A Reply to the paper entitled, ‘The Genuineness of E G White's 1888 edition of the Great Contro- versy as compared to the 1884 edition’ written by S. Myhre In the 4th paragraph of his paper, the writer claims, “The two first presentations (1 SG and 1-4 SP) were clearly more intended for the church, while the Conflict Series was especially adapted to reaching the masses of the world with the message." To support this claim he gives the reason that the SDA church has given all along - a statement that the SDA church says that Marian Davis said that E.G.White said - ‘These statements are true, and they are useful to our people; but to the general public, for whom this book is being prepared, they are out of place. Christ said, even to his disciples, ‘I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.’ And Christ taught His disciples to be ‘wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.’ Therefore, as it is probable that more souls will be won to Christ by the book without this passage than with it, let it be omitted.’ This, the writer says is the reason given for the first part of the ‘Snares of Satan’ chapter being relegated to Testimonies to Ministers. Let us look more closely at these statements. In Evangelism p. 366 we read, "Patriarchs and Prophets" and “Great Controversy" are books that are especially adapted to those who have newly come to the faith, that they may be estab— lished in the truth. The dangers are pointed out that should . be avoided by the churches. Those who become thoroughly acquainted with the lessons in these books will see the dangers before them, and will be able to discern the plain, straight path marked out for them." Letter 229, 1903. If, as the writer would claim, she is refering to the 1888. ver- sion that is for the world, how is it that E G White states it is for the newcomers in the church? Furthermore, how will these newcomers feel when, after some time of being in the church, they discover that there is another version of the Great Controversy that only the church uses? Did Sr. White ever in any of her writings delineate which version (1884. 1888. 1911. or 1915.) should be given to whom? The answer is a resounding ‘no’. Can we take a statement that the SDA church (whom the writer believes comprises part of Babylon) claims Marion Davis’ claims that Sr. White supposedly said and use it to justify taking out the first part of a very important chapter of Great Controversy? Does God work in this way? Did he give one Bible for the church and another for the world so that the world would not know the spe- cial dangers that beset Seventh Day Adventists? Why does theBible warn God’s church of the coming in of wolves among them and then give it to the whole world? Now, let us examine more closely some pages from the ‘Snares of Satan’ chapter that were removed from the 1888 Great Controversy under the claim that it was intended ‘for the church’ and not ‘for the world’. Right in the second paragraph of this chapter we read: “Says the great deceiver: “We must watch those who are calling the attention of the people to the Sabbath of Jehovah; they will lead many to see the claims of the law of God; and the same light which reveals the true Sabbath, reveals also the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary and shows that the last work for man’s salvation is now going forward." Now I ask the reader to judge for himself - is not this the third angels message and is it not the primary duty of Seventh Day Adventists to bring the third angels message to the world? Sr. White says it is. Why, then is this passage taken from the world and given in Testimo— nies to Ministers? But let us read further. “Hold the minds of the people in darkness till that work is ended, and we shall secure the world and the church also The Sabbath is the great question which is to decide the destiny of souls. We must exalt the Sabbath of our creating. We have caused it to be accepted by both worldlings and = church- members ." How, then does this apply only to the church? Who has the right to take this from any man as not belonging to him when Sr. White herself said that she could not change ‘one word that God had given her? Yet the writer justifies it. The writer attempts to further justify it with the words, "some things that could be treasured only by already spiritual readers have been left out". Now I would like to ask the writer - from the ‘Snares of Satan’ quote above, how can this be treasured only by already spiritual readers and not by any other reader? How does he qualify the term ‘already spiritual’? Do there not exist in the world today people that are ‘already spiritual’? Reading further in the “Snares of Satan’ chapter we find, “We will enlist great men and worldly-wise men upon our side and induce those in authority to carry out our purposes..". Should not these great men know of the snare that Satan plans for them? How is this only for the church? Yet the ‘Snares of Satan’ chapter was not the only omission from the Great Controversy 1888 edition. In the chapter ‘Later Re- formers’, more than 10 pages have been omitted concerning the keeping of the fourth commandment Sabbath throughout the dark ages and ending with the 19th century, how the truth of the true Sabbath made its way to America and flourished there forming the first Sabbatarian church in New Jersey through to the present century in which J. W. Morton stood so boldly in defense of the Bible Sabbath.Now let us take a moment to consider why these ten pages were omitted. Did Sr. White not want the world to know of the Sab- bath? That is difficult to believe given what she wrote earlier in the GC about the step-by-step process of changing the Sabbath to Sunday and also what she wrote at the end of the GC about the Sabbath being the special point of controversy throughout all Christendom. Why then would these pages be omitted? Does the Sabbath apply only to those in the church and not to those in the world? If this was omitted, how then can the writer justify it by quoting Sr. White as saying, “I am writing out more fully the volume..." How can omission harmonize with ‘more fully’? Once again, dear reader, did God write one Bible for the world and another for the church? Truth is truth and it is our duty to bring forth truth to the world. Present truth is what is most needed and what greater need does the world have than to know of the snares Satan will beset them with in the end times and of the Sabbath that they may be drawn to acceptance of truth in order to receive the Seal of God? The writer quotes Sr. White, "I was moved by the spirit of the Lord to write that book". This statement he applies to “earlier presentations culminating in later editions". Now if one is for the church and the other for the world why then did she not write ‘those books’ considering the fact that the difference between the two books is over 100 pages (that is roughly one third of the book). How can it be that when Sr. White says, ‘that book’, she is referring to the 1884.version which is relegated to the church, the 1888.and 1911. versions which are relegated to the world? The writer further quotes Sr. White as stating (concerning the books ‘Patriarchs and Prophets’ and ‘The Great Controversy’), “Those who become thoroughly acquainted with the lessons in these books will see the dangers before them, and will be able to discern the plain, straight path marked out for them. They will be kept from strange paths." This quote (and the one in the paragraph above) the writer has found in Colporteur Ministry 129- 1350. In that context are several pages of quotes about how precious the Great Controversy is and how it should be more widely circulated. Yet the reader will find that nowhere does she mention the 1888.GC there but only ‘Volume 4‘ (which the writer himself admits refers to the 1884 edition) of which she says, “I am sure that the Lord would have this work carried into all the highways and byways, where are souls to be warned of the danger so soon to come," CM p. 127. Now then, from the parables of Christ, are the highways and byways the church? Now I wish to make another point. I am 38 years old. I was born in the SDA faith. All my life I have attended either the SDA church or one of the two SDA so called reform churches. Never have I heard the 1884.GC being quoted. Now if the 1884. version is for the church, why then does the church not use it? I’ve had the 1884 ed The writer claims, "Just for the recordsince 1977 and have at that time not only read it, but thoroughly studied it. I treasure the book highly, preferring to use it for private devotion." The writer also claims, "I protest that a complete stranger should feel free to pretend to know me so well as to be willing to judge my very motives, and I wonder how she could dare to make such a Claim in writing." In his reply to the Study of the Seven Plagues the writer quoted only the 1888. ver- sion of the GC that was intended for the world. Yet he states “that I supposedly am trying to hide or evade the 1884.ed is as absurd as it is untrue." The writer well knows that neither Sr. Grujich nor I who were both born and raised as SDA’s are not the world. Why, then did he quote only the 1888. Great Controversy that was intended for the world to prove his point among those in the church? This action of the writer proves that he evades the 1884 issue. Furthermore, had the writer truly treasured and studied the 1884. issue as he claims, he would not in his reply to the study of the Seven Plagues have quoted the 1888. GC about William Miller, "He saw that the prophecies, so far as they had been fulfilled, had been fulfilled literally...", for this quote is not true (since the seven churches represent seven periods of time and are not literally fulfilled). The writer has further condemned himself in admitting that he has had the 1884 GC since 1977 yet has proved that he does not know it. All these actions speak louder than words. It is by his fruits that the writer is known and these fruits it is our duty to judge. In view of these glaring contradictions and inconsistencies, the writer asks, "why would anyone want to discredit a book like the 1688/1911 edition?! Can anyone find a book anywhere which..... unveils the present deceptions of Satan and more clearly shows the route of escape from his snares?" I ask the reader — if the most tant parts have been omitted (the chapter "Snares of Satan the light on the Sabbath), how then can the 1888. version ‘more clearly’ show ‘the route of escape from his snares’? How then can it unveil ‘the deceptions of Satan’ if these vital parts of the book have been removed from the reader of the 1888.GC7 In spite of this the writer quotes 1 SM p. 48, “The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God" insinuating that those who stand against these omissions are making of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God when it is the writer himself that does this work by justifying and defending these omissions. Now I would like to ask the writer a question. We well know and history has proven that every movement that is of God fulfills some prophecy. For instance; the first movement which was begun by John the Baptist and carried on by Christ and his disciples fulfilled Malachi 3;1 and 4;5, Matthew 11314, Isaiah 40;3-8, Dan. 9324-27 and Mark 1;15. This includes the prophecy of Christ's birth and the 70 weeks. The movement begun by Luther fulfilled Dan. 7;25, Rev. 1331-10, part of Rev. 17 and II Thess. 234-7. The movement begun by William Miller fulfilled the prophecies of Rev. 14;6-8, Dan. 8314, Matt. 2531-10. (One must also note that those who began the movements - John theBaptist, Luter, and William Miller - were all persecuted by what was then the church. Also none were voted in by a majority (for they were ordained of God) as the president and vice president, etc. were in these two ‘movements’. Now the question arises not only to the writer himself but to all leaders of the two so-called reforms, which prophecies were fulfilled in 1914? Or, if as the churches now claim, they origi- nated in 1888, which prophecies concerning the work of this angel have been fulfilled by this ‘movement’? Now as the last point I would like to address the third sheet of paper which is a copy of TM p. 488 and 489 containing such quotes as, “While it is true that the Lord guides individuals, it is also true that He is leading out a people, not a few separate individuals here and there, one believing this thing and another that....the spirit of disorganization is in the very air we breathe...how Satan would rejoice if he could succeed in his efforts to get in among this people and disorganize the work at a time when thorough organization is essential...Some have advanced the thought that as we near the close of time, every child of God will act independently of any religious organization. But I have been instructed by the Lord that in this work there is no such thing as every man’s being independent..." First I would like to point out that if the writer and his prede— cessors really believed some of these quotes, the ‘reform’ would never have existed for it was ‘separate individuals here and there’ that first formed the ‘reform’. Several facts must be understood if we are to understand these quotations fully: 1. Historically, there was no organization as we know it during the first, second and the beginning of the third angels messages. 2. The book that these quotes were taken from is a compilation — bits and pieces from here and there. In EW p. 74 entitled ‘The Gathering Time’ we read, "September 23, the Lord showed me that He had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people, and that efforts must be redoubled in this gathering time. In the scattering, Israel was smitted and torn, but now in the gathering time God will heal and bind up His people. In the scattering, efforts made to Spread the truth had but little effect, accomplished but little or nothing; but in the gathering, when God has set His hand to gather His people, efforts to spread the truth will have their designed effect. All should be united and zealous in the work. I saw that it was wrong for any to refer to the scattering for examples to govern us now in the gathering; for if God should do no more for us now than He did then, Israel would never be gath- ered."Now here we see that the time of the second angels message was a time of scattering while the time of the third angels message is a time of gathering. She also says that now, in the gathering time, all should be united in this work. This explains the excerpts found in TM 488-489. Further than this we also see that those living in the time of the third angels message cannot be governed as those were in the second angels message — no organization. Now we can see why Sr. White, as the third angel, said regarding independent action, “But I have been instructed by the Lord that in this work there is no such thing. It is obvious that by “this work’, she was not referring to the work of God as a whole for many movements were begun by one individual. Nor is she referring to the threefold angels message for the first and second had no church organization. We can only conclude that by ‘this work’ she refers to the third angels message. Now let us look at a couple of statements made later in her work, “Let those in America, who suppose the voice of the Genera Conference to be the voice of God, become one with God before they utter their opinion." To Eld. Haskel, Nov. 14, 1899 "State Conferences may depend upon General Conference for light and knowledge and wisdom; but is it safe for them to do this? Battle Creek is not to be the center of God’s work. God alone can fill this place. When our people in different places have their special convocations, teach them, for Christ’s sake and for their own souls sake, not to make flesh their arm. There is no power in man to read the hearts of their fellow men. The Lord is the only one upon whom we can with safety depend, and He is accessible in every place and to every church in the union. To place men where God should be placed does not’ honor or glorify God. Is the president of the General Conference to be made a God for his people? Are the men at Battle Creek to be regarded as infinite in wisdom? When the Lord shall work upon human hearts and human intellects, principles and practices different from this will be set before the people. ‘Cease ye from man’. The Lord nas a controversy over this matter." (Coringbong, Australia, July 5S, 1896. “When men and women go to the Lord Jesus Christ for their indi- vidual selves, and are not educated to look to and trust in man, there will be fewer and fewer committee meetings for all will be instructed of God." (From Australia, March 15, 1897, But now let us consider another question. We see that the fourth angels message is a repetition of the second angels message (and therefore its experience) in which there was no organization as we know it. How is it that the writer’s church claims to be the fourth angel yet prides itself on being organized exactly as was the church in the third angels work? The answer to that is simple - they are not the fourth angel but simply Laodiceans living in a Laodicean period of time.The following statement describes all three SDA churches: “In the manifestation of the power that lightens the earth with the glory of God, they will see only something which in their blindness they think dangerous, something which will arouse their fears, and they will brace themselves to resist it, because the Lord does not work according to their expectations and ideas they will oppose the work, why, they say, ‘should we not know the Spirit God, when we have been in the work so many years?’ because they did not respond to the warnings and entreaties of the mes- sage of God, but persistently said, ‘I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing.’" (Bible Tract School, 1907 - Reprint R&H, Nov. 7, 1918.) -L. G.-