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We can be reassured of the timelessness of these counsels in
medical lines. As Mrs. White stood before the general conference
in session in 1909, she said:
“I have been shown that the principles that were given us in the
early days of the message are as important and should be regarded
just as conscientiously today as they were then.”—
Testimonies for
the Church 9:158
.
Principle does not change, though changes in circumstances
may make adjustment necessary in the application of some of the
principles. Indeed, Ellen White wrote concerning the work at the
newly established school in Loma Linda:
“We cannot mark out a precise line to be followed
unconditionally. Circumstances and emergencies will arise for
[xiv]
which the Lord must give special instruction, but if we begin to
work, depending wholly upon the Lord, watching, praying, walking
in harmony with the light he sends us, we shall not be left to walk in
darkness.”—Ellen G. White
Letter 192, 1906
.
The Testimonies and the Meaning of Words
The significance of certain terms also may change materially
over a period of years. However, a careful study of basic principles,
as revealed through an accumulation of the counsels, makes clear
the intent of the author and thus the proper course of action.
The student of Ellen G. White’s health counsels is aware of the
frequent condemnation of the use of drugs and the appeal for the
employment of simple remedies. A hundred years ago, and for many
years thereafter, the remedies employed by physicians were usually
those which we know now to be potent poisons. Often the cause
of the disease was not known. The germ theory was not yet well
established, and treatments usually dealt with symptoms. Anyone
familiar with the medical literature of the time is aware of the high
mortality rate and of the short life expectancy. He is aware of the
nature of many of the medications which were used by physicians.
Many died as the result of the use of the drugs prescribed. [Note:
for a documented picture illustrating this, see “Story of our Health
Message,” Chapter 1, entitled “The Times of this Ignorance.” ] The
voice of Ellen White crying out against this disregard of life was not