|
William Samuel Sadler (June 24, 1875 – April 26, 1969) was an American surgeon, self-trained psychiatrist and author who helped publish ''The Urantia Book''. The book is said to have resulted from Sadler's relationship with a man through whom he believed celestial beings spoke at night. It drew a following of people who studied its teachings. A native of Indiana, Sadler moved to Michigan as a teenager to work at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. There he met the physician and health-food promoter John Harvey Kellogg, co-inventor of corn flakes breakfast cereal, who became his mentor. Sadler married Kellogg's niece, Lena Celestia Kellogg, in 1897. He worked for several Christian organizations and attended medical school, graduating in 1906. Sadler practiced medicine in Chicago with his wife, who was also a physician. He joined several medical associations and taught at the McCormick Theological Seminary. Although he was a committed member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for almost twenty years, he left the denomination after it disfellowshipped his wife's uncle in 1907. Sadler and his wife became speakers on the Chautauqua adult education circuit in 1907, and he became a highly paid, popular orator. He eventually wrote over 40 books on a variety of medical and spiritual topics advocating a holistic approach to health. Sadler extolled the value of prayer and religion but was skeptical of mediums, assisting debunker Howard Thurston, and embraced the scientific consensus on evolution. In 1910, Sadler went to Europe and studied psychiatry for a year under Sigmund Freud. Sometime between 1906 and 1911, Sadler attempted to treat a patient with an unusual sleep condition. While the patient was sleeping he spoke to Sadler and claimed to be an extraterrestrial. Sadler spent years observing the sleeping man in an effort to explain the phenomenon, and eventually decided the man had no mental illness and that his words were genuine. The man's identity was never publicized, but speculation has focused on Sadler's brother-in-law, Wilfred Kellogg. Over the course of several years, Sadler and his assistants visited the man while he slept, conversing with him about spirituality, history, and cosmology, and asking him questions. A larger number of interested people met at Sadler's home to discuss the man's responses and to suggest additional questions. The man's words were eventually published in ''The Urantia Book'', and the Urantia Foundation was created to assist Sadler in spreading the book's message. It is not known who wrote and edited the book, but several commentators have speculated that Sadler played a guiding role in its publication. Although it never became the basis of an organized religion, the book attracted followers who devoted themselves to its study, and the movement continued after Sadler's death. == Early life and education == Sadler was born June 24, 1875, in Spencer, Indiana, to Samuel Cavins Sadler and Sarah Isabelle Wilson. Of English and Irish descent, he was raised in Wabash, Indiana. Samuel did not enroll his son in public schools. Despite his lack of formal education, Sadler read many books about history as a child and became a skilled public speaker at a young age. Samuel was a convert to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and William was baptized into the denomination in 1888 and became devoutly religious. In 1889, William Sadler moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, to work at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where he served as a bellhop and helped in the kitchen. He also attended Battle Creek College for one year when he was 16. Both institutions had strong ties to his church and Sadler was mentored by local Adventist businessman John Harvey Kellogg, who heavily influenced Sadler's views. Sadler's early writings about health are similar to ideas advanced by John Kellogg, including the concept of autointoxication, and the idea that caffeine has negative health effects. He similarly condemned the consumption of tobacco, meat, and alcohol. Although Sadler did drink later in his life. Sadler graduated from Battle Creek College in 1894 and subsequently worked for John Kellogg's brother, William K. Kellogg as a health-food salesman. Sadler, a skilled salesman, persuaded William Kellogg to market his products through demonstrations in retail stores. In 1894, he oversaw the establishment of Life Boat Mission, a mission that Kellogg founded on State Street in Chicago. Sadler operated the mission and published ''Life Boat Magazine''; its sales were intended to provide funds for Kellogg's Chicago Medical Mission. Sadler also contributed articles to other Adventist publications, including the ''Review and Herald''. Around 1895, Sadler attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, where he trained to be an evangelist, ultimately becoming an ordained minister in 1901. In 1897, Sadler married John Kellogg's niece, Lena Celestia Kellogg, a nurse whom he had met four years previously. Their first child, William, called Willis, born in 1899, died a ten months later. Their second child, William S. Sadler Jr., was born in 1907. The couple had been interested in medicine for several years, but the loss of their child inspired them to pursue medical careers. In 1901, they moved to San Francisco to attend medical school at Cooper Medical College. In San Francisco, he served as the "superintendent of young people's work" for the church's California conference and the president of a local Medical Missionary society. The couple also operated a home for Christian medical students. In 1904, they returned to the Midwest, where they attended medical school, each earning a Doctor of Medicine degree two years later. Sadler was an early adopter of Freudian psychoanalysis, and believed that experiences individuals have as infants play a key role in their minds as adults, although he did not accept many of Freud's ideas about sexuality or religion. Although Sadler was a committed Adventist for much of his early life, he stayed less involved after John Kellogg was excommunicated in 1907 in the wake of a conflict with Ellen G. White, the church's founder. The Sadlers became disenchanted with the church and subsequently criticized it. Sadler rejected some Adventist teachings, such as White's status as a prophetess and the importance of Saturday as Sabbath. He retained a positive view of White and rejected allegations that she was a charlatan. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William S. Sadler」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|