Steps in the Fall of a Heretic: A. T. Jones
Koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD) Visiting Professor, Department of Liberal Education, Kyungpook National University, Sangju Campus, South Korea, Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College, Australia
The May 6, 1886, issue lists E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones as associate editors.
Source: A. V. Olson, “Appendix A: Ellen White’s Sermons and Minneapolis”; “Appendix B: What became of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner?”; “Appendix C: The President of the General Conference,” in Through Crisis to Victory 1888-1901: From the Minneapolis Meeting to the Reorganization of the General Conference (Washington DC: Review and Herald, 1966), 242-320.
Physical built
The two men were quite different in build, manner, temperament,
and delivery. Of this a personal acquaintance, A. W. Spalding, wrote:
"Unlike as garden fruit and apples of the desert were these two, yet
they teamed together in close fellowship and cooperation. Young Waggoner
was not even like his father, tall and massive; he was short, stocky,
somewhat diffident. Jones was a towering, angular man, with a loping
gait and uncouth posturings and gestures. Waggoner was a product of
the schools, with a leonine head well packed with learning, and with a
silver tongue. Jones was largely self-taught, a convert found as a private
in the United States Army, who had studied day and night to amass a
great store of historical and Biblical knowledge. Not only was he naturally
abrupt, but he cultivated singularity of speech and manner, early
discovering that it was an asset with his audiences."—Origin and History
of Seventh-day Adventists, vol. 2, pp. 289-291.
The Minneapolis Conference and its aftermath drew both Elder
Jones and Elder Waggoner into increasing prominence in the work of
the church.
Emphasized the basic Protestant doctrine, RBF (Olsen 303)
God blessed their ministry, and it was their privilege to lead
in a renewed emphasis on the basic Protestant doctrine, righteousness
by faith. For many years they were held in high esteem.
1892 Even if they go wrong they are still right (EGW) (Olsen 303)
Knowing well the peril of those who are used mightily of God, and
with a seeming premonition, Ellen White wrote in 1892:
"It is quite possible that Elder Jones or Waggoner may be overthrown
by the temptations of the enemy; but if they should be, this
would not prove that they had had no message from God, or that the
work that they had done was all a mistake. But should this happen, how
many would take this position, and enter into a fatal delusion because
they are not under the control of the Spirit of God. They walk in the
sparks of their own kindling, and cannot distinguish between the fire
they have kindled, and the light which God has given, and they walk in
blindness as did the Jews.
"I know that this is the very position many would take if either of
these men were to fall, and I pray that these men upon whom God has
laid the burden of a solemn work, may be able to give the trumpet a
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office. His harsh and domineering spirit soon cost him the confidence of
many of those with whom he worked.
Summer of 1903 Jones said that Kellogg asked him to come and help
In the summer of 1903, at a time when affairs at the conference were
most uncomfortable, he had an interview at Elmshaven with. Ellen
White, in which he told her that at the request of Dr. J. H. Kellogg he
was planning to go to Battle Creek to teach Bible in the American
Medical Missionary College. He hoped to be able to help Dr. Kellogg.
She counseled him not to go. He promised Sister White that he would be
guarded. She had been warned in vision that such a move on his part
would lead to his downfall.
In Vision EGW saw it was wrong
She wrote of it thus:
"In vision I had seen him [A. T. Jones] under the influence of Dr.
Kellogg. Fine threads were being woven around him, till he was being
bound hand and foot, and his mind and his senses were becoming captivated."—
Letter 116, 1906.
Before 1903 that Jones went to Battle Creek EGW warned him but he did not pay attention
Then, comments Ellen White, as she reported this to Brother Jones
just before he went to Battle Creek, she could see "that his perceptions
were becoming confused, and that he did not believe the warning given.
The enemy works in a strange, wonderful way to influence human
minds."—Ibid. But Jones was sure that he would not fall away. He was a
man with too much self-confidence.
Attempts were made to separate him from Battle Creek but he did not want (1904 and 1905)
In 1904, still a member of the General Conference Committee, he
was invited to assist in meeting some religious liberty crises in Washington,
D.C. But in a few months he was back in Battle Creek. Ellen White
endeavored to draw Elder Jones away from Battle Creek into evangelistic
work, and this would doubtless have saved the man. On February 26,
1905, she wrote:
"Elder A. T. Jones, God calls upon you to go out into the cities, and
give the last message of warning. Look to God for your support as you
go. Call the people together, and you will certainly not work in vain. Let
the truth go forth as a lamp that burneth. No longer confine your
efforts to one place. Let there be held, right where you are, a solemn
convocation. Let there be a renunciation of self to God. Hold fast the
beginning of your faith unto the end. Let not your faith waver. Go forth
in faith....
"There are those who have never heard the message of mercy and
warning. In the name of the Lord I say, Delay not. Proclaim the gospel
message in the cities of America. Scatter the seeds of truth throughout
these cities. Take with you reliable men, who with pen and voice will act
their part in proclaiming the message of present truth to the world."—
Letter 187, 1905.
Jones opposed the Spirit of Prophecy (Olsen 306)
But he continued in Battle Creek under influences he was no match
for. He was soon in bitter opposition to his brethren and to the Spirit of
prophecy. He issued a number of tracts and pamphlets in defending his
course.
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APPENDIX B
A number of enlightening statements made by Ellen White in communications
to him or in which reference is made to him between the
time he joined Dr. Kellogg in Battle Creek until her last message to him
in 1911 are most revealing.
Between 1903-1911 one can see the progressive steps of a man towards destruction (Olsen 307)
There unfolds the picture of the progressive
steps in the experience of a man, self-confident, flaunting warning messages,
and deliberately placing himself under influences that finally captivated
him and led to his spiritual destruction. There follows in chronological
order excerpts from several Ellen G. White documents:
July 23, 1904, "Inharmonious Note" at the Berrien Springs Meeting.—"
The words and attitude of Brother and Brother A. T.
Jones at the Berrien Springs meeting [1904] struck an inharmonious
note,—a note that was not inspired of God. It created a state of things
which resulted in harm that they did not anticipate. It made the work of
the meeting very much harder than it would otherwise have been. Had
it not been for their injudicious course, the Berrien Springs Conference
would have shown very different results."—Special Testimonies,
Series B, No. 2, p. 42.
Jones lost spiritual eyesight December 29, 1905
December 29, 1905, Lost Spiritual Eyesight and Repudiated God's
Warnings.—"I send no more [testimonies to be read to the Battle
Creek church] to A. T. Jones, for I have evidence that a work will have
to be done for him before the Lord will accept his service. God has given
him warnings which he has repudiated, and I am deeply grieved that he
has so little spiritual eyesight."—Letter 345, 1905 (written to G. W.
Amadon, first elder of the Battle Creek church).
March 12, 1906, The Wrong Spirit and Demonstrations of Bitterness.
—"You may be surprised to hear the words that you have heard from
Elder A. T. Jones; but I am not at all surprised. This is the development
of the man when the spirit that is counter to the Spirit of God
comes upon him. In him as he is at the present time, you have a representation
of a man who is not under the molding influence of the Spirit of
God. The Lord accepts no such demonstrations of bitterness. . . .
"Read in my books, Patriarchs and Prophets and Great Controversy,
the story of the first great apostasy. History is being repeated and will be
repeated. Read then, and understand."—Letter 98, 1906.
April 2, 1906, Captivated, Deluded, and Deceived.—"During the General
Conference at Takoma Park [April, 1905], Elder Jones's case was
again presented to me. After this, I had a long conversation with him in
which I pointed out his danger. But he was self-confident, and declared
to me that Dr. Kellogg believed the truth and the testimonies just as
firmly as the rest of us believed and advocated them. In this conversation
Elder Jones manifested that which had been revealed to me regarding
him, that in the place of receiving the warnings he was full of selfconfidence;
that he had exalted himself, and in the place of being
prepared to help Dr. Kellogg, he had united with him to disbelieve and
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distrust, and falsely to accuse the ministers and others who were trying
to save Dr. Kellogg and other physicians who were in peril. . . .
"I warned Elder Jones, but he felt that he was not in the least danger.
But the fine threads have been woven about him, and he is now a man
deluded and deceived. Though claiming to believe the testimonies, he
does not believe them."—Letter 116, 1906 (to Dr. David Paulson).
• May 1, 1906, Chose Darkness Rather Than Light.—"I am sorry for
A. T. Jones, who has been warned over and over again. Notwithstanding
these warnings, he has allowed the enemy to fill his mind with
thoughts of self-importance. Heed not his words, for he has rejected
the plainest light and has chosen darkness instead. The Holy One hath
given us messages clear and distinct, but some poor souls have been
blinded by the falsehoods and the deceptive influences of satanic agencies,
and have turned from truth and righteousness to follow these fallacies
of satanic origin."—Manuscript 39, 1906.
June 15, 1906, Voice Controlled by Dr. Kellogg.—"Dr. Kellogg controls
the voice of Elder A. T. Jones, and will use him as his mouthpiece.
My prayer is, 0 God, open Thou the blind eyes, that they may see; and
the ears of the deaf that they may hear, and become humble."—Letter
182, 1906.
July 5, 1906, Grieved the Holy Spirit.—"Elder A. T. Jones, Dear
Brother,—Again and again your case has been presented before me. I am
now instructed to say to you, You have had a large knowledge of truth,
and less, far less, spiritual understanding. When you were called to the
important work at Washington, you had need of far more of the humble
grace that becometh a Christian. Since the Berrien Springs meeting,
your attitude and the attitude of several others has grieved the Spirit of
God. You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting... .
"Self-exaltation is your great danger. It causes you to swell to large
proportions. You trust in your own wisdom, and that is often foolish.
ness. Do you remember the counsel which I gave you in my letter of
April, 1894? This was in answer to your letter expressing deep regret
over the part you had taken in an unwise movement [Anna Phillips,
see Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 85-95] and you appealed to me for
instruction, that you might ever avoid such mistakes. . . .
"When at the General Conference at Washington I had a conversation
with you, but it seemed to have no influence upon you. You appeared
to feel fully capable of managing yourself. After that conversation,
scene after scene passed before me in the night season, and I was
then instructed that you neither had been nor would be a help to Dr.
Kellogg: for you were blind in regard to his dangers and his real standing.
You can not be a help to him; for you entirely misjudge his case.
You consider the light given me of God regarding his position as of less
value than your own judgment. . . .
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APPENDIX B
"Brother Jones, I have a message for you. In many respects you are
a weak man. If I were to write out all that has been revealed to me of
your weakness, and of the developments of your work that have not been
in accordance with the course of a true Christian, the representation
would not be pleasing. This may have to be done if you continue to
justify yourself in a course of apostasy. Until your mind is cleared of the
mist of perplexity, silence is eloquence on your part.
"I am so sorry that you are spoiling your record. . . .
"Brother Jones, will you not earnestly seek the Lord, that in your life
there may be a humbling of self, and an exaltation of the principles of
righteousness? The success and prosperity of your work will depend
upon your following strictly where Jesus leads the way. God would have
you stand as a faithful watchman, laboring earnestly for souls ready to
perish. If you will consent to be a worker together with God, you may
manifest in earnest words and works, the gracious influence of the Holy
Spirit. True repentance will bring newness of life."—Letter 242, 1906.
July 27, 1906, A Revival of the First Great Apostasy.—"My heart
was filled with sorrow because of the course that J. H. Kellogg is following.
And A. T. Jones is following the same course and voicing the same
sentiments, with a most determined spirit. When a realization of this
comes over me, with such force, great sorrow fills my soul.
"I have before me such a revival of the first great apostasy in the
heavenly courts, that I am bowed down with an agony that cannot be expressed.
It is in Battle Creek that the warnings that are given are entirely
disregarded."—Letter 248, 1906 (to D. H. Kress).
August 1, 1906, Under Hypnotic Power.—"God showed me what He
would do for Dr. Kellogg if he would take hold of His hand. But he
wrenched himself away. At the Berrien Springs meetings [1904-1 the most
precious offers were given him, and when he wrenched himself away I
had such agony of heart that it seemed as if soul and body were being
rent asunder.
"I have seen Dr. Kellogg exerting a hypnotic influence upon persons,
and at such times the arch deceiver was his helper. Those who sustain
him are guilty with him. This blindness of understanding is a strange
thing in our ranks. In regard to A. T. Jones, he has a theory of truth,
which his books express, and he dares not tear up his past experience,
which has been published. But he virtually turns away from his former
experience by his present course of action. . . .
"Dr. Kellogg has had every advantage to make impressions on human
minds, and he will improve this to the best of his ability in an effort
to destroy confidence in the testimonies. Those associated with him who
have upheld him, will have to answer before God for their course of action."—
Letter 258, 1906.
September 30, 1907, Giving Heed to Doctrines of Devils.—"A. T.
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THROUGH CRISIS TO VICTORY
Jones, Dr. Kellogg, and Elder Tenney are all working under the same
leadership.. They are classing themselves with those of whom the apostle
writes, 'Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits
and doctrines of devils.' In the case of A. T. Jones I can see the fulfillment
of the warnings that were given me regarding him."—Letter
306, 1907.
October 1, 1907, Now in Apostasy.--"I want to say to you, Brother
and Sister Starr, that the time we have so long anticipated has come.
A. T. Jones has come to the place where he voices the mind and faith
of Dr. Kellogg. They have now taken a decided stand against the truth,
and special efforts will be made to lead souls away. This apostasy has
cost us dearly. . . . Warning after warning has been given to these men,
but they have set themselves first to deny the messages, and then to declare
that they did not believe the testimonies. Their work against the
truth has been as marked by deception as was the course of Canright.
Many whose sympathies were with Dr. Kellogg, have united with him,
and have departed from the faith."—Letter 316, 1907.
Nov. 11, 1908, Departed From the Faith.—"I must warn our people
against laboring in any line in connection with A. T. Jones. He is
one who has departed from the faith, and has given heed to seducing
spirits. He knows not what manner of spirit he is of."--Letter 330, 1908.
November 10, 1911, Confession and Rebaptism the Only Way Back.—
"Elder A. T. Jones, I have given you instruction in straight, clear lines
in regard to the perverting influence under which you have placed yourself.
Your lips have uttered perverse things. You have denied the clear
light of truth, and have linked up with strange elements. I gave you a
correct statement in regard to your position, but you went on doing
the very things the Lord had warned you not to do. It has been a strange
course for one who has been enlightened by the Lord as you have been,
but you have acted very much like a man who has lost his bearings. The
question is, Do you think you can still hold your membership in the
Seventh-day Adventist Church and go on hurting the influence of this
people by the tracts that you publish? You have done a cruel work.
"I have warned you in regard to these things.. I presented the case as
the Lord presented it to me. When your blind eyes are opened, when
your spiritual eyesight is restored by the heavenly anointing, you will see
that you have a work to do for your own soul, and to undo what you
have done to confirm others in unbelief. . . .
"We should rejoice greatly if you would be really converted. The
Lord will not receive you as a faithful minister, to be trusted with His
flock, unless you throw your lot in with His people, to confirm them
in the faith—not to rule them according to human ideas. . . .
"If you wish to renew your covenant with God by confession and
repentance and rebaptism, we shall rejoice with you. When you are con-
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verted, your self-sufficiency will disappear, and you will become meek
and lowly in heart. When you see and repent of your mistakes, you will
be a great blessing in helping others. The destroyer now takes advantage
of your self-righteousness to weave into your experience his own ideas
and theories. When you are really desirous of uniting with those from
whom you have withdrawn yourself, the testimony will be borne that
you looked up after you had stepped off the platform on which you
had previously stood, and that hands were put beneath your arms, and
you and Elder Waggoner were lifted once more on to the platform, standing
there with shining countenances and uplifted hands. Has this time
come?"—Letter 104, 1911.
In mid-1907, because of his warfare against the church and its leaders,
the ministerial credentials of A. T. Jones were withdrawn. In July, 1908,
he had an interview with Ellen White, which was not at all satisfactory.
Olsen witness of Jones rejection of SDA (Olsen 311)
He asked for a hearing at the General Conference session of 1909
held in Washington. The request was granted, and these meetings
were held, at which he stated his case. Elder A. V. Olson, who was
present, reports:
"Though not a delegate I was invited to attend the last meeting.
Seated on the platform were Brethren C. W. Flaiz, acting chairman, and
W. T. Bartlett, of England, acting secretary. At a table below the pulpit
sat Brother A. G. Daniells, the General Conference president, at one
end and A. T. Jones at the other end. Before final action was taken
Brother Daniells arose and made a statement in which he said how much
he personally had appreciated the fine, faithful, and efficient services that
Brother Jones had rendered the cause during many years of association
with us, how we had esteemed and loved him, and how our hearts had
been filled with sorrow because of the misunderstanding and conflict
that had come in to mar our sweet fellowship, and to separate him from
his brethren.
"Then turning to Brother Jones, he made a very tender and touching
appeal for him to forget the past and to come back to stand shoulder to
shoulder with his brethren in the service of the Lord. He assured him
that we all loved him and that we wanted him to go with us in the
march toward the kingdom of God. Extending his hand across the table,
he said, in a choking voice, 'Come, Brother Jones, come.' At this, Brother
Jones arose, started to reach his hand across the table, only to draw it
back. Several times, as Brother Daniells continued to plead, saying, with
tears in his voice, 'Come, Brother Jones,. come!' Brother Jones would hesitatingly
reach out his hand part way across the table, and pull it back
again. The last time he almost clasped the hand outstretched from the
other side, then, suddenly, pulled it back, and cried out, 'No! No!' and
sat down. That was one of the saddest scenes that I have ever witnessed.
There were not many dry eyes in the Seminary chapel that afternoon. We
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all loved Brother Jones, and it grieved us to see him go out into the
dark."—E. G. White Estate Document File No. 53.
Dropped from membership
Shortly after this, by formal action, he was dropped from the membership
roll of the Seventh-day Adventist Church of which for years he
had been a member.
Subsequent to working with Dr. Kellogg, A. T. Jones entered upon
the publication of The American Sentinel of Religious Liberty, a monthly
journal which he issued over a period of several years. In November,
1915, he moved to Washington, D.C., and devoted his time to publishing
this paper. He began to attend The People's Church, a colored Seventhday
Adventist church that had broken away from the conference and was
pastored by F. H. Seeney. On the invitation of the officers of this
church, A. T. Jones participated in the work of the church and then
joined the group. He was granted membership on April 15, 1916.
In February, 1923, Jones returned to Battle Creek for rest and treatment,
and was making satisfactory progress until in early May, when he
suffered a stroke of apoplexy that caused his death a few days later.
Funeral service was conducted in Battle Creek at a funeral home by the
Reverend G. E. Fifield. He was buried at Kalamazoo, Michigan. A brief
obituary copied from the Battle Creek Enquirer appeared in the Review
and Herald of June 28, 1923. Mrs. Jones ever remained true to the message.