Four versions of “The Way of Life” picture have been produced over the years.
The first version was designed and copyrighted in 1873 by Dr. Merritt Gardner Kellogg, the older half-brother of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and Will Keith Kellogg. It was titled “The Way of Life: From Paradise Lost to Paradise Restored,” and advertised for one dollar in the Review and Herald of May 27, 1873. The picture was an immediate success and proved to be a great aid to Adventist evangelists in their efforts to properly present the relationship between the law and the gospel.
James White decided to improve the picture and to produce a new descriptive brochure. His revised design, using the same title, became available in 1876.
Four years later James White planned two major changes to the picture. Writing to his wife, Ellen, he described the revisions: “The Law Tree is removed. Christ on the cross is made large, and placed in the center.” This reflected James White’s conviction that Christ, not the law, is the center of the plan of salvation.
James White and Dr. M. G. Kellogg commissioned Thomas Moran, one of America’s foremost landscape artists, to produce the new steel-plate engraving. Inspired by the power of the picture, James White also planned to publish a book to accompany it. Unfortunately, James died on August 6, 1881, before he could complete the projects. With the help of her sons, Ellen White undertook to fulfill her husband’s plan, and in 1883 she produced and copyrighted a beautiful new steel-plate engraving with Christ at the center, entitled “Christ, the Way of Life.”
In the spring of 1980 the Ellen G. White Estate commissioned Adventist artist Elfred Lee to render the “Way of Life” picture yet again. Working in the Auburn, California, church, Mr. Lee created a mural 7 feet (2.1 m) tall and 10 feet (3 m) long, which became the centerpiece of the White Estate display at the 1980 General Conference Session in Dallas, Texas. After the session, the mural went on permanent display in the Ellen G. White Estate offices at the General Conference in Washington, D.C. In 1989 it was moved to the new headquarters building in Silver Spring, Maryland, where thousands of visitors enjoy its striking beauty and take in its spiritual lessons.