EGW - Featured Publications

BY NORMA COLLINS

With eager anticipation Ellen White opened the bulky package from the Pacific Press that had been delivered that evening. She lifted the new book from the carton, savoring the smell of printer's ink and new leather. At last the book on the life of Christ was a reality!

It was December 10, 1898--100 years ago this month.

The place was Cooranbong, Australia.

Ellen White no doubt held the volume in her hands for a few seconds before opening it, remembering all the difficulty experienced to reach this moment.

Forty years earlier, in 1858, she had authored volume 1 of Spiritual Gifts, the first writing of her Lovett's Grove great controversy vision. Of the 219 pages, more than 50 centered on the life of Christ. In 1876 and 1877 she rewrote and enlarged her narrative of Christ's life and work so that it comprised more than 640 pages in The Spirit of Prophecy, volumes 2 and 3. By the 1890s she had expanded the account still further, providing materials for what would become three books: Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, Christ's Object Lessons, and the new volume she held in her hands. Now in 1898, after working on the manuscript on the life of Christ throughout her stay in Australia, the book was a reality. The labor, pain, and illness that had accompanied the project had nonetheless culminated in a work with which she was justifiably pleased.

The Personal Cost
Almost immediately upon arriving in Australia in 1891, Ellen White had become ill with what was probably rheumatoid arthritis. Each week found her in more and more pain as she struggled to work. "I am now writing on the life of Christ," she wrote S. N. Haskell near the onset of her illness, "and I have had great comfort and blessing in my writing. It may be I am a cripple in order to do this work so long neglected."¹

She had moved to Australia at the urging of the General Conference to minister to the infant church on that continent, even though her own judgment told her she should remain in North America. But how could she serve when intense suffering limited her physical activities? At first she was frustrated by the forced inactivity, and chafed at her suffering. Soon, however, she recognized that this affliction was part of God's plan. The Lord had never failed her; precious experiences had run like "threads of gold" all through this severe illness.²

To General Conference president O. A. Olsen, in Battle Creek, Michigan, she wrote, "This week I have been enabled to commence writing on the life of Christ. . . . I tremble for fear lest I shall belittle the great plan of salvation by cheap words."³

As her disease worsened, Ellen White couldn't lift her feet from the floor without great pain. Her hips and lower back were terribly affected. Only her right arm--her writing arm--was free from pain from the elbow down. Bed rest helped little: she couldn't lie down for more than two hours at a time without being moved to another position. Some who cared for her said she would never walk again.

Indomitable Spirit
But Ellen White had been endowed from childhood with a generous measure of perseverance. When things seemed impossible, she kept trying until she achieved her goal.⁴

That same persevering spirit enabled her to continue writing on the life of Christ through many painful months. She even managed to accept some speaking appointments, although it sometimes was necessary for her to speak while sitting in a chair in which she had been carried from her buggy to the platform. But her hearers were blessed, and she herself was blessed as she bore her testimony.⁵

Her helpers cushioned her chair with pillows to make it possible to write. A padded writing frame was fixed up on which she could rest her arms on a rubber pillow. The hard surface on her lap allowed her sometimes to write for several hours before needing to change position.⁶

In addition to working on the manuscript, she also had messages of counsel to write to individuals and institutions around the world as the Lord gave her light. As a result, writing on the life of Christ stretched from months into years. After many months of suffering she asked those close to her to anoint her and pray for her healing. During this thoughtful time of meditation about praying for the sick she wrote what was probably the basis for the chapter entitled "Prayer for the Sick," in The Ministry of Healing. On May 20, 1892, Elder and Mrs. A. G. Daniells, Elder and Mrs. G. C. Tenney, and Brothers Stockton and Smith prayed that the Lord would heal her. After an earnest prayer session, she was "relieved, but not restored," content to wait for the Lord to work in her behalf.⁷

Finding Time to Write
As her bout with rheumatism began to subside, she was able to travel and speak more freely. The increased activity and busy schedule meant that work on the book was sometimes delayed. Urgent letters shuttled back and forth across the Pacific between Ellen White and her publisher, the Pacific Press. In 1897 she confided in her diary: "In writing upon the life of Christ I am deeply wrought upon. I forget to breathe as I should. I cannot endure the intensity of feeling that comes over me as I think of what Christ has suffered in our world."⁸

As the new volume neared completion, Ellen White's literary assistant Marian Davis wrote to W. C. White: "If you would offer me, personally, a thousand dollars for the work that has been done on the book during the past few weeks, I would not look at it. I never realized the power of simplicity and compactness as I have since I began this work. . . . When I think of the many thousands who will read the book, I want just as little human imperfection as possible to mar its divine beauty."⁹

The last portion of the large manuscript was sent to the publisher near the end of March 1898. Though the project had been known for years as the "Life of Christ," and it was supposed that would be the title, other titles were suggested in both Australia and America. Finally, the publishers narrowed their choices to "The Desire of All Nations" and "The Desire of Ages," both based on the prophecy of the coming Messiah: "The desire of all nations shall come" (Haggai 2:7). After much consideration, The Desire of Ages was chosen. A century later it remains one of the most celebrated books ever written on the life of Christ--translated into more than 50 languages and read by millions around the world.

Two years after its publication Ellen White wrote: "God would be pleased to see The Desire of Ages in every home. In this book is contained the light He has given upon His Word. To our canvassers I would say, 'Go forth with your hearts softened and subdued by reading of the life of Christ. Drink deeply of the water of salvation, that it may be in your heart as a living spring, flowing forth to refresh souls ready to perish.' "¹⁰

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1. Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White: The Australian Years (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1989), p. 30.
2. Ibid., p. 33.
3. Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 3, p. 115.
4. A. L. White, pp. 31, 32.
5. Ibid., p. 35.
6. Ibid., p. 37.
7. Ibid., p. 41.
8. E. G. White, pp. 118, 119.
9. Marian Davis to W. C. White, April 11, 1897.
10. A. L. White, p. 393.