A Prophet Among You

“The Spirit of Prophecy,” Volumes 1-4

The Spiritual Gifts volumes were given a hearty reception by the advent believers. As time passed and the editions ran out, it was demanded that they be made available again. New believers were being added to the ranks regularly, and it was necessary that they be given access to the great-controversy story for the spiritual enlightenment and guidance it would bring them. However, since the publication of these volumes, additional revelations had been given to Mrs. White and other views had been repeated in more detail. She felt that she should not permit the books to be reprinted in their old form when she was now able to present the messages much more fully. She asked for time to rewrite and expand in order to present the subjects more fully. Plans were laid for the production of four volumes of about four hundred pages each to take the place of Spiritual Gifts, volumes 1, 3, and 4. It will be recalled that Volume 2 was autobiographical and not a part of the great controversy account. APAY 307.1

The Spirit of Prophecy, volume 1, the first volume of this expanded set, came from the press in 1870, and the others spread over the next fourteen years: volume 2 in 1877, 3 in 1878, and 4 in 1884. A brief description of a few of the changes will give an idea of how the expansion was accomplished. The three pages of chapter I of Spiritual Gifts, volume 1, called “The Fall of Satan,” were expanded into a seven-page chapter of the same title in the new book. Larger pages added even more to the contents than the number of pages would indicate. Comparable enlargement and considerable rearrangement of materials took place throughout the development of the story. Lives of additional Old Testament characters were brought in and their stories told at some length. From the fifty-seven pages in Spiritual Gifts, the record of the life of the Saviour unfolded to fill more than 670 pages in The Spirit of Prophecy, volumes 2 and 3. And so characters and details were added and spiritual lessons brought out until the approximately 600 pages of Spiritual Gifts devoted to the controversy story became more than 1,750 enlarged pages in The Spirit of Prophecy. APAY 307.2

The Great Controversy, volume 4 of The Spirit of Prophecy, differs markedly from the other three volumes in the series in that it extends beyond the Bible history and deals mostly with events which have taken place since the close of the Bible canon. The first chapter treats the destruction of Jerusalem which occurred before the writing of the New Testament was finished, but which finds no place in the Bible record. It then takes up the persecution of the Christians during the first centuries of the Christian Era, the rise of the papacy, Christians of the Dark Ages, the Reformation, the advent movement, deceptions of the last days, the deliverance of God’s people, and the end of the controversy. APAY 308.1