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Gary Land
Seventh-Day Adventism and Legalism
Seventh-day Adventism had emerged out of the debacle of William Miller's prediction that Jesus would return m 1844 5 In the confusion following the "Great
Disappointment," a group of Sabbatarian Adventists arose which gradually embraced several distinctive beliefs, among them the idea that m 1844 Christ had entered the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary to begm a fmal work preparatory for His return, the obligation to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath, and the divme
inspiration of Ellen G White Growmg slowly, the Sabbatarian Adventists organized the Seventh-day Adventist Church between 1861 and 1863, expanded westward m the United States, and m 1874 sent their first missionary abroad By the
mid-1890s, the church had about 40,000 members m America, the bulk of them in
the Great Lakes and plams states Another 7,000 members existed abroad, about
half of whom lived m Europe 6
Although m its Millente phase, Adventism had helped brmg premillennialsm mto prommence, the 1844 experience discredited Miller's histoncist approach
to biblical prophecy With the adoption of dispensationahsm m the late nineteenth
century by most premillenniahsts, Seventh-day Adventismwhich mamtamed
Miller's histoncismwas considerably isolated from other conservative Protestants, a situation exacerbated by its several distinctive doctrines and separatist
outlook 7
Durmg most of the denomination's first half-century of existence, Adventist
theology focused primarily on the nearness of the premillennial second advent
and the necessity of keepmg God's commandments Although most members
probably would not have accepted the designation, Richard W Schwarz comments that many readers of an 1872 statement of Seventh-day Adventist beliefs
prepared by Uriah Smith, editor of the Review and Herald, "might well have received the impression that Adventists were 'legalists ' The emphasis seemed to be
on what man must do rather than on what Christ had done and would do m and
through his followers " 8 Beginning m the mid-1880s, however, primarily through
the efforts of two young mmistersAlonzo Jones and Eilet J Waggonera new
5
For the history of the Millente movement, see George R Knight, Millennial Fever and the End
of the World (Boise Pacific Press, 1993) See also Gary Land, "The Historians and the
Millentes An Histonographical Essay," m William Miller and the Advent Crisis, Everett
Dick, ed Gary Land (Berrien Sprmgs, Mich Andrews University Press, 1994)
6
For the history of Seventh-day Adventism, see Gary Land, ed, Adventism in America A
History, 2nd ed , (Berrien Sprmgs, Mich Andrews University Press, 1998), and Richard W
Schwarz and Floyd Greenleaf, Light Bearers A History of the Seventh day Adventist Church, rev
ed ( Nampa, Idaho Pacific Press, 2000)
7
For analysis of dispensahonahsm's development, see Ernest R Sandeen, The Roots of
Fundamentalism British and American Millenarianism, 1800-1930 (Chicago University of
Chicago Press, 1970), George M Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture The Shaping
of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925 (New York Oxford University Press, 1980)
Timothy Weber, Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming American Premillenniahsm,
1875-1982, enl ed, (Grand Rapids, Acadmie Books, 1983), and Paul S Boyer, When Time
Shall be No More Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture (Cambridge, Mass Belknap Press
of Harvard University Press, 1992)
8
Schwarz and Greenleaf, Light Bearers, 175
Despite its importance to Adventism, there is no full scholarly study of the 1888 controver
sy over "righteousness by faith/' For a brief account, see Schwarz and Greenleaf, Light
Bearers, 175-88. More extensive treatments include A. V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory: From
the Minneapolis Meeting to the Reorganization of the General Conference (Washington, D.C.:
Review and Herald Publishing, 1966); George R. Knight, From 1888 to Apostasy: The Case of
. Jones (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Publishing, 1987), 23-74; George R. Knight,
Angry Saints: Tensions and Possibilities in the Adventist Struggle Over Righteousness by Faith
(Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Publishing, 1989); Woodrow W. Whidden II, Ellen
White on Salvation: A Chronological Study (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Publishing,
1995), 69-115; and George R. Knight, A User Friendly Guide to the 1888 Message (Hagerstown,
Md.: Review and Herald Publishing, 1998).
10
Dennis Pettibone provides a brief history of "The Sunday Law Movement" in The World of
Ellen G. White, ed. Gary Land (Washington, D C : Review and Herald Publishing, 1987),
113-28. For a more extensive treatment, see Dennis Lynn Pettibone, "Caesar's Sabbath: The
Sunday-law Controversy in the United States, 1879-1892" (Ph.D. diss., University of Cali
fornia-Riverside, 1979).
n
Knight, From 1888 to Apostasy, 89-103; Gilbert M. Valentine, The Shaping of Adventism: The
Case ofW. W. Prescott (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 1992), 60-61.
12
Knight, From 1888 to Apostasy, 104-12; Valentine, The Shaping of Adventism, 63-65.
Gary Land
Seventh-Day Adventism and the Holiness Movement
Although Adventists apparently continued to give some attention to the Holy
Spirit after 1894, most obviously at the 1897 Pennsylvania camp meeting, it did not
agam emerge to prommence until Ballenger began promoting "Receive Ye the
Holy Ghost" at camp meetings m the late summer of 1897 and m Battle Creek that
fall From that pomt on, however, Adventist preaching focused to a great degree
on the need to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost Significantly, this Adventist
revival reflected the Holmess movement that was gaining strength m the United
States durmg the last two decades of the nineteenth century 13 Emphasizmg sanc
tification, Holmess preachers called for Christians to experience the "second bless
ing" or "entire sanctification," through "baptism of the Holy Spirit," and prayed
for the "latter ram "
Ballenger had promoted A Jones's preaching m 1893 and therefore was
aware of the Holmess and revival themes m Adventism from that time forward
In addition to his acquamtance with Adventist usage of such Holmess terminolo
gy as the "latter ram" and "baptism of the Holy Spirit," that had appeared m the
1892-93 revival, it is apparent through quotations that Ballenger used m an article
published during the summer of 1897,14 that at a minimum he knew of two
Holmess books from outside Adventism A J Gordon's How Christ Came to Church
(1895) and John MacNeil's The Spirit-Filled Life (1896)15 Although what other
books Ballenger might have read or preachers he might have heard is not known,
it may be significant that J Wilbur Chapman, a Presbyterian evangelist, had pub
lished Received Ye the Holy Ghost7 in 1894 1 6 Furthermore, much of Ballenger's per
spective and terminology paralleled that of the Holmess literature written by such
men as Gordon, A M Hills, and A Simpson 1 7 Finally, it is apparent that Adven13
For the history of the Holiness movement, see Vmson Synon, The Holiness Pentecostal
Movement in the United States (Grand Rapids Eerdmans, 1971), 13-54, Robert Mapes
Anderson, Vision of the Disinherited The Making of American Pentecostahsm (New York Oxford
University Press, 1979), 28-46, Melvm Easterday Dieter, The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth
Century, Studies m Evangelicalism, no 1 (Metuchen, J Scarecrow Press, 1980), and Charles
Edwm Jones, Perfectionist Persuasion The Holiness Movement and American Methodism,
1867-1936, ATLA Monograph Series, no 5 (Metuchen, J Scarecrow Press, 1974) George
Knight comments on the relationship of the Adventist revivals of this period to the Holmess
movement m From 1888 to Apostasy, 168
14
A F B[allenger], "The Fourth Century and the Nineteenth Century," American Sentinal, 12
August 1897 504-505
15
A J Gordon, How Christ Came to Church, The Pastor's Dream A Spiritual Autobiography with
the Life-story, and the Dream as Interpreting the Man by A Pierson (Philadelphia American
Baptist Publication Society, 1895), John MacNeil, The Spirit-Filled Life, intro by Andrew
Murray (Chicago The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1896)
16
J Wilbur Chapman, Received Ye the Holy Ghost7 (1894) reprinted m Late Nineteenth Century
Revivalist Teachings on the Holy Spirit, The Higher Christian Life Sources for the Study of the
Holmess, Pentecostal, and Keswick Movements, no 12, ed Donald W Dayton (New York
Garland Publishing, 1985)
17
For a historical analysis of the Holmess movement's theology, see Donald W Dayton,
Theological Roots of Pentecostahsm, foreword by Martin E Marty (Grand Rapids Francis
Asbury Press, 1987)
Gary Land
the plams states and Midwest durmg the summer Acknowledging "conflict,"
"fierce battles," and desertions to "the enemy's ranks," he nonetheless said that
there had been no defeats and that victory over every sm continued to be preached
When the General Conference session took place m February, 1899, at South
Lancaster, Massachusetts, Ballenger preached two sermons which reiterated the
themes of his revival tour Believing that the new emphasis on the Holy Spirit developed out of the "righteousness by faith" theology brought to the fore m 1888,
he stated,
The truth that God gave us some time ago through Brethren Jones and Waggoner, and the
truth that he is giving through them now, is summed up m the two sentences Something to
tell, power to tell it Righteousness by faith furnishes a man something to tell, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit furnishes him power to tell it m a mighty power to the world 23
"Righteousness by faith was given us of God to stop our sinning," he urged 2 4
After the conference closed, Ballenger held further meetings at South Lancaster, where one participant reported that he gave "'the straight testimony' m the
power of the Holy Ghost " Through the sprmg and summer of 1899 Ballenger
agam traveled the country, preaching m churches and camp meetings "Devoid of
every semblance of excitement and personal magnetism," the Review and Herald
stated regardmg the Marne camp meeting, "the work of 'house cleaning' went
deep and thorough till the entire camp moved forward as one man to receive the
Holy Ghost " 2 5 Clearly, Ballenger still preached "Receive Ye the Holy Ghost" with
dramatic results throughout 1899 As L A Hoopes, secretary of the General Conference, wrote to an enquirer, "I appreciate what you say with reference to Brother
Ballenger 's work He does give the message a certam ring, and I know the work is
very much appreciated " 2 6
Although Ballenger was the leadmg figure promoting reception of the Holy
Ghost at Adventist camp meetings and churches, he was by no means alone The
camp meeting and other reports appearmg in the Review and Herald durmg these
years reveal a widespread emphasis on this theme As noted previously, Ballenger
said that his own work m Oregon m early 1898 was easier because "Receive ye the
Holy Ghost" had already been extensively preached there While some of the reports of camp meetings durmg the summer of 1897 refer to the working of the
Holy Spirit and probably reflect the developing Holmess thrust, the first specifically Holmess language, apart from Ballenger 's report of the Pennsylvania camp
meeting, appears m the report of the Colorado camp meeting, held m early
October Among the subjects were "the latter ram, and the reception of the Holy
Spirit " 2 7 From this pomt on, nearly every issue of the paper reflected the belief
that the Holy Spirit was at work withm the Adventist community of believers A
few examples will illustrate
23
From Virginia, it was reported that the speaker leading a study on the "Spirit of
God" would stop when the Spirit came in a "marked manner" as "the brethren and
sisters would rise and begin to confess their sins, and in some instances to praise
the Lord. Many praised God that we are in the time of the outpouring of his
Spirit."36 Although the foregoing represent only a scattered sampling of the camp
meeting and other reports appearing in the church paper, they clearly suggest that
emphasis on and experience of the Holy Spirit was appearing within Adventism
in virtually all parts of the United States throughout 1898. As Mrs. S.M.I. Henry,
who had spent fifty-eight days traveling and speaking at camp meetings,37 stated
after conducting a revival at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, "Light was
28
29
J. H. Haughey, "In the Schools: South Lancaster Academy," RH, 15 February 1898: 111.
30
31
32
33
34
Geo. A. Irwin, "Camp-Meetings in Iowa and Minnesota," RH, 21 June 1898: 398.
35
36
37
Gary Land
breaking Prayer breathed everywhere, and as the service progressed, we had the
same kmd of outpouring of the Holy Spirit that has marked so many of the Sabbath
mornings on the camp-grounds " 3 8
The following year, 1899, saw a similar experience, as reports came to the Review and Herald that the Holy Spirit was bemg poured out on Adventist churches
and camp meetings At the Black Hills camp meeting "everything was left open to
the dictates of the Holy Spirit," with the result that "the sweet gentle Spirit of the
Lord came m
and men, women, and children were separating themselves from
sin, those from without [not Seventh-day Adventists], looking on, said that surely
this was genume Christianity Not a wave of excitement could be seen, but a clearing of the King's highway for the Holy Ghost message " 3 9 From sparsely populated Arizona, C D M Williams, who worked among the "Spanish-speaking
people," wrote that "it is time not only to receive the Holy Ghost, but to give the
message with a power and zeal never before known to our people " 4 0 Lookmg
back on her summer camp meeting tour, S M I Henry commented, "There is a
thirst for the conscious presence of the Holy Spirit among our people " Perhaps
F D Starr spoke for many Adventists when he wrote m early 1900, that the
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost" message had seemed to him "dark, incomprehensible, and rather unwelcome," but then he had been conquered by the "power of
love " "I am thankful that before the message 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' passes
forever from the pages of the REVIEW," he concluded, "and from the sanctuary
above, the tidings have become welcome to me " 4 1
As noted previously, Ballenger reported healings at some of his meetings
While such healing does not seem to have become a major element of the Adventist
Holmess revival, such experiences occasionally appeared m the church papers and
seem to have been accepted as one of the manifestations of the Spirit's work In
Virginia, for mstance, the "Holy Sprit was present with wonderful power at one
meeting when a paralyzed woman began to walk up and down the isle, praising
God for deliverance " 4 2 One Michigan mmister reported that "some accepted the
Saviour as a power not only to keep them from sinning, but also as a healer of their
bodily infirmities," and then described the cure of a young woman from a "running scrofulous sore m the neck" and accompanying deafness 4 3 In Kentucky, after "the Lord took charge of the meeting the calm, tender Spirit was present
and
all over the room shouts of praise were heard One sister suffermg with spmal trouble
requested prayer, and several short prayers were offered She arose, saymg,
'The pam is all gone " , 4 4 Although such experiences were not entirely new to
Adventism, the denomination had long emphasized healthful living rather than
dramatic healmgs, under the influence of the "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" move38
For Jones's background, see Knight, From 1888 to Apostasy, 15-158. Jones was first listed as
co-editor with Uriah Smith in RH, 5 October 1897: 632. See also, Directors, "Important
Announcement," F(H, 5 October 1897: 640.
46
These editorials are unsigned, but their style and content are clearly that of Jones.
47
48
The first editorial to end with this phrase was "Will You Receive, Or Will You Grieve, the
Holy Spirit?" RH, 16 November 1897: 728.
Gary Land
although like other Adventists he does not seem to have used "second blessing"
49
terminology "Instead of bemg required to be perfect m order to receive the Holy
50
Spirit," he wrote, "we must receive the Holy Spirit m order to be perfect " As the
Holy Spirit enters into our life, he consumes sin and we become a "partaker of his
51
holmess "
References to the Holy spirit consuming sm and bestowmg "the disposition,
52
the character of the Lord," suggest that Jones may have believed that the bap
tism of the Holy Spirit eradicates the human disposition to sm But it seems more
likely that he understood the work of the Holy Spirit as a countervailing power to
the force of sm m one's life that over time brings one mto conformity with God's
w i l l 5 3 In a sermon preached at the General Conference session of 1899, for in
stance, Jones stated that perfection was a dynamic process, that we can be perfect
at the beginning but move toward its ultimate expression
This is to be accomplished m you and me by growth, but there can be no growth where
there is no life This is growth m the knowledge of God, growth m the wisdom of God, growth
m the character of God, growth in God, therefore it can be only by the life of God But that
life is planted m the man at the new birth He is born agam, born of the Holy Ghost, and
the life of God is planted there, that "he may grow up, mto him"m how much 7 "In all
thmgs " 5 4
Jones's Adventism became particularly clear when he defmed this holmess as
the keepmg of God's commandments, although accomplished through the power
of the spirit rather than human effort
And "this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments " And as all his command
ments are righteousness, as the keepmg of his commandments is the manifestation of the
love of God m the life, and as this love of God is shed abroad m the life by the Holy Ghost,
this is the righteousness of the law, which is fulfilled m us, who walk not after the flesh but
after the Spirit 55
"The keepmg of the commandments of God," Jones unequivocally asserted, "is the
great object of the gift of the Holy Ghost " 5 6
Nonetheless, Jones believed, baptism of the Holy Spirit accomplished more
for the believer than outward conformity with God's law Although his language
was often vague, perhaps because he was attempting to express the inexpressible,
Jones understood that through the Holy Spirit an intimate relationship developed
between the Christian and God "To have the Spirit of Christ," he wrote, "is to have
49
Gary Land
67
O n the relationship between premillenniahsm and Holiness, see Dayton, Theological Roots
of Pentecostahsm, 163-66
68
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 13 December 1898 798
69
See Mary Henry Rossiter, My Mother s Life The Evolution of a Recluse, ntro by John H
Vincent (Chicago Fleming H Rveil, 1900), Margaret Rossiter White, The Whirlwind of the
Lord The Story ofMrs SMI Henry (Washington, D C Review and Herald Publishing, 1953),
"Sister S M I Henry," RH, 23 January 1900 64, and "Henry, Sarepta Myrenda (Irish),"
Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, Commentary Reference Series, vol 10 (Washmgton, D C
Review and Herald Publishing, 1966), 518
70
Henry is first identified as a licensed minister in "Worker's Directory," General Conference
Bulletin, 2 (Third Quarter, 1897) 121 A "licensed" minister was authorized to preach, but not
to carry out such activities as baptisms and marriages as were "ordained" ministers
71
S M I Henry, "Notice," RH, 27 June 1899 415, Mrs S M I Henry, The Abiding Spirit (Battle
Creek, Mich Review and Herald Publishing, 1899)
72
"The Abidmg Spirit," General Conference Bulletin, 3 (First Quarter, 1899) 31, RH, 9 May 1899
304 (emphasis m the original)
Gary Land
and pure from all suggestions of evil as the spiritual body of the new earth
82
will be "
With such a unity between flesh and spirit, it is not surprising that Henry also
spoke of physical healmg, although she did not emphasize it The logic of her un
derstanding of the work of the Holy Spirit as a healer of physical disease received
further support from her belief that she had experienced supernatural healmg
while a patient at Battle Creek Samtanum As the Spirit permeates the entire be
ing, she asserted, it will eliminate disease and restore perfect health 8 3 She expect
ed dramatic results from this harmony of flesh and Spirit
Through the operation of the Spirit of God those who are weak shall be made strong, those
who are infirm shall be given vigor, those who are deformed and crippled shall be made
whole God has no use for weakness, infirmity, or deformity The Abidmg Spirit has been giv
en to dwell m us that we may be delivered from infirmities, and made unto the glorious im
age which has been revealed as the pattern for us to grow by 8 4
"Salvation to the uttermost," she believed, "covering every ailment, sm, and infir
mity, is the portion of the children of God " 8 5
In 1900, A F Ballenger, the leading preacher m the Adventist Holmess revival,
published Power for Witnessing,86 which seems to have been drawn from the ser
mons he had preached at camp meetings, churches, and other gathermgs for the
past two years Written m a colloquial style that, as with his evangelistic preach
ing, called upon the reader to respond, the work reflected major themes of the
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost" movement The first of these themes centered around
Acts 5 31 "Him both God exalted with His right hand to be a Prmce and a Savior
for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins " Ballenger saw m these
words evidence that after forgiveness the Christian must move to another state,
victory over sm
It is plam that no-one can share m the "latter ram," or the fullness of the power of the Holy
Ghost for witnessing until he knows m his own life, not only that God forgives sms, but that
He gives the victory over every besetting sm Fullness of victory, then fullness of witnessing
power Something to tell, then power to tell i t 8 7
Secondly, Ballenger asserted that "the work of the spirit m conversion and m
character-building is primarily for our own salvation and secondly for the salva
88
tion of others, but the baptism of the Spirit is primarily for the salvation of others "
While the first phase of the Holy Spirit's work mcludes conversion and sanc
tification, Ballenger believed, the second phase gives the individual power for ef82
Ibid, 172
lbid, 215-16
^lbid, 220
85
lbid, 280
83
86
A F Ballenger, Power for Witnessing (Oakland, Calif Pacific Press, 1900) Editions also ap
peared m Australia (Melbourne Victoria Echo Publishing, d ) and England (London
Partridge, d ) More recently, a paperback edition appeared m the United States
(Minneapolis Dimension Paperbacks, 1963)
87
Ibid, 9
88
Ibid, 87 (emphasis m the original)
Ibid., 96.
Ibid., 111.
91
Ibid., 100.
92
Ibid., 140 (emphasis in the original).
93
This is the title of Chapter 24, ibid., 144.
94
Ibid., 147.
95
Ibid., 153-54.
96
Ibid., 182-84.
97
Ibid., 200-201.
98
Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostahsm, 94,106-107. See A. J. Gordon, The Ministry of the
Spirit (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1894) and A. B. Simpson, The Holy Spirit; or, Power from
on High: An Unfolding of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments, 2 vols.
(New York: Christian Alliance Publishing, 1895-96). John Kolvoord, a long-time Battle Creek
resident, wrote in 1927 that Ballenger had visited "A. B. Simpson's school/' New York
Missionary College, prior to writing Power for Witnessing. See John Kolvoord to E. S.
Ballenger, 5 September 1927, Ballenger-Mote Papers, Adventist Heritage Center, Andrews
University, Berrien Springs, Mich.
99
A. M. Hills, Holiness and Powerfor the Church and the Ministry (Cincinnati: M. W. Knap, 1897).
90
Gary Land
10
and R Kelso Carter all mcluded healmg as part of the atonement Finally, Ballenger used common Holmess words and phrases, mcludmg "power," "baptism
of the Holy Spirit," "pentecostal power," "spirit-filled," and "cleansing "
The Revival Ends
At the very time that Ballenger was writing his book, however, the revival that he
so powerfully led was wanmg One stalwart voice for Holmess was silenced when
Mrs S M I Henry died of pneumonia on January 16,1900 1 0 1 A few weeks later,
the General Conference Committee determined "that Elder A F Ballenger contin
ue to labor m the Chesapeake Conference " 1 0 2 Although Ballenger wanted to get
back on the camp meeting circuit, Hoopes explamed that the General Conference
was attempting to curtail expenses 1 0 3 There appears to have been more to the sto
ry, however For some time, the emphasis on the Holy Spirit had brought forth
among Advemtists m Indiana the "Holy Flesh" movement, which reached culmi
nation at that state's camp meeting m the summer of 1900 Unfortunately, nearly
all of the sources which might help us trace the development of this movement ap
pear to have been lost,104 leavmg us with only a few accounts, mostly datmg after
the 1900 camp meeting and often written by detractors Led by the president and
the evangelist of the Indiana Conference, this movement, among other things,
seems to have taught that true conversion replaces corruptible earthly flesh with
incorruptible "translation" flesh, a transformation that must occur among those
awaiting Christ's return 1 0 5 It appears that this teaching interpreted m a specifi100
102
104
The Indiana Conference began publishing a state paper, Indiana Reporter, m the mid-1890s,
but no extant issues prior to the early twentieth century have been found R S Donnell, pres
ident of the Indiana Conference at the time of the Holy Flesh movement and subsequently
dismissed from the Adventist ministry for allegedly teaching this aberrant doctrme, later
reprmted articles that he had written for the Indiana Reporter in What I Taught in Indiana ( ,
d ) What appears to be the only extant copy of this tract is located m the Ellen G White
Estate, Ine , Silver Sprmg, Md
105
O n the Holy Flesh movement, see Ella Robinson, S Haskell Man of Action (Washing
ton, D C Review and Herald Publishing, 1967), 168-76, and Lowell Tarlmg, The Edges of
Seventh day Adventism (Barraga Bay, Australia Galilee, 1981), 74-81 Ballenger had been in
vited to the Indiana camp meetmg m 1899 but could not attend See R S Donnell to L A
Hoopes, 26 June 1899, R S Donnell to A F Ballenger, 27 June 1899, and R S Donnell to
Gary Land
to report reception of the Holy Spirit,111 their number was far smaller than m previous years Perhaps partly the church was expenencmg a natural downturn of the
revival cycle but, more importantly, the General Conference officials had consciously decided that the time had come to shift direction Holmess had appealed
to Seventh-day Adventists because it seemed to offer a way of reconciling the law
and gospel and thereby brmg about the perfection that they believed was required
of those waiting for the second commg of Christ It also seems to have addressed
a spiritual need that the denomination's historic emphasis on doctrme and behavior could not fulfill Although never a part of the Holmess network, m addressing their own needs, Seventh-day Adventists had reinterpreted and reshaped
Holmess understanding withm its framework of emphasis on the Sabbath and the
premillennial return of Jesus Ironically, it was Adventism's own apocalyptic premillenniahsm that undermined the Holmess thrust as the "Holy Flesh" movement
radicalized the movement's themes beyond acceptable bounds
But the spiritual needs and theological tension between law and gospel remained Some twenty years later another Holmess movement emerged, this time
under the name "Victorious Life," which agam borrowed much of its theology and
terminology from those outside Adventism 112 Both the experience of the 1890s
and that of later years suggest that Adventism holds a more intimate relationship
with the surrounding Christian environment than either exponents or detractors
have recognized as it has struggled with the tensions of its own theological and experiential heritage
m
F o r example, see B F Stureman, "Michigan," RH, 28 August 1900 553, S H Lane, "The
Texas Camp-Meeting," RH, 4 September 1900 572, and H W Cottrell, "Atlantic Conference," RH, 23 October 1900 685
112
For a brief discussion of the "Victorious Life" movement within Adventism, see Gary
Land, "Shaping the Modern Church, 1906-1930," m Adventism in America, 132-35
^ s
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