E. J. Waggoner

Ellet Joseph "E.J." Waggoner (January 12, 1855 – May 28, 1916) was a Seventh-day Adventist particularly known for his impact on the theology of the church, along with friend and associate Alonzo T. Jones at the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference Session. At the meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Ellet J. Waggoner along with Alonzo T. Jones presented a message on justification supported by Ellen G. White, but resisted by church leaders such as G. I. Butler and others. He supported theological issues such as the meaning of "righteousness by faith", the nature of the Godhead, the relationship between law and grace, and Justification and its relationship to Sanctification.

Biography

Waggoner was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin on January 12, 1855, to Joseph Harvey and Maryetta Hall Waggoner. He was the sixth of ten children.

His father had joined an Advent group in 1852, which would later become the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Soon thereafter he became a preacher and writer, and remained active until his death in 1889. He was on the committee that adopted the official name – Seventh-day Adventist – that is still in use today.

Ellet Waggoner attended Battle Creek College in 1874 (now Andrews University). Conflicting reports about Waggoner's medical school education was reported by Woodrow W. Whidden in his book "E.J. Waggoner: From the Physician of Good News to the Agent of Division". Waggoner's daughter, Pearl Waggoner Howard, claimed (from 1956 to late 1961) that her father graduated from Ann Arbor University and received his Doctor of Medicine from there. Other biographies claimed his graduation from Bellevue Medical College in New York City. However, her investigations led to the discovery that he graduated from Long Island College Hospital of Brooklyn in 1878 and may have taken some courses at Bellevue Medical College.