Errors
in Vance Ferell’s 1884 Great Controversy
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For any who plan on selling Vance Ferell’s edition of the 1884 Great Controversy, you should know that he claims to have corrected
errors called to his attention by a woman in Australia. You should check this
out. If errors still remain, sell the 1911 edition, but show your patrons page 199,
200 of the 1884 edition. The main part that you should make sure the 1884 book
contains is the following page:
"Jesus sends HIS PEOPLE a message of warning to prepare them for his
coming. To the prophet John was made known the closing work in the great plan
of man's redemption. He beheld an angel flying 'in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice,
Fear God, and give glory to him for the hour of his Judgment is come and
worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of
waters [Rev. 14:6, 7.].
The angel represented in prophecy as
delivering this message, symbolizes a class of faithful men, who,
obedient to the promptings of God's Spirit and the teachings of his word,
proclaim this warning to the inhabitants of earth. This message was not to be committed to the religious leaders of the
people. They had failed to preserve their connection with God, and had
REFUSED THE LIGHT FROM HEAVEN therefore they WERE NOT of the number described
by the apostle Paul: 'But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the
children of the day we are not of the night nor of
darkness' [1 Thess. 5:4, 5].
The watchmen
upon the walls of Zion should be the first to catch the tidings of the
Saviour's advent, the first to lift their voices to proclaim him near, the first to warn the people to prepare for his coming. But
they were at ease, dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were asleep
in their sins. Jesus saw HIS CHURCH, like the barren fig-tree, covered
with pretentious leaves, yet destitute of precious fruit. There was a boastful
observance of the forms of religion, while the spirit of true humility,
penitence and faith--which alone could render the service acceptable to
God--was lacking. Instead of the graces of the Spirit, there were
manifested pride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, oppression. A BACKSLIDING CHURCH closed
their eyes to the signs of the times. God did nor forsake them, or suffer his
faithfulness to fail but they departed from him, and
SEPARATED THEMSELVES from his love. As they REFUSED TO COMPLY WITH THE CONDITIONS, his promises were
NOT FULFILLED to them." E.G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, pp. 199-200 [The 1884 edition of The Great Controversy, 199, 200].
Decades ago, the church let the copyright on the
1884 Great Controversy lapse. The Lord has shown me that the church did
that because of the above statement. Then an Adventist doctor began to publish
the book and the church took him to court. The doctor won, so the church began
to publish the book again.
—rwb