28 h 44 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 28 h 44 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the struggle over conscience is the thread that ties all of history together?
In The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, Ellen G. White reads Christian history as a spiritual conflict. She opens with Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, then follows persecution, religious compromise, and the Protestant Reformation. Her account places the freedom to believe at the heart of a struggle between good and evil.
Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, and William Miller stand along this path through faith and prophecy. White interprets church history through Daniel and Revelation, moving toward a future crisis she expects to test every conscience. This is a committed Adventist reading of the past and future, rather than an even-handed academic history.
What you’ll discover
- A city facing destruction Enter White’s opening scene, where Jerusalem becomes a warning about rejected mercy.
- Conscience under pressure Meet reformers whose struggles bring questions of conviction, authority, and religious freedom into focus.
- Luther’s search for assurance Follow his struggle over how a sinner can be made right with God.
- The roots of Adventist belief Explore White’s account of William Miller, prophetic expectation, and the sanctuary message.
- Prophecy and moral courage Consider the threats to conscience and religious liberty that White foresees in her final chapters.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you love church history told as drama, admire the courage of the Reformers, or study Bible prophecy and want to see how the Adventist tradition reads it.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Jerusalem falls because it refuses its warning
- Persecution fails, but compromise nearly succeeds
- A growing papal power displaces Scripture with tradition
- Wycliffe, Huss, and Jerome carry the light forward
- Luther stands on the Bible alone at Worms
- The Reformation spreads, often through suffering
- France shows what rejecting the Bible costs
- William Miller and the Advent hope
- God's law, the Sabbath, and the final test
- Evil is answered and the controversy ends
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The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan
by Ellen G. White · 1858
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, and a story of war between Christ and Satan unfolds to the end of time.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to readEnglish
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In short
On the Mount of Olives at Passover, Jesus looks down on Jerusalem. The temple glows in the evening sun and crowds have just hailed Him as king, yet He weeps.
The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan at a glance
- Reading time
- About 15 h 15 min12 h 5 min fast, 18 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 218,000 words42 chapters
- Pages
- 705 pages
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1858by Ellen G. White
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Jerusalem falls because it refuses its warning
Jesus tells His disciples that not one stone of the temple will be left on another. He gives them a sign to watch for and tells those who see it to run for the mountains. White says the Christians obeyed. When the Roman general Cestius pulled back for no clear reason, they slipped away to Pella, and not one of them died in the siege.
The siege under Titus is told in painful detail. Rival Jewish factions burn the city's food stores, famine spreads, and crosses crowd the valley. Titus wants to spare the temple, but his soldiers set it on fire.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1858
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
White, Ellen G. The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-controversy-between-christ-and-satan.
White, E. G. (2026). The great controversy between Christ and Satan. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-controversy-between-christ-and-satan (Original work published 1858)
White, Ellen G. The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-controversy-between-christ-and-satan.
@book{white2026great,
author = {White, Ellen G.},
title = {The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-controversy-between-christ-and-satan},
note = {First published 1858}
}
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What is The Great Controversy about?
It follows a spiritual conflict between Christ and Satan across Christian history, from the fall of Jerusalem through the early church, the Reformation, and the French Revolution, to the last days and the end of sin.
Who wrote The Great Controversy and when?
Ellen G. White, a founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, wrote it. The work grew through several editions in the later nineteenth century, and she died in 1915. She says she wrote what she was shown in vision.
What does the great controversy mean in the book?
It is the struggle between God's law of love and Satan's rebellion. White says it began in heaven, moved to earth, and touches every age, until the universe sees God's justice and goodness fully vindicated.
The author
Ellen G. White
1827–1915 · American religious writer
Ellen G. White (1827–1915) was an American author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She was born in Maine and lived in the United States, Europe, and Australia. She wrote books on religion, education, and health, including The Great Controversy. She died in California.
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