Thematic Scope and Focus

Ellen White wrote on almost every major area of the Christian life in a challenging world. But the level of importance given to that vast variety of information depends largely on the perspective from which one looks at it. If one looks beyond the mere technical matters and personal concerns addressed in some of the letters, the reader will discover an endless mine of faith-uplifting statements. Her enduring burden—the overriding focus of her life ministry—was to draw people closer to Christ, in whom all her writings centered.1EGWLM 32.3

Yet Ellen White's letters dealing with everyday matters are helpful in providing a context to better understand the world in which she lived and carried on her prophetic ministry. By reading Arthur L. White's six volumes titled Ellen G. White,^{1Each volume bears a specific title qualifying the respective period of time covered by it, as follows: volume 1: The Early Years, 1827-1862; volume 2: The Progressive Years, 1862-1876; volume 3: The Lonely Years, 1876-1891; volume 4: The Australian Years, 1891-1900; volume 5: The Early Elmshaven Years, 1900-1905; volume 6: The Later Elmshaven Years, 1905-1915.} one is able to build a historical framework for most of the issues she faced during her lifetime. And by consulting her letters and manuscripts, the reader can often obtain a deeper and more accurate perception of the complexity of the issues, the people involved, and how she reacted to those issues. Furthermore, in dealing with such a variety of issues, she exemplified how to apply religious principles in order to overcome the personal problems of daily life.1EGWLM 32.4