“Testimony Treasures”

The nine volumes of the Testimonies for the Church will always have a very wide distribution and use, but there are many families who are not vitally concerned with the details of the conduct of the work of the denomination who find their five thousand pages quite formidable from the standpoint of compassing the reading. Thus by the very size of the full set, not a few are cut off from its benefits.EGWMR 67.8

To provide the principal testimony counsels in popular compact form for easy handling and reading, the trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications have selected about one third of the articles from the nine “Testimony” volumes and have had them reprinted in three volumes entitled Testimony Treasures. This selection of matter, embodying a representation of every important phase of counsel of import to the world-wide church found on the Testimonies is being rapidly translated and published in the leading languages of the world. We will soon have around the world, in English and other leading languages, a standard, uniform three-volume set of selections from the Testimonies.EGWMR 67.9

In many families, even those possessing the full nine volumes and using them in reference work, the Testimony Treasures will serve as books from which the important counsels will be read in their consecutive order. The instruction, information, and counsel vital to each church member will be found in these three volumes.EGWMR 67.10

Not appearing in them are the messages of local and personal import and counsel concerning certain institutions. Nor do the Testimony Treasures contain articles which are closely paralleled in other widely used E. G. White books, such as the five volumes of the “Conflict of the Ages Series.”EGWMR 67.11

As a rule the articles are selected in their entirety and arranged in the order in which they were originally published. No change has been made in the text matter excepting as might be called for in following current forms of punctuation and spelling, and in correcting an occasional grammatical error. The original source of each article is clearly given. Testimony Treasures are issued as a part of the popular Christian Home Library Series, and Volume III contains an index for the three-book set.EGWMR 67.12

It was recognized at the outset that such a selection of matter could not and would not take the place of the full set of the Testimonies. Today, as in the earlier years, our workers and many students will desire the complete set. There was never any intention to revise or retire the nine-volume set. They will always have a place and will continue to have a wide circulation and systematic study. But the publication in inexpensive form of the Testimony Treasures having to do with Christian experience and a preparation to meet our returning Lord, now opens the way for thousands of Adventist families to benefit by counsel of most vital importance to every believer. Thus the Testimony Treasures will have a wide field of usefulness, and will help to make possible the commendable goal set forth by Mrs. White when she wrote:EGWMR 67.13

“The ‘Testimonies’ should be introduced into ever Sabbathkeeping family.”—Testimonies for the Church 4:391.EGWMR 67.14