On July 13 of this year (2011), Robert Wieland, at the age of 95, passed to his rest. Wieland, along with fellow minister/missionary, Donald Short (who passed away some years ago), were instrumental in reviving interest in the unique Adventist gospel message (called the 1888 message because it was introduced to the church by two young ministers in the year 1888). Some admirers refered to Wieland as the “unbreakable man” because of the amount of opposition he had to endure for faithfully calling the attention of the Seventh-day Adventist church to the importance of that message.
In this recording, which was probably made around 2003, Wieland tells his story, along with many details that he had been reluctant to present before. But sensing that this time was coming to a close, he wanted this history recorded for the benefit of those who would come after.
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My Personal Experience
This is a bit of my own story, and how Wieland’s ministry fit into it.
Back in the early 1980′s, as a freshly baptized Seventh-day Adventist, I was keen to learn about church history and doctrine. The first book I read on the 1888 Message was “The 1888 Message: An Introduction” by Wieland and Short. This book increased my desire to understand that “most precious message” (as Ellen White called it), especially as I was in the grip of a Romans 7 experience at the time (struggling and failing in the battle with sin). I sensed that the answer to my struggle lay in that message, and could tell, through the bits and pieces of the 1888 message that I could find in published form, that these men spoke with authority, that is, they actually seemed to have a deeper grasp of the gospel and how it works on the inner man. They didn’t just “repeat the words,” like most ministers do.
I also wondered why there was not greater interest in the writings of E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones? For in all of Adventist history, they had the unique distinction of being singled out by Ellen White (who was especially considered to be inspired by Adventists) as having a “message from God,” and not merely “a message,” but the “latter rain” message! It was the very message that we were all looking and praying for. Yet here it was, having been presented to the church almost 100 years ago, and very few had an interest in it.
I also remember being invited to a Sabbath lunch at the house of one of the elders of the church, and I had with me a copy of the book “The 1888 Message: An Introduction.” As we were chatting before lunch was served, I expressed my interest in that message. To my surprise, the elder retorted, “Waggoner and Jones? Do you realize that they apostatized from the church?” The implication in the elder’s words were that in some way, that message led people to lose their faith, that it was inherently dangerous. But I later thought, “This cannot be. Why would God send a message to His church that would destroy faith? If they later lost their way and left the church, what does that matter? For a while they had a message from God, and I want to know what that message is! After all, we don’t take the Psalms out of the Bible because David fell into a grievous sin.”
A short time later, I came in contact with Fred Wright, a minister from Australia who also advocated the 1888 gospel message, and it was through his books that I finally grasped that message, and obtained a new spiritual birth.
Fred always regarded Wieland with respect, and used to tell a story which involved him. The story goes like this. While presenting some studies on the law in Galatians, Fred would draw the following parallel:
“When man sinned, or broke the law, he lost his spiritual life. Therefore, the broken law is a life-taker.” Then he would ask us the question, “If the broken law is a life-taker, then the unbroken law must be a life-_______?”
He would wait for us to answer and inevitably most of us would fall into the trap and say “life-giver”. At which point Fred would correct us with Galatians 3:21:
“If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.”
“The broken law,” Fred would state, “is a life-taker, and the unbroken law is a life-preserver. The law cannot give life, therefore righteousness is not by the law! Christ gives life—He is the Life-giver. He gives us His life, and we preserve it by obeying the law.”
Fred said that of all the people he had asked that question, only a few people had ever answered it correctly, and one of them was Robert Wieland.
