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Messenger of the Lord - Contents
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    The 1884 Edition of “The Great Controversy”

    As the years passed and visions imparted further light on these great scenes, Ellen White believed that it was time to expand her earlier presentations of the great controversy. In the 1870s and 1880s she sketched out a four-volume series under the general title, Spirit of Prophecy, and the subtitle, The Great Controversy, with a further subtitle for each of the four books. 261. The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels (1870); 2. Life, Teachings, and Miracles of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1877); 3. The Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1878); 4. From the Destruction of Jerusalem to the End of the Controversy (1884). Volume 1 was expanded to become Patriarchs and Prophets (1890); Volume 2, the first 62 chapters of The Desire of Ages; Volume 3, the last part of The Desire of Ages (1898) and The Acts of the Apostles (1911); Volume 4, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan (1888).MOL 446.5

    The fourth volume of Spirit of Prophecy, published in 1884, introduced a new phase into Ellen White’s writing ministry. Beginning with the destruction of Jerusalem, she continued the historical period through to the 1800s and into the future, ending with the establishment of the new earth after the destruction of evil. W. C. White noted that his mother’s contribution to the 1884 revision of The Great Controversy was not only in the work of revision. He recalled, “Several times we thought that the manuscript of the book was all ready for the printer, and then a vision of some important feature of the controversy would be repeated, and Mother would again write upon the subject, bringing out the description more fully and clearly. Thus the publishing was delayed, and the book grew in size.” 27Selected Messages 3:442.MOL 446.6

    Mrs. White wrote history, but not as a historian. She said in her introduction to the 1888 edition of The Great Controversy that she endeavored “to select and group together events in the history of the church in such a manner as to trace the unfolding of the great testing truths that at different periods have been given to the world.”MOL 447.1

    Like a skilled author she stated the book’s purpose: “To unfold the scenes of the great controversy between truth and error; to reveal the wiles of Satan, and the means by which he may be successfully resisted; to present a satisfactory solution of the great problem of evil, shedding such a light upon the origin and the final disposition of sin as to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His dealings with His creatures; and to show the holy, unchanging nature of His law, is the object of this book.” 28The Great Controversy, xi, xii.MOL 447.2

    Adventist historian and college administrator Donald R. McAdams, after examining carefully certain sections of the various editions of The Great Controversy, concluded that Ellen White “placed predominant attention on her own day and the events of the future,” and that about forty percent was historical. 29“Ellen G. White and the Protestant Historians,” Revised, 1977, (an unpublished paper), p. 30. His research reinforced Mrs. White’s purpose for writing The Great Controversy (and the Conflict of the Ages series, generally): that it was “not conceived or developed primarily as a history ... but rather as a book identifying the spiritual forces at work in history.... We must take Great Controversy for what it is and what it was intended to be, not a book simply to inform us about the past, not a book intended to be authoritative on the factual details concerning the activities of the Reformers, but a book written to put the Great Controversy in its proper perspective.” 30Ibid., pp. 230, 233.MOL 447.3

    Although the four volumes were written primarily for Seventh-day Adventists, church members soon began to lend them to their neighbors; some began to sell them to the general public. The response was remarkable. Published simultaneously in October 1884 by the Pacific Press and the Review and Herald in editions of five thousand copies each, the first printing on the west coast was sold out before the year ended. Fifty thousand copies of volume 4 had been distributed within three years. 31Bio., vol. 3, p. 249. Uriah Smith read the page proofs of volume 4 at a camp meeting with Ellen White in September and was deeply moved by the chapter, “The Time of Trouble,” feeling every sentence was needed. Only a year before, he had taken issue with Mrs. White over events at Battle Creek College, events that ultimately affirmed Mrs. White’s counsel.—Ibid., p. 261. In November 1884, the General Conference “resolved” that “we hail with great pleasure the publication of volume 4, The Great Controversy; that, while we anxiously looked for it, expecting that it would give important information concerning the closing scenes of this world’s history, we can freely say that it more than meets our most sanguine expectations; and that we earnestly urge all our people to read it carefully and prayerfully, to use all proper means to place it before the world.” The Review and Herald, November 25, 1884, p. 744. The 1884 edition became the first Ellen White colporteur book in 1885.MOL 447.4

    This reception by the general public was a new day for Adventist publications. It also prompted Ellen White and her colleagues to think new thoughts about her books, especially those in the Spirit of Prophecy series. In 1887 C. H. Jones, manager of the Pacific Press, informed Mrs. White and her son, William, while they were in Europe, that after so many printings, new plates were needed. 32Ten printings of five thousand each of volume 4, (The Great Controversy) had come from both the Pacific Press and the Review and Herald in less than four years—late 1884 to early spring, 1887.—The Great Controversy, 434, 435.MOL 447.5

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