ELLEN WHITE’S LIFE OF CHRIST:

A FORGOTTEN CHAPTER OF ADVENTIST HISTORY

Denis Kaiser

(Paper presented at the 5th Annual Seminary Scholarship Symposium,

Andrews University, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Berrien Springs, Mich.,
February 6, 2009)

Introduction

All through her life, Ellen White spoke and wrote extensively about Christ’s life and death in

many sermons, manuscripts, letters, and articles in diverse periodicals. She wrote and published several

books on the Life of Christ theme as well. The well-known chronology goes like this:

1858 Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1

1877 Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2 (or The Great Controversy, vol. 2)
1878 Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3 (or The Great Controversy, vol. 3)
[1896 Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing]
1898 The Desire of Ages
[1900 Christ’s Object Lessons]

However, some people who belong to the modern antitrinitarian wing of Adventism refer to a German

book with Ellen White as its author called Das Leben Jesu Christi (The Life of Jesus Christ). That book

was published in Europe as well as in North America in several editions from 1887 to appr. 1893.

Editions in other languages were published as well during those years, as e.g. in French, Swedish, and

Danish-Norwegian. (a) These people claim that since Ellen White knew only English there has to be an

English original for these editions. (b) Further, they say, this book is THE evidence that Desire of Ages is

a fake for the Life of Christ does not contain any Trinitarian statements. The problem is that there exists

almost no information on those editions.

The Literary Relationships of the Life of Christ

A comparison of the Life of Christ with Spirit of Prophecy, vols. 2 and 3, shows that the two

Spirit of Prophecy volumes form apparently the textual basis for the Life of Christ, except for differences

in two areas: (a) The first four chapters of Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2 are replaced by eight chapters in the

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Life of Christ that contain new material. (b) Five chapters were re-arranged, meaning they were just

moved to a different place in the book.

When I did some research on that topic in the Ellen G. White Estate headquarters, I found two

copies of the Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, containing very interesting notes, such as: “Manuscript for

Translator … Please return to M. A. Davis … Marked for German Life of Christ,” or “Contains a copy of

… sent to B.C., Feb 4, 1884. Sent to Eld G. I. Butler, Bâle, May 13, 1884 … For French Life of Christ …

Manuscript for Translation.” When I compared the notes in these copies with the result of my comparison

already mentioned, I saw that they were in harmony. This means that I held in my hands the master copies

for the translation.

The comparison of the chapters of Life of Christ with the content of the chapters of Desire of

Ages revealed the following similarities and differences: (a) The 55 chapters of the Life of Christ were

used in the same chronological order in the Desire of Ages with seven minor changes. (b) Five chapters

were moved to a different place. (c) Two chapters were either left out, or their content was used in other

chapters. (d) The Desire of Ages contains 32 chapters more than the Life of Christ. These additional

chapters contain new material or material that was previously part of already existing chapters.

The Background and History of the Life of Christ

The 1883 General Conference Session decided that Sister White’s Life of Christ should be

translated into Danish-Norwegian as well as into French, German, and Swedish. Further, the primary

sources (letters and book committee reports) make clear that the translation was based on an adapted

version of Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2 and the first part of Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3. On the title pages it

states that the Life of Christ was “specifically prepared by the author for translation into [e.g.] Danish-

Norwegian.”

The translations were prepared in the respective countries where these languages are spoken: (a)

The Danish-Norwegian edition was translated by Bros. A. B. Oyen and J. G. Matteson between 1884 and

1885. The first edition was published under the title Jesu Kristi liv at Battle Creek (Mich.) as well as in

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Kristiana (Norway) in 1885. Both publishing houses continued to publish the book until at least 1893. (b)

The first Swedish edition was published under the title Kristi lefnad in Battle Creek (Mich.) and at

Stockholm (Sweden) beginning in 1886. I could only find editions from the years between 1886 and

1888. (c) The first German edition was published under the title Das Leben Jesu Christi in 1887, and was

continued to be published at Basel (Switzerland), Oakland (Calif.), and Battle Creek (Mich.) until at least

1893. There existed at least seven German (published in Switzerland) and three American editions

(published in America). (d) The first French edition was first published under the title La vie de Christ in

1887, and was continued to be published in Basel (Switzerland), Oakland (Calif.), and Battle Creek

(Mich.) until at least 1891. There existed at least four French editions (published in Switzerland) and three

American editions (published in America).

Since mistakes in the translations were discovered, the respective texts were corrected. The book,

nevertheless, proved to be a success in the colporteur work among the people in those countries as well as

among these language groups in North America. That led to further considerations to publish the book in

other languages as well. (a) Already in 1887 considerations were taken to translate the book into the

Dutch language. However, the responsible people could not agree on who should translate the book since

each time a translator was found someone else had to criticize the individual. In 1888 the project came to

a standstill for the Dutch brethren had so many things to criticize that they did not want to go forward. W.

C. White had some hope that the book could meet favor in South Africa but apparently that didn’t work

out as well. (b) In 1891 the members of the European book committee recommended the Life of Christ to

be translated into Spanish for the people in South America. The plans were, however, postponed since the

book was not yet ready in English, and they wanted to wait for a revised English edition of the Life of

Christ. (c) During the years the wish was mentioned oftentimes to publish the Life of Christ also in

English since no single volume edition existed in that language (only as Spirit of Prophecy, vols. 2 and 3).

But the need was recognized to revise the book, and Ellen White also expressed her desire to add new

material when the book should be printed again.

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 The Significance of the Life of Christ

Our church periodicals over the years (1885–1897) are full of mission reports where people

witness to the impact the book had on people. The book was successful in sales but also in winning souls.

W. C. White invested much time and efforts to get excellent illustrations and cuts for the books (also for

later editions) to make it appealing to the readers. For most of the readers in these languages it was the

first contact with an Adventist book about Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Several suggestions were made to revise the book, and these suggestions can be summarized in

two categories. First, the most serious matters that called for corrections were “partly or wholly errors of

the translators or publishers.” Second, “some passages not susceptible of direct Scripture proof,” were

criticized “by those not familiar with the special gift of the author.” A vote was passed to revise the Life

of Christ with a special focus on such passages.

Ellen White’s bookmaker, Marian Davis, stated later that the decisions made at that time guided

her in the preparation of what became eventually The Desire of Ages. One of those decisions was to avoid

statements for which the Bible gives no evidence since the readers would not be conscious of the special

gift of the author. In regard to details and arrangement of the content, she followed “as nearly as seemed

feasible” the French Life of Christ. When Ellen White revised her earlier work, she as well as Marian

Davids considered the already mentioned suggestions in the preparation of the Desire of Ages. Some of

the material found in the Desire of Ages is found only in the Life of Christ, and cannot be traced back to

any other sources. Thus the Life of Christ had an impact on the Desire of Ages in several ways.

Jerry Moon co-authored a book on the Trinity, and made a chronological outline of Ellen White’s

progressive understanding of the Godhead. Considering that outline it is understandable that the Life of

Christ includes statements on the Christ’s eternity and equality to the Father, but not on the personality of

the Holy Spirit since such statements can only be found in writings beginning at the second part of the

1890s.

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 Summary

The Life of Christ was one of the most successful Adventist evangelistic books prior to the Desire

of Ages (1898), and continued to be in the respective languages until the Desire of Ages was translated

into these languages. While there was no original published edition of the book available, Ellen White

herself and her staff were active in preparing the textual basis for the translations. Several aspects called

for revisions of these editions, as e.g., errors in translation, references to special knowledge, and addition

of new material. The publishing into other languages (Dutch, Spanish, and English) had to wait, until

these revisions were accomplished. The result of that revision work was finally published as The Desire

of Ages. The Life of Christ is thus a distinct stage in the preparation of the Desire of Ages, and a missing

link between Spirit of Prophecy, vols. 2 and 3, and The Desire of Ages.

Modern Antitrinitarians claimed two points in regard to that book. Both have been proven to be

without foundation in the facts. There is no English original, and the book stands on a certain point of

Ellen White’s progressive understanding of the Godhead.

Selected Bibliography

Delafield, D. A. Ellen G. White in Europe, 1885-1887. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1975. p.
303.

Kaiser, Denis. “A Forgotten Chapter of European Adventist History: Ellen White’s Life of Christ.” Term
Paper, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Mich., 2008. 58 pages.

Veltman, Fred. “Full Report of the Life of Christ Research Project.” Angwin, Calif., n.l., 1988.
“Introduction – Part B,” pp. 119-123.

White, Arthur L. Ellen G. White: The Lonely Years, 1876-1891. Vol. 3. Washington, D.C.: Review and
Herald, 1984. pp. 219, 237, 435, 443-445.

White, Ellen G. Life Sketches of Ellen G. White. Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1943. pp. 287, 431.