Nnika’s Business Philosophy
150 years ahead of its time- the “Health Message”
First Corinthians 6:19-20 contains a comment by Paul specifically directed toward the sin of fornication, but it can easily be generalized to apply to any substance or activity that causes physical or spiritual harm to an individual-
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
An abstemious lifestyle is a hallmark of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who chose to adhere to health principles and practices as commanded by the Bible, and as revealed to Ellen G. White (1827-1915, a co-founder and spiritual luminary of the denomination). Complete renunciation of all substances that can negatively affect one’s mind, mood, and metabolism is stipulated by official church doctrines. Vegetarianism is not required of Seventh-day Adventists, but is practiced by members who choose to incorporate insights granted to Sister White regarding nutrition.
One pioneer Adventist placed great emphasis on health concerns prior to the official formation as the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on May 21, 1863. New England native and retired sea captain Joseph Bates (1792-1872) was an influential early member of the group that would eventually be christened the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Bates was an effective advocate of the Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) as being the proper day, designated by the Fourth Commandment, for rest and devotion. He was also an energetic champion for health reform. Having observed the notorious and debilitating intemperance of the crewmen aboard sailing ships he was formerly attached to, he determined to personally abstain from all alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine. He then renounced meat-eating as well, an unusual act in an era where vegetarianism was (except perhaps as a unintended byproduct of extreme poverty) a rarity in the Western world.
The insights of Joseph Bates were unambiguously ratified by four visions granted to Ellen G. White, friend and associate of the retired captain. The genesis of the Adventist denomination may be ascribed primarily to the collaboration between Ellen G. White, her husband James, and their older friend and neighbor, Captain Bates. The visions granted to Sister White are alternately designated the Spirit of Prophecy by Seventh-day Adventists.
The first of these insights regarding health issues was experienced by Ellen G. White in the Autumn of 1848. It revealed to the then 20-year-old visionary the Injurious effects of tobacco (“a slow, insidious, and most malignant poison”), tea, and coffee. She wrote about this revelation in 1851, an episode that caused her to discontinue her own consumption of coffee and tea-
“I have seen in vision that tobacco was a filthy weed, and that it must be laid aside or given up. Said my accompanying angel, ‘If it is an idol it is high time it was given up, and unless it is given up the frown of God will be upon the one that uses it, and he cannot be sealed with the seal of the living God’” She further notes- “I saw that Christ will have a church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing to present to His Father… We must be perfect Christians, deny ourselves all the way along, tread the narrow thorny pathway that our Jesus trod, and then if we are final overcomers, heaven, sweet heaven, will be cheap enough.”
The second vision granted to Ellen G. White occurred on Feb. 12, 1854 at Brookfield, NY. This vision principally focused on criticism of instances of bad behavior by members of the church and their unruly children, but also warned against rich and unwholesome foods-
“then saw the appetite must be denied, that rich food should not be prepared, and that which is lavished upon the appetite should be put in the treasury of the Lord. It would tell there, and those who denied themselves would lay up a reward in heaven. Pride and idols must be laid aside. I saw rich food destroyed the health of the bodies and was ruining the constitution, was destroying the mind, and was a great waste of means.”
Food was (and still is, by many) not considered as an intrinsically harmful substance subject at the time of his second health vision.
The third, and up to this point most comprehensive of the three health visions occurred a few weeks after the official foundation of the church. Ellen G. White describes this revelation in a letter dated June 6, 1863-
“I saw that it was a sacred duty to attend to our health, and arouse others to their duty… We have a duty to speak, to come out against intemperance of every kind- intemperance in working, in eating, in drinking, in drugging – and then point them to God’s great medicine: water, pure soft water, for diseases, for health, for cleanliness, for luxury… I saw that we [Seventh-day Adventists] should not be silent upon the subject of health, but should wake up minds to the subject.”
This vision served to confirm to the new organization the deleterious effects of consuming alcohol and tobacco. The forsaking of rich and highly seasoned foods was recommended. Base passions (euphemistic shorthand for unspecified sexual improprieties) were criticized. A vegetarian diet was, for the first time, unambiguously urged upon those who aspire to be responsible custodians of their bodies.
Seven provisions for preserving and maintaining good health were features of Ellen G. White’s 1863 vision-
(1) Pure Air
(2) Pure Water
(3) Sunshine
(4) Physical Exercise
(5) Adequate Rest
(6) Brief periods of Fasting, and
(7) Proper Nutrition.
A formalized version of these insights is designated God’s Eight Laws of Health, and will be replicated below.
A fourth health vision was granted to Ellen G. White on Dec. 25, at Rochester, NY. It served to re-emphasize the negative consequences of eating meat. The vision occurred proximate to a special Christmas Day service dedicated to the healing of Ellen G. White’s ailing husband, James White. The vision included a directive that members of the church create a health institution, one that would not only care for those who are suffering from illness, but also engage in preventative medicine as well. Sister White parenthetically noted that the sick should be taught that “it is wrong to suspend all physical labor in order to regain health.”
Sister White revealed her vision to church leadership in Battle Creek on May 19, 1866. By September 5th of this year, the Western Health Reform Institute was ready to receive patients. This would be the first of dozens of Adventist health facilities to follow, unique for their emphasis not only on curing illnesses, but for preventing them as well. Most Adventist health institutions were designated as Sanitariums, a term newly coined by the denomination, and one that is now firmly entrenched in the world’s conscience.
The traditionally emphasized substances that are the focus of most programs that seek to free their participants from chemical dependency are alcohol, prescription or illegal drugs, and nicotine. Strict adherence to Adventist doctrine and tradition extends this basic list of offenders to include caffeinated beverages and flesh foods (i.e. meat). The essential doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have been condensed and grouped into a set of 28 Fundamental Beliefs. A requirement to abstain from ingesting harmful and addictive substances (particularly those forbidden by Mosaic law) is contained in Fundamental Belief 22, titled Christian Behavior, one which proclaims-
“… our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, we are to care for them intelligently. Along with adequate exercise and rest, we are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures. Since alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and the irresponsible use of drugs and narcotics are harmful to our bodies, we are to abstain from them as well. Instead, we are to engage in whatever brings our thoughts and bodies into the discipline of Christ, who desires our wholesomeness, joy, and goodness.”
The content of Ellen G. White’s visions regarding healthy living has been condensed, augmented, and assembled into a list that is designated God’s Eight Laws of Health.
- NUTRITION– Ellen G. White reveals the original diet of humanity to consist of grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Meat is conspicuously absent from this short list.
- EXERCISE– Sister White recommends that we take our exercise in the context of our job or our amusement. The nature of one’s amusements should not be selfish. Purposeful activity is superior to activity which only benefits oneself (running on a treadmill, for example). Nnika like to workout at the gym, however, so this pursuit is therefore intrinsically kosher and above board.
- WATER– Stay hydrated!
- SUNSHINE– Source of vitamin D, and governor of one’s biological clock.
- TEMPERANCE– For the purposes of a recovery and restoration program, complete abstinence from harmful substances (drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and even caffeine as recommended by Sister White) is preferable to a moderation of the level of one’s intake (“moderation” being the original definition of the term “temperance”).
- AIR- It is preferable to be outdoors, rather than to be confined to a stuffy chamber.
- REST– Ellen G. White writes that when we overwork ourselves, we are living on “borrowed capital.” This concept is similar to one presented as a reason to forsake caffeine intake.
- TRUST IN GOD– Worrying leads to stress, the wellspring of maladies both physical and mental. Worry is indicative of one’s distrust in God. A Christian recovery program will advocate trust in the God of the Bible, and not in the bowdlerized higher power invoked by Masons, Alcoholics Anonymous, and every other victim of the Deistic legacy of the so-called Enlightenment.
No comments:
Post a Comment