SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST HISTORY; (ADVENTIST HERITAGE) Credits to Adventist University of the Philippines Theology Students Reports, From the Class of Pastor Cadao From August - December 2018. - Report 1 (R1) - Report 23 (R23)

1. Messenger, Wife, and Mother
“Who can find a virtuous wife? . . . The heart of her
husband safely trusts her; . . . Strength and honor are her
clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come. . . . Her children
rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he
praises her: ‘Many daughters have done well, but you excel
them all’” (Prov. 31:10, 11, 25, 28, 29).

2. 1. What evidence do we have that Ellen White was a
devoted wife, ever loyal to her husband, James?
• Ellen White’s role as a loving, loyal wife is well documented.
- James and Ellen wrote their personal, touching letters without
any thought that they would be read by others some day. In
these letters we gain uncommon insights into how committed
Christians handled marital stress, and through them other
husbands and wives have taken heart and learned how to
handle their own tensions and conflicts. These letters have
become sources of hope and strength to many modern
marriages.

3. 2. What circumstances may have led to James White’s
struggles with discouragement in later life?
• James’s health began to fail again
- He’s tired body pleaded for rest, even though his head kept
planning new campaigns.

4. 3. What obvious tensions would arise today in a family
if the wife was expected to fulfill many public
responsibilities, and was more popular than her husband?
• James’s reaction to it:
“I am considering these things with great care. Whatever the
Lord has shown you respecting my duty, take time to write it
out carefully and give me the complete idea. . . . We both see a
great deal to do in the line of writing, and our brethren are
constantly urging us into the field to speak. In the fear of God,
we must take this matter in our own hands, and be our own
judges of what we should do and how much.”

5. The public saw Ellen as the revivalist and James as the
organizer. “As man and wife they were a unique and
strong gospel team. Their method and division of the
work were perfect. Adventists have never had their
equal.”

6. 4. What role, if any, did James White have in helping to
prepare his wife’s books for publication?
• He played a senior role in the management of church
publications as president of the Review and Herald
Publishing Association. He also served on several occasions
as president of the General Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists.(1865–67; 1869–71; 1874–80).

7. 5. List some experiences that demonstrate the close
working relationship between James and Ellen White.
• When James replied on Ellen’s letter: “I am considering these
things with great care. Whatever the Lord has shown you
respecting my duty, take time to write it out carefully and
give me the complete idea. . . . We both see a great deal to do
in the line of writing, and our brethren are constantly urging
us into the field to speak. In the fear of God, we must take
this matter in our own hands, and be our own judges of what
we should do and how much.”

8. 6. What can be learned from Ellen White’s rearing her
children as a working mother?
• For Ellen White, her children were high priority.
(spiritual growth)
• She was speaking to children between ages 6 and 13. Trying
to make the big picture clear in simple language, this 33-year-
old mother used language at times that was more like
theological shorthand, especially when she wrote that the
Lord loves children “who try to do right” but “wicked
children God does not love.”

9. Deborah is perhaps the best known of the Biblical
prophetesses. Her reputation was so great, her judgment
and counsel so respected, that even her residence was
named “the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and
Bethel” (Judges 4:5). But she was more than a wise
judge. Her contemporaries trusted her as “a mother in
Israel” (Judges 5:7; see p. 18). Likewise, Ellen White’s
contemporaries regarded her as a “mother in Israel.”

10. Although Mrs. White is best known as a remarkable
public figure, for those who knew her best she was a
consistent Christian mother and wife who maintained a
close and tender relationship with her husband and
children.