From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

Ellen White, who is accepted as a prophetess by most SDA, claimed to
have been given a vision in 1858 which explained the whole of history in
terms of a controversy between Christ and satan, a controversy which
began in heaven when satan rebelled against God, directly involved us
when satan persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, was partially
resolved when Jesus died on the cross and will finally end when He comes
again and destoys the devil.

I must admit that the concept makes a lot of sense to me, but what
puzzled me was that such an important truth should be hidden until an
American woman was given a vision about it in the Nineteenth Century.

However a few years ago it occurred to me that in fact God had revealed
it a century or so earlier through the poet Milton. I wouldn't wish to
claim that Milton was a prophet or that he received visions, but he was
a devout Christian and a Bible student - and the Great Controversy theme
is in Scripture. It does not at all surprise me that God should guide
Milton's imagination to reveal the Great Controversy in "Paradise Lost".

However just today I was surprised to discover that God had, in fact,
revealed the Great Controversy theme back in AD 680.

I have a somewhat battered old book of Anglo-Saxon poetry which I bought mainly for the "Battle of Maldon" poem and Caedmon's "Dream of the
Rood". I've been meaning to read the whole thing for some time, but
Beowulf always put me off!

Anyway, I've now settled down to read a couple of pages every day.
Beowulf has come and gone, a chapter of spells and charms is disposed
of, a lament for a ruined city has been read, and today I came to a long
poem called "Genesis".

It was originally attributed to Caedmon, but that attribution is not
generally accepted now. Indeed, some 600 lines in the middle of the poem
are now believed to be by a different author entirely, one who had
German roots. Differences in style and vocabulary made people suspect
this, but the discovery of the German original made it definite!

To my surprise the poem begins with a statement of the Great
Controversy, how heaven was originally perfect but then satan rebelled
against God, was fought against by Jesus and driven out of heaven, and
how God then created man to take the place of the angels who had rebelled.

Unfortunately quite a chunk of the poem is missing and after getting
this far there is a hiatus and the next bit is the capture of Lot and
his rescue by Abraham. Still, it is interesting that God thought the
Great Controversy theme sufficiently important that he inspired various
people to describe it. (And if only the poem had been written by
Caedmon, I would have no trouble in counting him among the prophets!)

God bless,
Kendall K. Down
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From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

* "Kendall K. Down" <1097luj$ofk2$4@dont-email.me> :
Wrote on Tue, 2 Sep 2025 22:01:06 +0100:

Ellen White, who is accepted as a prophetess by most SDA, claimed to
have been given a vision in 1858 which explained the whole of history
in terms of a controversy between Christ and satan, a controversy
which began in heaven when satan rebelled against God, directly
involved us when satan persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, was partially resolved when Jesus died on the cross and will finally end
when He comes again and destoys the devil.

I must admit that the concept makes a lot of sense to me, but what
puzzled me was that such an important truth should be hidden until an American woman was given a vision about it in the Nineteenth Century.

I'm sure that say the folk at Qumran had an idea of it, and several
others who ame to the knowledge who have been removed from the ambit of remembered history.

The indications of it are present from Genesis1 should you choose not to
ignore it.

However a few years ago it occurred to me that in fact God had
revealed it a century or so earlier through the poet Milton. I
wouldn't wish to claim that Milton was a prophet or that he received
visions, but he was a devout Christian and a Bible student - and the
Great Controversy theme is in Scripture. It does not at all surprise
me that God should guide Milton's imagination to reveal the Great
Controversy in "Paradise Lost".

However just today I was surprised to discover that God had, in fact, revealed the Great Controversy theme back in AD 680.

I have a somewhat battered old book of Anglo-Saxon poetry which I
bought mainly for the "Battle of Maldon" poem and Caedmon's "Dream of
the Rood". I've been meaning to read the whole thing for some time,
but Beowulf always put me off!

Anyway, I've now settled down to read a couple of pages every
day. Beowulf has come and gone, a chapter of spells and charms is
disposed of, a lament for a ruined city has been read, and today I
came to a long poem called "Genesis".

It was originally attributed to Caedmon, but that attribution is not generally accepted now. Indeed, some 600 lines in the middle of the
poem are now believed to be by a different author entirely, one who
had German roots. Differences in style and vocabulary made people
suspect this, but the discovery of the German original made it
definite!

To my surprise the poem begins with a statement of the Great
Controversy, how heaven was originally perfect but then satan rebelled against God, was fought against by Jesus and driven out of heaven, and
how God then created man to take the place of the angels who had
rebelled.

the indo-iranian conflict of the vedic period (which i think is the
first to theologise human conflict) recapitulates the controversy (with
the necessary twist).perhaps all the major manufactured human conflicts
we deal with today can be seen to be in vain imitation of the original controversy, except it has been commercialised and franchised and rigged
to serve the purpose of the one party.



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From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

On 02/09/2025 23:47, Madhu wrote:

I'm sure that say the folk at Qumran had an idea of it, and several
others who ame to the knowledge who have been removed from the ambit of remembered history.

Hmmm. The Essenes at Qumran certainly looked to a future conflict
between the Sons of Light (themselves) and the Sons of Darkness
(probably the Romans). I don't recall any mention of the devil.

The indications of it are present from Genesis1 should you choose not to ignore it.

As I said in my post, the theme is certainly present in the Bible, but
not in as "joined up" a way as the other writers I mentioned.

the indo-iranian conflict of the vedic period (which i think is the
first to theologise human conflict) recapitulates the controversy (with
the necessary twist).perhaps all the major manufactured human conflicts
we deal with today can be seen to be in vain imitation of the original controversy, except it has been commercialised and franchised and rigged
to serve the purpose of the one party.

Certainly all evil is part of the Great Controversy, though there are
very few wars that I would regard as definitely between good and evil.
Even though the Ukraine is the victim of unjustified aggression by
Russia, I am not convinced that they are entirely innocent or
unquestionably good.

God bless,
Kendall K. Down
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com



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