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The
Medical
Missionary
Manual
 
— Section five —
The Simple Remedies
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN -
WHY GOD HAS DIRECTED HIS PEOPLE
TO EMPLOY THE SIMPLE REMEDIES
RATHER THAN TO RELY
UPON PRAYER ALONE FOR HEALING
The blueprint for teaching obedience to God’s laws
and protecting ourselves from the miraculous
deceptions of Satan
— through the use of simple remedies
SEVEN REASONS WHY GOD HAS DIRECTED US
TO USE THE SIMPLE REMEDIES
Does not God desire that we rely solely upon prayer
and faith in the ministry of Divine healing? Why employ the simple
remedies if we have prayed for healing and have faith to believe that,
if it be His will, He will answer our requests?
1 – BECAUSE WE ARE INSTRUCTED THAT IT WOULD BE
PRESUMPTIOUS TO ASK GOD FOR HEALING WITHOUT MAKING USE
OF THE REMEDIES HE GIVES US
We are to cooperate with God in the restoration of
the sick and the suffering to health.
"Those who seek healing by prayer should not neglect to make use
of the remedial agencies within their reach. It is not a denial of faith
to use such remedies as God has provided to alleviate pain and to aid
nature in her work of restoration. It is no denial of faith to cooperate
with God, and to place themselves in the condition most favorable to
recovery. God has put it in our power to obtain a knowledge of the laws
of life. This knowledge has been placed within our reach for use. We
should employ every facility for the restoration of health, taking every
advantage possible, working in harmony with natural laws.
When we have prayed for the recovery of the sick, we can work with all
the more energy, thanking God that we have the privilege of cooperating
with Him, and asking His blessing on the means which He Himself has
provided.
"We have the sanction of the Word of God for the
use of remedial agencies. . . .
"On one occasion Christ anointed the eyes of a
blind man with clay, and bade him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. .
. . He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.’ The cure
could be wrought only by the power of the great Healer, yet Christ made
use of the simple agencies of nature. While He did not give countenance
to drug medication, He sanctioned the use of simple and natural
remedies."—Ministry of Healing, 231-233.
"In praying for the sick, it is essential to
have faith; for it is in accordance with the Word of God. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ James 5:16. So we
cannot discard praying for the sick, and we should feel very sad if we
could not have the privilege of approaching God, to lay before Him all
our weaknesses and our infirmities, to tell the compassionate Saviour
all about these things, believing that He hears our petitions. Sometimes
answers to our prayers come immediately; sometimes we have to wait
patiently and continue earnestly to plead for the things that we need. .
. .
"This waiting does not mean that because we ask
the Lord to heal there is nothing for us to do. On the contrary, we are
to make the very best use of the means which the Lord in His goodness
has provided for us in our necessities.
"I have seen so much of carrying matters to
extremes, in praying for the sick, that I have felt that this part of
our experience requires much solid, sanctified thinking, lest we shall
make movements that we may call faith, but which are really nothing less
than presumption. Persons worn down with affliction need to be counseled
wisely, that they may move discreetly; and while they place themselves
before God to be prayed for that they may be healed, they are not to
take the position that methods of restoration to health in accordance
with nature’s laws are to be neglected.
"If they take the position that in praying for healing they
must not use the simple remedies provided by God to
alleviate pain and to aid nature in her work, lest it be a denial of
faith, they are taking an unwise position. This is not a denial of
faith; it is in strict harmony with the plans of God. When Hezekiah was
sick, the prophet of God brought him the message that he should die. He
cried unto the Lord, and the Lord heard His servant, and worked a
miracle in his behalf, sending him a message that fifteen years should
be added to his life. Now one word from God, one touch of the divine
finger, would have cured Hezekiah instantly, but special directions were
given to take a fig and lay it upon the affected part, and Hezekiah was
raised to life."—Counsels on Health, 380-382.
A list of water treatments and herbal preparations
for various difficulties is given: "There are many more simple
remedies which will do much to restore healthful action to the body. All
these simple preparations the Lord expects us to use for ourselves, but
man’s extremities are God’s opportunities. If we neglect to do that
which is within the reach of nearly every family, and ask the Lord to
relieve pain when we are too indolent to make use of these remedies
within our power, it is simply presumption."—2 Selected
Messages, 297.
2 - BECAUSE PEOPLE MUST BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY AND
TIME TO LEARN ABOUT THE PHYSICAL LAWS THAT GOVERN THEIR BEING
They must be taught the laws of health
"I saw that the reason why God did not hear the
prayers of His servants for the sick among us more fully was that He
could not be glorified in so doing while they were violating the laws of
health. And I also saw that He designed the health reform and Health
Institute to prepare the way for the prayer of faith to be fully
answered. Faith and good works should go hand in hand in relieving the
afflicted among us, and in fitting them to glorify God here, and to be
saved at the coming of Christ. . . .
"Let no one obtain the idea that the Institute is the place for
them to come to be raised up by the prayer of faith. This is the place
to find relief from disease by treatment, and right habits of living,
and to learn how to avoid sickness. But if there is one place under the
heavens more than another where sooth
ing, sympathizing prayer should be offered by men and
women of devotion and faith, it is at such an institute. Those who treat
the sick should move forward in their important work with strong
reliance upon God for His blessing to attend the means which He has
graciously provided, and to which He has in mercy called our attention
as a people such as pure air, cleanliness, healthful diet, proper
periods of labor and repose, and the use of water."—Counsels
on Health, 247.
3 – BECAUSE PEOPLE MUST BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY AND
TIME TO LEARN WHAT IT IS THAT MADE THEM SICK
They must be taught exactly which laws they violated
"It is labor lost to teach people to look to God
as a healer of their infirmities, unless they are taught also to lay
aside unhealthful practices. In order to receive His blessing in answer
to prayer, they must cease to do evil and learn to do well. Their
surroundings must be sanitary, their habits of life correct. They must
live in harmony with the law of God, both natural and spiritual.
"To those who desire prayer for their
restoration to health, it should be made plain that the violation of God’s
law, either natural or spiritual, is sin, and that in order for them to
receive His blessing, sin must be confessed and forsaken."—Ministry
of Healing, 227-228.
4 – BECAUSE THE PEOPLE MUST BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY
AND TIME TO LEARN HOW TO RECOVER HEALTH
They must be taught the importance
of the simple treatments given by God
to cleanse the system and equalize the circulation
"As the work developed, we were instructed that
suitable places were to be provided, to which we could bring the sick
and suffering who knew nothing of our people and scarcely anything of
the Bible, and there teach them how to regain health by rational methods
of treatment without having recourse to poisonous drugs, and at the same
time surround them with uplifting spiritual influences."—Counsels
on Health, 469.
"Begin to do medical missionary work with the conveniences which you have at hand. You will find that
thus the way will open for you to hold Bible readings. The heavenly
Father will place you in connection with those who need to know how to
treat their sick ones. Put into practice what you know regarding the
treatment of disease. Thus suffering will be relieved, and you will have
opportunity to break the bread of life to starving souls."—A
Call to Medical Evangelism, 26.
"The Lord has given some simple herbs of the
field that at times are beneficial; and if every family were educated in
how to use these herbs in case of sickness, most suffering might be
prevented, and no doctor need be called. These old-fashioned, simple
herbs, used intelligently, would have recovered many sick who have died
under drug medication."—Letter 82, 1897 (written February 10,
1897).
"Gospel workers should be able also to give
instruction in the principles of healthful living. . . . Thousands need
and would gladly receive instruction concerning the simple methods of
treating the sick,—methods that are taking the place of the use of
poisonous drugs."—Ministry of Healing, 146.
"A great amount of good can be done by
enlightening all to whom we have access, as to the best means, not only
of curing the sick, but of preventing disease and suffering."—Counsels
on Health, 451.
5 – BECAUSE THE PEOPLE MUST BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY
AND TIME TO LEARN HOW TO MAINTAIN HEALTH
They must be taught simple methods
of healthful living and eating:
how to apply the principles
of God’s physical laws to their everyday needs and
problems
"When the light came that we should begin
sanitarium work, the reasons were plainly given. There were many who
needed to be educated in regard to healthful living. . . . As a part of
the treatment, lectures were to be given on right habits of eating and
drinking and dressing. Instruction was to be given regarding the choice
and the preparation of food, showing that food may be prepared so as to
be wholesome and nourishing, and at the same time appetizing and
palatable."—Counsels on Health, 469.
"In all our health institutions, it should be
made a special feature of the work to give instruction in regard to the
laws of health. The principles of health reform should be carefully and
thoroughly set before all, both patients and helpers."—Counsels
on Health, 452.
6 – BECAUSE SATAN WILL ATTEMPT TO COUNTERFEIT
RELIGIOUS FAITH HEALING
He will do this to draw attention
from God’s simple methods of removing sickness
"The magicians could not perform all those
miracles which God wrought through Moses. Only a few of them could they
do. . . . ‘They cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents:
but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.’ . . . The magicians seemed
to perform several things with their enchantments similar to those
things which God wrought by the hand of Moses and Aaron. They did not
really cause their rods to become serpents, but by magic, aided by the
great deceiver, made them appear like serpents, to counterfeit the work
of God. . . .
"The magicians wrought not by their own science
alone, but by the power of their god, the devil, who ingeniously carried
out his deceptive work of counterfeiting the work of God. Moses, by the
power of God, had changed the rod to a living serpent. Satan, through
the magicians, counterfeited this miracle. He could not produce living
serpents, for he has not power to create or to give life. This power
belongs to God alone. But all that Satan could do he did—he produced a
counterfeit. By this power, working through the magicians, he caused the
rods to assume the appearance of serpents."—5 Testimonies,
696-697.
"It was by the display of supernatural power, in making the
serpent his medium, that Satan caused the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden.
Before the close of time he will work still greater wonders. So far as
his power extends, he will perform actual miracles. Says the Scripture:
‘He . . . deceiveth them that dwell
on the earth by the means of those miracles which he
had power to do,’ not merely those which he pretends to do. Something
more than mere impostures is brought to view in this Scripture. But
there is a limit beyond which Satan cannot go, and here he calls
deception to his aid and counterfeits the work which He has not power
actually to perform."—5 Testimonies 698.
"We are to be on guard against Satan’s
deceptive arts. He will take possession of human bodies, and make men
and women sick. Then he will suddenly cease to exercise his evil power,
and it will be proclaimed that a miracle has been wrought. We need now
to have a true understanding of the power of Jesus Christ to save to the
uttermost all who come unto Him."—Medical Ministry, 110.
"Fearful sights of a supernatural character will
soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of
miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings
of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and
urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the
government of heaven. . . . Persons will arise pretending to be Christ
Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belongs to the world’s
Redeemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of healing, and will
profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony of
the Scriptures.
"As the crowning act in the great drama of
deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. . . . The great deceiver
will make it appear that Christ has come. . . . His voice is soft and
subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents
some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he
heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of
Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands
all to hallow the day which he has blessed."—The Great
Controversy, 624.
"Some will be tempted to receive these wonders as from God. The
sick will be healed before us. Miracles will be performed in our sight. Are we prepared for the
trial which awaits us when the lying wonders of Satan shall be more
fully exhibited? Will not many be ensnared and taken? By departing from
the plain precepts and commandments of God, and giving heed to fables,
the minds of many are preparing to receive these lying wonders. We must
all now seek to arm ourselves for the contest in which we must soon
engage. Faith in God’s Word, prayerfully studied and practically
applied, will be our shield from Satan’s power, and will bring us off
conquerors through the blood of Christ."—1 Testimonies 302.
7 – BECAUSE SATAN WILL SEEK TO CAPITALIZE
ON THE SPECTACULAR ELEMENTS
OF HIS "MIRACULOUS HEALING ACTS"
He will do this in order to lead the world
to reject the promises and commands of God
"It is God that shields His creatures, and
hedges them in from the power of the destroyer. But the Christian world
have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah; and the Lord will do just
what He has declared that He would—He will withdraw His blessings from
the earth, and remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling
against His law, and teaching and forcing others to do the same. Satan
has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and
prosper some, in order to further his own designs; and he will bring
trouble upon others, and lead men to believe that it is God who is
afflicting them.
"While appearing to the children of men as a
great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease
and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation.
Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land,
in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in
tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes—in every
place and in a thousand forms—Satan is exercising his power. These
visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous.
Destruction will be upon both man and beast."—Counsels on
Health, 460-461.
"Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and
professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith;
but at the same time he works as a destroyer."—Counsels on
Health, 460.
"Satan is a diligent Bible student. He knows
that his time is short, and he seeks at every point to counterwork the
work of the Lord upon this earth. It is impossible to give any idea of
the experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth
when celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past
are blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of
God. By means of the angels there will be constant communication between
heaven and earth. And Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to
be God, will work miracles of all kinds to deceive, if possible, the
very elect.
"God’s people will not find their safety in
working miracles; for Satan will counterfeit the miracles that will be
wrought. God’s tried and tested people will find their power in the
sign spoken of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to take their stand on the
living Word, ‘It is written.’ This is the only foundation upon which
they can stand securely. Those who have broken their covenant with God
will in that day be without God and without hope."—9
Testimonies, 16.
"The only hope of better things is in the education of the
people in right principles. Let physicians teach the people that
restorative power is not in drugs, but in nature. Disease is an effort
of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a
violation of the laws of health. In case of sickness, the cause should
be ascertained. Unhealthful conditions should be changed, wrong habits
corrected. Then nature is to be assisted in her effort to expel
impurities and to re-establish right conditions in the system . . .
"The use of natural remedies requires an amount of care and
effort that many are not willing to give. Nature’s process of healing
and upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient it seems slow. The
surrender of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in the end it
will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and well.
Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in
health of body and health of mind ."
—Ministry of Healing, 127
- CHAPTER SIXTEEN -
SPECIFIC PRINCIPLES
BY WHICH WE CAN KNOW
WHICH REMEDIES ARE "DRUGS"
AND WHICH ARE APPROVED OF GOD
The blueprint for identifying and differentiating
between "drugs" and "natural
remedies"
EIGHTY-FIVE DEFINITIONS OF "DRUGS"
What, according to the Spirit of Prophecy, is a
"drug"? We are here dealing with a topic that was of great
concern to Ellen White during her lifetime. It ought to be a matter of
great concern to any of God’s people who wish to do true medical
missionary work. She received many visions in regard to the matter. In
some respects, the elimination of this problem is the reason Seventh-day
Adventists were called to found sanitariums and medical schools and
carry on a medical work. It is appropriate that at a time when very
little is said or written on this topic, that this unusually
comprehensive study should be published. It includes statements from the
currently available books, as well as from Healthful Living and How
to Live. But it does not incorporate the large amount of material
written in personal letters and now only available in mimeograph
studies, such as Loma Linda Messages.
If you will thoughtfully read this study, you may
never be the same again. The information contained herein, if put into
practice, may very well lengthen your life—and the life of a loved
one. And, in addition, it may help a young person to make a better
choice, in the consideration of a lifework.
1 – DRUGS ARE NOT THE MOST SIMPLE METHOD
"Our people should become intelligent in the treatment of
sickness without the aid of poisonous drugs. Many should seek to obtain
the education that will enable them to combat disease in its varied
forms by the most simple methods. Thousands have gone down to the grave
because of the use of poisonous drugs, who might have been restored to
health by simple methods of
treatment. Water treatments, wisely and skillfully
given, may be the means of saving many lives. Let diligent study be
united with careful treatments. Let prayers of faith be offered by the
bedside of the sick. Let the sick be encouraged to claim the promises of
God for themselves."—Medical Ministry, 227.
2 – DRUGS ARE THE EASIER METHOD
"The question is, Will they preserve the
principles of hygiene [physical cleansing] or will they use the easier
method of using drugs, to take the place of treating diseases without
resorting to drug medication?"—Manuscript 22, 1887.
3 – DRUGS ARE THE IMMEDIATE METHOD
"The use of natural remedies requires an amount
of care and effort that many are not willing to give. Nature’s process
of healing and upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient it seems
slow. The surrender of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in
the end it will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely
and well. Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the
reward in health of body and health of mind."—Ministry of
Healing, 127.
4 – DRUGS TAKE LESS WORK
"Make use of the remedies that God has provided.
Pure air, sunshine, and the intelligent use of water are beneficial
agents in the restoration of health. But the use of water is considered
too laborious. It is easier to employ drugs than to use natural
remedies."—Healthful Living, 247.
5 – DRUGS ARE THE LAZY METHOD
"The first labors of a physician should be to educate the sick
and suffering in the very course they should pursue to prevent disease.
The greatest good can be done by our trying to enlighten the minds of
all we can obtain access to, as to the best course for them to pursue to
prevent sickness and suffering, and broken constitutions, and premature
death. But those who do not care to undertake work that taxes their physical and mental powers will be
ready to prescribe drug medication, which lays a foundation in the human
organism for a twofold greater evil than that which they claim to have
relieved. A physician who has the moral courage to imperil his
reputation in enlightening the understanding by plain facts, in showing
the nature of disease and how to prevent it, and the dangerous practice
of resorting to drugs, will have an uphill business, but he will live
and let live. . . . He will, if a reformer, talk plainly."—Medical
Ministry, 221-222.
6 – DRUGS ARE NOT A NATURAL MEANS
"In treating the sick, the physician will seek
God for wisdom; then, instead of placing his dependence upon drugs and
expecting that medicine will bring health to his patients, he will use
nature’s restoratives, and employ natural means whereby the sick may
be aided to recover. The Lord will hear and answer prayers of the
Christian physician."—Healthful Living, 247-248.
7 – DRUGS ARE THE FAITHLESS METHOD
"O how great are the possibilities that He has
placed within our reach! He says, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father
in My name, He will give it to you.’ He promises to come to us as a
Comforter, to bless us. Why do we not believe these promises? That which
we lack in faith we make up by the use of drugs. Let us give up the
drugs, believing that Jesus does not desire us to be sick, and that if
we live according to the principles of health reform, He will keep us
well."—Manuscript 169, 1902.
8 – DRUGS ARE POISONS
"Our people should become intelligent in the
treatment of sickness without the aid of poisonous drugs."—Medical
Ministry, 56-57.
"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."—9 Testimonies, 175.
9 – DRUGS ARE POISONOUS MEDICINES
"When the abuse of health is carried so far that sickness
results, the sufferer can often do for himself what no one else can do for him. The first thing to be done is to
ascertain the true character of the sickness, and then go to work
intelligently to remove the cause. If the harmonious working of the
system has become unbalanced by overwork, overeating or other
irregularities, do not endeavor to adjust the difficulties by adding a
burden of poisonous medicines."—Ministry of Healing, 235.
10 – DRUGS ARE DEADLY POISONS
"The mother who has been but slightly
indisposed, and who might have recovered by abstaining from food for a
short period, and ceasing from labor, having quiet and rest, has instead
of doing this, sent for a physician. And he, who should be prepared to
give a few simple directions and restrictions in diet, and place her
upon the right track, is either too ignorant to do this, or too anxious
to obtain a fee. He makes the case appear a grave one, and administers
his poisons which, if he himself were sick, he would not venture to
take. The patient grows worse, and poisonous drugs are more freely
administered, until nature is overpowered in her efforts, and gives up
the conflict, and the mother dies. She was drugged to death. Her system
was poisoned beyond remedy. She was murdered."—2 Selected
Messages, 441.
11 – DRUGS ARE FOREIGN SUBSTANCES
OF A POISONOUS NATURE
"The sufferers in many cases can do for themselves that which
others cannot do as well for them. They should commence to relieve
nature of the load they have forced upon her. They should remove the
cause. Fast a short time, and give the stomach a chance for rest. Reduce
the feverish state of the system by a careful and understanding
application of water. These efforts will help nature in her struggles to
free the system from impurities. But generally the persons who suffer
pain become impatient. They are not willing to use self-denial, and
suffer a little from hunger. Neither are they willing to wait the slow
process of nature to build up the overtaxed energies of the system. But
they are determined to obtain relief at once, and take powerful drugs,
prescribed by physicians. Nature was doing her work well, and would have triumphed, but while accomplishing her
task, a foreign substance of a poisonous nature was introduced. What a
mistake! Abused nature has now two evils to war against instead of one.
She leaves the work in which she was engaged, and resolutely takes hold
to expel the intruder newly introduced into the system. Nature feels
this double draft upon her resources, and she becomes enfeebled."—4
Spiritual Gifts, 133-134.
12 – POISONOUS DRUG PREPARATIONS
FROM THE VEGETABLE OR MINERAL KINGDOM
"Every poisonous preparation in the vegetable
and mineral kingdoms, taken into the system, will leave its wretched
influence, affecting the liver and lungs, and deranging the system
generally. Nor does the evil end here. Diseased, feeble infants are
brought into the world to share this misery, transmitted to them from
their parents."—4 Spiritual Gifts 140.
13 – DRUGS ARE POISONOUS MIXTURES
"Mercury, camomel, and quinine have brought
their amount of wretchedness, which the day of God alone will fully
reveal. . . . These poisonous preparations have destroyed their
millions, and have left sufferers upon the earth to linger out a
miserable existence. . . . Miserable sufferers, with disease in almost
every form, misshapen by suffering with dreadful ulcers and pains in the
bones, loss of teeth, loss of memory, and impaired sight, are to be seen
almost everywhere. They are victims of poisonous preparations, which
have been, in many case, administered to cure some slight indisposition,
which after a day or two of fasting would have disappeared without
medicine. But poisonous mixtures administered by physicians have proved
their ruin."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 134, 139.
14 – DRUGS ARE POISONS
AND LEAVE DEADLY AFTEREFFECTS
"Nature’s simple remedies will aid in recovery without leaving
the deadly aftereffects so often felt by those who
use poisonous drugs."—Letter 82, 1908.
15 – DRUGS ARE OFTEN MIXTURES,
POWERFUL IN THEIR EFFECT,
THE NATURE OF WHICH
IS OFTEN UNKNOWN,
AND LEAVING BEHIND INJURIOUS EFFECTS
"The endless variety of medicines in the market,
the numerous advertisements of new drugs and mixtures, all of which, as
they say, do wonderful cures, kill hundreds where they benefit one.
Those who are sick are not patient. They will take the various
medicines, some of which are very powerful, although they know nothing
of the nature of the mixtures. All the medicines they take only make
their recovery more hopeless. Yet they keep dosing, and continue to grow
weaker, until they die. Some will have medicine at all events. Then let
them take these hurtful mixtures and the various deadly poisons upon
their own responsibility. God’s servants should not administer
medicines which they know will leave behind effects upon the system,
even if they do relieve present suffering."—4 Spiritual Gifts,
139-140.
16 – DRUGS ARE POWERFUL POISONS, THE NATURE OF WHICH
IS NOT KNOWN BY COMMON PEOPLE
"When in distress, they send for the doctor,—and
trust their bodies in his hands, expecting that he will make them well.
He deals out to them drugs, the nature of which they know nothing; and
in their blind confidence they swallow anything that the doctor may
choose to give. Thus, powerful poisons are often administered, which
fetter nature in all her friendly efforts to recover from the abuse the
system has suffered; and the patient is hurried out of this life."—2
Selected Messages, 441.
17 – DRUGS ARE PERNICIOUS
AND MAY BE GIVEN BY PRESCRIPTION
"Every pernicious drug placed in the human stomach, whether by
prescription of physicians, or by man himself doing violence to the
human organism, injures the whole machinery."—Manuscript 3,
1897. (The dictionary definition of "pernicious" is "very harmful or destructive.")
18 – DRUGS MAY BE DERIVED
FROM POISONOUS HERBS
"Christ never planted the seeds of death in the
system. Satan planted these seeds. . . . Not one noxious plant was
placed in the Lord’s great garden, but after Adam and Eve sinned,
poisonous herbs sprang up. In the parable of the sower the question was
asked the Master, ‘Didst not Thou sow good seed in Thy field? From
whence then hath it tares?’ The Master answered, ‘An enemy hath done
this’ (Matthew 13:27-28). All tares are sown by the evil one. Every
noxious herb is of his sowing, and by his ingenious methods of
amalgamation he has corrupted the earth with tares. Then shall the
Physicians continue to resort to drugs which leave a deadly evil in the
system, destroying that life which Christ came to restore? Christ’s
remedies cleanse the system."—2 Selected Messages, 288-289.
19 – DRUGS OFTEN USE MYSTERIOUS NAMES
"This is God’s method: The herbs that grow for
the benefit of man, and the little handful of herbs kept and steeped and
used for sudden ailments, have served tenfold, yes, one hundredfold
better purposes, than all the drugs hidden under mysterious names and
dealt out to the sick."—Letter 59, 1895.
20 – DRUGS HAVE INTRICATE NAMES
THAT HIDE THEIR REAL NATURE
"The intricate names given medicines are used to
cover up the matter, so that none will know what is given them as
remedies unless they consult a dictionary."—Medical Ministry,
228.
21 – DRUGS HAVE LONG NAMES
THAT HIDE THEIR REAL QUALITIES
"If the physicians are so busy that they cannot treat the sick
outside of the institution, would it not be wiser for all to educate
themselves in the use of simple remedies, than to venture to use drugs,
that are given a long name to hide their real qualities. Why need anyone
be ignorant of God’s remedies,—hot water, fomentations, and cold and
hot compresses. It is important to become familiar with the benefit of
dieting in case of sickness. All should understand what to do
themselves."—Manuscript 86, 1897.
22 – DRUGS HAVE NAMES
THAT CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD
WITHOUT USING A DICTIONARY
"The intricate names given medicines are used to
cover up the matter, so that none will know what is given them unless
they obtain a dictionary to find out the meaning of these names. . . .
The Lord has given some simple herbs of the field . . . and if every
family were educated in how to use these herbs in case of sickness, much
suffering might be prevented, and no doctor need be called. These
old-fashioned simple herbs, used intelligently, would have recovered
many sick, who have died under drug medication."—Letter 82, 1897.
23 – DRUGS HAVE PECULIAR NAMES
THAT COMMON PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND
"From beginning to end, the crime of tobacco
using, of opium and drug medication, have their origin in perverted
knowledge. It is through plucking and eating of poisonous fruits, and
through the intricacies of names that the common people do not
understand, that thousands and tens of thousands of lives are lost. This
great knowledge supposed by man to be wonderful, God did not mean that
men should have. They are using the poisonous productions that Satan
himself has planted to take the place of the tree of life, whose leaves
were for the healing of the nations. . . . Death mixtures are used that
make men mad, and murder and violence are prevailing everywhere. The
time is near when all these wicked inventions will come to an end. At
the last, the passion for obtaining means by fraud will increase. Theft
and robbery will become more prevalent. The fruit of the tree of
knowledge will be freely eaten."—Letter to S.N. Haskell, 1898.
24 – DRUGS MAY COME IN BOTTLES
"The drug science has been exalted, but if every bottle that
comes from every such institution were done away with, there would be
fewer invalids in the world today. Drug
medication should never have been introduced into our
institutions. There was no need of this being so, and for this very
reason the Lord would have us establish an institution where He can come
in and where His grace and power can be revealed. ‘I am the
resurrection and the life,’ He declares. . . .
"The true method for healing the sick is to tell
them of the herbs that grow for the benefit of man. . . . True education
will lead us to teach the sick that they need not call in a doctor any
more than they would call in a lawyer. They can themselves administer
the simple herbs if necessary."—Manuscript 105, 1898.
25 – DRUGS ARE TO BE FOUND IN DRUGSTORES
"Thousands who are afflicted might recover their
health, if, instead of depending upon the drugstore for their life, they
would discard all drugs, and live simply, without using tea, coffee,
liquor, or spices, which irritate the stomach and leave it weak—unable
to digest even simple food without stimulation. The Lord is willing to
let His light shine forth in clear, distinct rays to all who are weak
and feeble."—Medical Ministry, 229.
26 – DRUGS CANNOT BE DESCRIBED
BY SIMPLE WORDS
"Let the instruction be given in simple words
[such as hot water, charcoal, or catnip]. We have no need to use the
many expressions used by worldly physicians which are so difficult to
understand that they must be interpreted by physicians. These long names
are often used to conceal the character of the drugs being used to
combat disease. We do not need these. Nature’s simple remedies will
aid in recovery without leaving the deadly aftereffects so often felt by
those who use poisonous drugs."—Letter 82, 1908.
27 – DRUGS HAVE LATIN, NOT ENGLISH, NAMES
"Were I sick, I would just as soon call in a lawyer as a
physician from among general practitioners. I would not touch their
nostrums, to which they give Latin names. I am determined to know, in
straight English, the name of everything that I introduce into my system."—Manuscript
86, 1897.
28 – DRUGS ARE PRODUCED BY HUMAN SCIENCE
AND ARE GIVEN MYSTERIOUS NAMES
"It would have been better if, from the first,
all drugs had been kept out of our sanitariums, and use had been made of
such simple remedies as are found in pure water, pure air, sunlight, and
some of the simple herbs growing in the field. These would be just as
efficacious as the drugs used under mysterious names, and concocted by
human science. And they would leave no injurious effects in the
system."—Manuscript 115, 1903.
29 – DRUGS ARE PRODUCED BY THE APPROVAL OF THE
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION AND ARE GIVEN LONG NAMES UNINTELLIGIBLE TO COMMON
PEOPLE, AND ARE THE OPPOSITE OF GOD’S SIMPLE REMEDIES WHICH ARE
CALLED ‘QUACKERY’
"The medical fraternity, represented to me as [a secret society
such as] Free Masonry, with their long, unintelligible names, which
common people cannot understand, would call the Lord’s prescriptions
for Hezekiah ‘quackery.’ Death was pronounced upon the king, but he
prayed for life, and his prayer was heard. Those who had the care of him
were told to get a bunch of figs and put them on the sore, and the king
was restored. . . . The Lord diverted their minds from their wonderful
mysteries to a simple remedy of nature. There are lessons for us all in
these directions. Young men who are sent to Ann Arbor to obtain an
education which they think will exalt them as supreme in their treatment
of disease by drugs, will find that it will result in the loss of life
rather than restoration to health and strength. These mixtures place a
double taxation upon nature, and in the effort to throw off the poisons
they contain, thousands of persons lose their lives. We must leave drugs
entirely alone, for in using them we introduce an enemy into the system.
I write this because we have to meet this drug medication in the
physicians in this country, and we do not want this practice as in
Battle Creek to steal into our midst as a thief. We want the door closed
against the enemy before the lives of human beings are
imperiled."—Letter 67, 1899. (Ellen White had Loma Linda started
in order to "reform the medical practices of the medical
association." But prior to that time, several of our men went to
state universities, such as the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in
order to obtain a medical degree so they could practice medicine.)
30 – DRUGS ARE THE MEDICAL TREATMENT
MARKED OUT BY THE WORLD
"It is not necessary that our medical
missionaries follow the precise track marked out by medical men of the
world. They do not need to administer drugs to the sick. They do not
need to follow the 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 the professedly wise men of the
world."—Letter to Elder J.A. Burden, April 27, 1910.
31 – DRUGS ARE THE METHOD OF THE MEDICAL
PRACTITIONERS THAT WE ARE NOT TO USE
"It is time for the people of God, those who
wear the sign of His kingdom, and whose authority is derived from ‘It
is written,’ to work. The world is the field of our labor, and we are
to strive to give the last message of mercy to the world. Our every
action is being watched with jealous eyes [by those not of our faith].
Be on guard as physicians. You can serve the Lord in your position by
working with new methods and discarding drugs. As reformers we are to
reform the medical practice, by education toward the light."—Medical
Ministry, 125.
32 – DRUGS PARALYZE NATURE’S EFFORTS TO HEAL
"The feeble and suffering ones must be educated line upon line,
precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, until they will
have respect for, and live in obedience to the laws that God has made to
control the human organism. Those who sin against knowledge and light, and
resort to the skill of a physician in administering drugs, will be
constantly losing their hold on life. The less there is of drug dosing,
the more favorable will be their recovery to health. Drugs, in the place
of helping nature, are constantly paralyzing her efforts."—Medical
Ministry, 224.
33 – DRUGS GIVE PRESENT RELIEF,
BUT NEVER CURE THE DISEASE
"Indulging in eating too frequently, and in too
large quantities, overtaxes the digestive organs, and produces a
feverish state of the system. The blood becomes impure, and then
diseases of various kinds occur. A physician is sent for, who prescribes
some drug which gives present relief, but which does not cure the
disease. It may change the form of the disease, but the real evil is
increased tenfold. Nature was doing her best to rid the system of an
accumulation of impurities, and could she have been left to herself,
aided by the common blessings of heaven, such as pure air and pure
water, a speedy and safe cure could have been effected."—4
Spiritual Gifts, 133.
34 – DRUGS ONLY CHANGE
THE GENERAL FEATURES OF THE DISEASE
"Use nature’s remedies—water, sunshine, and
fresh air. Do not use drugs. Drugs never heal; they only change the
features of the disease."—Letter 116, 1903.
35 – DRUGS ONLY CHANGE THE FORM AND LOCATION
OF THE DISEASE
"Drugs never cure disease. They only change the form and
location. Nature alone is the effectual restorer; and how much better
could she perform her task if left to herself. But this privilege is
seldom allowed her. If crippled nature bears up under the load, and
finally accomplishes in a great measure her double task—and the
patient lives—the credit is given to the physician. But if nature
fails in her effort to expel the poison from the system, and the patient
dies, it is called a wonderful dispensation of Providence. If the
patient had taken a course to relieve overburdened nature in season, and understandingly used pure
soft water, this dispensation of drug mortality might have been wholly
averted. The use of water can accomplish but little, if the patient does
not feel the necessity of also strictly attending to his diet."—4
Spiritual Gifts, 134.
36 – DRUGS MAY LATER CAUSE INTENSE SUFFERING
"When drugs are introduced into the system, for
a time they may seem to have a beneficial effect. A change may take
place, but the disease is not cured. It will manifest itself in some
other form. In nature’s efforts to expel the drug from the system,
intense suffering is sometimes caused the patient. And the disease,
which the drug was given to cure, may disappear, but only to reappear in
a new form, such as skin diseases, ulcers, painful diseased joints, and
sometimes in a more deadly form."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 135.
37 – DRUGS ARE A POISON
WHICH WILL WORK GREAT HARM LATER
"People need to be taught that drugs do not cure
disease. It is true that they sometimes afford present relief, and the
patient appears to recover as the result of their use. This is because
nature has sufficient vital force to expel the poison and to correct the
conditions that caused the disease. Health is recovered in spite of the
drug. But in most cases the drug only changes the form and location of
the disease. Often the effect of the poison seems to be overcome for a
time, but the results remain in the system, and work great harm at some
later time."—Ministry of Healing 126.
38 – DRUGS LEAVE BALEFUL EFFECTS
"Experimenting in drugs is a very expensive
business. Nothing should be put into the human system that will leave a
baleful influence behind."—Medical Ministry, 228.
"The simplest remedies may assist nature, and
leave no baleful effects after their use."—Letter 82, 1897.
39 – DRUGS LEAVE A WRETCHED INFLUENCE
ON THE WHOLE BODY
"Every poisonous preparation in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, taken into the system, will leave its
wretched influence, affecting the liver and lungs, and deranging the
system generally."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 140.
40 – DRUGS ARE POISONS WHICH LEAVE DEADLY
AFTEREFFECTS AND DESTROY THE POWER
OF THE PATIENT TO HELP HIMSELF
"Nature’s simple remedies will aid in recovery
without leaving the deadly after-effects so often felt by those who use
poisonous drugs. They destroy the power of the patient to help himself.
This power the patients are to be taught to exercise by learning to eat
simple, healthful foods—by refusing to overload the stomach with a
variety of foods at one meal. All these things should come into the
education of the sick. Talks should be given showing how to preserve
health, how to shun sickness, how to rest when rest is needed."—Letter
82, 1908.
41 – DRUGS CHANGE THE DISEASE
BECAUSE THEY ARE SLOW POISONS
"Multitudes remain in inexcusable ignorance in
regard to the laws of their being. They are wondering why our race is so
feeble, and why so many die prematurely. Is there not a cause?
Physicians who profess to understand the human organism, prescribe for
their patients, and even for their own dear children and their
companions, slow poisons to break up the disease, or to cure slight
indisposition. Surely, they cannot realize the evil of these things as
they were presented before me, or they could not do thus. The effects of
the poison may not be immediately perceived, but it is doing its work
surely in the system, undermining the constitution, and crippling nature
in her efforts. They are seeking to correct an evil, but produce a far
greater one, which is often incurable."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 137.
42 – DRUGS POISON THE BLOOD
"In our sanitariums, we advocate the use of simple remedies. We
discourage the use of drugs, for they poison the current of the blood.
In these institutions sensible instruction should be given on how to
eat, how to drink, how to dress, and how to live so that the health may
be preserved."—Counsels on Diet and Foods, 303.
43 – DRUGS ONLY WEAKEN THE SYSTEM
"Many act as if health and disease were things
entirely independent of their conduct, and entirely outside their
control. . . . Violent attacks of sickness they believe to be special
dispensations of Providence, or the result of some overruling, mastering
power; and they resort to drugs as a cure for the evil. But the drugs
taken to cure the disease weaken the system."—Medical Ministry,
296-297.
44 – DRUGS DERANGE THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
"Drugs given to stupefy [sedate, tranquilize,
anesthetize], whatever they may be, derange the nervous system."—How
to Live, number 3, page 57.
45 – DRUGS ARE A HEALTH DESTROYING INVENTION
"As the matter was laid open before me, and the
sad burden of the result of drug medication, the light was given me that
Seventh-day Adventists should establish health institutions, discarding
all these health destroying inventions, and physicians should treat the
sick upon hygienic principles."—Letter K-82, 1897, dated February
10, 1897.
46 – DRUGS FREQUENTLY PRODUCE
A LINGERING SICKNESS
"Those who are thus dealt with are constantly
sick, and constantly dosing. . . . And yet many are so blinded they do
not see that all the drugs they have taken have not cured them, but made
them worse. The drug invalid lingers on in the world, but is generally
peevish, irritable, always sick, lingering out a miserable existence,
and seems to live only to call into constant exercise the patience of
others. Poisonous drugs have not killed them outright, for nature is
loathe to give up her hold on life. She is unwilling to cease her
struggles. Yet these drug takers are never well. They are always taking
cold, which causes extreme suffering, because of the poison all through
their system."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 137-138.
47 – DRUGS ULTIMATELY BRING A BREAKDOWN
OF VITAL FORCES
"Drugs always have a tendency to break down and
destroy vital forces, and nature becomes so crippled in her efforts,
that the invalid dies, not because he needed to die, but because nature
was outraged. If she had been left alone, she would have put forth her
highest efforts to save life and health."—Medical Ministry, 223.
48 – DRUGS ARE POISONS THAT BRING
LIFELONG ILLNESS TO SOME
AND ADDICTIVE TENDENCIES TO OTHERS
"By the use of poisonous drugs, many bring upon
themselves lifelong illness, and many lives are lost that might be saved
by the use of natural methods of healing. The poisons contained in many
so-called remedies create habits and appetites that mean ruin to both
soul and body."—Ministry of Healing, 126-127.
49 – DRUGS ARE SEEDS OF DEATH SOWN IN THE BODY
"When you understand physiology in its truest
sense, your drug bills will be very much smaller, and finally you will
cease to deal out drugs at all. The physician who depends upon drug
medication in his practice, shows that he does not understand the
delicate machinery of the human organism. He is introducing into the
machinery of the system a seed crop that will never lose its destroying
properties throughout the lifetime. I tell you this because I dare not
withhold it. Christ paid too much for man’s redemption to have his
body so ruthlessly treated as it has been by drug medication."—2
Selected Messages, 283-284.
50 – DRUGS ARE SEEDS PLACED IN THE SYSTEM
THAT WILL BEAR A BITTER HARVEST
"Christ’s remedies cleanse the system. But
Satan has tempted man to introduce into the system that which weakens
the human machinery, clogging and destroying the fine, beautiful
arrangements of God. The drugs administered to the sick do not restore,
but destroy. Drugs never cure. Instead, they place in the system seeds
which bear a very bitter harvest."—2 Selected Messages, 289.
51 – DRUGS DO NOT FREE NATURE
"The question of health reform is not agitated
as it must be and will be. A simple diet and the entire absence of
drugs, leaving nature free to recuperate the wasted energies of the
body, would make our sanitariums far more effectual in restoring the
sick to health."—Healthful Living, 248.
52 – DRUGS FETTER NATURE
"In all their habits they have manifested a
recklessness in regard to health and life. . . . In their distress they
send for the doctor, and trust their bodies in his hands, expecting that
he will make them well. He deals out to them drugs, the nature of which
they know nothing, and in their blind confidence they swallow anything
that the doctor may choose to give. Thus powerful poisons are often
administered, which fetter nature in all her friendly efforts to recover
from the abuse the system has suffered."—How to Live, 49.
53 – DRUGS REQUIRE HEROIC EFFORTS BY THE BODY
"Although the patient may recover, yet the
powerful effort nature was required to make to overcome the poison,
injured the constitution and shortened the life of the patient. There
are many who do not die under the influence of drugs, but there are very
many who are left useless wrecks, hopeless, gloomy, and miserable
sufferers, a burden to themselves and to society."—How to Live,
50.
54 – DRUGS MAY OVERPOWER THE HUMAN SYSTEM
"The mother who has been but slightly indisposed, and who might
have recovered by abstinence from food for a short period, and a
cessation from labor, having quiet and rest, has, instead of doing this,
sent for a physician. And he who should be prepared to understandingly
give a few simple directions, and restriction in diet, and place her
upon the right track. . . . makes the case a grave one, and administers
his poisons, which if he were sick, he would not venture to take
himself. The patient grows worse, and poisonous drugs are more freely
administered, until nature is overpowered in her efforts, and gives up
the conflict, and the mother dies. She was drugged to death. Her system
was
poisoned beyond remedy. . . . Heaven wished that
mother to live, and her untimely death dishonored God. The mother’s
wrong habits, and her inattention to the laws of her being, made her
sick. And the doctor’s fashionable poisons, introduced into the
system, closed the period of her existence, and left a helpless,
stricken, motherless flock."—How to Live, 52.
55 – DRUGS KILL, IF NOT IMMEDIATELY
REACTED AGAINST BY THE BODY
"The inclination to use poisonous drugs, which
kill if they do not cure, needs to be guarded against. . . . Many have
been treated with drugs and the result has been death. Our physicians,
by practicing drug medication, have lost many cases that need not have
died if they had left their drugs out of the sickroom."—Medical
Ministry, 227-229.
56 – DRUGS HAVE BROUGHT MORE DEATH
TO THIS WORLD THAN HEALING OR HELP
"As to drugs being used in our institutions, it
is contrary to the light which the Lord has been pleased to give. The
drugging business has done more harm to our world and killed more than
it has helped or cured. The light was first given to me why [our health]
institutions should be established, that is, sanitariums were to reform
the medical practices of physicians."—Medical Ministry, 27.
57 – DRUGS ARE THE UNDERLYING CAUSE
OF AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF DEATHS
"I was shown that more deaths have been caused
by drug taking than from all other causes combined. If there was in the
land one physician in the place of thousands, a vast amount of premature
mortality would be prevented. Multitudes of physicians, and multitudes
of drugs, have cursed the inhabitants of the earth, and have carried
thousands and tens of thousands to untimely graves."—4 Spiritual
Gifts, 133.
58 – DRUGS ARE APPRECIATED BY THOSE IN A HURRY:
COMBINING DRUGS ONLY MAKES THEM MORE DEADLY
"The sick are in a hurry to get well, and the friends of the
sick are impatient. They will have medicine, and if they do not feel
that powerful influence upon their systems which their erroneous views lead them to think they
should feel, they impatiently change to another physician. The change
often increases the evil. They go through a course of medicine equally
as dangerous as the first, and more fatal, because the two treatments do
not agree, and the system is poisoned beyond repair."—Healthful
Living, 245.
59 – DRUGS ARE NOT AN INTELLIGENT METHOD
"Let us present the gospel to the sick,
connecting Jesus, the Great Healer, with the simple remedies used; and
our living faith [in God and in those simple remedies] will be answered.
But those who come to the Great Healer must be willing to do His will,
to humble their souls, and confess their sins. . . . Christ declared
that He came to recover men’s lives. This work is to be done by Christ’s
followers, and it is to be done by the most simple means. Families are
to be taught how to care for the sick. . . . In the work of healing, let
the physicians work intelligently, not with drugs, but by following
rational methods. Then let them by the prayer of faith draw upon the
power of God to stay the progress of disease. This will inspire in the
suffering ones belief in Christ and the power of prayer, and it will
give them confidence in our simple methods of treating disease. Such
work will be a means of directing minds to the truth, and will be of
great efficiency in the work of the gospel ministry."—Medical
Ministry 29. ["The Lord would have our physicians cooperate with
Him in their treatment of the sick, showing more faith, and using fewer
drugs. Let us rely upon God. Our faith is feeble, and our hearts remain
unchanged. God would have a change take place."—Medical Ministry,
40.]
60 – DRUGS TAKE LESS THINKING
"Drug medication is to be discarded. On this point the
conscience of the physician must ever be kept tender, and true, and
clean. The inclination to use poisonous drugs, which kill if they do not
cure, needs to be guarded against. Matters have been laid open before me
in reference to the use of drugs. Many have been treated with drugs and
the result has been death. Our physicians, by practicing drug
medication, have lost many cases that need not have died if they had
left their drugs out of the sick room. Fever cases have been lost, when,
had the physicians left off entirely their drug treatment, had they put their wits to
work, and wisely and persistently used the Lord’s own remedies—plenty
of air and water—the patients would have recovered. The reckless use
of these things that should have been discarded has decided the case of
the sick."—Medical Ministry, 227-228.
61 – DRUGS REQUIRE LESS SKILL
"Many physicians are not as thorough and
intelligent as they should be in the practice of their profession. They
resort to drugs, when greater skill and knowledge would teach them a
more excellent way. Lives have been lost which might have been saved if
drugs had not been resorted to. As a rule, the less frequently they are
employed, the better the patient will prosper."—Healthful Living,
247.
62 – DRUGS ARE EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS
"Experimenting in drugs is a very expensive
business. Paralysis of the brain and the tongue is often the result, and
the victims die an unnatural death, when, if they had been treated
perseveringly, with unwearied, unrelaxed diligence with hot and cold
water, hot compresses, packs, and dripping sheet, they would be alive
today."—Medical Ministry, 228.
63 – DRUGS ARE PRESCRIBED
INSTEAD OF TELLING THE PATIENT THE TRUTH
"There are many, many afflicted in our world
with tobacco poison. . . . The physician, if he is not a novice, can
trace the effects back to the true cause, but he dares not forbid its
use, because he indulges in it himself. Some will in an undecided,
halfway manner advise the tobacco users to take less of this narcotic;
but they do not say to them, This habit is killing you. They prescribe
drugs to cure a disease which is the result of indulging unnatural
appetites—and two evils are produced in the place of removing
one."—Medical Ministry, 225.
64 – DRUGS DO NOT REQUIRE PERSONAL RELIGION
IN THE PHYSICIAN
"Keep ever before the suffering sick the compassion and
tenderness of Christ, and awaken their conscience to a belief in His
power to relieve suffering, and lead them to faith and trust in Him, the
Great Healer, and you have gained a soul and ofttimes a life. Therefore, personal
religion for all physicians in the sick room is essential to success in
giving the simple treatment without drugs. He who is a physician and
guardian of the health and body, God would have in every way educated to
learn lessons of the Great Teacher—how to work in Christ and through
Christ to save the souls of the sick."—Medical Ministry, 234-235.
65 – DRUGS ARE NOT HYGIENIC AGENCIES
"Educate people in the laws of life so that they
may know how to preserve health. The efforts actually put forth at
present are not meeting the mind of God. Drug medication is a curse to
this enlightened age. Educate away from drugs. Use them less and less,
and depend more upon hygienic agencies; then nature will respond to God’s
physicians—pure air, pure water, proper exercise, a clear conscience.
Many might recover without one grain of medicine, if they would live out
the laws of health. Drugs need seldom be used. It will require earnest,
patient, protracted effort to establish the work and to carry it forward
upon hygienic principles. But let fervent prayer and faith be combined
with your efforts, and you will succeed. By this work you will be
teaching the patients, and others also, how to take care of themselves
when sick, without resorting to the use of drugs."—Medical
Ministry, 259-260.
66 – DRUGS ARE NOT RATIONAL METHODS OF TREATMENTS
"The Lord has shown me that there should be sanitariums near
many important cities. . . . Suitable places must be provided to which
we can bring the sick and suffering away from the cities, who know
nothing of our people, and scarcely anything of Bible truth. Every
effort possible is to be made to show the sick that disease may be cured
by rational methods of treatment, without having recourse to injurious
drugs. Let the sick be separated from harmful surroundings and
associations, and placed in our sanitariums, where they can receive
treatment from Christian nurses and physicians, and thus they may become
acquainted, with the Word of God."—Evangelism, 534-535.
67 – DRUGS ARE NOT SIMPLE AND NATURAL REMEDIES
"In the Saviour’s manner of healing there were
lessons for His disciples. On one occasion He anointed the eyes of a
blind man with clay, and bade him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. .
. . He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.’ John 9:7.
The cure could be wrought only by the power of the Great Healer, yet
Christ made use of the simple agencies of nature. While He did not give
countenance to drug medication, He sanctioned the use of simple and
natural remedies."—Desire of Ages, 824.
68 – DRUGS BRING BODILY SUFFERING
AND INFIRMITIES
"She has suffered much with bodily infirmities.
. . . She is one of those whose systems have been poisoned by drugs. By
taking these she has ignorantly made herself what she is."—2
Testimonies, 184.
69 – DRUGS ENFEEBLE THE SYSTEM
AND MAKE IT MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO DISEASE
"Instead of taking a course to baffle disease,
you are petting it and yielding to its power. You should avoid the use
of drugs and carefully observe the laws of health. If you regard your
life, you should eat plain food, prepared in the simplest manner, and
take more physical exercise. Each member of the family needs the
benefits of health reform. But drugging should be forever abandoned. For
while it does not cure any malady, it enfeebles the system, making it
more susceptible to disease."—5 Testimonies, 311.
70 – DRUGS MAY POISON THE BLOOD
"We have been instructed that in our treatment
of the sick we should discard the use of drugs. . . . There are simple
herbs that can be used for the recovery of the sick, whose effect upon
the system is very different from that of those drugs that poison the
blood and endanger life."—Manuscript 73, 1908.
71 – DRUGS WORK
BY POISONING THE CURRENT OF THE BLOOD
"In our sanitariums, we advocate the use of simple remedies. We discourage the use of drugs, for they
poison the current of the blood. In these institutions sensible
instruction should be given on how to eat, how to drink, how to dress,
and how to live so that the health may be preserved."—Counsels on
Diet and Food, 303.
72 – DRUGS DEAL RUTHLESSLY WITH THE BODY
"There is a terrible account to be rendered to
God by men who have so little regard for human life as to treat the body
so ruthlessly in dealing out their drugs. . . . We are not excusable if
through ignorance we destroy God’s building by taking into our
stomachs poisonous drugs under a variety of names we do not understand.
It is our duty to refuse all such prescriptions. We wish to build a
sanitarium [in Australia] where maladies may be cured by nature’s own
provisions, and where the people may be taught how to treat themselves
when sick, where they will learn to eat temperately of wholesome food,
and be educated to refuse all narcotics—tea, coffee, fermented wines,
and stimulants of all kinds—and to discard the flesh of dead
animals."—Temperance, 88-89.
73 – DRUGS CAUSE DISEASE TO DISAPPEAR
—AND LATER REAPPEAR ELSEWHERE
"The liver, heart and brain are frequently affected by drugs,
and often all these organs are burdened with disease, and the
unfortunate subjects, if they live, are invalids for life, wearily
dragging out a miserable existence. How much that poisonous drug cost.
If it did not cost the life, it cost too much. Nature has been crippled
in all her efforts, the whole machinery is out of order; and at a future
period in life, when these fine works which have been injured are to be
relied upon to act a more important part . . . they cannot readily and
strongly perform their labor, and the whole system feels the lack. These
organs which should be in a healthy condition, are enfeebled, the blood
becomes impure. Nature keeps struggling, and the patient suffers with
different ailments, until there is a sudden breaking down in her efforts
and death follows."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 135.
74 – DRUGS LOAD THE BODY WITH POISONS
IT CANNOT EXPEL
"Very many lives have been sacrificed by
physicians’ administering drugs for unknown diseases. . . . Medicine
must be administered, experiments and tests tried to cure the patient of
the disease. . . . Nature is loaded with poisonous drugs which she
cannot expel from the system. The physicians themselves are often
convinced that they have used powerful medicines for a disease which did
not exist, and death was the consequence."—4 Spiritual Gifts,
135-136.
75 – DRUG EFFECTS MAY NOT IMMEDIATELY BE PERCEIVED
"The effects of the poison may not be
immediately perceived, but it is doing its work surely in the system,
undermining the constitution, and crippling nature in her efforts. They
are seeking to correct an evil, but are producing a far greater one,
which is often incurable. Those who are thus dealt with are constantly
sick, and constantly dosing. And yet, if you listen to their
conversation, you will often hear them praising the drugs they have been
using, and recommending their use to others, because they have benefited
by their use. It would seem that to such as can reason from cause to
effect, the sallow countenance, the continual complaints of ailments and
general prostration of those who claim to be benefited, would be
sufficient proofs of the health destroying influence of drugs. . . . And
yet many are so blinded they do not see that all the drugs they are
taking have not cured them, but made them worse."—4 Spiritual
Gifts, 137.
76 – DRUGS EVENTUALLY CEASE
TO HELP THE SYMPTOMS
"Nothing should be put into the system that will leave a baleful
influence behind. And to carry out the light on this subject, to
practice hygienic treatment, is the reason which has been given me for
establishing sanitariums in various localities. I have been pained when
many [of our]
students have been encouraged to go where they would
receive an education in the use of drugs. The light I have received on
the subject of drugs is altogether different from the use made of them
at these schools or at the sanitariums. We must become enlightened on
these subjects. . . . Many suffering ones not of our faith will come to
our institutions to receive treatment. Those whose health has been
ruined by sinful indulgence, and who have been treated by physicians
till the drugs administered have no effect, will come; and they will be
benefited. The Lord will bless institutions conducted in accordance with
His plans. . . . He will enter the rooms of the sick. He will give
wisdom to the nurses."—Medical Ministry, 228-229.
77 – DRUGS SHOULD NEVER BE USED
IN OUR INSTITUTIONS
"The physician who depends upon drug medication
in his practice, shows that he does not understand the delicate
machinery of the human organism. He is introducing into the system a
seed crop that will never lose its destroying properties throughout the
lifetime. . . . Years ago the Lord revealed to me that institutions
should be established treating the sick without drugs. Man is God’s
property, and the ruin that has been made of the living habitation, the
suffering caused by the seeds of death sown in the human system, are an
offense to God."—Medical Ministry 229.
78 – DRUGS ARE A POOR SUBSTITUTE
FOR THE USE OF SIMPLE HERBS
"I have been shown that we should have many more
women who can deal with the diseases of women, many more lady nurses who
will treat the sick in a simple way and without the use of drugs. . . .
There are many simple herbs which, if our nurses would learn the value
of, they could use in the place of drugs, and find very effective."—Letter
90, 1908.
79 – DRUGS ARE NOT FAVORABLE OR NATURAL
TO THE LAWS OF LIFE
"If she [nature] had been left alone, she would have put forth
her highest efforts to save life and health. Nature
wants none of such help as so many claim that they
have given her. Lift off the burdens placed upon her, after the customs
of the fashions of this age, and you will see in many cases nature will
right herself. The use of drugs is not favorable or natural to the laws
of life and health. The drug medication gives nature two burdens to
bear, in the place of one. She has two serious difficulties to overcome,
in the place of one."—Medical Ministry 223.
80 – DRUGS INTERFERE WITH NATURE’S LAWS
"Thousands need to be educated patiently,
kindly, tenderly, but decidedly, that nine-tenths of their complaints
are created by their own course of action. The more they introduce drugs
into the system, the more certainly do they interfere with the laws of
nature and bring about the very difficulties they drug themselves to
avoid."—Manuscript 22, 1889.
81 – DRUGS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE HEALING THAT MAY FOLLOW
"Sick people who take drugs do appear to get
well. With some there is sufficient life force for nature to draw upon
to so far expel the poison from the system that the sick, having a
period of rest, recover. But no credit should be allowed the drugs
taken, for they only hindered nature in her efforts. All the credit
should be ascribed to nature’s restorative powers."—Healthful
Living, 244.
82 – DRUGS DO NOT POSSESS CURATIVE POWERS
"The sick themselves, if they would be patient,
diet and suffer a little, and give nature time to rally, would recover
much sooner without the use of any medicine. Nature alone possesses
curative powers. Medicines have no power to cure, but will most
generally hinder nature in her efforts. She, after all, must do the work
of restoring."—How to Live, 70.
83 – DRUGS AFFECT PEOPLE
PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, AND MORALLY
"Physicians, by administering their drug poisons, have done very
much to increase the depreciation of the race,
physically, mentally, and morally. Everywhere you go
you will see deformity, disease and imbecility, which in very many cases
can be traced directly back to the drug poisons, administered by the
hand of a doctor, as a remedy for some of life’s ills. The so-called
remedy has fearfully proved itself to the patient—by stern suffering
experience—to be far worse than the disease for which the drug was
taken. All who possess common capabilities should understand the wants
of their own system. The philosophy of health should compose one of the
important studies for our children. It is all-important that the human
organism be understood, and then intelligent men and women can be their
own physicians. If the people would reason from cause to effect, and
would follow the light which shines upon them, they would pursue a
course which would insure health, and mortality would be far less. But
the people are too willing to remain in inexcusable ignorance, and trust
their bodies to the doctors, instead of having any special
responsibility in the matter themselves."—Disease and its Causes,
53-54.
84 – DRUGS WEAKEN DIRECTLY,
AND ALSO THROUGH INHERITANCE
"If those who take these drugs were alone the
sufferers, the evil would not be as great. But parents not only sin
against themselves in swallowing drug poisons, but they sin against
their children. The vitiated state of their blood, the poison
distributed throughout the system, the broken constitutions, and various
drug diseases—as the result of drug poisons—are transmitted to their
offspring, and left them as a wretched inheritance, which is another
great cause of the degeneracy of the race."—How to Live, 53.
85 – DRUGS ENDANGER THE WHOLE AFTERLIFE
"Those who make a practice of taking drugs sin
against their intelligence and endanger their whole afterlife. There are
herbs that are harmless, the use of which will tide over many apparently
serious difficulties. But if all would seek to become intelligent in
regard to their bodily necessities, sickness would be rare instead of
common. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."—2
Selected Messages, 290-291.
"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." —9 Testimonies, 175
"Nature’s simple remedies will aid in recovery without leaving
the deadly aftereffects so often felt by those who use poisonous
drugs." —2 Selected Messages, 281
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