Jesus

The Life Story

of
Humanity’s Only Hope
 Jesus
Humanity’s Only Hope

A modern paraphrase of the book:

The Desire of the Ages
 The book you are reading is a work in progress. It is also a rough
draft.

Over sixty years ago, I was introduced to the Christian classic, The
Desire of the Ages written by the 19th Century author E.G. White.
At the time, it was considered by the Librarian of Congress to be
the best book ever written on the life of Jesus Christ. It had
completely changed the life of the person who shared it with me
and, it did mine as well. Now, I am re-reading it again and, once
again, as I see Jesus as viewed through the eyes of the author, it is
impacting my life. I decided I wanted others to have the same
opportunity so decided to paraphrase it into more modern English
so that it is more readily accessible to readers who may not be
comfortable with the language of the late 1800s.

Paraphrasing the words of the author also forces me to slow down

and to carefully consider the meaning of what the author originally
wrote.

To say that it is a blessing would an understatement.

Others have asked to share in this journey - so rather than waiting

until the work is completed, I have decided to make each chapter
available as it is completed.

If you come across any glaring typos or have questions, feel free to
send me a note at dan.appel-moose@wavecable.com

© Copyright 2010, Dan M. Appel, dba AppleAcres Graphics and Design. All rights reserved.
No part of this book, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic,
photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

For general information on this or other books and materials by the author, please contact him
or his agent at 530.392.3428 (U.S.) or at 1063 Southridge Drive, Auburn, California 95603
USA.
 Introduction

A hundred-and-fifty years ago during a time of great spiritual awakening in the United States and
Europe, God inspired a number of committed Christians to write some of the most powerful spiritual
works since the Reformation - people such as Oswald Chambers, E.M. Bounds, Charles Spurgeon,
and G.K. Chesterton. They led a nation consumed with its own prosperity, growth and success but
increasingly empty in its soul, back to God.

As language and the times changed in the intervening years, the thoughts of many of these greats
became largely inaccessible to the masses. The circumstances in which they forged these power-
ful presentations of a balanced Christian faith changed and for a while they appeared anachronisms.
The quaint language of the past, maybe charming but little attractive to a people whose language
tastes are always looking forward to the new, created a gulf that few bothered to cross.

Once again we are discovering that prosperity and the pursuit of our own happiness leaves a hollow
in the inner spaces of the heart that can only be filled by God. Now, many of those classics are being
dusted off and the language updated as a new generation discovers the spiritual insights they shared.
Oswald Chamber’s “My Utmost for His Highest,” it’s language and construction modernized, today
inspires millions with it’s challenge to a committed spiritual life. E.M. Bounds is reintroducing
Christians tired of a powerless religion to the rich blessings of personal, direct communication with
a living God. G.K. Chesterton’s reasoned defenses, not of the reasons for faith, but of the reasons of
faith increasingly resonate with a faithless culture.

One of the most prolific devotional writers of the 19th Century was E.G. White. Her classic series
covering the Bible story, “The Conflict of the Ages,” has been read and appreciated by millions. But
it also lost much of it’s vitality for many as the English language morphed further and further away
from the language of 19th Century New England. Now, in this paraphrase into modern English of
her best loved work, it is hoped that her spiritual influence will continue to bless those who read once
again the Bible story of God’s love for humanity in Jesus.

A theme predominates in all of E.G. White’s writing. It is the age long cataclysmic clash between
two kingdoms - the “Kingdom of Darkness” and the “Kingdom of Light.” This is especially true
in her five volume series covering the Bible story. In this series of books she celebrates the acts of
the One who “calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”1 Once nobodies, born slaves in the
Kingdom of Darkness, of we are now citizens of the Kingdom of Light if we choose to accept the
amnesty offered to us in Jesus. We who were born in a spiritual land where mercy is unknown now
receive God’s mercy, extravagantly lavished on us in him.”

Originally published under the title “The Desire of the Ages,” this volume on the life of Jesus has
sold well over a million copies in English and has been translated into more languages than almost
any other book than the Bible. The Desire of Ages” was in essence a compilation of things which
E.G. White had written about the life of Jesus throughout her long career, coupled with material

1 1 Peter 2:9,10
gleaned on the life of Jesus from her extensive library on the subject which was bridged with new
material. Such a compilation by its very nature is at times ponderous and sometimes does not read
smoothly. While every attempt has been made to preserve the original flow of her ideas and the
intent of her words, at times sentence or paragraph order has been adjusted to make them read more
fluidly.

There have been those through the years who have been critical of the author’s methods in compil-
ing this volume - first of all accusing her of trying to hide her methodology and secondly criticizing
her lack of quotation marks and attribution when adapting or using another’s material. Extensive
scholarship has discovered and documented the extent to which she “borrowed” material from other
authors and the degree to which she used personal secretaries to help her compile the material which
she used in this book. Somewhere close to fifty-percent of the original material was lifted from the
works of other contemporary authors. This research has been either used to denigrate her and her
methods or to praise her for the depth of her personal library and for being so widely read. Neither
of these extremes, it would seem, capture the essence of how God used this remarkable woman to
paint a picture of his amazing grace.

It is unfortunate that our preconceptions often blind us to seeing things as they really are. We want
to believe that those who speak prophetically to our culture do not need to rely on the words of oth-
ers when the opposite is often the case. We put them on a pedestal of our own creation which they
never intend for themselves then are disillusioned when we discover that they do not belong there.

In the art world, the collage is an accepted and appreciated art form. In the forward to her book on
the history of the Christian Church titled “The Great Controversy,” author White describes her meth-
odology in creating the five volume set which comprises a panorama of God’s dealing with humanity
from the Creation to the Re-creation after Jesus returns to earth the second time as a verbal collage:

“Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of the long-continued con-
flict between good and evil have been opened to the writer of these pages. From time
to time I have been permitted to behold the working, in different ages, of the great
controversy between Christ, the Prince of life, the Author of our salvation, and Satan,
the prince of evil, the author of sin, the first transgressor of God’s holy law. Satan’s
enmity against Christ has been manifested against His followers. The same hatred of
the principles of God’s law, the same policy of deception, by which error is made to
appear as truth, by which human laws are substituted for the law of God, and men are
led to worship the creature rather than the Creator, may be traced in all the history of
the past. Satan’s efforts to misrepresent the character of God, to cause men to cher-
ish a false conception of the Creator, and thus to regard Him with fear and hate rather
than with love; his endeavors to set aside the divine law, leading the people to think
themselves free from its requirements; and his persecution of those who dare to resist
his deceptions, have been steadfastly pursued in all ages. They may be traced in the
history of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, of martyrs and reformers.

“As the Spirit of God has opened to my mind the great truths of His word, and the
scenes of the past and the future, I have been bidden to make known to others that
which has thus been revealed--to trace the history of the controversy in past ages, and
 especially so to present it as to shed a light on the fast-approaching struggle of the
future. In pursuance of this purpose, I have endeavored to select and group together
events in the history of the church in such a manner as to trace the unfolding of the
great testing truths that at different periods have been given to the world, that have
excited the wrath of Satan, and the enmity of a world-loving church, and that have
been maintained by the witness of those who “loved not their lives unto the death.”

“The great events which have marked the progress of reform in past ages are matters
of history, well known and universally acknowledged by the Protestant world; they
are facts which none can gainsay. This history I have presented briefly, in accordance
with the scope of the book, and the brevity which must necessarily be observed, the
facts having been condensed into as little space as seemed consistent with a proper
understanding of their application. In some cases where a historian has so grouped
together events as to afford, in brief, a comprehensive view of the subject, or has
summarized details in a convenient manner, his words have been quoted; but in
some instances no specific credit has been given, since the quotations are not given
for the purpose of citing that writer as authority, but because his statement affords a
ready and forcible presentation of the subject. In narrating the experience and views
of those carrying forward the work of reform in our own time, similar use has been
made of their published works.

It is not so much the object of this book to present new truths concerning the struggles
of former times, as to bring out facts and principles which have a bearing on coming
events. Yet viewed as a part seen to have a new significance; and through them a light
is cast upon the future, illumining the pathway of those who, like the reformers of
past ages, will be called, even at the peril of all earthly good, to witness “for the word
of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”2

Unfortunately, there are many who ignored this description of her methodology and who assumed
that they were original creations. This became the accepted understanding of her methods, in spite
of her own descriptions of how she worked in preparing them, for over a hundred years. We are
indebted to those scholars who have restored her own understanding of the composition of these
volumes.

It is very easy for us to judge first century or nineteenth century methodology by our own standards
and to misapprehend what occurred. In the first century A.D., John who wrote Revelation compiled
a book of prophecy which was heavily dependent on Old Testament ideas and Old Testament and
extra-Biblical words and imagery. God revealed things to him in vision and, if he could find an
accurate description of what he saw in available material, he used those words to describe what he
had been shown. In John’s case, “inspiration” often existed in the guidance he received from God in
choosing the material he used to describe what he saw. Scholarship has shown that such methodol-
ogy was perfectly acceptable and wide-spread in his day.

In the same way, nineteenth century authors often borrowed from each other without attribution and

2 Quoted from the Introduction to the book “The Great Controversy” by E.G. White first pub-
lished in 1888 by Review and Herald Publishing Association.
it was considered perfectly acceptable if such borrowing resulted in something new and unique in
the final product of the author. E.G. White, who had only a sixth grade education and throughout her
lifetime felt the burden of her lack of formal training as she wrote, often used the words of authors
whom she appreciated. Her desire was to put the ideas she believed God had given her into words
which were as effective as possible in portraying the grand ideas and events she was trying to de-
scribe.

It is interesting to note that E.G. White’s books were widely circulated at the time (at least a hun-
dred thousand were sold in the twenty years after this particular volume was written). There is no
contemporary record of complaints from the authors themselves or their estates - apparently because
they did not consider that she had infringed on them. When criticism did surface from those who
had been her fans and who imagined that she had created them “from whole cloth” she did not deny
her methodology or attempt to cover it up. In fact, it appears that she considered that it was a given
and wondered why anyone would be surprised or critical.

It is also important to realize that E.G. White may not always have been conscious herself of the
degree to which she was dependent on the words of others. She was very widely read. Her library
was volumnous for a private collection of the time, and she was a constant public speaker. In public
speaking it is common to use ideas and wording of authors without attribution. The craft and art is
in gathering and presenting material in a unique and persuasive manner. Ellen White was a prolific
speaker and, repeated often enough in her lectures, it is very possible that those words became her
own to the extent where it was difficult if not impossible for her to separate what was based on the
writing of others and what had originated with her. When she began to write, ideas flowed and she
wrote them down. These, combined with material that she researched and appreciated, became a
unique presentation of the life of Jesus.

In my attempts to make this material accessible to modern minds I have been impressed by the mag-
nitude of the task this book represents - however the author prepared it. In it’s original format this
book comprised almost a thousand pages on the life of Jesus. It’s scope and the internal harmony
and consistency of it’s themes are a marvel to anyone who reads it. It was daunting just to para-
phrase it - one can only imagine what it involved to originally compile it into its present form and
to bridge it all together in the way that it was. While the prose is at times ponderous in the style of
the nineteenth century, the ideas and concepts that emerge bear the imprimatur of God’s Spirit as he
guided in its preparation.

While it would be nice, from our twenty-first century perspective, to have this material footnoted and
marked with quotation marks; and while it is possible to do so with the scholarly study which has oc-
curred in the late part of the twentieth century on this volume, this author has chosen not to do so.

This book was never intended to be a scholarly work, a theology of Salvation. It is a devotional
book whose intention was to lead the reader into a deeper love affair with Jesus, “Humanity’s only
hope!” So, the only footnotes are those which either refer the reader to the Biblical passages upon
which a statement is based or to notes which expand our understanding of a particular issue.

It is a self-evident fact that one finds in this book a sum that is greater than the whole, regardless of
how one views the methodology of the original author. “The Desire of Ages” has sold more copies
in the years since it was written, and has been translated into more languages, than any other book
on the life of Jesus. Millions have come to know and love him through the writing of this nineteenth
century author and have been pointed by her back to the Bible where they have come to know him
better.

It is the hope of this writer that in reading the story of humanity’s only hope, you will come to love
him too!