Scripture:

Ellen taught different dietary laws than those God already presented in scripture. She forbade foods including those which God has already blessed. She forbade meat, even though Jesus ate meat in his glorified body, and she went as far as adding her health reform to the Third Angel’s message in Revelation, which is forbidden by God. 

 

• The Messages of the Three Angels: “Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” Revelation 14:6-12

 

• “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.” Revelation 22:18

 

• "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.” 1 Timothy 4:1-3 

 

• “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.” Luke 24:40-43

 

• “Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples ventured to inquire of Him, ‘Who are You?’ knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This was now the third time that Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.” John 21:12-14

 

Ellen G. White:

Ellen claimed that “Present Truth”, her written testimonies and health messages, have been added to the third angel’s message, which must be followed in the last days in order to fit people for Jesus’ coming. She disregarded the commandments of God already established regarding clean and unclean foods, and replaced his food laws with a Victorian era health reform that was being popularized by secular authors, and her writings contain false information regarding health and wellness. The health reformers of the Victorian era, including Ellen, had many good intentions trying to help people live healthier, and were using the forefront knowledge of their day. But to claim that her health reform was given to her directly from God, that her health writings were in complete harmony with what God had shown her, and was to be strictly obeyed as part of the third angel’s message, is contradictory to scripture. The fact that these writings contained falsehoods suggests these principles were not divinely inspired. She also states that to disobey her health reform is sin, and those who disobey her health reform are disobeying God and will not obtain the future life. 

• “I did not visit Dansville till August, 1864, fourteen months after I had the vision. I did not read any works upon health until I had written Spiritual Gifts, volumes 3 and 4, Appeal to Mothers, and had sketched out most of my six articles in the six numbers of How to Live…I did not know that such a paper existed as The Laws of Life… I did not know that such works existed until September, 1863, when in Boston, Mass., my husband saw them advertised in a periodical…My husband ordered the works from Dansville and received them at Topsham, Maine. His business gave him no time to peruse them, and as I determined not to read them until I had written out my views, the books remained in their wrappers. As I introduced the subject of health to friends where I labored in Michigan, New England, and in the State of New York, and spoke against drugs and flesh meats, and in favor of water, pure air, and a proper diet, the reply was often made, "You speak very nearly the opinions taught in the Laws of Life, and other publications, by Drs. Trall, Jackson, and others. Have you read that paper and those works?" My reply was that I had not, neither should I read them till I had fully written out my views, lest it should be said that I received my light on the subject of health reform from physicians, and not from the Lord. And after I had written my six articles for How to Live, I then searched out the various works on hygiene and was surprised to find them so nearly in harmony, and to set before my brethren and sisters the subject as brought out by able writers, I determined to publish How to Live, in which I largely extracted from the works referred to." Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, October 8, 1867/ Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 276

 

• “As the end draws near and the work of giving the last warning to the world extends, it becomes more important for those who accept present truth to have a clear understanding of the nature and influence of the testimonies, which God has linked (added) with the work of the third angel's message from its very rise.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, ch. 81, par .1

 

• “This branch of the Lord's work has not received due attention, and through this neglect much has been lost. If the church would manifest a greater interest in the reforms through which God Himself is seeking to fit them for His coming, their influence would be far greater than it now is. God has spoken to his people, and He designs that they shall hear and obey his voice. Although the health reform is not the third angel's message, it is closely connected with it. Those who proclaim the message should teach health reform. It is a subject that we must understand, in order to be prepared for the events that are to close upon us, and it should have a prominent place.” Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, ch. 21, par. 2

 

• “One important part of the work of the ministry is to faithfully present to the people the health reform, as it stands connected (added) with the third angel's message, as a part and parcel of the same work. They should not fail to adopt it themselves, and should urge it upon all who profess to believe the truth. The health reform, I was shown, is a part (added) of the third angel's message, and is just as closely connected with it as are the arm and hand with the human body. I saw that we as a people must make an advance move in this great work. Ministers and people must act in concert. God's people are not prepared for the loud cry of the third angel. They have a work to do for themselves which they should not leave for God to do for them. He has left this work for them to do. It is an individual work; one can not do it for another.” Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, ch. 21, par. 4-5

 

• “December 10, 1871, I was again shown that the health reform is one branch of the great work which is to fit a people for the coming of the Lord. It is as closely connected with the third angel's message as the hand is with the body. The law of ten commandments has been lightly regarded by man; but the Lord would not come to punish the transgressors of that law without first sending them a message of warning. The third angel proclaims that message. Had men ever been obedient to the law of ten commandments, carrying out in their lives the principles of those precepts, the curse of disease now flooding the world would not be. Men and women cannot violate natural law by indulging depraved appetite and lustful passions, and not violate the law of God. Therefore, He has permitted the light of health reform to shine upon us, that we may see our sin in violating the laws which He has established in our being. All our enjoyment or suffering may be traced to obedience or transgression of natural law. Our gracious heavenly Father sees the deplorable condition of men, who, some knowingly, but many ignorantly, are living in violation of the laws that He has established. And in love and pity to the race, He causes the light to shine upon health reform. He publishes His law, and the penalty that will follow the transgression of it, that all may learn, and be careful to live in harmony with natural law. He proclaims His law so distinctly, and makes it so prominent, that it is like a city set on a hill. All accountable beings can understand it if they will. Idiots will not be responsible. To make plain natural law, and urge the obedience of it, is the work that accompanies the third angel's message, to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.” Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, ch. 21, par. 14-15

 

• "Obedience to the laws of our being should be regarded of great importance, and to every individual, a matter of personal duty. Indifference and ignorance upon this subject is sin…we will be accountable before God for the light he has given us, which we would not accept and act upon…I have heard many say…our habits have become formed, and it is next to impossible to change…By hurtful indulgences these are working against their own highest interest and happiness in this life, and are, in so doing, disqualifying themselves to obtain the future life…disregarding the light and knowledge which hold them responsible for the result of their violation of nature's laws…Because the majority choose to walk in a path which God has positively forbidden, shall all feel compelled to tread the same path?" The Health Reformer, October 1, 1871

 

• "I have not taken one step back since the light from heaven upon this subject first shone upon my pathway. I broke away from everything at once, -from meat and butter, and from three meals. . . .I left off these things from principle. I took my stand on health reform from principle." Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 371-372 (1869)

 

• "Those who digress occasionally to gratify the taste in eating a fattened turkey or other flesh meats, pervert their appetites, and are not the ones to judge of the benefits of the system of health reform. They are controlled by taste, not by principle. . . .No butter or flesh meats of any kind come on my table." Testimonies, vol. 2. p. 487 (1870)

 

• "You place upon your tables butter, eggs, and meat, and your children partake of them. They are fed with the very things that will excite their animal passions, and then you come to meeting and ask God to bless and save your children. How high do your prayers go?" Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 362 (1870)

 

• "Those who have received instruction regarding the evils of the use of flesh foods, tea, and coffee, and rich and unhealthful food preparations, and who are determined to make a covenant with God by sacrifice, will not continue to indulge their appetite for food that they know to be unhealthful. God demands that the appetites be cleansed, and that self-denial be practiced in regard to those things which are not good. This is a work that will have to be done before His people can stand before Him a perfected people. " Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 153, 154 (1909) 

 

• "A religious life can be more successfully gained and maintained if meat is discarded, for this diet stimulates into intense activity lustful propensities, and enfeebles the moral and spiritual nature." Counsels on Diets and Foods, p. 389

 

• "...flesh meat is not the right food for God's people. It animalizes human beings." Counsels on Diets and Foods, p. 390
  • Was Jesus “animalized” when He ate flesh meats in His glorified body after his resurrection?

 

• “Fashion loads the heads of women with artificial braids and pads…The artificial hair and pads covering the base of the brain, heat and excite the spinal nerves centering the brain. The head should ever be kept cool. The heat caused by these artificials induces blood to the brain. The action of the blood upon the lower or animal organs of the brain, causes unnatural activity, tends to recklessness in morals, and the mind and heart are in danger or being corrupted. As the animal organs are excited and strengthened, the moral are enfeebled. The moral and intellectual powers of the mind become servants to the animal. In consequence of the brain being congested its nerves lose their healthy action, and take on morbid conditions, making it almost impossible to arouse the moral sensibilities. Such lose their power to discern sacred things. The unnatural heat caused by these artificial deformities about the head, induces blood to the brain, producing congestion, and causing the natural hair to fall off, producing baldness… but all such objections to these monstrosities become as nothing compared with the objection which arises from the congestion of the blood-vessels of the back brain by reason of their use… In women there is such an intimate connection between the back brain and the reproductive structure that when the former becomes enfeebled the latter invariably takes on morbid conditions.” The Health Reformer, October 1871, p. 120, 121
  • This teaching is rooted in a popular Victorian health construct called ‘phrenology,’ which was heavily emphasized in EGW’s day. The hypothalamus is responsible for maintaining a stable internal temperature when external temperatures are variable, allowing for the application of head coverings without causing a disturbance in physiological function. Additionally, the frontal lobe is responsible for controlling the brain's center of decision making and impulse control, whereas the base of the brain is responsible for autonomic functions such as balance, musculoskeletal movement. God would not have instructed His Levitical priesthood to wear turban head coverings if the heat truly altered cerebral function, leading to decreased moral fortitude.

• "Some women have naturally small waists. But rather than regard such forms as beautiful, they should be viewed as defective. These wasp waists may have been transmitted to them from their mothers, as the result of their indulgence in the sinful practice 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 take on disease. The impurities retained in the system in consequence of imperfect breathing are transmitted to their offspring." Review and Herald, Oct. 31 (1871)
  • It is physiologically impossible for tight-lacing to alter genetic expression in offspring.