During her lifetime, the Christian author Ellen White published over 5,000 articles and 40 books. Today, over 100 titles comprising the author’s 50,000 manuscript pages are available in English.
Her writings cover a wide range of topics, including religion, prophecy, education, social relations, Christian psychology, nutrition, and management. Her body of work is crowned by several titles imbued with a fresh and vibrant spirituality. The Desire of Ages (published in 1898) is part of a five-volume series entitled The Great Controversy. In addition to The Desire of Ages, the series includes the books Patriarchs and Prophets (1890), Prophets and Kings (1917), The Acts of the Apostles (1911), and The Great Controversy (1888).
The Desire of Ages is not a theological work. Ellen White does not theorise about the life of Christ, nor does she engage in theological speculation. Instead, she recounts the life of Jesus with the fervour of an eyewitness: “Day after day He had ministered to them, scarcely pausing for food or rest. The malicious criticism and misrepresentation with which the Pharisees constantly pursued Him made His labors much more severe and harassing; and now the close of the day found Him so utterly wearied that He determined to seek retirement in some solitary place across the lake” (p. 285). This passage exemplifies how the author observes and assesses the details of Jesus’s life. Her descriptions are all the more moving because she was convinced that she was writing about the Son of God, not just a wise person who lived in first-century Palestine. This is the underlying premise of all of Ellen White’s writings: that Jesus is the Son of God who has come and will return.
The biography is structured into eighty-seven chapters organised into nine parts, each summarising a key period in the life of Christ: An Outlook; Early Years; The Anointed One; Days of Promise; Drawing of Shadows; The Rejected One; Nearing the End; The Crucified One; and At the Father’s Throne. Thus, the reader bears witness to the major events in the life of the incarnate Son, from His birth and childhood to His coming of age. The book’s central focus is then built around His death and resurrection which are pivotal moments for Christianity, as the sacrifice and resurrection guarantee eternity for every Christian. The Desire of Ages concludes with a chapter on Jesus’s ascension into heaven, bringing this exceptional story to a close yet leaving the door wide open for eschatological hopes.
Narrative, style, and message
This biography of Jesus is composed of short narratives that chronologically present the journeys, miracles, sermons, exorcisms, and resurrections performed by Jesus. The author does not merely recount the events described in the Gospels; she also subtly captures motivations, hidden attitudes, and the desires of the human heart. This proves her to be a keen observer of the human soul. With an intuition bordering on divine inspiration, Ellen White captures the feelings and emotions Jesus experienced during His earthly life. From anger to mercy and tenderness, and from love to agony, all are evidence of the depth of His feelings and His complete humanity. Ultimately, the reader is left with a powerful impression of the Saviour. No detail found in the four Gospels is overlooked: the author harmonises these biblical writings to present one of the most moving accounts of Jesus’s life.
The book offers readers the opportunity to encounter Christ genuinely. Beyond the printed words, the reader glimpses an image of Jesus who rejects earthly authority and glory, yet who, in the very next moment, proves to be the absolute master of the raging sea. Readers discover a Jesus who commands demons with authority yet longs for warmth, understanding, and support from His disciples; a Jesus whose presence draws children to Him like a magnet yet who drives the merchants out of the Temple courtyard with a whip. A portrait gradually emerges of a person who is God and a Son of God who lives, loves, eats, drinks, sleeps, suffers, and weeps like a human being. Through His words, deeds, and gestures, the God-man offers a model of living not only to His contemporaries, but to anyone who encounters Him, even through the written word.
Ellen White presents Jesus from a devotional perspective, explaining the deeds of Christ and the reasons behind His interactions with others in accessible terms. His deeds and teachings provide a key to resolving many of the problems faced by every human being, regardless of time and place. Driven by His love for humanity, Christ takes on the role of a teacher who lives among people to guide their development. His sermons and discussions with various individuals reveal His concern for all aspects of human life, such as education, health, interpersonal relationships, and salvation. Ellen White highlights all these matters, convinced that they will benefit her readers.
This book may well prompt profound changes in the reader’s thinking and soul. Reading it may prove unsettling. However, there is no doubt that The Desire of Ages is a source of spiritual nourishment for many Christians, complementing the reading of the Gospels. Reading this book instils in the reader the feeling that they must pay attention to even the smallest detail or the most insignificant episode in the life of Jesus, because it may hold the solution to their existential problems.