A Critique of the Book Prophetess of Health

One Statement and Its Historical Setting

The key statement employed to introduce the chapter which opens on page 160 is typical: CBPH 74.13

We bear positive testimony against tobacco, spirituous liquors, snuff, tea, coffee, flesh meats, butter, spices, rich cakes, mince pies, a large amount of salt, and all exciting substances used as articles of food.—Testimonies for the Church 3:21. CBPH 74.14

What is the background for this statement: ² James and Ellen White had attended the campmeetings in the Midwestern states in the summer of 1870. They found that the extreme positions taught by Dr. A. T. Trall in his articles in the Health Reformer calling for the discarding of milk, sugar, and salt, and seconded (in word, not in practice) by William C. Gage, the resident Battle Creek editor, created discouragement among the believers who were “conscientiously seeking to be in harmony with the body of Sabbathkeeping Adventists” (Testimonies for the Church 3:20). The problem of these extreme teachings, not countenanced by James and Ellen White, were accentuated in those states where there was little fruit. Ellen White asks, “If we take positions that conscientious Christians, who are indeed reformers, cannot adopt, how can we expect to benefit that class whom we can reach only from a health standpoint?” (Testimonies for the Church 3:20). CBPH 74.15

Referring to those teaching extreme views at Battle Creek who “advocate the entire disuse of milk, butter, and sugar, should,” she wrote, “have their own tables free from these things.” (Testimonies for the Church 3:19, 20). Then in a classic statement she declared, “In reforms we would better come one step short of the mark than to go one step beyond it. And if there is error at all, let it be on the side next to the people” (31 21). CBPH 75.1

After stating that the burden she and her husband carried in their presentation of dietetic advice as they traveled among the churches was not “salt, sugar, and milk” she set forth what their burden in their public presentations really was. She wrote: CBPH 75.2

In other words as they stood side by side in teaching health reform, this is what they were dealing with. It is altogether possible that the word “testimony” in this statement may be taken by the reader in a stronger sense than is justified by the circumstances of the biographical recital of what they as a team were doing in the field. In other words, by “testimony” she meant that they spoke out on these things. CBPH 75.4

An accurate portrayal of Ellen White as a Prophetess of Health should include the presentation of balanced counsels such as: CBPH 75.5

Let us never bear testimony against health reform by failing to use wholesome, palatable food in place of the harmful articles of diet that we have discarded.... A diet lacking in the proper elements of nutrition brings reproach upon the cause of health reform.—Counsels on Diet and Foods, 92. CBPH 75.6

To care for the body by providing for it food which is relishable and strengthening, is one of the first duties of the householder.—Counsels on Diet and Foods, 93. CBPH 75.7

God has furnished man with abundant means for the gratification of an unperverted appetite. He has spread before him the products of the earth,—a bountiful variety of food that is palatable to the taste and nutritious to the system. Of these our benevolent heavenly Father says we may freely eat. Fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk or cream, the most healthful diet. They impart nourishment to the body, and give a power of endurance and a vigor of intellect that are not produced by a stimulating diet.—Counsels on Diet and Foods, 92. CBPH 75.8

Cornell University’s long time professor of nutrition, Dr. Clive McCay, a non-Adventist, near the close of his active life declared: CBPH 75.9

When one reads such works by Mrs. White as Ministry of Healing or Counsels on Diet and Foods he is impressed by the correctness of her teachings in the light of modern nutritional science. One can only speculate how much better health the average American might enjoy even though he knew almost nothing of modern science, if he but followed the teachings of Mrs. White.—The Review and Herald, February 12, 1959, 136:24. CBPH 75.10

And he added: CBPH 75.11

In spite of the fact that the works of Mrs. White were written long before the advent of modern scientific nutrition, no better overall guide is available today.—The Review and Herald, February 26, 1959, 136:10, quoted in Medical Science and the Spirit of Prophesy, p. 30. CBPH 75.12

Prophetess of Health on p. 160 states: CBPH 75.13

To the typical Seventh-day Adventist in the 1860’s, health reform meant essentially a twice-a-day diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts. Since Ellen White’s vision on June 5, 1863, meat, eggs, butter, and cheese had joined alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee on her index of proscribed items. The discontinuance of these articles was as much a religious as a physiological duty. CBPH 75.14

Concerning Ellen White and dairy products, see later observations in this chapter. CBPH 75.15