Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Charge Number 7

Mrs. White did not live up to her own health teachings, though she claimed to. Here is the proof in parallel columns, headed: EGWC 385.3

“MRS. WHITE DID NOT EAT MEAT”	“MRS. WHITE DID EAT MEAT” *
“I have a well-set table on all occasions. I make no change for visitors, whether believers or unbelievers.... No butter or flesh-meats of any kind come on my table.” Testimonies for the Church 2:487, written 1868.	“When I could not obtain the food I needed, I have sometimes eaten a little meat; but I am becoming more and more afraid of it.” E. G. WHITE in Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 18, (published 1890).

“In ‘Testimonies,’ Vol. 2, p. 485, in speaking of others who ate meat, she said: ‘These very ones have been completely backslidden. Meat and butter have been used by them quite freely.’ EGWC 385.4

“Question—If others who ate meat had backslidden, what about the prophetess herself, who confessed in the ‘testimony’ given above that she ate meat, and that too, after she positively said: ‘No butter or flesh meat of any kind come upon my table?’ ‘Consistency thou art a jewel.’” EGWC 385.5

We give, below, in parallel columns, the context of the two passages quoted so briefly in the charge: EGWC 386.1

“I have a well-set table on all occasions. I make no change for visitors, whether believers or unbelievers. I intend never to be surprised by an unreadiness to entertain at my table from one to half a dozen extra who may chance to come in. I have enough simple, healthful food ready to satisfy hunger and nourish the system. If any want more than this, they are at liberty to find it elsewhere. No butter or flesh-meats of any kind come on my table. Cake is seldom found there. I generally have an ample supply of fruits, good bread, and vegetables. Our table is always well patronized, and all who partake of the food do well, and improve upon it. All sit down with no epicurean appetite, and eat with a relish the bounties supplied by our Creator.”—Testimonies for the Church 2:487.

“The table should be abundantly supplied with food of the best quality. If any have a perverted taste that craves tea, coffee, condiments, and unhealthful dishes, enlighten them. Seek to arouse the conscience. Set before them the principles of the Bible upon hygiene. Where plenty of good milk and fruit can be obtained, there is rarely any excuse for eating animal food; it is not necessary to take the life of any of God’s creatures to supply our ordinary needs. In certain cases of illness or exhaustion it may be thought best to use some meat, but great care should be taken to secure the flesh of healthy animals. It has come to be a very serious question whether it is safe to use flesh-food at all in this age of the world. It would be better never to eat meat than to use the flesh of animals that are not healthy. When I could not obtain the food I needed, I have sometimes eaten a little meat; but I am becoming more and more afraid of it.”—Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 117, 118. (Also in Counsels on Diet and Foods, 394.)

Where is the conflict between these two passages? In the one Mrs. White is describing her “well-set table on all occasions” with generally “an ample supply of fruits, good bread, and vegetables.” In the other she explicitly states: “When I could not obtain the food I needed I have sometimes eaten a little meat.” Whether Mrs. White was here referring to instances when she was traveling abroad we do not know. But the facts are that just previous to the writing of this statement in Christian Temperance in 1890 she had done considerable traveling overseas, and as all who have traveled know, it is often very difficult, particularly in some lands, to secure adequate supplies of fruits and vegetables and good milk. EGWC 386.2