Medical Ministry

3/387

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

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

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