Desire of Ages book

[Rhuarc]

I recently came across this book called The Desire of Ages. It is a book essentially about the life of Christ. It was written by E. G. White a Seventh Day Adventist. It looks very interesting so I want to make sure if I can read this book without it trying to implant thoughts into my mind, heretical ones that is.

I searched a little about this book on the internet but I haven’t come across anything that specifically says “This book is bad juju don’t read it if your Catholic and love your faith”. I was wondering if any of you guys could help me discern whether this book is worth the read or not. Any help is as always greatly appreciated.

Peace and Blessings be upon you all.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

I’d imagine that there is an equivalent book written by a Catholic Author… in fact, I imagine that there are several. Try to find a Catholic Bookstore near your home and ask someone there about it.

 

[Publisher]

I’m not one to shy away from books of any kind. I read “Desire of Ages” decades ago…while I enjoyed it…it did get quite detailed. Surely you would be able to read a book not specifically Catholic? It may assist you in understanding SDA thought and your own faith tradition and how they differ/

 

[thequeen]

I would stay with books that teach the truth of Catholocism.

 

[SurlyMermaid]

I tend to shy away from anything Seventh-day Adventist. The prophetess Ellen G. White is a controversial figure. Many claim she rampantly plagiarized other authors and was also a hypocrite. I do know how vehemently anti-Roman Catholicism this denomination is. Just keep that in mind.

 

[thomasg64]

A lengthy book written in Victorian times, with no acknowledgement or addressing of the emerging scholarship of her time - but then E G White was no scholar. Really a devotional book which also includes a few of her own insights, but quite largely plagiarized as well.
I was an SDA for thirty-two years and was involved in the reprinting of the work in Cape Town, South Africa on many occasions, between 1980-1992. During that time Walter Rea, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, came to fame in the SDA church - revealing the large amount of plagiarism used in that and other of her books. Her plagiarism gives the lie to the fairly largely held view by SDA’s that the book was divinely inspired.
I prefer Ratzinger’s ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ any day - both from a devotional point of view as well as appreciating his addressing contemporary scholarship.

 

[SurlyMermaid]

A lengthy book written in Victorian times, with no acknowledgement or addressing of the emerging scholarship of her time - but then E G White was no scholar. Really a devotional book which also includes a few of her own insights, but quite largely plagiarized as well.
I was an SDA for thirty-two years and was involved in the reprinting of the work in Cape Town, South Africa on many occasions, between 1980-1992. During that time Walter Rea, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, came to fame in the SDA church - revealing the large amount of plagiarism used in that and other of her books. Her plagiarism gives the lie to the fairly largely held view by SDA’s that the book was divinely inspired.
I prefer Ratzinger’s ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ any day - both from a devotional point of view as well as appreciating his addressing contemporary scholarship.

Interesting post! Thanks. I need to check out Jesus of Nazareth then.

I was baptized SDA. I kinda miss the health message and the emphasis on the Sabbath. I *don’t * miss most of the other stuff, including the anti-Catholic rhetoric.

 

[andrewstx]

My family owned a heath food store at one time, and one of the lines they sold was from SDA owned Worthington Industries. It was substitutes for meat, and my favorite was “Wham”.

Little Debbie snack cakes also belongs to SDAs.

Neither of these lines are healthy, the psuedo meat carries a ton of sodium, and LittleDebbie products are full of saturated fat.

Just being strictly vegan does not make a product healthy by itself.

 

[Pythons]

The book promulgates the Arian heresy, Ellen White was an Arian / Semi -Arian…
…She feverishly advocated the peccability of Christ ( SDA Doctrine that says Christ could have sinned and been annihilated by God ).
…That alone is enough to cause a person to run away from it.

Ellen White
Satan in heaven had hated Christ for His position in the courts of God. He hated Him the more when he himself was dethroned. He hated Him who pledged Himself to redeem a race of sinners. Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life’s peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.” (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages. Page 49 ‘Unto you a Saviour’)

“Never can the cost of our redemption be realized until the redeemed shall stand with the Redeemer before the throne of God. Then as the glories of the eternal home burst upon our enraptured senses we shall remember that Jesus left all this for us, that He not only became an exile from the heavenly courts, but for us took the risk of failure and eternal loss”

Ellen White, SDA Prophet
Could Satan in the least particular have tempted Christ to sin, he would have bruised the Saviour’s head. As it was, he could only touch His heel. Had the head of Christ been touched, the hope of the human race would have perished. Divine wrath would have come upon Christ as it came upon Adam. Christ and the church would have been without hope.” (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, June 9th 1898, see also Selected Messages Book 1 page 256)

Ellen White, SDA Prophet
"Remember that Christ risked all; “tempted like as we are,” he staked even his own eternal existence upon the issue of the conflict. Heaven itself was imperiled for our redemption. Ellen White SDA General Conference Bulletin 1 Dec 1895

Ellen White, GCB Dec 1, 1895
Remember that Christ risked all; “tempted like as we are,” he staked even his own eternal existence upon the issue of the conflict. Heaven itself was imperiled for our redemption.

Ellen White
Because of sin, his posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience. But Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted. He could have sinned; He could have fallen

Ellen White
The new tomb enclosed Him in its rocky chambers. If one single sin had tainted His character the stone would never have been rolled away from the door of His rocky chamber, and the world with its burden of guilt would have perished

The people who formulated the SDA were Arians so much pressure was applied to Ellen White to churn out prophetic utterances…
…That showed Christ to have possessed a “conditional deity”.
…A deity that was conferred or gifted to Him by the Ultimate God.

Ellen White
Though Christ humbled Himself to become man, the Godhead was still His own. His Deity could not be lost WHILE He stood faithful and true to His loyalty. Surrounded with sorrow, suffering, and moral pollution, despised and rejected by the people to whom had been intrusted the oracles of heaven, Jesus could yet speak of Himself as the Son of man in heaven. He was ready to take once more His divine glory when His work on earth was done

The Scriptures are explicit that God knows the end from the beginning ( Isaiah 46,10 )…
…And that God through the Scriptures told us exactly how it all ends ( Isaiah 35,4 ).
…The Bible is full of God’s promise of not failing.

To demonstrate that Christ was not Consubstantial with the Father the Adventists needed a creature christ…
…A christ that had the built in possibility of mutating from perfectly Holy to a sinner.
…And then a mechanism by which IF creature christ sinned the real God would of course annihilate Him.

If one understands this about the SDA’s then I’m sure there are some good Christian teachings to be found in Desire of Ages…
…But then again why would someone want to read some truth that has been blended in with heretical teaching?