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Chapter 6—Temperance and Total Abstinence
If anything is needed to quench thirst, pure water drunk some
little time before or after the meal is all that nature requires. Never
take tea, coffee, beer, wine, or any spirituous liquors. Water is the
best liquid possible to cleanse the tissues.—
The Review and Herald,
July 29, 1884
.
The lesson here presented [of Daniel and his companions] is one
which we would do well to ponder. Our danger is not from scarcity,
but from abundance. We are constantly tempted to excess. Those
who would preserve their powers unimpaired for the service of God,
must observe strict temperance in the use of His bounties, as well as
total abstinence from every injurious or debasing indulgence.
The rising generation are surrounded with allurements calculated
to tempt the appetite. Especially in our large cities, every form of
indulgence is made easy and inviting. Those who, like Daniel,
refuse to defile themselves, will reap the reward of their temperate
habits. With their greater physical stamina and increased power of
endurance, they have a bank of deposit upon which to draw in case
of emergency.—
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 27, 28
.
It is often urged that in order to win the youth from sensational
or worthless literature, we should supply them with a better class of
fiction. This is like trying to cure the drunkard by giving him, in the
place of whisky or brandy, the milder intoxicants, such as wine, beer,
or cider. The use of these would continually foster the appetite for
stronger stimulants. The only safety for the inebriate, and the only
safeguard for the temperate man, is total abstinence.—
The Ministry
of Healing, 446
.
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