The Civil War Vision - 1861
| The Civil War Visions |
January 12, 1861
August 3, 1861
January 4, 1862 |
| Ellen White's first vision regarding the Civil War was received at Parkville, Michigan, on Sabbath, January 12, 1861. She was attending the dedication of a new church building for the Parkville church, also attending was James White, J.H. Waggoner, Uriah Smith, J.N. Loughborough who recorded the event in his book 'Rise and Progress of the Seventh-day Adventists. The duration of the vision was reported to be "some 20 minutes or more" in Loughborough's 'Sketches of the Past - Number 121" |
After coming out of vision, Ellen White addressed the congregation, according to eyewitnesses Loughborough, and said: "There is not a person in this house who has even dreamed of the trouble that is coming upon the land. People are making sport of the secession of South Carolina, but I have just been shown that a large number of states are going to join that state and there will be a most terrible war.
In this vision I have seen large armies of both sides gathered on the field of battle. I heard the booming of the cannon, and saw the dead and dying on every hand." Then surveying her audience, she added a foreboding note: "There are those in this house who will lose sons in that war." The Great Visions of Ellen White, Roger W. Coon, page 79. |
| The second Civil War vision was received on August 3, 1861. Ellen White was given an updated view of the conflict while attending a conference of church leaders in Roosevelt, New York. This appears in Testimonies for the Church, Volume 1, page 264 to 271 Section title, 'Slavery and the War.' |
| The third Civil War vision was received on January 4, 1862 when she was home in Battle Creek. She was shown things in regard to the nation and the war. Testimonies, Volume 1, page 253 to 258 gives an account. "The North did not understand the bitter, dreadful hatred of the South towne them and were unprepared for their plots. . . The North have no idea of the strength of the accused system of slavery. It is this and this alone, which lies at the foundation of the war. The South have been nore and nore exacting. They consider it perfectly right to engagte in human traffic, to deal in claves and the souls of men. . . Said the angel: "Hear, O heavens, the cry of the oppressed, and reward the oppressors double according to their deeds. This nation will yet be humbled into the dust. . ." |
| In 'The Rebellion" published in early 1863 and based upon an undated vision, Mrs. White reiterated many points made in earlier statements, but this time added an entirely new element: that the military was riddled with spiritualism. 'The Rebellion' is a section found in Testimonies, Volume 1, page 355 to 368. "Satan has, through his angels, communicated with officers . . . who have given up their own judgement and have been led by these lying spirits into very difficult places, where they have benn repulsed with dreadful slaughter. It suits his satanic majesty well to see claughter and carnage upon the earth. He loves to see the poor soldiers mowed down like grass." |
Note: Photo above is statue of General William Sherman lead by Angel.
59th Street entrance to Central Park, NYC
