When human strength fails, men feel their need of divine help. And never does our merciful God turn from the soul that in sincerity seeks Him for help. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction, by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which, through the grace of Christ, the soul becomes a conquering power. ... The love which Christ diffuses through the whole being is a vitalizing power. Every vital part—the brain, the heart, the nerves—it touches with healing. By it the highest energies of the being are roused to activity. It frees the soul from the guilt and sorrow, the anxiety and care, that crush the life forces. With it come serenity and composure. It implants in the soul, joy that nothing earthly can destroy,—joy in the Holy Spirit,—health-giving, life-giving joy. MH 115.3 The childhood of Jesus, spent in poverty, had been uncorrupted by the artificial habits of a corrupt age. Working at the carpenter's bench, bearing the burdens of home life, learning the lessons of obedience and toil, He found recreation amidst the scenes of nature, gathering knowledge as He sought to understand nature's mysteries. He studied the word of God, and His hours of greatest happiness were found when He could turn aside from the scene of His labors to go into the fields, to meditate in the quiet valleys, to hold communion with God on the mountainside or amid the trees of the forest. The early morning often found Him in some secluded place, meditating, searching the Scriptures, or in prayer. With the voice of singing He welcomed the morning light. With songs of thanksgiving He cheered His hours of labor and brought heaven's gladness to the toilworn and disheartened. MH 52.1

White, Ellen G. Ellen G. White to Addie and May Walling, April 11, 1905, Letter 109, 1905. Heritage Research Center, (LLU). He was always patient and cheerful, and the afflicted hailed Him as a messenger of life and peace. He saw the needs of men and women, children and youth, and to all He gave the invitation, “Come unto Me.” MH 19.3 As the people looked upon Jesus, they saw a face in which divine compassion was blended with conscious power. He seemed to be surrounded with an atmosphere of spiritual life. While His manners were gentle and unassuming, He impressed men with a sense of power that was hidden, yet could not be wholly concealed. MH 51.3 E. R. Palmer, “Relief for Our Sanitariums,” ARH, September 7, 1905, 18; idem, “Ministry of Healing,” ARH, September 14, 1905, 20, 21. ↩ Christ came to this world to show that by receiving power from on high, man can live an unsullied life. With unwearying patience and sympathetic helpfulness He met men in their necessities. By the gentle touch of grace He banished from the soul unrest and doubt, changing enmity to love, and unbelief to confidence. MH 25.1

Healing Ministry

The next major theme is the concept of “wholeness.” Ellen White views health comprehensively, including its physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. As she put it: “Our Saviour’s words, ‘Come unto Me, . . . and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28), are a prescription for the healing of physical, mental, and spiritual ills.” 18 The spiritual aspect of health became and still is a unique Adventist concept of healthful living. According to the Adventist philosophy of health, healing must include a spiritual component since a human being is seen as a whole person. Near Bethsaida, at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, was a lonely region, beautiful with the fresh green of spring, that offered a welcome retreat to Jesus and His disciples. For this place they set out, going in their boat across the lake. Here they could rest, apart from the confusion of the multitude. Here the disciples could listen to the words of Christ, undisturbed by the retorts and accusations of the Pharisees. Here they hoped to enjoy a short season of fellowship in the society of their Lord. MH 56.2

Ellen G. White, An Appeal to Mothers. The Great Cause of the Physical, Mental, and Moral Ruin of Many of the Children of our Time (Battle Creek, MI: Steam Press, 1864); idem, Spiritual Gifts: Important Facts of Faith: Laws of Health and Testimonies Nos. 1-10 (Battle Creek, MI: Steam Press, 1864), vol. 4. ↩ Campbell, Michael W. “Ministry of Healing.” In The Ellen G. White Encyclopedia, ed. by Denis Fortin and Jerry Moon. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2013.Ellen White seemed to be personally satisfied with the outcome of the book and the accomplishment of its primary purposes. A few years after its initial publication she reflected: “The book ‘Ministry of Healing’ may do the same work for our sanitariums and health institutions that ‘Christ’s Object Lessons’ has done for our schools. This book contains the wisdom of the Great Physician. To me, it has been a great privilege to donate my work on these books to the cause of God.” 21 The Ministry of Healing is still considered one of the best and most popular works by Ellen G. White. When the gospel is received in its purity and power, it is a cure for the maladies that originated in sin. The Sun of Righteousness arises, “with healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2. Not all this world bestows can heal a broken heart, or impart peace of mind, or remove care, or banish disease. Fame, genius, talent—all are powerless to gladden the sorrowful heart or to restore the wasted life. The life of God in the soul is man's only hope. MH 115.2 Our Saviour's words, “Come unto Me, ... and I will give you rest” ( Matthew 11:28), are a prescription for the healing of physical, mental, and spiritual ills. Though men have brought suffering upon themselves by their own wrongdoing, He regards them with pity. In Him they may find help. He will do great things for those who trust in Him. MH 115.4 The Saviour's life on earth was a life of communion with nature and with God. In this communion He revealed for us the secret of a life of power. MH 51.1 The Physician should gather to his soul the light of the word of God. He should make continual growth in grace. With him, religion is not to be merely one influence among others. It is to be an influence dominating all others. He is to act from high, holy motives—motives that are powerful because they proceed from the One who gave His life to furnish us with power to overcome evil. MH 117.2

White, Ellen G. Ellen G. White to Henry W. Kellogg, September 20, 1903. Letter 209, 1903. Heritage Research Center, Loma Linda University (LLU). Ellen White began writing on the subject of health after she received her first comprehensive health vision June 5, 1863. In 1864 she published a short booklet entitled An Appeal to Mothers and a chapter on “Health” in Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4. 2 A year later, in 1865, she also contributed a six-part article, “Disease and Its Causes,” for the book, Health, or How to Live, edited by James White. 3 The book was the first major publication on health by the new denomination. Beyond giving general instructions on healthful living, these three works helped Seventh-day Adventists to make a fundamental shift in their thinking on the subject of health. Instead of ignoring the topic, Adventists would make it an integral part of their overall mission to the world. The world needs today what it needed nineteen hundred years ago—a revelation of Christ. A great work of reform is demanded, and it is only through the grace of Christ that the work of restoration, physical, mental, and spiritual, can be accomplished. MH 143.2 Only He who reads the heart can know with what trembling and terror many patients consent to an operation under the surgeon's hand. They realize their peril. While they may have confidence in the physician's skill they know that it is not infallible. But as they see the physician bowed in prayer, asking help from God, they are inspired with confidence. Gratitude and trust open the heart to the healing power of God, the energies of the whole being are vitalized, and the life forces triumph. MH 118.4 Jesus was an earnest, constant worker. Never lived there among men another so weighted with responsibilities. Never another carried so heavy a burden of the world's sorrow and sin. Never another toiled with such self-consuming zeal for the good of men. Yet His was a life of health. Physically as well as spiritually He was represented by the sacrificial lamb, “without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:19. In body as in soul He was an example of what God designed all humanity to be through obedience to His laws. MH 51.2During the next decades Ellen White continued to write on various health matters. Her articles appeared in denominational papers or in her Testimonies for the Church volumes. In 1890 the health writings of both James and Ellen White were brought together in the book Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene. 4 Ellen White was not completely satisfied with the work, however, envisioning a more comprehensive volume on health, a desire that ultimately led to the publication of The Ministry of Healing in 1905. From Preparation to Publication A fourth major theme includes general instructions designed to help people live and enjoy healthier and happier lives. The book touches on numerous topics from hygiene, diet, and dress, to family relationships and education. The final chapters note the importance of daily living with God and experiencing life to the fullest. Such experiences, according to Ellen White, are to be visible through a life of service to others. “We shall rejoice to be co-workers with Christ, and we shall not fear to trust His care,” she wrote. “If we make God our strength we shall have clear perceptions of duty, unselfish aspirations; our life will be actuated by a noble purpose which will raise us above sordid motives.” 20 In sum, the book includes practical applications for daily living rather than mere theoretical ideas. Nothing tends more to promote health of body and of soul than does a spirit of gratitude and praise. It is a positive duty to resist melancholy, discontented thoughts and feelings--as much a duty as it is to pray. If we are heaven-bound, how can we go as a band of mourners, groaning and complaining all along the way to our Father's house? The words spoken to Israel are true today of those who recover health of body or health of soul. “I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Exodus 15:26. MH 113.2 To the physician also the Saviour's presence is an element of strength. Often the responsibilities and possibilities of his work bring dread upon the spirit. The feverishness of uncertainty and fear would make the hand unskillful. But the assurance that the divine Counselor is beside him, to guide and to sustain, imparts quietness and courage. The touch of Christ upon the physician's hand brings vitality, restfulness, confidence, and power. MH 119.1

The idea for the book came as early as 1903. “My next book,” Ellen White wrote, “is to be on Temperance and the Medical Missionary work. It is my purpose to give the manuscript of this book to our Sanitariums, to help them to raise the debts resting on them. . . . I think that this is the best I can do, and that this will be a most appropriate book for this purpose.” 1 She assigned the preparation of the volume to Marian Davis, her long-time literary assistant, who compiled materials from Ellen White’s previous writings on health-related topics and incorporated them into appropriate chapters. Earlier Health Writings This is the high duty and precious privilege of the medical missionary. And personal ministry often prepares the way for this. God often reaches hearts through our efforts to relieve physical suffering. MHH 74.1 Men need to learn that the blessings of obedience, in their fullness, can be theirs only as they receive the grace of Christ. It is His grace that gives man power to obey the laws of God. It is this that enables him to break the bondage of evil habit. This is the only power that can make him and keep him steadfast in the right path. MH 115.1 What is the condition in the world today? Is not faith in the Bible as effectually destroyed by the higher criticism and speculation of today as it was by tradition and rabbinism in the days of Christ? Have not greed and ambition and love of pleasure as strong a hold on men's hearts now as they had then? In the professedly Christian world, even in the professed churches of Christ, how few are governed by Christian principles. In business, social, domestic, even religious circles, how few make the teachings of Christ the rule of daily living. Is it not true that “justice standeth afar off: ... equity cannot enter.... And he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey”? Isaiah 59:14, 15. MH 142.3The lungs should be allowed the greatest freedom possible. Their capacity is developed by free action; it diminishes if they are cramped and compressed. Hence the ill effects of the practice so common, especially in sedentary pursuits, of stooping at one's work. In this position it is impossible to breathe deeply. Superficial breathing soon becomes a habit, and the lungs lose their power to expand. A similar effect is produced by tight lacing. Sufficient room is not given to the lower part of the chest; the abdominal muscles, which were designed to aid in breathing, do not have full play, and the lungs are restricted in their action. MH 272.2