Fides et Historia, vol. XXXIII, no.

2 (Summer/Fall 2001): 13-30

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

Seventh-Day Adventism Receives the Holy Ghost,
1892-1900
Gary Land, Andrews University
In June, 1897, Albion Fox Ballenger, a young Seventh-day Adventist minister who
worked primarily as a religious liberty advocate, attended the denomination's
Pennsylvania camp meeting. "The great cardinal principles of the message were
presented with the freshness and power of the Holy Ghost," he reported a short
time later in the Review and Herald, the church's official weekly paper. "Old sermon
notes were thrown away; old, stereotyped ways of presenting the truth were
discarded," as Ballenger and his fellow ministers and workers publicly sought
"baptism of the Holy Spirit." 1 Although Ballenger continued his religious liberty
efforts, he began shifting to preaching during the remainder of the summer, at
tending camp meetings in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, at all of which he called for
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which he saw "going from conference to conference
like a prairie fire." 2
Apparently because of the impact that he had on these gatherings, the General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists asked Ballenger to come to Battle Creek,
Michigan, location of denominational headquarters, and lead a revival series.
Beginning with a Sabbath sermon on August 14 at the Battle Creek Tabernacle, the
city's large Adventist church, Ballenger continued preaching, with help from oth
er ministers, for the next two and a half months. The theme of every discourse, ac
cording to the Review and Herald, was "Receive Ye the Holy Ghost." 3 Revival spread
from the church to Battle Creek College, the near-by Adventist school, and even
tually to the denomination's local elementary school and the Haskell Home for or
4
phans. Thus began a remarkable Holiness thrust within Seventh-day Adventism
that continued until the turn of the century.
Portions of this paper are drawn from Chapter 3, "Receive Ye the Holy Ghost, 1897-1900,"
in Calvin W. Edwards and Gary Land, Seeker After Light: A. F. Ballenger, Adventism, and
American Christianity (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 2000).
1
A. F. Ballenger, "The Pennsylvania Camp-Meeting/, Review and Herald (hereafter cited as
RH), 29 June 1897: 411.
2
A. F. Ballenger to G. . Irwin, 6 September 1897, Seventh-day Adventist Archives, General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, Md. (hereafter cited as SDA Archives).
3
A. F. Ballenger, "In Battle Creek," RH, 23 November 1897: 747.
4
Homer R. Salisbury, "In Battle Creek," RH, 30 November 1897: 764-65; . F. Ballenger, "In
Battle Creek," RH, 30 November 1897: 764; . F. Ballenger, "In Battle Creek," RH, 14
December 1897: 793; RH, 14 December 1897: 804.

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

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

emphasis on Christ emerged, coming to a head at the 1888 General Conference ses
sion. Although the denomination emerged from this conference deeply divided
theologically, the advocates of "righteousness by faith," as this theological em
phasis became known among Adventists, gradually gained ascendency in the de
9
nomination, particularly after gaining the support of Ellen G. White.
The First Adventist Holiness Revival, 1892-94
As the emphasis on righteousness by faith spread, Adventism's belief that Christ's
coming was imminent intensified because of the renewed effort by several Ameri
can groups for establishment and enforcement of Sunday laws,10 which Adventists
understood would come into being just before Christ's return. Within this context,
a significant revival, particularly among the Adventists at Battle Creek, took place
in the autumn of 1892, which had great impact upon the General Conference ses
sion of the following year. Believing that "the latter rain" of the Holy Spirit was
about to produce the "loud cry" of the third angel of Revelation 14:9, A. T. Jones
and W. W. Prescott, president of Battle Creek College, preached in both Adventist
and other settings in Battle Creek in November and December. When the General
Conference session took place in February and March, 1893, both men expounded
their belief that the Holy Spirit was about to descend on the church.11
The revival continued into 1894 with Jones and Prescott expanding it by cir
culating the prophetic writings of Anna Rice, a young woman whom they believed
to be inspired by God. When Ellen White wrote from Australia that Rice was not
speaking for God, it not only forced Jones and Prescott to recant their support for
the alleged new prophet, it also undermined the revival, because Rice's "testi
monies" had become such an important element in the spiritual excitement.12
Nonetheless, a spiritual hunger had been stirred within Adventism that was not
yet satisfied.

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)

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

tists were acquainted with Hannah Whitehall Smith's The Christian's Secret of a
Happy Life, which A. T. Jones critically commented on at the General Conference
session of 1893 and the Review and Herald advertized in 1896, describing the volume as "one of the most helpful books that has ever been written for those who
are struggling against sin/' 1 8 As the Holiness thrust developed over the next two
years, Adventists revealed their acquaintance with Holiness literature by quoting
from R.A. Torrey's The Baptism of the Holy Spirit, publishing excerpts from an article by A. B. Simpson and William Arthur's The Tongue of Fire, and frequently using
quotations from The King's Messenger as "filler" in the Review and Herald.19 Clearly,
the "Receive Ye the Holy Ghost" movement grew out of a combination of internal
developments within Adventism that had been at work since 1888 and the influence of the external Holiness movement on Adventism generally and Ballenger in
particular.

The Second Adventist Holiness Revival, 1897-1900

After Ballenger completed the Battle Creek revival of 1897, the General Conference
sponsored him for the next two years as an itinerant preacher traveling to
Adventist institutional centers, camp meetings, and churches, promoting the
theme of "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Leaving Battle Creek on January 4,1898, he
traveled to Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Washington. In May he observed that the "message, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' grows in importance, clearness, and power." 20 This "growth" included a new emphasis on healing. Regarding College View, Nebraska, he stated that "much time was spent in praying with
the sick near the close of the meetings, and several marvelous cases of healing were
witnessed." 21 When in the spring he began hitting the camp-meeting circuit, he reported that the response in Oregon had been the best because the message
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost" had already been accepted and preached around the
conference. He narrated how he was convicted that God could not perform healing miracles until sin had been removed from the camp and therefore preached to
this point, with the result that many confessed their wrongdoings and asked for
cleansing from sin. "Following this cleansing of the camp, there was a most wonderful manifestation of God's healing power," Ballenger wrote. "One afflicted soul
after another sought the Lord, and realized his blessed healing p o w e r . . . . just in
proportion as the cleansing work goes on will the majestic tread of the great Healer
be realized among us." 2 2
After a similar experience in California, Ballenger spoke at camp meetings in
18
A. T. Jones, "The Third Angel's MessageNo. 15," General Conference Daily Bulletin 5 (23
February 1893): 358-59; RH, 23 June 1896: 399.
19
RH, 23 June 1896:399; RH, 9 November 1897: 707; Signs of the Times, 28 April 1898:5. Many
quotations from The King's Messenger appeared in 1899 and 1900. For example, see "Healing/7
RH, 21 February 1899:114.
20
A. F. Ballenger, "The College View Meetings," RH, 3 May 1898: 288.
21
Ibid.
22
A. F. Ballenger, "Notes from the Salem, Ore., Camp-meeting," RH, 12 July 1898: 448. See
also A. J. Breed, "The North Pacific Camp-Meeting," RH, 28 June 1898: 414.

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

A F Ballenger, "Victory," General Conference Daily Bulletin 8 (27 February 1899) 96

Ibid
25
C H Edwards, "Mam Camp-Meeting," RH, 31 October 1899 708
26
L A Hoopes to H W Decker, 10 July 1899, SDA Archives
27
J M Rees, "Colorado," RH, 16 November 1897 733
24

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

At a series of meetings in several towns in the fall of 1897, F. L. Mead reported studying the subject of the Holy Spirit with the result that "on many occasions rich showers of the Holy Spirit were poured upon the congregation."28 In
early 1898 "the Holy Spirit rested heavily" upon students at South Lancaster Academy during a revival series. "The formality common to social meetings generally,
was entirely broken up, some persons speaking several times, as the Spirit gave
them utterance."29 At about the same time, Adventists in Montana were "receiving showers of the latter rain."30 In March, R. M. Kilgore reported from Oklahoma
that some "Holiness people" had begun keeping the Sabbath. "When they see us
claiming the promise of the Spirit by faith, they are with us. If Seventh-day Adventists will receive the Holy Ghost, they can win many to Christ."31
Adventist behavior at camp meetings seemed to become more emotional as
reports of "shouts of victory" began appearing. In Washington state, for instance,
"a shout of victory came into the camp. The work of grace in the hearts of the people went deeper and deeper each day, until the shout of victory was heard from
nearly all present."32 Similarly in Kansas, "The shout of victory was generally
heard throughout the camp."33 George A. Irwin, president of the General Conference, stated that the Minnesota camp meeting in early June experienced "a pentecostal blessing of the Holy Spirit such as I have never before seen on any campground."34 From Indiana S. S. Davis wrote that at a Sunday night meeting
the subject was "The Baptism of the Holy Ghost," and the Spirit was poured out in large
measure. It seemed that we were all filled to the utmost of our capacity to receive. We have
reached the time of the message, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," and we are actually having
pentecostal times and apostolic experiences. 35

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

F L. Mead, "Pennsylvania," RH, 23 November 1897: 748.

J. H. Haughey, "In the Schools: South Lancaster Academy," RH, 15 February 1898: 111.

30

W. J. Stone, "Montana," RH, 22 February 1898:128.

31

R. M. Kilgore, "District 5," RH, 22 March 1898:192.

32

A. J. Breed, "The Upper Columbia Conference," RH, 21 June 1898: 400.

33

J. W. Westphal, "The Salina (Kan.) Camp-Meeting," RH, 11 October 1898: 654.

34

Geo. A. Irwin, "Camp-Meetings in Iowa and Minnesota," RH, 21 June 1898: 398.

35

S. S. Davis, "Indiana," RH, 23 August 1898: 543.

36
37

R A. Underwood, "Virginia Camp-Meeting," RH, 6 September 1898: 574

Mrs. S.M.I. Henry, "The Camp-Meetings," RH, 25 October 1898: 686.

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

Mrs S M I Henry, "The Camp-Meetings," RH, 8 November 1898 720

0 S Farren, "The Black Hills Camp-Meeting," RH, 29 August 1899 560
^ C D M Williams, "Arizona Tucson," RH, 5September 1899 576
41
F D Starr, "A Peaceful Conquest," RH, 13 February 1900 109
42
D C Babcock, "Danville," Virginia Messenger, 10 October 1899 200
43
W Ostrander, "Michigan," RH, 15 August 1899 529
^Mollie R Long, "Kentucky," RH, 19 December 1899 826
39

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

ment it is apparent that preachers and lay people began to expect physical as well
as spiritual results when baptized with the spirit.
Adventist Holiness Theology
Although the camp meeting and other reports reveal the spread of Holiness among
Seventh-day Adventists and suggest a longing for a higher spirituality, they provide relatively little evidence for the Adventist theological understanding of this
experience. Because they expected the soon return of Christ and regarded obedience to the ten commandments, particularly the seventh-day Sabbath, as a necessary element in preparation for His coming, Adventists shaped their understanding of Holiness in a unique way. The writings of three individualsA. T. Jones,
S.M.I. Henry, and A. F. Ballengerprovide insight into the Holiness that was
preached at Adventist camp meetings, evangelistic meetings, and churches.
Jones had been converted to Adventism in 1874 while serving in the United
States Army in Washington Territory. Becoming a preacher after his discharge,
Jones quickly rose to prominence in the young denomination. While serving as an
editor of Signs of the Times in the mid-1880s, he had begun promoting "righteousness by faith" along with E. J. Waggoner and had played an important role in the
1888 General Conference session that had debated the issue. He also had advocated Holiness during its first appearance in Adventism in 1892-94. Thus, when
Holiness emerged once again in 1897 Jones came to the forefront, this time as coeditor of the Review and Herald, a platform from which he could reach virtually the
entire church.45 Although he spoke frequently at churches and camp meetings,
Jones primarily impacted the "Receive Ye the Holy Ghost" movement through his
weekly editorials in the denomination's major paper.46
In one of his first editorials, Jones reported that correspondence from "all over
the field" showed "a longing, a hungering and thirsting, for the Holy Spirit." He
therefore announced that "the time has come to receive the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit is freely given, and is now waiting to be received."47 Soon
he was ending virtually all of his editorials with the phrase, "Receive ye the Holy
Ghost."48
Four major themes pervaded Jones's editorials. The one to which he devoted
the most attention was the need to overcome sin, or perfectionism. Believing like
Ballenger that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was the next step in the preaching of
the "righteousness by faith" that had been his central concern since the mid-1880s,
Jones stated that we first gain righteousness by believing that God has forgiven us
and then ask for the Holy Spirit in order to overcome the power of sin in our lives,
45

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

[Untitled Editorial] RH, 19 October 1897: 664.

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

"The Seal of Righteousness," RH, 19 October 1897 664-65

Unto Perfection/" RH, 14 December 1897 790
51
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 26 October 1897 678
52
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 17 May 1898 316 See also [Untitled Editorial], RH, 8 March 1898
156
53
Jones's understanding may therefore have been more in line with the Keswick under
standing of sanctification than that of American Holmess preachers See Dieter, The Holiness
Revival, 249, and Jones, Perfectionist Persuasion, 85
54
A Jones, "Christian Perfection," RH, 1 August 1899 487 (emphasis m the original)
55
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 20 December 1898 814
56
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 18 October 1898 666
50,,,

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

the disposition, the nature, the character of God imparted to you." 5 7 Elsewhere he
spoke of being "filled with all the fulness of God," the "bestowal of the disposition, the character of the Lord," and the experience of "the love of God in our
hearts." 58 Through a daily commitment of faith, he believed, we maintain contact
with the Holy Spirit, which provides whatever power is needed for the moment.
"But the Holy Ghost can not be received to-day for next year," asserted Jones, "nor
for next week, nor for next day. He must be received to-day for to-day, now for just
now. He must be received for the need, just when the need is." 59
But this work is not just for ourselves. Jones emphasized that we receive the
Holy Spirit in order to serve God. 60 Only through the Spirit's power can we be true
witnesses. 61 Only through that power can we preach effectively. Indeed, when we
do so, Jones stated, the same power that lay behind primitive Christianity will
manifest itself in bringing sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, walking to the
lame, and life to the dead. 62 "Power with God is the way," he observed, "and the
only true way, to POWER WITH MEN." 63
Jones's belief that Christ's soon coming required the efforts of the Adventist
people to both proclaim their message and live according to the commandments,
intensified his call for reception of the Holy Spirit. For him this call grew out of
more than a simple desire to experience a higher Christian life, for it was intimately
involved with his sense of the impending end of all things. "Now is the time of the
sealing of the servants of God," he wrote, "because the sealing of the servants of
God must precede the day of redemption." 64 The Holy Spirit will cleanse the
church, for "The Lord is coming. And without holiness, no man can see him in
peace. Have you holiness?" 65
Other churches might preach purity and baptism, Jones argued in a "Bible lesson" preached at the 1899 General Conference session, but Seventh-day Adventists
are to preach holiness, Christian perfection, in such a degree as it has never been preached
since the days of the apostles, since Christ was in the world. Indeed, with no shadow of variance from the perfection of Christ, we are to preach this, always and everywhere. That will
be more Christian perfection than any other Christian denomination had. This is not to say
that the denominations are not now loving the truth, and longing for all that is in Christ: it
is only to say they will not find it aside from the third angel's message, which we preach.66
Because Adventists believed that they would play the central role in the closing events of earth's history, Holiness as articulated by Jones, carried an urgency
57

[Untitled Editorial], RH, 8 March 1898:156.

"The Things of God to Us," RH, 30 September 1897: 761; [Untitled Editorial], RH, 17 May
1898: 316; "Eulogies Again," RH, 14 December 1897: 791.
59
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 11 July 1899: 444 (emphasis in the original).
60
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 15 February 1898:108; [Untitled Editorial], RH, 13 September 1898:586.
61
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 16 August 1898: 524.
62
"Christ's Word to John the Baptist," RH, 21 December 1897: 812.
63
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 29 August 1899: 556 (emphasis in the original).
^[Untitled Editorial], RH, 29 November 1898: 767 (emphasis in the original).
65
[Untitled Editorial], RH, 9 August 1898: 508; [Untitled Editorial], RH, 7 June 1898: 364.
66
A. T. Jones, "Christ and the Doctrine," RH, 4 July 1899: 424.
58

Gary Land
67

probably not present m the mainstream Holmess m o v e m e n t The end of time

was near at hand, Jones believed, and God through the Holy Spirit was preparmg
a commandment-keeping people who would spread the final warning message
with the power of the first disciples Holmess was absolutely essential for all true
Christians, for "we are m the days when the mystery of God will be fmished, which
means that we are m the days when God will prepare his people for translation,
by bringing us to perfection accordmg to the measure of the stature of the fulness
68
of Christ Bless the L o r d ' "
In contrast to Jones's heated rhetoric, a much calmer, mdeed solemn, approach
to the Holy Spirit pervaded the work of Sarepta Myrenda Irish [ S M I ] Henry
Perhaps this approach arose out of her previous experience Converted to Adven
tism m 1896 while a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, Henry had previously
served for a number of years as a promment leader m the W C U , a role that she
continued despite her associates' consternation over her adherence to what was
69
regarded as a fringe religious m o v e m e n t Previously a Methodist, she brought
its perfectionism mto her Adventism, but now combmed it with a new emphasis
on God's law Although she certainly believed m the soon commg of Jesus, Henry
does not seem to have shared the apocalyptic sense that the end of all things was
at hand or the triumphahsm that pervaded the preaching and writing of Jones and
many other Adventists
Licensed as a minister by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 7 0 Henry trav
eled extensively, speakmg at camp meetings durmg the summers of 1898 and 1899
Although she gave much of her attention to home life and the role of the Christian
woman, durmg the summer of 1898 she also spoke extensively on the work of the
Holy Spirit From the stenographic notes of her talks, she developed a manuscript
that was published as The Abiding Spirit m 1899 7 1 The General Conference Bulletin
described this book as "a brief, yet concise view of the office and operation of the
Holy Spirit," while the Review and Herald said that it made plam "how to meet and
co-operate with the Holy Spirit m the common, every-day affairsthe abiding
thingsof the Christian life " 7 2
Henry argued that "the Spirit of God is an abidmg presence m every life with
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)

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

which there must be contention or agreement." 73 Therefore, each individual faces
a fundamental choice of whether to side with the divine will or pursue the path of
sin, a choice that has eternal consequences. "A man's power of choice is as to
whether or not the Spirit of God shall cleanse him from sin now/' Henry wrote, "or
whether in the final cleansing of the universe, when every sinful thing shall be utterly destroyed, he shall be destroyed with it." 74 Henry believed that through the
power of the Holy Spirit perfection was both possible and necessary. She spoke of
the Holy Spirit killing all sin, of the Lord requiring "that we shall stop sinning,"
and of the need to cease sinning, "as God counts sinning," if we are to see God. 75
She described the Holy Spirit as a fire that "shall pass through us, and over us, and
burn up sin and leave us absolutely fire-proof."76 Using a different metaphor, she
asserted that the mindwhich she believed controls the bodyis "made clean by
the washing of regeneration." 77 As with Jones, such statements suggested eradication of sinful human nature, but elsewhere she stated that Jesus "is a holy Christ
in sinful human nature, who by his presence in sinful nature sanctifies fallen humanity," which suggests that sanctification does not necessarily remove the human propensity to sin. 78
Reflecting her Adventist perspective, Henry included obedience to the law as
a necessary part of this perfection, but she emphasized that the law is the expression of God's character rather than an arbitrary legal requirement.
To surrender to the law in letter and spirit, is to surrender to Christ, and to that unspeakable
love of which the law is an expression; and then the astonished soul will find that every commandment has been transposed into a promise, through which the Holy Spirit breathes the
power for its perfect keeping.79
The Holy Spirit not only will provide the power for fulfilling the law's demands,
but also will enable the "the enlightened, believing soul [to] see the face of his
beloved Lord therein, and by this token claim the wonderful promise of eternal life
and fruitfulness." 80 As with many other Adventists, the concept of the Holy Spirit
provided Henry with a means of reconciling the law and the gospel. Furthermore,
when the Spirit enters into the very physical being of the Christian believer,
she understood, he "builds an holy habitation for himself, in which the mind of
Christ can have perfect freedom to manifest itself in thought and purpose according to his own will; and to use the body as an instrument for his own service, just
as was the case between the flesh and spirit in Jesus." 81 The harmony between
flesh and spirit will be such that "the flesh in all its functions can become as sweet
73

Henry, The Abiding Spirit, 6.

Ibid., 55.
75
Ibid., 239,272-73,285-86.
76
Ibid., 156.
77
Ibid., 172.
78
S. M. I. H[enry], "Christ in Holy Flesh, or a Holy Christ in Sinful Flesh," RH, 2 October 1900:
635.
79
Henry, The Abiding Spirit, 84.
80
Ibid., 235.
81
Ibid., 211-12.
74

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)

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

fective witnessing, hence the title of his book. Ballenger 's separation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit from its initial bestowal is seen in such statements as: "Can
you not see that the Spirit for service must come in response to faith; just as forgiveness or victory over temptation came in response to faith." 89 "Reader, don't
you think that after receiving so many gifts from God (repentance, forgiveness of
sins, victory over temptation), you ought to be accustomed to receiving gifts, so
that you could receive the gift of the Holy Ghost?" 90 "The laying on of hands in
Paul's teaching occupies the same place as the receiving of the Holy Spirit in
Peter's teaching. Both follow baptism." 91
Finally, Ballenger addressed the gifts of the Spirit, the third phase of its work.
From the outset he identified the gifts as independent of salvation. "The fruit of
the Spirit must appear in the life of the Christian; the gifts of the Spirit may not.
Millions will be saved who never had the gift of miracles, but no one will ever be
saved who did not possess the fruit of love." 92 Ballenger essentially equated the
gifts with miracles, particularly with "miracles of healing." 93 "The gospel," he
stated, "includes salvation from sickness as well as salvation from sin." 94 He
lamented that the gift of healing is "nowhere seen" because "the church is backslidden." 95 Thus the church needed to experience the "miracle of miracles, salvation from sin and sinning" before it can receive the gift of healing within its ranks. 96
The book closed with one more exhortation to receive the Holy Spirit and allow it
to purge the dross from one's life." 97
Although direct influence cannot be positively established, the major themes
of Power for Witnessing paralleled the teaching of the period's major Holiness
writers. Both The Ministry of the Spirit (1894) by A. J. Gordon and The Holy Spirit
(1895-96) by A. B. Simpsonwith whom Ballenger may have had direct contact
separated, as did Ballenger, the work of the Holy Spirit into two distinct phases. 98
In Holiness and Power for the Church and the Ministry (1897), A. M. Hills spoke of
both cleansing from sin and power for service. 99 Furthermore, Simpson, Gordon,
89

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

Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostahsm, 127-30 Representative books include A

Simpson, The Gospel of Healing (1888, rev ed , New York Christian Alliance Publishing, 1915),
A J Gordon, The Ministry of Healing Miracles of Cure in All Ages (Boston Gannet, 1882),
Robert Kelso Carter, The Atonement for Sin and Sickness, or, A Full Salvation for Soul and Body
(Boston Willard Tract Depository, 1884) Carter later backed off from positions taken in his
1884 book See R Kelso Carter, "Faith Healing" Reviewed After Twenty Years (1897) reprmted
m Carter, Russell Kelso Carter on Faith Healing,' The Higher Christian Life, no 9 (New York
Garland Publishing, 1985)
101

"SisterS I Henry/ 7 RH, 23 January 1900 64

102

"Proceedings of the General Conference Committee," General Conference Bulletin 3 (6,

1900) 122
103

L A Hoopes to A F Ballenger, 10 April 1900, SDA Archives

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

AT THE EDGES OF HOLINESS

cally apocalyptic manner the more radical perfectionist statements of Jones, Henry,
and Ballenger regarding the overcoming of sin and the healing of disease through
appropriation of Christ's atonement, thereby pushing Adventist Holiness to its
seemingly logical conclusion Although he made no specific reference to "Holy
Flesh" teaching, evangelist S. S. Davis, one of its principle exponents, described
the impact of his preaching at several churches in early 1900.
The Lord laid it on my heart to preach the Laodicean message He gave power to the word,
and I never before saw such manifestations of the power of God m repentance as I have
been permitted to witness m the [churches] In all these places shouts of victory made the
churches ring 1 0 6
At the Indiana camp meeting of 1900, use of decidedly un-Adventist musical in
struments such as drums and horns heightened the emotional impact of the "Holy
Flesh" message. 1 0 7
The General Conference had supported the "Receive Ye the Holy Ghost"
movement for the past three years, sponsoringamong other thingsBallenger
and Henry in their camp meeting travels, for the message seemed to bring revival
and reform to the church. But now both the emotionalism and the theology pro
moting it seemed have reached an unacceptable stage, although few people spec
ified the problems. Reporting to the Review and Herald during the summer of 1899,
A. J. Breed had stated that he saw some things at the Indiana camp meeting that
he "was very sorry to see," 1 0 8 probably a veiled reference to "Holy Flesh" teach
ing and its accompanying behavior. Presumably he gave more detailed infor
mation to church leaders. Apparently becoming concerned in early 1900 over de
velopments in Indiana, the General Conference leaders may not have wanted
preachers such as Ballenger to continue raising the emotional temperature of the
church. 1 0 9 Reflecting this outlook, Hoopes told Ballenger that he had traveled
much of the same territory that the revivalist had traversed in 1899 and discovered
"that so many have the idea that they are to jump, that they go by leaps and
bounds; but I do not understand the operation of the Holy Spirit that way." He
concluded, "It is a walk by faith." 1 1 0
Although some of the camp meetings during the summer of 1900 continued
L A Hoopes, 6 July 1899, SDA Archives Dieter describes what appears to have been a sim
ilar movement outside Adventism that emerged m Texas where some "extreme" Holmess
preachers taught that "salvation from sm is salvation from death " See Dieter, The Holiness
Revival, 181
106
S S and Einora Davis, "Indiana," RH, 10 April 1900 237
107
The Review and Herald report does not mention these thmgs See R S Donnell, "Indiana,"
RH, 23 October 1900 686-87 See also Robmson, S Haskell, 169
108
A J Breed, "The Indiana Camp-Meeting," RH, 29 August 1899 561
109
Bert Haloviak, archivist of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, has com
piled and arranged chronologically contemporary statements regardmg the Holy Flesh
movement which suggest that concerns among the church leaders arose prior to the summer
of 1900 See Bert Haloviak, "From Righteousness to Holy Flesh Disunity and the Perversion
of the 1888 Message," 33, SDA Archives
110
L A Hoopes to A F Ballenger, 30 July 1900, SDA Archives

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

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