在当今医务界，怎样保持和促进健康，防治疾病是一个极为重要而现实的问题。在人类历史上，从来没有象现在这样对这些重大问题从科学上进行认真深入的研究，并予以广泛的关注。半个世纪以来，各科医学都取得了惊人的进步。要列举和解释这一有关人类福利重大学科的种种发现、发展和成就需要一部庞大的著作。人们对这些重大题材已作了精心研究。有关的知识已通过专业科技书籍和普及类的书刊报章向大众作了介绍。
《医疗布道论》是为满足人类灵、智、体福利的需求，而作出的又一有价值的贡献。本书有着自己的特点。它承认并提倡在病因和治病方面真正的科学知识，并且强调要遵守有关疾病预防的一切原则。更重要的是，本书提出引起疾病与死亡的首要原因乃是罪违犯上帝的律法。
作者深信违背道德法律会导致人忽视有关心智和身体的定律。所以她强调顺从道德法律为健康的身体所需的基本条件之一。人类因罪而败坏了。她主张，只有与救赎主基督联合，才能够顺从道德的律法。所以她提倡要完全治好人类的疾病，就得依赖、理解和遵守有关我们灵、智、体方面的定律。
《医疗布道论》所载广泛而丰富的训言向大众所倡导的，正是这一点。这部训言不是专业性的。普通读者也能够明白。书中对灵、智、体的健康和幸福方面所提出的要求十分合理，便于遵从。
书中有关防病方面的论述也很有价值，因为正如一句古老的格言所说：“一分的预防强于十分的治疗。”
本书作者怀爱伦夫人花了几乎七十年的工夫积极认真地从事布道工作。她年轻时身患疾病。在结婚后的头几年，她与心脏衰弱，肿瘤和其他疾病搏斗。她于三十六岁时，获得了重要启示，认识到节制与健康，身心的效能和基督徒生活的关系。她认真应用有关身心定律的知识，致使疾病解脱，身体复元。从那时起，直到她热心工作的结束，她在几乎整整五十年的时间里，认真倡导健康和节制的原则。
1865年，作为一个安息日复临的信徒，怀爱伦夫人呼吁教会建立一个医疗机构，使病人能在其中获得合理的非药物性治疗，并学到有关健康律的教训。结果这样的机构在密歇根州的巴特尔克里克建立起来了。该工作取得了很大的成功。机构规模扩大了。在差不多半个世纪时间里，深受人们喜爱，广为人所知，这就巴特尔克里克疗养院。在以后的年间，许多相似的姊妹疗养院在美国各地和世界其它国家建立起来了。
怀爱伦著作托管会从她过去未公开发表的信件和文稿中发现了许多对医师、护士、疗养院工作人员、传道士和基督徒工人有价值的训言，深信应把这些有价值的训言公诸于众。我们真诚希望本书能给读者带来莫大的福气，并通过读者们，使他们所服务的大众受惠。
A·G丹尼尔斯
第二版序言
怀爱伦健康问题著作的历史背景
由于需求量不断增长，怀爱伦的著作需要经常重印，有时还要出新版。本书原于1932年出版，现在第二版。虽然版面和规格作了变动，以符合基督徒家庭书库的规范，但内容和页数并没有改变。新版仍与怀爱伦著作总索引保持一致。
《医疗布道论》是在作者逝世后，从一些未发表的文稿中取材编辑的第一部重要书籍。编辑工作以怀爱伦对她所任命的著作托管会所作的指示为指南。她授权托管会可以“从我的文稿中编辑出版书籍”。她认为在她对个人和机构的多年通信中，有许多训言可以为圣工服务。
《医疗布道论》列在作者所写的其他著作中间。以后又有其它关于健康题材的著作问世。由于它只是有关这一题材一系列著作中的一部 ，我们最好回顾一下过去和现在有关健康原则和医疗工作几部怀爱伦著作的历史。这样可以帮助读者了解这一重要领域中一些现有和绝版之著作的情况。
1848年，怀爱伦得到了有关使用烟草、茶叶和咖啡问题的告诫。1854年，她获得的有关洁净的重要性以及食物不要太精炼太油腻的亮光。然而直到1863她才见了第一个有关卫生改革的详细异象。对此她写道：“1863年6月6日在密歇根州奥茨戈，希利亚德弟兄的家中，我见到了有关卫生改革重大题目的异象”(《评论与通讯》1867年10月8日)。在以后的异象中，主向她显示了有关这一题目的许多细节，这些异象成为她以后更加详细的有关健康和教会卫生工作著作的基础。
怀爱伦有关健康的早期著作
怀爱伦第一篇专论健康问题的著作是1864年出版的《属灵的恩赐》第四卷120至151页《健康》一章，计32页。在这篇文章中她精辟地阐述了1863年异象中所赐给她的重大原则。这份材料现在可以从影印本《属灵的恩赐》中找到。
1865年，怀雅各和怀爱伦认识到领导3500名安息日复临信徒充分理解卫生改革信息责任重大，就出版了六份小册子，题为《健康，如何生活》，其中五本各有64页，一本有80页。在每一份都有一篇怀爱伦所写的文章，题为《疾病及其原因》。与怀爱伦的文章刊在一起的，是医生和传道士们作品的摘录，怀雅各和其他人专门为小册子撰写的文章。每一本都有一个基本的卫生题目：《饮食，婚姻和家庭生活》，《药物的使用》，《照顾病人和卫生》，《儿童的照料和服饰》，《合乎健康的服装》。1899年和1900年间在《评论与通讯》上发表了一系列文章，传达了怀爱伦的六个信息。1958年，这些资料被编在《信息选粹》卷二一份六十九页的附录上。
1864年所发行的小册子《对母亲的呼吁》中，刊登了怀爱伦一篇以此为题的更加专门论及健康问题的文章。1870年怀雅各把这篇文章收录在270页的《对独居弊端的严肃恳劝》中。这篇文章的大部分现在收在《儿童教育指南》一书《保持道德纯洁》一章中。这同样的基本勉言也可在《教会证言》卷二和卷五中找到。
《基督徒节制和圣经卫生》 1890年
1890年出版了《基督徒节制和圣经卫生》一书。第一部分《基督徒节制》由怀爱伦撰写，第二部《圣经卫生》从怀雅各的著作中编辑。在前162页中，怀爱伦以更加通俗和详细的方式提出健康的基本原则。这些内容十五年以后成为《服务真诠》的基础。该书共18章，其中的几章全部或部分内容收在1923年出版的《健康勉言》和《基督教育原理》中。其他几章内容与《服务真诠》接近。
《健康生活》 1897年
1897年，怀爱伦在澳大利亚期间，在巴特尔克里克疗养院工作的大卫.保尔森医师搜集了他所能得到的怀爱伦论健康题目的著作，即大批摘录和段落，按题目顺序编好。这部选集题为《健康生活》，比《服务真诠》早出版八年。这本书共284页，成为有价值的教学参考书，至少印过三版。然而随着1905年《服务真诠》的问世，保尔森编辑的书不再出版了。怀夫人很欣赏这本选集，但它当然缺乏她著作的连贯性。
《服务真诠》 1905 年
《服务真诠》一书是怀爱伦为美国和国外复临信徒及非复临信徒读者所写的。该书共516页，全面论述了健康问题。在撰写这部五十三章的著作时，她大量引用了《基督徒节制和圣经卫生》中的内容，然而她扩充和重写了其中的材料。到1915年怀爱伦去世时，这是她唯一一部当时流行的有关健康的著作。
《健康勉言》 1923年
《服务真诠》已经阐述了健康生活的广泛原则。然而怀爱伦在教会刊物，教会证言，以及一些已经绝版的书中，还有许多其他信息。这些信息中含有涉及健康原则，安息日复临信徒机构的工作以及健康信息的传播所需要的训言。怀爱伦著作托管会把这些材料编在《健康勉言》中，于1923年出版。这本书计634页，只收入过去以各种形式发表过的材料，成为一部对教会，特别是医务人员大有好处的著作。
《医疗布道论》 1932年
传播健康信息是怀爱伦在五十年时间里所关心的一个重大题目。她在健康问题上所写的材料要比其他任何一个题目的勉言更多。她写给医师、机构经理、护士、疗养院大家庭的信件中，含有十分重要的勉言。其中许多勉言是对医务工作的指示。这些稿件的副本留在档案中。还有其他在我们医务工作发展各阶段的严重时刻所写的话发出了警告的信息。有些信息写出来虽是为了挽救一个面临特殊危险的工人，但勉言本身是不受时间的限制的。
《医疗布道论》主要编集了写给医务人员和其他与安息日复临信徒有关机构之人员的勉言。把这些勉言编辑起来是为了使其他人也能从中获得益处，序言是A·G·丹尼尔斯所写，他当过多年全球总会会长，是怀爱伦著作托管会的成员之一。当这部书出版时，丹尼尔斯长老还担任医学院的校务会主席。
《论饮食》 1938年
1926年初，在医学院教营养学的H·M·瓦尔顿医师，编辑了已出版和未出版的怀爱伦有关饮食的论著。这份材料，是与怀爱伦著作托管会合作编辑的，曾在洛马林达印成两卷200页的书，题为《有关饮食的证言》，作为教科书使用。这些材料按题目排列以供参阅。后来人们发现这些材料具有在安息日复临信徒中更为广泛发行的价值。于是怀爱伦著作托管会接手这些材料，删除重复部分，从未发表的来源中补充了新的材料，增加了一些篇目，出版了一本500页的十分畅销的书--《论饮食》。这本勉言按题目排列，仔细编制了索引，把预言之灵关于饮食的论述编在一起以供参阅。
《论节制》 1949年
《论节制》一书计300页，从各种已经发表和未发表的著作中编辑怀爱伦有关节制问题的勉言提供给教会。在附录中还载有怀爱伦关于节制问题的三次讲话。这本书已成为节制工作者的手册。
《论慈善工作》 1952年
基督复临安息日会的福利工作把医疗工作和基督徒服务的慈善行为结合在一起。《论福利工作》计350页，提供了怀爱伦有关这些传道工作重要方面的勉言。怀爱伦作为福利工作者的经验成为本书的最动人的内容。
上述五本现在发行的书，加上《信息选粹》卷二中的一些篇章，全面地提供了怀爱伦关于健康和卫生工作问题的勉言。
对今日至关紧要的勉言
有趣的是，自从怀爱伦见到异象，呼召安息日复临信徒注意健康的问题以来，一个世纪已经过去了。这些勉言经受了训练有素的科学家最严格的审查。思想严谨的研究人员所作的发现，正在日复一日不断为这些勉言的科学性和准确性提供可靠的证据。
当怀爱伦夫人于1860年发表她关于健康问题的异象时，她在医学上还是一个非专业人员，受的教育也有限，所以很自然地一些人设法把她的主张与当时一些医师的著作联系起来。有少数人认为，怀爱伦周围之人的意见可能是她有关健康著作的真正来源，对此，怀爱伦在谈到1863年6月6日的异象以后，坦率而简要地说：“我在写《属灵的恩赐》第三卷第四卷(和《对母亲的恳劝》)以前，从未读过任何卫生方面的书籍，在六期《健康--怎样生活》中，我的六篇文章大都是我亲自撰写的……”
“当我把健康的题目向我工作的密歇根州、新英格兰和纽约州的园地讲述，并提出反对药物和肉食，倡导使用水、新鲜空气，及正确的饮食时，常常有人问：‘你的讲法同特罗尔医师、杰克逊医生以及其他人所著《生活的定律》和其他文章中的观点很接近，你有没有读过这些文章和著作呢?’我回答说没有，在我完全写出我的观点以前，我也不会去读，免得有人说我从医生们那里接受了健康问题的亮光，而不是从上帝那里来的。”──《评论与通讯》1867年10月8日
当年她在谈到她健康问题的著作时还说：“我写下我的观点并没有受别人的书或著作所影响。──《文稿》1867年7号
1864年，我们教会的一些领导人在《对母亲的恳劝》中发表她的文章时也讲到了这一点。在她那篇29页的文章后面，登了一些医学上的证言。在怀爱伦的文章和其他作家的论述之间，安息日会出版社托管会作了以下重要说明：
“我们认为可以在以上文章后增加下面医务权威人士的证言，与上面的观点相配合。为了对上面文章的作者表示公道起见，我们要说明她在把文章交给我们之前，从来没有读过下面所引作者的著作，以及有关这题材的其他的著作。所以虽然她所叙述的重要真理与我们十分信任的人所作的见证相似，但她决没有抄袭。”──怀爱伦著作托管委员会
对于那些认为怀爱伦的著作反映了当代医学发明家的结论，我们只需提到各个时代的相互矛盾的说法就行了，我们只须问“一个非专业人员在当时怎能知道该选择什么，舍弃什么?”当时所流行的观点很少在以后能流传下来，然而怀爱伦的勉言不仅今日仍然坚立，而且为临床和实验室的最新发现所支持。
目标和兴旺的条件是不变的
自从怀爱伦1915年去世以来，医务界已取得了很大的进步。这些进步虽然改变了医疗方法的细节，可是并没有改变怀爱伦所称之为“真正的药方”的治疗价值。这一药方即是“清洁的空气，锻炼，正确的饮食和饮水”以及“信靠上帝”。现代快速诊断和治疗的方法，缩短了病人住在医院里的时间，虽然这对安息日复临信徒医院的工作产生影响，可是怀爱伦勉言所阐明的基本原则仍是今日可靠而有效的指南。怀夫人深思熟虑地写道：“虽然我们的工作扩大了，机构增多了，可是上帝设立它们的旨意是不变的，其兴旺的条件也是不变的。”(《证言》卷六224页)
我们可以重申这些有关医疗工作的勉言的长期有效性。正如怀爱伦1909年在全球总会会议上所说：
“我蒙指示，早年所赐给我们的原则在今日是与当时一样重要的，而且应同样予以重视。”(《证言》卷九158页)
虽然环境的改变可能会对实行原则的方法作一些必要的调整，可是原则本身并没有改变。怀爱伦写到有关洛马林达新建之学校的工作曾明确指出：
“我们不能划出一条精确的路线让人们无条件地追随。会有新的环境和紧急情况发生，上帝会为此赐下特别的指示。可是只要我们着手工作，完全依靠上帝，儆醒祷告，行在祂所赐的亮光中，我们就不会停留在黑暗之中。”(《信函》1906年192号)
证言和圣经的意义
有些话的意义经过一段时间以后会有重大变化，可是只要我们仔细研究训言集所揭示的基本原则，就会明确作者的意图，并采取正确的做法。
研究怀爱伦健康勉言的人会注意到她经常反对药物的使用，提倡采用简单的疗法。一百年以前，和以后的许多年时间里，医师们所使用的疗法通常是我们现在所知道的烈性毒物。当时许多疾病的原因还没有弄清楚，细菌理论还没有确立，治疗通常只能针对症状而已。凡熟悉当年医学文献的人都知道当时死亡率高，平均寿命短，也知道医生们所用许多药物的性质，许多人的死因就是医生所开的药物。怀爱伦反对这种忽视生命行为的呼声不只是一种自己的声音，而是发自一颗体验圣灵启示的心。
仔细研究怀爱伦训言的人要避免误用关于药物的话。不要不分青红皂白地把对药物的指责，用于那些经过科学研究证实有效的药方。通过重新学习怀爱伦的论述，把各章节之间进行对照，我们会发现她所指的是那些“烈性的药物”“有毒的药物”和那些“对机体产生危害的药物”。见《信息选粹》卷二279—285页有关药物使用的论述。
我们发现怀爱伦在她生活的后期也学习使用药物，利用医学的真正研究成果。怀爱伦的立场既不极端也不狂热，而是与科学发现和这些发现的正确评估保持一致。我们会发现预言之灵关于健康的勉言重点在于预防，呼吁保护身体，培养简朴的生活习惯，利用人人可用的康复疗法。
医务人员在寻求明白疾病的原因和防治，以及如何将医疗工作，作为传扬第三位天使信息的“右臂”的时候，会发现这些神圣训言，警告和勉励是一种随时的帮助。
怀爱伦著作托管委员会
1962年11月1日于美国华盛顿
How to preserve and to improve health, how to prevent and to treat sickness, are truly living, vital problems in the medical world today. Never before in the history of the human family have these great questions received the earnest, intensive, scientific study and wide publicity that are being given them at the present hour. Medical science in all its ramifications has made marvelous progress during the last half century. It would require a volume to enumerate and explain the discoveries, the development, and achievement, that have been made in this great department of human interest and welfare. The knowledge that has been gained in the exhaustive study of these fundamental subjects has been given to the public in highly scientific and technical volumes, and in simpler form in books, magazines, newspapers, and lectures.?{MM v.1}[1]
This volume, entitled?Medical Ministry, is one more valuable contribution to the world’s needs in the domain of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. It is unique in its scope. It recognizes and commends the truly scientific in the causes and treatment of diseases. It places strong emphasis upon the observance of all that relates to the prevention of ailments. And still more, the writer of this volume recognizes that sin, the transgression of divine law, is the primary cause of disease, sickness, and death.?{MM v.2}[2]
Believing that the transgression of moral law leads to the disregard of physical and mental laws, the writer places very great importance upon obedience to moral law as one of the primary conditions necessary for perfect health. And obedience to moral law, it is urged, can be rendered only through the acceptance of, and union with, Christ, the redeemer of man ruined through transgression. Hence it is claimed that the perfect remedy for the ills of mankind is the combination, appreciation, and observance of the spiritual, the mental, and the physical laws of our being.?{MM v.3}[3]
It is this wide, all-inclusive scope of instruction set forth in?Medical Ministry?that commends it so highly to the public. This instruction is not technical. It can be understood by laymen. The requirements laid down for spiritual, mental, and physical?health and happiness are so rational that they can be complied with. That which relates to the prevention of sickness is of especial value; for, as an old adage tells us, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.?{MM v.4}[4]
The writer of this book, Mrs. E. G. White, devoted nearly seventy years of her very earnest, active life to the gospel ministry. In her youth she was an invalid. In her early married life she battled with a weak heart, with cancer, and with other ailments. At the age of thirty-six she experienced a great awakening on the subject of temperance as it relates to health, to physical and mental efficiency, and to Christian living. The rigid application of the knowledge gained regarding the laws of mind and body brought great relief and restoration to her, and from that time on to the close of her arduous labors, a period of nearly fifty years, she was an earnest exponent of the principles of health and temperance.?{MM vi.1}[5]
In 1865 Mrs. E. G. White made an appeal to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, of which she was a member, to establish a medical institution in which the sick should be given rational, drugless treatment for their ills, and also where they should be given instruction regarding the laws of health. In response, such an institution was established in Battle Creek, Michigan. This undertaking met with great success. The institution grew into large proportions, and for nearly a half century it has been favorably and widely known as the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Through subsequent years many similar sister sanitariums have been established in different parts of the United States and in many other countries of the world.?{MM vi.2}[6]
The Trustees of Mrs. White’s Estate, having found in her letters and manuscript files many documents heretofore unpublished which contain valuable instruction for physicians, nurses, sanitarium managers, helpers, gospel evangelists, and Christian workers, believe that this valuable counsel should be sent forth to the public. It is our sincere hope that this volume may prove a great blessing to its readers, and through them, to a great multitude to whom they may minister.?{MM vi.3}---A. G. Daniells[7]
【Preface to the Second Edition】
(Historical Background of the Ellen G. White Writings on Health)
The continuing demand for the Ellen G. White books calls for frequent reprinting, and occasionally for new editions also. This volume, issued initially in 1932, is now making its appearance in a second edition. Although the type face and size of page have been altered to bring it into conformity with the popular Christian Home Library size, the text is unchanged and the paging is in keeping with the former printing. Thus the new edition remains consistent with references in the?Comprehensive Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White.?{MM vii.1}[8]
Medical Ministry?was the first Ellen G. White book, compiled largely from unpublished sources, to be issued posthumously. Mrs. White’s instructions to her appointed Board of Trustees served as a guide in this work. In her authorization to the board, she provided “for the printing of compilations from my manuscripts.” She recognized that in the communications addressed to individuals and to institutions through the years, there were counsels which would be of service to the cause generally.?{MM vii.2}[9]
Medical Ministry?has taken its place with other books by the same author, and additional works on the subject of health have followed. Since this is but one link in a chain of books devoted to this important subject, it seems appropriate to review the history of the several Ellen G. White productions, both past and current, which deal with health principles and medical work. This will aid the reader in identifying various publications in print and out of print in this vital field.?{MM vii.3}[10]
Cautions were given to Ellen White in 1848 concerning the use of tobacco, tea, and coffee, and in 1854 light was imparted on the importance of cleanliness and the use of foods not highly refined or too rich. However, not until 1863 did she receive the first comprehensive vision concerning health reform. Of this she wrote, “It was at the house of Bro. A. Hilliard, at Otsego, Mich., June 6, 1863, that the great subject of health reform was opened before me in vision.”—The Review and Herald, October 8, 1867. In subsequent visions many details concerning this subject were presented to her, and these visions constituted the basis for the?more detailed writing relative to health and the conduct of the health work of the church.?{MM vii.4}[11]
(The Primary E. G. White Articles on Health)
The first general written presentation made by Mrs. White on the subject of health was in a chapter of thirty-two pages entitled “Health.” This appeared in?Spiritual Gifts?4a:120-151, in the summer of 1864. In this article she set forth in condensed form the great principles given to her in the vision of 1863. This material is available today in the facsimile reprint of the?Spiritual Gifts?volumes.?{MM viii.1}[12]
Recognizing somewhat the magnitude of the task of leading 3,500 Seventh-day Adventists to a full understanding of the health reform message, in 1865 James and Ellen White published six pamphlets entitled “Health, or How to Live.” Five of these pamphlets contained sixty-four pages, and one, eighty pages. In each was one article from the pen of Ellen G. White, running under the title, “Disease and its Causes.” Appearing with Mrs. White’s article was related material drawn from the writings of physicians and ministers, and articles especially prepared by James White and others for these pamphlets. Each was devoted to a fundamental health theme: diet, marriage and home life, the use of drugs, care of the sick and hygiene, child care and attire for children, and healthful dress. In 1899 and 1900, the six Ellen G. White messages were published as a series of continued articles in the?Review and Herald. In 1958 they were made available as a sixty-nine-page appendix in?Selected Messages, book 2.?{MM viii.2}[13]
In a more specialized area of early health counsel was the article entitled “An Appeal to Mothers.” This was printed in 1864 in a pamphlet by that title. In 1870 James White embodied this as an Ellen G. White contribution to the 270-page?Solemn Appeal Relative to Solitary Vice. Large portions of this article appear today in?Child Guidance?In the section entitled “Preserving Moral Integrity.” The same basic counsels are found in?Testimonies For The Church?2?and?Testimonies For The Church?5.?{MM viii.3}[14]
(Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 1890)
A volume entitled?Christian Temperance and Hygiene?Was published in 1890. The first portion,?Christian Temperance, was written by Ellen G. White and the second, on?Bible Hygiene, was compiled from the writings of James White. In the first 162 pages Mrs. White presented basic health principles in more popular and expanded form. Fifteen years later this formed the basis for the book?The Ministry of Healing. Also all or parts of nine of the eighteen chapters by Mrs. White in the 1890 book were reprinted in 1923 in?Counsels on Health?and?Fundamentals of Christian Education. The other chapters were closely paralleled in?The Ministry of Healing.?{MM viii.4}[15]
(Healthful Living, 1897)
In 1897, while Mrs. White was in Australia, Dr. David Paulson, then working at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, drew together from Mrs. White’s writings on health topics then available to him a large number of excerpts and paragraphs, assembling them in topical order. This collection, called?Healthful Living, appeared eight years before the publication of?The Ministry of Healing. The volume, 284 pages in length, became a valuable teaching aid, and at least three editions were printed. However, with the appearance of?The Ministry of Healing?in 1905,?The Paulson Compilation?was no longer published. Mrs. White was appreciative of this compiled volume, but of course it did not have the continuity which characterized her books.?{MM ix.1}[16]
(The Ministry of Healing, 1905)
Mrs. White’s well-rounded presentation on the subject of health is made in?The Ministry of Healing, a 516-page book which she intended for both Adventist and non-Adventist readers, in America and overseas. In preparing its forty-three chapters she drew heavily upon her materials in?Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, though she amplified and rewrote the material. At the time of Mrs. White’s death in 1915, this was her only available book on health.?{MM ix.2}[17]
(Counsels on Health, 1923)
The broad principles of healthful living had been set forth in?The Ministry of Healing. However, in Mrs. White’s articles which had appeared in the journals of the church, in?Testimonies?for the Church, and in certain out-of-print books, were many additional messages. These contained needed instruction regarding health principles, the conduct of Seventh-day Adventist institutions, and the promulgation of the health message. The materials were assembled by the White Trustees in?Counsels on Health, published in 1923. This 634-page volume, confined to matter which had appeared in print in one form or another, provided a volume of great service to the church and especially to medical personnel.?{MM ix.3}[18]
(Medical Ministry, 1932)
The promulgation of the health message was for fifty years a topic of major concern to Ellen White. She wrote more in the field of health than on any other single topic of counsel. Many of her manuscript documents, addressed to physicians, institutional managers, nurses, and sanitarium families embody counsels of vital importance. Copies of these were kept on file. Many of the counsels give direction to the medical work. Others, written at crucial times in the development of phases of our medical work, sound warnings. Some were messages written to save a worker faced with special peril. The instruction itself is timeless.?{MM x.1}[19]
This volume,?Medical Ministry, is primarily a selection of these counsels addressed to medical personnel and others connected with Seventh-day Adventist medical institutions. The counsels have been drawn together and published so that others might benefit from them. The preface was written by A. G. Daniells, for many years president of the General Conference and one of the trustees chosen by Mrs. White to care for her writings. When the book was first published, Elder Daniells was also chairman of the board of the College of Medical Evangelists.?{MM x.2}[20]
(Counsels on Diet and Foods, 1938)
In early 1926 Dr. H. M. Walton, then teaching in the field of nutrition at the College of Medical Evangelists, assembled Ellen G. White materials from published and unpublished sources relating to the subject of diet and foods. This material, prepared in collaboration with the White Trustees, was printed at Loma Linda for classroom use in a two-column, paperbound, 200-page work entitled?Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods.?The materials were topically arranged for ready reference. Eventually the value of a wider circulation of this material among Seventh-day Adventists was discerned. The White Trustees took these materials, dropped out certain items which were repetitious, and supplemented it with new materials from unpublished sources. They also added some sections, and brought out what has proved to be a most popular volume, the 500-page?Counsels on Diet and Foods. Its counsels, topically arranged and carefully indexed, make the combined Spirit of Prophecy statements on diet readily available for study.?{MM x.3}[21]
(Temperance, 1949)
The 300-page volume fittingly entitled?Temperance?sets before the church the full range of counsels drawn from all sources, published and unpublished, bearing on that topic. Three Ellen G. White temperance addresses appear as an appendix. This volume has become a handbook to temperance workers.?{MM xi.1}[22]
(Welfare Ministry, 1952)
The welfare work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church combines the health work with neighborly deeds of Christian service. In its 350 pages,?Welfare Ministry?Provides Ellen G. White’s counsels on these important phases of ministry. Mrs. White’s experiences as a welfare worker climax this volume. This, too, is a handbook in its field.?{MM xi.2}[23]
These five currently available volumes, together with portions of?Selected Messages,?book 2, present the full range of Ellen G. White counsels on the subject of health and the conduct of our health work.?{MM xi.3}[24]
(Counsels Vital for Today)
It is interesting to observe that a century has passed since the attention of Seventh-day Adventists was called to the subject of health through the visions given to Ellen G. White. These counsels have withstood the closest scrutiny of trained scientists. The findings of conservative research workers from day to day add confirmatory evidence to the scientific accuracy of the counsels.?{MM xi.4}[25]
When Mrs. White, a layman in the field of medical science, with a very limited education, began in the 1860’s to set forth?her views on health, it was natural that some would seek to associate her expositions with the writings of certain contemporary physicians. The suggestion on the part of a few that the opinions of those about her may have been the real inspiration for her writings in the health field, she answered frankly and simply, after referring to the vision of June 6, 1863:?{MM xi.5}[26]
“I did not read any works upon health until I had written ‘Spiritual Gifts,’ vols. III and IV, ‘Appeal to Mothers,’ and had sketched out most of my six articles in the six numbers of ‘How to Live.’ ...?{MM xii.1}[27]
“As I introduced the subject of health to friends where I labored in Michigan, New England, and in the state of New York, and spoke against drugs and flesh-meats, and in favor of water, pure air, and a proper diet, the reply was often made, ‘you speak very nearly the opinions taught in the “Laws of Life” and other publications, by Drs. Trall, Jackson, and others. Have you read that paper and those works?’ My reply was that I had not, neither should I read them till I had fully written out my views, lest it should be said that I had received my light upon the subject of health from physicians, and not from the Lord.”—The Review and Herald, Ocrober 8, 1867.?{MM xii.2}[28]
Again that year as she referred to her writings on the subject of health, she asserted:?“My views were written independent of books or the opinions of others.”—Ellen G. White?Manuscript 7, 1867.?{MM xii.3}[29]
Certain leading men in our ranks in 1864 commented upon this point in connection with the publication of her article in “An Appeal to Mothers.” Following her 29-page presentation, certain medical testimony was given. Between the Ellen G. White article and these statements by other writers, the trustees of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association inserted the following significant note:?{MM xii.4}[30]
“We have thought proper to add to the foregoing the following testimonies from men of high standing and authority in the medical world, corroborative of the views presented in the preceding pages. And in justice to the writer of those pages, we would say that she had read nothing from the authors here quoted, and had read no other works on this subject, previous to putting into our hands what she has written. She is not,?therefore, a copyist, although she has stated important truths to which men who are entitled to our highest confidence, have borne testimony.?TRUSTEES.”{MM xii.5}[31]
To those who suggested that Mrs. White’s writings reflected the conclusions of contemporary medical innovators, one need only observe the conflicting pronouncements of the times and ask, “How would an uninformed layman of that day know what to select and what to reject?” Few of the popular concepts of that day survive, yet Mrs. White’s counsels not only stand today, but are reinforced by the latest discoveries in clinic and laboratory.?{MM xiii.1}[32]
(Objectives and Conditions of Prosperity Unchanged)
Great advances have been made in the medical world since the death of Ellen White in 1915. While these advances have brought adjustments in the details of the practice of medicine, they have not outmoded the therapeutic value of “pure air, exercise, proper diet, the use of water,” and “trust in divine power,” which Ellen G. White enumerated as “the true remedies.” While modern methods of rapid diagnosis and treatment of disease have shortened the time patients must stay at a medical institution, and while this has its bearing on the operation of Seventh-day Adventist institutions, the basic principles set forth in the Ellen G. White counsels constitute a safe, workable guide today. Writing reflectively, Mrs. White declared:“As our work has extended and institutions have multiplied, God’s purpose in their establishment remains the same. The conditions of prosperity are unchanged.”—Testimonies for the Church 6, page 224.?{MM xiii.2}[33]
We can be reassured of the timelessness of these counsels in medical lines. As Mrs. White stood before the General Conference in session in 1909, she said:?{MM xiii.3}[34]
“I have been shown that the principles that were given us in the early days of the message are as important and should be regarded just as conscientiously today as they were then.”—Testimonies for the Church 9:158.?{MM xiii.4}[35]
Principle does not change, though changes in circumstances may make adjustment necessary in the application of some of the principles. Indeed, Ellen White wrote concerning the work at the newly established school in Loma Linda:?{MM xiii.5}[36]
“We cannot mark out a precise line to be followed?unconditionally. Circumstances and emergencies will arise for which the Lord must give special instruction, but if we begin to work, depending wholly upon the Lord, watching, praying, walking in harmony with the light He sends us, we shall not be left to walk in darkness.”—Ellen G. White?Letter 192, 1906.?{MM xiii.6}[37]
(The Testimonies and the Meaning of Words)
The significance of certain terms also may change materially over a period of years. However, a careful study of basic principles, as revealed through an accumulation of the counsels, makes clear the intent of the author and thus the proper course of action.?{MM xiv.1}[38]
The student of Ellen G. White’s health counsels is aware of the frequent condemnation of the use of drugs and the appeal for the employment of simple remedies. A hundred years ago, and for many years thereafter, the remedies employed by physicians were usually those which we know now to be potent poisons. Often the cause of the disease was not known. The germ theory was not yet well established, and treatments usually dealt with symptoms. Anyone familiar with the medical literature of the time is aware of the high mortality rate and of the short life expectancy. He is aware of the nature of many of the medications which were used by physicians. Many died as the result of the use of the drugs prescribed. [Note: for a documented picture illustrating this, see “Story of our Health Message,” Chapter 1, entitled “The Times of this Ignorance.”] The voice of Ellen White crying out against this disregard of life was not a lone voice, but she spoke from a heart which could feel and a mind enlightened by inspiration.?{MM xiv.2}[39]
The careful student will avoid misapplying the references to drugs. Never will he sweepingly apply the condemnation of drugs to tested remedial agencies made available through scientific research. He will find from a review of the Ellen G. White statements, putting line with line and precept with precept, that her references to “strong drugs” and “poisonous drugs” and the use of “medicines which ... leave behind injurious effects upon the system,” are qualifying factors which must be taken into account. See the assembled statements on the use of drugs in?Selected Messages 2:279-285.?{MM xiv.3}[40]
He will find that Mrs. White employed remedial agencies and took advantage of true advances in medical science during the?later years of her life. He will observe that her position was neither extreme nor fanatical, but rational and in keeping with scientific findings and a conservative appraisal of those findings. He will observe that through all the Spirit of Prophecy counsels on health, the emphasis is on preventive medicine. There is a call to guard the body, to cultivate simple habits of living, and to take advantage of the restorative agencies available to all.?{MM xiv.4}[41]
Medical personnel, as they seek to understand the prevention, cause, and treatment of disease, and as they seek to employ the medical work as the “right arm” of the third angel’s message, will find these counsels, warnings, and encouragements of divine origin to be a timely aid.?{MM xv.1}[42]
The Board of Trustees of the Ellen G. White Estate Washington, D.C.November 1, 1962.[43]
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