Introduction
The six articles bearing the title “Disease and Its Causes” form one
of the earliest links in the rather large collection of writings by Ellen
G. White on the subject of health. This is their background: first, there
was the historic health-reform vision of June 6, 1863. Next, in 1864,
Mrs. White made her first published presentation of the subject in a 30-
page article entitled “Health,” in Spiritual Gifts, volume IV (currently
available in facsimile reprint). Then, in 1865, she furnished one article
for each of a series of six pamphlets compiled from various writers
and published under the title Health, or How to Live. The six Ellen G.
White articles were an amplification of the 30-page article in Spiritual
Gifts of the year before. Mrs. White made no other contribution to the
How to Live pamphlets
.
To complete the historical record of the early Ellen G. White
published statements relating to health, her articles appear here in
exact reproduction. Being reproduced word for word, sentence for
sentence, they contain some grammatical imperfections that crept in
under the untoward circumstances of printing a century ago
.
It should be observed that although Mrs. White never requested the
reprinting of these articles, they were republished in short installments
in the Review and Herald in 1899 and 1900. The later, fuller Ellen G.
White presentations on the subject of health, climaxed by The Ministry
of Healing in 1905, took the place of many earlier articles, including
the “Disease and Its Causes” series
.
The reader must bear in mind the conditions that existed in the field
of medical practice at the time these articles were prepared. The last
article, particularly, must be read in the light of conditions prevailing
at the time of writing. For a review of these conditions see D. E.
Robinson,
The Story of Our Health Message, 112-130, 166-169, 427-
431
1965 edition,; Francis D. Nichol, Ellen G. White and Her Critics,
pp. 136-160; and Denton E. Rebok, Believe His Prophets, pp. 253-
267.
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