J. N. Andrews-Mission Pioneer, Evangelist, and Thought Leader: A Review

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 7^th day Sabbath and he continued his relationship with 7^th 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.