Few topics have generated more ridicule from critics than Ellen White's
statements regarding "self-abuse," "solitary vice," "self-indulgence," "secret
vice," "moral pollution," etc. Ellen White never used the term
"masturbation."
Her first reference to this subject appeared in a 64-page pamphlet,
An Appeal to Mothers, April 1864, nine months after her first
comprehensive health vision. Primarily devoted to masturbation, pages 5 to 34
were from her own pen; the remainder consisted of quotations from medical
authorities. [1]
Ellen White did not say that all, or even most, of the potentially
serious consequences of masturbation would happen to any one individual. Nor
did she say that the worst possible degree of a serious consequence would
happen to most indulgers.
Modern research indicates that Ellen White's strong statements can be
supported when she is properly understood. The general view today, however, is
that masturbation is normal and healthy.
Two medical specialists have suggested a link between masturbation and
physical abnormalities due to zinc-deficiency. Dr. David Horrobin, an M.D. and
Ph.D. from Oxford University, states:
"The amount of zinc in semen is such that one ejaculation may get rid of
all the zinc that can be absorbed from the intestines in one day. This has a
number of consequences. Unless the amount lost is replaced by an increased
dietary intake, repeated ejaculation may lead to a real zinc deficiency with
various problems developing, including impotence.
"It is even possible, given the importance of zinc for the brain, that
19th century moralists were correct when they said that repeated masturbation
could make one mad!" [2]
More recent research has confirmed the critical role of zinc as a
principal protector of the immune system, with a host of physical illnesses
attributable to zinc-deficiency.
Two professionals in the area of clinical psychology and family therapy
have compared Ellen White's statements on masturbation with current medical
knowledge. [3] Dr.
Richard Nies defended Ellen White's general counsel on masturbation, making
four main points:
(1) Masturbation leads to "mental, moral, and physical deterioration. .
. . It is not the stimulation, per se, that is wrong. It's what's going on in .
. . [persons] when they're becoming self-referenced and self-centered."
(2) Masturbation "breaks down the finer sensitivities of our nervous
system. . . . It is not difficult to see in terms of the electrical mediation
of our nervous system, how disease becomes a natural result of individuals who
have placed their own gratification at the center of their being. . . . Disease
is the natural result of this."
(3) Masturbation is a predisposition that can be "inherited and passed
on and transmitted from one generation to another, even leading to degeneration
of the race."
(4) In dealing with others, especially children, Ellen White's counsel
lies in the direction of dealing with the consequences, of showing them that we
should be training for love and eternity, not self-gratification with its
terrible consequences. Dr. Nies concluded his paper, "Self-gratification is
synonymous with destruction."
Alberta Mazat observed that Ellen White's concern regarding masturbation
was primarily on the mental consequences rather than the "purely physical act.
She was more concerned with thought processes, attitudes, fantasies, etc."
Mazat quoted Ellen White's references to the fact that "the effects are not the
same on all minds," that "impure thoughts seize and control the imagination,"
and that the mind "takes pleasure in contemplating the scenes which awake base
passion."
Mazat further noted that some may be embarrassed by Ellen White's strong
statements regarding masturbation. However, many of Mrs. White's other
statements also seemed "unrealistic and exaggerated before science corroborated
them, for example, cancer being caused by a virus, the dangers of smoking,
overeating, and the overuse of fats, sugar, and salt, to name a few. . . . It
seems worthwhile to remind ourselves that medical knowledge at any point is not
perfect." [4]
Looked at from another perspective, God always upholds the ideal for His
people through His messengers. However one reacts to Ellen White's specific
counsel, clearly masturbation was not what God had in mind when He created man
and woman, united them in marriage, and then instructed them to be fruitful and
multiply. God's ideal in regard to sexuality is the loving relationship that
exists in marriage between husband and wife. Anything else, including
masturbation, falls far short of God's ideal.
[1] An Appeal
to Mothers was reprinted in 1870 as part of a larger work, A Solemn
Appeal Relative to Solitary Vice and Abuses and Excesses of the Marriage
Relation. A facsimile reprint appears in the Appendix to A Critique of
Prophetess of Health (by the Ellen G. White Estate).
[2] David F.
Horrobin, M.D., Ph.D., Zinc (St. Albans, Vt.: Vitabooks, Inc., 1981), p.
8. See also Carl C. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., M.D., Zinc and Other
Micro-Nutrients (New Canaan, Conn.: Keats Publishing, Inc., 1978), p.
45.
[3] Richard Nies,
Ph.D. (Experimental Psychology, UCLA, 1964; equivalent Ph.D. in clinical
psychology, including oral exam, but died during dissertation preparation),
Lecture, "Give Glory to God," Glendale, Calif., n.d.; Alberta Mazat, M.S.W.
(Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda,
Calif.), Monograph, "Masturbation" (43 pp.), Biblical Research Institute.
[4] Mazat,
Monograph, "Masturbation."
[Adapted from Herbert E. Douglass, Messenger of the Lord: the
Prophetic Ministry of Ellen G. White (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1998), pp. 493, 494, with additional comments.]