Where do the words in the title come from? Ellen White was sent to Australia against her will from 1891 to 1900 so that the bearers of the Apostasy could carry out the falsification of the Spirit of Prophecy without any resistance. In 1888, just before she left, she completed the book “The Life of Jesus Christ”.
Her secretary, MARIAN DAVIS, supplemented that book ALONE (without permission from EGW) while EGW was away in Australia, and renamed it the “Desire of Ages“. According to her statement, she “only” found suitable quotes from EGW, which she added to the book. At that time, Marian Davis was surrounded by apostasy leaders, like Professor PRESCOTT, and was, under their influence, taken away from the old truth:
- “At that time, Professor PRESCOTT was tremendously interested in presenting Christ as THE GREAT “I Am” and in emphasising the eternity of His (without beginning of birth) existence, using frequently the expression “The Eternal Son”. Also he connected the “I AM” of Exodus 3:14, which of course was Christ the Second Person of the Godhead, with the fulfillment of Jesus in John 8:58, which we all agree to; but then linked it up with other “I ams” in that Gospel – 7 of them, such as “I am the Bread of Life” “I am the Light of the world’ “I am the door of the Sheep” etc. all very rich in their spiritual teaching – but which seemed a little far fetched to me especially as the “I am” in all those latter cases is merely in the copula in the Greek, as well as in English. But he insisted on his interpretation. Mrs Marian Davis seemed to fall for it, and lo and behold, when the “Desire of Ages” came out, there appeared that identical teaching on pages 24 and 25, which, I think, can be looked for IN VAIN in any of Mrs. White’s published works prior to that time.“ {H. C. Lacey letter to Dr. LeRoy Froom Aug. 30, 1945}
After reading Ellen White’s 1898 book the “Desire of Ages”, many theologians of the time asked the question, did EGW suddenly change her beliefs and accept the Trinity? We can see from one example where these (trinity) “additions” really came from.
Here is a quote from Ellen White’s book “The Great Controversy between Lord Jesus Christ and Satan”, from 1877:
- “…answered that she knew he would arise in the resurrection, at the last day. But Jesus, seeking to give a true direction to her faith, said, “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shell never die. Believest thou this?“ {Ellen White, The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan, 1877, p. 362-363}
In 1898, when Ellen White was in Australia against her will, the Leaders of apostasy added the words (red color) below to the book “Desire of Ages“ (1898) in an attempt to support the doctrine of the 3 equivalent “Gods“.
- “Martha answered, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.“ Still seeking to give a true direction to her faith, Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life.“ In Christ is LIFE, ORIGINAL, UNBORROWED, UNDERIVED. “He that hath the Son hath life.“ 1 John 5:12. The Divinity of Christ is the believer’s ass urance of eternal life. “He that believeth in Me,” said Jesus, “though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?“ {Ellen White, Desire of Ages, 1898, p. 530}
We can see below that this sentence is not by Ellen White at all:
- “´IN HIM was LIFE,´- that is, ORIGINAL, UNBORROWED, UNDERIVED. In us there is a streamlet from the Fountain of Life. Our life is something we receive, something that the Giver takes back again to himself, – over which we have no control, and for which we must give God the account and the praise. But in Jesus was life UNDERIVED, UNBORROWED;“ {John Cumming, National Scottish Church, „Sabbath Evening Readings on the New Testament – St. John“, 1856, page 5}
The above quote was the basis for the further falsification that came from Dr. LeRoy Froom:
- “Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent Son of God. …In speaking of His pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God. He to whose voice the Jews were then listening had been with God as one brought up with Him (since He was born).” {“Ellen White“: ST, August 29. “1900“ + Evangelism, p. 615}
This Text is part of the book First Commandment OR Trinity? – Encyclopedia of Evidences of the Old Trampled Truths of All Areas