1,99 €
Niedrigster Preis in 30 Tagen: 1,99 €
Niedrigster Preis in 30 Tagen: 1,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
In "The Great Controversy," Ellen G. White explores the profound theological themes of good versus evil, weaving a narrative that transcends time and history. Set against the backdrop of biblical prophecy and Christian eschatology, the text employs a compelling literary style that fuses descriptive storytelling with doctrinal analysis. White meticulously examines pivotal events from the Fall of Lucifer to the final triumph of good over evil, emphasizing the central role of Christ in this cosmic struggle. This work, often regarded as a cornerstone in Adventist literature, invites readers to reflect on their spiritual journey in light of global and personal crises, drawing on a rich tapestry of historical and spiritual insights. Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was a prolific writer and a visionary leader. Her extensive spiritual experiences and the visions she received played a crucial role in shaping her worldview and inspiring her writings. "The Great Controversy" reflects her commitment to elucidating the Christian experience within the framework of biblical prophecy, highlighting her desire to encourage believers amid the challenges of faith. This book is highly recommended for those seeking a deeper understanding of Christian theology and history, as well as for readers interested in the profound implications of the battle between good and evil. White's meticulously researched conclusions and engaging prose will resonate with both devout Christians and those exploring the theological underpinnings of the modern world. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
Ähnliche
The Great Controversy
Table of Contents
Introduction
Across the long arc of human history, a relentless struggle between truth and deception tests conscience, ignites reform, and presses every generation to decide what it will believe and become.
The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White presents a sweeping panorama of Christian history interpreted through the lens of a profound moral conflict. First introduced in 1858 and substantially expanded in the widely circulated 1888 and 1911 editions, the book stands within the author’s multi-volume Conflict of the Ages series. White, a prominent religious writer and cofounder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, crafted a work that traces the rise of faith communities, the trials of conscience, the ferment of reform, and the enduring significance of prophetic interpretation—offering a coherent narrative framework without presuming to satisfy curiosity about every historical detail.
Its standing as a classic rests on durability, reach, and the clarity of its organizing vision. The book has been translated and distributed across continents, debated in pulpits and classrooms, and preserved in personal libraries for generations. It exemplifies a distinctive approach to religious history that joins moral urgency with documentary awareness, blending narration and interpretation in a way that invites engagement rather than passive observation. By articulating a sustained argument about freedom of conscience, spiritual integrity, and the stakes of belief, it has secured a notable place in religious literature and shaped the devotional and intellectual life of many readers.
Within literary history, The Great Controversy contributes to a lineage of works that fuse historical chronicle with eschatological reflection. Its method—interlacing public events with theological meaning—has informed denominational histories, evangelistic narratives, and popular religious nonfiction. While not a conventional academic history, it commands attention through its narrative vigor and consistent moral focus. The book’s framework influenced subsequent writers within Adventist circles and beyond who sought to interpret the past as a stage for spiritual conflict. In doing so, it helped normalize a hybrid form: historically grounded yet didactic, factual yet oriented toward ethical discernment and hope.
Ellen G. White (1827–1915) wrote in the fertile milieu of nineteenth-century American religious reform, engaging questions of scripture, conscience, and communal life. A prolific author, she addressed education, health, spirituality, and the Christian walk; yet this volume stands out for its combination of historical scope and prophetic perspective. Composed and revised across decades, culminating in the major editions of 1888 and 1911, it encapsulates her historicist reading of biblical prophecy while appealing to a broad audience. Her aim was not mere record-keeping but moral exhortation: to illumine the consequences of ideas, institutions, and loyalties as they ripple through societies and souls.
At its core, the book surveys pivotal episodes in the Christian story, from the witness of early believers to epochs of repression and renewal, and the ferment that culminated in movements for reform. It follows the thread of conscience—how individuals and communities respond when conviction collides with power—and considers how freedom to worship and to think takes root or withers. Interpreting history in conversation with scripture, White presents the past as prologue to an unfinished moral drama. Without divulging particulars, the narrative ultimately orients readers toward vigilance, integrity, and the practical outworking of faith in the face of shifting currents.
White’s stated intention is pastoral and pedagogical: to strengthen confidence in scripture, to encourage fidelity to conviction, and to warn against complacency that mutes conscience. She writes to awaken moral responsibility, arguing that ideas have consequences and that history is intelligible when read through ethical and spiritual lenses. The Great Controversy thus functions as both mirror and compass, helping readers assess cultural forces while locating their own agency within them. By framing history as an arena where freedom and coercion contend, it calls attention to the fragile, precious nature of religious liberty and the character-forming power of lived belief.
Literarily, the work is marked by direct, urgent prose and a sustained sense of momentum. White favors clear contrasts and cumulative argumentation, portraying recurring patterns—compromise and courage, darkness and reform—that give the narrative coherence. She integrates brief portraits of figures and movements with interpretive commentary, creating an accessible, persuasive arc rather than an exhaustive chronicle. The prose invites reflection while pressing toward decision, balancing historical sketch with spiritual appeal. This stylistic clarity, joined to a deep concern for conscience, helps explain the book’s endurance and its reputation as a formative text in devotional reading and religious discourse.
Several themes recur with insistent force. Conscience and religious liberty stand at the center, framed by the responsibilities that accompany freedom. Reform is portrayed not as a finished achievement but as an ongoing summons to align practice with principle. The book underscores the perils of spiritual deception and the need for discernment grounded in scripture. It also highlights hope—an expectant confidence that moral clarity and steadfast faith can endure amid conflict. Together, these themes create a framework that speaks to personal integrity, communal life, and the interpretation of history, inviting readers to examine the loyalties that shape character and culture.
The work’s influence is evident in its sustained circulation, its role in shaping Adventist identity, and its ripple effects in conversations about Protestant heritage and church–state relations. It has inspired generations of authors, teachers, and evangelists who adopt its historicist perspective and its insistence on moral accountability within historical study. While often discussed and sometimes contested, its capacity to provoke reflection has ensured its continued presence in religious education and public dialogue. Organized outreach efforts by faith communities attest to its perceived relevance, as readers repeatedly return to its synthesis of narrative, conviction, and appeals to conscience.
For contemporary audiences navigating information overload, polarized discourse, and global questions of rights and responsibilities, The Great Controversy remains pertinent. It models careful reading of sources through ethical criteria, urging skepticism toward coercion and sympathy for conscience under pressure. Its call to examine motives and test claims resonates in an era concerned with authenticity and the common good. By presenting history as morally freighted rather than morally neutral, it offers a counterpoint to cynicism and fatalism. Readers encounter not only events and interpretations but a sustained invitation to cultivate discernment, resilience, and charitable conviction in public and private life.
In sum, the book endures because it weds a compelling narrative of the Christian past to an earnest plea for principled living, affirming that ideas and commitments shape destiny. Its classic status in religious literature owes to clarity of purpose, breadth of vision, and relentless attention to conscience and liberty. Without disclosing its climactic claims, one can note its abiding qualities: interpretive courage, devotional seriousness, and a hope that reform and faithfulness are possible. The Great Controversy continues to engage new readers by confronting timeless questions—what is true, who will we trust, and how shall we live—offering a rigorous, morally charged conversation across the ages.
Synopsis
The Great Controversy, by Ellen G. White, presents a historical and prophetic narrative tracing a conflict between good and evil as expressed in Christian history. The book surveys key episodes from the first century to an anticipated culmination, combining historical sketches with interpretations of biblical apocalyptic texts. White's stated purpose is to show how issues of Scripture, conscience, worship, and religious liberty develop across time. She organizes the material to follow a chronological flow, highlighting turning points that shaped beliefs and institutions. Throughout, the work links past events to future expectations, arguing that the same principles recur and will intensify before Christ's return.
The opening chapters focus on the fall of Jerusalem, using it as an example of consequences when spiritual appeals are rejected. White then traces the endurance of the early Christian church under Roman persecution, emphasizing faithfulness amid social and political pressure. After imperial opposition wanes, the narrative describes Christianity's legalization and the resulting blend of faith and state power. The book outlines doctrinal disputes and the rise of traditions that, in the author's view, obscured Scripture. This section sets a pattern: external pressure, internal compromise, and the preservation of a dissenting witness that seeks to keep biblical teaching at the center.
Attention then shifts to the medieval era, portraying the consolidation of ecclesiastical authority and efforts to control scriptural access. White highlights groups such as the Waldenses and individuals like John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, and Jerome, who translated or defended the Bible in the vernacular. The narrative recounts trials, exile, and martyrdom, presenting these episodes as milestones in a gradual movement toward reform. The book underscores the principle of conscience bound to Scripture, contrasted with enforced uniformity. These accounts prepare for broader upheavals by showing how underground preservation of beliefs persisted despite censure, laying groundwork for wider transformations in church and society.
The Protestant Reformation occupies a central section, with Martin Luther's challenge to indulgences, his appeal to Scripture, and debates over justification by faith. White sketches contributions by Melanchthon, Zwingli, Calvin, and others, noting both doctrinal development and political repercussions. The narrative emphasizes translation and distribution of the Bible, education, and the redefinition of worship and authority. Conflicts within reform movements are acknowledged, alongside resistance from established institutions. This segment portrays the Reformation as a major turning point that advanced religious freedom while leaving unresolved issues, setting the stage for ongoing efforts to align belief and practice with biblical norms.
Post-Reformation developments include struggles for toleration, the experiences of Huguenots and Puritans, and the role of Scripture in shaping civic life. White describes transatlantic movements that spread Protestant ideals, culminating in revivalism associated with John and Charles Wesley and other leaders. Emphasis falls on personal conversion, social reform, and hymnody, influencing public morals and mission. The narrative also treats the founding of the United States, highlighting constitutional protections for religious liberty and the separation of church and state. These themes serve as context for later arguments that liberty of conscience is vital to faith and will face renewed challenges.
The narrative turns to nineteenth-century prophetic study, particularly the Advent movement led by William Miller, which anticipated Christ's return based on interpretations of Daniel and Revelation. White recounts the broad, international interest, public preaching, and subsequent "Great Disappointment" of 1844 when expectations were not met. The book then presents a reexamination of prophecy, concluding that the predicted event concerned Christ's ministry in a heavenly sanctuary rather than an earthly advent. This interpretation introduces the concept of an investigative judgment and renewed attention to the Ten Commandments, including seventh-day Sabbath observance, forming the distinctive teachings associated with emerging Adventist believers.
Building on that framework, White expounds the three angels' messages of Revelation 14, presented as global proclamations concerning the gospel, judgment, and warnings about "Babylon" and the "mark of the beast." The book interprets Sabbath-Sunday controversy as central to end-time allegiance, surveying historical Sunday legislation and forecasting future civil-religious pressures. The United States is discussed in apocalyptic symbolism as a power that begins with liberty yet later restricts conscience, while spiritualism and ecumenical alliances are portrayed as unifying influences. These analyses outline a final test over worship and authority, positioning religious liberty and fidelity to Scripture as decisive issues.
The closing prophecies describe a time of universal crisis, the close of probation, and a sequence of plagues, followed by deliverance at Christ's second coming. White delineates the resurrection and the gathering of the redeemed, then outlines a millennial period in which the earth lies desolate while judgment proceeds in heaven. After the millennium, the final judgment and destruction of sin are depicted, addressing the resolution of the controversy. The narrative maintains a consistent order: warning, decision, intervention, and restoration. Each stage is intended to demonstrate justice and mercy, culminating in the end of rebellion and the vindication of divine governance.
In its final vision, the book depicts a renewed earth where harmony is restored and the effects of sin are removed. White closes by affirming the permanence of God's law and the security of the universe after the controversy ends. The overall message is that history reveals recurring principles - Scripture's authority, freedom of conscience, and the consequences of coercion - while prophecy outlines a definitive resolution. Presented as a cohesive arc from past to future, The Great Controversy argues that understanding earlier crises equips readers to recognize later developments. The work's stated aim is to prepare a people ready for Christ's return.
Historical Context
Set across an immense historical canvas, The Great Controversy situates its narrative within the long arc of Christian history, from the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE to the modern era and anticipated final conflicts. Its geographical scope ranges from the Levant and imperial Rome to medieval and Reformation Europe, and finally North America. The book reads history through a moral lens, tracing how religious ideas shaped societies and laws. It is not confined to a single locality or decade; rather, it treats time and place as successive theaters in a struggle over conscience, authority, and worship, emphasizing pivotal junctions where church and state converged.
Composed and revised in the United States between 1858 and 1911, the work reflects a nineteenth century American setting marked by revivalism, reform movements, and debates on liberty after the Civil War. Ellen G. White wrote within a milieu shaped by the Millerite movement of the 1830s and 1840s, expanding her scope backward to apostolic times and forward to her own day. The book thus overlays European church history with the political ideals of the American Republic, especially constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. Its American vantage point, centered in New England and later the Midwest, frames the transatlantic narrative of faith, persecution, and law.
Early Christian history anchors the opening sequence. After the Roman siege under Titus in 70 CE leveled Jerusalem, believers faced intermittent imperial persecutions, notably under Nero following the 64 CE fire and under Diocletian in 303. Martyrdoms, catacomb worship, and underground networks characterized the era. These episodes illustrate a church without state backing, often protected only by local toleration. The book connects this period to its theme of fidelity under pressure, arguing that the earliest communities provide a template for resistance to coercion. The contrast between persecuted minorities and imperial decree becomes an interpretive key for later epochs.
The Constantinian transformation marked a decisive shift. Constantine favored Christianity after 312 and issued the Edict of Milan in 313, legalizing the faith. He later promulgated a civil rest law in 321 establishing Sunday as a day when courts and workshops should be closed. The Council of Nicaea in 325 signaled imperial involvement in doctrine, while Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity the empire’s official religion in 380. The book links these developments with the hazards of religious-political fusion, suggesting that state-sponsored orthodoxy opens the door to compulsion. It identifies the fourth century as a watershed when policy, liturgy, and power intertwined.
Medieval consolidation of ecclesiastical authority forms another axis. Justinian’s Code (promulgated 529–534) recognized bishops’ jurisdiction, and historicist interpreters later pointed to 538 as emblematic of papal ascendancy after Ostrogothic forces withdrew from Rome. From the twelfth century, inquisitorial procedures targeted dissent such as the Cathars, culminating in the Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229). Tribunals, confiscations, and penalties standardized the suppression of heresy. The book mirrors this phase as a long contest between institutional Christianity and communities seeking Scripture as primary authority, arguing that the apparatus of coercion matured alongside the medieval synthesis of throne and altar.
The Waldenses of the Piedmont valleys represent a persistent clandestine movement. Tracing origins to the late twelfth century under Peter Waldo, they maintained vernacular Scripture reading and itinerant teaching. Their mountain refuges in the Cottian Alps sheltered them through waves of pressure. A notorious episode, the Piedmontese Easter of 1655, saw the Duke of Savoy’s forces inflict massacres in Lucerna and surrounding valleys, provoking European outrage and Milton’s famous sonnet. The book appropriates the Waldensian story as evidence of an unbroken line of dissenters preserving biblical faith under repression, illustrating how geography and community networks enabled survival.
Pre Reformation voices in England and Bohemia prepared the ground. John Wycliffe at Oxford (d. 1384) advocated Scripture’s supremacy and sponsored vernacular Bible translation; his followers, the Lollards, circulated manuscripts despite prosecutions. Jan Hus of Prague (c. 1369–1415) and Jerome of Prague advanced reformist preaching; both were condemned at the Council of Constance (1414–1418) and executed. The Hussite Wars (1419–1434) reshaped Bohemian politics and worship. The book cites these figures as forerunners who challenged hierarchical abuses and sacramentalism, presenting their trials and deaths as catalysts that foreshadowed wider sixteenth century movements.
Technological and national dynamics accelerated change. Gutenberg’s mid fifteenth century press enabled rapid dissemination of Scripture and polemic. In England, William Tyndale’s New Testament (1526) circulated clandestinely; he was executed in 1536. The English Reformation combined royal policy and evangelical conviction: Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy (1534) severed papal ties, while Mary I’s reign (1553–1558) saw burnings of Protestants at Smithfield. Elizabeth I’s settlement (1559) established a Protestant national church with dissent at its margins. The book links print culture and vernacular Bibles to the empowerment of lay conscience, asserting that access to text weakened authoritarian control.
The Protestant Reformation is central to the narrative. Martin Luther posted Ninety Five Theses at Wittenberg in 1517, debated Johann Eck at Leipzig in 1519, and refused recantation at the Diet of Worms in 1521, then translated the Bible at Wartburg. The Augsburg Confession was presented in 1530; the Schmalkaldic League formed in 1531 to defend reforms, and the Peace of Augsburg (1555) recognized cuius regio, eius religio in the Holy Roman Empire. Zwingli advanced reforms in Zurich from 1522, and Calvin built an influential program at Geneva after 1541. The book portrays these episodes as a restoration of gospel primacy challenging sacramental economies and centralized authority.
The Catholic Reformation reshaped institutions and strategies. The Council of Trent (1545–1563) codified doctrine on Scripture and tradition, sacraments, and discipline. The Society of Jesus, approved in 1540, pioneered education, missions, and confessional defense; the Roman Inquisition and the Index of Prohibited Books policed thought. Confessional conflict erupted in episodes such as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Paris, 1572, against Huguenots. The book interprets these measures as the consolidation of a system that bound conscience to ecclesiastical authority through law and pedagogy, viewing the Jesuit model as emblematic of organized resistance to reform.
The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), ignited in Bohemia and spreading across the Empire, devastated Central Europe. Religious and dynastic aims intertwined as Catholic Habsburgs faced Protestant coalitions including Sweden and various German princes. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 redrew boundaries, expanded toleration to certain confessions, and entrenched state sovereignty. Populations and economies suffered immense losses. The book references this conflict to show how confessionalized states weaponized religion, arguing that when faith becomes an arm of policy, liberty withers and violence expands. The settlement’s pragmatism, while stabilizing borders, left unresolved questions about individual conscience and minority protections.
Transatlantic developments emphasized experiments in liberty. English Separatists sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, while the Massachusetts Bay Puritans arrived from 1630, shaping a Bible commonwealth that also enforced orthodoxy. Roger Williams, banished in 1635, founded Providence in 1636 and secured a 1644 charter for Rhode Island guaranteeing liberty of conscience. Quakers suffered in Boston, including the 1660 execution of Mary Dyer. The book highlights these contrasts, showing that persecuted groups sometimes perpetuated coercion once empowered, while advocates like Williams articulated a civil order with no jurisdiction over the soul, furnishing a model the author esteems.
The American founding integrated these prototypes into law. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786) and the First Amendment (ratified 1791) secured disestablishment and free exercise. The book reads the United States as a power with lamblike horns, symbolizing republican governance and Protestant heritage, yet warns of future departures from these principles. It cites regional Blue Laws, the National Reform Association (organized 1863) seeking a Christian amendment, and the Blair Sunday Rest bill hearings in 1888 as signs of recurring Sunday legislation efforts. Portents such as the New England Dark Day of 19 May 1780 and the Leonid meteor storm of 1833 are presented as apocalyptic warnings within an American frame.
Revolutionary and Napoleonic France anchor an interpretive fulcrum. The Estates General convened in 1789, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy passed in 1790, and by 1793 de Christianization campaigns enthroned Reason and suppressed worship; the Reign of Terror (1793–1794) followed. In 1798 General Berthier entered Rome and took Pope Pius VI captive, a moment historicists link to a 1260 year period of papal dominance from 538. Earlier, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuits in 1773; Pope Pius VII restored them in 1814. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755, widely interpreted as providential, also figures as a European portent. The book mines these data to argue that coercive religion and militant irreligion both injure conscience and society.
The Millerite awakening of the United States profoundly shaped the author’s world. William Miller, a veteran and farmer from New York, began public lectures in 1831, interpreting Daniel 8:14’s 2300 days as years culminating around 1843–1844. Under Joshua V. Himes, networks of newspapers and camp meetings spread the message; the Boston Signs of the Times began in 1840. Samuel Snow’s seventh month message fixed 22 October 1844 as a date of expectation, after which the Great Disappointment scattered adherents. In its aftermath, Hiram Edson articulated a sanctuary interpretation pointing to Christ’s priestly ministry rather than a terrestrial event. Joseph Bates championed the seventh day Sabbath, and in 1863 the movement organized as the Seventh day Adventist Church. The book memorializes these episodes to frame vigilance, prophetic interpretation, and the primacy of conscience amid popular and legal pressures, also warning against contemporary spiritualism that began with the Fox sisters in 1848.
As social and political critique, the book opposes the union of civil authority with ecclesiastical agendas, whether medieval inquisitions, early modern confessional states, or modern legislative attempts to regulate worship. It exposes mechanisms of control, from censorship and enforced holy days to penalties for dissent. By narrating the Waldenses, Hussites, Puritans, and American reformers, it elevates individual responsibility before God above institutional compulsion. The critique extends to secular absolutism, using the French Revolution to argue that denial of transcendent accountability can devolve into state terror, replacing one hierarchy of coercion with another and leaving minority conscience unprotected.
The work also targets contemporary American vulnerabilities. It contends that economic modernization, mass movements, and patriotic rhetoric can be marshaled to curtail liberty under the pretext of moral order, exemplified by nineteenth century Sunday legislation campaigns. By invoking constitutional texts and the legacy of Roger Williams, it critiques majoritarian impulses that blur church and state. The warnings against spiritualism address popular credulity and the politicization of the supernatural. Across these themes, the book indicts systems that privilege class, clerical, or party interest over conscience, urging vigilance so that law remains a shield for dissent rather than a weapon of conformity.
Author Biography
Ellen G. White (1827–1915) was an American religious author and church leader whose writings shaped the formation and identity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Active from the mid-nineteenth century into the early twentieth, she produced a vast body of letters, articles, and books that Adventists regard as a prophetic witness pointing to the Bible. Beyond denominational boundaries, she influenced conversations on health reform, education, and practical spirituality. Her prose blended devotional appeal with pastoral counsel, aiming to guide believers in daily discipleship and corporate mission. White’s public ministry unfolded alongside the emergence of new American religious movements and print culture.
Born in Maine in the Jacksonian era, White experienced limited formal schooling after a debilitating childhood injury, yet immersed herself in Bible reading and revival preaching associated with the Second Great Awakening. In the early 1840s she joined the Millerite movement, which anticipated Christ’s imminent return. The Millerite disappointment of 1844 left many seekers disoriented, but it also forged networks of believers committed to renewed study and reform. These influences—evangelical piety, restorationist expectations, and a high view of Scripture—shaped White’s literary voice. She wrote to console, admonish, and organize, drawing on a plain style accessible to lay readers and itinerant workers.
White reported a series of religious visions beginning in the aftermath of 1844, which Sabbatarian Adventists received as guidance for worship, doctrine, and communal life. Working closely with James White and early colleagues such as Joseph Bates, she helped knit scattered groups into a movement that formally organized in the early 1860s. Through preaching circuits and periodicals, she urged Sabbath observance, mission, and disciplined stewardship. Editorial and publishing initiatives gave her writings wide circulation, and correspondence became a channel for counsel to ministers, institutions, and families. Her role combined exhortation, oversight, and mediation during seasons of growth, conflict, and reorganization.
Across the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, White’s major books articulated a sweeping narrative of salvation history and Christian discipleship. Notable titles include Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, The Great Controversy, Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, Christ’s Object Lessons, Education, and The Ministry of Healing. She also issued Testimonies for the Church, a multi-volume collection of counsel. Stylistically, these works merge biblical exposition with moral appeal and practical instruction. The “great controversy” motif—conflict between good and evil framed by Christ’s mission—provides thematic coherence, while devotional chapters invite readers to prayer, service, temperance, and hope.
Health reform and education formed distinct strands of White’s advocacy. She promoted preventive habits—fresh air, rest, temperance, and plant-based diets—arguing that spiritual responsibility included care of the body. Though not a physician, she supported the development of sanitariums and training programs where Christian service, nursing, and lifestyle medicine could flourish. In education, she urged a balanced curriculum joining intellect, manual skills, and moral formation, and encouraged schools that cultivated mission-minded citizenship. Some of her books were used to raise funds for educational causes, linking publishing with institution-building. These emphases helped Adventists develop a network of hospitals, clinics, and academies.
White traveled in North America, Europe, and the South Pacific, counseling emerging churches and institutions and writing prolifically while abroad. Her work was translated and disseminated through denominational presses. Reception varied: Adventists affirmed her as a messenger whose writings uphold Scripture, while scholars and critics have debated her authority, use of sources, and literary borrowing in the context of nineteenth-century publishing norms. Church-sponsored studies and independent research have examined composition practices, editorial processes, and historical claims. Despite debate, her corpus remained central to Adventist identity, serving as a reference for governance, ethics, evangelism, and the articulation of distinctive doctrines.
In her final years, White continued to write, edit earlier volumes, and advise leaders, with associates helping preserve and organize her manuscripts. After her death in the 1910s, a dedicated estate stewarded her literary legacy, facilitating publication, translations, and archival access. Today her books are widely read by Adventists worldwide and studied by historians of American religion. Their influence extends to Adventist education and health systems, which operate internationally. Readers continue to engage her “great controversy” framework, Christ-centered piety, and pragmatic counsel, assessing her thought within its nineteenth-century milieu while exploring its ongoing significance for faith and practice.
The Great Controversy
Preface
This book, reader, is not published to tell us that there is sin and woe and misery in this world. We know it all too well. This book is not published to tell us that there is an irreconcilable controversy between darkness and light, sin and righteousness, wrong and right, death and life. In our heart of hearts we know it, and know that we are participators, actors, in the conflict.
But to every one of us comes at times a longing to know more of the great controversy. How did the controversy begin? Or was it always here? What elements enter into its awfully complex aspect? How am I related to it? What is my responsibility? I find myself in this world by no choice of my own. Does that mean to me evil or good?
What are the great principles involved? How long will the controversy continue? What will be its ending? Will this earth sink, as some scientists say, into the depths of a sunless, frozen, eternal night? Or is there a better future?
The question comes closer still: how may the controversy in my own heart, the strife between inflowing selfishness and outgoing love, be settled in the victory of good, and settled forever? What does the Bible say? What has God to teach us upon this eternally important question?
It is the aim of this book, reader, to help the troubled soul to a right solution of all these problems. It is written by one who has tasted and found that God is good, and who has learned in communion with God and the study of His word that the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and that He will show them His covenant.
That we may better understand the principles of the all-important controversy, in which the life of a universe is involved, the author has set it before us in great, concrete object lessons of the last twenty centuries.
The book opens with the sad closing scenes of Jerusalem's history, the city of God's chosen, after her rejection of the Man of Calvary, who came to save. Thence onward along the great highway of the nations, it points us to the persecutions of God's children in the first centuries; the great apostasy which followed in His church; the world-awakening of the Reformation, in which some of the great principles of the controversy are clearly manifest; the awful lesson of the rejection of right principles by France; the revival and exaltation of the Scriptures, and their beneficent, life-saving influence; the religious awakening of the last days; the unsealing of the radiant fountain of God's word, with its wonderful revelations of light and knowledge to meet the baleful upspringing of every delusion of darkness.
The present impending conflict, with the vital principles involved, in which no one can be neutral, is simply, lucidly, strongly, set forth.
Last of all, we are told of the eternal and glorious victory of good over evil, right over wrong, light over darkness, joy over sorrow, hope over despair, glory over shame, life over death, and everlasting, long-suffering love over vindictive hate.
Beginning with its first edition (1888), followed by an author's revision (1911), this outstanding work has achieved worldwide circulation through many editions and translations. The reader will find that the author writes frankly and vigorously, pointing out errors and suggesting solutions based on the infallible word of God. And even though the last few decades have witnessed shifts and adjustments in the socioreligious world, the main scheme and the future projections presented in this book maintain today full timeliness and absorbing interest.
Former editions of this book have brought many souls to the True Shepherd; it is the prayer of the publisher that this edition may be even more fruitful of eternal good.
The Publishers.
Introduction
Before the entrance of sin, Adam enjoyed open communion with his Maker; but since man separated himself from God by transgression, the human race has been cut off from this high privilege. By the plan of redemption, however, a way has been opened whereby the inhabitants of the earth may still have connection with heaven. God has communicated with men by His Spirit, and divine light has been imparted to the world by revelations to His chosen servants. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:21.
During the first twenty-five hundred years of human history, there was no written revelation. Those who had been taught of God, communicated their knowledge to others, and it was handed down from father to son, through successive generations. The preparation of the written word began in the time of Moses. Inspired revelations were then embodied in an inspired book. This work continued during the long period of sixteen hundred years--from Moses, the historian of creation and the law, to John, the recorder of the most sublime truths of the gospel.
The Bible points to God as its author; yet it was written by human hands; and in the varied style of its different books it presents the characteristics of the several writers. The truths revealed are all "given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16); yet they are expressed in the words of men. The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds and hearts of His servants. He has given dreams and visions, symbols and figures; and those to whom the truth was thus revealed have themselves embodied the thought in human language.
The Ten Commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were written by His own hand. They are of divine, and not of human composition. But the Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in the language of men, presents a union of the divine and the human. Such a union existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man. Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:14.
Written in different ages, by men who differed widely in rank and occupation, and in mental and spiritual endowments, the books of the Bible present a wide contrast in style, as well as a diversity in the nature of the subjects unfolded. Different forms of expression are employed by different writers; often the same truth is more strikingly presented by one than by another. And as several writers present a subject under varied aspects and relations, there may appear, to the superficial, careless, or prejudiced reader, to be discrepancy or contradiction, where the thoughtful, reverent student, with clearer insight, discerns the underlying harmony.
As presented through different individuals, the truth is brought out in its varied aspects. One writer is more strongly impressed with one phase of the subject; he grasps those points that harmonize with his experience or with his power of perception and appreciation; another seizes upon a different phase; and each, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, presents what is most forcibly impressed upon his own mind--a different aspect of the truth in each, but a perfect harmony through all. And the truths thus revealed unite to form a perfect whole, adapted to meet the wants of men in all the circumstances and experiences of life.
God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled them to do this work. He guided the mind in the selection of what to speak and what to write. The treasure was entrusted to earthen vessels, yet it is, nonetheless, from Heaven. The testimony is conveyed through the imperfect expression of human language, yet it is the testimony of God; and the obedient, believing child of God beholds in it the glory of a divine power, full of grace and truth.
In His word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience. "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, R.V.
Yet the fact that God has revealed His will to men through His word, has not rendered needless the continued presence and guiding of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit was promised by our Saviour, to open the word to His servants, to illuminate and apply its teachings. And since it was the Spirit of God that inspired the Bible, it is impossible that the teaching of the Spirit should ever be contrary to that of the word.
The Spirit was not given--nor can it ever be bestowed-- to supersede the Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state that the word of God is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested. Says the apostle John, "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1. And Isaiah declares, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah 8:20.
Great reproach has been cast upon the work of the Holy Spirit by the errors of a class that, claiming its enlightenment, profess to have no further need of guidance from the word of God. They are governed by impressions which they regard as the voice of God in the soul. But the spirit that controls them is not the Spirit of God. This following of impressions, to the neglect of the Scriptures, can lead only to confusion, to deception and ruin. It serves only to further the designs of the evil one. Since the ministry of the Holy Spirit is of vital importance to the church of Christ, it is one of the devices of Satan, through the errors of extremists and fanatics, to cast contempt upon the work of the Spirit and cause the people of God to neglect this source of strength which our Lord Himself has provided.
In harmony with the word of God, His Spirit was to continue its work throughout the period of the gospel dispensation. During the ages while the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testament were being given, the Holy Spirit did not cease to communicate light to individual minds, apart from the revelations to be embodied in the Sacred Canon. The Bible itself relates how, through the Holy Spirit, men received warning, reproof, counsel, and instruction, in matters in no way relating to the giving of the Scriptures. And mention is made of prophets in different ages, of whose utterances nothing is recorded. In like manner, after the close of the canon of the Scripture, the Holy Spirit was still to continue its work, to enlighten, warn, and comfort the children of God.
Jesus promised His disciples, "The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: . . . and He will show you things to come." John 14:26; 16:13. Scripture plainly teaches that these promises, so far from being limited to apostolic days[2], extend to the church of Christ in all ages. The Saviour assures His followers, "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:20. And Paul declares that the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit were set in the church "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:12, 13.
For the believers at Ephesus the apostle prayed, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and . . . what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe." Ephesians 1:17-19. The ministry of the divine Spirit in enlightening the understanding and opening to the mind the deep things of God's holy word, was the blessing which Paul thus besought for the Ephesian church.
After the wonderful manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, Peter exhorted the people to repentance and baptism in the name of Christ, for the remission of their sins; and he said: "Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Acts 2:38, 39.
In immediate connection with the scenes of the great day of God, the Lord by the prophet Joel has promised a special manifestation of His Spirit. Joel 2:28. This prophecy received a partial fulfillment in the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost; but it will reach its full accomplishment in the manifestation of divine grace which will attend the closing work of the gospel.
The great controversy[1] between good and evil will increase in intensity to the very close of time. In all ages the wrath of Satan has been manifested against the church of Christ; and God has bestowed His grace and Spirit upon His people to strengthen them to stand against the power of the evil one. When the apostles of Christ were to bear His gospel to the world and to record it for all future ages, they were especially endowed with the enlightenment of the Spirit. But as the church approaches her final deliverance, Satan is to work with greater power. He comes down "having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Revelation 12:12. He will work "with all power and signs and lying wonders." 2 Thessalonians 2:9. For six thousand years that mastermind that once was highest among the angels of God has been wholly bent to the work of deception and ruin. And all the depths of satanic skill and subtlety acquired, all the cruelty developed, during these struggles of the ages, will be brought to bear against God's people in the final conflict. And in this time of peril the followers of Christ are to bear to the world the warning of the Lord's second advent; and a people are to be prepared to stand before Him at His coming, "without spot, and blameless." 2 Peter 3:14. At this time the special endowment of divine grace and power is not less needful to the church than in apostolic days.
Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of the long-continued conflict between good and evil have been opened to the writer of these pages. From time to time I have been permitted to behold the working, in different ages, of the great controversy between Christ, the Prince of life, the Author of our salvation, and Satan, the prince of evil, the author of sin, the first transgressor of God's holy law. Satan's enmity against Christ has been manifested against His followers. The same hatred of the principles of God's law, the same policy of deception, by which error is made to appear as truth, by which human laws are substituted for the law of God, and men are led to worship the creature rather than the Creator, may be traced in all the history of the past. Satan's efforts to misrepresent the character of God, to cause men to cherish a false conception of the Creator, and thus to regard Him with fear and hate rather than with love; his endeavors to set aside the divine law, leading the people to think themselves free from its requirements; and his persecution of those who dare to resist his deceptions, have been steadfastly pursued in all ages. They may be traced in the history of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, of martyrs and reformers.
In the great final conflict, Satan will employ the same policy, manifest the same spirit, and work for the same end as in all preceding ages. That which has been, will be, except that the coming struggle will be marked with a terrible intensity such as the world has never witnessed. Satan's deceptions will be more subtle, his assaults more determined. If it were possible, he would lead astray the elect. Mark 13:22, R.V.
As the Spirit of God has opened to my mind the great truths of His word, and the scenes of the past and the future, I have been bidden to make known to others that which has thus been revealed--to trace the history of the controversy in past ages, and especially so to present it as to shed a light on the fast-approaching struggle of the future. In pursuance of this purpose, I have endeavored to select and group together events in the history of the church in such a manner as to trace the unfolding of the great testing truths that at different periods have been given to the world, that have excited the wrath of Satan, and the enmity of a world-loving church, and that have been maintained by the witness of those who "loved not their lives unto the death."
In these records we may see a foreshadowing of the conflict before us. Regarding them in the light of God's word, and by the illumination of His Spirit, we may see unveiled the devices of the wicked one, and the dangers which they must shun who would be found "without fault" before the Lord at His coming.
The great events which have marked the progress of reform in past ages are matters of history, well known and universally acknowledged by the Protestant world; they are facts which none can gainsay. This history I have presented briefly, in accordance with the scope of the book, and the brevity which must necessarily be observed, the facts having been condensed into as little space as seemed consistent with a proper understanding of their application. In some cases where a historian has so grouped together events as to afford, in brief, a comprehensive view of the subject, or has summarized details in a convenient manner, his words have been quoted; but in some instances no specific credit has been given, since the quotations are not given for the purpose of citing that writer as authority, but because his statement affords a ready and forcible presentation of the subject. In narrating the experience and views of those carrying forward the work of reform in our own time, similar use has been made of their published works.
It is not so much the object of this book to present new truths concerning the struggles of former times, as to bring out facts and principles which have a bearing on coming events. Yet viewed as a part of the controversy between the forces of light and darkness, all these records of the past are seen to have a new significance; and through them a light is cast upon the future, illumining the pathway of those who, like the reformers of past ages, will be called, even at the peril of all earthly good, to witness "for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."
To unfold the scenes of the great controversy between truth and error; to reveal the wiles of Satan, and the means by which he may be successfully resisted; to present a satisfactory solution of the great problem of evil, shedding such a light upon the origin and the final disposition of sin as to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His dealings with His creatures; and to show the holy, unchanging nature of His law, is the object of this book. That through its influence souls may be delivered from the power of darkness, and become "partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light," to the praise of Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us, is the earnest prayer of the writer.
E.G.W.
The Destruction of Jerusalem
"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." Luke 19:42-44.
From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem. Fair and peaceful was the scene spread out before Him. It was the season of the Passover, and from all lands the children of Jacob had gathered there to celebrate the great national festival. In the midst of gardens and vineyards, and green slopes studded with pilgrims' tents, rose the terraced hills, the stately palaces, and massive bulwarks of Israel's capital. The daughter of Zion[3] seemed in her pride to say, I sit a queen and shall see no sorrow; as lovely then, and deeming herself as secure in Heaven's favor, as when, ages before, the royal minstrel sang: "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion,... the city of the great King." Psalm 48:2. In full view were the magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays of the setting sun lighted up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls and gleamed from golden gate and tower and pinnacle. "The perfection of (p.18) beauty" it stood, the pride of the Jewish nation. What child of Israel could gaze upon the scene without a thrill of joy and admiration! But far other thoughts occupied the mind of Jesus. "When He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it." Luke 19:41. Amid the universal rejoicing of the triumphal entry, while palm branches waved, while glad hosannas awoke the echoes of the hills, and thousands of voices declared Him king, the world's Redeemer was overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He, the Son of God, the Promised One of Israel, whose power had conquered death and called its captives from the grave, was in tears, not of ordinary grief, but of intense, irrepressible agony.
His tears were not for Himself, though He well knew whither His feet were tending. Before Him lay Gethsemane, the scene of His approaching agony. The sheepgate also was in sight, through which for centuries the victims for sacrifice had been led, and which was to open for Him when He should be "brought as a lamb to the slaughter." Isaiah 53:7. Not far distant was Calvary, the place of crucifixion. Upon the path which Christ was soon to tread must fall the horror of great darkness as He should make His soul an offering for sin. Yet it was not the contemplation of these scenes that cast the shadow upon Him in this hour of gladness. No foreboding of His own superhuman anguish clouded that unselfish spirit. He wept for the doomed thousands of Jerusalem--because of the blindness and impenitence of those whom He came to bless and to save.
The history of more than a thousand years of God's special favor and guardian care, manifested to the chosen people, was open to the eye of Jesus. There was Mount Moriah[4], where the son of promise, an unresisting victim, had been bound to the altar--emblem of the offering of the Son of God. There the covenant of blessing, the glorious Messianic promise, had been confirmed to the father of the faithful. Genesis 22:9, 16-18. There the flames of the sacrifice ascending to heaven from the threshing floor of Ornan had turned (p.19) aside the sword of the destroying angel (1 Chronicles 21)--fitting symbol of the Saviour's sacrifice and mediation for guilty men. Jerusalem had been honored of God above all the earth. The Lord had "chosen Zion," He had "desired it for His habitation." Psalm 132:13. There, for ages, holy prophets had uttered their messages of warning. There priests had waved their censers, and the cloud of incense, with the prayers of the worshipers, had ascended before God. There daily the blood of slain lambs had been offered, pointing forward to the Lamb of God. There Jehovah had revealed His presence in the cloud of glory above the mercy seat. There rested the base of that mystic ladder connecting earth with heaven (Genesis 28:12; John 1:51)--that ladder upon which angels of God descended and ascended, and which opened to the world the way into the holiest of all. Had Israel as a nation preserved her allegiance to Heaven, Jerusalem would have stood forever, the elect of God. Jeremiah 17:21-25. But the history of that favored people was a record of backsliding and rebellion. They had resisted Heaven's grace, abused their privileges, and slighted their opportunities.
Although Israel had "mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets" (2 Chronicles 36:16), He had still manifested Himself to them, as "the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6); notwithstanding repeated rejections, His mercy had continued its pleadings. With more than a father's pitying love for the son of his care, God had "sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place." 2 Chronicles 36:15. When remonstrance, entreaty, and rebuke had failed, He sent to them the best gift of heaven; nay, He poured out all heaven in that one Gift.
The Son of God Himself was sent to plead with the impenitent city. It was Christ that had brought Israel as a goodly vine out of Egypt. Psalm 80:8. His own hand had cast (p.20) out the heathen before it. He had planted it "in a very fruitful hill." His guardian care had hedged it about. His servants had been sent to nurture it. "What could have been done more to My vineyard," He exclaims, "that I have not done in it?" Isaiah 5:1-4. Though when He looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes, yet with a still yearning hope of fruitfulness He came in person to His vineyard, if haply it might be saved from destruction. He digged about His vine; He pruned and cherished it. He was unwearied in His efforts to save this vine of His own planting.
For three years the Lord of light and glory had gone in and out among His people. He "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil," binding up the brokenhearted, setting at liberty them that were bound, restoring sight to the blind, causing the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and preaching the gospel to the poor. Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5. To all classes alike was addressed the gracious call: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.
Though rewarded with evil for good, and hatred for His love (Psalm 109:5), He had steadfastly pursued His mission of mercy. Never were those repelled that sought His grace. A homeless wanderer, reproach and penury His daily lot, He lived to minister to the needs and lighten the woes of men, to plead with them to accept the gift of life. The waves of mercy, beaten back by those stubborn hearts, returned in a stronger tide of pitying, inexpressible love. But Israel had turned from her best Friend and only Helper. The pleadings of His love had been despised, His counsels spurned, His warnings ridiculed.
The hour of hope and pardon was fast passing; the cup of God's long-deferred wrath was almost full. The cloud that had been gathering through ages of apostasy and rebellion, now black with woe, was about to burst upon a guilty people; (p.21) and He who alone could save them from their impending fate had been slighted, abused, rejected, and was soon to be crucified. When Christ should hang upon the cross of Calvary, Israel's day as a nation favored and blessed of God would be ended. The loss of even one soul is a calamity infinitely outweighing the gains and treasures of a world;[1q] but as Christ looked upon Jerusalem, the doom of a whole city, a whole nation, was before Him--that city, that nation, which had once been the chosen of God, His peculiar treasure.
Prophets had wept over the apostasy of Israel and the terrible desolations by which their sins were visited. Jeremiah wished that his eyes were a fountain of tears, that he might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people, for the Lord's flock that was carried away captive. Jeremiah 9:1; 13:17. What, then, was the grief of Him whose prophetic glance took in, not years, but ages! He beheld the destroying angel with sword uplifted against the city which had so long been Jehovah's dwelling place. From the ridge of Olivet, the very spot afterward occupied by Titus and his army, He looked across the valley upon the sacred courts and porticoes, and with tear-dimmed eyes He saw, in awful perspective, the walls surrounded by alien hosts. He heard the tread of armies marshaling for war. He heard the voice of mothers and children crying for bread in the besieged city. He saw her holy and beautiful house, her palaces and towers, given to the flames, and where once they stood, only a heap of smoldering ruins.
Looking down the ages, He saw the covenant people scattered in every land, "like wrecks on a desert shore." In the temporal retribution about to fall upon her children, He saw but the first draft from that cup of wrath which at the final judgment she must drain to its dregs. Divine pity, yearning love, found utterance in the mournful words: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I (p.22) have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" O that thou, a nation favored above every other, hadst known the time of thy visitation, and the things that belong unto thy peace! I have stayed the angel of justice, I have called thee to repentance, but in vain. It is not merely servants, delegates, and prophets, whom thou hast refused and rejected, but the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer. If thou art destroyed, thou alone art responsible. "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." Matthew 23:37; John 5:40.
