The 1902 Sanitarium Fire Season 2 | Episode 47
'There is something about your Adventist fires,'
local fire chief Weeks remarked.
He had fought two Adventist fires with his success score being zero.
He also said that the water poured on acted more like gasoline.
Ellen White had warned the Review that they were on dangerous ground,
and was not surprised when she heard of the fire on December the 30th, 1902.
In 1901 she had written to the managers of the Review and said,
'I have been almost afraid to open the Review,
fearing that God has cleansed the publishing house by fire.'
[music]
The Review had gotten itself into a situation
where it was publishing more commercial work
than what its original intention was.
It had come a long way since the early days in Paris Hill, Maine,
and the times of extreme sacrifice in Rochester, New York.
It was now a huge institution,
the largest printing press in the state of Michigan.
On that day, though, nothing could stop the fire
from destroying the 40,000 square foot building,
with only the west building that housed the General Conference offices
and book and bank depositories left standing.
[music]
The Review had on press at the time
a book by Dr John Harvey Kellogg entitled The Living Temple.
This book had pantheistic strains throughout
and would have caused much harm to the Review, if published.
The book marked a significant shift in the philosophy of Dr Kellogg,
who had started out with such great promise
and was one of the leading doctors in America.
[music]
Dr Kellogg had become controlling and dictatorial,
and was increasingly difficult for the church leadership to work with.
Earlier that year on February the 18th the sanitarium suffered a fire.
Was it an accident or something bigger than that--
a warning for Dr Kellogg to get back on track?
The Review had decided to relocate completely to Washington, DC,
in line with the new counsel
that so many institutions shouldn't operate in one area.
Despite the warning not to rebuild a large institution,
Dr Kellogg not only rebuilt but doubled it in size.
From 106 patients in 1866 to over 7,000 by 1906,
it was a huge institution.
[music]
Unfortunately, Dr Kellogg would end up leaving the church,
being disfellowshipped in 1907
during some turbulent times for our church.
He refused to let go of the pantheistic ideas in the book The Living Temple,
and also some of his medical practices started to become questionable.
Unfortunately, today many of the health reform ideas
have been taken over or have strong ties
to Eastern religion and the New Age movement.
We need to be careful that our health reform stays biblical
and is not influenced by these philosophies.
[music]
When John Harvey Kellogg broke away from the church,
to some people it looked like the church would fall.
A lot of properties were in his name
and he had more employees than the whole General Conference.
Some people said that we needed to compromise
in order to keep him on board, or else we wouldn't survive.
But over the next few years and decades the church would go on strong
and the sanitarium that had seemed so strong and vibrant
would become a pale shadow of its former glory,
struggling in the Great Depression and eventually closing down.
[music]
Both institutions were huge, and this in itself tells us something.
God does not respect the size of the institution.
Sometimes we think because it's God's publishing house,
or God's sanitarium then He has to bless it.
No he doesn't.
God is not one to be manipulated.
If we are persistent in doing our own thing
and blindly keep asking for God's blessing,
then there may come a time when he removes it from our lives.
Size does not matter to God
or mean that we have His blessing;
faithfulness does.