Dear ___________,

Thank you for contacting the Ellen G. White Estate. Here are the paragraphs you referred to, first from the 1888 edition and then from the 1-1:

Commenting on the present attitude of professed Christians toward the world, a leading secular journal says: "Insensibly the church has yielded to the spirit of the age, and adapted its forms of worship to modern wants." "All things, indeed, that help to make religion attractive, the church now employs as its instruments." And a writer in the New York Independent speaks thus concerning Methodism as it is: "The line of separation between the godly and the irreligious fades out into a kind of penumbra, and zealous men on both sides are toiling to obliterate all difference between their modes of action and enjoyment." "The popularity of religion tends vastly to increase the number of those who would secure its benefits without squarely meeting its duties." {GC88 386.2}

Says Howard Crosby: "The church of God is today courting the world. Its members are trying to bring it 387 down to the level of the ungodly. The ball, the theater, nude and lewd art, social luxuries with all their loose moralities, are making inroads into the sacred inclosure of the church; and as a satisfaction for all this worldliness, Christians are making a great deal of Lent and Easter and church ornamentation. It is the old trick of Satan. The Jewish church struck on that rock; the Romish church was wrecked on the same; and the Protestant is fast reaching the same doom." {GC88 386.3}

Commenting on the present attitude of professed Christians toward the world, a leading secular journal says: "Insensibly the church has yielded to the spirit of the age, and adapted its forms of worship to modern wants." "All things, indeed, that help to make religion attractive, the church now employs as its instruments." And a writer in the New York Independent speaks thus concerning Methodism as it is: "The line of separation between the godly and the irreligious fades out into a kind of penumbra, and zealous men on both sides are toiling to obliterate all difference between their modes of action and enjoyment." "The popularity of religion tends vastly to increase the number of those who would secure its benefits without squarely meeting its duties." {GC 386.2}

Says Howard Crosby: "It is a matter of deep concern that we find Christ's church so little fulfilling the designs of its Lord. Just as the ancient Jews let a familiar intercourse with the idolatrous nations steal away their hearts from God, . . . so the church of Jesus now is, by its false partnerships with an unbelieving world, giving up the divine methods of its true life, and yielding itself to the pernicious, though often plausible, habits of a Christless society, using the arguments and reaching the conclusions which are foreign to the revelation of God, and directly antagonistic to all growth in grace."--The Healthy Christian: An Appeal to the Church, pages 141, 142. {GC 387.1}

The first paragraphs seem to be the same, but the second paragraphs are entirely different. In comparing them, I noticed that there was no source reference (only the author's name) for the quote in the 1888 edition. Mrs. White's helpers did most of the work of revision, though she had the final say to approve any change that was made. It may be that, when they attempted to document some of the quoted sources for the 1-1 edition, they were unable to find this statement and so substituted another one ?in this case, one from the same author. W. C. White says that they did just such a thing with certain historical sources. Here is his paragraph on this point, found in Selected Messages, book 3, p. 439. Pardon the ALL CAPS, but this is how our electronic database distinguishes non-EGW material (that is, contributed by others; I'm not referring to things she quoted) in books that bear her name as author:

"WHEN WE CAME TO GO OVER THIS MATTER FOR THE PURPOSE OF GIVING HISTORICAL REFERENCES, THERE WERE SOME QUOTATIONS WHICH WE COULD NOT FIND. IN SOME CASES THERE WERE FOUND OTHER STATEMENTS MAKING THE SAME POINT, FROM OTHER HISTORIANS. THESE WERE IN BOOKS CESSIBLE IN MANY PUBLIC LIBRARIES. WHEN WE BROUGHT TO MOTHER'S ATTENTION A QUOTATION THAT WE COULD NOT FIND, AND SHOWED HER THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER QUOTATION THAT WE HAD FOUND, WHICH MADE THE SAME POINT, SHE SAID, 'USE THE ONE YOU CAN GIVE REFERENCE TO, SO THAT THE READER OF THE BOOKS, IF HE WISHES TO GO TO THE SOURCE AND FIND IT, CAN DO SO.' IN THAT WAY SOME HISTORICAL DATA HAVE BEEN SUBSTITUTED. {3SM 439.3}

That's my best guess. For more on what they did and why, see Selected Messages, book 3, Appendix A, B, and C (pp. 433-465).

I hope this may help. Thank you for writing, and God bless!

William Fagal
Associate Director
Ellen G. White Estate
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600 U.S.A.
Phone: 301 680-6550
FAX: 301 680-6559
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.WhiteEstate.org