Chapter 4—At The Battle Creek Sanitarium

The sanitarium with its large number of non-Adventist guests was faced with the problem of entertaining them. The non-Adventist institution in Dansville, New York, under the management of Dr. James C. Jackson had encouraged “plays” as being beneficial to the patients. (See Testimonies for the Church 3:172.) But Ellen White gave firm counsel that this type of entertainment should not come into our sanitarium at Battle Creek. This counsel appeared in 1881 in an article entitled “Position and Work of the Sanitarium,” but its warnings are by no means limited to the sanitarium:DPSDAI 3.6

“Those who bear the responsibility at the sanitarium should be exceedingly guarded that the amusements shall not be of a character to lower the standard of Christianity, bringing this institution down upon a level with others and weakening the power of true godliness in the minds of those who are connected with it. Worldly or theatrical entertainments are not essential for the prosperity of the sanitarium or for the health of the patients. The more they have of this kind of amusements, the less will they be pleased unless something of the kind shall be continually carried on. The mind is in a fever of unrest for something new and exciting, the very thing it ought not to have. And if these amusements are once allowed, they are expected again, and the patients lose their relish for any simple arrangement to occupy the time. But repose, rather than excitement, is what many of the patients need.DPSDAI 4.1

“As soon as these entertainments are introduced, the objections to theatergoing are removed from many minds, and the plea that moral and high-toned scenes are to be acted at the theater breaks down the last barrier. Those who would permit this class of amusements at the sanitarium would better be seeking wisdom from God to lead these poor, hungry, thirsting souls to the Fountain of joy, and peace, and happiness....DPSDAI 4.2

“The managers of the sanitarium may as well conclude at once that they will never be able to satisfy that class of minds that can find happiness only in something new and exciting. To many persons this has been the intellectual diet during their lifetime; there are mental as well as physical dyspeptics.”—Testimonies for the Church 4:577-579.DPSDAI 4.3

Unfortunately, no information is now available as to the precise nature of the “theatrical entertainments” being given at the sanitarium to which Ellen White is here referring. So her statement must be read and understood in the context of the chapter itself.DPSDAI 4.4