"From time to time long-standing tensions in the Middle East erupt into armed conflict leading some Bible students to predict that the world is on the verge of Armageddon. This battle is supposed to center at Megiddo in Palestine.... Here,...the most horrific of all wars will be fought. In the past, many Seventh-day Adventists have subscribed to this interpretation of Revelation 16:12-16.

What about today? Were Seventh-day Adventists raised up to be prophets or proclaimers of the "sure word of prophecy"?

How you answer that question could mean the difference between facing the future with confidence and assurance or facing unnecessary conflict and embarrassment over failed predictions that God never asked us to make.

Adventists and Armageddon, by Donald E. Mansell, is an investigation into the doctrinal metamorphosis that has taken place within Adventism regarding Armageddon and the "king of the north." It contrasts the many historical views on the subject and provides important counsel form the Spirit of Prophecy.

Is the war to end all wars a climactic clash between the forces of good and evil over the Sabbath question? A religio-political battle between the nations that would be fought in Palestine? Is the "king of the north" power in Daniel 11 the papacy, the Turkish Empire, or a symbol of the Muslim world? Can we know the truth? What are the consequences of making bold predictions that never materialize? Where have we been right (and wrong) in the past?

With humility and balanced scholarship, the author of The Shape of the Coming Crisis examines the answers to these questions and sets forth a timely warning for Adventists to tread lightly when it comes to unfulfilled prophecy."

A study guide for this book is also available.

Donald Ernest Mansell was born of missionary parents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he spent the first seven years of his life. His growing up years, from 1930 to 1940, were spent in the Madeira and Azores islands.

In 1941 his parents were appointed missionaries to Mozambique in East Africa. While on the way, via the Philippines, Pearl Harbor was bombed, and three weeks later on December 28, 1941, Don, his parents, and brother Charles were captured by the Japanese in Baguio, Northern Luzon. The family spent the next three years in internment. They were liberated by American forces on February 4, 1945.

Upon his return to the United States, Don enrolled at Pacific Union College in Angwin, California, and graduated in 1949 with a BA in Theology. From 1949 to 1953 he served as a minister in the Northern California Conference. In 1952 he married Vesta West of Placerville, California.

Don has served his Lord and his church in numerous capacities: As missionaries in the Amazon region of Brazil (1953-1958); as pastor of the New Bedford, Portuguese SDA church; as academy bible teacher (Lynwood Academy); as an editor of the SDA Encyclopedia and later as an associate book editor at the Review and Herald Publishing Association; as an assistant secretary of the Ellen G. White Estate; and finally as an associate book editor at Pacific Press^® Publishing Association—a post he held until retiring in 1988.

Don has written numerous articles over the years, four books, and been the co-compiler or compiler of five others.