A Prophet Among You

“Testimony Treasures”

Because of the obvious impossibility of publishing all the Ellen White books in the major languages of earth, to say nothing of the minor languages, the General Conference Committee has designated twelve volumes as an Introductory Spirit of Prophecy Library, to be published in the principal languages. Since the nine volumes of the Testimonies for the Church make as many pages as were contemplated for the twelve volumes, steps were taken to provide representative and balanced selections in about one third the number of pages of the complete books. The result is a set of three compact volumes bearing the title Testimony Treasures. Precedent for making such selections from the whole was established by Mrs. White herself in 1864 reprinting of the first ten numbers of the Testimonies. Earlier in this chapter she was quoted in part as follows: APAY 325.2

“The first edition of most of these pamphlets being exhausted, and there being an increasing demand for them, it has been thought best to reprint them, as given in the following pages, omitting local and personal matters, and giving those portions only which are of practical and general interest and importance.” Testimonies for the Church, Nos. 1-10, as republished in Spiritual Gifts, volume 4. APAY 326.1

This selection of articles covers every important phase of counsel dealt with in the Testimonies. For the most part, complete articles have been used, but some portions of long articles have been omitted. All deletions are indicated. Repetition of instruction has been avoided. It is only natural that the author, writing to many individuals and groups over a long period of years, should touch on some of the same topics again and again. For instance, there are three major articles in the Testimonies on the subject of tithing. Of these, the longest was selected, and with it were put paragraphs from other articles to round out the subject fully. Nothing of real significance in the three articles has been omitted. A similar procedure was followed in gathering matter for all the other topics. Either at the beginning, in the case of articles, or at the close, in the case of briefer selections, the original source is indicated so that one may turn to the item as it appears in the full volumes if that is desirable. With the testimony articles have been included a few important articles of a testimony character, dealing with vital topics not represented in the Testimonies, but which appear elsewhere in the English editions of the Ellen White books not available in other languages. APAY 326.2

It was not planned that the Testimony Treasures should take the place of the full series. Primarily, they are intended for translation into other languages since the originals are too large for that purpose. But these three small volumes do serve a useful purpose in English as well. They are better adapted for consecutive reading than are the larger volumes which many use mostly as reference books. The lower cost makes Testimony Treasures accessible to many families, especially in other countries where English is read, who might otherwise be unable to purchase the volumes of counsel. It should now be possible for the goal mentioned by Mrs. White to be reached: “The Testimonies, should be introduced into every Sabbath keeping family.” Testimonies for the Church 4:390. APAY 326.3