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comprehensive vision concerning health reform. Of this she wrote,
“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.”—
The Review and Herald
, October 8, 1867
. In subsequent
visions many details concerning this subject were presented to her,
and these visions constituted the basis for the more detailed writing
[viii]
relative to health and the conduct of the health work of the church.
The Primary E. G. White Articles on Health
The first general written presentation made by Mrs. White on
the subject of health was in a chapter of thirty-two pages entitled
“Health.” This appeared in
Spiritual Gifts
4a:120-151
, in the summer
of 1864. In this article she set forth in condensed form the great prin-
ciples given to her in the vision of 1863. This material is available
today in the facsimile reprint of the
Spiritual Gifts
volumes.
Recognizing somewhat the magnitude of the task of leading
3,500 Seventh-day Adventists to a full understanding of the health
reform message, in 1865 James and Ellen White published six pam-
phlets entitled “Health, or How to Live.” Five of these pamphlets
contained sixty-four pages, and one, eighty pages. In each was one
article from the pen of Ellen G. White, running under the title,
“Disease and its Causes.” Appearing with Mrs. White’s article was
related material drawn from the writings of physicians and minis-
ters, and articles especially prepared by James White and others for
these pamphlets. Each was devoted to a fundamental health theme:
diet, marriage and home life, the use of drugs, care of the sick and
hygiene, child care and attire for children, and healthful dress. In
1899 and 1900, the six Ellen G. White messages were published
as a series of continued articles in the
Review and Herald
. In 1958
they were made available as A sixty-nine-page appendix in
Selected
Messages
, Book 2.
In a more specialized area of early health counsel was the article
entitled “An Appeal to Mothers.” This was printed in 1864 in a
pamphlet by that title. In 1870 James White embodied this as an
Ellen G. White contribution to the 270-page
Solemn Appeal Relative
to Solitary Vice
. Large portions of this article appear today in
Child
Guidance
In the section entitled “Preserving Moral Integrity.” The