The Conflict of the Ages is a book series written by Americanreligious author Ellen G. White. The books follow the Biblicalhistory of the world, with special focus on the conflict between Christ and Satan. The series starts with the pre-creation rebellion of Satan in Heaven, then moves on to the creation of the earth, the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, the Old Testament, the birth and ministry of Jesus until His ascension, then the early Christian church, the Dark Ages, the Protestant reformation, the last days of earth's history, the second coming of Christ, the millennium, and the destruction of sin and finally the recreation of earth and God's kingdom with man for eternity. This progression explains in detail the Seventh-day Adventist understanding of the conflict between Christ and Satan and their understanding of the Bible and much of world history. Mrs. White wrote the books based on visions she believed were from God and research of a variety of authors. The books thus include unique insights and concepts not found in other works of the time.
History
The series began as a single book published in 1854 as Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1,: The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels. The book described the whole history of sin chronologically, from before sin ever entered the universe to after its final destruction. It is written in the first-person present tense, with the phrase "I saw" being used 161 times to refer to the author's experience in receiving the vision given to enable her to write this book. Then from 1870 to 1884, the original book was expanded into 4 volumes entitled The Spirit of Prophecy: The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan. While verbs used are still generally present tense, the first person aspect is not present.
Books
''Patriarchs and Prophets'' (1890)
From the rebellion of Satan in heaven to King David.
The title of the book is drawn from an Old Testament prophecy of Jesus in. "And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts." The narrative begins with the prophecy that foretells his name, Immanuel, which means, translated literally, "God with us". After this opening, the narrative continues with the birth of Jesus Christ and his life. Subsequently, it relates and interprets his later life and ministry. White gives time and consideration to the life of Christ: to his many miracles, his teachings to his disciples, and his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. Prior to the publication of the book the author and publisher decided that the manuscript of The Desire of Ages was too large and so removed a number of chapters and put them into two separate books:
covers the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem, through Church History, to the end of sin and the recreation of the earth.
Modern language
;Contemporary adaptation
Messiah is a modern language adaptation of The Desire of Ages, by Jerry D. Thomas. Pacific Press;
Author Jerry D. Thomas’s passion to make this powerful story more accessible to today’s reader has given birth to Messiah—a contemporary adaptation of Mrs. White’s great work. Thomas’s friendly style amplifies the beautiful message of this devotional classic, making the sublime themes of the original easier to grasp. ; The complete series updated with modern words, expressions, and sentence constructions for clarity and ease of reading for twenty-first century readers. Biblical texts, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the New King James Version.
