Great Controversy theme

In Seventh-day Adventist theology, the Great Controversy theme refers to the cosmic battle between Jesus Christ and Satan, also played out on earth. Ellen G. White, a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, delineates the theme in her book The Great Controversy, first published in 1858. The concept, or metanarrative, derives from many visions the author reported to have received, as well as from scriptural references. Adventist theology sees the concept as important in that it provides an understanding of the origin of evil, and of the eventual destruction of evil and the restoration of God's original purpose for this world. It constitutes belief number 8 of the church's 28 Fundamentals.

Adventist Theologian Herbert E. Douglass writes that Calvinistic-leaning Christians view this theme and the Adventist movement that produced it as heterodox.

One of the 28 fundamental beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists states:

Seventh-day Adventists regard The Great Controversy as one of Ellen White's important works. In it she writes of the perfection of those who stand at the end while Christ still intercedes in the Most Holy Place:

"Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. . . . This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble." (GC 623).

The urgency for attaining perfection comes from the knowledge that the remnant must live perfectly during the "time of trouble" at the end to prove to the universe that fallen human beings can keep the law of God. Ellen White states, "When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor." (GC 614).

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