to
The “Majority Report”
of
The Primacy of the Gospel Committee, and
The General Conference (PGC)
February 8, 2000
By
Robert J. Wieland
A member of:
The1888 Message Study Committee (1888MSC), and
The Primacy Gospel Committee (PGC)
March 5, 2001
On May 17, 1994 the PGC was formed by action of the then president of the General Conference and by its ADCOM members (the highest administrative committee). The main purpose of this ad hoc committee was to study into the actual message that A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner taught during the 1888-decade (which message was then endorsed by Ellen G. White over 300 times), to determine if their message finds clear support in the Bible. Is the Seventh-day Adventist Church proclaiming it clearly today?
A secondary purpose also emerged—to seek for Christ like unity in understanding and proclaiming God’s last-day message of justification by faith. The president of the General Conference had expressed the hope that “the apparent rift” between the General Conference and the 1888MSC could be bridged.
[i]In view of counsels from the Bible and Ellen White’s writings, these two goals were praiseworthy, for in John 17 Jesus pleads that His followers allow themselves to be “one,” and in 7:24 He commands us, “Judge righteous judgment.” The “Majority” members of the PGC on February 8, 2000 wrote their “Report” as the result of the final meeting. Widely published on the web, it has aroused deep interest. Questions sent to me, and requests, have led me to write this personal “Response.”
One of the key issues discussed during these six years was the definition of the 1888 message. The 1888 message was declared by Ellen White to be something far in advance of the “gospel” understandings of the Sunday-keeping churches because in her view it was “the beginning” of the loud cry of Revelation 18 and of the long-awaited (and long-prayed-for!) latter rain. Thus she saw the 1888 view of justification and righteousness by faith as a unique truth parallel to and consistent with the specialAdventist idea of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, which work began in 1844.
[ii]She recognized that no other church grasps this truth embodied in Daniel 8:14, which is the “foundation of our faith.”
[iii] She identified the 1888 message as “the third angel’s message in verity.” Yet the great majority of Seventh-day Adventist Church members are uninformed of the actual content of the message, and are perplexed by confusing views of its history.
The 1888MSC representatives rejoiced when the General Conference leadership appointed them to be voting members of the PGC, for it seemed that at last these serious issues were to be studied fairly and thoroughly, with the Bible as the ultimate source of authority.
The PGC was composed of 17 individuals, 11 from the General Conference and 6 from the 1888MSC. It met about twice a year for a total of 15 full days. Frequently the 6 from the 1888MSC were alternately disappointed by what seemed an unwillingness to receive the Good News understanding taught by those whom Ellen White described as “the Lord’s special messengers,” and on the other hand they were encouraged by what seemed evidence that some were beginning to perceive that message more positively. In general, the spirit that pervaded the sessions was one of cordial Christian fellowship and mutual respect. We were hopeful that the Lord could bring our minds into