The "shut door" was seen as applying to the closing of the first phase and the opening of the second and final phase of Christ's intercession in heaven.
Following the 1844 "Great Disappointment," Ellen White, along with many Millerites, initially believed the "shut door" meant probation had closed for the world. She soon understood this as a spiritual door, not a cessation of mercy, confirming her first vision meant Christ moved into the Heavenly Sanctuary.
Key Aspects of the "Shut Door" Belief:
- Initial View: After Oct. 22, 1844, believers felt their work in warning sinners was done.
- Definition Change: Early on, she believed it meant the "door of mercy was closed to the world," a view she held before her first vision.
- The Vision's Meaning: She later clarified in Selected Messages (1883) that light corrected their error, clarifying that the door was to the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, not a end to salvation.
- Final Understanding: By 1854, most Adventists accepted that the "shut door" referred to the closure of the 2300-day prophecy rather than the end of all hope for sinners, and they continued to find that new converts could be made.
Ellen G. White® Estate +4
Although Ellen White was associated with the "Shut Door" Adventist group immediately after 1844, she maintained that she was never shown in vision that no more sinners could be converted, but that her visions corrected the early, wrong interpretation of that time. (Google)
Maybe she had the visions but lacked the gift of interpreting them. Maybe she needed a Joseph. I would say she might have had a B12 deficiency due to her diet but there’s the fact that she was a total hypocrite for 3 decades on that issue according to her own writings.
AI
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SHUT DOOR
- The First Vision (December 1844):
- Quote: "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."
- Source: Originally published in The Day-Star, January 24, 1846. Reprints can be found in Selected Messages, Book 1, page 61 (where the rejection of the world is discussed) and mentioned in the preface of Early Writings, page xxix.
- The "Careless Multitude" Vision (February 1845):
- Quote: "I did not see one ray of light pass from Jesus to the careless multitude after He arose, and they were left in perfect darkness."
- Source: Early Writings, page 55 (within the chapter "End of the 2300 Days").
- The Letter to Eli Curtis (April 21, 1847):
- Quote: "The Lord has shown me in vision, that Jesus rose up, and shut the door, and entered the Holy of Holies, at the 7th month 1844."
- Source: A Word to the "Little Flock", page 12.
- The "Salvation is Past" Vision (March 24, 1849):
- Quote: "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."
- Source: Early Writings, page 45 (within the chapter "The Open and the Shut Door").
- The 1883 "Clarification" (The 34-Year Gap):
- Quote: "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. This position was taken before my first vision was given me."
- Source: Selected Messages, Book 1, page 63.
VEGETARIAN HYPOCRISY
The core quote from this revelation, as published in her early health writings, is:
“The Lord has presented a general plan before me. I was shown that God would give to His commandment-keeping people a reform diet, and that as they received this, their disease and suffering would be greatly lessened." (Manuscript 1, 1863; .
She further expanded on the spiritual dangers of meat in her book
Spiritual Gifts (1864), based on that same 1863 vision:
“"The practice of eating largely of meat is contracting diseases of all kinds... cancers, humors, scrofula, tuberculosis, and a number of other like affections." (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, p. 147)”
The Request for Oysters and Herring (1882)
Nineteen years after her vision, White wrote to her daughter-in-law, Mary Kelsey White, with a specific shopping list:
“"Mary, if you can get me a good box of herrings, fresh ones, please do so. These last ones that Willie got are bitter and old. . . . If you can get a few cans of good oysters, get them." (Letter 16, 1882)”
Eating Wild Duck in the Rockies (1873)
Ten years after her vision, while traveling, she described the killing and eating of ducks as a divine blessing:
“"Willie went to the lake for water. We heard his gun and found he had shot two ducks. This is really a blessing, for we need something to live upon." (Manuscript 12, 1873)”
The "Beef Tea" for Sickness (1878)
Despite her warnings against animal products, she recorded using beef broth as medicine:
“"I remained on deck until dark. . . the pitching of the boat made me very sick. . . taking but once during that time a little beef tea and cracker." (The Signs of the Times, July 18, 1878)”
Admitting the Struggle (1870 & 1890)
In public, she claimed she never took "one step back" from health reform, but in other writings, she admitted her "backsliding":
- The Claim: "I have not taken one step back since the light from heaven upon this subject first shone upon my pathway." (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 371)
- The Reality: "When I could not obtain the food I needed, I have sometimes eaten a little meat." (Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, p. 117-118, 1890)
Ellen G. White® Estate +2
The Final "No-Meat" Pledge (1894)
It was not until
31 years after her initial vision that she officially "banished" meat from her table while at a camp meeting in Brighton, Australia:
“"Two years ago [1894] I came to the conclusion that there was danger in using the flesh of dead animals, and since then I have not used meat at all." (Letter 128, 1896)”
It’s not biblical.
