Growing Up in Christ: Ellen G. White’s Concept of Discipleship

Abstract

The concept of discipleship was not a concept discussed in nineteenthcentury Evangelical denominations.However, if we understand discipleship as the concept of how the church community mentors and helps a new convert to become a committed disciple of Jesus Christ, then we can find substantial material to discuss this subject.Steps to Christ holds a special place in Adventist history and theology and is one of the most translated books of all times by any author.Its publication occurred at the beginning of a period of Ellen White's ministry, from about 1890 to the early 1900s, when she published a number of books on the life of Christ.Shortly after the experience of the 1888 General Conference session in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when Adventist pastors and leaders passionately debated the concepts of righteousness by faith and how one is to live a life of faith and obedience, White felt convicted that Seventh-day Adventists needed to learn more about the meaning of salvation in Christ-not only to gain a better knowledge of salvation, but also to experience its renewing power, something she felt was immensely deficient in a young denomination that had become too legalistic (White 1984:433; White 1983:11).In a little over a decade she and her editorial assistants worked on the manuscripts of five major books on the life of Christ: Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings (White 1896), a brief commentary on major sections of the Sermon on the Mount; The Desire of Ages (White 1898), White's most popular work on the life and ministry of Christ; Christ's Object Lessons (White 1900), on the parables of Jesus; and the first one hundred pages of Ministry of Healing (White 1905) in which she extols the compassionate healing ministry of Christ.Published in 1892, Steps to Christ was the first in this series of books and marked the beginning of White's contribution to reshape the understanding of the Adventist experience of salvation in Christ.

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