Ellen White is known as one of the greatest lecturers on issues of health, temperance, social advancement, and Christian values of the nineteenth century. Her writings, published as books and articles at the time, continue to be published in new books and compilations to be read by millions. Her remarkable predictions and the amazing fact that she advocated reforms in diet and health that have only recently been discovered, obscure for many that her most important role was in the establishing of the system of doctrines that formed the heart of the message of commandment-keeping people awaiting the second coming of Christ.

In 1848 the Sabbath Conferences began. Over a period of time, the Sabbath-keeping believers in the second coming gather for prayer, Bible study as a group, evaluation of individual studies, fasting, and doctrinal formulation. They were impelled by the Great Disappointment to greater heights of effort not to make another mistake. Never in the history of Christianity was any group so highly motivated to get it right if at all possible. They had lost a great deal, including credibility, when Christ did not appear in 1844. They had no motivation to bolster pre-conceived ideas. Their only motivation was to find and accept truth. So they were uniquely prepared to find it.

Other doctrinal systems were made on a different basis. The Christian Creeds were formulated under pressure from the Roman emperor to attain a system of doctrine that would unite the citizens of the empire and thus make them easier to rule and control. The doctrinal symbols of the Protestant Reformation were motivated by the concerns of the times, the political interests of the German princes, the Swiss cantons, Dutch and English politics. While there was a strong appeal to go back to the Bible, efforts were hampered by two factors. There was no vision to find truth as such, but rather only to reform Roman Catholic doctrine on the basis of Bible reading. Secondly, while bodies of representatives signed the new documents, they were almost always largely the work of one man, an academic scholar and leader.

The Sabbath Conferences followed a different system. They were especially motived. They did not reproduce the doctrinal view of one particular man, such as Calvin, Luther, or Melanchthon. They were a truly group effort of study. They included fervent prayer and fasting. Finally, when each issue was established on the basis of the best Bible study they could manage, the doctrines were affirmed by the Spirit of Prophecy.

The first conference was held at Rocky Hill, Connecticut at the home of Albert Belden. The main speakers were Joseph Bates, who presented the ten commandments, and Ellen White, who spoke about the Sabbath.

Not all of the times and places of the conferences are known. But one was held in Volney, New York in August 1848. Bates, Chamberlain, Gurney, Edson, and James and Ellen White were the main speakers. Bates presented the Sabbath. James White presented the 10 virgins. Affirmation and agreement were gains on the subjects of the millennium, the shut door, and the communion service. There was strong disagreement, until Ellen White received a vision, during which she held up a family Bible in one hand and pointed to the texts with the other, repeating them correctly without looking at the Bible. These texts resolved the disagreements.

Another conference was held in Port Gibson, New York at the end of August, 1848. At this conference too Ellen White was taken off in vision for one and a half hours, when she took a large family Bible in her hands and spoke from it without breathing during the whole time. These texts also affirmed the correct doctrines.

Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father {Stephen} Pierce, Elder {Hiram} Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word. Again and again these brethren came together to study the Bible, in order that they might know its meaning, and be prepared to teach it with power. When they came to the point in their study where they said, "We can do nothing more," the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages (page 207) we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to understand the scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood. A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that the Lord had given me. {1SM 206.4}

During this whole time I could not understand the reasoning of the brethren. My mind was locked, as it were, and I could not comprehend the meaning of the scriptures we were studying. This was one of the greatest sorrows of my life. I was in this condition of mind until all the principal points of our faith were made clear to our minds, in harmony with the Word of God. The brethren knew that when not in vision, I could not understand these matters, and they accepted as light direct from heaven the revelations given.

For two or three years my mind continued to be locked to an understanding of the Scriptures. In the course of our labors, my husband and I visited Father {Edward} Andrews, who was suffering intensely with inflammatory rheumatism. We prayed for him. I laid my hands on his head, and said, "Father Andrews, the Lord Jesus maketh thee whole." He was healed instantly. He got up, and walked about the room, praising God, and saying, "I never saw it on this wise before. Angels of God are in this room." The glory of the Lord was revealed. Light seemed to shine all through the house, and an angel's hand was laid upon my head. From that time to this I have been able to understand the Word of God. 1 Selected Messages p. 206, 207.

These were only three of the Sabbath and Sanctuary Conferences. Others were held in the ensuing months in various places, and the basic doctrines were established. The 2300 days and the cleansing of the sanctuary, along with the Sabbath, were the central teachings that were affirmed. The primacy of the Bible, and the unchangeability of the law of God were assumed and studied. The visible and literal second coming of Christ had been established from earlier times, but the shut door doctrine was affirmed, along with the three angels' messages, the parable of the ten virgins, communion, the millennium, life only in Christ (no eternally burning hell), and the nature, mission, and priesthood of Christ.

It is important to realize that Ellen White affirmed again and again that the principles established in those unique conferences were never to be changed or given up. Two of these principles are the nature of Christ and his priesthood. These are the fundamental doctrines that contrast with Evangelical Christianity today and with Catholic teachings: the Trinity and the Atonement finished on the cross. These gross errors have intruded into Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs, and their acceptance constitutes apostasy from the original teachings, and implies an opposition to the Spirit of Prophecy as it appeared in Ellen White's ministry.