W. W. Prescott and the 1911 Edition of The Great Controversy

Introduction

At a meeting of the Bible and history teachers held in Washington, D. C., on August 1, 1919, (following the Bible Conference), Elder W. W. Prescott declared: WWPGC 1.1

I contributed something toward the revision of Great Controversy. I furnished considerable material bearing upon that question.—“Minutes of the 1919 Meeting of Bible and History Teachers,” p. 121. (Published in Spectrum, volume 10, No. 1, page 54, column 2.)

Dr. Desmond Ford in his 991-page document states that many of The Great Controversy pages were changed because of the Prescott criticisms and suggestions, implying a strong Prescott influence in what is said to be a revision of the book. One gains the impression from these two witnesses that there were very significant and rather sweeping revisions of the book in response to the Prescott input. WWPGC 1.2

The facts are that the Prescott suggestions which would have resulted in sweeping changes in the book were, after careful consideration, rejected outright. Only a little more than half of the 105 suggestions were accepted and a large part of these related to precision of expression or called for supporting references or Appendix Note explanations. WWPGC 1.3

The facts fail to sustain the assertions of either Prescott or Ford, but very few, if any, researchers of this day have gone to the trouble to ascertain just what the facts are. Only in so doing can the truth be known. WWPGC 1.4

This paper is dedicated to such an investigation. To assure the reader of a fair and correct evaluation, the Prescott suggestions, as conveyed in his letter to W. C. White on April 26, 1910, are presented in toto. In reporting on the response to these suggestions, the contemporary records have been summoned and where changes were made in the text of the book, the 1888 reading is presented, followed by the wording in the 1911 edition. Only in this way is it possible to convey just what was done and why. The reader may thus judge the number and weight of the changes made in response to the Prescott input. WWPGC 1.5