Physical Afflictions of Early Adventists

Early Adventists were as physically afflicted as their contemporaries. Many of them, fearful of the prevailing medical practice, turned to prayer as their best hope. In 1846 Otis Nichols wrote to William Miller about young Ellen White: “The Spirit of God is with her and has been in a remarkable manner in healing the sick through the answer of her prayers; some cases are as remarkable as any that are recorded in the New Testament.” ^{22Otis Nichols Letter, April 20, 1846, cited in Bio., vol. 1, pp. 76, 77. Several instances of divine healing include Mrs. Penfield—Letter 1, 1848 in Manuscript Releases 5:248, 249; Frances Howland—Spiritual Gifts 2:42; William Hyde—Spiritual Gifts 2:44; Clarissa Bonfoey—Letter 14, 1850 in Manuscript Releases 7:352; Manuscript Releases 8:221, 222; Lumen Masten—The Review and Herald, September 30, 1852. J. N. Loughborough reported on these experiences in 1909, noting that in the 1850s Adventists “had not the light on the treatment of disease by the use of nature’s remedies, but were requested to bring our sick ones to the Lord in prayer, following the rule in the fifth chapter of James.... This led some to conclude that every case thus presented to the Lord would be healed. For this conclusion we had not, however, had any such instruction from either Brother or Sister White.” When some were troubled after prayed-for people died, Loughborough pointed to Ellen White’s counsel in Testimonies for the Church 1:120, 121, where she made clear that every sincere prayer is answered in God’s wisdom. In some cases, death may be the most compassionate way for a prayer to be answered. See J. N. Loughborough, “Sketches From the Past—77,” Pacific Union Recorder, September 16, 1909, p. 1.}MOL 279.9