Messenger of the Lord

The 1888 Edition of “The Great Controversy”

Now was the time to examine the book in light of its appeal to the general public. Ellen White realized that the 1884 edition of The Great Controversy contained terms and some content that only Adventists in North America would completely understand. Also, while she was in Europe, 1885-1887, her mind had expanded with fresh insights into Reformation history as she visited sites in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, England, and Scandinavia. ³³ MOL 447.6

Another aspect that would help in the revision would be to use terms that could be translated easily into other languages. While in Basel, Switzerland, the Whites worked closely with the French and German translators of The Great Controversy. They discovered that many familiar English phrases were difficult to translate. In a letter to C. H. Jones, W. C. White wrote: “Mother has given attention to all of these points, and has thought that the book ought to be so corrected, and enlarged, as to be of the most possible good to the large number of ... readers to whom it is now being offered. And she has taken hold with a remarkable energy to fill in some parts that are rather too brief.” ³⁴ MOL 447.7

Responding to these requests, especially to one asking for more pages devoted to John Huss and Jerome, Mrs. White hastily prepared a handwritten manuscript of eighty-nine pages devoted to these two noble reformers, drawing heavily on Wylie’s History of Protestantism for historical details. Before leaving for her last visit to Scandinavia, she left the manuscript with Marian Davis for editing. MOL 447.8

Speaking later of his mother’s development of those chapters on Reformation events, W. C. White wrote: “When we reached those chapters relating to the Reformation in Germany and France, the translators would comment on the appropriateness of the selection of historical events which Sister White had chosen, and in two instances which I remember, they suggested that there were other events of corresponding importance which she had not mentioned. MOL 448.1

“When this was brought to her attention, she requested that the histories be brought to her that she might consider the importance of the events which had been mentioned. The reading of the history refreshed to her mind that which she had seen, after which she wrote a description of the event.” ³⁵ MOL 448.2

Special attention was given to matters that Ellen White thought either should be deleted from the revised edition of The Great Controversy or be reprinted elsewhere. In 1911, reporting to the General Conference Council, W. C. White explained how his mother had always been conscious of selecting and adapting material to fit her various public audiences. When the time came to publish books for the general public, she believed that “the best judgment should be shown in selecting that which is best suited to the needs of those who will read the book.” MOL 448.3

Therefore, when the 1884 Great Controversy was being refined to meet the various kinds of people in America and other lands, about twenty pages of material that were “very instructive to the Adventists of America, but ... not appropriate for readers in other parts of the world,” were deleted. ³⁶ MOL 448.4

One such item was the first part of the chapter, “The Snares of Satan,” wherein Ellen White described her view of Satan holding a council meeting with his angels as to how to mislead God’s people. This material later was placed in Testimonies to Ministers.³⁷ MOL 448.5