On the importance of big books

Here in my town, a religious group decided to do something interesting; they put a copy of a book by "E.G. White" (not clearly labeled as such) into each mailbox in the county.  Now, apart from the apparent illegality of the scheme--those mailboxes you buy are technically "federal property" after all--it struck me how subtle it was.  They didn't announce who they were, and despite an abundance of evidence presented, they really didn't get at what they were trying to do.

Enter a book a spiritual mentor told me to get--Elwell's Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, which let me know that Ellen Gould White was a self-styled prophetess of the Seventh Day Adventists, and that William Miller was the prominent early theologian of that denomination.  So now I can let you know that if you should get a copy of "The Great Controversy" in your mailbox from a group in Coldwater, Michigan, it's supposed to push you towards being an Adventist.

OK, 300 pages later, no dice--Judas ("better if he had never been born") and the thief on the cross ("today you will be with me in paradise") took care of that. (Adventists do not believe in Hell or the presence of the believer with Christ immediately after death)   OK, and a love of meat and coffee doesn't help, either.

 But that said, I'm very glad that Pastor Tom pointed me to Elwell's work.  It's been a blessing again and again, and (whether in the dead tree version or otherwise), I cannot say enough in favor of the big books Tom had me buy for myself.

Side note; the Adventists seem to have a soft spot for a lot of the same things as characterize Landmark Baptists.  It makes me wonder whether they were plagiarizing the same books.....