Manuscripts and Memories of Minneapolis

J. H. Kellogg to E. G. White, Apr. 21, 1892

J. H. Kellogg to E.G.W. Apr. 21, 1892
Board has taken action in that direction. Dr. Maxon and wife, I understand, have taken hold quite well with the work, and if they can only be induced to take a consistent and reasonable course and stay with the institution, I think they might be made to accomplish a great deal of good. By Eld. Haskell’s request I wrote Dr. Maxon a letter a few days ago, and inclose a copy herewith. The resolutions referred to are those passed by the General Conference Committee, in which they proposed to take charge of the Medical work as well as of the ministerial and missionary work in the denomination.

I am greatly encouraged by the position which Eld. Olsen is taking with reference to Health and Temperance work, and the influence of your recent letters to him and the General Conference Committee have had a powerful influence in placing things upon a better basis. Through the influence of these letters they were led to pass a series of resolutions, a copy of which I inclose, although you may have already seen them. These resolutions will place this branch of the work on the same footing with other branches of the work, and will give our workers a chance to do something. I hope to see more accomplished this next year than ever before. For many years it has seemed to me very cruel that our brethren, and especially our leading brethren, would not encourage and support this branch of the work as well as others, and if it had not been for your personal encouragement I am sure I should have despaired long ago about ever accomplishing anything in the way of advancing Health and Temperance principles among Seventh-day Adventists. But the work is getting well started, and there seems to be a good prospect for some substantial work to be done within the next year. It is planned now to hold a sort of health class at each local camp-meeting, doing nothing at the General Camp-meetings which are so crowded with business. It is hoped, however, that at these meetings the leading brethren will say something upon Health and Temperance principles which will encourage the people and give them more confidence and lead them to take a deeper interest in this branch of the work. MMM 187.1

I understand that Geo. Hare is about run out at Fresno and talks of going onto a farm. I quote the following paragraphs from a letter just received from Eld. D. T. Jones, and have no doubt the complaint is well founded, as the course which George took while here at the Sanitarium and also at Mt. Vernon, was such as to fully justify the charge: MMM 187.2

“Have heard directly from Geo. Hare’s work at Fresno. Brother A. W. Stanton of Montana, who is now in Walla Walla, spent the winter in Fresno for his own health and the health of his family. Geo. Hare was their physician. He says Geo. Hare is a regular trickster and he has no confidence in his word nor in his professional ability. But he has a very good opinion of John and thinks he might do well if he was away from George. Bro. Stanton is a man of good standing and good judgement. He felt relieved when I told him that G. H. was not endorsed by the General Conference.” MMM 187.3

I must not forget to thank you for your good counsel and the explicit Statement of your position on the subject of praying for the sick, etc. The position, as you state in your letter, is precisely as I have understood your position from previous correspondence and from what you have written in the Testimonies. It is wholly consistent with the position you have held for so many years. It seems to me your position will commend itself to the good sense and good judgement of all thinking people. But it is very different from the doctrine which has been taught by some of our brethren for the last few months. I hope the cautions you gave in your letter to the General Conference Committee, or to Eld. Olsen, which was read before the General Conference Committee, will have the effect to lead to a more consistent course of action, as not a little mischief has been done by the unwise course which has been pursued. Elders A. T. Jones and Prescott only a short time before Miss Affolter’s death challenged me to state whether I believed she was healed or not. I declined to express an opinion further than to say that I had seen no positive evidence that she was healed, but had seen many evidences that she was declining and did not believe she would live more than a few weeks They were horrified at my an belief. I have had no conversation with them since her death, but if their course is consistent with previous courses in similar cases, they will maintain that she was healed, but that in some way or other the disease got hold of her again and that she died in consequence. My own opinion is that the course pursued in her case hastened her death. Her cough never left her, although she endeavored to suppress it, and up to the very last day of her life she would not allow herself to expectorate, although her lungs must have been nearly consumed by decay, but resolutely swallowed the corruption so as to suppress this evidence of the disease. When teaching our children she would frequently be seized with coughing fits, but in her determination not to cough, would place her hand to her throat and choke herself until she was black in the face and frothed at the mouth. This was a common everyday occurrence; but instead of the truth being recognized, the brethren, and the leading brethren too, reported that she was having daily struggles with the Devil, in which the enemy seized her by the throat until black in the face and frothed at the mouth. Such things do not advance the cause of true religion or genuine faith. The funeral discourse preached by Eld. Bourdeau consisted of a painfully long drawn out apology for her death, the assertion being made that she had been healed and then an attempt made to explain why she died. It seems to me that when she was prayed for and apparently blessed—as I have no reason to doubt was the case—the mistake was in considering that the Lord had done everything and that there was nothing left for her to do. Instead of taking this course it seems to me she ought to have done everything possible to improve and build up her health. Instead of swallowing infectious matter which arose to her mouth, which ought to have been expectorated and disinfected, and instead of refusing to take any treatment, even inhalations to quiet the irritation which often kept her awake all night long, as she said “struggling with the Devil,” whereas it was simply suppressing a cough, she might have been cured providing it was the Lord’s will; and I do not know why so great a blessing as she seems to have received might not have been regarded as the Lord’s will for her to recover, and an encouragement to adopt such means as would be likely to favor her recovery. It does seem to me that this view, which I understand to be the one expressed in your letter, is a rational one, and I cannot see any possible harm likely to arise from such a position. MMM 187.4

Bro. A. T. Jones, when I presented before him what I believed to be your position, and read to him from the Testimonies, laughed and said, “If you should pray in that way for the sick, you would not know whether they were healed or not” which I very frankly admitted, upon which he and Prof. Prescott laughed long and loud, and repeated over and over to me, “If you should go with others to pray for a sick person and simply asked for the Lord’s will to be done, when you came away you could not tell, if you were asked, whether anything was done or not.” I admitted that I could not, which they thought was a very weak admission for a man who professed to be a Christian, and assured me that one who stood upon strictly Bible ground was permitted “to know.” I confess I felt somewhat stirred by what seemed to me such rank inconsistency and unreason, and did not hesitate to press them quite closely to tell me by what means they could know, as they were certain they could. Eld. Jones said “By faith,” but in when I pressed the matter upon him, and sited a number of cases to him in which he had prayed for persons, and he knew they were healed, and pronounced them healed, and assured them they were healed, the same individuals remained sick and were still sick weeks later. He finally admitted that he did not know, and he could not know because he could not tell whether the individual had faith or not to accept the blessing offered him. This was certainly sound and consistent. It seems to me we poor mortals cannot pry into the secrets of the Almighty quite so fully as some of our brethren seem to believe. I suggested to Bro. Jones that then he had prayed for a person and knew whether he was healed or not, he then became responsible for that person’s future, and if he encouraged him in discontinuing treatment on the ground that he was healed, and the individual died in consequence, he must allow that he should be held responsible for the bad advice. This led him to admit that he really had no means of knowing because everything depended on the faith of the individual, and as he said, “How can I read the sick man’s mind?” This is just the point. He cannot read it, neither can he read the Lord’s mind any more easily. Neither can he read the individual’s future, and thus the only safe thing to do is to do as you do—simply to leave the matter with the Lord. I am sure these good brethren, whose good work seems to be doing a great deal of good, must see this point sooner or later, and when they do see it I am sure they will not hesitate to receive it. They seem to feel that they have received some specially new light on this subject, which went beyond the light and instruction which you have had. Prof. Prescott expressed himself as having been especially enlightened, and referred to instances in which the Lord spoke to him in what seemed to be an audible voice; but I saw clearly that his experience was a bogus one, as what the voice told him did not turn out to be true but proved to be an error. For example, on one occasion the voice told him that if he would go to pray for a sick woman, she would be healed at once. He prayed for her, but she was not healed and is not well today. I saw her myself a few weeks afterward and she was still ill in the same way as before. Such an experience certainly does not bear the mark of the Divine finger. I do not place myself above any of these brethren, who I am sure are doing an excellent work in the cause, and who are doubtless better men than I, but I do think they are in error on this point, and have fallen into error in their efforts to attain to the highest good. Your letters, I hope, will place them right and save them from the sad results of continuing to pursue an extreme course which will certainly lead to catastrophes of the worst sort if pursued. MMM 188.1

I was sorry to learn that Miss Walling had not received her diploma. I ordered it sent to her a long time ago and it must have miscarried in some way. I have just signed another for her and will have it sent off by first mail, and trust she will get it. I am glad she is such a help to you. If I had known she was going to Australia with you, I would have had her begin a special course of instruction some time before she did so she could have gotten more instruction, although from the start we endeavored to give her special opportunities to become well trained. She has the qualifications to become an excellent nurse with sufficient experience, and I do not know of a person who could render you better service. MMM 189.1

Just at present we are having pretty hard times here, as we are having a great crowd of patients and are considerably diminished in medical help. But our students are getting on well at Ann Arbor. We have MMM 189.2