Patriarchs and Prophets, NKJV Edition

by Ellen Gould White

This is the first volume from The Conflict Beautiful—the only NKJV edition of Ellen G. White’s narrative Bible commentary, the Conflict of the Ages.

Written in 1890, Patriarchs and Prophets explores the origin of evil, beginning with the story of Satan’s rebellion in heaven, and going through the creation of the world, the early patriarchs, and the life of King David.

About The Conflict Beautiful

Created by Types & Symbols, the goal for The Conflict Beautiful was to publish a beautifully designed, expertly crafted, heirloom-quality edition of Ellen White’s classic Conflict of the Ages series—to make books that are a joy to read and reflect the beauty of the words inside.

To meet this goal, immense care was invested in various design details of the hardcover books, from the development of meaningful design elements to the finessing of various details to aid readability. Equally significant, however, was the presentation of the content itself, which involved converting the King James Version (KJV) Bible references to New King James Version (NKJV) to improve the reading experience.

The editorial process was led by Tim Lale and involved a team of expert editors and proofreaders. The editorial intent was to preserve the integrity of Ellen White’s original ideas at all levels, from the chapter level down to the individual words. As a result, The Conflict Beautiful reads in an almost identical way to the original editions.

While NKJV is quoted in place of most KJV Bible quotations, KJV is maintained where NKJV obscures an important word or idea in Ellen White’s writing or the blending of NKJV wording would require a change to Ellen White’s words.

Strict guidelines were used to make select changes to individual words. Most changes had to meet the following criteria: the word is archaic and unfamiliar, and the meaning of the word has changed from its meaning in the nineteenth century. A small number of inconsequential archaic words were given an updated substitute to improve the reading experience.

A comprehensive list of changes as well as the full editorial philosophy can be found at theconflictbeautiful.com/editorial.

Due to the nature of digital books, many of the design details from the print edition cannot carry over into the ebook experience, but we believe The Conflict Beautiful represents the best blend of readability and accuracy of Ellen Gould White’s Conflict of the Ages series.

495 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 9, 2019

About the author

In brief, Ellen Gould Harmon White was a woman of remarkable spiritual gifts who lived most of her life during the nineteenth century (1827-1915), yet through her writings she is still making a revolutionary impact on millions of people around the world. During her lifetime she wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books; but today, including compilations from her 50,000 pages of manuscript, more than 100 titles are available in English. She is the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature, and the most translated American author of either gender. Her writings cover a broad range of subjects, including religion, education, social relationships, evangelism, prophecy, publishing, nutrition, and management. Her life-changing masterpiece on successful Christian living, Steps to Christ, has been published in more than 140 languages. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Mrs. White was more than a gifted writer; they believe she was appointed by God as a special messenger to draw the world's attention to the Holy Scriptures and help prepare people for Christ's second advent. From the time she was 17 years old until she died 70 years later, God gave her approximately 2,000 visions and dreams. The visions varied in length from less than a minute to nearly four hours. The knowledge and counsel received through these revelations she wrote out to be shared with others. Thus her special writings are accepted by Seventh-day Adventists as inspired, and their exceptional quality is recognized even by casual readers. As stated in Seventh-day Adventists Believe ... , “The writings of Ellen White are not a substitute for Scripture. They cannot be placed on the same level. The Holy Scriptures stand alone, the unique standard by which her and all other writings must be judged and to which they must be subject” (Seventh-day Adventists Believe ... , Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington D.C., 1988, p. 227). Yet, as Ellen White herself noted, “The fact that God has revealed His will to men through His Word, has not rendered needless the continued presence and guiding of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit was promised by our Saviour to open the Word to His servants, to illuminate and apply its teachings” (The Great Controversy, p. vii). The following is a more detailed account of the life and work of this remarkable woman who, meeting all the tests of a true prophet as set forth in the Holy Scriptures, helped found the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Reviews

[Alex Lash · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest books I've ever read on the old testament