Exposing the Skeleton in the S.D.A. Closet of 1888
Missing Evidence Found
Part 2
I noted above in Item 3 of circumstantial evidence, that I would explain about the missing material in the two books by Jones and Waggoner.
The skeleton is now out of the closet!
Finally, after seven months of searching, we have found the missing subject that caused the great controversy in the pre-session in 1888. The skeleton is now out of the closet! This will not set well with the leadership now, any more than it did with the leaders in 1888. I'm going to expose a great cover up that has been going on even before 1888. Those opposed to the message of A.T. Jones and E.G. Waggoner used Galatians 4: 8-11, in their determination to replace the moral law in Galatians with the ceremonial law. That is where the big switch was made. Reread George Butler's comment on page 2, paragraph 3. Also read the S.D.A. Bible Commentary of Galatians 4:8-10. ". . . Had the Galatians abandoned the rites and ceremonies of heathenism only that they might adopt those of Judaism? Paul here refers to the seven ceremonial Sabbaths and the new moons of the ceremonial system." This is the same teaching that Conference President Elder Butler used in his book on Galatians. This took place in the 1850's or 1860's, and appears to have been refuted by Waggoner, Jones, G.G. Rupert, and others by 1888 who taught that the Galatians had returned to their pagan feasts.
The Conference still teaches opposite to Elders Jones and Waggoner in this regard. Speaking of these "days, and months, and times, and years" in Galatians 4:9,10, the Sabbath School Quarterly July - Sept 2010, pages 14 and 108 says: "but perhaps in Rome it was particularly the Jewish Christians who had a hard time persuading themselves that they need no longer observe the Jewish festivals." Obviously, the interpretation that Elder Butler demanded would thus help do away with the feasts of God. Elder Jones and Waggoner, on the other hand taught, as we shall soon see, that the festivals referred to in Galatians were Pagan and not Jewish. This would make a big difference regarding whether or not God's feasts were discarded or preserved.
The proof of this change is found in the original writings of both Jones and Waggoner, where they show the correct view of Galatians 4:8-11. The entire chapter has been deleted from Jones' book and condensed in Waggoner's book, with the important part obviously missing when their writings were reproduced for modern times. These were godly men that reproduced them and may not have realized the importance of the material which they left out, or they may have realized it would open Pandora's Box again, or perhaps they knew where the change would lead; that is "to things not easy to dispose of."
The Catholic Church had changed God's Holy days with her own pagan festivals, which were inherited by the Protestant forefathers down through the Dark Ages. We all know which pagan days are celebrated by our churches today- Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, and Halloween, Whit Sunday. In contrast, God's Holy Day's are Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles, and of course the weekly seventh day Sabbath.
The Conference still teaches opposite to Elders Jones and Waggoner in this regard. Speaking of these "days, and months, and times, and years" in Galatians 4:9,10, the Sabbath School Quarterly July - Sept 2010, pages 14 and 108 says: "but perhaps in Rome it was particularly the Jewish Christians who had a hard time persuading themselves that they need no longer observe the Jewish festivals." Obviously, the interpretation that Elder Butler demanded would thus help do away with the feasts of God. Elder Jones and Waggoner, on the other hand taught, as we shall soon see, that the festivals referred to in Galatians were Pagan and not Jewish. This would make a big difference regarding whether or not God's feasts were discarded or preserved.
The proof of this change is found in the original writings of both Jones and Waggoner, where they show the correct view of Galatians 4:8-11. The entire chapter has been deleted from Jones' book and condensed in Waggoner's book, with the important part obviously missing when their writings were reproduced for modern times. These were godly men that reproduced them and may not have realized the importance of the material which they left out, or they may have realized it would open Pandora's Box again, or perhaps they knew where the change would lead; that is "to things not easy to dispose of."
The Catholic Church had changed God's Holy days with her own pagan festivals, which were inherited by the Protestant forefathers down through the Dark Ages. We all know which pagan days are celebrated by our churches today- Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, and Halloween, Whit Sunday. In contrast, God's Holy Day's are Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles, and of course the weekly seventh day Sabbath.
The Big Switch
Exchanging God's feasts for Pagan feasts- "the skeleton in the closet"
With the help of a researcher, we were able to find Jones' complete interpretation of Galatians chapter 4, which was deleted from the republished book. This helped to find Waggoner's book also. His interpretation was very much like Jones. They showed that it was the pagan feasts and not God's feasts in verse 10. This would take away the leaders teaching that these were God's feasts and not those of the pagans. If these were God's feasts then they could connect them to the teaching of circumcision that the Judaizers were teaching the Galatians. This would allow them to put them in the ceremonial law and nail them to the cross. This is what most church leaders still teach today. Since Jones and Waggoner were correct in saying these were pagan feasts, it took the cover off the leaders wrong teaching all these years, past and present. After the disappointment in 1844, it appears the Adventists erased all evidence that they [the Seventh-Month Movement] once believed in the feasts. The more I search, the more evidence I find on this cover-up on the truth about our S.D.A. roots. This is Jones' writing on Galatians 4:8-11. [Both articles are here reproduced in full from the Archives.]
With the help of a researcher, we were able to find Jones' complete interpretation of Galatians chapter 4, which was deleted from the republished book. This helped to find Waggoner's book also. His interpretation was very much like Jones. They showed that it was the pagan feasts and not God's feasts in verse 10. This would take away the leaders teaching that these were God's feasts and not those of the pagans. If these were God's feasts then they could connect them to the teaching of circumcision that the Judaizers were teaching the Galatians. This would allow them to put them in the ceremonial law and nail them to the cross. This is what most church leaders still teach today. Since Jones and Waggoner were correct in saying these were pagan feasts, it took the cover off the leaders wrong teaching all these years, past and present. After the disappointment in 1844, it appears the Adventists erased all evidence that they [the Seventh-Month Movement] once believed in the feasts. The more I search, the more evidence I find on this cover-up on the truth about our S.D.A. roots. This is Jones' writing on Galatians 4:8-11. [Both articles are here reproduced in full from the Archives.]
Studies in Galatians- Galatians.4:8-11 by A.T. Jones
"How be it then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto ["were in bondage to," R. V. and Greek] them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain."
The Galatians, having been Gentiles, knew not God, and, accordingly, were in bondage to them which by nature were no gods at all. To them the gospel had been preached. They had believed the gospel, and so were delivered from bondage, and had received the adoption of sons of God, and were, therefore, no more bondmen, but sons; and, being sons, were heirs of God, through Christ. But the Pharisees which believed, knowing nothing of true faith and the freedom which Christ gives, had, come among the Galatians, with their perverted gospel, which was not the gospel at all, had confused them, and turned them from faith to works: from the Spirit to the flesh, as the means of justification, and the hope of salvation. Galatians 3:1-3.
But when the "Galatians were turned from faith to works, they did not stop with the works which the Pharisees recommended and urged. Having at first been heathen, and having now been driven back from faith to works, they took up their own heathen works, as well as the works which the Pharisees recommended. Having been turned from the Spirit to the flesh, it was only to be expected that they would do this: seeing that the ways of the heathen were more satisfying to their flesh than the ways of the Pharisees could be, because these were the things to which their flesh had formerly been accustomed.
This is certain from the very words of the text, in the inquiry: "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" The apostle had just stated that before they knew God, they were in bondage unto them which by nature are no gods, and now, having been turned from God, they turned AGAIN to those things, and AGAIN to that bondage. And, as seen in the former lesson, these elements whereunto they were formerly in bondage, and to which they were now AGAIN in bondage, were "the elements of the world:" and the only elements of the world are "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life: " the works of the flesh - in a word - are only sin.
Among these things in which they had formerly done service unto them which by nature are no gods, were the observances of certain days, and months, and times, and years: to the very things of the heathen which the Lord, even in ancient times, had condemned, as it is written: "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. (Don't pagan times have an evil spirit accommodating them?) For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect ["upright, or sincere," margin] with the Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee to do so." Deuteronomy 18:9-14.
In the Galatian backsliding some of these things had entered; for the text says: " Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years." Well enough, therefore, might Paul write: "I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain."
The one great lesson in this particular phase of the experience of the Galatians, is that there is no power but that which is in the "righteousness" of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, that can save any man from the evil that is naturally in him: there is no half-way ground between the way of the Spirit and the way of the flesh. Every man is either in the freedom of the Spirit and of the righteousness of God, or else in the bondage of the flesh and of sin." Review and Herald, 1900 #20.
Waggoner's comments on Heathen Bondage
Galatians 4:8-11
"The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, "Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led." 1Cor.12:2. Even so it was with the Galatians. To them he wrote, "Not knowing God, ye were in bondage to them which by nature are no gods." If this fact is borne in mind, it will save the reader from falling into some very common errors in opinion concerning this Epistle. The Galatians had been heathen, worshiping idols, and in bondage to the most degrading superstitions. Bear in mind that this bondage is the same as that which is spoken of in the preceding chapter -- they were "shut up" under the law. It was the very same bondage in which all unconverted persons are, for in the second and third chapters of Romans we are told that "there is no difference; for all have sinned." The Jews themselves, who did not know the Lord by personal experience, were in the same bondage,--the bondage of sin. "Every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin." John 8:34, R.V. And "he that committeth sin is of the devil." 1Joh.3:8. "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God." 1Cor.10:20. If a man is not a Christian, he is a heathen; there is no middle ground. If the Christian apostatizes, he immediately becomes a heathen. We ourselves once walked "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2), and we "were aforetime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another" (Titus 3:3, R.V.). So we also were "in bondage to them which by nature are no gods." The meaner the master, the worse the bondage. What language can depict the horror of being in bondage to corruption itself? Glad Tidings, E.J. Waggoner, 1900, Glad Tidings, p. 173.
In Love with Bondage
"Now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known of God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again?" Is it not strange that men should be in love with chains? Christ has proclaimed "liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." (Isaiah 61:1), saying to the prisoners, "Go forth," and to them that are in darkness, "Show yourselves" (Isaiah 49:9); yet men who have heard these words, and have come forth, and have seen the light of "the Sun of Righteousness," and have tasted the sweets of liberty, actually turn round and go back into their prison, submit to be bound with their old chains, even fondling them, and labor away at the hard treadmill of sin. Who has not had something of that experience? It is no fancy picture. It is a fact that men can come to love the most revolting things, even death itself; for Wisdom says, "All they that hate Me love death." Proverbs 8:36. In the Epistle to the Galatians we have a vivid picture of human experience. E.J. Waggoner, 1900, Glad Tidings, p.175.
Observing Heathen Customs
"Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years." This was an evidence of their bondage. "Ah," says someone, "they had gone back to the old Jewish Sabbath; that was the bondage against which Paul would warn us!" How strange it is that men have such an insane hatred of the Sabbath, which the Lord Himself gave to the Jews, in common with all other people on the earth, that they will seize upon every word that they think they can turn against it, although in order to do so they must shut their eyes to all the words that are around it! Anybody who reads the Epistle to the Galatians, and thinks as he reads, must know that the Galatians were not Jews. They had been converted from heathenism. Therefore, previous to their conversion they had never had anything to do with any religious custom that was practiced by the Jews. They had nothing whatever in common with the Jews. Consequently, when they turned again to the "weak and beggarly elements" to which they were willing again to be in bondage, it is evident that they were not going back to any Jewish practice. They were going back to their old heathen customs. "But were not the men who were perverting them Jews?"--Yes, they were. But remember this one thing, when you seek to turn a man away from Christ to some substitute for Christ, you cannot tell where he will end. You cannot make him stop just where you want him to. If a converted drunkard loses faith in Christ, he will take up his drinking habits as surely as he lives, even though the Lord may have taken the appetite away from him. So when these "false brethren"--Jewish opposers of "the truth of the Gospel" as it is in Christ--succeeded in seducing the Galatians from Christ, they could not get them to stop with Jewish ceremonies. No; they inevitably drifted back to their old heathen superstitions. E.J. Waggoner, Glad Tidings, p.175.
Forbidden Practices
Read the tenth verse again, and then read Deuteronomy18:10:
"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch." Now read what the Lord says to the heathen who would shield themselves from just judgment that is about to come upon them: "Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee." Isaiah 47:13. Here we see that the very things, to which the Galatians were returning, were forbidden by the Lord when He brought Israel out of Egypt. Now we might as well say that when God forbade these things He was warning the Israelites against keeping the Sabbath, as to say that Paul was upbraiding the Galatians for keeping it, or that he had any reference to it whatever. God forbade these things at the very time when He gave the commandment concerning Sabbath-keeping. So far back into their old ways had the Galatians gone that Paul was afraid lest all his labor on them had been in vain. They were forsaking God and returning to "the weak and beggarly elements of the world," which no reverent person can think of as ever having had any connection with God. They were changing their glory for "that which doth not profit" (Jeremiah2:11); for "the customs of the heathen are vain." E.J. Waggoner, Glad Tidings, p. 176.1.
Isn't it strange that these two writings were the missing items that were left out of the two edited and republished books of Jones and Waggoner?
These missing items were not accepted by the leaders, because Smith and Butler both taught the "Jewish feasts" were the ones in this chapter 4, which Smith and Butler said were nailed to the cross.
In checking Galatians 4 in the S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol.6 p. 967, it gives the idea that the Galatians had turned back to Judaism rather than back to their old heathen pagan festivals. They could not turn back to something they had never believed before becoming Christians.
Since Jones and Waggoner said these were the pagan feasts, that meant that God's feasts were still here and binding on all. This was the real difficulty in the pre-sessions. This then would bring in as a part of that "Righteousness" by Faith that was rejected in the main sessions. If they had been arguing over whether the statutes were a part of God's moral law, and the law displays the character of Christ, then it is plain to see where all of this could lead, and indeed they might all have "more on their hands that they could dispose of" even if they wanted to. This is the "skeleton" in our SDA closet all these years. The time has come to bring this out and clear up this long cover up of the truth on this subject. Because of this disagreement the subject of Righteousness by Faith was not going to be acceptable although Ellen White endorsed it many times.
At this point, let's look at the history concerning the feast days during the beginnings of our movement.
These missing items were not accepted by the leaders, because Smith and Butler both taught the "Jewish feasts" were the ones in this chapter 4, which Smith and Butler said were nailed to the cross.
In checking Galatians 4 in the S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol.6 p. 967, it gives the idea that the Galatians had turned back to Judaism rather than back to their old heathen pagan festivals. They could not turn back to something they had never believed before becoming Christians.
Since Jones and Waggoner said these were the pagan feasts, that meant that God's feasts were still here and binding on all. This was the real difficulty in the pre-sessions. This then would bring in as a part of that "Righteousness" by Faith that was rejected in the main sessions. If they had been arguing over whether the statutes were a part of God's moral law, and the law displays the character of Christ, then it is plain to see where all of this could lead, and indeed they might all have "more on their hands that they could dispose of" even if they wanted to. This is the "skeleton" in our SDA closet all these years. The time has come to bring this out and clear up this long cover up of the truth on this subject. Because of this disagreement the subject of Righteousness by Faith was not going to be acceptable although Ellen White endorsed it many times.
At this point, let's look at the history concerning the feast days during the beginnings of our movement.
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