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BY GEORGE R. KNIGHT
Dear Brethren Who Shall Assemble in General Conference: We are
impressed that this gathering will be the most important meeting
you have ever attended. This should be a period of earnestly
seeking the Lord, and humbling your hearts before Him.” 1
Such were the words of Ellen White on August 5, 1888, in a letter circulated
to the delegates who would be attending the forthcoming session of the
General Conference in October at Minneapolis, Minnesota. She not only highlighted
the importance of the meetings but also hinted at tensions among
the delegates and their need for serious and faithful Bible study.
TENSION IN THE CAMP
The tension didn’t take long to surface.
“Elder Smith,” A. T. Jones blurted out
early in the meetings, “has told you he
does not know anything about this matter.
I do, and I don’t want you to blame
me for what he does not know.” Ellen
White responded with “Not so sharp,
brother Jones, not so sharp.” 2 Unfortunately,
such harsh words and pompous
attitudes provided part of the backdrop
A Historical
Account of a Very
Historic Event
1 888
for the conflict that characterized the
1888 General Conference session.
Jones had no monopoly on the harshwords
front. Ellen White repeatedly
faulted General Conference president
George I. Butler and Review and Herald
editor Uriah Smith for what she labeled
as the spirit of the Pharisees. Those
leaders and their friends repeatedly
expressed an attitude that “burdened”
her, being “so unlike the spirit of Jesus.”
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Its sarcastic, critical, self-righteous
aspects, she noted, stirred up “human
passions” and “bitterness of spirit,
because some of their brethren had ventured
to entertain some ideas contrary
to the ideas that some others . . . had
entertained, which were thought . . . to
be inroads upon ancient doctrines.” 3
THE “MEN” OF
MINNEAPOLIS
The battle lines of the 1888 session
had arisen earlier in the decade over
two theological points, and involved
certain major participants. On one side
were the two young editors of the California-based
Signs of the Times—Ellet J.
Waggoner and Alonzo T. Jones [see
fuller biographies on pages 20, 21]. A
trained physician who preferred the
work of gospel ministry, Waggoner was
probably the most gentle and sophisticated
of the major male leaders in the
struggle. His colleague, A. T. Jones, had
been a sergeant in the United States
Army and had all the attributes of his
first profession. Jones never ran away
from a battle, whether it be a frontier
confrontation or one in the halls of Congress
over church/state issues or with
his fellow church leaders.
Of somewhat the same mold were
George I. Butler and Uriah Smith, presi-
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