Editor's note: Elaine Bowerman has done a fantastic work in showing EGW did not have a clue about Masons or Labor Unions. EGW just could not get it right about George Washington and his mother. EGW obviously did not know the truth about Washington's mother or she would not have written her lies as messages from God.
The point of the article was to show that EGW did not know what she was talking about in regards to Masons and Trade Unions. She condemned those that were Masons and told them they could not be sealed by God. Yet Pope EGW gave a dispensation to Wm. Miller a Mason. I do not belong to the Masons, nor do I promote their organization. I have a hard time believing anyone belonging to the Masonic Lodge will lose their souls as claimed by EGW. If they are Christians their salvation is faith in Christ alone.
Ellen G.
White’s Fallacies on
Free Masons And Trade Unions
Part 1: Ellen G.
White’s Fallacies on Free Masons
Part 2.
Ellen
White’s Fallacies on Labor Unions
and Confederacies
Ellen G.
White’s Fallacies on
Free Masons
Elaine Bowerman
PART 1
INTRODUCTION
Anyone who has ever been exposed to the doctrine of the Seventh-day Adventist Church quickly moves on to the teachings Ellen G. White, the ‘prophetess’ of the Church. As has been the case with most initiates to the Adventist faith, they soon discover that “the Bible and the Bible alone” is not the standard of their teachings; it is the writings of Mrs. White.
Over a period of seventy years, Ellen White recorded scenes and messages that God showed her in dreams and visions. Furthermore, according to Mrs. White, her angel guide presented to her the innermost secrets of people’s lives. Additionally she also saw many very important things that the New Testament writers and prophets of the Old Testament had not included in the Scriptures, - even under the guidance of the Holy Spirit!
No matter what subject, no matter what testimony she presented to the people, Mrs. White wielded “the sword of truth.” Today Adventists parrot the statement: “We have the truth,” and firmly believe it is their God-given duty to pass this “truth” to all people for their salvation. However, few Adventists actually know the lies and hypocrisy that remain hidden in Ellen White’s Testimonies and letters. How many perceive that Mrs. White’s lack of education led her to write contradictory or inaccurate statements about founders of our country, under the cloak of a “Thus saith the Lord”? How may Adventists realize that they are witnesses for a false faith, - one that stands on nothing more for a foundation than borrowed writings from learned scholars of her day?
ELLEN WHITE CLAIMED THAT HER MESSAGES WERE STRAIGHT FROM GOD
“The message the Lord has given me to bear has been in a straight line from light to light, upward and onward from truth to advanced truth.” -- Manuscript 29, 1897
“In my books, the truth is stated, barricaded by a ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ The Holy Spirit traced these truths upon my heart and mind as indelibly as the law was traced by the finger of God, upon the tables of stone, which are now in the ark, to be brought forth in that great day when sentence will be pronounced against every evil, seducing science produced by the father of lies.” -- Letter 90, 1906.
“My books will testify when my voice shall no longer be heard.” -- Letter 350, 1906.
With “the full power of God” behind her every statement, Mrs. White wields such power over the Church that to this day she can dictate every facet of member’s individual lives. She falsified statements about organizations, people, labor unions and Freemasons, and to this day, her writings instantly turn all church members away from these “abominations of God.”
DID SHE TRULY HAVE NEW LIGHT FOR THE CHURCH?
MRS. WHITE’S STATEMENTS ON SECRET SOCIETIES SUCH AS FREE MASONS
Sometime during the late 1880’s, Ellen White began communicating messages from God to the people about the evils of Freemasonry. She obsessed over this organization to the point where, in her mind, any one belonging to a Lodge could not remain a Christian. Below are a few of her statements on this subject.
“There are those who question whether it is right for Christians to belong to the FreeMasons and other secret societies. Let all such consider the scriptures just quoted. If we are Christians at all, we must be Christians everywhere, and must consider and heed the counsel given to make us Christians according to the standard of God's Word.” Should Christians Be Members of Secret Societies? pp.3-10. (1892)
“Those who stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel cannot be united with the Free Masons or with any secret organization. The seal of the living God will not be placed upon anyone who maintains such a connection after the light of truth has shone upon his pathway.” -- Letter 21, 1893.
IS FREEMASONRY A SECRET ORGANIZATION OR THE WORK OF THE DEVIL?
Any reputable author, writing on the origin of Freemasonry, will trace its history past the antiquities of Solomon’s Temple, to the grandeur of great pyramids of ancient Egypt. A number of writers have traced the first united endeavor of masons to the geometrically perfect building of the tower of Babel. * (see footnote at end of first section) Albert Pike’s philosophically massive work, Morals and Dogma (published in 1871, consisting of 861 pages, plus an exhaustive index of 218 pages) could have furnished Mrs. White with wondrous light on the Masonic Order. Had she chosen to read a few chapters before condemning the entire organization and individuals who were Masons, she could have easily found the strong relationship that exists between all Masons and God. Had Ellen White, for one moment, sought for the truth, she would have learned that the Masonic creed has always been: “ We believe in the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.”
Albert Pike, was a 33° Mason, the highest degree bestowed upon a member of the Craft, for exemplary work or humanitarian deeds. The volume of Pike was not the only book available on Masonry during the early years of Mrs. White’s condemnation. Many Masons wrote books of equal value on the subject of Masonry. These books are still available from stores who handle rare editions. My copy of Morals and Dogma is a very rare first edition.
OUR FOUNDING FATHERS
It is clear from her writings that Ellen White believed that the new America, which evolved after Revolutionary War, was clearly a Christian nation. She theorized that the founding fathers’ various religions were united in their doctrine that Christ was equal with God and the Creator of all things. Consequently, she decried the view of Deists, who believed in one God. Ellen White stated that God had revealed her that Deists were standing under the banner of Satan!
Mrs. White singled out the writings of Thomas Paine, a well-known Deist from the Revolutionary War era, for her heaviest criticism. She was totally ignorant of the fact that it was his brilliant document, Common Sense, which united early settlers to revolt against the intolerable acts levied on the colonists by King George III of England. Apparently, God pointed out to Mrs. White exactly how Satan used his servant Thomas Paine to deceive the people!
“Satan dictated much of Paine's writings, and it is an easy thing for him to dictate sentiments through his angels now, and make it appear that they come through Thomas Paine. This is the masterpiece of Satan. All this teaching, purporting to be from apostles and saints and wicked men who have died, comes directly from his satanic majesty.” Early Writings, p. 264.
THOMAS PAINE’S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS CAN BE EASILY DEFINED
|
“I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.” Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason. Is this not the very essence of the Masonic Creed? WERE PAINE’S WORDS DICTATED BY “HIS SATANIC MAJESTY”? The Resurrection of Thomas Paine, by Joseph Lewis, includes the following statement: “Let us for a moment, at least for this occasion, turn back the pages of history to April 19th, 1783. This is the day when the American Revolution came to a successful conclusion. On that day, when ‘the times that tried men’s souls’ was over, Thomas Paine stood, in the estimation of the American people, as the foremost patriot of his time. He was acclaimed the world over as the Apostle of Liberty. He was held in greater esteem than any other leader of that momentous and historic struggle.” Paine’s words in Common Sense aroused the colonists to War. However, it was his series The Crisis, which sustained the spirit of the Revolution after the Colonial armies had met with set back after set back. Lafayette, Washington, Samuel Adams and other leaders lay the success of the struggle at the feet of a humble Thomas Paine! Paine will always be remembered for his immortal words from his pamphlet The Crisis: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” That is, they will be remembered by all but Ellen White! MASONS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES |
“Some of the greatest names of the American Revolution were Masons: Ethan Allen, Edmund Burke, John Claypoole, William Daws, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, John Paul Jones, Robert Livingston, Paul Revere, Colonel Benjamin Tupper, and George Washington. Of the 56 signers of The Declaration of lndependence, eight were known Masons. . . Of the forty signers of the Constitution, nine were known Masons . . . And six more later became Masons.” Source: The Masonic Foundation of the United States.
“There were many other Masonic influences in early American history: (1) Lafayette, the French liaison to the Colonies, without whose aid the war could not have been won, was a Freemason; (2) the majority of the commanders of the Continental Army were Freemasons and members of "Army Lodges"; (3) most of George Washington's generals were Freemasons; the Boston Tea Party was planned at the Green Dragon Tavern, also known as the ‘Freemasons' Arms’ and ‘the Headquarters of the Revolution.’ (4) George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States by Robert Livingston, Grand Master of New York's Masonic lodge, and the Bible on which he took his oath was from his own Masonic lodge; and (5) the Cornerstone of the Capital Building was laid by the Grand Lodge of Maryland." Source: The Masonic History of the United States.
Many prominent leaders of the American Revolution were Deists, including John Quincy Adams, Ethan Allen, John Paul Jones, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, and George Washington. Deists played a major role in creating the principle of separation of church and state, and the religious freedom clauses of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
“Basic teachings and Beliefs of Deism: Deists believe that God is the creator of the universe, the architect of natural order, and the grantor of human rights, but that he does not interfere with humanity, or favor one individual, group, or nation over another. Deist belief eschews all elements of 'revealed' religion- that is, any religious laws or revelations offered by prophets or priests. Deists do not accept the idea of avatars or incarnated deities, angels, or messengers.” Source: Religioustolerance.org/deism.htm
The Green Dragon Tavern Laying the Cornerstone of the
Capitol Building
ELLEN WHITE’S
IGNORANCE ON HISTORICAL FACTS APPARENT
“It spite of Christian right attempts to rewrite history to make Jefferson into a Christian, little about his philosophy resembles that of Christianity. Although Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence wrote of the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God, there exists nothing in the Declaration about Christianity.
Although Jefferson believed in a Creator, his concept of it resembled that of the god of deism - the term ‘Nature's God’ used by deists of the time. The reader will find this expression in the opening words of The Declaration of Independence: July 4, 1776.
“The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America: ‘When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.’ ” Compiled by Jim Walker.
The Declaration of Independence breathes its very life from the pen of Thomas Jefferson – a Deist!
George Washington’s prayer before the Battle of Valley Forge encompasses the deistic beliefs in one God, while, at the same time, acknowledging the Christian belief in offering supplications through God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.
Historian James Thomas Flexner, quotes George Washington’s Religious Beliefs, in The Forge of Experience, Volume One - Pages 244-245:
“In 1793, Washington thus summarized the religious philosophy he was evolving during his Mount Vernon years. How happenings would ‘terminate is known only to the great ruler of events; and confiding in his wisdom and goodness, we may safely trust the issue to him, without perplexing ourselves to seek for that which is beyond human ken, only taking care to perform the parts assigned to us in a way that reason and our own conscience approve of.’ George Washington was, like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, a deist.”
ELLEN WHITE’S “INSIGHT” INTO THE FORMATION OF THE CHARACTER OF GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS MOTHER
In 1880, Mrs. White wrote: “George Washington An Example of Organization: Persons who have not acquired habits of close industry and economy of time, should have set rules to prompt them to regularity and dispatch. George Washington was enabled to perform a great amount of business because he was thorough in preserving order and regularity. Every paper had its date and its place, and no time was lost in looking up what had been mislaid.”--Gospel Workers, pp. 277, 278. (1880)
However, a mere seven years earlier, she gave full credit for his ethics to his Mother. In July 1873, Ellen White quoted an entire article for the Health Reformer, from The Young Lady’s Counselor, written by Methodist Minister Rev. Daniel Wise. The document opened with the following statement: “John Quincy Adams once paid the following precious tribute to his mother: ‘it is due to gratitude and nature that I should acknowledge and avow that such as I have been, whatever it was, such as I am, whatever it is, and such as I hope to be in all futurity, must be ascribed, under providence, to the precepts and example of my mother.’ The German philosopher Kant remarked, ‘I shall never forget that it was my mother who caused the good which is in me to fructify.’ ”
In the Health Reformer, April 1, 1880, Ellen White again quoted the 1873 introductory paragraph from the pen of Rev. Daniel Wise, - this time without the benefit of quotation marks or credit. She prefaced her plagiarized statement with an intimate glimpse of George Washington’s training at the hands of this mother, and concluded her article with a lengthy quotation about Washington’s Farewell to his key leaders from the Revolutionary War. The true author of this article remains unidentified, although his writing was in quotation marks. For the sake of brevity, I have not included Daniel Wise’s statements, which comprised paragraph 5.
“The training which the mother of Samuel gave her son, developed in him sterling moral worth, which connected him with God. If the mother of Washington had been a frivolous character, devoting the talents of her mind to the matters of dress and what she should eat and drink, her son George would not have become a man of firm will and moral power. His mother gave him the lessons which he carried into practical life. She inspired him with principles of stern integrity that would not be bribed. Health Reformer, April 1, 1880, par 4.
"Behold, for an example, a splendid scene enacted at the close of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis and his army had been captured; the revolution was successful. The great chief and officers of the victorious armies were assembled at a festival in honor of the victory. The spacious saloon [see picture below] was crowded. . . . . Presently the doors of the saloon open to admit a personage, whose entrance awakens universal attention. His figure is noble and commanding; his bearing dignified, without haughtiness; his expression lofty, but mild. He treads the floor with unaffected yet unsurpassed majesty. His presence kindles every eye and heart with rapturous enthusiasm. He is regarded with reverence, yet with affection--as a superior, and yet as a friend. He presents to their gaze the rare sight of a Christian soldier and an unambitious statesman . . . . . he is the man whose enduring fortitude, military, prowess, and overawing influence, had sustained the spirit of the revolution, crowned it with success, and earned for himself the glorious pre-eminence of being the ‘first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,’ for that personage was George Washington! Ibid. par. 6
"Never, perhaps, was homage more sincerely or heartily rendered to a man than by the brave and beautiful in that hall, and never was it more deserved. Nor is it possible to conceive of a purer, sweeter human joy, than that which swelled his bosom. There was another heart, however, that for in the homage and the joy of that occasion; leaning on the arm of the hero, in simple stateliness of mien, there walked the mother of Washington. She had trained him in his boyhood--taught him the principles, and developed the qualities which lay at the foundation of his greatness. It was her hands which had molded his character to symmetry and moral beauty. Her prayers, her influence, and her instructions had repressed the growth of evil qualities, and cultivated that divine life in his soul which led him to take counsel of the god of battles, --the ruler of nations. Her early influence over her son was understood and silently acknowledged in that gay assembly. Yea, her son had owned it, was proud of it. He laid his lofty honors at her feet, and prized her smile above the noisy voice of fame. Did she then experience a pleasure aught inferior to his? Who shall decide which bosom was the happiest on that triumphant day? The joy of Washington was great; the joy of his mother was at least equal. Would she have accomplished more, or tasted a sweeter pleasure, if, forsaking her sphere, she had mingled directly in the councils of the states and the movements of the camp? Impossible! She helped to achieve the Revolution--she shared the richest enjoyments of its success; but she did it through her heroic son--just as God would have every woman win her honors and rewards.” Ibid. Par 7
WHAT DOES HISTORY REVEAL ABOUT THE CHARACTER
OF GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOTHER?
James Thomas Flexner, George Washington's first biographer; was an authority on Mary Washington. He stated that “when she was not worrying about being poor, she was poking her nose into George’s business, and smoking a pipe.” Reprinted in The American Mason Magazine – September 2002
“Mary Washington, George's mother, left a more vivid impression, though it is rather grim. In her later years particularly (which lasted into her son's Presidency) she was stingy with praise and lavish with demands. During the Revolution, she encouraged a motion in the Virginia legislature to grant her a pension, which prompted Washington to send the Speaker of the House a mortified letter. `Before I left Virginia, I answered all her calls for money, and since that period, have directed my steward to do the same. Whence her distresses can arise, therefore, I know not . . . she has not a child that would not divide the last sixpence to relieve her’. . . . ‘Of the mother,’ a childhood friend of George's recalled, ‘I was ten times more afraid than of my own parents.’ Quotation from an unnamed childhood friend of Washington’s. . . . .” Brookhiser continues: “Washington's early life is too misty to understand the family dynamics. All that stands out is the lack of positively engaging parental figures, especially paternal ones.”
Mary Ball Washington Washington’s
Farewell Fraunces
Tavern
THE CASE OF ONE FALSE PROPHET COPYING FROM ANOTHER FALSE PROPHET --
ELLEN WHITE PILFERS VISIONS FROM JOSEPH SMITH
It should not surprise anyone who has followed the history of Ellen White’s seventy-year history of plagiarism, that she pilfered gross amounts of writings from the Mormon “prophet” Joseph Smith as a base for some of her many visions. One prime example of her unethical “borrowing” follows:
“I have often seen the lovely Jesus, that he is a person. I asked him if his Father was a person, and had a form like himself. Said Jesus, ‘I am in the express image of my Father's Person.’ ” Spiritual Gifts Vol.2, p. 74, -- 1845.
Please compare Mrs. White’s statement, which she obtained ‘hot off the press,’ with the words of Joseph Smith in Doctrines and Covenants, Section 130, pp. 237, 238. Vision April 2, 1843: “When the Savior shall appear, we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves. . . . The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also.” Verses 1 and 22.
Joseph Smith, a false prophet, was a Master Mason! Again, God failed to warn Ellen White of the dangers, not only of plagiarizing materials, but of using the writings of a Freemason, whose soul, she later learned, would be eternally lost. According to dire warnings given by her ‘accompanying angel,’ she placed her own soul in jeopardy by touching the unclean thing; therefore, she would not qualify for the seal of the living God or the Kingdom of Heaven! God’s last-day prophetess lost? Inconceivable!
JOSEPH SMITH’S MEMBERSHIP IN THE MASONIC ORDER
“With the acquiescence of the Prophet, members of the Church already Masons petitioned the Grand Master of Illinois for permission to set up a lodge in Nauvoo. In answer, they were granted permission, in October 1841, to hold lodge meetings; but it was March 15, 1842, before authority was given to set up a lodge in Nauvoo and to induct new members. Joseph Smith became a member.” Evidences and Reconciliations, Volume 1, pp. 357-358.
“I repeated to him the words spoken by my guide in reference to these associations. Giving a certain movement that was made by my guide, I said, ‘I cannot relate all that was given to me.’ Brother Faulkhead told Elder Daniells and others that I gave the particular sign known only by the highest order of Masons, which he had just entered. He said that I did not know the sign, and that I was not aware that I was giving the sign to him. This was special evidence to him that the Lord was working through me to save his soul.
“He said, ‘I shall receive the testimony; I shall heed its instruction.’ ” Letter 46, 1892, pp. 3, 4, & 10 (To Elder O. A. Olsen, December 13, 1892.) Manuscript 39, 1892 (Diary entry, December 13, 1892.)
A Message of Commendation – “I am very thankful to our gracious heavenly Father that He has given you strength through His imparted grace to cut yourself loose from the Free Mason lodge and all that relates to the society. It was not safe for you to have any part with this secret order. Those who stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel cannot be united with the Free Masons or with any secret organization. The seal of the living God will not be placed upon anyone who maintains such a connection after the light of truth has shone upon his pathway. ” Letter 21, 1893
ADVENTISTS SEND A MINISTERIAL GROUP
TO HONOR PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT
At the ministerial institute, in May 1905, “arrangements were made also for a delegation from the session to call on President Theodore Roosevelt to pay him the church's respects and to express to him the denomination's views and attitude toward civil government. The delegation of twenty ministers reported a satisfactory and profitable interview with the President. He expressed his appreciation for a parchment bearing an address from the session. He read it carefully while the delegation was there. The public press carried a copy of the message, which appeared also on the cover of the June 1 Review and Herald.” Volume 5 BIO p. 403.5.
Apparently, Ellen White’s dire warnings about Adventists having anything to do with the Masonic order were totally ignored by the delegation of twenty ministers who called on the President. Perhaps they were ignorant of the fact that he was a Master Mason! When his predecessor William McKinley -- also a Mason -- was assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th President of the United States. Roosevelt was also a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. His accomplishments in life, as well as his status as a Mason, were hardly unknown! He regularly attended Lodge meetings during his Presidency!
WILLIAM MILLER - A MASTER MASON
According to Webster’s Dictionary, a prophet is one “who delivers divine messages, or interprets the divine will, or one who foretells the future.” It is true that Ellen White did not receive “the prophetic gift” until shortly after the Great Disappointment in 1844. However, God’s will for His people has never changed throughout the history of the world. The vile and unclean things of yesteryear are the same today as they have always been. If God revealed to Ellen White the evils of Masonry in the mid-1880s, this was not “new light,” because these associations would have always been against His will. With Ellen White’s “close connection” to God, He could have easily prevented her from making the following irrefutable error in 1849! And despite her “enlightenment” in later years, she failed to correct her blunder, although the truth of William Miller’s membership in the Masonic Order has been a matter of public record, in print, since 1853.
“God suffered him [William Miller] to fall under the power of Satan, the dominion of death, and hid him in the grave from those who were constantly drawing him from the truth. Moses erred as he was about to enter the Promised Land. So also, I saw that William Miller erred as he was soon to enter the heavenly Canaan, in suffering his influence to go against the truth. Others led him to this; others must account for it. But angels watch the precious dust of this servant of God, and he will come forth at the sound of the last trump.” Early Writings p. 258.
In 1846, Ellen White received her vision about the sacredness of the Fourth Commandment and the necessity of keeping the Sabbath. William Miller was aware of this revelation on the Sabbath, for he did not die until December 20, 1849. Ellen White chose to blame others for his refusal to accept the new light from her visions. However, her statement is in total disagreement with what God later revealed to her about those who failed to sever all ties with the Masonic Order or observe the Sabbath: “The seal of the living God will not be placed upon anyone who maintains such a connection after the light of truth has shone upon his pathway.” God further informed her that “unless he [Faulkhead] severed every tie that bound him to these associations he would lose his soul.” In another terse warning, God clearly showed Ellen White that “Christian unity is not FreeMasonry.”
In 1853, Sylvester Bliss noted in his Memoirs of William Miller, pp. 21, 22: “It was here [Poultney, Vermont] that Miller became a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which his perseverance, if nothing else, was manifested; for he advanced to the highest degree which the lodges in the country, or in any in that region, could confer.”
There it is, for all Adventists of our day to see! William Miller, father of the early Advent movement, was a Master Mason! Has anyone denounced or challenged Ellen White’s negative views on Masons as falsehoods? No! Even the most enlightened Adventists have chosen to overlook her contradictory statement about angels watching over the dust of William Miller until the resurrection of the righteous, much in the same manner that they have deliberately overlooked her other fabrications and plagiarizing. The question remains: Was Ellen White a true prophet of the Lord, or did she spend seventy years marching to the beat of a different drummer? She stands convicted by her own words: If you are not under the bloodstained banner of Christ, then Satan is your leader.
*Footnote – Part I: Although a Deist or Humanist, Thomas Paine was not a Freemason, according to most sources. However, The American Mason Magazine, September 2004, carried a lengthy article on “Brother Thomas Paine.” Paine was famous for his dissertation, The Age of Reason. The Third Chapter was entitled, “The Origin of Free-Masonry.” The introduction to this chapter begins as follows: “The original institution of Masonry consisted in the foundation of the liberal arts and sciences, but more especially in Geometry, for at the building of the tower of Babel, the art and mystery of Masonry were first introduced, . . . and [later] communicated to Hiram, the Master Mason concerned in building Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.” This period of time obviously spans the transcends the era of the Flood. This is where the theory of the Seven Principles of Noahic or Noahide Laws enter.
PART II
Ellen
White’s Fallacies on Labor Unions
and Confederacies
MORE LIGHT FOR THE CHURCH?
MRS. WHITE’S STATEMENTS ON UNIONS AND CONFEDERACIES
During the same era, the 1880’s, when Ellen White began receiving communications from God on the evils of Masonry, she was also the recipient of numerous messages on the hazards of forming confederacies and joining labor unions. Below are a few of her statements on this subject.
“No confederacies are to be formed among our own people after the manner and customs of the world. I was shown especially the dangers in doing this. The world is not to be our criterion.” 1888 Materials, pg. 926.
“A Christian influence should pervade our schools, our sanitariums, our publishing houses. Under the direction of Satan, confederacies are being formed, and will be formed to eclipse the truth by human influence. Those who join these confederacies can never hear the welcome, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’ " Review and Herald, August 17, 1897.
“For years I have been given special light that we are not to center our work in the cities. The turmoil and confusion that fill these cities, the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are seeking to bring those engaged in the different trades under bondage to certain unions. . . We are not to unite with secret societies or with trades unions.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, p. 84 (1902).
“Satanic agencies are becoming more determined in their rebellion against God. The trade unions will be the cause of the most terrible violence that has ever been seen among human beings.” --Letter 99, 1904, p. 3. (To J. E. White and wife, February 23, 1904.) Note: This announcement supercedes her previous statements that the papacy and false Protestant Churches will be guilty of the same crime!
“The time is fast coming when the controlling power of the labor unions will be very oppressive” – Letter 5, 1904.
"The question has been asked, What do you mean by a confederacy? Who have formed confederacies? You know what a confederacy is--a union of men in a work that does not bear the stamp of pure, straightforward, unswerving integrity."--Ms 29, 1911.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe plunged into the era known as the Dark Ages, - a period designated in history as taking place between A. D. 476 and 750. It was during this time that the barbarian Germanic peoples ravaged Western civilization. Europe’s emergence from these oppressive times came gradually; history records the enlightenment in many facets of medieval life, including excellence in workmanship. As time progressed, weavers, glove makers, goldsmiths, bakers, shoe makers and other craftsmen banned together into Guilds – the forerunners of labor or trade unions -- and set standards for their wares. It was only after a merchant had perfected his craft to the high standards as set forth by individual Guilds, that he became a master craftsman and could then move freely about large cities to sell his wares. It was only through Guilds that prices were standardized and wages were equitably set. Eventually a system was set up for the care of widows and children of Guild members who died.
Moving on to the early 1800’s in the United States, many Guilds, now called labor unions, sprang up. Before Ellen White’s birth, various unions were organized. In 1805, the Cordwinder’s Union included a “closed shop” clause in its constitution. In 1806, Shoemakers, not yet unionized, struck for higher wages; and in 1825, two years before Mrs. White’s birth, The United Tailoresses of New York established a union in New York City. In 1827, the year Ellen was born, the Merchant’s Union of Trade Associations, made up of skilled craftsmen from different trades, established a powerful union in Philadelphia. Year after year, unions grew in number and working conditions improved. In 1840, President Martin Van Buren established the 10-hour working day for public works. In 1848, Pennsylvania passed a child labor law, making twelve the minimum age for workers in commercial occupations. In 1864 Samuel Gompers established the Cigar Maker’s Union, and implemented the first assembly line in manufacturing. In 1867, the Knights of St. Crispin, a union for the shoemaker’s industry, was established. In 1868, the Federal Government passed a law, which limited work to an eight-hour day. These are only a few of the unions established between 1800 and 1893. It is true, however, that some violence did occur between 1886 and 1893 when various unions clashed with local authorities. Nevertheless, labor unions did more good for the nation than harm. It was completely ludicrous for Ellen White to state that Satan controlled unions, confederacies and FreeMasons, and that members of these associations would lose their souls and not receive the seal of the living God
MRS. WHITE OVERLOOKS THE OBVIOUS
On her trip to Italy in 1886, Mrs. White wrote of the hardships imposed on young children who worked to help support families; yet she failed to praise her own country for putting an end to child labor, through the passing of Child Labor laws as early as 1848.
“Life in Italy, with all except the wealthy, is a hard battle. . . The children are taught to work almost from infancy. We met little ones not more than six years old walking and knitting as busily and intelligently as women of sixty. And many at the tender age of seven or eight are placed in factories, or set to work in stone quarries.” Historical Sketches, 1886
SUMMARY OF PARTS I AND II
One cannot help but wonder why God failed to bring forth prophets during the earliest times of Biblical History, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance periods to warn people of the dangers of trade unions, confederacies and the Masonic Order? God Himself sent Hiram, a master mason, to direct the building of Solomon’s Temple. The Old Testament is replete with books by famous prophets who warned men of the sins of Sodom, Gomorrah, Nineveh, Babylon and ancient Rome. The New Testament surpasses the Old because Jesus, the Son of God, came in person to teach men His Father’s ways, and left Apostles, Disciples and great multitudes of Christians to carry on His earthly work. One must also wonder why Ellen White was the first “enlightened” person since the death of Jesus, almost two thousand years ago, to receive testimony directly from God about the evils of these organizations! The answer is simple. Because the warnings were of her own devising and not from any higher source!