Gilbert Valentine, author of this new title in the Adventist
Pioneer series has spent 10 years researching and writing this more than 700-page
biography of John Nevins Andrews.
I am drawing a lot from the forward by George R. Knight who
is also the editor for this series of books on Adventist pioneers.
So what do you know about John
Nevins Andrews? Probably that he was the first foreign missionary officially
sponsored by Seventh-day Adventists, perhaps that his scholarly History of the Sabbath put him at the
forefront of the denomination’s early scholars, and maybe that Adventism’s
flagship educational institution (Andrews University) was named after this
hardworking individual who combined evangelistic mission with thorough
scholarship, thereby setting the ideal for Adventist Education,
But Andrews was much more than
that. Like most early Adventist leaders, he had to wear many hats, including
the presidency of the General Conference and the editorship of the Review and Herald. Valentine helps us
capture the man.
J. N. Andrews is considered one of the “Big 5” of early
Adventism. The other 4 have at least two well-researched biographies each. This
new book is the first for Andrews.
Valentine characterizes Andrews as James White’s
Melanchthon.
Just as the charismatic Martin
Luther led the way in the Reformation, and it was the scholarly Philipp
Melanchthon who systematized Luther’s thought, so it was that the dynamic and
inventive White had Andrews to work out the details and extensions of
Adventism’s developing theology and polity. Readers will discover that in
nearly every challenge in Adventism’s first twenty-five years, White requested
Andrews to study the topic from the Bible and write out his findings for the
church at large.
In many ways, the book is a history
of early Adventism from a new perspective. Central to that new perspective is
what I will call “texture.” And into that category fall such topics as what it
was like to be an Adventist in the turbulent years after Millerism’s Great
Disappointment and the extreme sacrifices experienced by early workers and
their families. I know of no more graphic treatment of those subjects than the
material in this book.
Valentine puts flesh and faces on
many of the pioneers who guided Adventism through its early decades and the
complex interaction between them. And to put it bluntly, it is sometimes a
messy picture.
George Knight concludes the foreword to this book with the
statement “I trust that reading
J. N.
Andrews will be a fascinating and profitable journey.”
For me it definitely was a “fascinating and profitable
journey.”
Here are a few of what I consider significant highlights in
John Nevins Andrews’ story; he:
·
experienced the Great Disappointment of 1844 as
a teenager
·
served two one-year terms as General Conference
President
·
was president of the New York State Conference
for nearly a decade
·
served as interim senior editor of the Review.
·
was elected a member of the General Conference
executive committee for many years and served on both the influential Publishing
House Executive Committee as well as other institutional boards.
·
was the first official Seventh-day Adventist
overseas missionary
·
kept up his friendship with the Seventh-day
Baptists who had introduced him to the biblical understanding of the importance
of the 7th day Sabbath and he continued his relationship with 7th
day Baptists throughout his life.
I hope you will read this book. As a starter click
here
and you can read the first chapter on line.
