The Essentials of
the Jones-Waggoner Message
The first three
sentences that Waggoner published in book form soon after the 1888
Conference summarize in miniature their "most precious
message." As the oak is in the acorn, the essential elements
of their view of the nature of Christ, sinless living, and the
cleansing of the sanctuary are here in a nutshell:
In the first
verse of the third chapter of Hebrews we have an exhortation
which comprehends all the injunctions given to the Christian.
It is this: "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus." To do this as the Bible
enjoins, to consider Christ continually and intelligently,
just as He is, will transform one into a perfect Christian,
for "by beholding we become changed."12
The idea is clear
as sunlight: (1) See Jesus as He truly is; (2) consider His work
as High Priest; and (3) exercise that faith in Him which will
transform the believer into "a perfect Christian." Here
was the "beginning" fulfillment of the promise of Early
Writings of a "refreshing" which will "give
power … and prepare the saints to stand … when the seven
last plagues shall be poured out."13 The method of the 1888
message was simplicity itself. We will briefly summarize it in
seven particulars, providing references in the endnotes which the
interested reader can pursue further if he desires to read the
writings of the 1888 messengers themselves:
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Christ is a
Saviour "not afar off, but nigh at hand." This was
how Ellen White described her initial impression of the message of
Jones and Waggoner in meetings immediately following the 1888
Conference.14 And in order to "consider Christ continually
and intelligently, just as He is," it is necessary to see Him
as a Saviour who "is able to succour them that are
tempted,"15 and who can "rescue man from the lowest
depths of his degradation."16 The "Christ" of Roman
Catholicism "is a long way off; … I need somebody that is
nearer to me than that," says Jones:
It has always
been Satan’s deception, and has always been the working of
his power, to get men, all men, to think that Christ is as far
away as it is possible to put Him. The farther away men put
Christ, even those who profess to believe in Him, the better
the devil is satisfied. … Is Christ away off still?—No;
He is "not far from every one of us." … And as
certainly as you get a definition of "not far," you
have the word "near." He is near to everybody, to
us; and He always has been.17
Shortly before the
1888 Conference, Waggoner published a booklet, The Gospel in
Galatians, in which he clearly taught the same as he taught
immediately after the Conference: that Christ "took" or
"assumed" our sinful nature, that He might truly be
"tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin."
Thus He came "nigh at hand." Both messengers alike
emphasized this identical view.
The Roman Catholic
"Christ" must be "exempt" from our identical
conflict with temptation and sin. In Him must be "an infinite
separation" from sinful humanity; He must take "His
human body from one who was … humanly perfect." "How
could He be sinless if He was born of sin-laden humanity?"
asks Fulton Sheen.18 Hence there must be the invention of an
"Immaculate Conception" wherein Mary His mother is
herself "preserved free from all stain of original
sin."19 This is so she can give Him a flesh or nature
different from ours. He must take "holy flesh" or
sinless nature if He is to have a righteous character. Had He
truly taken our nature, it would have been impossible for Him to
remain holy, for sin would be too strong for Him.20 Thus Romanism
logically justifies sin, and the view that Christ must take a
sinless nature does the same.
Jones and Waggoner
rightly perceived that the Roman Catholic "Christ" is
the Antichrist, who virtually excuses and indulges sin by
presupposing that it is "impossible" for anyone who is
in sinful flesh to live without sinning. Catholicism as "the
man of sin" "opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God" by insisting that sin must be perpetuated
in the universe.21 It can never be "condemned … in the
flesh," and Satan must, therefore, emerge from the
"great controversy" triumphant. And if the understanding
God’s remnant people have of Christ is also beclouded so that He
is "afar off" to them, they too must perpetuate sin
because they will never be able to overcome it even by the grace
of Christ:
In this
priesthood and service of the mystery of iniquity, the sinner
confesses his sins to the priest, and goes on sinning. Indeed,
in that priesthood and ministry there is no power to do
anything else than go on sinning; even after they have
confessed their sins. But, sad as the question may be, is it
not too true that those who are not of the mystery of
iniquity, but who really believe in Jesus and in His
priesthood and ministry—is it not too true that even these
also confess their sins, and then go on sinning?
But is this
fair to our great High Priest, to His sacrifice, and to His
blessed ministry? Is it fair that we should thus put Him, His
sacrifice, and His ministry practically upon the same level
with that of the "abomination of desolation," and to
say that in Him and in His ministry there is no more power or
virtue than there is in that of the "mystery of
iniquity"?22
Therefore, say the
1888 messengers, we must see the Christ of the Bible as One who
has come "near" to us. God sent His Son "in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh."23 This "likeness" is not
"simulated," a plastic resemblance, but is very reality.
The same dative construction in the Greek is found in Philippians
2:7 where we read that he "was made in the likeness of
men."24
But being sent
"in the likeness of sinful flesh" does not make Christ a
sinner:
He was made in
the likeness of sinful flesh. Don’t go too far. He was made
in the likeness of sinful flesh; not in the likeness of sinful
mind. Do not drag His mind into it. His flesh was our flesh;
but the mind was "the mind of Christ Jesus." . . .
In Jesus Christ the mind of God is brought back once more to
the sons of men; and Satan is conquered.25
Though He was
"tempted in all points like as we are," yet He was
"without sin."26 He was "that holy thing,"27
"who did no sin, neither was guile found in His
mouth."28 Jones and Waggoner had "no misgivings in
regard to the perfect sinlessness of the human nature of
Christ." They clearly taught that "in taking upon
Himself man’s nature in its fallen condition, Christ did not in
the least participate in its sin."29 Never did they say that
Christ "had" a sinful nature; always they used the
inspired verbs, "He took upon His sinless nature our
sinful nature, that He might know how to succor them that are
tempted," or He "assumed" our nature.30 The
glory of the "message of Christ’s righteousness"31 is
that He "took" our equipment, but His performance
was perfect. He "condemned sin in the flesh," judged it,
cast it out, defeated it for all eternity, "abolished in His
flesh the enmity,"32 cast it out of its last stronghold, that
of human nature. Thus He trod the serpent on the head, and crushed
him forever. Glorious victory! Jones and Waggoner caught the
vision and rejoiced to bring such a message of "good
news" to the world.
Righteousness
is by faith in this true Christ.
Notes
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Christ and His Righteousness (hereafter, CHR), p
5. [return to text]
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EW 86.
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RH Mar. 5, 1889.
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See Heb. 2:14-18.
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DA 117.
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GCB 1895, p. 478.
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For examples of how Catholic belief regards Christ (and Mary)
as being "exempt" from our human inheritance, see Faith
of Catholics (N.Y.: Fr. Pustet & Co., 1885) Vol. 3, pp.
443-446. For the quotations from Sheen see his The World’s
First Love, (London: Bums & Oates, 1953), pp. 15, 16,
48. For a good cross-section of Evangelical Protestant views
that are similar, see Norman Douty, Another Look at
Seventh-day Adventists (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,
1962), pp. 58, 59. [return to text]
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Pope Pius IX, Dec. 8, 1854.
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Says Sheen: "How could He be sinless, if He was born of
sin-laden humanity? If a brush dipped in black becomes black and
if cloth takes on the color of the dye, would not He, in the
eyes of the world, have also partaken of the guilt in which
humanity shared? If He came to this earth through the wheat
field of moral weakness, He certainly would have some chaff
hanging on the garment of His human nature." (Op. cit.,
p. 48.) The argument is virtually endorsed by all who hold the
"sinless nature of Adam" theory of Christ’s
incarnation. [return to text]
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The entire Catholic theory is self-consistent, requiring an
eternal burning hell where sin and sinners am perpetuated
forever; and for the saints, a purgatory where they are
"purified" apart from being in sinful flesh. It is the
perfect theological expression of Satan’s charge regarding
"God’s law" that "it is impossible for us to
obey its precepts in human flesh" (DA 24).
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A.T. Jones, The Consecrated Way (hereafter, CW),
pp. 121, 122. [return to text]
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Rom.. 8:3, 4; See GCB 1893, p. 448.
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E.J. Waggoner, ST April 30, 1896.
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Jones, GCB 237.
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Heb. 4:15.
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Luke 1:35.
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1 Pet. 2:21, 22.
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Ellen G. White, 5 BC 1131.
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MM 181.
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This was a favorite phrase of Ellen White’s in describing
the 1888 message. [return to text]
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Eph. 2:15.
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