Messenger of the Lord

The 1911 Edition of “The Great Controversy”

With the hope of appealing to the general public, the 1888 edition included twenty-six full-page illustrations and twenty-six pages devoted to general notes and biographical notes. ⁴² MOL 449.2

After twenty years of constant reprinting, the plates in both publishing houses were badly worn. Experience in selling the books to the general public suggested that the book should be reillustrated. Further consideration was given to historical quotations and to an appendix of references used. MOL 449.3

When Ellen White studied the suggestions, she promptly responded, as she recalled after receiving her copy of the 1911 revised edition: “When I learned that Great Controversy must be reset, I determined that we would have everything closely examined, to see if the truths it contained were stated in the very best manner, to convince those not of our faith that the Lord had guided and sustained me in the writing of its pages.” ⁴³ MOL 449.4

But the idea of “revising” a prophet’s work raised many questions among Seventh-day Adventists, ministers and lay-people. Much of the concern arose because of an unclear understanding of how God communicates through His prophets. ⁴⁴ The fact that Ellen White worked closely with the revisions helped to clarify the issue. ⁴⁵ MOL 449.5

On July 24, 1911, W. C. White wrote a letter to the managers of the two publishing houses and to the literature evangelism leaders in which he reviewed the refinements of the 1911 edition of The Great Controversy (some of which are noted above). ⁴⁶ Among the alterations were: the improvement in noting historical references, especially in adding more modern historical sources that had even greater force, harmonizing spelling, punctuation, etc., with the other four volumes of the Conflict set, adjusting time references slightly in view of the passing of time, modifying some phrases to avoid giving offense (such as “Romish” to “Roman”), modifying some phrases in the interest of precision (such as “divinity of Christ” to “deity of Christ,” “religious toleration” to “religious liberty,” the rise and fall of the papacy in 538 A.D. and 1798, changed to “supremacy” and “downfall,” instead of its “establishment” and “abolition”), changing slightly some passages that Roman Catholics had strongly disputed, by referring to references that are easily accessible to all. ⁴⁷ MOL 449.6

Ellen White was pleased with her copy of the 1911 revised edition of Great Controversy. In a letter to F. M. Wilcox, editor of the church paper, she wrote: “While writing the manuscript of ‘Great Controversy,’ I was often conscious of the presence of the angels of God. And many times the scenes about which I was writing were presented to me anew in visions of the night, so that they were fresh and vivid in my mind.... These changes I have carefully examined, and approved. I am thankful that my life has been spared, and that I have strength and clearness of mind for this and other literary work.” ⁴⁸ MOL 449.7

One of the interesting sidelights to these revisions of The Great Controversy focused on its inappropriate use when used as the final authority on historical details. W. C. White wrote in 1912 that in relating to the general public, Adventists should use “references and quotations from those historians which will be accepted by the readers as authority.” In other words, we should not use denominational publications as authority when dealing with people outside the church—it would be “a very poor policy.” ⁴⁹ MOL 450.1