The pioneers of the message had no fine, spacious buildings, or intricate printing presses, neither had they the attractive magazines, printed on deluxe paper, such as we have today. But in simple words, in clear and direct phrases, they preached the essential truths that our Lord had revealed to them.
One may see a striking example of this when he reads How to Live, a series of six pamphlets printed by the Steam Press of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association at Battle Creek, Michigan. This was issued in 1865 by James White in order to promulgate a wider knowledge of health reform. The six numbers were distributed widely, both in the form of individual pamphlets, and bound together in one volume. Later a few all too rare copies found their way into Switzerland. One of these is in my possession. It came into my hands through the good offices of Julius Robert, who for many years was the treasurer of our association in Europe.
The perusal of How to Live provides matter for deep thought. The volume is a sort of medical compilation composed from extracts written by doctors, as well as popularized articles likely to appeal to the uninitiated. Numerous quotations and excerpts abound, the origin of which is not always mentioned, as the compiler (Elder White) evidently had no scientific pretensions. He seems to have made a judicious choice of the information that carried the greatest value from a practical point of view, giving preference, of course, to authors preaching natural methods of treatment—hydrotherapy and dietetics.
As might be expected, these articles by miscellaneous authors contain many of the medical efforts that were current in those times. In a long chapter entitled "Diphtheria: Its Causes, Treatment, and Cure," there is little to retain and much to smile at. Dr. James C. Jackson, who had a private clinic, declares, with wholehearted conviction, that diphtheria is "not a contagious, nor an infectious disease, but only epidemic." And, to add to our amazement, he gives a strange description of the symptoms of the illness that he evidently confuses with the various nondiphtheric anginas and other throat troubles. In consequence, this permits him to assert that out of the many hundreds of cases that he has attended, he has not registered one single death. Today, even with the aid of vaccines and serums, no doctor would dare to boast of such a result. This is simply due to the fact that, in our times, the diagnosis of the malady is made by laboratory tests that no longer leave room for doubt between diphtheria and a host of other, lesser, evils.
We come now to Ellen G. White's contributions. Each pamphlet in How to Live contains an article by Mrs. White, classified under the heading, "Disease and Its Causes." It may seem strange that in the early days of medical science, when microbes were yet to be discovered, and other sciences were making but slow progress, anyone should pretend to be able to discover the cause of ill-health. The most eminent representative of the Faculte de Medecine of Paris was, himself, ready to admit that in those days he was incapable of prescribing for casual therapeutics, and unblushingly proclaimed himself an empiric. Nevertheless, the six articles written by Mrs. White in 1865 justify their title. She studies and denounces the real causes of ill-health, writing with extraordinary simplicity, clearness, and discernment. Not one single line, were it written today, would perturb the most exacting scientist. Other articles in How to Live contain not a few errors, due to the ignorance of the men of those days, but Mrs. White's presentation is absolutely sound.
One would like to review the entire six chapters, of which not one line could be spared. In chapter 3 she says: "The human family have brought upon themselves diseases of various forms by their own wrong habits."—How to Live, Pamphlet No. 3, p. 49. And in chapter I: "Man has disregarded the laws of his being, and disease has been steadily increasing. The cause has been followed by the effect. He has not been satisfied with food which was the most healthful ; but has gratified the taste even at the expense of health. God has established the laws of our being. If we violate these laws, we must, sooner or later, pay the penalty."—No. I, pp, 51, 52.
When we wish to fight an evil we must first find its cause. There is no surer way of discovering the reason for an illness than by searching among the transgressions of the psysiological laws governing the functions of the body. This feature, emphasized from the first in the E. G. White utterances, makes her writings on the subject of health stand out. It was also the secret of those who preached health reform during the fast century. Instead of merely trying to cure an illness, they first tried to eradicate its cause. This is the real mainspring of health reform. James White, in the preface, or introduction, expresses the fact clearly. He says: "In introducing to the public a series of pamphlets on health it is proper that we should distinctly state that we claim no skill to cure the sick. This is not our work. Our mission in this direction is to draw from personal experience, from the Word of God, and from the writings of able and experienced health reformers, facts for the common people, which we ardently hope may teach them how to preserve vital force, live healthily, save doctor's bills, and be better qualified to bear with cheerfulness the ills of his mortal life." —Page III.
Health reform, therefore, had a strong starting point, reposing on solid foundations. Theoretically, the results should be magnificent, but, in practice, what has been done?
Many have adopted our methods, have appreciated their value, and reaped their fruits. With these the grain has fallen on rich soil—one shoot has brought forth a hundred, another sixty, yet another thirty. Here again the parable of the sower is verified. (Matt. 13 :4-7.)
But there are those whom the teaching of health reform did not persuade. They remained indifferent to the fundamental truths that would have transformed and regenerated them if they had accepted them. These seeds had fallen by the wayside.
There were also those who accepted the reform with enthusiasm. They followed it scrupulously, perhaps exaggeratedly, without having seriously studied the question, only to abandon it little by little, and later turn against it. The seed had fallen where there was no deepness of soil.
And there were those who lacked perseverance, who allowed themselves to be checked by the inevitable difficulties one may meet in complying with the principles of health reform, and they, too, went their own way, not from lack of knowledge but from lack of faith. The grain had fallen among the thorns that grew up an choked them.
Happily, some seeds fell upon good ground. They are numerous and can be counted in their thousands, tens of thousands, and, perhaps, hundred of thousands— who knows? Many, whether they belong to our church or not, have benefited by the principles of health reform. Personally I have received many grateful messages from members belonging to divers European countries, stating the joys that have been theirs, and the results they have achieved by carrying out the sound precepts so closely set forth in Mrs. White's writings. And doubtless those of our workers who have practiced and preached health reform would be able to produce many other such testimonials.
To what degree has health reform been accepted by our church during the last century? It is difficult to say, and still more difficult to determine. One can certainly affirm, however, that it has not made the progress one might have expected, or received the welcome it deserves. In the Testimonies, Mrs. White herself writes: "The subject of health reform has been presented in the churches; but the light has not been heartily received."—Volume 6, p. 370.
On looking into the past, we find that we have reason to rejoice, as well as reason to be sad. We are grieved to think that the health message has had only a restricted part in proclaiming the truths that God has given us, and that the result of this negligence is to retard the advent of our Lord. However, we rejoice to find that the teachings of health reform are the same today as they were eighty years ago. This is the proof that they come not from man, but from God. We can also glory in the knowledge that those who have faithfully followed these teachings have proved their blessing, and are still, today, the living testimony of the good work that God can accomplish if only man conforms to the laws of his Creator.
