THE BROKEN BLUEPRINT

PART THREE-C

THE STORY OF LOMA LINDA AND WHAT IT DID TO OUR CHURCH

(1905 - ONWARD)

NEARING THE CRISIS

THE OCTOBER 1907 MEETING

Two significant events occurred in the fall of 1907:

Only a few days after announcement of the closing of the American Medical Missionary College [in Battle Creek], this notice appeared in the church paper:

September 29 was a red-letter day in the history of our medical missionary work. A new mile-stone was passed in the opening of the College of Medical Evangelists, our denominational school at Loma Linda, California.

This marked the formal opening of the medical school. It had been incorporated the year before, and for five years it had been in process of formation and operation as a combined medical and evangelistic training school.--A.W. Spalding, Christ's Last Legion, p. 148.

On October 22, 1907, exactly 63 years after the Great Disappointment, and a few weeks after the opening of the second school year at CME, a council meeting was held at the school which was attended by a number of General Conference leaders, physicians, and others interested in medical missionary work. Lecture topics included Medical Missionary Training for the Foreign Field, A Plea for the First Principles in Our Medical Missionary Work, and Who Should Study Medicine, and What Counsel Do They Need?

With Elder Daniells present, Ellen White said this:

We want a school of the highest order--a school where the Word of God will be regarded as essential and where obedience to its teachings will be taught. For the carrying forward of such a school, we must have carefully selected educators. Our young people are not to be wholly dependent on the schools where they are told, If you wish to complete our course of instruction, you must take this study or some other study--studies that perhaps would be of no practical benefit to those whose only desire is to give to the world Gods message of health and peace . . We should endeavor to give instruction that will prepare students for service to their fellow men.

We are to seek for students who will plow deep into the Word of God and who will conform the life practice to the truths of the Word. Let the education given be such as will qualify consecrated young men and young women to go forth in harmony with the great commission.--EGW, Manuscript 151, 1907.

OBTAINING A STATE CHARTER

By 1908, the college was offering three courses: evangelistic medical (designed to qualify workers with all the ability of physicians to labor, not as physicians but, as medical missionary workers), nursing, and ministerial.

Checking into the matter, Burden learned that the state requirements for a full, accredited medical school required that, it must conform to the requirement of the Association of American Medical Colleges [AAMC]; and that its building, laboratories, equipment, and faculty meet rigid inspection (J.P. Dougall to J.A. Burden, October 3, 1908).

The AAMC was a subsidiary of the AMA. (In order to clarify the term, in this book we will refer to AMA accreditation rather than AAMC accreditation.)

AMA-approved accreditation was impossible; but partial approval sufficient to meet Loma Linda's blueprint needs was available, as Burden had mentioned in his important April letter, quoted earlier:

The battle was fought by the osteopaths, but [instead of only approving the osteopaths] the Legislature then threw the gate wide open for any school whose requirements for entrance to the medical course were equal to a high school preparation on the ten fundamental branches that underlie medical education.--Burden letter to W.A. Ruble, April 13, 1908.

The fact was that, in order to obey the blueprint, Loma Linda did not need to meet the requirements of a Class A medical school. So, yielding to urging by Elder Burden and Ellen White, the General Conference Committee passed a resolution in June 1909, restricting Loma Linda to a special training school for medical missionary workers.

But, in accordance with his April 1908 letter to Ruble at the General Conference, Burden knew that, right then, they needed to obtain a state charter for the school. So, at his urging, the 1909 Autumn Council recommended that this be done. On December 9, a charter from the State of California was signed and recorded in Los Angeles. This is exactly what Burden wanted.

[The College of Evangelists] is authorized to grant such literary, scientific, and professional honors and degrees as are usually granted by literary, scientific, medical, and dental or pharmaceutical colleges, and particularly the honors and degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Doctor of Medicine [M.D.], Doctor of Surgery, and Doctor of Dental Surgery [D.D.S.], and in testimony thereof to give suitable diplomas under the corporate seal.--Charter of the College of Evangelists, 1909.

PRESSURE MOUNTING FOR ACCREDITATION

But pressure was continuing to mount for Loma Linda to try to align itself with the standards of the world, in order to better succeed in its mission.

It was not the staff at Loma Linda that were applying the pressure, for they were deeply involved in fulfilling the blueprint. Every day they were witnessing how very successful it was! Their lives were happy, and their hearts were knit together in fellowship. The students were learning how to become practical medical missionaries in the full sense of the term. Patients were recovering nicely and departing with more than mere physical healing.

 The pressure was coming from individuals outside of Loma Linda. Two who were especially concerned were A.G. Daniells and W.W. Prescott. Daniells was president of the General Conference. Prescott had been vice-president of the General Conference and editor of the Review from 1901 to 1909 and continued to hold important positions after that; so he was also extremely influential. In addition, a number of our college teachers and presidents were opposed to the Loma Linda blueprint.

(It is highly significant that, a few years later at the 1919 Bible Conference, it was Daniells and Prescott who complained that Ellen Whites writings were not too trustworthy while the others present defended her.)

Specifically, what they wanted was for Loma Linda to obtain partial or full accreditation status with the American Medical Association.

Many letters flew back and forth, and the position of Ellen White and John Burden was quite plain. But this did not satisfy the detractors of the blueprint. It was felt that our safety would be found in drawing closer to the way the world did things.

Unfortunately, as early as 1907 A.G. Daniells, president of the General Conference, was a leading supporter of full accreditation for Loma Linda. Here is an important statement of his:

In contemplating a college that will grant medical degrees and diplomas to be presented to State Boards and be used by our medical missionaries in their endeavor to qualify for the foreign lands to practice there. I contemplate the establishment of a full-fledged medical college that will be recognized--that will give students a preparation for graduation that will be recognized by legal bodies such as the American Medical Association . . You know it must have such recognition to be worth a nickel.--A.G. Daniels, quoted in Loma Linda Messages, p. 538.

It is obvious that Daniells had his mind made up as early as 1907. But, years later, he would deeply regret his decision.

The most complete system that men have ever devised, apart from the power and wisdom of God, will prove a failure, while the most unpromising methods will succeed when divinely appointed and entered upon with humility and faith.--Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 554.

Think not that, in choosing Gods plan, we select a shoddy, inferior plan of education.

The light that God has given in medical missionary lines will not cause His people to be regarded as inferior in scientific medical knowledge, but will fit them to stand upon the highest eminence. God would have them stand as a wise and understanding people because of His presence with them. In the strength of Him who is the Source of all wisdom, all grace, defects and ignorance may be overcome.--Counsels to Teachers, p. 476.

TWO IMPORTANT 1909 STATEMENTS

It cannot be said that enough warning wasn't given. The following two statements were penned when CME was about to enter upon a path that would ultimately take it far from the blueprint.

In 1909, Dr. Rand wrote a letter to Elder Burden, in which a clear explanation of the dangers inherent in confederating with the AMA was given.

Howard F. Rand, M.D., had earlier been a classmate and fellow medical missionary with Drs. Paulson and Kress. Rand had worked at the Battle Creek Sanitarium until J.H. Kellogg turned against the church and the Spirit of Prophecy. Rand had a clear understanding of how Kellogg's desire for AMA accreditation had ruined that institution. At the time of this writing, Rand was on the staff of the St. Helena Sanitarium.

The great difficulty with the American Medical [Missionary College in Battle Creek] was the State told the directors of the college that they must have certain conditions present [to become an AMA-recognized college]; and, having reached that condition, they must then have men of standing.

These men [such as Dr. Holmes, in 1901, mentioned in General Conference Bulletin, pp. 289-290] gladly gave their services, but they [non-Adventist physicians] at once said they [the AMMC] must get in the College of Associations [accrediting association] or they would not feel like giving their time to that which did not have the standing of the colleges in the association. The request had to be complied with and in this way; step by step, they were led into what finally was very deep water.

We must fight this and endeavor to protect and save men from getting into such a condition that would lead one this way. This is what I am anxious about.--Howard F. Rand, Letter to John Burden, November 12, 1909.

The above quotations apparently says this: The American Medical Missionary College (AMMC) was told they must do certain things. When they were done, the AMMC was told it must have recognized physicians on its staff. Although some faithful Adventist physicians offered their services, prospective non-Adventist physicians told the AMMC that it must first join the accrediting association, which had additional requirements. So, step by step, the situation became worse. (The AMMC closed its doors a year after Rand wrote the above letter.)

At about the same time of Rand's letter, Dr. Abbott wrote an incisive article for the CME publication, The Medical Evangelist, which, as usual, was sent to all our church leaders.

George Knapp Abbott, M.D. (1880-1959), was president of CME from 1907 to 1910. He and Elder Howell were the two solid Spirit of Prophecy men that certain leaders removed from the presidency of CME, because they stood in the way of closer affiliation with the AMA. Abbott is well-known as the author of Technique of Hydrotherapy, the textbook on the subject used at Loma Linda for decades. He was later co-author of Physical Therapy in Nursing Care (both of which are now out of print). Our Water Therapy Manual provides essentially the same material, but in an easy-to-use outline format (294 pp. $10.00 + $2.50).

Our educational system is lacking in one branch--many still believe that in order to meet the requirements of the government of the earth, it is necessary, in certain lines, to go to the world to be qualified. It seems to some that in order to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars we must render them as Romans and not as Israelites. We have forgotten that He who instituted earthly governments is also He who setteth up kings and removeth kings. We have forgotten that it is the Lord who makes the impression upon the human mind. We are still, in this particular, serving the god of Ekron and giving to another that glory that belongs to the God of Israel.

Gods plan for the ages will not fail. If we expect to triumph with this plan, we must place ourselves in harmony with it. Shall we longer deny the power of God to produce among His people a better education than that for which we now go to the world? Shall we at this time deny the superiority of infinite wisdom over finite investigation ?G.K. Abbott, The Medical Evangelist, Vol. 1, No. 5, Fourth Quarter, 1909.

PROPOSAL TO COMPLETE LAST TWO YEARS AT AN OUTSIDE UNIVERSITY

In July 1909, the General Conference met in Takoma Park and voted to consider equipping Loma Linda as an initial two-year pre-medical training center, so the students could complete their last two years at an outside medical school (Minutes of General Conference Committee, July 25, 1909).

When, in September, Elder Burden visited Ellen White at Elmshaven and told her of the proposed plan, she wrote a reply:

We want none of that kind of higher education that will put us in a position where the credit must be given, not to the Lord God of Israel, but to the god of Ekron. The Lord designs that we shall stand as a distinct people, so connected with Him that He can work with us . .

I felt a heavy burden this morning when I read over a letter . . for having medical students take some work at Loma Linda, but to get the finishing touches of their education from some worldly institution . . We are to stand distinct and separate from the world . . We need not tie to men in order to secure influence. We need not think that we must have their experience and their knowledge.--EGW, Manuscript 71, 1909.

In 1909, pressure intensified for Loma Linda to seek accreditation. While on her way to a General Conference Session, Ellen White spoke to the 30 teachers on the faculty of Union College:

There is constant danger among our people that those who engage in labor in our schools and sanitariums will entertain the idea that they must get in line with the world, study the things which the world studies, and become familiar with the things that the world becomes familiar with. This is one of the greatest mistakes that could be made. We shall make grave mistakes unless we give special attention to the searching of the Word . .

The light has been given me that tremendous pressures will be brought upon every Seventh-day Adventist with whom the world can get into close connection. Those who seek the education that the world esteems so highly, are gradually led further and further from the principles of truth until they become educated worldlings.

At what a price have they gained their education! They have parted with the Holy Spirit of God. They have chosen to accept what the world calls knowledge in the place of the truths which God has committed to men through His ministers and prophets and apostles. And there are some who, having secured this worldly education, think that they can introduce it into our schools. But let me tell you that you must not take what the world calls the higher education and bring it into our schools and sanitariums and churches. We need to understand these things. I speak to you definitely. This must not be done.--Fundamentals of Education, pp. 534-536.

That same year, she also wrote this warning:

I am instructed to say that in our educational work there is to be no compromise in order to meet the worlds standards. Gods commandment-keeping people are not to unite with the world to carry various lines of work according to worldly plans and worldly wisdom.

Our people are now being tested as to whether they will obtain their wisdom from the greatest Teacher the world ever knew or seek to the god of Ekron. Let us determine that we shall not be tied by so much as a thread to the educational policies of those who do not discern the voice of God and who will not hearken to His commandments.

We are to take heed to the warning: Enter ye in at the strait gate. Matthew 7:13, 14. Those who walk in the narrow way are following in the footprints of Jesus. The light from heaven illuminates their path.

Shall we represent before the world that our physicians must follow the pattern of the world before they can be qualified to act as successful physicians? This is the question that is now testing the faith of some of our brethren. Let not any of our brethren displease the Lord by advocating in their assemblies the idea that we need to obtain from unbelievers a higher education than that specified by the Lord.

The representation of the Great Teacher is to be considered an all-sufficient revelation. Those in our ranks who qualify as physicians are to receive only such education as is in harmony with these divine truths. Some have advised that students should, after taking some work at Loma Linda, complete their medical education in worldly colleges. But this is not in harmony with the Lords plan. God is our wisdom, our sanctification, and our righteousness. Facilities should be provided at Loma Linda that the necessary instruction in medical lines may be given by instructors who fear the Lord and who are in harmony with His plans for the treatment of the sick.

I have not a word to say in favor of the worlds ideas of higher education in any school that we shall organize for the training of physicians. There is danger in their attaching themselves to worldly institutions and working under the ministrations of worldly physicians. Satan is giving his orders to those whom he has led to depart from the faith. I would now advise that none of our young people attach themselves to worldly medical institutions in the hope of gaining better success or stronger influence as physicians.--Letter 132, 1909; Medical Ministry, pp. 61-62.

In 1906, Ellen White wrote a letter to a young man who was inquiring whether he should enter a school of osteopathy:

It has frequently been seen that what seemed to be favorable opportunities for obtaining an education in worldly institutions were snares of the enemy. The time of the student has been occupied, to the exclusion of the study of Gods Word. They have completed the course of study, but they were not fitted to take up the study of the work of God.--EGW, September 3, 1906. 

1910: ENTERING THE CRISIS

CONFIRMING STATEMENTS IN 1910

We now come to 1910, the year that marked the beginning, even though slow, of what snowballed into a dramatic changeover at Loma Linda.

The following 1905 statement, reprinted at the beginning of 1910, concerned Kelloggs earlier attempts to have Battle Creek College achieve AMA accreditation.

The so-called higher education of the present day is a misnamed deception . . All this higher education that is being planned will be extinguished; for it is spurious. The more simple the education of our workers, the less connection they have with the men whom God is not leading, the more will be accomplished.--EGW, Series B, No. 7, p. 63; November 1905; Lake Union Herald, January 26, 1910.

In the spring of 1910, the fateful year that the move toward changeover at Loma Linda first began, Ellen White wrote an urgent letter to Elder Burden, warning him that our medical work, including Loma Linda, must not confederate with worldly organizations and should not seek to meet their standards.

The Lord has shown us the evil of depending upon the strength of earthly organizations. He has instructed us that the commission of the medical missionary is received from the very highest authority. He would have us understand that it is a mistake to regard as most essential the education given by physicians who reject the authority of Christ, the greatest Physician who ever lived upon the earth. We are not to accept and follow the view of men who refuse to recognize God as their teacher, but who learn of men and are guided by man-made laws and restrictions.

During the night of April 26 many things were opened before me. I was shown that now, in a special sense, we as a people are to be guided by divine instruction. Those fitting themselves for medical missionary work should fear to place themselves under the direction of worldly doctors, to imbibe their sentiments and peculiar prejudices and to learn to express their ideas and views. They are not to depend for their influence upon worldly teachers. They should be looking to Jesus, the author and Finisher of our faith. EGW, April 27, 1910.

It is not necessary that our medical missionaries follow the precise track marked out by the medical men of the world. They do not need to administer drugs to the sick. They do not need to follow drug medication in order to have influence in their work. The message was given that if they would consecrate themselves to the Lord, if they would seek to obtain under men ordained of God a thorough knowledge of their work, the Lord would make them skillful. Connected with the divine Teacher, they will understand that their dependence is upon God and not upon the professedly wise men of the world.

Some of our medical missionaries have supposed that a medical training according to the plans of worldly schools is essential to their success. To those who have been taught that the only way to success is by being taught by worldly men and pursuing a course that is sanctioned by worldly men, I would now say, put away such ideas. This is a mistake that should be corrected. It is a dangerous thing to catch the spirit of the world; the popularity which such a course invites will bring into the work a spirit which the Word of God can not sanction. The medical missionary who would become efficient, if he will search his own heart and consecrate himself to Christ, may be diligent in study and faithful in service, and learn how to grasp the mysteries of his sacred calling.--EGW, April 27, 1910.

Here is an earlier statement:

Never are we to rely upon worldly recognition and rank. Never are we, in the establishment of institutions, to try to compete with worldly institutions in size or splendor. The great desire of the managers of our sanitariums should be so to walk in obedience to the Lord that all the helpers connected with these institutions can by faith walk with God as did Enoch.

The Lord will guide all who humbly walk with Him. Humble men who trust in Him will be the most successful workers in His cause. We shall gain the victory, not by erecting massive buildings in rivalry with our enemies, but by cherishing a Christlike spirit of meekness and lowliness.--Medical Ministry, pp. 158; Manuscript 109, 1902.

WE SHOULD INSTEAD OBTAIN SPECIAL CERTIFICATION

In the very same letter, quoted above, we were told this:

Now while the world is favorable toward the teaching of the health reform principles, moves should be made to secure for our own physicians the privilege of imparting medical instruction to our young people who would otherwise be led to attend the worldly medical colleges. The time will come when it will be more difficult than it is now to arrange for the training of our young people in medical missionary lines.--EGW, April 27, 1910.

It was part of the blueprint that we were to seek to obtain special State certification for our schools. The reason why we should receive that certification would be the blessing of God and the outstanding success of our work.

You will recall that the lengthy 1908 Burden letter to Ruble, quoted earlier, said this:

A good, thorough school of hygiene or rational practice would have no difficulty of being recognized in this state.

And should our school be recognized here, its students would have a vantage ground from which to secure recognition in other states, the same as osteopaths are being recognized. Their healing art is fast being recognized in all the states, but they have had to fight their way to the front with everything against them. Their opening the way will evidently make it easier, for a time at least, for other reputable methods of healing to become recognized.--Burden letter to W.A. Ruble, April 13, 1908.

At that time, we were told to press our way forward and obtain special certification in every state, based on the sheer excellence of our method of treatment. But, if we did not do so, Inspiration warned:

The time will come when it will be more difficult than it is now to arrange for the training of our young people in medical missionary lines.--EGW, April 27, 1910.

Testimonies, Vol. 9, covered the period from 1904 to 1909 and was published that year. It contained important letters sent to our leaders.

In the work of the school maintain simplicity. No argument is so powerful as is success founded on simplicity. You may attain success in the education of students as medical missionaries without a medical school that can qualify physicians to compete with the physicians of the world. Let the students be given a practical education. The less dependent you are upon worldly methods of education, the better it will be for the students.

Special instruction should be given in the art of treating the sick without the use of poisonous drugs and in harmony with the light that God has given. In the treatment of the sick, poisonous drugs need not be used. Students should come forth from the school without having sacrificed the principles of health reform or their love for God and righteousness.

The education that meets the worlds standard is to be less and less valued by those who are seeking for efficiency in carrying the medical missionary work in connection with the work of the third angels message. They are to be educated from the standpoint of conscience, and, as they conscientiously and faithfully follow right methods in their treatment of the sick, these methods will come to be recognized as preferable to the methods to which many have become accustomed, which demand the use of poisonous drugs.9 Testimonies, p. 175.

Raymond Moore tells us of non-Adventist religious colleges which, due to the sheer excellence of their schools combined with a determination not to yield to the demands of accrediting agencies, have remained in splendid independence of operation:

Canada's McGill University determined never to sacrifice its ideals for recognition by institutions or government. It has become one of the worlds great schools. Brigham Young University determined initially to hold high standards of morality at all costs. Its pattern has held consistently. Its growth and influence are now generally regarded as phenomenal. Boston's northeastern University has clung to its now famed cooperative work-study program, regardless of ridicule by elitists. Today it is one of the largest and most reputable of Americas institutions. A visitor to Warren Wilson College in North Carolina finds teachers and students working several hours together daily in manual labor. Its campus is remarkably devoid of troubles which bedevil most educational institutions.--Raymond Moore, Adventist Education at the Crossroads, p. 27.

In September 1909, Elder Burden journeyed to Elmshaven to ask Ellen White some questions:

Elder Burden: Would the securing of a charter for a medical school, where our students might obtain a medical education, militate against our depending upon God?

E.G. White: No, I do not see that it would, if a charter were secured on the right terms. Only be sure that you do not exalt men above God. If you can gain force and influence that will make your work more effective without tying yourselves to worldly men [which membership in an accrediting association would require], that would be right.

J.A. Burden: In planning our course of study, we have tried to follow the light in the Testimonies; and, in doing so, it has led us away from the requirements of the world. The world will not recognize us as standing with them. We shall have to stand distinct, by ourselves.

E.G. White: You may unite with them in certain points that will not have a misleading influence, but let no sacrifice be made to endanger our principles. We shall always have to stand distinct. God desires us to be separate; and, yet, it is our privilege to avail ourselves of certain rights [e.g. a charter secured on the right terms]. But rather than to confuse our medical work, you had better stand aloof and labor with the advantages that you yourselves can offer . .

You must arrange this matter as best you can, but the principle that is presented to me is that you are not to acknowledge any power as greater than that of God. Our influence is to be acknowledged by God because we keep His commandments.--John Burden interview with EGW, September 20, 1909.

Ellen White said that it would be safe to obtain a State charter for a school, as long as it did not in any way influence how we carried on our training and work.

In answer to specific questions by Elders J.A. Burden and W.C. White, Mrs. White, in this interview, stated without hesitation that we should have a school of our own to educate physicians. She also agreed that it would not be a violation of principle to secure a charter. If you can gain force and influence, she said, that will make your work more effective without tying yourselves to worldly men, that would be right (EGW, Manuscript 71, 1909).D.E. Robinson, Story of Our Health Message, p. 383.

On October 13, 1909, the General Conference Committee approved that action; and, on December 9, a charter was secured from the State of California to grant degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, dentistry, and medicine.

The above statements explain the some must be qualified statements, which some stumble over. Elder John Burden knew the Spirit of Prophecy counsel on the matter. Recall again his letter of 1908, quoted earlier, to W.A. Ruble at the General Conference. Here is a portion:

Our understanding of the testimonies is, that while thousands are to be quickly qualified for thorough medical-evangelistic work, some must qualify to labor as physicians. We have been instructed again and again to make the school as strong as possible for the qualification of nurses and physicians.--John Burden, letter to W.A. Ruble, April 13, 1908.

In later years, Dr. Owen S. Parrett wrote this:

My wife recalls, While we nurses were in training at Loma Linda, Elder Burden would often tell us, You should not desire to become registered nurses in the worlds way [see 1T 127; 6T 126-127; MM 61-62; FE 534-536] for a superior ministry of healing. Repeatedly he reminded us that the College of Medical Evangelists was established to provide a superior method of education and a superior method of practice for nurses and physicians, and that our legal recognition was to be for a superior order, unique and separate from the regular training and recognition of the worlds medical fraternities. God did not want us to become regular nurses and regular doctors.

Burdens collection of Loma Linda Messages contains several letters and interviews bearing this out. Repeatedly Elder Burden told us medical students, Sister White tells me that the Lord will give us recognition when we are ready for it. Owen S. Parrett, M.D., Recollection of experiences at Loma Linda in 1909.

Gods plan was that the recognition would come, not as a result of seeking acceptance by accrediting agencies in accordance with worldly standards, but because our method of healing the sick would prove to be so much more successful, both immediately and in its long-term effects on the patients.

THE MEANING OF CERTAIN STATEMENTS

Ellen White had stated that we should provide a complete education in medical missionary work for our students at Loma Linda. In many letters, some of which are quoted in this book, she repeatedly told what that education consisted of. The type of education she urged was quite obvious. It included both medical and evangelistic training, without the use of medicinal drugs.

In strong contrast, in order to be accepted by the worldly accreditation agencies, Loma Linda would be forced to add many things, including drug medication, with which we should not become involved.

Writing about the medical work, she earlier said:

God does not at one time send a message of warning, and later another message encouraging a movement against which He had previously given warning. His messages do not contradict one another. Cautions have been given that should cause our brethren to stop and consider their course.--EGW, October 2, 1905; Series B, No. 5, p. 45.

In 1932, Elder A.G. Daniells, in a Loma Linda chapel talk (quoted in Review, March 31, 1932), stated that years before, when he was president, he feared that Elder Burden was about to involve the denomination in serious financial difficulties in his efforts to start a medical school.

But, Elder Daniells continued, Ellen White had mentioned in one statement that a complete medical school for training missionary physicians was needed--so, in 1910, as Daniells explained, he assumed that a regular medical college was what Ellen White wanted us to pursue.

Here is the quotation that Elder Daniells was referring to:

We should have, in various places, men of extraordinary ability who have obtained their diplomas in medical schools of the best reputation, who can stand before the world as fully qualified and legally recognized physicians. Let God-fearing men be wisely chosen to go through the training essential in order to obtain such qualifications. They should be prudent men who will remain true to the principles of the message. These should obtain the qualifications and the authority to conduct an educational work for our young men and our young women who desire to be trained for medical missionary work.

Now while the world is favorable toward the teaching of the health reform principles, moves should be made to secure for our own physicians the privilege of imparting medical instruction to our young people who would otherwise be led to attend the worldly medical colleges. The time will come when it will be more difficult than it now is to arrange for the training of our young people in medical missionary lines.--EGW, Manuscript 61, 1910 (quoted in The Medical Evangelist, June 1910).

What does this one statement mean? It is clear that it appears to run counter to repeated statements by Ellen White that we are not to accreditate Loma Linda. What is the meaning of this statement, which Elder Daniells ran with?

Read the statement again. It does not say that any of our schools should be accredited. It does not say that Loma Linda should seek accreditation. It does not repudiate any of her other statements in regard to our health, healing, educational, and missionary work.

What it does say is that a few of our men, who have extraordinary ability, should attend outside universities and obtain medical (M.D.) degrees, so they can be stationed, here and there, throughout our institutions (and at Loma Linda), so that the world cannot say that none of our men have the highest qualifications. That is all it says. It does not say that Loma Linda or any other of our schools should obtain institutional accreditation.

In order to initially staff our medical facilities, a few men had to have advanced training. But thereafter, they could train our own students who would become the teachers in our medical schools.

The statement, above, was quoted from Manuscript 61, 1910. Here are two other statements in the same manuscript, just a few paragraphs earlier:

It is not necessary that our medical missionaries follow the precise track marked out by the medical men of the world. They do not need to administer drug medication in order to have influence in their work. The message was given me that if they would consecrate themselves to the Lord, if they would seek to obtain under men ordained of God a thorough knowledge of their work, the Lord would make them skillful. Connected with the divine Teacher, they will understand that their dependence is upon God and not upon professedly wise men of the world.

Some of our medical missionaries have supposed that a medical training according to the plans of worldly schools is essential to their success. To those who have thought that the only way to success is by being taught by worldly men and by pursuing a course that is sanctioned by worldly men, I would now say, put away such ideas. This is a mistake that should be corrected. It is a dangerous thing to catch the spirit of the world; the popularity which such course invites will bring into the work a spirit which the Word of God cannot sanction. The medical missionary who would become efficient, if he will search his own heart and consecrate himself to Christ, may be diligent in study, faithful in service, and learn how to grasp the mysteries of his calling.

At Loma Linda, at Washington, at Wahroonga, Australia, and in many other sanitariums established for the promulgation of the work of the third angels message there are to come to the physicians and to the teachers new ideas, a new understanding of the principles that must govern the medical work. An education is to be given that is altogether in harmony with the teachings of the Word of God.--EGW, Manuscript 61, 1910.

Those who do not believe the Word of God cannot possibly present to those who desire to become acceptable medical missionaries the way by which they will become most successful. Christ was the greatest Physician the world ever knew; His heart was ever touched with human woe. He has a work for those to do who will not place their dependence upon worldly powers.

Gods true commandment-keeping people will be instructed by Him. The true medical missionary will be wise in the treatment of the sick, using the remedies that nature provides. And then he will look to Christ as the true Healer of diseases. The principles of health reform brought into the life of the patient, the use of natures remedies, and the cooperation of divine agencies in behalf of the suffering, will bring success.--Ibid.

There is a second comment by Ellen White that men have run with.

Whatever our young people, preparing to be physicians need to know, that we must prepare to teach.--EGW, statement made at Mountain View Conference, January 27, 1910; quoted in The Medical Evangelist, October-November issue, 1911, p. 32.

Elder William C. White was well-acquainted with his mothers concepts, and he provided this explanation of that statement:

Our medical missionaries should be given the opportunity to know the very best things done by the allopaths [those following the system accredited by the AMA Council on Medical Education; Association of American Medical Colleges], the eclectics, the homeopaths, the osteopaths, and the water-cure doctors; but none of these systems should be adopted as the sign of our order. Neither are our medical men to give the credit or honor of the results of their labors under God, to any man or group of men, or to any locality, or to any system.--W.C. White, statement quoted in The Medical Evangelist, October-November issue, 1911.

As we will learn shortly, it was only two years later that A.G. Daniells deeply regretted having assumed that the college should push ahead toward accreditation. More on this later.

Why did God permit this changeover, from 1910 to 1922, to occur? He tests men to see what they will do with the light shining upon them. The Spirit of Prophecy statements were clear, very clear. And there were dozens of them, dating back to the 1860s. Her counsels had not changed.

But some men chose to grab at a pretext and run with it. It was because they did this that later, in the early 1930s, our other colleges also demanded that they be permitted to apply for accreditation. (More on this later.) As a result, every one of our colleges are now accreditated--all because it was a few men who decided that Loma Linda must receive full worldly accreditation, in accordance with standards of instruction set by unbelievers.

There are definite instances in the Bible, and in church history, in which men have determined to have their way; and so the Lord let them do it. This is a warning to us, individually, today.

When Owen S. Parrett decided to leave the University of Southern California Medical School, in 1907, and attend Loma Linda, the dean, Dr. Charles Bryson, was shocked that he would go to that hayseed farm for medical instruction.

Just why then are you anxious to leave this university and go back to Loma Linda? he queried.

Because the College of Evangelists emphasizes the importance of proper diet, natural methods of treatment, practical outdoor exercise, temperance, and other laws of heath, which I need to know in order to best help the sick.

Very well, he replied, but it takes more than that to make a medical college. And truly it does. It take much trust in divine power to transform men's lives. But USC did not have that attribute.--Dr. O.S. Parrett, undated statement.

1910 WAS THE YEAR OF TRANSITION

In April 1906, Warren E. Howell became the first president of the Loma Linda college; but, after one year, this very staunch advocate of the blueprint was sent by leadership as a missionary to Greece. That occurred at a time when his help was deeply needed at Loma Linda.

In the spring of 1907, George Knapp Abbott, M.D., took his place. Abbott was also faithful to the blueprint in regard to treatments; but, since he obtained his degree in an outside university, he was not as clear about accreditation.

From 1910, onward, Elder Burden, Ellen Whites most faithful friend at Loma Linda, was steadily pushed into the background and men trained in worldly universities gradually took control. Within four years, they had driven CME into heavy debt.