also true that the SDA's believe that God raised up William Miller to proclaim and fulfill the 1st Angels Message. The SDA's also say that the Advent Movement represents truth for the last days, even the completion of the Protestant Reformation. The SDA's teach that there is to be a 4th and final Message, which is based on Rev 18.
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[edit] Historic interpretation
According to the understanding of the Adventist pioneers, the first angel's message occurred during the two decades prior to the spring of 1844. The message of the imminent second coming of Jesus preached by the Millerite movement then fulfilled the prophecy of the first angel's message. The second angel's message was then preached during the summer of 1844, which was preceded by a significant number of Millerites leaving the movement, and resulted in large numbers of Christians leaving their churches ("Babylon") and joining the Advent movement.[4]
The third angel's message is based on the idea that the "Seal of God" (Revelation 7:2) is the Sabbath commandment of the decalogue. Therefore, the "mark of the beast" is the opposite, or the keeping of Sunday as the Sabbath. Hence the close of the message, "here are they that keep the commandments of God." It is a point of emphasis among Adventists that the mark of the beast has not yet been given out.
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Tom Norris said: This is fine.
[edit] Standard view
When Jesus did not return in 1844 as expected by the Millerite movement, the resulting Seventh-day Adventist movement came to see itself as the remnant of God and believed that their mission was to preach the three angels’ messages again.
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Tom Norris said: Fine. But they left out any reference to the 4th Angels Message of Rev 18, which is the culmination of all Three Messages. This last Adventist Message will be free of the many errors and mistakes that have gone before.
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The first angel's message is the “everlasting gospel”, namely the “good news of God’s infinite love”. It is also a warning that the investigative judgment has begun and a call to worship the Creator of the world, specifically in the keeping of the Sabbath commandment. “The first angel’s message … calls for the restoration of true worship by presenting before the world Christ the Creator and Lord of the Bible Sabbath [which is] the sign of God’s Creation.”[5]
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Tom Norris said: WRONG. Here is a great error. The 1st Angels Message does not contain anything about the IJ and it never did.. Nor is there anything in there about the Sabbath. This is poor history and bad eschatology. All should protest this false definition of the 1st Angels Message! It is a fabrication from the Takoma Park apologists.
There is a clear history about the development and interpretation of the IJ. And not one 19th century SDA ever said that the IJ was the Judgment Pillar in the 1st Angels Message. This popular teaching is a complete fraud. It is myth and deception that must be repudiated by all that value historic truth and honesty.
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[edit] Progressive view
Progressive Adventists typically reject the claim that the three angels' messages find unique fulfillment in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In common with the traditional Adventist view, they typically agree that God's leading was behind the Adventist movement. Although all Adventists agree that God has led many Christian movements in history,[12] progressives do not assign Adventism a "preferred" position. Their view may be contrasted with certain of the harsher critics who do not see God's leading behind the movement at all.
Progressive Adventists such as Steve Daily have challenged the traditional understanding of the Remnant, preferring to widen the concept to include Christians in non-Adventist churches.[9] The traditional Adventist interpretation of the mark of the beast (i.e. Sunday worship) is also rejected by many progressive Adventists.[13] These developments necessarily call for a reinterpretation of the second and third angels' message; a widening of the remnant removes the impetus to call Christians out of Babylon and warn them against worshiping on Sunday.
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Tom Norris said: The basic history and doctrines of the Three Angels will stand forever. No other denomination has ever claimed to fulfill this unique prophecy in Revelation, and thus the SDA's establish their claim by default, if nothing else.
While there are many misunderstandings and errors associated with Adventist history and theology, the SDA Founders have made it clear that these 3 Messages define and empower the Advent Movement. To remove or change them is to destroy Adventism, deny history, and repudiate the Founders.
This is why it was so tragic that once in Takoma Park, the leaders dramatically changed the definition of the 1st Angels Message. They changed the Gospel and the Judgment in Rev 14 to mean something very different from what it originally meant to Miller and to the Founders of the SDA church. And when Dr. Ford PROTESTED, the leaders smeared and then exiled him, claiming that he was guilty of denying the historic fundamentals of the Advent Movement, when they were the guilty parties.
Only when Glacier View is repudiated by SDA's, and Dr. Ford is welcomed back as a true spiritual leaders, will the Adventists be able to embrace the fundamentals that correctly define and empower them. The present version of the Adventist Apocalyptic is a worthless fraud.
Although the SDA's taught that a final Message, a 4th, would supercede, follow, and close the work of the 3rd Angels Message, they have yet to discover this final message, which will correct all their previous errors. They aren't even looking for it, nor do they seem to care.
Ron asked: Tom, is the Adventist Apocalyptic synonymous with the three angels messages?
Yes.
Ron asked: And lastly what is the difference between the three angels messages and the third angels message as you used it in the above article, saying:
"A decade after 1888, Kellogg, along with many others, including Dr. E J Waggoner, had lost faith in the credibility of the Third Angels Message. It was obvious that Traditional Adventism could no longer be credibly defended."
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Tom Norris said: The 3rd Angels Message represents the SDA church with their Sabbatarian emphasis. The first two Millerite Messages were Sunday based, but now the 3rd one would be very different. It would feature the Sabbath and insert this doctrine into Adventist eschatology.
Thus the SDA's were the fulfillment of the 3rd Angels Message. They viewed themselves as now living under the newly discovered 3rd Message. That was the only active message left of the Three Messages.
Here is how these message work:
The 1st Angels Message was discovered in 1818 by William Miller. He started preaching his unique "Adventist" eschatology in the late 1830's. This became associated with the 1st Angels Message, even its alleged fulfillment. The 1st Angels Message ended in the Spring of 1844 when Miller's original date failed.
The 2nd Angels Messages can be dated from the Summer of 1844. It terminated on Oct 23, 1844. The Day after the Advent failed to take place. Now both Messages were over.
Note the gap of time when there was no active Message in the Adventist Community. This is analogous to us today when the church stands between the failed 3rd Angels Message and the yet to be articulated 4th Angels Message.
By 1847, the SDA Founders had developed the 3rd Angels Message, even as they annexed Miller's first two Messages to their own Sabbatarian eschatology. As far as the founders were concerned, the SDA church became the fulfillment of the 3rd Angels Message. This is what they taught.
However, the SDA's also taught that a final Message would be given, - after the 3rd. This was called the 4th Angels Message of Rev 18. This is what SDA's still must do. This is what will save the Advent Movement from its present confusion and error. The 3rd Angels Message terminated some time ago.
Ron said: My daughters SS class is going to discuss the three angels messages soon and this would be helpful…
Tom Norris said: Good for the class. All SDA's need to study the Three Angels Messages. And when they do, they will soon find out that something is very wrong with what the leaders have been teaching for generations.
Many SDA's think the IJ is the Judgment pillar in the 1st Angels Message, but this was never true. No doubt the children will soon figure this out, much to the embarrassment of those that support Traditional Adventism.
Only the Second Coming is the Judgment Pillar in the 1st Angels Message. This is what all 19th century Adventists said. Including Ellen White. Unfortunately, the 20th century SDA's dishonestly revised the Fundamentals and put false words in the mouths of the Pioneers. They have confused everyone, including themselves with their incompetence and dishonest.
Dr. Ford was a hero to stand up and defy the leaders. He was telling the truth about the Three Angels Messages and they were not. Un less the church corrects this fatal mistake, and reverses Glacier View, the SDA church is doomed, just like the 1st century Jews that they so closely emulate.
Don Sands said: The Third Angel's Message seems to be the Adventist term for the two fold practice of keeping the commandments and having the faith of Jesus.
The 3rd Angels Message featured the 7th day Sabbath. The SDA's were supposed to bring the Gentiles back to the Gospel of the Apostles and complete the Protestant Reformation against the RCC.
They were supposed to explain the Gospel Sabbath to the world, as well as the mercy of God. But they failed, just like the Jews. Thus, they made the same mistake of embracing the Old Covenant Sabbath and the false Gospel of the Judaizers. They became confused legalists more like the RCC than the Reformers.
Don said: I suggest that most Adventists did not write about the harsher aspects of the "Mark" etc. that often, at least not in those early days.
Wrong. In the early days of the 3rd Angels Message, there was much talk about the Mark of the Beast and Sunday persecution. Even their songs were full of this wild Sabbatarian eschatology. Today, most of this has faded, except for some of the TSDA's. They still see Sunday laws under every rock.
Today, the 3rd Angels Message has terminated.
No longer is there a united, active, or credible view of Sabbatarian eschatology. In fact, the Adventists are so off track that they promote Pluralism. Something that the Founders would never permit or embrace.
Moreover, many don't realize that the church's official views about the 1st Angels Messages, which is the foundation for the entire apocalyptic, is completely wrong, not to mention legalistic and absurd. Which explains why so many millions have left. Nothing makes sense in Adventism any more. They are confused and disappointed, much like their Millerites forefathers were after the collapse of the 2nd Angels Message.
Thus the Adventists are living in the dangerous period between Messages. They stand between the failed and terminated 3rd Angels Message, and the yet to be developed 4th Angels Message.
They had better not stay too long in such a hazardous position. They must correct their views of the past Messages, even as they develop the final Message that will precede the Second Coming. This is what they must do right now, without further delay. Repent, Reform, and move forward to develop the 4th Angels Message of Rev 18.
I hope this helps,
Tom Norris for Adventist Reform
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Dear Tom
In your article you state that JHK believed in a personal God and that He was in everything. Then you say it doesn't matter.
May I ask you why you think it doesn't matter?
This is described as panentheism and is just as dangerous as pantheism.
Just for the record I am a fan of JHK. And agree that much has been distorted. But I would ask you whether your statement as noted above is some hyperbole to make your point?
Grace Mackintosh
California, United States
7/17/15
See: John Harvey Kellogg, Living Temple; By Tom Norris 8/5/11
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Seventh-Day- … living.htm
_______________________________________________
Tom Norris responds:
Grace:
I do not think you quoted me correctly. But regardless, JHK was NOT a pantheist, and it is time for such tired propaganda to stop.
It is also time for the SDA’s to take responsibility for their past mistakes and stop blaming everyone else for their epic failure in Battle Creek. JHK was not the reason why the SDA’s self-destructed in the late 19th century, even though he has been made into a scapegoat by the Denomination.
If not for the 1888 debacle, there would have been no division or schism in Battle Creek. Nor would the Denomination have retreated to Takoma Park, almost bankrupt. In hindsight, JHK has been used by the Denomination as a diversion away from the real issues, which doomed the Battle Creek Empire.
It was the unsatisfactory outcome of the 1888 theological debate between Uriah Smith and Ellen White that doomed the SDA’s in Battle Creek. JHK was only a sideshow. The real story is the 1888 debate. A story that the Denomination has been hiding and misstating for generations. It is time for the Adventist Community to understand what tool place in 1888. This important history has been covered up and suppressed by the White Estate for far too long. Shame on them.
Question: Did Kellogg teach pantheism, and was this the reason why he separated from the church? Or was his book, The Living Temple, a convenient excuse for his enemies to brand him a heretic?
Answer: Kellogg was the handpicked protégé of James and Ellen White. His mission to develop Health Reform for the church met with remarkable success, as the Battle Creek Sanitarium became world famous and the Denomination's Health Magazine became a leader in its field.
Young Kellogg grew up in Battle Creek. He interacted with both James and Ellen White, who were so impressed with his potential that they sent him to medical school in New York. Upon his return, they employed him to manage and further develop the denominations struggling Health Institute and Magazine.
Kellogg was well connected, talented, educated, and very energetic. But he was not a theologian, nor did he study or write theology. He was a "medical man" and a "business man." Thus he became a very successful and popular medical writer, authoring approximately 50 books, (as well as being the editor of a National Health Magazine).
Today one can go to Amazon.com and look up some books authored by J. H. Kellogg. Including his first book in 1878; Harmony of Science and the Bible on the Nature of the Soul and the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead.
Other, more typical titles are:
First Book in Physiology and Hygiene; Plain Facts for Old and Young. Man the Masterpiece and Rational Hydrotherapy. The Stomach: It's Disorders, and How to Cure Them. The Home Handbook Of Domestic Hygiene And Rational Medicine. The art of massage: A practical manual. Diphtheria: Its Nature, Causes, Prevention, and Treatment. Colon Hygiene; Home Hand Book of Domestic Hygiene 2 Volumes. The Itinerary of a Breakfast; Ladies' Guide in Health and Disease. The Everyday Health Series. The new method in diabetes: The practical treatment of diabetes as conducted at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, adapted to home use, based upon the treatment of more than eleven hundred cases.
Here is an online link where one can read two of JHK's books:
http://psp.manybooks.net/auth/kelloggj
It is obvious that JHK was not a religious author, nor did he pretend to be a theologian of any sort. While the use of religious terminology was normative for this time period, his book Living Temple is not to be judged as if it were an exposition on doctrine or theology. That is not fair.
In fact, the term "Living Temple" was the title of a poem by the famous Oliver Wendell Holmes in1858. The original title was supposed to be called "The Anatomist's Hymn." This is no doubt the origin of Kellogg's book title.
http://www.eldritchpress.org/owh/livt.html
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/html … m1031.html
Contrary to SDA propaganda, the book Living Temple was not meant to try and introduce pantheism into the church. In fact, it was designed to raise money for the debt laden Sanitariums.
The book was for charity. Kellogg wrote it in an attempt to generate sales, and he had no intention of trying to make this work a doctrinal tool for the Third Angels Message. But was he a pantheist?
According to Dennis Hokama, a brilliant observer of Adventism, "To qualify as pantheism, one must believe that God is nothing but nature (God and the world are one), and therefore repudiate the notion of a personal God. Kellogg NEVER denied the idea of a personal God, but always affirmed it, so far as I know. Therefore, he CANNOT responsibly be called a pantheist. None of these church historians or theologians has ever defended the notion that Kellogg was a pantheist. Case closed. So it doesn’t matter that he thought God permeated the matter, and in that sense was “in us,” so long as he also firmly believed in a personal deity."
Here is Kellogg, the prototype of an intellectual, modern, Adventist, in his own words. He makes it pretty clear that he was never a pantheist and that is not guilty of the charges.
“I am willing to confess that I am not a pantheist nor a spiritualist, and that I believe none of the doctrines taught by these people or by pantheistic or spiritualistic writings. I never read a pantheistic book in my life. I never read a book on "New Thought," or anything of that kind. Anybody who will read carefully the "Living Temple" from the first page right straight through to the last, and will give the matter fair and consistent consideration, ought to see very clearly that I have no accord whatever with these pantheistic and spiritualistic theories.”
Kellogg to Butler, February 21, 1904
http://www.truthorfables.com/JH_Kellogg … 1_1904.htm
See also: http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/white/spi … cer_05.htm
While Living Temple contained a number of objectionable points, (including a wrong view of the Gospel, which is normative for all SDA books), Kellogg agreed to allow whatever editorial changes needed to be made. But this was not the real issue, and neither was the charge against Kellogg about Pantheism.
Rather, this book represented the wholesale abandonment of the Three Angels Messages by the author. It represented a very different and philosophic emphasis that many SDA's were also taking in Battle Creek, including the popular theologian Dr. E.J. Waggoner.
Thus, Living Temple took the Denomination far away from it reforming eschatological mission. It essentially ignored SDA eschatology. But Ellen White would not stand by as the Three Angels Messages were systematically ignored, marginalized, and dismantled for all to see:
"I am instructed to speak plainly. 'Meet it,' is the word spoken to me. 'Meet it firmly, and without delay.' But it is not to be met by our taking our working forces from the field to investigate doctrines and points of difference. We have no such investigation to make. In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given."
Selected Messages Book 1, p. 200.
Living Temple was used by Kellogg's enemies to show that he did not believe in the objective view of eschatology as traditionally taught by the church. And this charge was true. But it was also true for the vast majority of the SDA's in Battle Creek during this time period. But Kellogg was no ordinary Adventist. He was a most revered and powerful leader, and he could not be allowed to blatantly dismiss the prophetic way marks and doctrines that defined Adventism. Nor could he be allowed to mortgage the church for his endless Health ambitions.
Thus Ellen White, and others, crossed swords with Kellogg and warned the church that Battle Creek, and specifically Kellogg, was out of control. Listen to Ellen White:
“Some think it strange that I write, ‘Do not send your children to Battle Creek.’ I was instructed in regard to the danger of the worldly influence in Battle Creek. I have written hundreds of pages regarding the danger of having so large a sanitarium, and of calling so many people together in one place. The young people in Battle Creek are in danger. They will come in contact with error. Years ago I did not think that they would meet these errors right in the sanitariums; but when "Living Temple" came out, and some of our ministers told me that there was in it nothing but what I had been teaching all my life, I saw how great the danger was. I saw that blindness had fallen upon some who had long known the truth. I pray that the Lord will open the eyes of these ministers, that they may see the difference between light and darkness, between truth and error.
---Testimonies for the Church Containing Messages of Warning and Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists, page 36
http://www.tagnet.org/save/seventhday_adventism.htm
A decade after 1888, Kellogg, along with many others, including Dr. E J Waggoner, had lost faith in the credibility of the Third Angels Message. It was obvious that Traditional Adventism could no longer be defended. Even the great Uriah Smith was demoted at the Review and then fired for promoting legalism. So there were glaring divisions within the church that were growing larger every year. If the religious leaders could not agree among themselves about doctrine, why should anyone be so dogmatic? What was the point? Many thought that it was time for SDA's to back off and lighten up. Here is where pluralism first surfaced in the SDA church.
However, when it involves the Three Angels Messages, Ellen White would never give in to Canright, Kellogg, or Smith. She would stand firm against any that would harm or remove the Adventist Apocalyptic. She also greatly resented that Kellogg was claiming that she supported his Living Temple viewpoints, which were devoid of the Three Angels Messages, when this was not really true.
As a practical matter, the fight was primarily about money. Kellogg wanted to develop a huge Health Empire, -- and he thought the Denomination should finance it for him, which was the original plan of James White. But Kellogg was amassing large amounts of debt in the name of the church, and when Daniels, with the urging of Ellen White, refused to finance the purchase of a Health Institute in England, there was a large rift that never healed.
Kellogg had developed a very unique and profitable health model, (with the help of James and Ellen White), and now he wanted to rollout an aggressive expansion campaign that would be financed by the church. But the leaders were fearful that he was creating too much debt AND that the Health Message was eclipsing the promotion of the Three Angels Messages. Which was the real problem.
JHK was obsessed with health, not theology or eschatology. While he embraced the Sabbatarian teachings of the SDA's, (his wife was a Seventh-day Baptist), he also thought that the point of the Advent Movement was more about health then anything else. He was a practical man, and when he saw how dysfunctional the Denominations theology became after 1888, he saw no need to try and beat a dead horse.
The Third Angels Message did not work as advertised, so why not associate it with something that really worked, like Health Reform?
After 1888, when the Third Angels Message became confused and the credibility of Adventist eschatology fell, Kellogg was all too happy to remake the Denomination into a humanitarian enterprise that featured Health Reform. This was what his life was all about.
But Ellen White strongly rejected his plans for expansion and debt as well as his attempts to marginalize the Three Angels Messages. He in turn tried to take control of the church so that he could remake it into his own image. He almost succeeded.
The story of Kellogg's separation from the church has not been honestly told. In fact, the Takoma Park apologists demonized him and made it seem that he was a "pantheist" or a "spiritualist" when that was never true.
After 1888, Kellogg lost faith in SDA theology and doctrine, just like the vast majority of those in Battle Creek. Thus it was the unresolved doctrinal problems from 1888 that actually confused, divided, and almost destroyed the SDA Denomination.
It was the unresolved issues of 1888 that ruined the credibility of Adventist Eschatology and allowed Kellogg the opportunity to ignore the Three Angels Messages and use the church for his own ends. Had the church been united in the promotion of credible, Gospel eschatology, the great Battle Creek schism could have been avoided, and Kellogg would have remained an SDA.
At the end of the day, Kellogg cared little for the discredited theology of the Adventist Apocalyptic. He was a famous and popular health entrepreneur, and he wanted to promote Health Reform as if it were a religion. For him, it WAS his religion, and this was far better then promoting uncertain and confusing religious doctrines that the leaders could not harmonize. Thus he never apologized for leaving the divided and dysfunctional Denomination.
http://www.atomorrow.net/fluxbb/viewtopic.php?id=229
Tom Norris, for Adventist Reform and All Experts.Com
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