First: light is recovered
Prayerful Bible study brings a neglected truth into view. The message is tested, written, preached, and carried forward by ordinary believers.
Repeat the Words of the Pioneers
Let the witnesses speak again.
The Advent movement was built by people who searched the Scriptures, followed the prophetic waymarks, sacrificed for present truth, and wrote down what they had learned. Their words were not meant to be buried beneath later traditions. They were meant to be repeated.
What does “repeat the words of the pioneers” mean? In the Review and Herald, May 25, 1905, Ellen G. White wrote: “We are to repeat the words of the pioneers in our work, who knew what it cost to search for the truth as for hidden treasure.” It means reading what William Miller, Joseph Bates, James White, and the other Advent pioneers actually wrote, and letting their own words speak again.
The Old Landmarks Must Stand
The question before every generation is simple: what made the early Advent people a distinct people, and what happens when those truths are weakened? Ellen White placed the answer in the open view of the world.
“No line of truth that has made the Seventh-day Adventist people what they are, is to be weakened. We have the old landmarks of truth, experience, and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defense of our principles, in full view of the world.”
— Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 17. {CW 52.3}
The old landmarks are not museum pieces. They are the living line of light that made the original Seventh-day Adventist people: the prophetic waymarks, the sanctuary, the commandments of God, the faith of Jesus, the Sabbath and sealing message, and the Three Angels’ Messages.
1840–1850 RootsTrace the foundation before later voices rename it. 1843 & 1850 ChartsSee the prophetic platform in its own visual witness. The Present TruthRead James White’s post-1844 publishing burden. Three Angels’ MessagesHear the everlasting gospel, Babylon’s fall, and the final warning.
The apostolic command
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
— Jude 1:3, KJV
Contending for the faith means opening the record, testing every later claim by the Word, and standing with the testimony God gave the pioneers. Read the original 1858 source, examine the jewels in William Miller’s Dream, and follow the call to come out of Babylon.
Study the 1843 and 1850 charts for yourself
The hero image above shows the 1850 prophetic chart beside the pioneer books. Open the original 1850 chart scan on the page for close study, then compare it with the 1843 prophecy chart and the full 1843 & 1850 prophecy charts guide.
What is Babylon?
Babylon: “religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt.”
— Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 382.3
The full sentence reads: “The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt.”
“presented the appearance of a Catholic procession.”
“That night I dreamed that I was in Battle Creek looking out from the side glass at the door and saw a company marching up to the house, two and two. They looked stern and determined. I knew them well and turned to open the parlor door to receive them, but thought I would look again. The scene was changed. The company now presented the appearance of a Catholic procession. One bore in his hand a cross, another a reed. And as they approached, the one carrying a reed made a circle around the house, saying three times: ‘This house is proscribed. The goods must be confiscated. They have spoken against our holy order.’ Terror seized me, and I ran through the house, out of the north door, and found myself in the midst of a company, some of whom I knew, but I dared not speak a word to them for fear of being betrayed.”
— Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Volume 1, p. 577, paragraph 2 (originally published in Testimony for the Church No. 13, 1867).
The startling point is that she recognized the people before the scene changed: “I knew them well.” Then they appeared as a Catholic procession, carrying a cross and demanding confiscation because she had spoken against their “holy order.”
Testimony for the Church No. 13 (1867)
Read the dream in the original pamphlet printed by the Steam Press of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, Battle Creek, 1867. The Catholic procession dream is on PDF page 8 (printed pages 12–13).
Ellen G. White, Testimony for the Church No. 13, Battle Creek, 1867. The Catholic procession dream is on PDF page 8.
Ellen G. White · The 1844 Advent movement
“Bear witness that it was of God”
“Of all the great religious movements since the days of the apostles, none have been more free from human imperfection and the wiles of Satan than was that of the autumn of 1844. Even now, after the lapse of many years, all who shared in that movement and who have stood firm upon the platform of truth still feel the holy influence of that blessed work and bear witness that it was of God.”
— Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (1911), p. 401.3
First published in The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4 (1884), p. 250. The 1884 printing reads “after the lapse of forty years”; the later Great Controversy text reads “many years.” Compare the 1884 edition scan.
First reading
The Great Controversy, 1858
The first volume of Spiritual Gifts is Ellen G. White's original great-controversy presentation. Start here before later editions, summaries, or institutional interpretations tell you what the early message was supposed to mean.
Read Volume 1 online Compare the “books of a new order” document
Repeat the words. Reprint the testimony.
“We are to repeat the words of the pioneers in our work, who knew what it cost to search for the truth as for hidden treasure, and who labored to lay the foundation of our work. ... The word given me is, Let that which these men have written in the past be reproduced.”
— Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, May 25, 1905
“Let the aged men who were pioneers in our work speak plainly, and let those who are dead speak also, by the reprinting of their articles in our periodicals.”
— Ellen G. White, Manuscript 62, 1905
This is not nostalgia. It is a method of protection. The early experiences, the old landmarks, and the written testimony help believers recognize the masterly ingenuity of deception when it appears in respectable religious language.
“The record … must be republished”
Writing to Elder G. I. Butler, Ellen G. White compared the church’s duty to Moses rehearsing the Lord’s leading on the borders of Jordan.
“Recently I have been doing much writing; for I know not how long the Lord may spare my life. As I write you this letter, my heart is filled with gratitude to God for all His goodness to the children of men.
“I feel deeply over our present situation. We must now do a work that should have been done long ago. We must do as the Lord directed Moses to do, when the children of Israel, having crossed the desert, were encamped on the borders of Jordan. Moses was bidden to rehearse to them all the dealings of the Lord to them during their journeyings through the wilderness. The record of this rehearsal is found in the book of Deuteronomy.
“The record of the experience through which the people of God passed in the early history of our work must be republished. Many of those who have since come into the truth are ignorant of the way in which the Lord wrought. The experience of William Miller and his associates, of Captain Joseph Bates, and of other pioneers in the Advent message should be kept before our people. Elder Loughborough’s book should receive attention. Our leading men should see what can be done for the circulation of this book.
“We must study to find out the best way in which to take up the review of our experiences from the beginning of our work, when we separated from the churches and went forward step by step in the light that God gave us. We then took the position that the Bible, and the Bible only, was to be our guide; and we are never to depart from this position. We were given wonderful manifestations of the power of God. Miracles were wrought. Again and again, when we were brought into strait places, the power of God was displayed in our behalf. At such times, souls were convicted, and amidst the scorn and derision of the opposing churches, they bore testimony in favor of the truth. ‘So mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed.’ Under the preaching of the truth, men were converted and were ‘instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, spake and taught diligently the great things of the Lord.’ [Acts 19:20; 18:25.]
“I was then very young, but I believed the message, and the Spirit of the Lord was upon me. I was guided by the Spirit to act an important part in the work of the Lord for this time.
“I have lost none of my faith in the message. After the passing of the time in 1844, we were a disappointed people, few in numbers. We sought the Lord most earnestly and read and reread His commandments. We saw wherein we had been working and walking contrary to them, and then we thanked the Lord for our disappointment. The fourteenth chapter of Revelation was most diligently studied, and we discerned the meaning of the words, ‘Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ [Verse 12.] Light was given us on the claims of the law of God. We were convicted that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and we began to observe it as holy unto Him.”
— Ellen G. White, Letter 105, 1903, to G. I. Butler, June 1, 1903 (18LtMs, Lt 105, 1903, pars. 2–7)
In 1903, “Elder Loughborough’s book” was Rise and Progress of Seventh-day Adventists (1892). Keep the pioneers before the people: read the Joseph Bates library and the pioneer books.
Featured · James White · 1849
The Present Truth: The Little Paper Shown in Vision
“I have a message for you. You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the people. Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first. From this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that went clear round the world.”
— Ellen G. White, Life Sketches, p. 125.2
The pioneers’ words first went out in print through James White’s little paper. The Present Truth began in 1849 as a small sheet carrying the Sabbath, the sanctuary, and the sealing message to a scattered people. Read the story of the paper, then open the original.
Set the people down, as Moses did. Ellen White wrote that “Moses was bidden to rehearse to them all the dealings of the Lord to them during their journeyings through the wilderness” (Letter 105, 1903). James White, the Modern Moses, did it through The Present Truth, and the page tells it as a divine romance: the wedding party leaving Babylon and following the Bridegroom into the Most Holy Place and on to the bridal city.
Follow the Old Landmarks: original books, charts, and the pioneers’ own words →
Quotes to repeat and study
Read each quotation in its cited context, then return to the original books and manuscripts.
“For sixty years I have been in communication with heavenly messengers, and I have been constantly learning in reference to divine things.”
— Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 3, p. 71
“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.”
— Ellen G. White, Life Sketches, p. 196
“The truths that we received in 1841, '42, '43, and '44 are now to be studied and proclaimed.”
— Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, Letter 75, 1905
“The truth is the same as it ever has been, and not a pin or a pillar is to be removed from the structure of truth. That which was sought for out of the Word in 1844, 1845, and 1846 remains the truth in every particular.”
— Ellen G. White, Letter 38, 1906
“The record of the experience through which the people of God passed in the early history of our work must be republished.”
— Ellen G. White, Letter 105, 1903
“The experience of William Miller and his associates, of Captain Joseph Bates, and of other pioneers in the advent message, should be kept before our people.”
— Ellen G. White, Letter 105, 1903
“Let the aged men who were pioneers in our work speak plainly, and let those who are dead speak also, by the reprinting of their articles.”
— Ellen G. White, Manuscript 62, 1905
“These articles should now be reprinted, that there may be a living voice from the Lord's witnesses.”
— Ellen G. White, Letter 99, 1905
“The history of the early experiences in the message will be a power to withstand the masterly ingenuity of Satan's deceptions.”
— Ellen G. White, Letter 99, 1905
“Gather up the rays of divine light that God has given as He led His people on step by step in the way of truth.”
— Ellen G. White, Manuscript 62, 1905
“The standard-bearers who have fallen in death, are to speak through the reprinting of their writings ... to bear their testimony as to what constitutes truth for this time.”
— Ellen G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 32, 1905
“The three angels' messages are to be combined, giving their threefold light to the world.”
— Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, p. 91
“The first, second, and third angels' messages are to be repeated. The call is to be given to the church: 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.'”
— Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 118
“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world.”
— Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 19
“The third angel's message, embracing the messages of the first and second angels, is the message for this time. We are to raise aloft the banner on which is inscribed: 'The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'”
— Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 233
“The message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the churches since 1844.”
— Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 277.1
“I saw that the nominal churches, as the Jews crucified Jesus, had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the move made in heaven, or of the way into the Most Holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left, and Satan, pleased with the deception, fastens them in his snare, and assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, and works with his power, his signs and lying wonders. Some he deceives in one way and some in another. He has different delusions prepared to affect different minds. I saw that God had honest children among the nominal Adventists, and the fallen churches, and ministers and people will yet be called out from these churches, before the plagues shall be poured out, and they will gladly embrace the truth.”
— Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, 1858, chapter 34
“As John the Baptist heralded the first advent of Jesus, and prepared the way for his coming, so also, Wm. Miller and those who joined him, proclaimed the second advent of the Son of God.”
— Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (1858), p. 129
“I was shown that his relation to the people of God was similar, in some respects, to that of Moses to Israel.”
— Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 85 (of James White)
“He received a commendation that few others have attained. God has permitted the precious light of truth to shine upon His word and illuminate the mind of my husband. He may reflect the rays of light from the presence of Jesus upon others by his preaching and writing.”
— Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 502
“My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, Father Andrews, Elder Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure.”
— Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 206
“The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark.”
— Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 14; compare the 1858 great-controversy account
Blessed are those who believe
Thomas wanted to see and touch before he believed. Christ met him with mercy, but He also named the greater blessing:
“Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
— Jesus Christ, John 20:29, KJV
The pioneers were not asking believers to follow a personality blindly. They were calling the church to search the Word, test the teaching, and hold fast to what God had made plain. Faith is not credulity; it is confidence in the testimony God has already given.
Messages can be resisted, buried, and crucified
Christ's own message was rejected and crucified before the resurrection vindicated Him. The same pattern appears whenever a clear warning is despised because it threatens reputation, alliances, institutions, or cherished tradition.
Then: the message is opposed
Those who repeat it are called divisive, troublesome, extreme, or disloyal. The messenger becomes easier to attack than the evidence.
Finally: the testimony is repeated
What was buried returns with greater force. The call is heard again: remember the foundation, repair the breach, and come out of corruption.
“The history of the early experiences in the message will be a power to withstand the masterly ingenuity of Satan's deceptions.”
— Ellen G. White, Letter 99, 1905
Study the message in its own order
William Miller's dream and Nehemiah's work
William Miller's dream pictured the precious jewels recovered from rubbish and placed in a larger casket with greater glory. Nehemiah gives the work its KJV command: rebuild what has been broken.
“Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.”
— Nehemiah 2:17, KJV
“Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.”
— Nehemiah 2:18, KJV
“And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”
— Isaiah 58:12, KJV
Questions people ask about the Adventist pioneers
What does “repeat the words of the pioneers” mean?
Ellen G. White wrote in the Review and Herald, May 25, 1905: “We are to repeat the words of the pioneers in our work, who knew what it cost to search for the truth as for hidden treasure.” It means reading and reprinting what the early Advent believers actually wrote, such as William Miller, Joseph Bates, and James White, instead of relying on later summaries.
Who were the Adventist pioneers?
The Adventist pioneers were the early Advent believers who searched the Scriptures before and after 1844. Ellen G. White named “William Miller and his associates” and “Captain Joseph Bates” (Letter 105, 1903), and listed “My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, Father Andrews, Elder Edson” among those who “searched for the truth as for hidden treasure” (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 206).
What is Babylon according to Ellen White?
In The Great Controversy, p. 382, Ellen G. White wrote that the message of Revelation 14 announcing the fall of Babylon “must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt.”
What was Ellen White’s Catholic procession dream?
In Testimonies for the Church, volume 1, p. 577, first published in Testimony for the Church No. 13 in 1867, Ellen G. White described a company she knew well that “presented the appearance of a Catholic procession,” carrying a cross and a reed and declaring, “This house is proscribed. The goods must be confiscated. They have spoken against our holy order.”
Where can I study the 1850 prophetic chart?
SundayLaw.com has the original 1850 chart scan for close study, a prophecy charts page comparing the 1843 and 1850 charts, and a reader for the 1843 prophecy chart.
Meet the pioneers: William Miller · Captain Joseph Bates · James White · Ellen G. White · Stephen Pierce · Hiram Edson · Joseph Bates books · Pioneer books · All pioneer biographies
Search. Study. Verify. Share.
In 1843 and 1844, the message traveled by presses, newspapers, tents, horses, and human voices. Today it can cross the earth in minutes. The tools are new; the responsibility is old: repeat the words, recover the jewels, strengthen the pillars, and proclaim the everlasting gospel.
Will you read what the pioneers wrote before accepting what later voices say about them?
Judgment, separation, and the final light
“The first angel’s message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of God’s judgment and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to separate the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of the world and to arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness and backsliding.”
— Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 379
“As the churches refused to receive the first angel’s message, they rejected the light from heaven and fell from the favor of God. They trusted to their own strength, and by opposing the first message placed themselves where they could not see the light of the second angel’s message.”
— Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 237
“The third angel’s message is to lighten the earth with its glory. How important, then, that we stand in the right position to receive this message. Let us not through our own perversity dishonor God, and misrepresent the precious truth that has been given us.”
— Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 401