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Bible Hygiene

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 15, 1871

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 38, No. 9.

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Bible Hygiene.

The definition of hygiene, as given by Webster, is, “That department of medical science which treats of the preservation of health; a system of principles or rules designed for the promotion of health.”
The Bible was given for the well-being of man in this life, as well as a rule by which he may attain to immortal life. And the first grand, hygienic rule given was that which defines man’s diet. To Adam, God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Gen. 1:29. “Of every tree of the garden,” our first parents were to freely eat, excepting one. Gen. 2:16, 17.
Adam’s meat does not appear to have been the flesh of animals, such as beef, pork, mutton, chicken, turkey, goose, duck, and the like. His bill of fare was made up of the wonderful variety of delicious things which grew out of the ground. These were his meat. And we have been surprised with the fact that the very highest authorities give the word meat in the Old and New Testaments the signification it has in this first hygienic rule given to Adam. “Meat in the English Bible,” says the American Tract Society’s Dictionary of the Bible, “usually signifies food.” And the statement of William Smith, Classical Examiner of the University of London, in his dictionary of the Bible, is still stronger. On the word meat, he says: “It does not appear that the word meat is used in any one instance in the authorized version of either the Old or the New Testament in the sense which it now almost exclusively bears of animal food.”
Animal food, then, did not constitute any part of the bill of fare of the holy pair in Eden. It was not the design of God in creation that the life of any living creature should be taken. Death, in man or beast, or wherever it might occur, came in consequence of sin. And this whole mammoth custom of taking the life of God’s creatures to sustain human life, wherever it may be practiced beneath the sun, is simply the fruit of transgression. And after the fall, and the expulsion from Eden, so far as the Sacred Record is concerned, there is no permission given to use flesh of any kind for food till after the flood. Then the use of flesh as food became a matter of necessity.
The waters of the flood were upon the earth, and Noah was in the ark with closed doors, one year and ten days. Compare Gen. 7:11, 12, and 8:14. By this time, we may safely conclude, the patriarch’s stock of provisions was low. And the desolated earth could afford none until it could be produced from the seed preserved in the ark. In this state of things God said to Noah, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things.” Gen. 9:3. Up to this time, during a period of 1656 years, more than one-fourth of the time since creation, man’s diet was the “green herb,” or that which grew out of the ground. But now, in the absence of such food, he is permitted to subsist, very largely at least, upon flesh, until the earth should bring forth again the proper food for man.
And, certainly, judging from the Sacred Record, that was a time of remarkable good health. During the long period of 1656 years of vegetarian life, no mention is made of the sickness and death of children, of feebleness in youth, or at middle age, or of fevers, dyspepsia, gout, or consumption. All lived, in the full enjoyment of health, nearly one thousand years, until the weary springs of life stood still. Obituary notices of that time do not mention local diseases, which in our day are caused by the breaking down of certain organs of the system, while others remain strong, resulting in lingering sufferings, and agony in death. No, they mention the great length of human life, and its cessation, as follows:—
“And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.”
“And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.”
“And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.”
“And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.”
“And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years, and he died.”
“And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years, and he died.”
“And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years, and he died.”
“And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years, and he died.”
We notice, as the second hygienic principle in God’s ample provision for the happy existence of man, his glorious surroundings. “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight.” If after the three-fold curse on account of sin—first, that which followed the sin of Adam; second, that which followed the first murder; and, third, the terrible curse of the flood, which left a large portion of the earth’s surface in its present broken and barren condition—if after six thousand years of the blighting, dwindling, and deforming influence of the curse, there remains real beauty in the trees, vines, shrubs, and flowers, far more beautiful than the finest work of art, what must have been the grandeur, beauty, and glory, of the trees, the bowers, and the flowers, of Paradise, fresh from the hand of Infinite Wisdom, before the transgression!
And the Son of God, in addressing the “innumerable multitude” pointed them to the delicate lily, and declared that “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” The superiority of the works of nature, or of art, was not a matter of debate with the Son of God. A single lily in his day, from the soil which had long felt the blight and mildew of the curse, possessed more glory than Solomon in all his royal array. If this be a fact relative to a single lily of the field, or reposing upon the bosom of the lake, four thousand years from the original glory of Eden, what must have been the delights of our first parents as they stood in Eden before sin had paralyzed their senses, or the curse had touched a single leaf?
Man’s employment, as seen in the original design, is also worthy of notice. “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Gen. 2:15. Man was designed for activity in the open light of the sun, and the free air of heaven. These to him constitute the principle joys of existence. The subsequent curse upon Adam was not that he should labor; but that his labor should be attended with difficulties. Gen. 3:17–19. Neither was the curse upon Eve that she should bear children; but in increased numbers and sorrows.
The natural habits of the people for the first generations after the fall were evidently conducive to longevity and health. There is no mention of houses before the flood. Before and long after that event, many of the people at least dwelt in tents. Artificial habits, in closed doors, hiding away from the light of the sun, and the richness of pure air, have well-nigh ruined the race. None should suffer such wretched treatment, only those worthy of death, or the next thing to it, and are doomed to close confinement in prisons. We admire that simple wisdom which saith, “Truly, the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” Eccl. 11:7.
Proper exercise in the open air, in the light of the sun, ranks among God’s highest and richest blessings to man. This gives form and strength to the physical frame, and, all other habits being equal, is the sure safeguard against disease and premature decay. This, being man’s natural sphere, gives buoyancy and strength to thought, and the mind finds its natural balance, free from the extremes resulting from artificial life.
It is true that artificial and, in almost everything, wrong habits of life have so far perverted and enfeebled our natures that we are ill-prepared to enter at once upon the natural habits of the worthy patriarchs. We cannot go back at once. And it is vain to talk of regaining all that has been lost in size, strength, health, and length of days. Something might be gained. But for this we earnestly plead, that the spirit of reform in habits of life shall get hold of the minds of sensible men and women, and that the rapid downward tendency may be checked.
This downward tendency to feebleness and premature decay in American women, is too evident to admit of a doubt. And in no one thing is this so clearly traceable as in artificial habits in closed doors. The native women in our country are as strong as the men. And why? Simply because their habits are so nearly like those of the men, without ceiled houses. This is also true in a large degree of European women who labor, side by side with their husbands, in the field, in the light of the sun, in the open air.
Every room and every sleeping apartment, in every house, should be ventilated every day and every night in the year. The degree must be governed by the temperature of the atmosphere without, and the ability of the inmates to endure. And every man, and every woman, and every child, should also enjoy as much of God’s good sunshine as the circumstances will possibly admit. Press to the light, friends, press out into the air, and let them into your houses, and let these grand medicines, wisely mixed by our gracious God, make you strong, healthy, and happy.
—Health Reformer.