When E. J. Waggoner was first called by God to bring the message of righteousness by faith to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, he found himself opposed by many of the church leaders and ministers, especially concerning his teachings regarding the law and the gospel in the book of Galatians.
The problem was caused because Adventists, who believed and taught that the Ten Commandments were still to be obeyed (including the Sabbath), found themselves faced with some difficult scriptures in the book of Galatians which seemed to say that the Law had passed away. In order to deal with these statements, they developed a (seemingly logical) argument that the Law referred to in Galatians was the Ceremonial Law, not the Moral Law. They sometimes had public debates with Protestant ministers, where they would use these arguments to support their position.
Then along came Waggoner and declared that the Law referred to in Galatians was the Moral Law! Many rashly assumed that Waggoner was “throwing out the Law”. The leader in opposing Waggoner was the then General Conference president, George Butler. Of course, Waggoner was not setting aside the Law, but arguing for a different gospel, one in which the Law, in a certain role, did cease at the new birth. But because many Adventists at that time did not understand the gospel, they misunderstood Waggoner.
This publication is Waggoner’s letter to Butler, giving the reasons and arguments to support his position. It covers the controverted points and reveals how many Adventists were in danger of building on the shaky foundation of the “righteousness which is of the law” (Romans 10:5). 90p
Updated Nov 2022: New ePDF formatting rules applied.
