Basic HTML Version
Appendix B Typical Temperance Addresses By
Ellen G. White
1. At Christiania, Norway—1886
On Sunday, by request of the president of the temperance society,
I spoke upon the subject of temperance. The meeting was held in
the soldiers’ military gymnasium, the largest hall in the city. An
American flag was placed as a canopy above the pulpit; this was
an attention which I highly appreciated. There were about sixteen
hundred assembled. Among them was a bishop of the state church,
with a number of the clergy; a large proportion were of the better
class of society.
The Approach
—I took up the subject from a religious stand-
point, showing that the Bible is full of history bearing upon temper-
ance, and that Christ was connected with the work of temperance,
even from the beginning. It was by the indulgence of appetite that
our first parents sinned and fell. Christ redeemed man’s failure. In
the wilderness of temptation He endured the test which man had
failed to bear. While He was suffering the keenest pangs of hunger,
weak and emaciated from fasting, Satan was at hand with his mani-
fold temptations to assail the Son of God, to take advantage of His
weakness and overcome Him, and thus thwart the plan of salvation.
But Christ was steadfast. He overcame in behalf of the race, that He
might rescue them from the degradation of the Fall. He showed that
in His strength it is possible for us to overcome. Jesus sympathizes
with the weakness of men; He came to earth that He might bring
to us moral power. However strong the passion or appetite, we can
gain the victory, because we may have divine strength to unite with
[268]
our feeble efforts. Those who flee to Christ will have a stronghold
in the day of temptation.
The Warning of Bible History
—I showed the importance of
temperate habits by citing warnings and examples from Bible history.
Nadab and Abihu were men in holy office; but by the use of wine
262