Investigating Ellen G. White #2: A Disappointing Start (in Taglish)

Kapag iniisip natin ang kasaysayan ng Adventism, hindi puwedeng hindi mabanggit ang nangyari noong October 22, 1844—yung tinatawag na Great Disappointment. Maraming Millerites ang bumalik na lang sa dati nilang trabaho, at karamihan sumuko na sa ideya ng prediksyon ni William Miller. Pero hindi lahat. Isa sa mga nanatili ay si Ellen Harmon (na kalaunan naging si Ellen G. White).

Ayon sa kanya, pinakita raw ng Diyos sa kanya na malapit na talaga ang pagbabalik ni Cristo. Kaya nag-travel siya sa buong northeastern U.S. para ikuwento ang kanyang mga “visions.” Ang problema, mixed ang naging reactions. Meron na-encourage, pero marami rin ang nag-doubt.

Isang eyewitness nga ang nagsabi:

“I cannot endorse sister Ellen’s visions as being of divine inspiration... I think that what she and you regard as visions from the Lord, are only religious reveries, in which her imagination runs without control upon themes in which she is most deeply interested. While so absorbed in these reveries, she is lost to everything around her.”[1]

Kahit pamilya mismo ni Ellen, duda. At mismong si Ellen umamin na marami ang nagsasabi na ang visions niya ay dahil lang sa “excitement and mesmerism” imbes na galing sa Diyos.[2]

Mga Early Visions: Echoes of Others

Isa sa mga nakasaksi, si Isaac Wellcome, isang Adventist minister, nagkuwento ng ganito:

“Ellen G. Harmon...was strangely exercised in body and mind... falling to the floor... in meetings she would speak with great vehemence and rapidity until falling down... She claimed to have seen that Christ had left the office of mediation and assumed that of Judge, had closed the door of mercy, and was blotting out the names, from the book of life... These visions were but the echoes of Elder [Joseph] Turner and others’ preaching, and we regard them as the product of the overexcited imagination of her mind, and not as facts.”[3]

In short, sabi ni Wellcome: inuulit lang daw ni Ellen ang preaching ni Joseph Turner.

The Failed Prophecies of 1845

Taong 1845, nakilala ni Ellen si James White, na kalaunan naging asawa niya. Nag-travel sila, nag-preach na malapit na raw ang pagbabalik ni Cristo. Ang problema? Nag-prophesy si Ellen na darating si Lord sa June 1845. Wala. Move to September. Wala ulit.

Ayon kay Lucinda Burdick, isang minister’s wife:

“She pretended God showed her things which did not come to pass... At one time she saw that the Lord would come the second time in June 1845... After June passed... she replied that ‘they told her in the language of Canaan, and she did not understand the language...’ September passed, and many more have passed since, and we have not seen the Lord yet.”[4]

Classic move—pag pumalpak, shift the explanation.

At kahit pumalpak, tuloy pa rin ang preaching ng Whites.

Marriage and More Failures

Ironically, noong una, ayaw pa ni James White magpakasal kasi daw “denial of the faith” iyon:

“We look upon it as a wile of the devil. The firm brethren in Maine who are waiting for Christ to come have no fellowship with such a move.”[5]

Pero dahil nagta-travel silang dalawa na hindi kasal, napilitan din silang ikasal para daw iwas “appearance of evil.”

Ang problema, hindi natigil ang mga failed visions. Ayon ulit kay Burdick, nag-prophesize daw si Ellen na maaaresto sila at makukulong, pero wala naman talagang nangyari. Kaya dumami lalo ang mga nag-turn against her.[6]

The Influence of Joseph Bates

At dito papasok si Captain Joseph Bates, isang retired sea captain na respected sa Adventist circles. Noong una, duda rin siya kay Ellen, iniisip na baka dahil lang sa kanyang brain injury kaya may visions siya. Pero nagbago ang lahat nang ma-timingan siya ni Ellen ng “astronomy vision.”

Habang nagvi-vision si Ellen, sinabi niyang:

“I see four moons.”

Sabi ni Bates, “Oh, she is viewing Jupiter!”

Tapos sumunod:

“I see seven moons.”

Sabi ulit ni Bates, “She is describing Saturn.”[7]

Para kay Bates, jackpot ito—lalo na’t mahilig siya sa astronomy. Kaya naging supporter na siya. Pero problema, later discoveries proved na mali si Ellen. Jupiter pala may at least 16 moons at may rings, at parehong Jupiter at Saturn, hindi tirahan ng “tall, majestic people” gaya ng sabi niya.

String of Failures

Kasunod nito, nagpatuloy pa rin ang failed prophecies ni Ellen at James. Example:

• 1849 – Ellen predicted na ang pestilence ay magiging worldwide at “soon the dead and dying will be all around us.”[8] Wala namang nangyari.

• 1850 – sinabi niyang “time is almost finished” at dapat ready na lahat kasi ilang buwan na lang daw natitira.[9] Wala pa rin.

• 1851 – end of Bates’ seven-year testing period. Siyempre, wala pa rin.

Dahil dito, kailangan ni James White mag-edit ng mga lumang articles para itago ang failed predictions.

The Last Prediction (1856)

Noong 1856, Ellen gave her last specific prediction:

“I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: ‘Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus.’”[10]

Obvious na fail din ito—lahat ng nasa conference, matagal nang namatay. Pero in-explain ng SDA leaders na “conditional prophecy” lang daw iyon.

Celibacy Testimony (1884)

After decades, Ellen gave another shocking statement—calling for celibacy among Adventists:

“The time has come when, in one sense, they that have wives be as though they had none.”[11]

Grabe. Sobrang chaos ang naging epekto nito. May mga ministers na nag-confess na hindi na raw nila kayang umuwi sa asawa nila kasi baka matukso sila. Eventually, tinago ng White Estate ang manuscript hanggang 1980s.

Conclusion: A Rough Start

Kung tutuusin, Ellen’s first decade as a “prophetess” was a disaster—full of failed predictions, angry reactions, and questionable visions. At imbes na magpakumbaba, she often condemned her critics as “damned and lost.”

Hindi nakapagtataka na maraming na-turn off. Sa totoo lang, mukhang mas marami pang damage ang nagawa ng kanyang early ministry kaysa encouragement.

At gaya ng sabi ng mismong kasaysayan: it was a disappointing start.

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References

1. James White, Word to the Little Flock, 1847, 22.

2. Ellen White, Early Writings, 21.

3. Isaac Wellcome, History of the Second Advent Message (Yarmouth, Maine: Advent Christian Publication Society, 1874); Jacob Brinkerhoff, The Seventh-day Adventists and Mrs. White's Visions (Marion, Iowa: Advent and Sabbath Advocate, 1884), 4–6.

4. Miles Grant, An Examination of Mrs. Ellen White's Visions (Boston: Advent Christian Publication Society, 1877).

5. James White, 1846. Quoted in Arthur Patrick (La Sierra University), “Ellen White, the Adventist Church, and its Religion Teachers: A Call for Transformed Relationships.”

6. Ibid.

7. Mrs. Truesdail’s letter, Jan 27, 1891.

8. Ellen White, Present Truth, Sept. 1849.

9. Ellen White, Early Writings, 64–67.

10. Ellen White, Testimonies, Vol. 1, 131.

11. Ellen White, MS 34, 1885; acknowledged in W.C. White and D.E. Robinson, “Counsels Regarding Parenthood” (DF 360A, 1930s).

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