From Small Beginnings, Streams of Light

As the early Adventist pioneers began to discover biblical truths such as Jesus’ work in the Heavenly Sanctuary and the seventh-day Sabbath, they often gathered to study together and pray. They were strongly impressed that they needed to share this information with others. But how? It was during a series of conferences specifically related to the Sabbath that an unexpected solution emerged.

“It was shortly after the fifth . . . Sabbath conference held in 1848 that another meeting was called at the home of Otis Nichols in Dorchester (near Boston), Massachusetts. The brethren were studying and praying concerning their responsibility to herald the light that the Lord had caused to shine upon their pathway. As they studied, Ellen White was taken off in vision, and . . . she was shown the duty of the brethren to publish this light. She recounts the incident in Life Sketches:

“ ‘After coming out of vision, I said to my husband: “I have a message for you. You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the people. Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first. From this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that went clear round the world” ’ (p. 125).

“Here was a call to action. What could James White do? He had little of this world’s goods. But the vision was a divine directive, and he felt the compulsion to move forward by faith. So with his seventy-five cent Bible and concordance with both covers torn off, James White began to prepare the articles on the Sabbath truth and other kindred topics to be printed in a little paper.

“All this took time, but eventually he presented the copy to a printer in Middletown, Connecticut, who was willing to trust him for the printing order. The type was set, the proofs were read, and one thousand copies of the paper were printed. James White transported them from the Middletown printing office to the Belden home where he and Ellen had found a temporary refuge.

“The little sheet was six by nine inches [15.2 x 22.9 cm.] in size and contained eight pages. It bore the title The Present Truth. The date was July 1849. The little pile of papers was laid upon the floor. Then the brethren and sisters gathered about them and with tears in their eyes pleaded with God to bless the little sheet as it should be sent out. Then the papers were folded, wrapped, and addressed, and James White carried them eight miles [12.9 km.] to the Middletown post office. Thus the publishing work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church began.”¹

The Whites traveled extensively but still managed to print issues of The Present Truth. It was while they were staying with the Harris family in Auburn, New York, that they added a second, longer paper to their publishing work. It was a monthly magazine they called the Advent Review. This was not The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald that would later come, but another paper they sent to believers in between issues of The Present Truth.

James White introduced the new 48-page paper this way: “Our design in this review is to cheer and refresh the true believer, by showing the fulfillment of prophecy in the past wonderful work of God, in calling out, and separating from the world and nominal church, a people who are looking for the second advent of our dear Saviour.”²

In November 1850 the believers held a conference in Paris, Maine. One of the topics for discussion was the growing publishing work. After some consideration, they decided to expand the paper and settled on an appropriate name: The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald.³

The Enemy Attacks

Ellen White recalls a series of events that occurred while lodging with the Harris family—attacks certainly intended to hinder the work they had just started.

“We were to go to Port Byron to read the proof sheets of the paper that was being printed at Auburn. It appeared to us that Satan was trying to hinder the publication of the truth which we were laboring to place before the people. We felt that we must walk out upon faith. My husband said he would go to Port Byron for the proof sheets. We helped him harness the horse, and I accompanied him. The Lord strengthened him on the way. He received his proof, and a note stating that the paper would be off the press the next day, and we must be at Auburn to receive it.

“That night we were awakened by the screams of our little Edson, who slept in the room above us. It was about midnight. Our little boy would cling to Sister Bonfoey [a friend and companion to the Whites], then with both hands fight the air, and then in terror he would cry, ‘No, no!’ and cling closer to us. We knew this was Satan’s effort to annoy us, and we knelt in prayer. My husband rebuked the evil spirit in the name of the Lord, and Edson quietly fell asleep in Sister Bonfoey’s arms, and rested well through the night. Then my husband was again attacked. He was in much pain. I knelt at the bedside and prayed the Lord to strengthen our faith. I knew God had wrought for him and rebuked the disease; and we could not ask Him to do what had already been done. But we prayed that the Lord would carry on His work. We repeated these words: ‘Thou hast heard prayer. Thou hast wrought. We believe without a doubt. Carry on the work Thou hast begun!’ Thus for two hours we pleaded before the Lord; and while we were praying, my husband fell asleep, and rested well till daylight. When he arose he was very weak. . . .

“We trusted the promise of God and determined to walk out by faith. We were expected at Auburn that day to receive the first number of the paper. We believed that Satan was trying to hinder us, and my husband decided to go, trusting in the Lord. Brother Harris made ready the carriage, and Sister Bonfoey accompanied us. My husband had to be helped into the wagon, yet every mile we rode he gained strength. We kept our minds stayed upon God, and our faith in constant exercise, as we rode on, peaceful and happy. When we received the paper all finished, and rode back to Centerport, we felt sure that we were in the path of duty. The blessing of God rested upon us. We had been greatly buffeted by Satan, but through Christ strengthening us we had come off victorious. We had a large bundle of papers with us, containing precious truth for the people of God.

“We were willing to live cheaply, that the paper might be sustained. The friends of the cause were few in numbers and poor in worldly wealth, and we were still compelled to struggle with poverty and great discouragement. We had much care, and often sat up as late as midnight, and sometimes until two or three in the morning, to read proof sheets.

“Excessive labor, care, and anxiety, a lack of proper and nourishing food, and exposure to cold in our long winter journeys, were too much for my husband, and he sank under the burden. He became so weak that he could scarcely walk to the printing office. Our faith was tried to the utmost. We had willingly endured privation, toil, and suffering, yet our motives were misinterpreted, and we were regarded with distrust and jealousy. Few of those for whose good we had suffered seemed to appreciate our efforts.

“We were too much troubled to sleep or rest. The hours in which we should have been refreshed with sleep were often spent in answering long communications occasioned by envy. Many hours, while others were sleeping, we spent in agonizing tears, and mourning before the Lord. At length my husband said: ‘Wife, it is of no use to try to struggle on any longer. These things are crushing me, and will soon carry me to the grave. I cannot go any farther. I have written a note for the paper, stating that I shall publish no more.’ As he stepped out of the door to carry the note to the printing office, I fainted. He came back and prayed for me. His prayer was answered, and I was relieved.

“The next morning, while at family prayer, I was taken off in vision and was instructed concerning these matters. I saw that my husband must not give up the paper, for Satan was trying to drive him to take just such a step and was working through agents to do this. I was shown that we must continue to publish, and the Lord would sustain us.”⁴

The Lord, indeed, sustained the work. From this inauspicious beginning the Adventist Review remains one of the oldest church publications in the United States, continuously published since 1849, through a variety of name changes and rebranding. In July 2024 the publication celebrates its 175th anniversary.

The Rays Lengthen

But how did a North American-based magazine become the “streams of light” Mrs. White saw radiating to all corners of the globe?

In 2004 then General Conference (GC) president Jan Paulsen approached Bill Johnsson,
Adventist Review editor at the time, with an exciting yet daunting proposal. “‘We need a magazine, a common vehicle, to help keep Adventists united throughout the world church,’ Paulsen said. The specific assignment? To send the church paper to approximately 1 million homes worldwide at no cost to the members, and to focus first on those world regions in which English is used. If funds later became available, the publication could be translated into additional languages.”⁵

This wasn’t an impulsive idea. It was something Paulsen had been considering from his arrival at the GC as a vice president in 1995. He was deeply concerned about keeping the church together and unified. “‘This was to be a paper that would nurture, inform, stimulate, and affirm our shared values,’ Paulsen explains. ‘It was to tell our members that we are together as one family around the world.’”

Johnsson took the proposal to the Adventist Review staff. At the time, the Review was printed weekly. Naturally, some of the team was concerned. How would they be able to produce additional magazine content, especially for an international audience? Roy Adams, then a Review associate editor, said, “I’ve always felt that if ours is a global enterprise, then our principal leaders ought to have . . . ongoing direct communication with the entire Adventist community worldwide. That conviction led me to put my shoulders to the wheel, joining the rest of the staff in pulling off the difficult assignment.”

As an international magazine, “printing possibilities needed to be explored, not only in North America but in other world regions as well.”⁶ The answer for funding and publishing came in a miraculous form through the church in South Korea.⁷ “‘It was amazing how this task, which was almost unimaginable, all came together so quickly and worked—including the funding,’ Paulsen says. ‘I believe it was a product inspired by heaven.’”⁸ That inspired product became what you now read: Adventist World. 

“The concept of Adventist World was voted at the church’s 2004 autumn business meeting, and a presentation of its design was made July 2 at the following fifty-eighth GC Session in St. Louis. The first issue was launched in September 2005; and according to the minutes of the Adventist World publishing board of October 3, 2005, the first printing comprised 1.1 million copies. The minutes also noted five editions: Korea, South Pacific, North America, Inter-America, and Trans-Europe.”⁹

Like “streams of light” Adventist World magazine has been mailed to 1.6 million homes worldwide and both Adventist World and Adventist Review articles and other media have been accessed by thousands more through online platforms, websites and Adventist Review TV, a video streaming service.

And, staying true to the original intention of James White, the Adventist Review will continue to “cheer and refresh the true believer, by showing the fulfillment of prophecy in the past wonderful work of God, in calling out, and separating from the world and nominal church, a people who are looking for the second advent of our dear Saviour.”

¹ “Historical Prologue,” in Ellen G. White, Early Writings (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1882, 1945), p. xxiv.

² Ellen G. White, Life Sketches (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1915), p. 136, Retrieved from https://egwwritings.org/book/b666.

³ Ibid., pp. 137-139.

⁴ Ibid., pp. 140.

⁵ Retrieved from https://www.adventistworld.org/may-2023/.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Read more about it in the May 2023 issue of Adventist World, archived online.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Ibid.