|
Biblical Dietary Restrictions
The Old Testament indicates that Adam's diet was restricted to "every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed". All that was said about animals and birds was that they had been given every green plant for food (Genesis 1:29-30). However, after the flood God Noah received specific permission to eat animals - "every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant" (Genesis 9:3 NASB) - possibly because the earth was less productive for some time after the flood. .
However, later on, God banned eating fat or blood (Leviticus 7) and made a distinction between clean and unclean foods (Leviticus 11) apart from which there were few food regulations. In the New Testament however, Paul said "... everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; (1 Timothy 4:1-4 NASB). And one person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. (Romans 14:2)
This does not mean that when God labeled certain foods 'unclean', He did not have very good reason for doing so. Many of the unclean animals, including pigs and shellfish were scavengers that cleaned up their immediate environment and were therefore not that suitable for consumption. While the New Testament clearly teaches that we are not judged on our choice of food (Colossians 2:16), there is evidence that the Old Testament list of clean and unclean foods may actually be very sensible.
While it may be very wise to follow God's Old Testament dietary principles - the "light" of health reform that Ellen White claimed God had given her went way beyond Old Testament restrictions. She claimed that her teachings on health reform cannot be separated from "true" religion and was given by God for our salvation. However, not only do most of these teachings find absolutely no basis in the Bible, but she often either contradicted herself, or taught one thing and did another. Either this was pure unmitigated hypocrisy, or she was a very confused woman. Unfortunately, she did exactly the same thing when it came to other non-dietary subjects like photography, wearing of jewelry, tithing etc. (Next Chapter)
Ellen White's Health Reform
Ellen White was not exactly ahead of her time when it came to the dos and don'ts of the human diet. Apart from several contemporary books on what, at the time, was considered healthy eating, Joseph Smith, the Mormon 'prophet' had already, some 2-3 decades earlier, forbidden tobacco, alcohol and coffee and tea and endorsed fruit and grain, and said meat was to be used sparingly. [01]
Some years before the Whites even met Joseph Bates, a retired sea captain who is often called "The Real Founder Of Seventh Day Adventism", he had eschewed tobacco, alcohol, butter, cheese, greasy foods, and rich pastries etc. He was, in fact, the first Adventist health reformer. Bates was also involved in several social reforms, including temperance and antislavery.
However, Ellen White claimed that it was God who, in a vision, gave her health reform principles. In her words...
It was at the house of Brother A. Hilliard, at Otsego, Michigan, June 6, 1863, That the great subject of health Reform was opened before me in vision. [02]
When health reform was first brought to our notice, about thirty-five years ago, the light presented to me was contained in this Scripture, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” [03]
The Modern SDA Diet Does Not Take Into Account Everything Ellen White Said
So, inspired by Ellen White, Seventh Day Adventists have followed a very health conscious diet for many years. The site adventist.org says they "believe God calls us to care for our bodies, treating them with the respect a divine creation deserves" - a statement I could not agree with more. They go on to say
"Exercise and avoidance of harmful substances such as tobacco, alcohol and mind-altering substances lead to clear minds and wise choices. A well-balanced vegetarian diet that avoids the consumption of meat coupled with intake of legumes, whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables, along with a source of vitamin B12, will promote vigorous health." [04]
However, they also say "The Seventh-day Adventist Church recognizes the autonomy of each individual and his or her God-given power of choice" and that "rather than mandating standards of behavior, "they call upon one another to live as positive examples of God's love and care."
While the diet of many, if not most, Seventh Day Adventists is both sensible and commendable, it is not exactly what Ellen White taught. To begin with, she claimed that "true religion" and health laws cannot be separated,
True religion and the laws of health go hand in hand. It is impossible to work for the salvation of men and women without presenting to them the need of breaking away from sinful gratifications, which destroy the health, debase the soul, and prevent divine truth from impressing the mind... Many of these (men and women) are in great distress because they know not the truth in regard to these things. They are perishing for lack of knowledge. [05]
It is a religious duty for every Christian girl and woman to learn at once to make good, sweet, light bread from unbolted wheat flour. [06]
At our camp-meetings I spoke on Sunday afternoons, and I proclaimed the message of temperance in eating, drinking, and dressing. This was the message I bore for years before I left for Australia. But there were those who did not come up to the light God had given. There were those in attendance at our camp-meetings who ate and drank improperly. Their diet was not in harmony with the light God had given, and it was impossible for them to appreciate the truth in its sacred, holy bearing. [07]
In 1902 she wrote
Every one who transgresses the laws of health will surely be visited with God's displeasure. Oh, how much of the Holy Spirit we might have day by day, if we would walk circumspectly, denying self, and practising the virtues of Christ's character! [08]
However, she went even further, stating that God's light on health reform is for our salvation, and because all sickness is a result of transgressing God's laws, it is a sin to be sick...
The light God has given on health reform is for our salvation and the salvation of the world.... The Lord has been sending us line upon line, and if we reject these principles, we are not rejecting the messenger who teaches them, but the One who has given us the principles. [09]
It is a sin to be sick, for all sickness is the result of transgression. [10]
(Please note that the context of this quote is health reform - the article begins with the words "The circulation of our health publications is a most important work")
The following very perturbing statement, literally says that those who transgress physical laws are guilty of sin so serious that the punishment is death.
The blessing that God gives as the result of obedience to the laws of health, is a healing power, a balm for many of the evils that are cursing the world today. Satan's strongest hold on man is through disobedience to these laws.... We are living in a most solemn, awful moment of this earth's history. Not a soul whose life is one of careless self-degradation, through transgression of physical laws, will stand in the great day of trial just before us. There is a terrible account to be rendered to God by those who have but little regard for the human body, and treat it ruthlessly. Transgression of God's law is sin, and the punishment is death. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” [11]
Speaking of a married lady who did not think it "necessary to change her wrong habits of diet for healthful practices", Ellen White wrote that if she did not change her table habits, her conversion was only partial.
We are very sorry that the converting power of God has not reached this sister's table habits, because all connected with her will feel the influence of this half conversion [12]
Note: This in spite of the fact that the Messiah said "Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. (Matthew 15:17-19 NASB)
But that was far from all. She also taught that,
Eating And Drinking Are The Sins That Condemn This Age.
Finally, in EW's words... (Note: The context is the drinking of cider)
The world's Redeemer, who knows well the state of society in the last days, represents eating and drinking as the sins that condemn this age. He tells us that as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when the Son of Man is revealed. "They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away.” Just such a state of things will exist in the last days, and those who believe these warnings will use the utmost caution not to take a course that will bring them under condemnation. [13]
She also said
There is in itself no sin in eating and drinking, or in marrying and giving in marriage. It was lawful to marry in the time of Noah, and it is lawful to marry now, if that which is lawful is properly treated, and not carried to sinful excess. But in the days of Noah, men married without consulting God, or seeking his guidance and counsel. So it is at the present day; marriage ceremonies are made matters of display, extravagance, and self-indulgence... There are many who are losing their souls in this age of the world, by becoming absorbed in the thoughts of marriage, and in the marriage relation itself. [14]
When Christ said "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:37, Luke 17:26), there is no question that He was specifically teaching that the days of Noah and the days of the Son of Man parallel each other. In other words, in the days immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ, we should expect to find conditions similar to those that existed just before the flood.
Ether she had zero knowledge of what conditions Jesus was referring to, or she was once again picking and choosing from the Scriptures in order to prove a point. To suggest that it is eating and drinking, or marrying without God's consent that will "condemn this age" is ludicrous in the extreme. That the people of Noah's day were occupied with the things of this world simply shows that they were completely unaware of the impending doom that was to come on them. This situation will be replicated in the last days when people will be so involved in their own life and pleasures that they will be totally oblivious to the fact that the wrath of the Lord is about to hit this planet.
Genesis 6:5-7 cannot be separated from the first four verses. Taken together, they tell us exactly what the conditions were that brought down the wrath of God.
Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:1-4 NASB)
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." (Genesis 6:5-7 NASB)
There is a great deal of controversy among Bible scholars as to the exact nature of the events described in these verses. However, like much of the modern church, the person that supposedly spoke with "prophetic authority", assumed that the sons of God were the descendants of Cain, and the 'the daughters of men' the descendants of Seth (See Previous Chapter).
Considering the days we live in and the fact that the Messiah Himself warned us the days of Noah and the days of the Son of Man parallel each other, spouting someone else's pet (and inaccurate) theories about the situation described in Genesis 6 will mean we are not forewarned thus not forearmed. See Days of Noah.
Seventh-day Adventists Cannot Have It Both Ways
In today's world, we know that a good diet certainly makes a huge difference to both the quality and length of our lives. However, we also know that, regardless of how well we eat and look after God's temple, numerous diseases assault and even kill us.
The question here is whether Ellen White was a prophet of God or not. If she was, then every single one of her statements above are to be taken seriously. The early Adventist church correctly came to the conclusion that if her message emanated from the Divine mind, then they were under obligation to abide by her teaching.. According to text.egwwritings.org, (All Emphasis Added)
In 1855, "a committee of three was delegated to report back to a gathering of leaders in Battle Creek on the topic of how the Seventh-day Adventist Church was to relate to the prophetic ministry of Ellen White. Their report, which was unanimously approved, said, in part because Seventh Day Adventists regarded Ellen White's messages " as emanating from the divine mind" they had to "confess the inconsistency" (which they believed was displeasing to God) of....
"... professedly regarding them as messages from God, and really putting them on a level with the inventions of men. We fear that this has resulted from an unwillingness to bear the reproach of Christ ... While we regard them as coming from God, and entirely harmonizing with His written Word, we must acknowledge ourselves under obligation to abide by their teaching, and be corrected by their admonitions. To say that they are of God, and yet we will not be tested by them, is to say that God's will is not a test or rule for Christians.” [15]
Yet Modern Seventh Day Adventists follow some, but certainly not all, of EW's instructions regarding health reform.
Somehow I doubt that they believe that if by not treating their body right, people are transgressing God's laws for which the punishment is death? Or that anyone who does not follow health reform is only half converted. Much less that God is displeased when we trust in or call on earthly physicians which Ellen White said was shown her in a vision. [16] As seventhdayadventist.com says, although "unclean meats are seldom consumed by them, "some SDA Members do eat clean meats including chicken, turkey, beef, fish, venison, lamb, and goat-among others." [17]
Yet, the SDA church believes Ellen White to be a prophetess and that her "writings speak with prophetic authority and provide comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction to the church. [18]. Isn't it hypocritical then not to follow all her teachings?
Quite simply, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot pick and choose which of God's instructions you will follow and which you will not. As EW also said
In other words, If Ellen White was a genuine prophet of the Lord, then her words are not merely dietary advice. Take tea and coffee for example.
Tea and Coffee
The Adventist Review says that More than 100 years ago Adventists were advised by church co-founder Ellen G. White to avoid caffeine, [20] which is not exactly accurate.
According to whiteestate.org, Tea and Coffee were shown to be "slow poisons" in Ellen White's 1863 vision [21]. She repeated these exact words in her Counsels on Diet and Foods [22]and, outlined the problems these beverages supposedly cause. She said "Coffee is a hurtful indulgence" that permanently lessens the "activity of the brain" and is antagonizing to spiritual progress. [23] Also
When these tea and coffee users meet together for social entertainment, the effects of their pernicious habit are manifest. All partake freely of the favorite beverages, and as the stimulating influence is felt, their tongues are loosened, and they begin the wicked work of talking against others. [24]
The following quote is from an 1868 letter written to 'Brother and Sister H' about Flesh Meats and Other Stimulants.
To a certain extent, tea produces intoxication. It enters into the circulation and gradually impairs the energy of body and mind...Tea draws upon the strength of the nerves and leaves them greatly weakened. When its influence is gone and the increased action caused by its use is abated, then what is the result? Languor and debility corresponding to the artificial vivacity the tea imparted... Tea is poisonous to the system. Christians should let it alone... [25]
There is no question that caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, and can make a person jittery, cause headaches, make it hard to fall asleep and even cause the heart to beat faster. However, recent evidence points to the fact that the antioxidants in black tea can help protect cells from DNA damage, and that long-term use may also lower a person's risk for diabetes, high cholesterol, kidney stones etc.
Now either God was wrong or Ellen White was not a prophetess .
There is no question that we can argue the pros and cons of tea and coffee up one side and down the other. However, the problem here is that Ellen White did not 'advise' Adventists to refrain from tea and coffee, but said it was a sin that injures the soul. On December 4, 1896, she wrote that
Tea and coffee drinking is a sin, an injurious indulgence, which, like other evils, injures the soul. [26]
This means that every time we put a cup of tea of coffee to our lips we commit a sin. But, although these were her words, it doesn't seem that she completely believed them...
In 1875, she wrote
Tea, coffee, and flesh meats produce an immediate effect. Under the influence of these poisons the nervous system is excited, and in some cases, for the time being, the intellect seems to be invigorated and the imagination to be more vivid. [27]
Yet, in a letter dated May 25, 1876, written to her son Willie and his wife Mary from a hotel in Kansas City, she said
Our lunch kept well. We have now two loaves of bread, the buns and brown loaf and fruit cake, oranges and lemons and jelly, butter and cheese. But all these will go well at camp meeting. We have some cherries left. We have eaten all we wanted, and yet we have most of the meat. We have had nothing spoil on our hands. All has kept. Porters have waited on us getting tea, and milk when we wanted it. [28]
While tea and coffee are to be avoided, sugar, one of the most harmful substances in our daily diet was apparently okay...
Sugar
In 1896 EW wrote that the only nourishment contained in tea and coffee was the milk and sugar in them.
These beverages have no nourishment whatever in themselves. The milk and sugar it contains constitute all the nourishment afforded by a cup of tea or coffee. [29]
She couldn't have been more wrong. We now know that table sugar contains no nutritional benefit and neither did the refined sugar produced and sold as 'sugar loafs' until the late 19th century. Much to the contrary, sugar can and does take a devastating toll on a person's health. Which is why the following really surprises me especially in view of the SDA belief that God calls us to care for our bodies, treating them with the respect a divine creation deserves.
The Pacific Union Recorder is the free monthly news magazine of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Pacific Southwest. The magazine that calls itself the "official journal" of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh Day Adventists has a circulation of approximately 80,000 homes in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. [30]
The cover page of the October 2010 issue featured a Karen Hensley, a licensed vocational nurse who had passed out medicine in Sierra Transitional Care Unit 6 for several years but "is best known for her snack cart, which she stocks out of her own pocket". Karen Hensley is pictured with three or four jars of candy and a bowl of cookies.
Butter and Eggs
In 1864 Ellen While wrote of the White family's acceptance of the health reform principles:
We use no lard, but in its place, milk, cream, and some butter. [31]
People who are trying to get across their point of view will almost always cherry pick bits and pieces that are favorable to them - be it from the Scripture or anywhere else. As seen in the previous chapter, Ellen White condemned those who did so but had no compunction in using the same strategy. The quote above is from an article written by EW's grandson, Arthur L. White, entitled Ellen G. White and The Use of "Fat" and "Free Fat".
However, in it, Arthur White refers to four of Ellen White's statements to show that "she did not condemn the use of butter, but counseled against its free use". Unfortunately, he neglected to mention the times she made extremely strong statements against butter. For example,
In a message delivered in Battle Creek, March 6, 1869, Ellen White also taught that your prayers for your children were not heard if you served them with butter, eggs, and meat - This in spite of the fact that Jesus considered eggs a "good gift" for children. (Luke 11:12,13) It is true that in many places, EW said eggs should not be given to children with "sensual habits" (whatever that means), but to say your prayers were not heard...
You place upon your tables butter, eggs, and meat, and your children partake of them. They are fed with the very things that will excite their animal passions, and then you come to meeting and ask God to bless and save your children. How high do your prayers go? You have a work to do first. When you have done all for your children which God has left for you to do, then you can with confidence claim the special help that God has promised to give you. [32]
Less than three months later on May 25, 1869, Ellen White wrote rather a sharp letter to her son Edson, who she was apparently anxious about. Much of her concern seemed to be centered around his diet. She wrote that she hoped he would not "neglect the great salvation" dearly purchased for him by the Son of God, and that he would show "true principle" now that he was away from them. She also wrote
We have advised you not to eat butter or meat. We have not had it on our table. I should hope you would feel that we had advised you for your good and not to deprive you of these things because of any notions of our own... All know that we do not put butter on our table. If they see you, our son, eat the things we have condemned, you weaken our influence and lower yourself in their estimation... Will you dishonor us or honor us by regarding the instructions we have borne from the mouth of the Lord to His people and to you? [33]
In 1872 She wrote
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. [34]
Twelve years later in 1884, Ellen White spent some time at the St. Helena Health Retreat and, on her return, made this rather confusing statement.
Then I resolved to change entirely, and not to eat meat under any circumstances, and thus encourage this appetite. Not a morsel of meat or butter has been on my table since I returned. [35]
However, a decade later, in a letter dated June 6, 1895, she reported:
We have a large family, and besides have many guests, but neither meat nor butter is placed upon our table. We use the cream from the milk of the cows which we feed ourselves. We purchase butter for cooking purposes from dairies where the cows are in healthy condition, and have good pasture. [36]
I am not sure how butter "for cooking purposes" is different from butter placed on the table but, in any case, doesn't this violate her instruction to "keep grease out of your food" because it "defiles" it. See "grease" below.
Remember that in her 1869 letter to her son Edson she said they were strictly following the light the Lord had given them in dietary matters and that they had "condemned" meat and butter. Apparently, by the turn of the century the Lord had changed his mind. In a letter dated May 29, 1901 and addressed to a "Brother and Sister Kress", Ellen White wrote...
But for yourself, you should occasionally use a little butter on cold bread, if this will make the food more appetizing... [37]
Which was followed by another letter to the same couple - written about three and a half years later in 1904. In it she said
I do not eat butter, but there are members of my family who do. It is not placed on my table; but I make no disturbance because some members of my family choose to eat it occasionally. Many of our conscientious brethren have butter on their tables, and I feel under no obligation to force them to do otherwise. These things should never be allowed to cause disturbance among brethren. I cannot see the need of butter, where there is an abundance of fruit and of sterilized cream. Those who love and serve God should be allowed to follow their own convictions. [38]
This was a complete turn around from when she asked Edson if he would "dishonor" them by disregarding the instructions she had "borne from the mouth of the Lord to His people" and to him.
We see exactly the same waffling when it came to cheese.
Cheese
In article in the Review and Herald dated July 19, 1870, Ellen White said cheese should never be introduced into the stomach
When we commenced the camp-meeting in Nora, Ill., I felt it my duty to make some remarks in reference to their eating. I related the unfortunate experience of some at Marion, and told them I charged it to unnecessary preparations made for the meeting, and also eating the unnecessary preparations while at the meeting. Some brought cheese to the meeting, and ate it; although new, it was altogether too strong for the stomach, and should never be introduced into it. [39]
In a letter dated November 12, 1873, she wrote
We never think of making cheese an article of diet, much less of buying it. [40]
In another letter dated July 1874, and addressed to a brother and sister Abbey, Ellen White chastised them for allowing meat and cheese in their diet
Sister Abbey has gone entirely contrary to the light God has given upon her diet and Lillie’s diet... You have not, Brother and Sister Abbey, adapted yourselves to health reform intelligently from principle. You have eaten both your cheese and meat, and you have realized the result in your own bodies. The system has been clogged and the blood made impure. [41]
Two years later on May 24, 1876, in a letter addressed to "Dear Children", she spoke of eating a "little cheese" i
I have enjoyed my breakfast this morning. Food good. I have eaten no cake, but little cheese, but little [word illegible]. Love the brown bread; brown turnovers turned out their inward treasury in the oven, leaving nothing but crust for us. But we have plenty that is good beside this. [42]
The very next day, in a letter dated May 25, 1876 (previously cited) she wrote to her son Willie and his wife Mary from a hotel in Kansas City, telling them of how well their meat and cheese had kept and how the porters at the hotel brought them tea.
Our lunch kept well. We have now two loaves of bread, the buns and brown loaf and fruit cake, oranges and lemons and jelly, butter and cheese. But all these will go well at camp meeting. We have some cherries left. We have eaten all we wanted, and yet we have most of the meat. We have had nothing spoil on our hands. All has kept. Porters have waited on us getting tea, and milk when we wanted it. [43]
Yet in 1901, she vehemently denied ever having cheese on her table and ever having tea in her house or setting it before anyone. [44] But I guess that's true. She didn't have cheese on her table - they apparently ate most of it on the train to Kansas. Nor did they necessarily have tea in their house - they were served it at the hotel..
Grease
Ellen White also disagreed with the use of grease, claiming that it "defiled" the food.
Sister H is a woman whose blood is corrupt. Her system is full of scrofulous humors from the eating of flesh meats. The use of swine's flesh in your family has imparted a bad quality of blood. Sister H needs to confine herself strictly to a diet of grains, fruits, and vegetables, cooked without flesh or grease of any kind.... Food should be prepared with simplicity, yet with a nicety which will invite the appetite. You should keep grease out of your food. It defiles any preparation of food you may make. [45]
Spices
According to Ellen White
Spices at first irritate the tender coating of the stomach, but finally destroy the natural sensitiveness of this delicate membrane. The blood becomes fevered, the animal propensities are aroused, while the moral and intellectual powers are weakened, and become servants to the baser passions. The mother should study to set a simple yet nutritious diet before her family.
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. [46]
Spices are nothing but aromatic or pungent vegetable substances, i.e. the seed, fruit, root, bark, berry or bud primarily used for flavoring, coloring or preserving food. In other words, they are "products of the earth" - some of God's "abundant means".
Besides which, we now know that many spices can be quite beneficial. Turmeric, for example, is a very powerful antioxidant with anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. It is being investigated for its potential benefits for those with Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis and cancer. Although EW somewhere mentions cinnamon in a bad light, in recent years it has been shown to, among other benefits, reduce inflammation, lower blood sugar and blood triglyceride levels. The list is endless.
Yet, according to Ellen White, "fiery spices" produce a condition in the stomach similar to someone "who is addicted to strong drink". And worse, she goes on to say that this leads to other addictions...
"You have perhaps seen a picture of the stomach of one who is addicted to strong drink. A similar condition is produced under the irritating influence of fiery spices. With the stomach in such a state, there is a craving for something more to meet the demands of the appetite, something stronger, and still stronger. Next you find your sons out on the street learning to smoke".
The use of tobacco then "excites a thirst for strong drink, and in very many cases lays the foundation for the liquor habit." [47]
In other words, you stand a good chance of becoming an alcoholic by eating cinnamon. I am being facetious here, but have to wonder how anyone could be more wrong?
Meat Eating
While the subject can be argued for the next century, I personally believe that there are benefits to substituting healthy grains, nuts, fruit and vegetable for most of the meat in our diets. An article in the LA Times entitled Why Loma Linda Residents Live Longer Than The Rest Of Us highlights their eating and lifestyle habits that all of us would be wise to emulate - at least to large extent.
However, Ellen White initially claimed that in her 1863 vision, God had graciously given her the true light and showed her "the injury men and women were doing to the mental, moral, and physical faculties by the use of flesh meat" and that she at once cut meat out of her "bill of fare" [48] In line with this, some years later she claimed that meat is a poison that hinders prayer and deranges the system.
However, by the time a couple of decades had passed, she seemed to have backed off from this extreme position claiming that she never felt that it was her duty to make "sweeping assertions" that no one should ever eat meat. A statement that she apparently forgot she made when, just a few years later, she came back with stronger than ever declarations against meat eating.
1) Meat is a Poison That Hinders Prayer
Remember that on March 6, 1869, in a message delivered in Battle Creek, Ellen White taught that your prayers for your children were not heard if you served them with butter, eggs, and meat that would excite their animal passions. [49]
She also wrote to a brother and sister H (apparently in 1868) that "Meat eating deranges the system, beclouds the intellect, and blunts the moral sensibilities. We say to you, dear brother and sister, your safest course is to let meat alone" [50]
In 1875, she wrote that, under the influence of poisons like tea, coffee, and flesh meats, "the nervous system is excited, and in some cases, for the time being, the intellect seems to be invigorated and the imagination to be more vivid" [51]
2) Meat Should Not Be Discarded By Every One
On May 31, 1894 in "Words to Students" Ellen White wrote
A meat diet is not the most wholesome of diets, and yet I would take the position that meat should not be discarded by every one. Those who have feeble digestive organs can often use meat, when they cannot eat vegetables, fruit, or porridge. [52]
The next year, in 1895, she made the following statement in a letter written from Australia to Elder A. O. Tait
"I have never felt that it was my duty to say that no one should taste of meat under any circumstances. To say this . . . would be carrying matters to extremes. I have never felt that it was my duty to make sweeping assertions. What I have said I have said under a sense of duty, but I have been guarded in my statements, because I did not want to give occasion for anyone to be conscience for another" [53]
In this same letter, EW went on to say that the statement in "Words to Students" was incorrect and that the sentence should be modified to "yet I would not take the position that meat be wholly discarded by everyone,” for instance, by those dying of consumption". [54]
3) God's People Must Take A Firm Stand Against Meat Eating
However, a few years later in 1902, there was no evidence of "guarded" statements. In a letter written from Elmshaven and dated March 19, she said "a firm stand" had to be taken against meat eating, and that this counsel came from the Father Himself. (Note this was written after many years of preaching against meat on the one hand, and eating it on the other)
We are to give careful attention to our diet. It has been clearly presented to me that God's people are to take a firm stand against meat eating. Would God for thirty years give His people the message that if they desire to have pure blood and clear minds, they must give up the use of flesh meat, if He did not want them to heed this message? [55]
In 1902 Ellen White also wrote
Those who use flesh-meat disregard all the warnings that God has given concerning this question. They have no evidence that they are walking in safe paths. They have not the slightest excuse for eating the flesh of dead animals. God's curse is resting upon the animal creation. [56]
The next year, in 1903, she wrote that all meat (not only pork) was harmful to body and soul.
Vegetables, fruits, and grains should compose our diet. Not an ounce of flesh meat should enter our stomachs. The eating of flesh is unnatural. We are to return to God's original purpose in the creation of man. Is it not time that all should aim to dispense with flesh foods? How can those who are seeking to become pure, refined, and holy, that they may have the companionship of heavenly angels, continue to use as food anything that has so harmful an effect on soul and body? [57]
So Which Is It?
Now either meat eating is harmful to body and soul and we cannot eat it should we seek to "become pure, refined, and holy" OR it is just not a very wholesome diet. There is a huge difference between the two assertions.
In any case, as Ellen White herself acknowledged, the only burden lain upon the Gentiles was that they abstained "from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication" and if they did those things, they would do well. (Acts 15:28-29)
The Gentile converts, however, were to give up customs inconsistent with Christianity. They were to stay away from foods offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood. They were to keep the commandments and lead holy lives. [58]
Meat Eating In The Bible
If we need to dispense with flesh food in order to become pure and holy and have "the companionship of heavenly angels" as EW taught, one has to ask why,
According to Genesis 18:8, when the Lord Himself visited Abraham along with two other heavenly Beings, Abraham served them butter, milk, and beef.
When Adam and his sons were consecrated, why were they commanded to eat the flesh of the ram that was so holy that a layman could not partake of it (Exodus 29:32-33 NASB) Would God really have knowingly endangered the health of His high priests?
According to 1 Kings 17:6, the ravens fed Elijah with bread and meat twice a day? Couldn't they have fed him with grapes and potatoes instead?
Lamb was an integral part of the traditional Passover meal that was instituted by God and celebrated through Jewish history. Jesus Himself observed Passover with His disciples.
The Lord clearly said "If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever you desire. (Deuteronomy 12:21 NASB)
All of which, makes one wonder where Ellen White came up with the idea that "Upon their settlement in Canaan, the Israelites were permitted the use of animal food, but under careful restrictions, which tended to lessen the evil results". [59].
Remember that she claimed that in a vision in given her by the Lord in 1863, she was shown that meat was injurious (below). Yet, according to the Bible, meat is considered one of the "blessings" of the Lord,
However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the deer. (Deuteronomy 12:15 NASB)
Was the Lord contradicting Himself, or was His supposed revelation to Ellen White a figment of her imagination?
Perhaps Paul has the answer.
Deceitful Spirits
In his letter to Timothy, he severely warned against false teachers who profess to teach the Bible and lead others to holiness, but are, in actuality, hypocrites that speak lies, two of which are forbidding to marry and to abstain from meats.
(1) But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons , (2) by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, (3) men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. (4) For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; (1 Timothy 4:1-4 NASB)
What is extremely interesting is that Ellen White quoted the first two verse several times but never ever quoted verses 3 and 4. Why? The answer is obvious... In those verses Paul said that deceitful spirits would "advocate abstaining from foods"
Paul also made some other pretty emphatic statements about food and drink..
One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:2-4 NASB)
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17 NASB)
no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink ... If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? (Colossians 2:16, 20-22 NASB)
In the New Testament, some of the Pharisees who had come to believe in Christ, stood up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses." (Acts 15:5 NASB) To which Peter replied
"Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. "And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. "Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (Acts 15:7-10 NASB)
Daniel - Meat and Wine
In 1898, Ellen White wrote that Daniel and his companions
decided that as flesh meats had not composed their diet in the past, neither should it come into their diet in the future. And as the use of wine had been prohibited to all those who should engage in the service of God, they determined that they would not partake of it. [60]
In the first place wine was never forbidden in the Bible. Much to the contrary, wine was often mentioned as one of the blessings of the Lord.
Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine; (Genesis 27:28 NASB)
"You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. (Deuteronomy 14:23 NASB)
"You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. (Deuteronomy 14:26 NASB)
Nor was wine prohibited to those in the service of God. It was only those who had taken the vow of a Nazirite, dedicated to the Lord, who had to abstain from wine and strong drink, vinegar, made from wine or strong drink, and "anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin." (Numbers 6:2-4 NASB). It was only when they came into the tent of meeting were the priests to refrain from all alcohol. An instruction that was fatally ignored by two of Aaron's sons. See Nadab and Abihu - The Nature of their Fatal Error (Scroll down)
Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die--it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations (Leviticus 10:9 NASB)
Additionally, there is absolutely NO evidence that meat was not part of the Old Testament diet (Much to the contrary there are numerous instance that the Israelites had a non-vegetarian diet.. See Meat Eating In The Bible Above. In any case the relevant verses actually say
In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. (Daniel 10:2-3 NASB)
Daniel 8 says
But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. (Daniel 1:8 NASB)
Daniel probably refused the meat and the wine because it was customary among the heathen to first offer them to their gods. Additionally, it was very likely that the Babylonians ate unclean beasts and animals that had been strangled, or not properly blooded, i.e. kosher - all of which were forbidden by Jewish law.
The On-Again, Off-Again Vegetarian Diet
Additionally, when it comes to eating meat, there is the little matter of Ellen White's contradictory statements which, in some cases, seem to amount to pure hypocrisy. As Jesus said...
therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. (Matthew 23:3 NASB)
Ellen White very clearly stated that after the Lord had showed her in June, 1863 that meat was injurious, she had refrained from eating any.
But since the Lord presented before me, in June, 1863, the subject of meat eating in relation to health, I have left the use of meat. For a while it was rather difficult to bring my appetite to bread, for which, formerly, I have had but little relish. But by persevering, I have been able to do this... But when faint, I placed my arms across my stomach and said: "I will not taste a morsel. I will eat simple food, or I will not eat at all... I left off these things from principle. I took my stand on health reform from principle. [61]
The 1863 date was confirmed in a letter she wrote to "brethren and sisters" in July 15, 1901, telling them that more than thirty years earlier the Lord had given her the "true light".
Over thirty years ago, I was often in great weakness. Many prayers were offered in my behalf. It was thought that flesh meat would give me vitality and this was, therefore, my principal article of diet. But instead of gaining strength I grew weaker and weaker. I often fainted from exhaustion. The Lord graciously gave me the true light, showing me the injury men and women were doing to the mental, moral, and physical faculties by the use of flesh meat. I was shown that the whole human structure is affected by this diet, that by it man strengthens the animal propensities and the appetite for liquor. I at once cut meat out of my bill of fare. After that I was at times placed where I was compelled to eat a little meat. But for many years not a morsel of the flesh of dead animals has passed my lips. Neither has meat been placed upon my table. My visitors have been given wholesome, nourishing food, but no meat. [62]
In Testimonies for the Church, written over a three year period around 1868, Ellen While claimed to have given up all flesh and butter.
I broke away from everything at once, - from meat and butter, and from three meals, - and that while engaged in exhaustive brain labor, writing from early morning till sundown... Shall that stand in the way of my securing greater strength, that I may therewith glorify my Lord? Shall that stand in my way for a moment? Never! I suffered keen hunger. I was a great meat eater. But when faint, I placed my arms across my stomach and said: "I will not taste a morsel. I will eat simple food, or I will not eat at all.” [63]
Additionally, a manuscript read by Ellen G. White before the delegates at the General Conference, May 31, 1909 in Takoma Park, Maryland says
When the message of health reform first came to me, I was weak and feeble, subject to frequent fainting spells. I was pleading with God for help, and He opened before me the great subject of health reform... This light has been a great blessing to me. I took my stand as a health reformer, knowing that the Lord would strengthen me. I have better health today, notwithstanding my age, than I had in my younger days.
It is reported by some that I have not followed the principles of health reform as I have advocated them with my pen; but I can say that I have been a faithful health reformer. Those who have been members of my family know that this is true. [64].
But is it?
Just ten years after the Lord showed her that meat eating was detrimental and that the stand she had taken was "from principle" (and a mere five years after the statement immediately above) Ellen White wrote of partaking of trout, duck and venison. In the first of the quotes below, note that the supplies were diminishing, not gone, and that Willie seemed quite adept at hunting. In the second, someone brought them butter and flour which can sustain life for a few days.. Yet they cooked the trout that Willie caught, which Ellen proclaimed a "very good dinner"..
September 28, 1873: A young man from Nova Scotia had come in from hunting. He had a quarter of deer. He had traveled 20 miles with this deer upon his back. The remainder of the deer he had left hung up in the woods... He gave us a small piece of the meat, which we made into broth. Willie shot a duck which came in a time of need, for our supplies were rapidly diminishing. [65]
Sunday, October 5, 1873. Willie went to the lake for water. We heard his gun and found he had shot two ducks. This is really a blessing, for we need something to live upon. As we are thinking what we could do if no help came that day, Mr. Walling rode up. He brought us butter, and fine flour he had left upon the road, hidden back where he had left two horses barefooted for us to use over the rough road. We were rejoiced to see him. He stayed one night to fish. Willie and he went out and did not return till nine o'clock. Mr. Walling neither found game or caught fish. Willie caught fourteen of the largest trout I had seen.... We set up our little stove, cooked white gems in our gem pans, and cooked our fish and had a very good dinner. [66]
While it MAY have been necessary to eat fish and venison while out camping (For a complete timeline see A Condensation of M.R. 1467 on THIS Page), no dire necessity could have arisen on a boat trip to Oakland the following year. On February 24, 1874 Ellen White wrote to her son Willie from Santa Rosa, California that they had taken a boat across the bay to Oakland, and someone had "cooked dried corn and fish and made chocolate", and that they had a "very pleasant time". [67]
While I can completely understand how difficult it could be for a meat eater to turn vegetarian, and how very easy it is to succumb to temptation, we have to remember that just 3-4 years earlier, in 1870, in an appeal to the Battle Creek Church, Ellen White made some very strong statements.
Those who digress occasionally to gratify the taste in eating a fattened turkey, or of other flesh-meats, pervert their appetites, and are not the ones to judge of the benefits of the system of health reform. They are controlled by taste, not by principle...
I have seen that the disregard of health reform has brought the church into darkness and under condemnation where it is almost impossible to arouse them to a sense of the exalted character of the work of God... The lack of stability in regard to the principles of health reform, is a true index of their character and their spiritual strength. [68]
1872: In fact, just a year before the duck and trout incidents, she had written,
Above all things, we should not with our pens advocate positions that we do not put to a practical test in our own families, upon our own tables. This is dissimulation, a species of hypocrisy. [69]
Yet, in a letter dated May 25, 1876, written to her son Willie and his wife Mary from a hotel in Kansas City, she said
Our lunch kept well. We have now two loaves of bread, the buns and brown loaf and fruit cake, oranges and lemons and jelly, butter and cheese. But all these will go well at camp meeting. We have some cherries left. We have eaten all we wanted, and yet we have most of the meat. We have had nothing spoil on our hands. All has kept. Porters have waited on us getting tea, and milk when we wanted it. [70]
The site whiteestate.org, says
In modern attempts to understand history, too frequently the past is judged by the present, most often unknowingly. Individuals of the past must be judged in the context of their circumstances, not ours. In a day without refrigeration, when obtaining fresh fruit and vegetables depended on where one lived and the time of the year, when meat substitutes were rarely obtainable before the introduction of peanut butter and dry-cereals (mid-1890s), on some occasions one either ate meat or nothing at all. In our day, in most circumstances meat eating is rarely a necessity. [71]
While that may have been true in certain circumstances, Ellen White had plenty to eat on her journey to Kansas. They had "two loaves of bread, the buns and brown loaf and fruit cake, oranges and lemons and jelly" Eating meat was a choice in this case, as it was in the next instance.
And the hypocrisy continued.
1878: About two years after the journey to Kansas, Ellen White bought some beef products for a poor family and apparently, taste giving way to principle, herself had venison for Christmas. While trout and duck may have been necessary since their food supplies were running down, venison for Christmas was not.
December 26, 1878: We then went to the city and purchased for them flour, white and graham; sugar, a bone of meat, butter out of the question. We laid out $10 for clothing to make them comfortable, and necessary furniture to get along. I will tell you everything they had for breakfast - a few corn gems and a little beef suet fat.
Christmas morning we all took breakfast together - James Cornell, Florence and Clara, their two girls, Brother and Sister Moore, and their three children, Sister Bohler and Etta, a girl living with them, and Sister Daniells, our cook, Father, and myself. We had a quarter of venison cooked and stuffing. It was as tender as a chicken. We all enjoyed it very much. There is plenty of venison in market. [72]
While I do not know when this occurred, the 1919 Conference Transcript has A.G. Daniells saying that when they were down in Texas, and "old brother White was breaking down", Ellen White got him "the most beautiful venison every day" [73]
In February 26, 1880 In a letter to Elizabeth Bangs, written on the train en route for California, Ellen White wrote
Thursday morning we arose from our berths refreshed with sleep. At eight o'clock we took a portion of the pressed chicken furnished us by the matron of the sanitarium, put the same in a two-quart pail, and placed it on the stove, and thus we had good hot chicken broth. [74]
February 27, 1880: In a previously unpublished letter, Ellen White also wrote to her husband James on that journey and advised him to do something similar.
We would advise you to take something like pressed meat and a two-quart pail. Put water to the meat, place upon the stove in passenger car and it will be boiling hot in a few minutes. Crumb in your bread and you have a rare warm dish. I have not seen anything so easily prepared and so palatable as this. This morning was exceedingly cold but with our hot chicken soup we were excellently provided for. [75]
February 19,1884: On February 19, 1884 Ellen White wrote from Healdsburg, California. (I'm confused. Didn't she say that the Lord had showed her the disadvantages of eating meat in 1863 and that she had completely stopped eating it).
I am happy to report I am in excellent health. I have proscribed all meat, all butter. None appears on my table. My head is clearer, my strength firmer, and my conscience more free, for I know I am following the light which God has given us. [76]
Yet, on October 26, 1885 - a mere year and a half later- Ellen White wrote from Grythyttehed, Sweden that they had an invitation to have dinner with a merchant's wife, about which she wrote
The first soup was made of prunes, raisins, apples, and I know not how many kinds [of fruit]. These [plates of soup] were placed on the small tables. After this dish was brought wild meat and fish prepared in a very nice manner. After this was the dessert, of cooked peeled pears with cream. Then all stand and ask a silent blessing; then each guest shakes hands with the host and hostess and thanks them for the dinner, and the ceremony is ended. [77]
While I can understand not wanting to offend one's host at whose house you may be eating, Ellen White urged other to "never be ashamed to say, "No, thank you; I do not eat meat." Why didn't she do so at the merchant's house? Apparently this "teaching by example" apply only to "canvassers" and she herself was free to partake of "wild meat and fish prepared in a very nice manner".
In his association with those whom he meets, the canvasser can do much to show the value of healthful living. Instead of staying at a hotel, he should, if possible, obtain lodging with a private family. As he sits at the table with the family, let him practice the instruction given in the health works he is selling, holding up the banner of strict temperance. As opportunity is offered, let him speak of the value of a healthful diet. He should never be ashamed to say, "No, thank you; I do not eat meat.” If tea is offered, let him refuse it, explaining that it is harmful, that though for a time stimulating, the stimulating effect passes off, and a corresponding depression is left. Let him explain the injurious effect of intoxicating drinks, and of tobacco, tea, and coffee, on the digestive organs and the brain. [78]
In a previously unpublished letter dated August 7, 1895 Ellen White wrote from Cooranbong, Australia, to "Dear Son Willie and Daughter May Lacey White"
Emily was out quite late with several from the school to secure fishes from the fisherman. She got a nice mess of fresh fish; paid two shillings. This is the first we have had since we came here. As we have nothing in the vegetable line but potatoes, the fish will be a treat to the workmen. [79]
On August 30, 1896, she wrote from Australia to a family in America encouraging them to eliminate meat from their diet. In the letter she said
Meat has not been used by us since the Brighton [Australia] Camp meeting [January, 1894]. It was not my purpose to have it on my table at any time, but urgent pleas were made that such a one was unable to eat this or that, and that his stomach could take care of meat better than it could anything else. Thus I was enticed to place it on my table. The use of cheese also began to creep in because some liked cheese; but I soon controlled that. But when the selfishness of taking the lives of animals to gratify a perverted taste was presented to me by a Catholic woman, kneeling at my feet, I felt ashamed and distressed. I saw it in a new light, and I said, I will no longer patronize the butchers. I will not have the flesh of corpses on my table.” [80]
This, as I understand it, is when Ellen White finally stopped eating meat. However, the decision came about over three decades after she said the Lord had shown her the relationship between meat eating and health (1863) - a revelation that caused her to claim that she had left the use of meat and taken a stand on health reform "on principle".
But, as shown, her principles weren't very consistent.
Vinegar???
On September 8, 1911 Ellen White wrote to a 'sister Sanderson' who was apparently having some kind of addiction problem. In her letter, she said
There was a time when I was in a situation similar in some respects to yours. I had indulged the desire for vinegar. But I resolved with the help of God to overcome this appetite. I fought the temptation, determined not to be mastered by this habit. For weeks I was very sick; but I kept saying over and over, The Lord knows all about it. If I die, I die; but I will not yield to this desire. The struggle continued, and I was sorely afflicted for many weeks. All thought that it was impossible for me to live. You may be sure we sought the Lord very earnestly. The most fervent prayers were offered for my recovery. I continued to resist the desire for vinegar, and at last I conquered. Now I have no inclination to taste anything of the kind. This experience has been of great value to me in many ways. I obtained a complete victory. [81]
Nobody, but nobody, gets addicted to vinegar per se, nor do they suffer withdrawals when they cease to use it. However, virtually all the symptoms Ellen White described including the desire, the struggle, the sickness etc. are symptoms of a withdrawal from an addictive substance. In Ellen White's day, vinegar was an alcoholic liquid that had been allowed to sour
Historically, several processes have been employed to make vinegar. In the slow, or natural, process, vats of cider are allowed to sit open at room temperature. During a period of several months, the fruit juices ferment into alcohol and then oxidize into acetic acid. [82]
However, how much of the alcohol is converted into acetic acid depends on how long the mixture is allowed to ferment. While today's commercial vinegars are tightly controlled and usually contain only a miniscule .05% of alcohol, the alcohol content of home made vinegars can vary greatly. As an article on making vinegar on the Popular Science" web site says after a few weeks of fermentation it is time to check your home made vinegar for "sugar, alcohol, acetic acid levels" [83]
An article in the The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia speaks of preserving foods in the era before refrigeration, for which vinegar was used extensively.
Cookbook writers of the late 1800s strongly urged housewives to make their own vinegar to avoid the hazards of questionable commercial products. General principles for the preparation of homemade vinegar were included in most cookbooks at the time... Whatever the source – store-bought or homemade – and whatever the ingredients, the strength and pungency of vinegar varied significantly [84]
The fact that Ellen White said she thought that it was impossible for her to live and she was "sorely afflicted for many weeks" indicates that the addiction was both serious and long-standing.
While I definitely applaud her determination to overcome this addiction, since she doesn't say when this struggle occurred, I have to wonder how many of her "testimonies" were written under the influence.
Pork
James White, apparently concluded an 1850 article with the following words. Note: while I cannot find this quote on any SDA site, a Google search shows that it must have existed on http://text.egwwritings.org - probably in the not so distant past.
"Some of our good brethren have added ' swine's flesh ' to the catalogue of things forbidden by the Holy Ghost, and the apostles and elders assembled at Jerusalem . But we feel called upon to protest against such a course, as being contrary to the plain teaching of the holy scriptures. Shall we lay a greater 'burden' on the disciples than seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and the holy apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ? God forbid. Their decision, being right, settled the question with them, and was a cause of rejoicing among the churches, and it should forever settle the question with us. " (The Present Truth, Vol. 1, November 1850, No. 11, "Swine's Flesh").
On October 21, 1858, Ellen White wrote a testimony to Stephen and Mary Haskell of Massachusetts, partially based on what was revealed in a vision the day before. Based on Leviticus, the Haskells were pressing believers not to use pork. In fact, Haskell felt this issue should be made a test of church fellowship.
I saw that your views concerning swine's flesh would prove no injury if you have them to yourselves; but in your judgment and opinion you have made this question a test, and your actions have plainly shown your faith in this matter. If God requires His people to abstain from swine's flesh, He will convict them on the matter.
He is just as willing to show His honest children their duty, as to show their duty to individuals upon whom He has not laid the burden of His work. If it is the duty of the church to abstain from swine's flesh, God will discover it to more than two or three. He will teach His church their duty. God is leading out a people, not a few separate individuals here and there, one believing this thing, another that...
But some restless spirits do not more than half do up their work. As the angel leads them, they get in haste for something new, and rush on without divine guidance, and thus bring confusion and discord into the ranks. They do not speak or act in harmony with the body." [85]
Stephen and Mary Haskell were actually reprimanded for teaching (based on Old Testaments laws) that people should not eat pork, and were told that God Himself would convict His people if He wished them to abstain from swine's flesh. However, God didn't "discover it to more than two or three" as EW said. In the second printing of this testimony, James White appended a significant note:
This remarkable testimony was written October 21, 1858, nearly five years before the great vision in 1863, in which the light upon health reform was given. When the right time came, the subject was given in a manner to move all our people. How wonderful are the wisdom and goodness of God! It might be as wrong to crowd the milk, salt, and sugar question now, as the pork question in 1858. [86]
In other words, the "right time" came when Ellen White was supposedly given a vision a mere five years later in 1863. The site whiteestate.org says
"The Whites were not ready to take positions unless they had the clearest Biblical evidence or a clear word from the Lord through a vision. Up to the health vision of June 6, 1863, they believed that the dietary restrictions set forth in Leviticus 11 as part of the Jewish ceremonial laws, were no longer applicable since the Cross. During the 1850s, Adventists freely ate pork. After the June 6 vision, the issue of eating swine's flesh was settled among Seventh-day Adventists" [87]
While they may have at one time believed that the Old Testament dietary restrictions were part of Jewish ceremonial law and no longer applicable, as early as 1868, five years after her 'vision', in a letter to a 'Brother Ball', Ellen White made it very clear that pork was banned because it was damaging to the body.
God has given you light, brought knowledge direct to you which you have professed to believe came direct from Him, to deny your appetite. [You know] that the use of swine's flesh was in disregard to His express commands, not because He wished to especially show His authority, but because its use was injurious to those who should eat it. The blood would become impure, humors and scrofula would corrupt the system, and the whole organism would suffer. [88]
Also, in telling people how bad pork was for them, Ellen White quoted Deuteronomy 14:8, saying
The tissues of the swine swarm with parasites. Of the swine God said, "It is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.” Deuteronomy 14:8 This command was given because swine's flesh is unfit for food. Swine are scavengers, and this is the only use they were intended to serve. Never, under any circumstances, was their flesh to be eaten by human beings. It is impossible for the flesh of any living creature to be wholesome when filth is its natural element and when it feeds upon every detestable thing. [89]
Certainly a primary reason pork was prohibited was to protect the Israelites from diseases more commonly carried by scavengers, as Ellen White acknowledges in the above quotes. (It certainly doesn't cause "scrofula, leprosy and cancerous humors" or "the most intense suffering to the human race" [90]). It is more than likely the people were banned from eating vultures, catfish, eagles and underwater scavengers like oysters for exactly the same reason.
In fact the prohibition against certain sea creatures was the very next verse, yet apparently no one made the connection.
Seafood
Ellen White certainly ate oysters. On May 31, 1882, she wrote to Mary - her daughter in law - saying
Mary, if you can get me a good box of herrings - fresh ones - please do so. These last ones that Willie got are bitter and old. If you can buy cans, say [a] half dozen cans of good tomatoes, please do so. We shall need them. If you can get a few cans of good oysters, get them. [91]
About which, the site ellenwhite.org says (All Emphasis Added )
She was never shown in vision a doctrine of clean and unclean meats, though she was warned against swine's flesh, the most common and probably the most dangerous of the unclean meats to which our pioneers were ordinarily exposed. As a people, we did not come to a clear Bible understanding of unclean meats until around 1900. Mrs. White's experience with oysters predates that time by about 20 years. [92]
It is a little hard to understand how the Seventh Day Adventists did not come to a clear "Bible understanding" of unclean meats until around 1900, when in both Deuteronomy and Leviticus the prohibition against eating "unclean" meat like pork was immediately followed by the ban on eating other unclean creatures.
(7) and the pig, for though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof, it does not chew cud, it is unclean to you. (8) 'You shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you. (9) 'These you may eat, whatever is in the water: all that have fins and scales, those in the water, in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. (10) 'But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you, (Leviticus 11:7-10 NASB) Also see Deuteronomy 14:8-10
Apparently,Ellen White's visions were the sole guide to what people should not eat - and her 1863 vision did not cover unclean seafood. As whiteestate.org says (Emphasis Added)
"The Whites were not ready to take positions unless they had the clearest Biblical evidence or a clear word from the Lord through a vision." [93]
However, it is interesting that, just some 12 years earlier, in his book A Solemn Appeal published in 1870, James White had much to say to those who ate oysters, one of the foods that was supposed to "create impure desires".
"What kinds of edibles command the highest price in the market? Those that stimulate this passion, and because they create impure desires. What mean those oyster stews, and crab parties, and terrapin soups, and squab suppers, wild fowls, cloves, and a host of other like things? Eaten, in many instances in high (?low) life, expressly to beget unhallowed desires! Oh! shame, where is thy blush! Do you want more proof? Behold the fertile South. But particulars are too revolting, both as regards the beastly indulgence of whites with blacks, and the number of rakes and harlots among the latter! Our world is literally FULL of sensuality! [94]
Modern SDA Misquoting of The Bible
All quotes are from God's Free Health Plan. [95]
In answer to the question "... I like pork. Will God destroy me if I eat it? the site quotes Isaiah 66:15-17
"For, behold, the Lord will come with fire ... and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves ... eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord." Isaiah 66:15-17.
and says
"This may be shocking, but it is true and must be told. The Bible positively states that all who eat "swine's flesh," the "mouse," and other unclean things that are an "abomination" will be destroyed with fire at the coming of the Lord. When God says to leave something alone and not eat it, we should by all means obey Him. After all, the mere eating of a piece of forbidden fruit by Adam and Eve, a sinless couple, brought sin and death to this world in the first place. Can anyone say it doesn't matter, when God so clearly shows it does? God says men will be destroyed because they "chose that in which I delighted not." Isaiah 66:4.
And as an example of how ridiculously Bible verse can be taken out of context, the same site also quotes Isaiah 52:11 and says
Isaiah actually wrote "Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord. (Isaiah 52:11 KJV). Remember that when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem, he took all the sacred utensils of the temple to Babylon. Isaiah was addressing the those in exile in Babylon and who bore the vessels of the Lord back to Jerusalem to, both literally and spiritually separate themselves from an idolatrous nation. It was a call to purity and holiness.
The verse had absolutely nothing to do with soap and water.
Similarly the question "Do God's health rules have anything to do with eating and drinking? is answered by
If read in context, it is very clear that the ancient prophet was speaking, not about physical but spiritual food...
(1) "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (2) "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. (3) "Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David. (Isaiah 55:1-3 NASB)
See Context is Crucial
Finally one has to ask
God or Dr. James C. Jackson?
Text.egwwritings.org says that Ellen White was "under heavy pressure" to complete Spiritual Gifts, Vol III, so that they could visit Dr. Jackson's health institution in Dansville, New York. She wished to complete the book before she went because she did not want anyone saying that her health vision "could have been influenced by Dr. Jackson or anyone else". [96]
She was asked this very question by a 'brother Smith' on behalf of the Wisconsin and Illinois Conference Committee, i.e. whether she received her views upon health reform before visiting the health institute at Dansville, N.Y., or before she had read works on the subject? Her reply was in part
It was at the house of Bro. A. Hilliard, at Otsego, Mich., June 6, 1863, that the great subject of Health Reform was opened before me in vision. I did not visit Dansville till August, 1864, fourteen months after I had the view. I did not read any works upon health until I had written Spiritual Gifts, Vols. iii and iv, Appeal to Mothers, and had sketched out most of my six articles in the six numbers of "How to Live.” I did not know that such a paper existed as the Laws of Life, published at Dansville, N.Y. I had not heard of the several works upon health, written by Dr. J. C. Jackson, and other publications at Dansville, at the time I had the view named above. [97]
However, this was not true.
Under the title "The Diphtheria Scourge in Western Illinois", a Review article dated January 13, 1863 said that diphtheria had been raging throughout the country "to an alarming extent". In the first week of February two of James and Ellen White's three boys caught the dreaded disease. According to Arthur White, James and Ellen came across a successful method of treating it.
Fortunately - in the providence of God, no doubt - there had come into their hands... an extended article entitled "Diphtheria, Its Causes, Treatment and Cure." It was written by Dr. James C. Jackson, of Dansville, New York. How eagerly James and Ellen White read it. It made sense, and they immediately put its prescriptions into use, following every detail. [98]
In fact, not long afterwards James reprinted Jackson's article on Diphtheria in the February 17, 1863, edition of the Review and Herald, "with a two-paragraph note recounting his and Ellen's experience... It was also a time of the dawning, on their part, of a concern in health matters." [99]
Remember that Ellen White said at the time of her health vision, she "had not heard of the several works upon health, written by Dr. J. C. Jackson, and other publications at Dansville". However, she had plenty of opportunity to read some of Dr. Jackson's other works long before the details of her health reform vision were first published. James White had ordered some books written by Dr. Jackson's in June of 1863. Although Ellen White claimed that the books remained in their wrappers, many people noticed the similarity between what she claimed was given to her in a vision and what Dr. Jackson had already written.
After the vision was given me, my husband was aroused upon the health questions. He obtained books upon our eastern journey, but I would not read them. My view was clear, and I did not want to read anything until I had fully completed my books. My views were written independent of books or of the opinions of others. [100]
If this is the case and Ellen White did indeed read more of Dr Jackson's writings than she admitted, health issues were not the only thing to originate in Dansville. Referring to Dr. Jackson, the Dansville Area Historical Society says
Nutrition formed a major part of his beliefs; and to that end, he invented a graham cracker-derived breakfast food that he had named "Granula" .... Although not a "ready-to-eat" cereal in the modern sense, ..it had to be soaked in milk for at least 20 minutes, and preferably overnight... it was considered convenient over cooked cereals... In 1878 the soon-to-be-famous Dr. John Harvey Kellogg came from Battle Creek, Michigan, to study the methods at Our Home On The Hillside. He was interested in Dr. James Caleb Jackson’s regimen of rest, fresh air, exercise, and simple diet... not to mention Dr. Jackson's invention, the breakfast cereal Granula, which would make a particularly significant impression on Dr. Kellogg. [101]
John Kellog apparently modified the "Granula" recipe and, in order to avoid litigation, changed it's name to "Granola". [102]
Finally
However, what is really confusing is that her diet seems not to have helped her health very much. When James White got very ill around 1866, Ellen White wrote that she had been an invalid for nearly all her life [103]
In February 19, 1910 at a talk given at Pacific Union College, she said she was "an invalid, pronounced so, for a great many years", and again repeated that she had been an invalid nearly all her life. [104]
Note that an invalid is an infirm or sickly person, or one who is incapacitated (deprived of strength or power) by a chronic illness or injury
Continue to Ellen White's Other Teachings
End Notes. Ellen White's Health Reform
[01] Doctrine and Covenants - Section 89. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89?lang=eng
[02] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Review and Herald, October 8, 1867.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CD&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=481
[03] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Ms 150, April 11, 1901. Battle Creek, Michigan.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWManuscript&bookCode=Ms150-1901&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[04] Living a healthful life. https://www.adventist.org/en/vitality/health/
[05] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Review and Herald. November 12, 1901 The Circulation of Our Health Journals.
https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=RH&lang=en&year=1901&month=November&day=12
[06] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, Page 9. Chapter 1—Breads
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=TSDF&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=9
[07] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Ms 150, April 11, 1901. Battle Creek, Michigan.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWManuscript&bookCode=Ms150-1901&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[08] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. These Things Ought Not So to be. October 9, 1902.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=PUR&lang=en&year=1902&month=October&day=9
[09] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, Page 193.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=TSDF&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=193
[10] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. A Knowledge of First Principles. Counsels on Health, Page 37. Section 2—Essentials to Health.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CH&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=37
[11] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Review and Herald. November 12, 1901 The Circulation of Our Health Journals.
https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=RH&lang=en&year=1901&month=November&day=12
[12] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Manuscript Releases, vol. 20 [Nos. 1420-1500], Page 3
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=20MR&lang=en&pagenumber=3
[13] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, Page 15.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=TSDF&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=15
[14] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Review and Herald. September 25, 1888.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=RH&lang=en&collection=2§ion=
all&year=1888&month=September&day=25¶graphnumber=7
[15] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Review and Herald, December 4, 1855. Messenger of the Lord, Page 427=-428.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=MOL&pagenumber=427
[16] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 8, 1849.
[17] What Do Seventh-day Adventists Eat? http://www.seventhdayadventistdiet.com
[18] 28 Fundamental Beliefs https://www.adventist.org/fileadmin/adventist.org/files/articles/official-statements/28Beliefs-Web.pdf
[19] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Review and Herald. June 9, 1885.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php
pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=RH&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&year=1885&month=June&day=9¶graphnumber=10&
[20] http://www.adventistreview.org/church-news/story2328-no-so-perfect-cup-of-coffee
[21] Emergence of a Health Message. http://www.whiteestate.org/books/mol/Chapt24.html
[22] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Counsels on Diet and Foods, Page 425.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CD&pagenumber=425
[23] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, Page 145. Chapter 42—Tea and Coffee.
https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=TSDF&pagenumber=145
[24] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, Page 36.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CTBH&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=36
[25] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Tea and Coffee.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=1TT&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=196
[26] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Ms. 44, 1896.
https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWManuscript&bookCode=Ms44-1896&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[27] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimonies for the Church 3:487 (1875).
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2MCP&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=589
[28] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt. 29, 1876.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt29-1876&lang
=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[29] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Letter 69, 1896. Counsels on Diet and Foods, Page 425.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CD&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=425
[30] Pacific Union Conference. https://pauccomm.adventistfaith.org/recorder.
[31] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Spiritual Gifts, Vol IV, p. 154 (CD p. 483). As quoted in Ellen G. White and The Use of "Fat" and "Free Fat". By Arthur L. White, Secretary Ellen G. White Estate.
http://ellenwhite.org/sites/ellenwhite.org/files/books/3126/3126.pdf
[32] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, Page 362.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2T&pagenumber=362
[33] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 5, 1869.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt5-1869&lang
=en&collection=2§ion=253&pagenumber=1
[34] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, Page 21.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=3T&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=21
[35] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Messenger of the Lord, Page 312.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=MOL&pagenumber=312¶graphReferences=1
[36] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 76, 1895.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt76-1895&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[37] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 37, 1901.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt37-1901&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[38] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 331, 1904.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt331-1904&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[39] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=RH&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&year=1870&month=July&day=19¶graphnumber=5
[40] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt. 1, 1873.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt1-1873&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[41] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt. 65, 1874
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt65-1874&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[42] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt. 28a, 1876.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt28a-1876&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[43] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt. 29, 1876.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt29-1876&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[44] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Ms 43a, 1901
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWManuscript&bookCode=Ms43a1901&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[45] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimony Treasures, vol. 1, Page 194. Flesh Meats and Stimulants*1868,
Testimonies for the Church 2:60-66.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=1TT&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=194
[46] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, Page 47.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CTBH&lang=en&pagenumber=47
[47] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, Page 17.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CTBH&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=17
[48] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 83, 1901.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt83-1901&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[49] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, Page 362.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2T&pagenumber=362
[50] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimony Treasures, vol. 1, Page 194-196.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=1TT&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=196
[51] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimonies for the Church 3:487 (1875).
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2MCP&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=589
[52] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Youth’s Instructor. May 31, 1894
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical
&bookCode=YI&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&year
=1894&month=May&day=31¶graphnumber=7.
[53] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 76, 1895.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt76-1895&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1¶graphnumber=18
[54] ibid.
[55] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 48, 1902
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt48-1902&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[56] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. These Things Ought Not So to be. October 9, 1902.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=PUR&lang=en&year=1902&month=October&day=9
[57] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Counsels on Diet and Foods, Page 380.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CD&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=380
[58] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. How the Holy Spirit Led the Council.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=ULe&lang
=en&collection=2§ion=all&pageCounsels on Diet and Foods, Page 374.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CD&lang
=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=374 number=73
[59] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Counsels on Diet and Foods, Page 374.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CD&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=374
[60] Ellen White. In Heavenly Places, Page 261. As Steadfast As Daniel, September 11.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=HP&lang=en&pagenumber=261
[61] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Progressive Years: 1862-1876 (vol. 2), Page 74.
The White Family Applies Health Reform Diet.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2BIO&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=74
[62] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 83, 1901.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt83-1901&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[63] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, Page 372.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2T&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=372
[64] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, Page 158.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=9T&lang=en&pagenumber=158
[65] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Written in the Colorado mountains, diary entry for September 28, 1873.
https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=14MR&pagenumber=352
[66] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Diary, October 1873
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWManuscript&bookCode=Ms12-1873&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[67] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 16, 1874.
https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt16-1874&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[68] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Appeal to the Battle Creek Church, Page 81
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=PH011&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=81
[69] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Testimonies for the Church 3:20-21 (1872) Counsels to Writers and Editors, Page 130.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CW&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=130
[70] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt. 29, 1876.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt29-1876&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[71] Questions and Answers About Ellen G. White. Ellen G. White's Practice Regarding Vegetarianism
http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/faq-egw.html
[72] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Written December 26, 1878, from Denison, Texas, to "Dear Family at Battle Creek".
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=14MR&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=318
[73] A.G. Daniells, "1919 Conference Transcript". http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Resources/1919BC/RBC19190730.pdf
[74] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 6a, 1880.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt6a-1880&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[75] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 7, 1880.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt7-1880&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[76] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Manuscript Releases, vol. 19 [Nos. 1360-1419], Page 78.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=19MR&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=78
[77] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Manuscript Releases, vol. 3 [Nos. 162-209], Page 389.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=3MR&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=389
[78] Ellen White. Counsels on Health, Page 463. http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=CH&lang=en&pagenumber=463.
[79] Ellen White. Lt 150, 1895.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt150-1895&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[80] Ellen White. Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, Page 67.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=TSDF&pagenumber=67
[81] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt. 70, 1911.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt70-1911&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[82] How Products Are Made. Vinegar. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Vinegar.html
[83] Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot . Making Vinegar at Home - Turn sour old wine into a beautiful holiday gift -- thanks to science Posted December 8, 2008
[84] Hilde Lee: Cooks of yesteryear made their own vinegar for pickling and preserving.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/entertainment/hilde-lee-cooks-of-yesteryear-
made-their-own-vinegar-for/article_53d2fb90-4b21-11e4-a0fb-0017a43b2370.html
[85] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Early Years: 1827-1862 (vol. 1), Page 381.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=1BIO&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=381
[86] James White, note to second edition, Ibid., 1:206.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=1BIO&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=383
[87] Emergence of a Health Message. http://www.whiteestate.org/books/mol/Chapt24.html
[88] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Ms 2, 1868.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWManuscript&bookCode=
Ms2-1868&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[89] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Ministry of Healing, Page 313]
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=MH&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=313
[90] https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=HHTL&lang=en&pagenumber=58
[91] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Lt 16, 1882.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWLetter&bookCode=Lt16-1882
&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[92] Clam Chowder & Ellen G. White. http://ellenwhite.org/content/file/clam-chowder-ellen-g-white#document
[93] Emergence of a Health Message. http://www.whiteestate.org/books/mol/Chapt24.html
[94] James White. A Solemn Appeal, Page 182.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=SOAP&pagenumber=182
[95] http://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4990/t/gods-free-health-plan
[96] Ellen G. White: The Progressive Years: 1862-1876 (vol. 2), Page 79.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2BIO&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=79
[97] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Review and Herald. October 8, 1867.
https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=RH&lang=en&year=1867&month=October&day=8
[98] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Progressive Years: 1862-1876 (vol. 2), Pages 12- 13.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2BIO&pagenumber=13
[99] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Progressive Years: 1862-1876 (vol. 2), Page 15.
https://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=2BIO&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=15
[100] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Ms 7, 1867. Writing Out the Light on Health Reform.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=
EGWManuscript&bookCode=Ms7-1867&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
[101] James C. Jackson (1811 – 1895). Dansville Area Historical Society.
https://dansvilleareahistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/hall-of-fame/james-c-jackson-1811-1895/
[102] ibid.
[103] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. The Review and Herald. February 27, 1866.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=RH&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&year=1866
[104] Ellen G. White Writings. Ellen White. Ms 71, 1910.
http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=EGWManuscript
&bookCode=Ms711910&lang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=1
|
