近三十年前，怀爱伦发表了论健康问题一系列重要文章中的第一篇。这些文章立刻博得了熟悉怀爱伦先前作品和工作之人的认真思考。成千上万的人蒙引导改变了终身的习惯，彻底弃绝了因先天遗传和后天长期放纵而根深蒂固的做法。若没有某种强大的动机，信徒团体中是不可能发生这么大的变革的，而这种动机无疑相信这些作品不仅带有真理的印记，而且有比人类更高的权威认可。本绪言虽然不宜描述这种信仰的根据，但需邀请读者注意与此有关的几个有趣的事实： {CTBH iii.1}
1.当上述作品初次发表时，健康问题几乎是完全被忽视的，不仅读者是这样，几乎全世界都是这样。{CTBH iii.2}
2.提倡必须改变身体习惯的少数人在宣传时带有极其明显的甚至是讨厌的错误。{CTBH iii.3}
3.没有什么地方也没有什么人提出过系统而和谐的卫生学真理，既无明显的错误，又与圣经和基督教的原则一致。{CTBH iii.4}
在这种情况下，上述作品出现了。其中所教导的原则虽然没有科学权威的支持，却是以简明直率地方式提出来的，作者虽然从未自称精通科学知识，却主张她是在上帝光照的帮助和权威之下写作的。{CTBH iii.5}
在这种特殊的情况下且以这种非凡的主张提出来的原则，是怎么经得起时间和经验的考验的呢?这或许是一个很适合提出的问题。答案在能经得起最充分查证的事实里。所提出的原则已经过成千上万人实际经验的检验;只要聪明地一贯地予以实行，结果就使人完全满意。成千上万的人已经证实得到了身体、心智和道德方面的益处。所提出的原则已经开始得到很普遍的采用和实践，以致不再被认为是改革，实际上已在更为聪明的阶层被视为流行的习惯了。四分之一世纪之前完全受人忽视或被当作笑柄的原则，已经默默地赢得了大众的信任和尊重，直到世人完全忘记了这些原则曾经不被这样接受。科学上的新发现和旧事实的新解释在不断增加确认这些原则的证据，直到现在，四分之一多个世纪以前所提倡的每一个原则都以最强有力的方式得到了科学证据的支持。{CTBH iii.6}
最后，基于那么久以前提倡的这些原则的改革运动发展兴旺直到现在，它所形成的机构也发展为世上同类机构中最兴盛的了;而其它的努力，虽然看似是同一方向的，却沾染了错误，要么抛弃了真理的原则，陷入错误中，要么已经不为人知了。这确实应当被视为一件非凡的事，显然证明了上帝的见识和指示，因为在自称有科学和经验的权威、却因过激的观念而歪曲且因混杂大量错误而无力为善的各种混乱且互相抵触的教导中，一个从未声称精通科学知识或教育的人，竟能从少数论述健康问题的作家和思想家所提出的混乱且感染错误的大量想法中，归纳出如此和谐、如此一致、如此真实的卫生学原理，以致四分之一世纪的讨论、研究、发现和经验的结果都没能推翻一条原则，反而只是其坚定了所教导的道理，必须得承认，这确实是非凡的。{CTBH iv.1}
在新真理的进展上，与在分辨真理和谬论上一样，非常需要无限智慧的指导。新颖决不是真原则的显著特征，也不是卫生改革和其它改革运动的仍然有效的真理原则的显著特征。现代最伟大最重要改革运动，并不是那些提出新事实和新原则的运动，而是那些在世人偏离身体和道德上的正直太远之前，复兴久已被人忘记的真理和原则、把人们带回到前人已经踏过之路上的改革运动。{CTBH iv.2}
本书没有重新介绍上文中所提到的原则，而只是一个汇编，在某种意义上是一个摘要，摘录了怀爱伦有关这个问题的不同作品，另外有几篇文章是怀雅各长老写的，阐明了同样的原则，还有J. N.安德烈长老和贝约瑟长老的个人经验，他们是安息日复临信徒中健康运动的两位先驱。本书是在怀爱伦的监督之下、由她为此而指定的委员会编辑的，书稿已经她仔细检查过。{CTBH iv.3}
预备本书的目的是要以浓缩的形式把分散在不同书卷中的资料汇编起来，有些内容是以前从未发表过的，以便怀爱伦关于这个问题的教导能影响尽可能多的人。我们确信本书会得到热诚的接受，它的重要性也必得到认真的考虑。{CTBH iv.4}
NEARLY THIRTY YEARS AGO THERE APPEARED IN PRINT THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF REMARKABLE AND IMPORTANT ARTICLES ON THE SUBJECT OF HEALTH, BY MRS. E. G. WHITE. THESE ARTICLES AT ONCE COMMANDED EARNEST CONSIDERATION BY THOSE WHO WERE ACQUAINTED WITH MRS. WHITE'S PREVIOUS WRITINGS AND LABORS. THOUSANDS WERE LED TO CHANGE LIFE-LONG HABITS, AND TO RENOUNCE PRACTICES THOROUGHLY FIXED BY HEREDITY AS WELL AS BY LONG INDULGENCE. SO GREAT A REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE WROUGHT IN A BODY OF PEOPLE WITHOUT THE AID OF SOME POWERFUL INCENTIVE, WHICH IN THIS CASE WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE BELIEF THAT THE WRITINGS REFERRED TO NOT ONLY BORE THE STAMP OF TRUTH, BUT WERE INDORSED AS SUCH BY A HIGHER THAN HUMAN AUTHORITY. THIS IS NOT THE PROPER PLACE FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE GROUNDS UPON WHICH THIS BELIEF WAS BASED, BUT THE READER'S ATTENTION IS INVITED TO A FEW FACTS OF INTEREST IN THIS CONNECTION:--[1]
1. AT THE TIME THE WRITINGS REFERRED TO FIRST APPEARED, THE SUBJECT OF HEALTH WAS ALMOST WHOLLY IGNORED, NOT ONLY BY THE PEOPLE TO WHOM THEY WERE ADDRESSED, BUT BY THE WORLD AT LARGE.[2]
2. THE FEW ADVOCATING THE NECESSITY OF A REFORM IN PHYSICAL HABITS, PROPAGATED IN CONNECTION WITH THE ADVOCACY OF GENUINE REFORMATORY PRINCIPLES THE MOST PATENT AND IN SOME INSTANCES DISGUSTING ERRORS.[3]
3. NOWHERE, AND BY NO ONE, WAS THERE PRESENTED A SYSTEMATIC AND HARMONIOUS BODY OF HYGIENIC TRUTHS, FREE FROM PATENT ERRORS, AND CONSISTENT WITH THE BIBLE AND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.[4]
UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE WRITINGS REFERRED TO MADE THEIR APPEARANCE. THE PRINCIPLES TAUGHT WERE NOT ENFORCED BY SCIENTIFIC AUTHORITY, BUT WERE PRESENTED IN A SIMPLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD MANNER BY ONE WHO MAKES NO PRETENSE TO SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, BUT CLAIMS TO WRITE BY THE AID AND AUTHORITY OF THE DIVINE ENLIGHTENMENT.[5]
HOW HAVE THE PRINCIPLES PRESENTED UNDER SUCH PECULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES AND WITH SUCH REMARKABLE CLAIMS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME AND EXPERIENCE? IS A QUESTION WHICH MAY VERY PROPERLY BE ASKED. ITS ANSWER IS TO BE FOUND IN FACTS WHICH ARE CAPABLE OF THE AMPLEST VERIFICATION. THE PRINCIPLES PRESENTED HAVE BEEN PUT TO THE TEST OF PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE BY THOUSANDS; AND WHENEVER INTELLIGENTLY AND CONSISTENTLY CARRIED OUT, THE RESULT HAS BEEN FOUND IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE SATISFACTORY. THOUSANDS HAVE TESTIFIED TO PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND MORAL BENEFITS RECEIVED. MANY OF THE PRINCIPLES TAUGHT HAVE COME TO BE SO GENERALLY ADOPTED AND PRACTICED THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER RECOGNIZED AS REFORMS, AND MAY, IN FACT, BE REGARDED AS PREVALENT CUSTOMS AMONG THE MORE INTELLIGENT CLASSES. THE PRINCIPLES WHICH A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO WERE EITHER ENTIRELY IGNORED OR MADE THE BUTT OF RIDICULE, HAVE QUIETLY WON THEIR WAY INTO PUBLIC CONFIDENCE AND ESTEEM, UNTIL THE WORLD HAS QUITE FORGOTTEN THAT THEY HAVE NOT ALWAYS BEEN THUS ACCEPTED. NEW DISCOVERIES IN SCIENCE AND NEW INTERPRETATIONS OF OLD FACTS HAVE CONTINUALLY ADDED CONFIRMATORY EVIDENCE, UNTIL AT THE PRESENT TIME EVERY ONE OF THE PRINCIPLES ADVOCATED MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO IS FORTIFIED IN THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE MANNER BY SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE.[6]
FINALLY, THE REFORMATORY MOVEMENT BASED UPON THE PRINCIPLES ADVOCATED SO LONG AGO HAS LIVED AND PROSPERED UNTIL THE PRESENT TIME, AND THE INSTITUTIONS DEVELOPED BY IT HAVE GROWN TO BE THE MOST EXTENSIVE AND THE MOST PROSPEROUS ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE SORT IN THE WORLD; WHILE OTHER EFFORTS, LOOKING SOMEWHAT IN THE SAME DIRECTION, BUT CONTAMINATED BY ERROR, HAVE EITHER ABANDONED THE PRINCIPLES OF TRUTH, AND BEEN GIVEN OVER TO ERROR, OR HAVE FALLEN INTO OBSCURITY. IT CERTAINLY MUST BE REGARDED AS A THING REMARKABLE, AND EVINCING UNMISTAKABLE EVIDENCE OF DIVINE INSIGHT AND DIRECTION, THAT IN THE MIDST OF CONFUSED AND CONFLICTING TEACHINGS, CLAIMING THE AUTHORITY OF SCIENCE AND EXPERIENCE, BUT WARPED BY ULTRA NOTIONS AND RENDERED IMPOTENT FOR GOOD BY THE GREAT ADMIXTURE OF ERROR,--IT MUST BE ADMITTED TO BE SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY, THAT A PERSON MAKING NO CLAIMS TO SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE OR ERUDITION SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ORGANIZE, FROM THE CONFUSED AND ERROR-TAINTED MASS OF IDEAS ADVANCED BY A FEW WRITERS AND THINKERS ON HEALTH SUBJECTS, A BODY OF HYGIENIC PRINCIPLES SO HARMONIOUS, SO CONSISTENT, AND SO GENUINE THAT THE DISCUSSIONS, THE RESEARCHES, THE DISCOVERIES, AND THE EXPERIENCE OF A QUARTER OF A CENTURY HAVE NOT RESULTED IN THE OVERTHROW OF A SINGLE PRINCIPLE, BUT HAVE ONLY SERVED TO ESTABLISH THE DOCTRINES TAUGHT.[7]
THE GUIDANCE OF INFINITE WISDOM IS AS MUCH NEEDED IN DISCERNING BETWEEN TRUTH AND ERROR AS IN THE EVOLUTION OF NEW TRUTHS. NOVELTY IS BY NO MEANS A DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC OF TRUE PRINCIPLES, AND THE PRINCIPLE HOLDS GOOD AS REGARDS THE TRUTHS OF HYGIENIC REFORM, AS WELL AS THOSE OF OTHER REFORMATORY MOVEMENTS. THE GREATEST AND MOST IMPORTANT REFORMATORY MOVEMENTS OF MODERN TIMES HAVE NOT BEEN THOSE WHICH PRESENTED NEW FACTS AND PRINCIPLES, BUT THOSE WHICH REVIVED TRUTHS AND PRINCIPLES LONG FORGOTTEN, AND WHICH HAVE LED THE WAY BACK TO THE PATHS TRODDEN BY MEN OF BY-GONE AGES, BEFORE THE WORLD HAD WANDERED SO FAR AWAY FROM PHYSICAL AND MORAL RECTITUDE.[8]
THIS BOOK IS NOT A NEW PRESENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES REFERRED TO IN THE ABOVE PARAGRAPHS, BUT IS SIMPLY A COMPILATION, AND IN SOME SENSE AN ABSTRACT, OF THE VARIOUS WRITINGS OF MRS. WHITE UPON THIS SUBJECT, TO WHICH HAVE BEEN ADDED SEVERAL ARTICLES, BY ELDER JAMES WHITE, ELUCIDATING THE SAME PRINCIPLES, AND THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF ELDERS J. N. ANDREWS AND JOSEPH BATES, TWO OF THE PIONEERS IN THE HEALTH MOVEMENT AMONG SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS. THE WORK OF COMPILATION HAS BEEN DONE UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF MRS. WHITE, BY A COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY HER FOR THE PURPOSE, AND THE MANUSCRIPT HAS BEEN CAREFULLY EXAMINED BY HER.[9]
THE PURPOSE IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME HAS BEEN TO GATHER TOGETHER, IN A CONDENSED FORM, WRITINGS WHICH WERE SCATTERED THROUGH VARIOUS VOLUMES, AND SOME THAT HAVE NEVER BEFORE APPEARED IN PRINT, SO THAT THE TEACHINGS OF MRS. WHITE UPON THIS SUBJECT MIGHT REACH AS LARGE A NUMBER AS POSSIBLE OF THOSE FOR WHOM THEY WERE SPECIALLY INTENDED; AND IT IS CONFIDENTLY BELIEVED THAT THE WORK WILL RECEIVE A CORDIAL RECEPTION, AND THE EARNEST CONSIDERATION WHICH ITS IMPORTANCE DEMANDS.[10]
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