Shut Door

[djconklin]

From a short over view that Dr. Jerry Moon uses in one of his classes:

STEPS IN THE CHANGING USAGE OF THE TERM "SHUT DOOR"​

Jerry Moon, revised 2002​

1. Origin: Matt. 25:10-12.
"And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not."
Here the term refers to a "close of probation."

2. November 1844: Millerites believe door is shut.
William Miller: "We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake[n] a formal church. God in His providence has shut the door; we can only stir one another up to be patient, and be diligent to make our calling and election sure" (Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844, quoted by A. L. White in Ellen G. White 1:60 [1 Bio 60]).
Here the term "shut door" refers to the beliefs that (1) the 2300-day prophecy ended on Oct. 22, 1844; and (2) probation for sinners did close on October 22, 1844.

3. December 1844: Millerites have given up their belief that the door is shut. "James White reported in 1847 that: "When she [Ellen] received her first vision, December 1844, she and all the band [the group of Advent believers] in Portland, Maine . . . had given up the midnight cry, and shut door, as being in the past" (Word to the Little Flock, p. 22). In other words, they assumed that the 2300 days had not ended yet. Writing to Joseph Bates on July 13, 1847, Ellen White declared: "At the time I had the vision of the midnight cry [December 1844], I had given it up [as having occured] in the past and thought it future, as also most of the band had" (Letter 3, 1847, quoted by A. L. White, 1 Bio 60-61).
Here the term refers to two concepts that were held as one: (1) that the 2300 days had ended October 22, 1844; and (2) that probation closed October 22, 1844.
By December 1844, Ellen Harmon, James White, and most of the Millerites had given up both these aspects of their Advent experience.

4. December, 1844: Ellen Harmon's first vision convinced her that #(1) above was true, and she apparently assumed that therefore #(2) was true also.

5. February 1845: Ellen Harmon's "Bridegroom Vision" led her to begin differentiating the two earlier meanings of the "Shut Door."
(1) She continued to believe that a genuine fulfillment of prophecy had occurred on October 22, 1844 and that those who had deliberately and knowingly rejected that message had been "left in darkness."
(2) She now believed, however, that for those who had never heard the Advent message with convicting power, probation was still open. Here is Marion Stowell's report of a conversation with Ellen Harmon in 1845:
"During Miss Harmon's (now Mrs. White's) visit to Paris, Maine, in the summer of 1845, I stated to her the particulars of a dear friend of mine whose father had prevented her attending our meetings; consequently she had not rejected light. She smilingly replied, `God never has shown me that there is no salvation for such persons. It is only those who have had the light of truth presented to them and knowingly rejected it" [to whom the door is shut] (1 Bio 96-97).
It appears that the idea of a general close of probation in 1844 was given up by Ellen White at least by the summer of 1845, but she did not reach a fuller understanding of the "shut door" until 1849.

6. March 24, 1849. Vision of "The Open and the Shut Door," Early Writings, 42-45.
Quoting Rev 3:7-8, she said that "Jesus had shut the door of the holy place" and "opened the door into the most holy" (EW 42). On October 22, 1844, His most-holy-place ministry began. This involved increased light and increased responsibility (cf. GC 424-425). Now the term "shut door" is connected with Rev 3:7-8 and refers to the change of Christ's heavenly ministry from the holy place to the most holy place.

7. 1849-1850: Conversions of persons who had not previously been Millerites reinforced the conviction that October 22, 1844, had not witnessed a general close of probation. These individuals included Hiram and Mrs. Patch, Heman Churchill, and J. H. Waggoner in 1850 (1 Bio 263-266).

8. 1874: Miles Grant, a first-day Adventist minister, charged that E. G. White "had declared on the basis of the visions that probation for the world had closed." She replied that "with my brethren and sisters, after the time passed in `44 I did believe that no more sinners would be converted. But I never had a vision that no more sinners would be converted" (Letter 2, 1874, quoted in 1 Bio 259, emphasis supplied). To the contrary, it was her visions that "led [the early Adventists] out of the extreme view of the shut door" (J. N. Loughborough, Review and Herald, Sept. 25, 1866, cited in 1 Bio 264).

9. The Principle
Early Writings, 45: "It is a fearful thing to treat lightly the truth which has convinced our understanding and touched our hearts. We cannot with impunity reject the warnings which God in mercy sends us." [Examples: the flood in Noah's day, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the words of Christ, ‘Your house is left unto you desolate,’ and the warning of 2 Thess 2:10-12.] "As they reject the teachings of His Word, God withdraws His Spirit, and leaves them to the deceptions which they love" (emphasis supplied). The operative condition is the first sentence of this paragraph: "It is a fearful thing" to "reject" that which we consciously recognize to be truth.
On the other hand, there are those who have rejected information which they sincerely believed to be error, and this, though unfortunate, does not involve guilt. "The Lord has His representatives in all the churches. These persons have not had the special testing truths for these last days presented to them under circumstances that brought conviction to heart and mind; therefore they have not, by rejecting light, severed their connection with God. Many there are who have faithfully walked in the light that has shone upon their pathway. They hunger to know more of the ways and works of God. All over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the very verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in" (Testimonies, 6:70-71, emphasis supplied).
"The Lord desires His chosen servants to learn how to unite together in harmonious effort. It may seem to some that the contrast between their gifts and the gifts of a fellow laborer is too great to allow them to unite in harmonious effort; but when they remember that there are varied minds to be reached, and that some will reject the truth as it is presented by one laborer, only to open their hearts to God’s truth as it is presented in a different manner by another laborer, they will hopefully endeavor to labor together in unity" (Testimonies, 9:145, emphasis supplied).

10. Further study:
A. L. White, Ellen G. White, 1:256-270 (1 Bio 256-270), also 60-61, 78, 96, 140, 160-161, 191-192.
F. D. Nichol, Ellen G. White and Her Critics, 161-252.
SDA Encyclopedia, "Open and Shut Door."
Herbert E. Douglass, Messenger of the Lord, 500-512, 549-569 -- web links previously given on a different thread
E. G. White, Great Controversy, 428-431.

 

[djconklin]

From an article in AUSS (2006): 332

THE EXTENDED ATONEMENT VIEW IN THE
DAY-DAWN AND THE EMERGENCE
OF SABBATARIAN ADVENTISM
Merlin D. Burt

"In October of 1844, Millerites experienced their greatest anticipation regarding the Second Coming of Jesus, eventually focusing on October 22/23, 1844. Following this date, known as the Great Disappointment, the movement began to fragment over the meaning of Dan 8:14 in light of their collective experiences. By 1845, Miller, J. V. Himes, and other key leaders concluded that they had been mistaken in connecting prophetic chronology to the autumn of 1844 and began looking for a future date. A minority group, known as Bridegroom or Shut-Door1 Adventists, continued to maintain the correctness of the 1844 date, but with a modified understanding of the event that occurred then.
By the summer of 1845, Bridegroom Adventism had further split over two major theological points. First, a growing majority of Bridegroom Adventists believed that (1) Jesus had come spiritually in October 1844, and (2) most also believed that he had in one day—the Day of Atonement in 1844—completed his high priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary and was now reigning as King. These held to a stricter shut-door view. The minority Bridegroom view was that (1) Jesus had not come in October 1844, but (2) had begun extended atonement as high priest in the heaven sanctuary and would soon return to earth literally. Sabbatarian Adventism followed the minority Bridegroom view on both points.*

* The phrase "shut-door" was initially used by Millerites to describe the close of human probation just before the Second Coming of Jesus. William Miller introduced the term and idea in 1836, using the parable of the ten virgins in Matt 25. After the autumn 1844 disappointment, Bridegroom Adventists continued to use the term, but the definition became more fluid and did not exclusively refer to the final close of probation. See William Miller, Evidence from Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ about the Year 1843: Exhibited in a Course of Lectures (Troy, NY: Kemble & Hooper, 1836), 97, 99.

 

[Adventist Dissident]

this is the critics view of the Shut door. Lets compare and check the fact. if they are wrong so be it if they are correct so be it. I don't care either way. we must be accurate and not read more into the text then what is there or take a what what is there.

Shut Door Chronology

Esta pagina in Español​

1844

October 22 Great Disappointment. Christ fails to return on the date predicted by William Miller. December Most Millerites have returned to their previous churches. Some continue to insist the movement was correct. They teach:

• Jesus entered the Most Holy Place on Oct. 22, 1844.
• Jesus fulfilled the parable of the 10 virgins where the Bridegroom "enters in" with the five ready virgins.
• The door of salvation has been "shut" to those who were not part of the 1844 Millerite movement.
• They are now in a "testing time" and Jesus will come within one year.

December 11 William Miller writes, "We have done our work in warning sinners and in trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has shut the door; we can only stir up one another to be patient" (Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844). 1845

Jan. - Dec. Ellen White begins having visions regarding the "shut door." One who witnessed her visions in his home, John Megquier, wrote: "We well know the course of Ellen G. White, the visionist, while in the state of Maine. About the first visions she had were at my house in Poland. She said that God had told her in vision that the door of mercy had closed, and there was no more chance for the world." (The True Sabbath, by Miles Grant, p. 70) Mrs. L.S. Burdick was well acquainted with Mrs. White. She wrote: "I became acquainted with James White and Ellen Harmon (now Mrs. White) early in 1845. . . Ellen was having what was called visions: said that God had shown her in vision that Jesus Christ arose and on the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844, shut the door of mercy; had left forever the mediatorial throne; the whole world was doomed and lost; and there never could be another sinner saved." (The True Sabbath, p. 72).
February 7 O.R.L. Crosier publishes his understanding of Christ entering the Most Holy Place on Oct. 22, 1844, in the Day Star. Mrs. White later endorses this publication as "true light." February 19 William Miller expresses his belief that no sinners have been converted on the earth during the last five months: "I have not seen a genuine conversion since [Oct. 22, 1844]." Voice of Truth, Feb. 19,1845. 1846

April 20 Otis Nichols, a believer in Ellen White and a witness to her visions, writes to William Miller: "Her message...encouraged them to hold on to the faith, and the seventh month movement; and that our work was done for the nominal church and the world, and what remained to be done was for the household of faith." Fall Joseph Bates meets Ellen and James White. They accept Bate's teaching that the Day of Atonement would last seven years, ending in the fall of 1851. Bates later wrote out his theories: "The seven spots of blood on the Golden Altar and before the mercy seat, I fully believe, represent the duration of the judicial proceedings on the living saints in the Most Holy, all of which time they will be in their affliction, even seven years; God by his voice will deliver them, 'for it is the blood that maketh the atonement for the soul' (Lev. 17:11). Then the number seven will finish the day of atonement. (The Typical and Anti-typical Sanctuary, p. 10, 1850) 1847

April James White published "A Word to the Little Flock." In it we find:

• Ellen White has a vision showing the Advent people walking on a path toward heaven. She saw some fall of the path and she wrote of them: "It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again and go to the City, as all the wicked world which God had rejected."
• James White: "From the ascension, to the shutting of the door, Oct. 1844, Jesus stood with wide-spread arms of love, and mercy; ready to receive, and plead the cause of every sinner, who would come to God by him. On the 10th day of the 7th month, 1844, he passed into the Holy of Holies, where he has since been a merciful 'high priest over the house of God.' "

1848

Jan. - Dec. Many of the Millerites give up the "shut door" teaching by the end of the year. O.R.L. Crosier, the originator of the SDA teaching on the Sanctuary tells of his experience in 1848: "I kept the seventh day nearly a year, about 1848. In 1846 I explained the idea of the sanctuary in an article in an extra number of the Day Star, Cincinnati, O. The object of that article was to support the theory that the door of mercy was shut, a theory which I, and nearly all Adventists who had adopted William Miller's views, held from 1844 to 1848. Yes, I know that Ellen G. Harmon - now Mrs. White - held that shut-door theory at that time." 1849

Joseph Bates announces the time of trouble has begun: "And now the time of trouble has began..." ("A Seal of the Living God", 1849) March 24 Mrs. White receives visions in Topsham, Maine, that confirm belief in the shut door: "God gave me two visions while there, much to the comfort and strength of the brethren and sisters. Brother Stowell was established in the shut door and all the present truth he had doubted." Manuscript Releases, Vol. 5, p. 93 August Ellen White places the "shut door" doctrine as a central teaching of the church, the message of the Testimony of Jesus: "There I was shown that the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, relating to the shut door, could not be separated..." Later in the same article an angel describes the condition of sinners to her: "My accompanying angel bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be. I looked, but could not see it; for the time for their salvation is past." (Present Truth, August, 1849).
September A local pestilence is seen as a fulfillment of the end of the world. Mrs. White predicts this pestilence will become widespread: "What we have seen and heard of the pestilence, is but the beginning of what we shall see and hear. Soon the dead and dying will be all around us." (Present Truth, Sept. 1849). December David Arnold writes in the Present Truth: "Therefore, we are brought, by the force of circumstances, and the fulfillment of events, to the irresistible conclusion that, on the tenth day of the seventh month, (Jewish time,) in the autumn of 1844, Christ did close his daily, or continual ministration or mediation in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and SHUT THE DOOR, which no man can open; and opened a door, in the second apartment, or Holiest of all, which no man can shut, (see Rev.iii,7,8,) and passed within the second veil, bearing before the Father, on the breast-plate of judgment, all for whom he is now acting as intercessor." (Present Truth, Dec. 1849) 1850

February 10 The "shut door" is opened a crack to allow in those people who were Christians in 1844 but never heard Miller's message. In her letter to Brother and Sister Collins, Feb. 10, 1850, Mrs. White says "Souls are coming out upon the truth all around here. They are those who have not heard the Advent doctrine..." April Ellen White states: "The mighty shaking has commenced." (Present Truth, April, 1850) April The "shut door" is cracked open a little further to let the children of the saints enter: "As they [little children] were then [1844] in a state of innocence, they were entitled to a record upon the breastplate of judgment as much as those who had sinned and received pardon; and are, therefore subjects of the present intercession of our great high priest" (Present Truth, April, 1850). April James White writes that God's people have already left Babylon [Protestant churches]: "Babylon, the nominal church is fallen. God's people have come out of her. She is now the 'synagogue of Satan' (Rev. 3:9). 'The habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird' (Rev. 18:2)." (Present Truth, April, 1850) May James White writes: "But says the objector - 'The door of mercy will not be closed until Jesus comes.' We do not read of such a door as 'the door of mercy' in the Bible; neither do we teach that such a door was shut in 1844. God's 'mercy endureth for ever.' See Ps.cxxxvi; cvi,1; cxviii,1. He is still merciful to his saints, and ever will be; and Jesus is still their advocate and priest. But the sinner, to whom Jesus had stretched out his arms all the day long, and who had rejected the offers of salvation, was left without an advocate, when Jesus passed from the Holy Place, and shut that door in 1844." (Present Truth, May, 1850) June 27 Mrs. White has a vision of the soon return of Christ: "My accompanying angel said, 'Time is almost finished. Get ready, get ready, get ready.' . . . now time is almost finished. . . and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months." (Early Writings, pp. 64-67). July 29 Miss Sarah B. Harmon, older sister of Mrs. White, in a letter written from Brookfield, N.Y., to Mrs. P.D. Lawrence, July 29/30, 1850, said: "I believe this is the last winter we shall see before Jesus, our great High Priest, comes out. Oh, let us live for God and sacrifice for him faithfully." August 24 Ellen White writes in a letter regarding the Present Truth magazine: "...the lines that were being published were written in the Spirit of God, and would rejoice the hearts of the trusting ones, and Satan knew it would hurt his cause because it would be seen by these testimonies that most of the Advent people once believed as we do that there was a shut door in '44. And to have the plain, clean truth come out in the paper . . . would cause many to decide for the truth and to take a firm and unyielding stand for God and His truth" (Ms 7, 1850) August The "shut door" was opened another crack to let in Herman Churchill, a man who was unconverted in 1844. According to General Conference president George Butler, the Adventists were "quite surprised" a non-believer would manifest interest in their message! September Mrs. White announces time is almost finished: "Some are looking too far off for the coming of the Lord. Time has continued a few years longer than they expected, therefore they think it may continue a few years more. . . I saw that the time for Jesus to be in the Holy Place was nearly finished, and that time can not last but a little longer." (Early Writings, p. 58, ed. 1907) December Sister White says that to oppose the shut door is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: "Then I saw the Laodiceans [first-day Adventists].... Dare they admit that the door is shut? The sin against the Holy Ghost was to ascribe to Satan what belongs to God or what the Holy Ghost has done. They said the shut door was of the devil and now admit it is against their own lives. They shall die the death." (Ms 11, 1850, pp. 3, 4) 1851

June 21 Mrs. White's vision at Camden, NY: "Then I saw that Jesus prayed for his enemies; but that should not cause us to pray for the wicked world, whom God has rejected. When he prayed for his enemies, there was hope for them, and they could be benefited and saved by his prayers, and also after he was a mediator in the outer apartment for the whole world; but now his spirit and sympathy were withdrawn from the world; and our sympathy must be with Jesus, and must be withdrawn from the ungodly." August 19 Joseph Bates wrote: "We understand that he [Christ] was a Mediator for all the world, ministering in the Holy Place (Heb. 9:26), in the Tabernacle called the Sanctuary, from the day of Pentecost (A.D. 31) until his appointed time, the end of the twenty-three hundred days, or years - the fall of 1844. At this point of time, then, the door was shut against the Sardis church [the Protestant church] and the wicked world." Review and Herald, Aug. 19, 1851 August James and Ellen White publish "Experience and Views", a little pamphlet of 64 pages. No reference is made in this to "A Word to the Little Flock," nor to Present Truth, although all but seven introductory pages of "Experience and Views" is copied word for word from these two publications. All references to the "shut door" were omitted from the publication. 1853

James White admits the shut door has opened slightly: "While the great work of saving men closed with the 2300 days, a few are now coming to Christ..." Review and Herald, No. 3, p. 176



http://www.ellenwhite.org/chrono.htm

 

[Adventist Dissident]

con't

After 1851 The Shut Door Doctrine Disappears

The shut door teaching--which Mrs. White claimed was a part of the Testimony of Jesus--was reinterpreted by the Whites to mean that only those who rejected the 1844 message had the door of probation shut on them. After 1851 the shut door teaching--one of the central doctrines of the early Adventists--disappeared quickly from their writings. Nearly all new Adventists never heard of it nor knew that their prophet had seen it in vision.


http://www.ellenwhite.org/chrono.htm

 

[djconklin]

1) This was skipped by the critic's chronology:

2. November 1844: Millerites believe door is shut.
William Miller: "We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake[n] a formal church. God in His providence has shut the door; we can only stir one another up to be patient, and be diligent to make our calling and election sure" (Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844, quoted by A. L. White in Ellen G. White 1:60 [1 Bio 60]).
Here the term "shut door" refers to the beliefs that (1) the 2300-day prophecy ended on Oct. 22, 1844; and (2) probation for sinners did close on October 22, 1844.

 

[djconklin]

2) This was also skipped in the critic's chronology:

3. December 1844: Millerites have given up their belief that the door is shut. "James White reported in 1847 that: "When she [Ellen] received her first vision, December 1844, she and all the band [the group of Advent believers] in Portland, Maine . . . had given up the midnight cry, and shut door, as being in the past" (Word to the Little Flock, p. 22). In other words, they assumed that the 2300 days had not ended yet. Writing to Joseph Bates on July 13, 1847, Ellen White declared: "At the time I had the vision of the midnight cry [December 1844], I had given it up [as having occured] in the past and thought it future, as also most of the band had" (Letter 3, 1847, quoted by A. L. White, 1 Bio 60-61).
Here the term refers to two concepts that were held as one: (1) that the 2300 days had ended October 22, 1844; and (2) that probation closed October 22, 1844.
By December 1844, Ellen Harmon, James White, and most of the Millerites had given up both these aspects of their Advent experience.

 

[djconklin]

3) This was skipped as well in the critic's chronology:

4. December, 1844: Ellen Harmon's first vision convinced her that #(1) above was true, and she apparently assumed that therefore #(2) was true also.

 

[djconklin]

>December 11 William Miller writes, "We have done our work in warning sinners and in trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has shut the door; we can only stir up one another to be patient" (Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844).

I do not know if this is correct or not. I have emailed it to Dr. Jerry Moon.

 

[Adventist Dissident]

3) This was skipped as well in the critic's chronology:

4. December, 1844: Ellen Harmon's first vision convinced her that #(1) above was true, and she apparently assumed that therefore #(2) was true also.

this is a conclusion where is the source material on this. Who is doing the concluding and when is it being done. if it is being done after the fact or by a supporter or EGW her self then we have to doubht the legitimacy of the claim. because the may be interpeting the facts to fit there view or needs at the time.

 

[djconklin]

where is the source material on this.

Good question! Did the critics show it to you?

Who is doing the concluding

I told you: Dr. Jerry Moon.

... then we have to doubht the legitimacy of the claim.

Why do we have to doubt? Is there some valid reason for doubting? Or, is this doubting Thomas, doing so for no good reason?

I have already noted, elsewhere in this forum, that there are a number of "facts" that they claim to be true that aren't. So, if I have to doubt anyone it will be the critics and not what others have said. I have not seen any evidence that the supporters of EGW are wrong.

because the may be interpeting the facts to fit there view or needs at the time.

That cuts both ways.

 

[Adventist Dissident]

>December 11 William Miller writes, "We have done our work in warning sinners and in trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has shut the door; we can only stir up one another to be patient" (Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844).

I do not know if this is correct or not. I have emailed it to Dr. Jerry Moon.

From the White Estate it guess this verify's the claim . Oh by the way Jerry Moon's article was ont the web.
Half way down the page.
Open and Shut Door

[From the Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, Second Revised Edition, Commentary Reference Series vol. 11 (Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996), pp. 249-252.]

OPEN AND SHUT DOOR. An expression derived from Rev. 3:7, 8, where Christ is described as the one "that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth" (an allusion to Isa. 22:22), and as the one who says to the Philadelphia church, "Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." Seventh-day Adventists have applied these texts to the closing of the first phase and the opening of the second and final phase of Christ's ministry in heaven, where He has been the Christian's high priest since His sacrifice on the cross (see Sanctuary). Christ's dual ministry was prefigured by the service of the ancient high priest, who served "unto the example and shadow of heavenly things" (Heb. 8:5). In the earthly sanctuary he served daily in the holy place, the first apartment of the sanctuary, and once a year in the Most Holy Place, the inner shrine where was the golden ark in which were the tables of the Ten Commandments and over which appeared the visible glory of God. This entering into the Holy of Holies took place on the Day of Atonement in the ceremony of the cleansing of the sanctuary (Lev. 16).
In applying the type to Christ, Ellen White declared: "Then Jesus rose up and shut the door in the holy place, and opened the door in the Most Holy, and passed within the Second Veil, where He now stands by the ark; and where the faith of Israel now reaches. I saw that Jesus had shut the door in the holy place, and no man can open it; and that He had opened the door in the Most Holy and no man can shut it: (Rev. 3:7, 8); and that since Jesus has opened the door into the Most Holy Place, which contains the ark, the commandments have been shining out to God's people, and they are being tested on the Sabbath question" (Present Truth 1:21, August 1849; also Early Writings, p. 42).
This application corrected, not immediately but eventually, a misunderstanding of the "shut door" of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins--a misconception that had been derived from the Millerite movement of 1844.
The Millerites had based their expectation of the return of Christ principally on Daniel's prophecy of the cleansing of the sanctuary at the end of 2300 prophetic days (Dan. 8:14). At the climax of the movement, in 1844, they [p. 250] specifically connected this prophecy with the purification ceremony of the ancient Day of Atonement as typifying the ending of Christ's mediation for sins (though they saw the cleansing of the sanctuary as the purging of the earth in the final fires). At the same time they gave increased and specific emphasis to the prophetic parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt. 25).
William Miller had likened his message of the expected Second Advent to the "midnight cry" of the parable ("Behold, the bridegroom cometh"), and had emphasized the point that the wise virgins, who were ready to meet the arriving bridegroom, entered with him into the wedding, where the door was shut after them, leaving the tardy foolish virgins outside. The virgins he interpreted as those summoned to meet the returning Lord; the wedding, the eternal kingdom, from which the unready would be forever excluded. "The door was shut," he said, "implies the closing up of the mediatorial kingdom, and finishing the gospel period" (William Miller, Evidence . . . of the Second Coming of Christ [1840], p. 237).
Unlike most others who were then looking for the near advent of Christ (see Premillennialism), the Millerites placed strong emphasis on the doctrine that at the coming of Christ every human being would be either ready or unready to meet Him, and that opportunity for salvation would then cease. This in theological parlance was called the close of human probation. The Millerites taught "that the notion of a probation after Christ's coming is a lure to destruction, entirely contrary to the Word of God, which positively teaches that when Christ comes the door is shut, and such as are not ready can never enter in" ("Boston Second Advent Conference," The Signs of the Times 3:69, June 1, 1842; reprinted in SB, No. 1083).
Because they expected Christ to return at the close of the 2300 prophetic days, they had emphasized the close of probation at the end of that period. Therefore, for a short period after the disappointment of October 1844, Miller and many others thought that their work for the world was done, that there was only a little "tarrying time" left--perhaps but a few days or months--until Christ would come. In December 1844 Miller wrote: "We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake a formal church. God, in his providence has shut the door, we can only stir one another up to be patient; and be diligent to make our calling and election sure. We are now living in the time specified by Malachi iii:18, also Daniel xii:10, and Rev. xxii:10-12. In this passage we cannot help but see, that a little while before Christ should come, there would be a separation between the just and unjust, the righteous and wicked, between those who love his appearing, and those who hate it. And never since the days of the apostles, has there been such a division line drawn as was drawn about the 10th or 23rd day of the 7th Jewish month" (William Miller letter, in Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844, p. 142; reprinted in Western Midnight Cry 4:25, Dec. 21, 1844).
Others expressed themselves similarly at first. But J. V. Himes, Miller's most prominent colleague, and others held that since Christ had not come, the 2300-day prophetic period must not have ended in 1844; that it must extend to some other date in the future, and therefore that the fulfillment of the "midnight cry" of the parable of the virgins was also still future; and that the October 1844 movement (see Seventh-Month Movement) was a mistake, and was not a fulfillment of prophecy. By the spring of 1845 the main Millerite group, including Miller, had come to this view. This group, still possessed of the idea that the "door" of the parable of the virgins was none other than the "door of salvation," argued thus: Since Christ has not come, the door of salvation is still open; therefore, the parable of the virgins has not yet met fulfillment. They concluded that anyone who taught that this parable had been fulfilled must believe that probation had ended, and must, therefore, be ipso facto a "no-mercy" heretic. The phrase "shut door" became an epithet.
But a minority continued to hold that the time had been correct; that the mistake had been in the nature of the prophetic fulfillment; that in October 1844 the 2300 days had ended in the symbolic Day of Atonement and the parable had been fulfilled (though not in the way that they had expected); and therefore that the door of the parable--whatever it might mean--had been shut in fulfillment of the prophecy. To them the phrase "shut door" was equivalent to the affirmation of belief that the "true midnight cry" had been the climax of a God-given message and the 1844 movement had been led of God and permitted, in His providence, as a test of their consecration and willingness to be ready to meet their Lord. Naturally these regarded the majority, who had given up "the time," as turning their backs on the truth and denying the Lord's leading in the "midnight cry."
[p. 251] Some continued to hold--as Miller had taught--that the door was that of salvation, for they still expected Christ to return very shortly. As time passed, some held that it was the door of "access" to listeners--that obstinate and willful individuals had closed their ears to God's message for that day; in either case there was no chance of winning acceptance of their message by the world at that time. The unfortunate controversy over the "shut door" magnified the subject unduly and prolonged the misunderstanding. As might be expected, feelings ran high in this time of disillusionment and confusion.
The extremists on the shut-door doctrine declared that Christ had come, not literally, but "spiritually" (see Spiritualism [1]). But the small group that formed the nucleus of the future Seventh-day Adventist Church opposed alike the vagaries of those who declared that Christ had come spiritually and the position of the majority who "denied their past experience" in the 1844 movement. They retained their confidence in the 1844 fulfillment, and concluded that the mistake lay in the event they had expected.
They accepted the explanation of the Disappointment that was first advanced by Hiram Edson on the day after the Disappointment, namely, that the ministry of Christ as our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary had not ended with the 2300 days, but had entered another phase, as symbolized (1) by the high priest's entry into the Holy of Holies, the beginning of the symbolic cleansing of the sanctuary, and (2) by the coming of the bridegroom to the wedding (not to the earth); and that the end of this phase, symbolized by the priest's coming out of the sanctuary and the bridegroom's return from the wedding (Luke 12:36), was yet to come, and would be followed by the Second Advent.
Their retention of the belief in the 1844 ending of the 2300 days and their separating of the Second Advent from that prophetic period saved them from the error to which the majority group was susceptible--that of seeking future dates for the end. But it left them with the dilemma of either accepting the no-mercy doctrine or correcting their view of the "shut door" from the initial Millerite definition of it. They gradually came to see the opening of the final phase of Christ's ministry as the shutting of the door of the holy place and the opening of the door to the Holy of Holies--the opening of a new message of the Sabbath, and the opening of a broadened ministry to the world preceding the Second Advent. But this took time.
It is interesting to trace the steps by which the little groups that later became the Seventh-day Adventists moved out of the shut-door dilemma and solved the double problem: (1) Is the door shut? and (2) What is the door?
Ellen G. Harmon (later White) was accused of claiming divine revelation for the no-mercy doctrine. This she denied. She stated later: "With my brethren and sisters, after the time passed in forty-four I did believe no more sinners would be converted. But I never had a vision that no more sinners would be converted. . . . I was shown that there was a great work to be done in the world for those who had not had the light and rejected it. Our brethren could not understand this with our faith in the immediate appearing of Christ" (Letter 2, 1874, in Selected Messages, book 1, p. 74).

 

[djconklin]

Note that the critic's web page clipped the quote without telling the reader they had done so. I have seen this frequently--especially in Rea's book.

 

[djconklin]

A more detailed chronology can be seen at http://members.tripod.com/omega77/openandshutdoorolson.htm

"3. October 22-November, 1844--In Common With Most of the Millerites, Ellen Harmon Also Believed for a Time that the Door of Mercy was Shut on October 22, 1844.

For a time after the disappointment in 1844, I did hold, in common with the advent body, that the door of mercy was then forever closed to the world.--Ellen G. White Ms. 4, 1883; Selected Messages, book 1, p. 63.
​

4. November-December, 1844--Ellen Harmon Gave Up Her View That the Door Was Shut.

At the time I had the vision of the midnight cry I had given it up in the past and thought it future, as also most of the band had.--Ellen G. White Letter 3, 1847, written July 13, 1847 to Joseph Bates.
​

The "midnight cry" (Matt. 25:6) was the powerful proclamation of Christ's imminent return made by the Millerites from August 12 to October 22, 1844. When Christ did not return on October 22, as anticipated, the Millerites at first thought that human probation had closed on that date. Christ's glorious second advent was expected in a few weeks' time at the most.
However, when time continued into the month of December, most of the advent "band" in Portland, Maine, where Ellen Harmon lived, gave up their confidence in the Millerite interpretation of Daniel 8:14, Matthew 25:6, and related texts. Apparently for several weeks late in November and early in December, 1844, Ellen [p. 4] Harmon looked upon the Millerite computations as one big mistake. She concluded that the door of mercy had not been shut, after all, on October 22."

 

[djconklin]

Another study on the Shut door by Dr. Jerry Moon:

GSEM 534 (http://www.andrews.edu/~jmoon/Documents/GSEM_534/Class_outline/Shut%20door.pdf)
Lecture Outline March 6, 2003 ​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

The Continuing Significance of the Shut Door (Part 1)​

1. [/FONT]
2. I. Introduction
   1. A. Why this topic is important for Adventists
      
   2. 1. It is a major point of criticism for the most aggressive current critics of Ellen White and the Adventist Church.
      
   3. 2. It involves two spiritual issues that constitute important components of Adventist uniqueness and identity.
      
   4. a. Adventists understand that 1844 marked another step in the history of salvation, the beginning of the final phase of Christ’s high-priestly ministry to prepare His people for His second coming.
      
   5. b. Adventists understand that God judges individuals not in comparison to the faith or behavior of other humans, but on the basis of their own faith response to the spiritual light that they personally have received (James 4:17). Increased light bring increased responsibility (Luke 12:48), and the rejection of Christ’s Lordship involves rejection of Him as Savior as well (Matt 7:21-23).
      
   6. 3. Thus the Shut Door is not merely a bit of historical-theological trivia, but a controversy based on unique truths that are intrinsic to the Adventist message. This is why the "problem" of the Shut Door will never go away, as long as Adventists remain faithful to the scriptural foundation of their faith.
      
   7. B. Typical Presuppositions of Critics of Adventism
      
   8. 1. That the writings of Ellen White are the foundation of Adventist theology.
      
      Therefore the way to settle the question of whether Adventist doctrines are true is to first determine whether Ellen White is a true prophet. If she is a true prophet, then the church built on her writings is a true church. If she is not, it is not.
      2. That the tests of a prophet include verbal inspiration, total originality, inerrancy and infallibility. Therefore, her supposed flaws and mistakes disqualify her from being a true prophet.
      3. That the traditional creeds of Christendom generally represent biblical truth.
      Therefore, such teachings of Ellen G. White as an antitypical heavenly sanctuary, the perpetuity of the seventh-day Sabbath, the sleep of the dead, the annihilation of the wicked, and an investigative phase of judgment before the Second Advent are viewed as evidence, if not proof, of her heterodoxy.​
   9. C. Presuppositions of Adventist hermeneutics
      
      
   10. 1. Scripture is first and foundational. The earliest Adventists knew from their own Bible study that key Adventist doctrines such as the Sanctuary, the Sabbath, and the State of the Dead, were solidly based on Scripture alone. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]They rejected the allegation that their understanding of these required Ellen White’s authority to make them believable. To the contrary, they believed in her gift because she agreed with these scriptural doctrines. [/FONT](See GSEM534-02 Lecture Outline, "The Role of Ellen G. White in the Development of Seventh-day Adventist Doctrines.")
       
   11. 2. When they tested Ellen White by Scripture, much of their confidence that in her God had indeed renewed the true gift of prophecy was based on the fact that against creedal tradition and popular opinion, her visions upheld Scripture—and almost nobody else did—on these pivotal doctrines. It is as true today as it was then: for Christians who believe the seventh-

2

1. 1. day is the Sabbath and that death is a sleep, there is still nowhere else to go. (See Clifford Goldstein, "Limited Options," [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Adventist Review, [/FONT]Dec. 27, 2001, 30.)
      
   2. 3. The conviction that in Ellen White the church had received the genuine prophetic gift was based on Scriptural tests of a prophet, but during her lifetime, Adventists allowed each convert to come to the individual conviction that those tests were fulfilled in Ellen White, because to make acceptance of her prophetic authority a test of fellowship would undermine the principle that Scripture is the only foundation for tests of fellowship. The claim to test her by Scripture would become circular reasoning if her authority was placed on the same level as Scripture. (See Roger W. Coon, "Belief in Ellen G. White as a Prophet: Should It Be Made a Test of SDA ‘Fellowship’?" GSEM534 Lecture Outline, May 29, 1996.)

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

II. The Changing Meanings of "Shut Door"​

[/FONT]

The shut door is a good example of what happens when a body of believers lives through a fulfillment of prophecy. In the process they discover that their knowledge was partial and as they come to a fuller understanding of the prophecy whose fulfillment they witnessed and experienced, they use some of the key terms differently than they did when their understanding was only partial.​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

A. Biblical Origin of the Term: Matt. 25:10-12.​

[/FONT]

"And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]the door was shut[/FONT]. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not."​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

Here the term evidently refers to some kind of "close of probation."​

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

B. November 1844: Millerites believe door is shut.​

1. 1. [/FONT]
   2. 1. William Miller: "We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake[n] a formal church. God in His providence has shut the door; we can only stir one another up to be [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]patient[/FONT], and be diligent to make our calling and election sure" ([FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Advent Herald[/FONT], Dec. 11, 1844, quoted by A. L. White in [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Ellen G. White [/FONT]1:60 [1 Bio 60]).
      
   3. 2. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Here the term "shut door" refers to the beliefs that (1) the 2300-day prophecy ended on Oct. 22, 1844; and (2) probation for sinners did close on October 22, 1844.
      [/FONT]
   4. 3. At this point the Millerite Adventists believed that their evangelistic mission was finished. They had only to encourage one another and hold their faith till Jesus appeared.
      1. a. They had sent Millerite literature to every known Protestant mission station in the world. That was possible because Protestant foreign missions were only getting started.
         
      2. b. When William Carey presented the needs of India to a group of English clergymen, the reply was, "Sit down, young man. When God wants to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine." He founded the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792, not so long before the Millerite movement.
         
      3. c. J. Hudson Taylor’s founding of the China Inland Mission was yet future, in 1865.

4. Why the Millerites could believe their work was finished: There was a might power in the "midnight cry" (seventh-month movement) that was a foretaste of the latter rain. Those who were convicted of the truth of that message, but rejected it, shut the door against themselves. See James White, [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Life Incidents [/FONT](1868), 169-191.​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

C. December 1844: Millerites have given up their belief in the "midnight cry" and the "shut door."​

3
1. "In other words, they assumed that the 2300 days [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]had not ended yet[/FONT]. Writing to Joseph Bates on July 13, 1847, Ellen White declared: ‘At the time I had the vision of the midnight cry [December 1844], I had given it [the midnight cry] up [as having occurred] in the past and thought it future, as also most of the band had’" (EGW Letter 3, 1847, in quotation from Arthur L. White, 1 Bio 60-61).
2. James White (1847): "When she [Ellen] received her first vision, Dec. 1844, [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]she and all the band [/FONT][the group of Advent believers] in Portland, Maine (where he parents then resided) [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]had given up the midnight-cry, and shut door, as being in the past[/FONT]. It was then that the Lord shew her in vision, the error into which she and the band in Portland had fallen. She then related her vision to the band, and about sixty confessed their error, and acknowledged their 7th month experience to be the work of God." (James White, in [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Word to the Little Flock[/FONT], p. 22).
3. Note what they had given up before her first vision: they [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]"had given up the midnight-cry, and shut door [/FONT]as being in the past"; that is, they had given up believing [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]"their 7th month experience to be the work of God." [/FONT]They had lost faith that any fulfillment of prophecy had occurred in the "Midnight Cry" ("seventh-month movement") that had drawn attention to the fulfillment of prophecy on October 22, 1844.
4. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Here the term "shut door" refers to two concepts that were held as one: (1) that the 2300 days had ended October 22, 1844; and (2) that probation had closed October 22, 1844. [/FONT]By December 1844, Ellen Harmon, James White, and most of the Millerites had given up [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]both [/FONT]these aspects of their Advent experience.​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

D. December, 1844: Ellen Harmon's first vision​

[/FONT]

1. Here is a portion of her first written account of her first vision, published as a letter to the editor of the [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Day-Star, [/FONT]a Millerite Adventist periodical, January 24, 1846.
"While praying at the family altar the Holy Ghost fell on me and I seemed to be rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to look for the Advent people in the world, but could not find them, when a voice said to me, Look again, and look a little higher. At this, I raised my eyes and see a strait and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the Advent people were traveling to the City, which was at the farther end of the path. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]They had a bright light set up behind them at the first end of the path, which an angel told me was the Midnight Cry. This light shone all along the path and gave light for their feet so they might not stumble. [/FONT]And if they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the City, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said the City was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising his glorious right arm, and from his arm came a glorious light which waved over the Advent band, and they shouted, Hallelujah!" [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Others rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out which left their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and got their eyes off the mark and lost sight of Jesus, and fell off the path down in the dark and wicked world below. It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again [/FONT]& go to the City, as [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]all the wicked world which God had rejected[/FONT]" (Ellen G. Harmon to Enoch Jacobs, "Letter from Sister Harmon, Portland Maine, Dec. 20,
4
1845," [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Day-Star, [/FONT]January 24, 1846, par. 1).
2. As noted above, this vision clearly taught #(1) above—that the 2300 days had closed on October 22, 1844, and that "Midnight Cry" regarding that fulfillment of prophecy was true light—in fact a "bright light" that "shone all along the path and gave light for their feet that they might not stumble."
3. For awhile she apparently assumed that #(2) above was also true—that a general close of probation had occurred.
4. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]The heart of the controversy [/FONT]regarding Ellen Harmon’s belief about the shut door is the meaning of two key parts of the last sentence above: "It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again & go to the City, as all the wicked world which God had rejected."
a. The first part, "just as impossible for them to get on the path again & go to the City," obviously refers to those who before the disappointment had believed the Millerite message, but later abandoned it.
b. What then is the precise meaning of the second phrase, "all the wicked world which God had rejected"? Did she understand this to mean a general close of probation for the world? She seems to have believed that, at least for a short time, but there is another possible interpretation of those words.​

 

[djconklin]

Part 2 (edited)

5. The [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Advent Mirror, [/FONT]published in Jan. 1845, described very carefully what "bridegroom Adventists" understood by (2) the "shut door" or close of probation.1

"[A]s it is a fundamental principle in the economy of heaven that ‘it is accepted according to what a man hath [2 Cor 8:12]," [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]we know that at the closing of the door of mercy, all who fear God and work righteousness [/FONT][Acts 10:34-35], [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]according to the light they have, must be embraced by the arms of his mercy; though as the measure of the light they have differs, the apparent form of their character must differ. And there may be changes in the form of their character, which we might call conversions, though it would imply no change in their inward character before God. That such may be found, for whom we should labor, there can be no doubt [/FONT]. ... But to think of laboring to convert the great mass of the world at such a time, would be as idle as it would have been for the Israelites, when they were down by the Red sea, to have turned about to convert the Egyptians" (Apollos Hale and Joseph Turner, "Has Not the Savior Come as the Bridegroom?" [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]The Advent Mirror, [/FONT]1/1, Boston, Jan. 1845, p. 4; reprinted in [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]1844 and the Rise of Sabbatarian Adventism, [/FONT]compiled and edited by George R. Knight, [Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1994], 133-136).

1"Bridegroom Adventism" was a transitional phase in the development of post-disappointment Millerite Adventism, characterized by the belief that prophecy had been fulfilled on October 22, 1844, but that rather than predicting Christ’s coming to earth to receive His people, the prophecy had referred to Christ’s coming to the Father to "receive a kingdom," i.e., be married to His bride, the New Jerusalem, through a judgment process before the Second Coming to earth. For a glimpse of this, see E. G. White, [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Great Controversy[/FONT], 426-429. For a thorough historical account based on Millerite primary sources, see Merlin Burt, "The Historical Background, Interconnected Development, and Integration of the doctrines of the Sanctuary, the Sabbath, and Ellen G. White’s Role in Sabbatarian Adventism from 1844 to 1849" (Ph.D. dissertation, Andrews Univ., 2002), chap. 3.

One paragraph earlier in the same article, the authors had illustrated their point by referring to the experience of Christ with Israel at the close of His earthly ministry.

"So it was at the time of the Savior’s ministry; [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]after he had pronounced their doom and declared ‘their house was left unto them desolate,’ we know that individuals were the subjects of mercy, and were actually brought to believe in Christ[/FONT]" (ibid.)

a. Merlin Burt explains, "From these comments, it can be concluded that the Shut Door did not mean that individuals could not be brought to believe in Christ but rather that the rebellious ‘sinner’ could not be ‘converted.’" (Ibid., 79.)

b. If this represented the usage of the term "Shut Door" by the Adventists in Portland,3 then "all the wicked world" would [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]not [/FONT]mean all non-Millerites, but only those who had specifically rejected the Millerite message. All who were "living up to all the light they had" (to use a later Adventist phrase) were specifically seen as accepted, not rejected, by God.

3Though the Advent Mirror was published in Boston, one of its editors, Joseph Turner, was a "leader of the Adventists in the Portland [Maine] area" (1 Bio 62). Thus Turner and Ellen Harmon belonged to the same local group of Adventists and may very well have used terms in similar ways.

c. Given the limits of Ellen Harmon’s worldview as a Portland, Maine, teenager who had never traveled more than a few miles from her birthplace, her words "all the wicked world" seem a very natural term of reference for the rejecters of the Millerite message. She and her family had passed through a great disappointment, made more bitter by the ostracism, ridicule, and even violence perpetrated on the Millerites by hostile onlookers. In this historical context, the "the wicked world" would denote the unbelieving population who had heard the Millerite message, but refused it.

d. This gains further support from the fact that she continued to believe and teach throughout her life, that there were many people whose adamant rejection of the message concerning Oct. 22, 1844, unless later repented of, did mark the end of their walk with God and effectively end their probation. Notice Ellen White’s own later explanation (1883).

"[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]I was shown in vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut door in 1844. [/FONT]All who saw the light of the first and second angels' messages and rejected that light, were left in darkness. And those who accepted it and received the Holy Spirit which attended the proclamation of the message from heaven, and who afterward renounced their faith and pronounced their experience a delusion, thereby rejected the Spirit of God, and it no longer pleaded with them.

"Those who did not see the light, had not the guilt of its rejection. It was only the class who had despised the light from heaven that the Spirit of God could not reach. And this class included, as I have stated, both those who refused to accept the message when it was presented to them, and also those who, having received it, afterward renounced their faith. These might have a form of godliness, and profess to be followers of Christ; but having no living connection with God, they would be taken captive by the delusions of Satan. These two classes are brought to view in the vision--those who declared the light which they had followed a delusion, and the wicked of the world who, having rejected the light, had been rejected of God. No reference is made to those who had not seen the light, and therefore were not guilty of its rejection" (1SM 63-64).

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]E. February 1845: Ellen Harmon's "Bridegroom Vision" [/FONT]further differentiated the two earlier meanings of the "Shut Door."

1. She continued to believe that a genuine fulfillment of prophecy had occurred on October 22, 1844 and that those who had deliberately and knowingly rejected that message had been

1. 1. "left in darkness."
      
   2. She now believed, however, that for those who had never heard the Advent message with convicting power, probation was still open. Note Marion Stowell’s report of a conversation with Ellen Harmon in 1845:

"During Miss Harmon’s (now Mrs. White's) visit to Paris, Maine, in the summer of 1845, I stated to her the particulars of a dear friend of mine whose father had prevented her attending our meetings; consequently she had not rejected light. She smilingly replied, ‘God never has shown me that there is no salvation for such persons. It is only those who have had the light of truth presented to them and knowingly rejected it’ [to whom the door is shut]" (1 Bio 96-97).
It appears that the idea of a [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]general [/FONT]close of probation in 1844 was given up by Ellen White at least by the summer of 1845, and possibly as early as her first vision. But she did not receive the full explanation of the "shut door" until 1849.​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]F. March 24, 1849. Vision of "The Open and the Shut Door," [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Early Writings, [/FONT]42-45. Ellen White saw that "Jesus had shut the door of the holy place" and "opened the door into the most holy" (EW 42). On October 22, 1844, the most-holy-place ministry began, involving increasing light and increasing responsibility (cf. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]GC [/FONT]424-425). Now the term "shut door" is connected with Rev 3:7-8 and refers to the change of Christ's heavenly ministry from the holy place to the most holy place.

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]G. 1849-1850: Conversions of persons who had not previously been Millerites [/FONT]reinforced the conviction that October 22, 1844, had not witnessed a general close of probation. These individuals included Hiram and Mrs. Patch, Heman Churchill, and J. H. Waggoner in 1850 (1 Bio 263-266).

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]H. 1874: Miles Grant[/FONT], an Advent Christian minister, charged that E. G. White "had declared on the basis of the visions that probation for the world had closed." She replied that "with my brethren and sisters, after the time passed in `44 I did believe that no more sinners would be converted. But [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]I never had a vision [/FONT]that no more sinners would be converted" (EGW, Letter 2, 1874, quoted in 1 Bio 259, emphasis supplied).

To the contrary, it was her visions that "led [the early Adventists] out of the extreme view of the shut door" (J. N. Loughborough, [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]RH[/FONT], 9/25/1866, cited in 1 Bio 264).

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]IV. The Enduring Principle of the Shut Door[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]A. 1882: "I am still a believer in the shut-door."[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Early Writings, [/FONT]a republication of three earlier works from 1851, 1854, and 1858, came out in 1882. Someone promptly objected that some words had been deleted from the account of her first vision, including the sentence, "It was just as impossible for them [those that gave up their faith in the ‘44 movement] to get on the path again and go to the city, as all the wicked world which God had rejected." To this Ellen White replied, "It is claimed that these expressions prove the shut-door doctrine, and that this is the reason of their omission in later editions. But in fact they teach only that which has been and [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]is still held by us as a people[/FONT], as I shall show" (1SM 62).

"[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]For a time after the disappointment in 1844, I did hold, in common with the advent body, that the door of mercy was then forever closed [/FONT]to the world. This position was taken [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]before [/FONT]my first vision was given me. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]It was the light given me of God [/FONT][in that vision and several others] [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]that [/FONT][eventually] [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]corrected our error, and enabled us to see the true position[/FONT].

"[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]I am still a believer in the shut-door theory, but not in the sense in which we at first employed the term [/FONT]or in which it is employed by my opponents.

"[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]There was a shut door in Noah's day. [/FONT]There was at that time a withdrawal of the Spirit of God from the sinful race that perished in the waters of the Flood. God Himself gave the shut-door message to Noah:

"My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Gen. 6:3).

"[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]There was a shut door in the days of Abraham[/FONT]. Mercy ceased to plead with the inhabitants of Sodom, and all but Lot, with his wife and two daughters, were consumed by the fire sent down from heaven.

"[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]There was a shut door in Christ's day[/FONT]. The Son of God declared to the unbelieving Jews of that generation, ‘Your house is left unto you desolate’ (Matt. 23:38).

"Looking down the stream of time to the last days, the same infinite power proclaimed through John: ‘These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth’ (Rev. 3:7)" (Ms 4, 1883, in 1SM 63; see entire chapter, 59-76).

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]B. [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Early Writings[/FONT], 45: [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]"It is a fearful thing to treat lightly the truth which has [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]convinced our understanding and touched our hearts[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]. We cannot with impunity reject the warnings which God in mercy sends us." [/FONT][Examples: the flood in Noah's day, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the words of Christ, ‘Your house is left unto you desolate,’ and the warning of 2 Thess 2:10-12.] "As they reject the teachings of His Word, God withdraws His Spirit, and leaves them to the deceptions which they love" (emphasis supplied).

The operative condition is the first sentence of this paragraph: "It is a fearful thing" to "reject" that which we consciously recognize to be truth. On the other hand, there are those who have rejected information which they sincerely believed to be error, and this, though unfortunate, does not involve guilt.

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]"The Lord has His representatives in all the churches. These persons have not had the special testing truths for these last days presented to them [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]under circumstances that brought conviction to heart and mind[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]; therefore they have not, by rejecting light, severed their connection with God. [/FONT]Many there are who have faithfully walked in the light that has shone upon their pathway. They hunger to know more of the ways and works of God. All over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the very verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in" ([FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Testimonies, [/FONT]6:70-71, emphasis supplied).

 

[djconklin]

part 3 (fini!)


[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]"The Lord has His representatives in all the churches. These persons have not had the special testing truths for these last days presented to them
[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]under circumstances that brought conviction to heart and mind[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]; therefore they have not, by rejecting light, severed their connection with God. [/FONT]​

Many there are who have faithfully walked in the light that has shone upon their pathway. They hunger to know more of the ways and works of God. All over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the very verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in" ([FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Testimonies, [/FONT]6:70-71, emphasis supplied).


"The Lord desires His chosen servants to learn how to unite together in harmonious effort. It may seem to some that the contrast between their gifts and the gifts of a fellow laborer is too great to allow them to unite in harmonious effort; but when they remember that there are varied minds to be reached, and that [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]some will reject the truth as it is presented by one laborer, only to open their hearts to God’s truth as it is presented in a different manner by another laborer[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman], [/FONT]they will hopefully endeavor to labor together in unity" ([FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Testimonies, [/FONT]9:145, emphasis supplied).

"When the theory of the truth is repeated without its sacred influence being felt upon the soul of the speaker, it has no force upon the hearers, but is rejected as error, the speaker making himself responsible for the loss of souls. We must be sure that our ministers are converted men, humble, meek, and lowly of heart" (4T 441).

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]V. Review Questions for Exam [/FONT]
A. Review the conflicting presuppositions of Adventists and some of their recent critics (pp. 1-2), making sure that you understand the dynamics involved.
B. Be able to explain how the definition(s) of "shut door" changed over time.
C. In what sense could Ellen White write in 1883, that "I was shown in vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut door in 1844"? (See sections II, D, d; and IV.)
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Sources for Further Study: [/FONT]​

Douglass, Herbert E. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Messenger of the Lord, [/FONT]500-512, 549-569;

Nichol, F. D. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Ellen G. White and Her Critics[/FONT], 161-252.
Olson, Robert W. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]The "Shut Door" Documents, [/FONT]Shelf Document. Washington, DC: Ellen G. White Estate, April 11, 1982. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]58 pages of primary sources. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]SDA Encyclopedia[/FONT], article, "Open and Shut Door." ​

White, Arthur L. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Ellen G. White[/FONT], 1:256-270, also 60-61, 78, 96, 140, 160-161, 191-192.
White, Ellen G. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Great Controversy, [/FONT]428-431.​

 

[Adventist Dissident]

Good question! Did the critics show it to you? yes, all there citation are in the refrences. I am double checking the facts.

 

[Adventist Dissident]

Are these sources enough for you. , there is more if you want. google them and see what you find

​

1844
1 William Miller writes, (Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844).

1845

Jan. - Dec.
Ellen White." (The True Sabbath, by Miles Grant, p. 70)
Mrs. L.S. Burdick (The True Sabbath, p. 72).
February 7 O.R.L. Crosier Oct. 22, 1844, in the Day Star.

February 19 William Miller." Voice of Truth, Feb. 19,1845. 1846

April 20 Otis Nichols,
Fall Joseph Bates (The Typical and Anti-typical Sanctuary, p. 10, 1850)
1847

April James White published "A Word to the Little Flock."

1848

Jan. - Dec. Many of the Millerites give up the "shut door" teaching by the end of the year. O.R.L. Crosier,the Day Star, Cincinnati, O.

1849

Joseph Bates ("A Seal of the Living God", 1849) Manuscript Releases, Vol. 5, p. 93


March 24 Mrs. White receives visions in Topsham, Maine, that confirm belief in the shut door: "God gave me two visions while there, much to the comfort and strength of the brethren and sisters. Brother Stowell was established in the shut door and all the pre
August Ellen White " (Present Truth, August, 1849).


September A local pestilence is seen as a fulfillment of the end of the world. Mrs. White (Present Truth, Sept. 1849).

December David Arnold writes in the Present Truth: (Present Truth, Dec. 1849)
1850

February 10 . In her letter to Brother and Sister Collins, Feb. 10, 1850, Mrs. White says "

April (Present Truth, April, 1850).
April James White (Present Truth, April, 1850)
May James White writes: (Present Truth, May, 1850)
June 27 Mrs. White (Early Writings, pp. 64-67).
July 29 Miss Sarah B. Harmon, older sister of Mrs. White, in a letter written from Brookfield, N.Y., to Mrs. P.D. Lawrence, July 29/30, 1850, said: "I believe this is the last winter we shall see before Jesus, our great High Priest, comes out. Oh, let us live for God and sacrifice for him faithfully." August 24 Ellen White writes in a letter regarding the Present Truth magazine: "...the lines that were being published were written in the Spirit of God, (Ms 7, 1850)
August George Butler, the Adventists were "quite surprised" a non-believer would manifest interest in their message!
September Mrs. White (Early Writings, p. 58, ed. 1907) December Sister White says that to oppose the shut door is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: "(Ms 11, 1850, pp. 3, 4)
1851

June 21
"
August 19 Joseph Bates wrote:." Review and Herald, Aug. 19, 1851
August James and Ellen White publish "Experience and Views", a little pamphlet of 64 pages. No reference is made in this to "A Word to the Little Flock," nor to Present Truth, although all but seven introductory pages of "Experience and Views" is copied word for word from these two publications. All references to the "shut door" were omitted from the publication. 1853
James White a Christ..."Review and Herald, No. 3, p. 176



http://www.ellenwhite.org/chrono.htm[/quote]

 

[Adventist Dissident]

I told you: Dr. Jerry Moon

. SDA bias

Why do we have to doubt? Is there some valid reason for doubting? Or, is this doubting Thomas, doing so for no good reason?

I question because the evidence looks bad and give me reason to doubt, plus I can't get and SDA to give me a stright answer. They are alway attacking my motives or manipulating facts to make EGW look better then the evidence says. they expect me to prove her false instead of her proving her self to be true, then if they do get evidence, it is wiped under the rug invalated and not delt with. My queston to you is Have you tested the claim Like the scripture command you to do. ALL the claims? That is all we are doing here. it appears your mind is arleady made up mine is not.



I have already noted, elsewhere in this forum, that there are a number of "facts" that they claim to be true that aren't. So, if I have to doubt anyone it will be the critics and not what others have said. I have not seen any evidence that the supporters of EGW are wrong.

That cuts both ways

this is true, but what would be the moitivation of the people to critics. why would they waste there time tearing apart a woman who was a true prophet. A false prophet I can see why. but a true?
there were Sabbatarians who wrote against her. you can't say they were against here for that reason.

D.M. canwright made a lot of money and had a lot of prestige when he left the final time. Why. to get more prestige is the claim, but when he left he did not have a job waiting for him. that is the problem

Snook left and still kept the sabbath and raised up many chruch, I believe he taught the state of the dead properly too. so that can't be a problem either.

I know why EGW and her family might what to hide it is obvious, they would be discredited and loose out financally and the experiance that they loved would have been over.

 

[djconklin]

I told you: Dr. Jerry Moon

. SDA bias

As compared to anti-SDA bias? I've already showed you they were wrong. Do you have any evidence he is wrong? Or, is this another one of those "look at the color of his skin" type of arguments?