The Great Controversy
The Great Controversy is a book by Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and held in esteem as a prophetess or messenger of God among Seventh-day Adventist members. In it, White describes the "Great Controversy theme" between Jesus and Satan, as played out over the millennia from its start in heaven to its end when the world is destroyed and recreated. "It is Satan's constant effort to misrepresent the character of God, the nature of sin, and the real issues at stake in the great controversy. His sophistry lessens the obligation of the divine law and gives men license to sin. At the same time, he causes them to cherish false conceptions of God so that they regard Him with fear and hate rather than with love. The cruelty inherent in his character is attributed to the Creator; it is embodied in systems of religion and expressed in modes of worship." — Ellen Gould White (The Great Controversy)
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About the Author
Ellen Harmon was born and reared in Gorham, Maine, in a devout Christian home. Her father was an exhorter in the Methodist Church, and her Christian experience was nurtured in Methodist class meetings. Having accepted the teaching of William Miller regarding the imminent return of the Lord, the family was forced out of the Methodist Church. In 1846 Ellen married James White, a fellow Millerite, and together they consolidated the group of Millerites that became the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Michigan in 1861. Although she was never ordained and did not hold formal administrative office, she was accepted as a messenger of the Lord and exerted powerful influence in the young church. Largely under her influence the church developed a worldwide view of its mission and particular ideals regarding education and health, using them and Christian literature to propagate the message. In due course these views gave a particular shape to the Adventist mission endeavor. Her residence and work in Europe (1885-1887) and Australia (1892-1901) did much to inspire Adventist missionary consciousness, and this, together with the reorganization of the church’s administrative structure in 1901-1903 in effect turned the General Conference into a church-wide missionary society. During the ensuing 30-year administrative tenure of A. G. Daniels and W. A. Spicer, the Adventist Church was planted virtually around the globe in fulfillment of the vision she had helped to generate. She wrote about missions as a generalist, providing vision, inspiring and encouraging faithfulness, and suggesting broad outlines, rather than as a specialist analyzing particular problems or giving specific directions. She wrote voluminously. At the time of her death, 24 of her books were in circulation and she had contributed some 4,600 articles to denominational periodicals.