Knowledge of God: From “Education” by Ellen G. White (vegetarian), Part 1 of 2

Ellen G White (vegetarian), one of the co-founders of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, was born in Maine, USA, in 1827. From the age of seventeen, she received numerous prophetic visions from God which came to her throughout her life. In 1863, she was shown a vision that humans should return to the plant-based diet of the Garden of Eden, the physical and spiritual benefits of this diet, the dangers of intoxicants as well as other health issues. This became the inspiration for the Seventh-Day Adventist healthcare program, which now has medical centers serving communities worldwide.

Today, it is our pleasure to present selections from Ellen G. White’s book “Education,” where she details the importance of acquainting ourselves with God as a means of tapping into “higher knowledge.”

First Principles Source and Aim of True Education

“In a knowledge of God, all true knowledge and real development have their source. Wherever we turn, in the physical, the mental, or the spiritual realm; in whatever we behold, apart from the blight of sin, this knowledge is revealed. Whatever line of investigation we pursue, with a sincere purpose to arrive at truth, we are brought in touch with the unseen, mighty Intelligence that is working in and through all. The mind of man is brought into communion with the mind of God, the finite with the Infinite. The effect of such communion on body and mind and soul is beyond estimate. In this communion is found the highest education. It is God’s own method of development. ‘Acquaint now thyself with Him,’ is His message to mankind.”

“Face-to-face, heart-to-heart communion with his Maker was his high privilege. Had he remained loyal to God, all this would have been his forever. Throughout eternal ages he would have continued to gain new treasures of knowledge, to discover fresh springs of happiness, and to obtain clearer and yet clearer conceptions of the wisdom, the power, and the Love of God. More and more fully would he have fulfilled the object of his creation, more and more fully have reflected the Creator’s glory. But by disobedience this was forfeited. Through sin the Divine likeness was marred […]. To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the Divine purpose in his creation might be realized, – this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life.”