NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

By Force or By Faith is a careful retelling of Ellen White’s Great Controversy. This book—aimed to reach children ages as young as 6 and keep the interest of teens with the same storyline and lessons as the original—was a year-long project and the result of much prayer. Out of respect for the inspiration of God and His servant, Ellen White, Remnant’s editors poured over the updated text to ensure that the original messages were preserved in By Force or By Faith.

Remnant has received some inquiries about By Force or By Faith’s author. Chris Williams is a pen name for the person who based this book on the original text and made its real-life events and spiritual implications only clearer to the mind of a child. This author does not wish to take credit for the work of the original author (Ellen White) who wrote under divine inspiration and desires to remain anonymous.

By Force or By Faith (Chapter 1, first paragraph)

It was almost a week before the Passover. Jesus, accompanied by a
huge crowd of people, rode on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem.
The surrounding hillsides were covered with delightful gardens and
flourishing vineyards. Travelers had come from far away to celebrate the
sacred festival, and their tents dotted the grassy slopes. It was a lovely,
peaceful scene. As the crowd approached the summit of the hill, a view of the beautiful city appeared. The great temple stood out in the landscape. Its marble walls dazzled in the sunlight. Yet, as He looked upon the scene, the eyes of Jesus filled with tears, and He wept with great sorrow. His mind flooded with the sad history of the people of this land, who for a thousand
years had backslidden and rebelled against God’s constant calls to follow
Him. The chosen people mocked God’s messages and abused His prophets.
They resisted God’s gentle appeals and misused the opportunities He
had given them. When all had failed, God sent His best gift—more than
that, He sent all Heaven—in the gift of His precious Son.

The Great Controversy (Chapter 1, first paragraph)

From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem. Fair and peaceful was the scene spread out before Him. It was the season of the Passover, and from all lands the children of Jacob had gathered there to celebrate the great national festival. In the midst of gardens and vineyards, and green slopes studded with pilgrims’ tents, rose the terraced hills, the stately palaces, and massive bulwarks of Israel's capital. The daughter of Zion seemed in her pride to say, I sit a queen and shall see no sorrow; as lovely then, and deeming herself as secure in Heaven's favor, as when, ages before, the royal minstrel sang: “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, ... the city of the great King.” Psalm 48:2. In full view were the magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays of the setting sun lighted up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls and gleamed from golden gate and tower and pinnacle. “The perfection of beauty” it stood, the pride of the Jewish nation. What child of Israel could gaze upon the scene without a thrill of joy and admiration! But far other thoughts occupied the mind of Jesus. “When He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it.” Luke 19:41. Amid the universal rejoicing of the triumphal entry, while palm branches waved, while glad hosannas awoke the echoes of the hills, and thousands of voices declared Him king, the world's Redeemer was overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He, the Son of God, the Promised One of Israel, whose power had conquered death and called its captives from the grave, was in tears, not of ordinary grief, but of intense, irrepressible agony.

By Force or By Faith (Chapter 3, fourth and fifth paragraph)

Soon, another strange thing happened. Instead of Jesus being the
head of the church, it was declared that a man would now be the head
of the church on earth. He would be called the pope, and was given the title, “Lord God the Pope.” What’s more, recognizing the pope as the visible head of the church became one of the main teachings of the church.
Nowhere does the Bible teach that a man should be the head of
the church. The Bible clearly teaches that it is only Jesus who must be
obeyed and worshiped as head of the church. So, to stop people from
going against its demands, the church made a law stating that no one
may have a Bible. People were told that reading the Bible for themselves would lead to a lot of trouble. Now, rather than people reading the Bible for themselves, church leaders would read the Bible to them. These leaders didn’t tell the people what God actually said in the Bible. Instead, the leaders told the people what they wanted the people to believe, as though it was from God.

The Great Controversy (Chapter 3, fifth and sixth paragraph)

It is one of the leading doctrines of Romanism that the pope is the visible head of the universal church of Christ, invested with supreme authority over bishops and pastors in all parts of the world. More than this, the pope has been given the very titles of Deity. He has been styled “Lord God the Pope”, and has been declared infallible. He demands the homage of all men. The same claim urged by Satan in the wilderness of temptation is still urged by him through the Church of Rome, and vast numbers are ready to yield him homage. 

But those who fear and reverence God meet this heaven-daring assumption as Christ met the solicitations of the wily foe: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Luke 4:8. God has never given a hint in His word that He has appointed any man to be the head of the church. The doctrine of papal supremacy is directly opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures. The pope can have no power over Christ's church except by usurpation. 

By Force or By Faith (Chapter 42, final paragraph)

The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. Gladness and harmony echo throughout creation.
From the tiniest atom to the greatest world, all things—whether animals, plants, rocks, or people—boldly and clearly declare that. . .GOD IS LOVE (1 John 4:16)

The Great Controversy (Chapter 42, final paragraph)

The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.