Book Review: J.N. Andrews: Mission Pioneer, Evangelist, and Thought Leader by Gilbert M. Valentine

J.N. Andrews: Mission Pioneer, Evangelist, and Thought Leader by Gilbert M. Valentine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While Joseph Bates, James and Ellen White were the founding triumvirate of what became the Seventh-day Adventist Church, it was the fourth person to join the inner circle of leadership that would systematize the emerging Sabbatarian Advent movement. Gilbert M. Valentine’s J.N. Andrews: Mission Pioneer, Evangelist, and Thought Leader is the first major biography of one of the early Adventism’s most important figures.

Valentine approached Andrews’ biography in a chronological fashion with a few chapters set aside dedicated to Andrews the Sabbath historian and Andrews the theologian. As the longest book within the Adventist Pioneer Series at over 720 pages, one might have assumed that there was a lot to learn of Andrews life, however as Valentine stated in his introduction this book would also focus on James and Ellen White’s leadership in the fledging Sabbatarian Adventist movement. While Valentine’s biographical narrative of Andrews life was very well-written, at times his decision to make this book a secondary biography of essentially James White would effectively sideline Andrews which ironically mirrored real-life events—whether this was intentional on Valentine’s part I can’t guess. The analysis of Andrews as Sabbath historian and theologian were highlights of the book especially the praise Andrews received from Seventh Day Baptists both during his lifetime and today.

The life and scholarship of John Nevins Andrews were not only important during the early history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church but as Gilbert M. Valentine was able to show significant even today.

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