As a young woman, Ellen Gould White (1827–1915) was among the followers of preacher William Miller, a Baptist minister who believed he had discovered that the Second Coming (or Advent) of Christ would occur in 1844. When Miller’s prediction of Jesus’ return was left unrealized (a non-event known as the “Great Disappointment”), many of his followers abandoned the movement. Others (including White) adopted the belief that what Miller had calculated was not the date of Christ’s return to Earth, but rather, the beginning of His judgment of the world—a judgment that had to precede his actual return. This doctrine, known as “investigative judgment,” is unique to the Seventh Day Adventists: according to them, from 1844 until the moment of his actual return, Christ has been investigating the lives of those who claim to be saved by his death on the Cross, in order to determine if they are worthy of eternal life.

White’s writings on this and other issues, as well as her dynamic personal leadership proved a key element in transforming the remnant of Miller’s followers (now known as Adventists) into a cohesive organization. Along with her husband and several other men, she co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863. (The designation “Seventh-day” refers to the group’s belief that Christians should continue to worship on Saturday, the day traditionally understood to be the “seventh” in the Creation account in Genesis 1 and reserved for devotional activities in the Ten Commandments.) As a result of her understanding of the “investigative judgment” with its emphasis on the “worthiness” of believers for salvation, White adopted a Christian perfectionist stance that stressed not only personal piety but also physical health and hygiene. In this excerpt from her book The Ministry of Healing, she urges abstinence from all stimulants, including spices, on the grounds that they unnaturally advance the decay of the body by conditioning it to a state of excitement that it was never intended to endure on an extended basis.

Although the Seventh Day Adventists were far from the only religious group to decry the personal and social costs of intoxication (see Documents 19 and 21), White’s rhetoric on the subject is particularly illustrative of the utilization of scientific language and learning for the advancement of religious ideas.

Source: Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, (Washington, D. C: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1905), 325–335.

Stimulants and Narcotics




Tea and Coffee




The Tobacco Habit






Intoxicating Drinks




The Milder Intoxicants





Responsibility of Parents




Study Questions

  1.   Explain White’s religious objections to chemical stimulants; what appears to be her primary concern in raising these issues?
  2.   White’s arguments for temperance are couched in scientific terms; how might we compare this to the “Christian Science” advocated by Mary Baker Eddy (Document 19)?