Electrical Currents in Nerves

By Dirk Anderson, last updated Nov. 2025

Mrs. Ellen G. White wrote extensively in the field of health and nutrition. ... Although written at a time when health fallacies were prevalent, the principles have been verified by science in a remarkable way.
U. D. Register, Ph.D., professor of bio chemistry, Loma Linda University, Ministry Magazine, Sep. 1971

In Mein Kampf (1925), Hitler described how a "big lie" repeated persistently can make people believe it because they assume no one would dare lie so boldly. Seventh-day Adventists [SDAs] trying to sell others on the validity of their religion have long repeated the big claim that Ellen White was "years ahead of science." One of the most quoted proofs comes from her remarks about "electric currents in the nervous system," which, according to author Rene Noorbergen, anticipated twentieth-century discoveries in neurology. But beneath the polished legend lies a different story: Ellen White’s statement was not a divine insight into the human nervous system—it was a warning against masturbation, copied from a nineteenth-century health reform book written nearly two decades before her "revelation."

That BIG CLAIM

Sensational author Rene Noorbergen popularized the myth that Mrs. White was years ahead of science in his 1972 book, Prophet of Destiny.¹ Noorbergen, who previously published books extolling psychics Jeanne Dixon, David Bubar, and Nostradamus, writes:

Ellen White Wrote: 'Whatever disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system lessens the strength of the vital powers, and the result is a deadening of the sensibilities of the mind.' ... It was in the year 1929 that Hans Berger, a German psychiatrist, first published a series of irregular curved lines... It was not until five years after Berger first announced his discovery that Charles Mayo, M.D. of the Mayo Clinic, first supported his discovery. Now we know that 'the little wavy lines reveal the activity of the micro-electrical generators within our nervous systems. These wonderful waves exist in the human body, and are the vital-force of the heart and the nerves.'²

Noorbergen and others have suggested that Mrs. White's references to electrical activity in the nervous system was not understood by scientists until 15 to 20 years after her death when scientists made the discovery. Is it true that Mrs. White was years ahead of science about electrical activity in the human nervous system?

White was actually warning against Masturbation!

Noorbergen fails to mention that Mrs. White's statement was a testimony written in 1870 warning about the dangers of masturbation. Here is the entire statement:

Some who make a high profession do not understand the sin of self-abuse and its sure results. Long-established habit has blinded their understanding. They do not realize the exceeding sinfulness of this degrading sin, which is enervating the system and destroying their brain nerve power. Moral principle is exceedingly weak when it conflicts with established habit. Solemn messages from heaven cannot forcibly impress the heart that is not fortified against the indulgence of this degrading vice. The sensitive nerves of the brain have lost their healthy tone by morbid excitation to gratify an unnatural desire for sensual indulgence. The brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man and affect his inmost life. Whatever disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system lessens the strength of the vital powers, and the result is a deadening of the sensibilities of the mind. In consideration of these facts, how important that ministers and people who profess godliness should stand forth clear and untainted from this soul-debasing vice!³

The BIG LIE

Noorbergen may have been a great cheer-leader for Ellen White, but his writings were not based in historical facts. The concept of "electric currents in the nervous system" was not ahead of medical science in 1870. It was a well-established scientific idea, though the precise mechanism was still being investigated.

Ellen White's phrasing on electricity in nerves reflected the contemporary and scientifically mainstream understanding of nerve function at the time, which had been developing for nearly a century.

18th-Century Discovery: The discovery of "animal electricity" in nerve conduction was made by Luigi Galvani in the 1780s.

Mid-19th-Century Confirmation: By the mid-1800s, this idea was definitively proven and quantified:

In the 1840s, scientists like Emil du Bois-Reymond and Carlo Matteucci demonstrated that nerve fibers transmitted measurable electrical signals.
In 1850, Hermann von Helmholtz successfully measured the speed of the nerve impulse, which he confirmed was a slow-traveling electrical phenomenon.

The same year Mrs. White published her statement, 1870, was a landmark year in neuroscience. Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig published their famous work showing that electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex of a dog produced movements. This decisively confirmed electrical activity in the nervous system.

Mrs. White was merely repeating what was already well-known in the scientific world. However, Mrs. White's theory that masturbation could "disturb the circulation" of these currents, resulting in a deadening of the mind is totally false. Mrs. White borrowed a verified scientific concept (electrical nerve transmission) to support an unfounded moralistic theory that was soon to be entirely discredited. The concept of "electric currents" and "vital powers" being lessened or depleted is a relic of 19th-century theories like "nervous fluid depletion" or "masturbatory insanity." These have been proven false by science.

Sexual activity, including masturbation, temporarily engages the sympathetic nervous system and is then followed by a parasympathetic response that promotes relaxation. Masturbation is considered a normal, healthy, and safe sexual practice with no documented harmful physical or mental side effects. Rather than "destroying brain nerve power" or "enervating the system," it triggers the release of hormones that are beneficial for mood, relaxation, and stress reduction.

Ellen White Copied the Idea from L.B. Coles!

L.B. Coles was a former Millerite physician who wrote a book on health reform entitled, Philosophy of Health. He published it in 1853, ten years prior to Mrs. White's first major health reform vision. On page 4 of the book, he expounds upon man's "circulation of his electric forces in the brain and nerves." In this book, Coles wrote extensively on the subjects of vital energy and electrical curruent in the nervous system. For example,

Sensation and voluntary motion are not only dependent on a right electric circulation, but also those functions which involve involuntary action. ... No vital function can be properly carried on, without a right performance of the electric forces. In view of these facts, great pains should be taken, by those who care for health, to preserve the nervous system in a perfectly healthy state. Everything which tends to impair its tone, impairs the tone of the vital forces of every function of the body. And not only are these physical functions injured, but the mental forces also...⁴

It has been discovered that Ellen White copied many of her health reforms from Coles. An analysis of Ellen White's testimony cited by Noorbergen shows striking similarities to concepts that Coles published 17 years earlier:

Ellen White, Testimonies Vol. 2, Page 347 1870	L.B. Coles, Philosophy of Health 1853
The sensitive nerves of the brain have lost their healthy tone by morbid excitation... Whatever disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system lessens the strength of the vital powers, and the result is a deadening of the sensibilities of the mind.	Excitants of all kinds...disturb the electrical currents of the nervous system. Electricity is constantly circulating in the nerves of the whole body; and on the healthy condition of this circulating substance depends...the vigorous and healthful state of the whole body... A disturbed state of the electric circulation is...tending toward ill health... (p. 221)
...to gratify an unnatural desire for sensual indulgence. ...disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system...	...indulgence of unnatural appetites disturbs the balance which the Creator originally gave to the organs of the brain. (p. 227)
...self-abuse...is enervating the system and destroying their brain nerve power. ...disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system lessens the strength of the vital powers...	[Self-indulgence is] wasting away the vital energies, by the excessive and unnatural draft which it makes on the electric forces of the brain and nerves. (p. 127)
The brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man and affect his inmost life.	How can he know the seat and circulation of his electric forces in the brain and nerves, which form the bond of union between his soul and body? (p. 4)
Whatever disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system lessens the strength of the vital powers, and the result is a deadening of the sensibilities of the mind.	[the mind's] vigor and activity depend much upon the healthy condition of the vital forces. Whatever, therefore, depresses these, depresses the forces of the soul. (p. 252)

Galvani Discovers Electricity in Nerves

The scientist credited with discovering electrical activity in the nerves was Luis Galvani, a professor of the University of Bologna in Italy. He had been the first to provide evidence for the electrical nature of nerve conduction. In 1791, after completing a series of experiments, Galvani "grew convinced that the vital spirit was electricity flowing through the nerves and announced this to the Bologna Academy of Science in 1791."⁵ Later on, in the 1840s, a German scientist named Emil Du Bois-Reymond "went on to show that when a nerve was stimulated, an impulse traveled along it. He measured the impulse electrically..."⁶

Whether or not Mrs. White was aware of these scientific discoveries is unknown. However, the idea that electricity was running through the human nervous system was not only taught by L.B. Coles, but was promoted by other popular health reformers who believed in the concept of "vital force".⁷

John Wesley and Electricity

Another possible source for Mrs. White's understanding of electricity's role in the human body was John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church of which Mrs. White was a member during her early years. In his personal journal on January 4, 1768, John Wesley wrote how he had recently read a book on electricity by a Dr. Priestly...

He seems to have accurately collected and well digested all that is known on that curious subject. But how little is that all! Indeed the use of it we know; at least, in some good degree. We know it is a thousand medicines in one: in particular, that it is the most efficacious medicine in nervous disorders of every kind which has ever yet been discovered.⁸

John Wesley, along with Richard Lovett and other natural healers, began practicing electropathy for the healing of various conditions. Wesley called electricity "a thousand medicines in one, especially for nervous disorders" and "the greatest medicine yet known to the world."⁹

Conclusion

The idea that Ellen White was years ahead of science in saying there was electrical activity in the nervous system is a myth. Scientists had already discovered electrical activity in the body by the late 1700s, and further studies in the 1840s confirmed these findings. These findings were published long before Ellen White wrote any statement about electricity in the body. Besides this, natural healers, such as John Wesley, recognized the connection between electricity and the nerves and were using electricity to treat various nervous conditions prior to Ellen White's birth. L.B. Coles wrote extensively about electrical currents in the nervous system in 1853, a full decade before Ellen White's health reform vision. Since Ellen White drew heavily upon the writings of Coles and other health reformers when writing her own reforms, it would appear she received her information on electricity from these resources rather from divine inspiration or heavenly communications from angels.

The assertion that Ellen White was "years ahead of science" on this subject is a BIG LIE.