210. Many persons complain of Providence because of the discomfort and inconvenience which they suffer, when this is the sure result of their own course. They seem to feel that they are ill-treated of God, when they themselves are alone responsible for the ills which they endure.—R. and H., 1883, No. 41.
211. Are these ills visited upon the race through God’s providence?—No; they exist because the people have gone contrary to his providence, and still continue rashly to disregard his laws.—R. and H., 1884, No. 31.
212. The souls and bodies of people are fast becoming corrupted, a mass of disease. This would not have been the case if those who had claimed to believe the truth had lived out its sacred principles.—U. T., Jan. 11, 1897.
213. There is a divinely appointed connection between sin and disease. Sin and disease bear to each other the relationship of cause and effect.—T. No. 32, p. 200.
214. The course professed Christians generally pursue in following fashion, irrespective of health and life, brings upon them a train of evils which they charge back upon Providence, and place arguments in the mouths of infidels wherewith to assail Christianity.— H. R.
215. God is not responsible for the suffering which follows the non-conformity to natural law and moral obligations to him.— H. R.
216. Sickness and premature death do not come without a cause.— H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 61.
God not Responsible for Disease.
217. When standing by the graves of their children, the afflicted parents look upon their bereavement as a special dispensation of Providence, when by inexcusable ignorance their own course has destroyed the lives of their children. To then charge their death to Providence, is blasphemy.—T., V. III, p. 136.
218. They should not charge the result of their own sinful course upon our gracious and merciful Heavenly Father. He doth not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.—H. R.
219. Mothers are slow to learn that the suffering and death of their children is the result of their own course. They do not become intelligent upon the subject of how to live to prevent disease and premature death. What a thought! Mothers are the murderers of their own children, and are mourning over their death, and are trying hard to be reconciled to Providence, which they think has bereaved them.— H. R.
CHAPTER XII.
THE INFLUENCE OF DISEASE UPON THE MIND AND MORALS.
Mental Depression.
220. A diseased body affects the brain. With the mind we serve the Lord.— F. of F., p. 146.
221. All should guard the senses, lest Satan gain victory over them; for these are the avenues to the soul.— T., V. III, p. 507.
222. The brain nerves which communicate to the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man, and affect his inmost life. Whatever disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system, lessens the strength of the vital powers, and the result is a deadening of the sensibilities of the mind.— T., V. II, p. 347.
Moral Insensibility.
223. In consequence of the brain’s being congested, its nerves lose their healthy action, and take on morbid conditions, making it almost impossible to arouse the moral sensibilities.— H. R.
224. It should ever be kept prominent that the great object to be attained through this channel is not only health, but perfection and the spirit of holiness, which cannot be attained with diseased bodies and minds.— T., V. I, p. 554.
225. Mental and moral power is dependent upon the physical health.— H. R.55226. Physical and moral health are closely united.
— H. to L., Chap. 2, p. 32.
God Misrepresented.
227. The children of God cannot glorify him with sickly bodies or dwarfed minds. Those who indulge in any species of intemperance, either in eating or drinking, waste their physical energies and weaken moral power.— C. T., p. 53.
228. Those whose moral faculties are beclouded by disease, are not the ones rightly to represent the Christian life, to show forth the joys of salvation or the beauties of holiness. They are too often in the fire of fanaticism or the water of cold indifference or stolid gloom. — S. of T., 1885, No. 42.
229. While men and women professing godliness are diseased from the crown of their head to the soles of their feet, while their physical, mental, and moral energies are enfeebled through gratification of depraved appetite and excessive labor, how can they weigh the evidences of truth, and comprehend the requirements of God? If their moral and intellectual faculties are beclouded, they cannot appreciate the value of the atonement or the exalted character of the work of God, nor delight in the study of his word. How can a nervous dyspeptic be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh him for a reason of the hope that is in him, with meekness and fear?—T., V. I, p. 488.
230. Perfection and the spirit of holiness cannot be attained with diseased bodies and minds.— T., V. I, p. 554.
CHAPTER XIII.
HEREDITY.
Habits Repeated.
231. The physical and mental condition of parents is perpetuated in their offspring. This is a matter that is not duly considered. Wherever the habits of the parents are contrary to physical law, the injury done to themselves will be repeated in future generations. Satan knows this very well, and he is perpetuating his work through transmission. . . . Those who will indulge the animal passions and gratify lust will surely stamp upon their offspring the debasing practices, the grossness, of their own physical and moral defilement. By physical, mental, and moral culture all may become co-workers with Christ. Very much depends upon the parents. It lies with them whether they will bring into the world children who will prove a blessing or a curse.— U. T., January, 1897.
232. In past generations if mothers had informed themselves in regard to the laws of their being, they would have understood that their constitutional strength, as well as the tone of their morals and their mental faculties, would in a great measure be represented in their offspring.— H. to L., Chap. 2, p. 37.
233. He should not have committed so great a crime as to bring into being children that reason57must teach him would be diseased, because they must receive a miserable legacy from their parents.
— T., V. II, p. 379.
Transmission of Disease.
234. As a rule every intemperate man who rears children transmits his inclinations and evil tendencies to his offspring; he gives them disease from his own inflamed and corrupted blood. Licentiousness, disease, and imbecility are transmitted as an inheritance of woe from father to son, and from generation to generation, and this brings anguish and suffering into the world.—T., V. IV, p. 30.
235. Thousands are devoid of principle. These very ones are transmitting to their offspring their own miserable, corrupt passions. What a legacy! Thousands drag out their unprincipled lives, tainting their associates, and perpetuating their debased passions by transmitting them to their children.— T., V. II, p. 351.
236. You have transmitted to your children a miserable legacy; a depraved nature rendered still more depraved by your gross habits of eating and drinking.— T., V. II, p. 62.
Parents Sin against Children.
237. Parents sin not only against themselves in swallowing drug poisons, but they sin against their children. The vitiated state of the blood, the poison distributed throughout the system, the broken constitution, and various diseases, as the result of drug poisons, are transmitted to their offspring, and left to them a wretched inheritance, which is another great cause of the degeneracy of the race.— H. to L., Chap. 3, p. 50.
Mental and Moral Effects of Heredity.
238. Tobacco and liquor stupefy and defile the user. But the evil does not stop here. He transmits irritable tempers, polluted blood, enfeebled intellects, and weak morals to his children.—T., V. IV, p. 31.
239. Those who have indulged the appetite for these stimulants have transmitted their depraved appetites and passions to their children, and greater moral power is required to resist intemperance in all its forms.—T., V. III, p. 488.
240. As a rule, every intemperate man who rears children transmits his inclinations and evil tendencies to his offspring.—T., V. IV, p. 30.
241. Parents who freely use wine and liquor leave to their children the legacy of a feeble constitution, mental and moral debility, unnatural appetites, irritable temper, and an inclination to vice. . . . The child of the drunkard or the tobacco inebriate usually has the depraved appetites and passions of the father intensified, and at the same time inherits less of his self-control and strength of mind.—H. R.
Physical Effects of Heredity.
242. Parents leave maladies as a legacy to their children.—T., V. IV, p. 30.
243. Many women never should have become mothers. Their blood was filled with scrofula, transmitted to them from their parents, and increased by their gross manner of living.—H. to L., Chap. 2, p. 37.
244. Very many children are born with their blood tainted with scrofula through the wrong habits of the mother in her eating and dressing. . . . These fashionably dressed women cannot transmit good59constitutions to their children. . . . Wasp waists may have been transmitted to them from their mothers, as the result of their sinful practise of tight lacing, and in consequence of imperfect breathing. Poor children born of these miserable slaves of fashion have diminished vitality, and are predisposed to disease. . . . The impurities retained in the system in consequence of improper breathing are transmitted to their offspring.—H. R.
245. If the mother is deprived of an abundance of wholesome, nutritious food, she will lack in the quantity and quality of blood. Her circulation will be poor, and her child will lack in the very same things.—T., V. II, p. 382.
246. Her children were born with feeble digestive powers and impoverished blood. From the food the mother was compelled to receive, she could not furnish a good quality of blood, and therefore gave birth to children filled with humors.—T., V. II, p. 378.
247. Disease has been transmitted to your offspring, and the free use of flesh meats has increased the difficulty. The eating of pork has aroused and strengthened a most deadly humor that was in the system. Your offspring are robbed of vitality before they are born.—T., V. II, p. 94.
CHAPTER XIV.
CAUSES OF DISEASE.
Predisposing Causes.
248. Satan is the originator of disease. . . . There is a divinely appointed connection between sin and disease. . . . Sin and disease bear to each other the relationship of cause and effect.— T., No. 32, p. 200.
249. Disease never comes without a cause. The way is first prepared, and disease invited by disregarding the laws of health. — H. to L., Chap. 5, p. 70.
250. Sickness is caused by violating the laws of health.— T., V. III, p. 164.
251. The majority of diseases which the human family have been and are still suffering under, have been created by ignorance of their own organic law.— H. R.
Heredity.
252. Through disease transmitted to them from their parents, and an erroneous education in youth, they have imbibed wrong habits, injuring the constitution, affecting the brain, causing the moral organs to become diseased, and making it impossible for them to think and act rationally upon all points.— R. and H., 1880, No. 11.
253. Many are suffering in consequence of the transgressions of their parents; they cannot be censured61for their parents’ sins, but it is nevertheless their duty to ascertain wherein their parents violated the laws of their being; and wherein their parents’ habits were wrong, they should change their course, and place themselves, by correct habits, in a better relation to health.— H. R.
Impure Air.
254. The effects produced by living in close, ill-ventilated rooms are these: The system becomes weak and unhealthy, the circulation is depressed, the blood moves sluggishly through the system because it is not purified and vitalized by the pure, invigorating air of heaven. The mind becomes depressed and gloomy, while the whole system is enervated; and fevers and other acute diseases are liable to be generated. . . . The system is peculiarly sensitive to the influence of cold. A slight exposure produces serious diseases.— T., V. I, p. 702.
Imperfect Breathing.
255. Stomach, liver, lungs, and brain are suffering for want of deep, full inspirations of air.— T., V. II, p. 67.
Indoor Life.
256. Close confinement indoors makes women pale and feeble, and results in premature death.— H. R.
Improper Die
257. 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.— F. of F., p. 133.
258. The time women devote to studying how to prepare food in a manner to suit the perverted appetite is worse than lost; . . . for they are only learning the most successful way to tear down and debase the physical, mental, and moral faculties62by gluttony. Then, as a natural result, comes sickness.—H. R.
259. I set before them the fact that by taking several kinds of food into the stomach at one meal, they are causing disease which was not attributed to the food eaten.— U. T., Aug. 30, 1896.
Overeating.
260. What influence does overeating have upon the stomach?—It becomes debilitated, the digestive organs are weakened, and disease, with all its train of evils, is brought on as the result.—T., V. II, p. 364.
261. And the dyspeptic—what has made him dyspeptic is taking this course. Instead of observing regularity, he has let appetite control him, and has eaten between meals—T., V. II, p. 374.
262. They closely apply their minds to books, and eat the allowance of laboring men. . . . The liver becomes burdened, and unable to throw off the impurities of the blood, and sickness is the result.—T., V. III, p. 490.
263. Scanty, impoverished, ill-cooked food is constantly depraving the blood, by weakening the blood-making organs.—T., V. I, p. 682.
264. The free use of sugar in any form tends to clog the system, and is not unfrequently a cause of disease.—C. T., p. 57.
265. A great amount of milk and sugar . . . clog the system, irritate the digestive organs, and affect the brain.—T., V. II, p. 370.
Flesh Foods.
266. The liability to take disease is increased tenfold by meat eating.—T., V. II, p. 64.
267. The eating of flesh meats has made a poor quality of blood and flesh. Your systems are in a state of inflammation, prepared to take on disease. You are liable to acute attacks of disease, and to sudden death, because you do not possess the strength of constitution to rally and resist disease.—T., V. II, p. 61.
268. When we feed on flesh, the juices of what we eat pass into the circulation. A feverish condition is created, because the animals are diseased, and by partaking of their flesh, we plant the seeds of disease in our own tissue and blood. Then, when exposed to the changes in a malarious atmosphere, to prevailing epidemics and contagious diseases, these are more sensibly felt, for the system is not in a condition to resist disease.—U. T., Nov. 5, 1896.
260. Flesh meats constitute the principal article of food upon the tables of some families, until their blood is filled with cancerous and scrofulous humors. Their bodies are composed of what they eat. But when suffering and disease come upon them, it is considered an affliction of Providence.—T., V. III, p. 563.
270. Rich and complicated mixtures of food are health destroying. Highly seasoned meats and rich pastry are wearing out the digestive organs of children.— U. T., Nov. 5, 1896.
271. Simple grains, fruits, and vegetables have all the nutrient properties necessary to make good blood. This a flesh diet cannot do.— U. T., Nov. 5, 1896.
Stimulants.
272. It is these hurtful stimulants that are surely undermining the constitution and preparing the64system for acute diseases, by impairing nature’s fine machinery, and battering down her fortifications erected against disease and premature decay.
— T., V. I, p. 548.
273. A tendency to disease of various kinds, as dropsy, liver complaint, trembling nerves, and a determination of the blood to the head, results from a habitual use of sour cider. By its use, many bring upon themselves permanent disease. Some die of consumption, or fall under the power of apoplexy from this cause alone. Some suffer from dyspepsia. Every vital function refuses to act, and the physicians tell them that they have liver complaint.—R. and H., 1884, No. 13.
Improper Clothing.
274. The fashionable style of woman’s dress is one of the greatest causes of all these terrible diseases.—H. R.
275. More die as the result of following fashion than from all other causes.—H. R.
276. Women especially are the victims of various maladies which might be lessened, if not entirely prevented, by right habits of life. Half their sufferings may be attributed to their manner of dress, and the insane desire to conform to the fashions of the world.— H. R.
277. In order to follow the fashions, mothers dress their children with limbs nearly naked; and the blood is chilled back from its natural course and thrown upon the internal organs, breaking up the circulation and producing disease.—T., V. II, p. 531.
278. The chief, if not the only, reason why many become invalids is that the blood does not circulate freely, and the changes in the vital fluid, which are necessary to life and health, do not take place.—T., V. II, p. 525.
Exposure to Cold.
279. When we overtax our strength, and become exhausted, we are liable to take cold, and at such times there is danger of disease assuming a dangerous form.—T., V. III, p. 13.
Damp Rooms.
280. Rooms that are not exposed to light and air become damp. . . . Various diseases have been brought on by sleeping in these fashionable health-destroying apartments.—H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 62.
281. Choice, closed rooms, deprived of the health-giving rays of the sun, seem like damp cellars. . . . The air in unoccupied rooms may be cold; but this is no evidence that it is pure.—R. H.
Drugs.
282. Drugging should be forever abandoned; for while it does not cure any malady, it enfeebles the system, making it more susceptible to disease.—T., No. 32, p. 67.
The Condition of the Mind.
283. There is another class whose highest aim in life is physical labor. This class do not exercise the mind. Their muscles are exercised, while their brains are robbed of intellectual strength. . . . This class fall more readily if attacked by disease, because the system is not vitalized by the electrical force of the brain to resist disease.—T., V. III, p. 157.
284. That which brings sickness of body and mind to nearly all, is dissatisfied feelings and discontented repinings.—T., V. I, p. 566.
285. Nothing is so fruitful a cause of disease as depression, gloominess, and sadness.— T., V. I, p. 702.
Secret Vice.
286. This vice is laying waste the constitutions of very many, and preparing them for diseases of almost every description.— S. A., p. 53.
287. Some of nature’s fine machinery gives way, leaving a heavier task for the remainder to perform, which disorders nature’s fine arrangement, and there is often a sudden breaking down of the constitution; and death is the result.— S. A., p. 64.
Exciting Causes.
Unhygienic Surroundings.
288. Filth is a breeder of disease.— R. and H., 1896, No. 5.
289. A neglect of cleanliness will induce disease. . . . Stubborn fevers and violent diseases have prevailed in neighborhoods and towns that had formerly been considered healthy, and some have died, while others have been left with broken constitutions to be crippled with disease for life. In many instances their own yards contained the agent of destruction, which sent forth deadly poisons into the atmosphere, to be inhaled by the family and the neighborhood.— H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 61.
290. Many suffer decayed vegetable matter to remain about their premises. They are not awake to the influence of these things. There is constantly arising from these decaying substances effluvium that is poisoning the air. By inhaling the impure air, the blood is poisoned, the lungs become affected, and the whole system is diseased. Disease of almost67every description will be caused by inhaling the atmosphere affected by these decaying substances.— Ibid.
291. If a house be built where water settles around it, remaining for a time and then drying away, a poisonous miasma arises, and fever and ague, sore throat, lung diseases, and fevers will be the result.— H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 64.
Flesh Diet.
202. The mortality caused by eating meat is not discerned. . . . Animals are diseased, and by partaking of their flesh we plant the seeds of disease in our own tissues and blood.— U. T., Nov. 5, 1896.
293. The prevalence of cancers and tumors is largely due to gross living on dead flesh.— U. T., Nov. 5, 1896.
294. The practise of eating largely of meat is causing diseases of all kinds,—cancers, tumors, scrofula, tuberculosis, and numbers of other like affections.— U. T., Jan. 11, 1897.
295. The meat is served reeking with fat, because it suits the perverted taste. Both the blood and the fat of animals is consumed as a luxury. But the Lord has given special directions that these should not be eaten. Why?—Because their use would make a diseased current of blood in the human system. Disregard of the Lord’s special directions has brought a variety of difficulties and diseases upon human beings. . . . If they introduce into their system that which cannot make good flesh and blood, they must endure the results of the disregard of God’s word.— U. T., March, 1896.
296. The eating of pork has aroused and strengthened a most deadly humor which was in the system. — T., V. II, p. 94.
CHAPTER XV.
RESISTANCE AGAINST DISEASE.
General Statements.
207. The object of the health reform and the Health Institute is not . . . to quiet the pains of to-day. No, indeed! Its great object is to teach the people how to live so as to give nature a chance to remove and resist disease.— T., V. I, p. 643.
298. The power of the human system to resist the abuses put upon it, is wonderful.— R. and H., 1884, No. 4.
299. A careful conformity to the laws which God has implanted in our being would insure health, and there would not be a breaking down of the constitution.— H. R.
300. A great amount of suffering might be saved if all would labor to prevent disease, by strictly obeying the laws of health.— H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 60.
The Power of the Will.
301. The power of the will is a mighty soother of the nerves, and can resist much disease, simply by not yielding to ailments and settling down into a state of inactivity.— F. of F., p. 145.
Temperance.
302. In order to preserve health, temperance in all things is necessary,—temperance in labor, temperance in eating and drinking.— H. to L., Chap. 1, p. 57.
Nourishment.
303. The body must have sufficient nourishment. The God who gives his beloved sleep has furnished69them also suitable food to sustain the physical system in a healthy condition.— C. T., p. 50.
304. Nature will restore their vigor and strength Sleep. in their sleeping hours, if her laws are not violated. — S. A., p. 62.
Exercise.
305. Each faculty of the mind and each muscle has its distinctive office, and all require to be exercised in order to become properly developed and retain healthful vigor. Each organ and muscle has its work to do in the living organism. Every wheel in the machinery must be a living, active, working wheel. Nature’s fine and wonderful works need to be kept in active motion in order to accomplish the object for which they were designed. Each faculty has a bearing upon the others, and all need to be exercised in order to be properly developed.— T., V. III, p. 77.
Bathing.
306. Bathing frees the skin from the accumulation of impurities which are constantly collecting, and keeps the skin moist and supple, thereby increasing and equalizing the circulation. Persons in health should on no account neglect bathing. They should by all means bathe as often as twice a week.— T., V. III, p. 70.
Clothing.
307. In order to maintain equal circulation, there should be an equal distribution of clothing, which will bring equal warmth to all parts of the body.— H. R.
Unselfish Work.
308. There is a much greater work upon us than we as yet have any idea of, if we would insure health by placing ourselves in the right relation to life. . . . The peculiar people whom God is purifying unto70himself, to be translated to heaven without seeing death, should not be behind others in good works. In their efforts to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, they should be as far ahead of any other class of people on the earth as their profession is more exalted than that of others.—T., V. I, p. 487.
309. Those who, so far as possible, engage in the work of doing good to others by giving practical demonstration of their interest in them, are not only relieving the ills of human life in helping them bear their burdens, but are at the same time contributing largely to their own health of soul and body. Doing good is a work that benefits both giver and receiver. If you forget self in your interest for others, you gain a victory over your infirmities. . . . The pleasure of doing good animates the mind and vibrates through the whole body.—T., V. II, p. 534.
CHAPTER XVI.
VENTILATION.
General Statements.
310. Air is the free blessing of heaven, calculated to electrify the whole system.— T., V. I, p. 701.
311. Air must be in constant circulation to be kept pure.— T., V. I, p. 702.
Ventilation of the Sleeping-Room.
312. Sleeping-rooms especially should be well ventilated, and the atmosphere made healthy by light and air. Blinds should be left open several hours each day, the curtains put aside, and the room thoroughly aired.— H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 62.
313. Sleeping apartments should be large, and so arranged as to have a circulation of air through them day and night. Those who have excluded the air from their sleeping-rooms should commence to change their course immediately. They should let in air by degrees, and increase its circulation until they can bear it winter and summer, with no danger of taking cold. The lungs, in order to be healthy, must have pure air.— H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 63.
Ventilation in the Sick-Room.
314. The sick-room, if possible, should have a draught of air through it day and night. The draught should not come directly upon the invalid. While burning fevers are raging, there is but little danger of taking cold. . . . The sick must have pure, invigorating air. If no other way can be devised, the sick, if possible, should be removed to72another room, and another bed, while the sick-room, the bed, and bedding are being purified by ventilation.—H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 60.
315. Every breath of vital air in the sick-room is of the greatest value, although many of the sick are very ignorant on this point. They feel much depressed, and do not know what the matter is. A draught of pure air through their room would have a happy, invigorating influence upon them.—H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 59.
Benefits of Pure Air.
316. Air, air, the precious boon of heaven, which all may have, will bless you with its invigorating influence if you will not refuse it entrance. Welcome it, cultivate a love for it, and it will prove a precious soother of the nerves. . . . The influence of pure, fresh air is to cause the blood to circulate healthfully through the system. It refreshes the body, and tends to render it strong and healthy, while at the same time its influence is decidedly felt upon the mind, imparting a degree of composure and serenity. It excites the appetite, and renders the digestion of food more perfect, and induces sound, sweet sleep.—T., V. I, p. 702.
Harmful Effects of Impure Air.
317. The harmful effects of living in close, ill-ventilated rooms are these: The system becomes weak and unhealthy; the circulation is depressed; the blood moves sluggishly through the system, because it is not purified and vitalized by the pure, invigorating air of heaven; the mind becomes depressed and gloomy, while the whole system is enervated, and fevers and other acute diseases are liable to be generated.—T., V. I, p. 702.
318. Many young children have passed five hours each day in schoolrooms not properly ventilated, nor sufficiently large for the healthful accommodation of the scholars. The air of such rooms soon becomes poison to the lungs that inhale it.—T., V. III, p. 135.
319. Many families suffer with sore throat, lung diseases, and liver complaint, brought upon them by their own course of action. Their sleeping-rooms are small, unfit to sleep in for one night, but they occupy the small apartments for weeks, and months, and years. . . . They breathe the same air over and over, until it becomes impregnated with the poisonous impurities and waste matter thrown off from their bodies through the lungs and the pores of the skin. . . . Those who thus abuse their health must suffer with disease.—H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 63.