MISSIOLOGICAL ROOTS of ADVENTIST HIGHER Education and THE

THE MISSIOLOGICAL ROOTS oF ADVENTIST HIGHER educaTION AND THE

ONGOINGBattle Creek College TENSION BETWEEN ADVENTIST MISSION AND ACADEMIC VISION By George R. Knight

The birth of Seventh-day Adventist t was no accident that higher education [was] filled with tension our present circumstances. But the establishment of we can do it if the Lord bless Adventism’s first col- between the missiological/theological our effort in the establishment of lege and the sending goals of the ecclesiastical leaders who our proposed school. . . . Men of of its first official for- founded it and the academics who other nationalities desire to be in- eign missionary took structed concerning” the Second place in the same year operated it. Both had something valuable Advent.1 (1874). After all, the to contribute. In a similar vein, General Con- founders of the col- ference president George I. Butler lege had been quite clear in noted just before the opening of stating their goals. For them, the college that the denomination would the college was seen as a nec- soon need hundreds of its members ed- essary institution for the ucated for mission service.2 There was training of missionaries for absolutely no doubt in the minds of the both the homeland and over- founders of Battle Creek College that seas. their educational institution was to have a missiological focus. Born in Tension But then there were the teachers. Even Thus, J. N. Andrews could more basic yet was the question of where write in 1873 that “the calls the budding denomination could even that come from every quarter, find faculty. Fortunately, they had at least from men speaking other one university graduate in their midst. languages, must be answered Sidney Brownsberger had graduated from J. N. Andrews George I. Butler by us. We cannot do this in the classical-studies program of the Uni-

20 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae versity of Michigan in 1869 place in the school’s offer- may have been an excellent academic, and would be awarded an ings. In fact, there were no but under his leadership, things went M.A. by the same institu- regular religion courses, from bad to worse. The institution closed tion in 1875.3 Given the let alone required ones. for the 1882-1883 school year with no needs of the church and While it’s true that Uriah certainty that it would reopen. Brownsberger’s education Smith hobbled over on It is into the mess of the McLearn lead- and dedication to Adven- his one real leg to provide ership that Ellen White waded with a tism, he was the obvious some dusty elective lec- testimony entitled “Our College,” a paper choice to head up the new tures on Bible prophecy, it read in College Hall in December 1881 college. appears that he didn’t have before the ecclesiastical and educational There was only one a large number of takers. leaders of the denomination. drawback to his appoint- The college catalogues “There is,” she stated emphatically, ment. While he excelled in advertised that “there is “danger that our college will be turned Sidney Brownsberger academics, Brownsberger nothing in the courses of away from its original design. . . . For one had next to no understand- study, or in the rules and or two years past, there has been an effort ing of how to implement the goals of the practice of discipline, that is in the least to mold our school after other colleges. founders. At a meeting of the board, the denominational or sectarian. The biblical . . . To give students a knowledge of new president confessed that he did “not lectures are before a class of only those books merely is not the purpose of the in- know anything about the conducting of who attend them from choice.”5 Again, stitution. Such education can be obtained such a school.” Apparently no one else “the managers of this College have no at any college in the land. . . . If a worldly did either, so W. C. White (Brownberger’s disposition to urge upon students sec- influence is to bear sway in our school, roommate at the time) recalled, “it was tarian views, or to give such views any then sell it out to worldlings and let them agreed that the work of the school prominence in their school work.”6 take the entire control; and those who should be organized on the ordinary have invested their means in that institu- lines” and that adjustments be made uch was the birth of Seventh- tion will establish another school, to be later.4 day Adventist higher educa- conducted, not upon the plan of popular The young educational leader did what tion. It was a birth filled with schools, nor according to the desires of he knew best. The school that he devel- tension between the missio- principal and teachers, but upon the plan S 8 oped in the mid-1870s had as its cur- logical/theological goals of the ecclesi- which God has specified.” ricular core a traditional liberal arts prep astical leaders who founded it and the Ellen White’s rousing thrust left no one school and a collegiate course focusing academics who operated it. Both had in doubt about the disaster of having put on Latin, Greek, and the “heathen clas- something valuable to contribute. “the moral and religious influences . . . in sics” even though most of the students To put it bluntly, Adventist higher educa- the background.” She called in no uncer- were not qualified to enter that elite tion was born in tension. That tension did tain terms for the centrality of the Bible track. not end with the beginnings of the sys- and its worldview.9 Bible study and religion found scant tem. We still have it today. I will argue in With such a raft of pronouncements, the balance of this article that the tension one might surmise that she desired for is not only an ongoing reality but one of Adventists to develop a Bible college or crucial necessity. Without it, Adventist a Bible institute. Such a call, had it been higher education would drift toward one implemented, would have eliminated the or the other of two unhealthy extremes. tension between mission and academic vision and set Adventism’s higher schools Bible College or Liberal Arts on a certain course toward one extreme Institution? of a bipolar dynamic. Those thoughts bring us to the next But such was not Ellen White’s vision. major round of events in the tension be- In her second sentence, she plainly stated tween Adventist mission and academic that “God’s purpose has been made vision. Brownsberger resigned in 1881 known, that our people should have an and was replaced by Alexander McLearn, opportunity to study the sciences and at the who arrived at Battle Creek with the ad- same time to learn the requirements of His vantage of having an exalted Doctor of word.” By sciences, she meant what we Divinity degree but the disadvantage of call the arts and sciences. The overall either not being an Adventist or of being thrust of her remarks was that the de- a recent convert.7 Brownsberger may not nomination’s young people should not have understood the needs of a genu- “merely” study books, but do so in the inely Adventist education, but McLearn context of the biblical worldview.10 Ellen G. White didn’t even understand Adventism. He It is of the utmost importance to recog-

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 21 nize that Ellen White at that crucial It is of the utmost importance The remarkable outcome of juncture of our history steered the to recognize that Ellen White at that controversy is that Ellen denomination away from the Bible White opted for a precarious bal- college model of higher education that crucial juncture of our history ance in higher education rather and toward what we could call a steered the denomination away than a more comfortable polar Christian liberal arts approach. extreme. With that stand, she She also supported the liberal from the Bible college model of helped position the denomina- arts orientation later in the 1880s in higher education and toward what tion’s system of higher education the curricular struggles of recently we could call a Christian liberal arts for ongoing tension, but she also founded South Lancaster Academy. helped ensure its relevance in the There S. N. Haskell, the confer- approach. professional marketplace of the ence president and board chair, 20th and 21st centuries. Without sought to steer the institution toward a nation in 1888 for further study at Har- that positioning, Adventist higher educa- Bible college design against the wishes vard.11 tion would have been pushed toward of Principal Charles increasing irrelevance, except Ramsey, who argued perhaps for the training of for a broader perspec- clergy, in the increasingly rig- tive. Once again, Ellen orous professional atmosphere White sympathized of the first half of the 20th with the broader per- century. spective, even though she feared Ramsey From One Extreme to the didn’t understand the Other proper balance between The third round in the academic and religious tension-filled struggle be- knowledge. And he tween Adventist mission and didn’t. An early casualty academic vision was stimu- of the struggle between lated by events related to the academic vision and momentous 1888 General Adventist mission, he S. N. Haskell W. W. Prescott Conference session at Min- departed the denomi- neapolis. Those meetings, with their emphasis on Christ’s righteousness and the need for more in- tensive Bible study by the denomination’s clergy,12 led to a series of field schools for ministers in the late 1880s and early 1890s.

hose meetings, in turn, led W. W. Prescott, who was simul- taneously president of Battle T Creek College, Union Col- lege, and Walla Walla College, and head of the Seventh-day Adventist Educational Association in the early 1890s, to call a similar convention for Adventism’s educators at Harbor Springs, Michigan, during July and August 1891. This produced a major turning point in the development of Adventist higher education. W. C. White described the meetings in terms of spiritual revival, stressing the emphasis on spontaneous personal testimonies. He noted that each day began with A. T. Jones’ expositions of the Book of Ro- Teachers and students of the Washington Foreign Mission Seminary (Ta- mans. Ellen White also spoke on such koma Park, Maryland), sometime between 1905 and 1913. topics as the necessity of a personal rela-

22 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae tionship with Christ, have ever known him The Christocentric revival the need for a spiri- to do before,” publicly tual revival among the stating that “‘the colin the church’s theology educators attending lege is dead,’” “‘liberal had led to spiritual revival the convention, and education is dead,’” the centrality of the “‘religious liberty is in its educational program Christian message to dead.’”19 accompanied by a clearer education.13 On the other hand, vision of its purpose. Prescott asserted Prescott noted happily at the 1893 General that the students had lowing the lead of the recently organized Conference session reacted positively. But Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign that Harbor Springs this response did not Missions, American Protestants were had marked the turn- come without a strug- spearheading in the 1890s a move for ing point in Adventist gle. Wilmott Poole, for “the evangelization of the world in this education.14 Before example, wrote to his generation,” which brought about the Harbor Springs, the parents that many of greatest expansion of missions in Ameri- 23 teaching of Bible had Frederick Griggs the classical scholars can history. The foremost educational held a minor place in were all broken up outcome of that mission thrust was the Adventist education. But the convention adopted a recommendation calling for four years of Bible study for students in Adventist colleges.15 The convention also recommended the teaching of history from the perspective of the biblical worldview. The Christocentric revival in the church’s theology had led to spiritual revival in its educational program accompanied by a clearer vision of its purpose. As a direct result, noted Prescott, “during the last two years there has been more growth in the educational work than in the seventeen years preceding that time.”16 Much had been accomplished by early 1893, but much remained to be done. From Harbor Springs, Ellen White Early photo of teachers and students at Avondale College (Cooranbong, went to Australia, where she gave much Australia), which opened in 1897. thought to education. Her recommenda- tions led Prescott to attempt even more far-reaching curricular reforms at Battle about the decision but had declared their rise of the missionary college and Bible Creek College in late 1893. In particular, resignation to the will of God.20 institute movement among American the reforms would displace the domi- Prescott planned to test the new cur- evangelicals.24 nance of the classics in the curriculum ricular approach at Battle Creek and and uplift its Christian aspects.17 then, using his position as leader of the dventism would follow As might be expected, certain elements Educational Association and two other the lead of the evangeli- among the faculty objected, especially, colleges, urge its adoption by other Ad- cals. The 1890s proved Prescott (a Dartmouth graduate him- ventist institutions.21 to be its most dynamic self) pointed out, those who had “ob- “I believe,” Prescott wrote to the Gen- decade in the expansion of its missions tained their education in other colleges, eral Conference president, “this move and its educational system.25 And it is conducted after the worldly plan.”18 A will mark the beginning of such changes probably no accident that within a few month later, Prescott described the meet- in our general school work, as will make years, Adventism would begin to call ing at which the faculty were told that it much more efficient in preparing many of its collegiate institutions mis- the college board had decided to move those who wish to go out to spread the sionary colleges, giving them names like forward with the reforms: “Prof. Hartwell truth.”22 Emmanuel Missionary College, Washing- made a worse spectacle of himself than I On that point he hit a live issue. Fol- ton Missionary College, and the College

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 23 of Medical Evange- And a mighty shift be educated, and to be educated we must lists. it was. Ellen White study.”32 In 1907 he noted that Adven- One of the most spoke in no uncertain tism had “a dearth of well-educated men remarkable aspects terms of Avondale and women—those who can edit our of the Prescott-driven establishing a pattern papers, man our training-schools and our curricular reform era for other schools to intermediate schools, who can present was Ellen White’s follow.29 But this nec- the message to the most highly educated moderate counsel. essary course correc- classes of the world.”33 The extremists could tion could be taken to Griggs saw a balanced education as an easily have urged the extremes. investment in which educational attain- schools away from And so it was by ment dramatically increased an individu- the academic classi- Edward Alexander al’s worth.34 Quality education for Griggs, cal extreme toward Sutherland, Percy T. of course, included service to God and its polar opposite (as Magan, and the other others. some would in 1897 radicals who took over During Griggs tenure, academic vision and thereafter). Percy T. Magan Battle Creek College in achieved a renaissance. It is no accident General Conference the late 1890s. They that the first Adventists to earn Ph.D.’s, President O. A. Olsen, totally eradicated the B. G. Wilkinson from George Washing- who was visiting Australia during the classics, developed a curriculum that ton University in 1908 and M. E. Olsen reform initiative, questioned Ellen White was nearly all reli- from the University of about the traditional curriculum. He re- gion, advocated the Michigan in 1909, did ported to Prescott that she had said that Bible as the only so in the Griggs era the light that she had on the topic was textbook, plowed up of educational leader- that they should not ignore “‘the regular the school’s playing ship.35 lines of education, but that they should field for the planting But even Griggs make the Bible paramount [sic].’” Her of potatoes, devel- worried about achiev- advice to students: “‘Climb just as high oped a wide variety ing a balance between as you please in educational lines, if it of mission activities, academic vision and be only balanced by the highest wisdom and stopped offering Adventist mission. In that men can attain from the word of academic degrees. By his keynote address God.’”26 1901, when Battle to the 1910 General Creek College moved Conference educa- he set forth Moses, Daniel, to Berrien Springs tional convention, he and Paul, who had had for even more radical noted that “the pen- both higher education and reforms, the school dulum has been Sreligious understanding, was teetering off the Edward Alexander Sutherland swinging, is swinging. as examples to be emulated. One reason right edge of the Bible But now we must se- that “Paul was such a power” was that college/mission insti- riously ask ourselves “he had knowledge that could match” tute extreme of North American higher if there is not danger of its swinging too that of the “greatest scholars” combined education.30 This did eradicate the ten- far, and of again measuring our work and with a knowledge of Christ.27 sion for a while. Adventist mission had of setting our standards by those of the As in the 1880s, Ellen White was at become everything and the academic vi- world.”36 the forefront, calling for an education sion nothing. Griggs was a moderate voice in Ad- that ensured a balance between Adventist ventist education in the early 20th cen- mission and academic vision. But, as we Back to Balance tury. During his tenure, academic vision shall see, not all of her readers under- But tensions in higher education have had been recovered and the granting stood that nuanced balance. a difficult time staying dead for very of academic degrees in such places as The momentum from Harbor Springs long. That brings us to the fourth round Emmanuel Missionary College (EMC) and its aftermath continued through the of the tension, with the entrance of Fred- restored. But the extremists were still on 1890s in the founding of the Avondale erick Griggs, who chaired the General the loose. In 1915, for example, Suther- School for Christian Workers in Australia Conference Department of Education land wrote in his Studies in Christian under the guidance of Ellen White and from 1904-1910 and 1915-1918. Griggs Education that the granting of academic other reformers.28 The Avondale experi- was a moderate who agreed with Suther- degrees would eventually be nothing less ence was a major shift away from the land and Magan on the goals of Advent- than “a seal or a mark of the beast.”37 In domination of the classics found in most ist education but who decried their one- the late 1910s, reactionary forces gained American institutions and toward Ad- sided means of achieving it.31 Griggs’ the upper hand, unseating Griggs and ventist mission. motto was that “to be educators we must exiling him to Berrien Springs, where his

24 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae presidency marked EMC’s “golden age.”38 sanitariums will en- 1920s, when schools Meanwhile, the reactionary Warren E. tertain the idea that sending students to Howell, as secretary of the General Con- they must get in line the College of Medical ference educational department, gave his with the world, study Evangelists needed commanding voice to the denomination’s the things which the only junior college schools and colleges during the explosive world studies, and accreditation, which 1920s.39 become familiar with could readily be ac- the things that the quired. But by 1928, The Innate Tension in Professional- world becomes famil- it was evident that izing iar with. This is one of they would have to be In the early 1920s, Adventism saw a the greatest mistakes accredited as senior new round of attacks on the academic that could be made.”42 colleges. That require- vision. Those with Ph.D.’s, such as M. E. The accreditation ment proved trouble- Olsen, came under suspicion and even at struggle would domi- some for many rea- times lost their jobs. That is one reason nate Adventist higher sons, but the central Olsen found time to write the first sub- education for 20 threat was that college stantial history of Adventism—Origin and years, but the hard teachers would need Progress of Seventh-day Adventists (1925). fact was careers were Warren E. Howell graduate degrees that changing and, with could be earned only The Avondale experience them, professional education. Such areas at “pagan” institutions. Some feared the was a major shift away as teaching, nursing, and medicine were entire system would be corrupted by pro- by the 1920s requiring professional certi- fessors who brought their ideas back into from the domination of fications undreamed of in the 1890s. The Adventism’s colleges. the classics found in most new shape of professionalism would in- Solving the problem became a major creasingly challenge Adventism. The de- item on the Adventist agenda. In 1928, American institutions and nomination’s educational and ecclesiasti- the GC Annual Council established the toward Adventist mission. cal leaders would once again be forced to Board of Regents as a denominational ac- examine the tension between academic crediting association. The church hoped During those years, even working to- vision and Adventist mission. that the regional accrediting bodies ward an M.A. degree was frowned upon. The problem wasn’t acute in the early would accept the Board of Regents’ ac- H. A. Morrison, president of Union Col- creditation, thereby enabling Adventist lege, raised the ire of leaders supporting colleges to avoid “contamination.” Howell’s policies when he encouraged This proved to be wishful thinking. some of his teachers to earn Master’s Some educational leaders had known this degrees. As a result, when M. L. An- all along. Chief in that crowd was P. T. dreasen requested permission to study Magan, who had moved away from his at the University of Nebraska, Morrison responded: “I can’t give you permission to go, but you may go without my permission, with the understanding that you quit when it is found out.”40 Mountain to ocean vistas at Helder- berg College (South Africa). eedless to say, Howell and those of like mind at the General Conference N opposed the accreditation of Adventist institutions. They were more than happy to use Ellen White quotations to push their point. Two of their favorites were “let us determine that we will not be tied by so much as a thread to the educational policies of those who do not discern the voice of God and who will not hearken to His commandments”41 and “there is constant danger among our people that those Fountain (which doubles as a baptismal font) at University of Eastern Africa, who engage in labor in our schools and Baraton (Eldoret, Kenya).

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 25 Howell and those of sionals to serve the modern world. With- the worldly influence and dictation is a out Ellen White’s clear counsel, Adventist tremendous disappointment.”48 like mind at the General colleges would probably not have offered By 1931, when Sutherland came out Conference opposed the training adequate for professionals in the in the open on the topic, the problem accreditation of Adventist 20th century. had become well recognized. In fact, the 1931 Autumn Council voted to allow institutions. ut those alternatives were Adventist colleges to secure regional ac- not always immediately ap- creditation. But despite this authoriza- earlier extremes and was dean and would parent to those facing the tion, many church leaders continued to later become president of the College of Baccreditation controversy. oppose the idea. William G. White noted Medical Evangelists, as well as several of One of Magan’s first converts was E. A. that “the 1931 Council decision did the college presidents. They had state- Sutherland, the antidegree champion not solve the problem, but was only the ments from Ellen White that logically led of the 1890s and Magan’s colleague in opening salvo of a five-year war of words to nothing but accreditation even though the radical reforms at Battle Creek and as the pros and cons of regional accredi- she warned of the dangers involved. The Madison colleges. As early as 1923, tation were debated by church adminis- basis for their stand went back to 1910 Sutherland, convinced by Magan of the trators and educators.”49 when the denomination had to decide seriousness of the problem, began quietly A major setback for the accreditation what type of medical education to offer sending some of his teachers to recog- forces came in October 1935 when W. at Loma Linda, and church leaders had nized institutions for advanced degrees, H. Branson delivered the report of the placed the matter before Ellen White.43 so that Madison could meet the rising Survey Commission on Accreditation to She replied unequivocally that the standards of professional education.46 the GC Autumn Council. Branson closed school must “provide that which is es- Sutherland’s maneuvers did not be- his report by noting that “we are ready to admit that in our action of four years ago we went too far.”50 As a result of his speech and the ensuing discussion, the delegates decided to minimize the danger by accrediting only two senior colleges. However, the 1936 General Conference session reversed that decision. By 1945, all six of the North American senior colleges at the center of the controversy had obtained accreditation.51 But the denomination was still faced with the problem of educating faculty so as to preserve the primacy of Adventist mission. “Let’s train our own” had been the earliest line of thought. Thus in the early 20th century, a few Master’s degrees were offered by Pacific Union College, Union College, and Emmanuel Mission- ary College.52 But that approach soon dissipated. More permanent in nature was the Advanced Bible School (ABS), Good Samaritan statues at Loma Linda University (Loma Linda, California). inaugurated at Pacific Union College in 1934. It was hoped that this institution could offer advanced degrees to Bible sential to qualify our youth who desire to come public until 1931,47 but when teachers and thus preserve the Adventist be physicians.”44 In addition, Mrs. White they did, there was quite a reaction. For perspective for that crucial group of the indicated that Adventist colleges must of- example, Otto J. Graf, one of the presi- faculty. The ABS would eventually evolve fer a preparatory education that brought dents who followed Sutherland at Em- into the Seventh-day Adventist Theologi- students to the necessary “point of liter- manuel Missionary College, sounded a cal Seminary at Andrews University.53 ary and scientific training” to “meet the note of anguish and surprise. “Now my The Advanced Bible School, of course, entrance requirements specified by state brother,” he wrote, “years ago we looked didn’t solve the educational needs of laws.”45 upon you and your school as bulwarks most faculty. As a result, boards sought Those statements would eventually against things worldly, and now to find mature, experienced, “safe” faculty who provide the support for Adventist col- you leading out in this matter of subject- could be sent to non-Adventist institu- leges’ preparing a broad range of profes- ing ou[r] school system unnecessarily to tions for advanced study, hoping that the

26 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae impact on that select group would be two appeared to be in a state of construc- able colleges and universities, some of minimal. And up through the late 1950s, tive balance. But then came the 1960s them even offering fully accredited doc- that plan seemed to be working fairly and new challenges to the ongoing ten- toral degrees. But the question of achiev- well. sion. ing balance was still an issue. The de- Meanwhile, the denomination contin- nomination’s schools of higher education ued to grapple with the ongoing tension The Challenges of Maturity were obviously doing well academically. between Adventist mission and academic The dynamic 1960s saw unprece- But what about mission? One wonders, vision, but the dynamics between the dented growth in American higher for example, about the significance of education as a flood of baby a caution I received when addressing boomers entered its doors. the faculty of one Adventist institution Adventist higher education to avoid the word “Christian” lest I of- faced the same stresses and fend some of the practicing Islamics and strains as public education. Hindus on the faculty. And what are we With a Ph.D. now the ex- to think when a department removes the pected degree for college phrase “biblical perspective” from assign- teachers, the send-the-old ments originally formulated to reflect the safe-professors-off-for-ad- institution’s mission statement, because vanced-study approach col- the non-Christians among the students lapsed as a wave of young Ad- know little about the Bible? ventists enrolled in a variety of graduate schools. Nobody hat about Adventist knew what the results might mission? This ques- be. tion has repeatedly By the 1970s and 1980s, stimulated actions by House of Prayer, Spicer Memorial College W Adventist institutions had General Conference educational leaders. (Pune, India). joined the ranks of respect- One thinks of Charles Hirsch’s attempts

Educators from 16 countries attended the 37th International Faith and Learning Seminar (Institute for Christian Teach- ing) in February 2008 at Avondale College (Cooranbong, Australia).

http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 27 to give Adventist history and Ellen White 10. enth-day Adventist Educator and Administrator. Ph.D. studies a more prominent place in the 6. Ibid., 1879-1880, p. 6. dissertation, Andrews University, 1984. 7. Emmett K. Vande Vere, The Wisdom Seekers 32. Frederick Griggs, “Teachers an Example,” Re- curriculum (1970s), the massive ener- (Nashville: Southern Publ. Assn., 1972), p. 42. view and Herald (December 8, 1904), p. 20. gies and expenses dedicated to bringing 8. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church 33. ______, “Educated Missionaries,” Re- Adventist professors from around the (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., view and Herald (March 7, 1907), p. 22. world to participate in the integration of 1948), Vol. 5, pp. 21, 22, 25, 26 (italics supplied). 34. ______, “The Education of Our Chil- 9. Ibid., pp. 21, 22. faith and learning conferences initiated dren,” Review and Herald (March 21, 1906), p. 21. 10. Ibid., pp. 21, 22 (italics supplied). 35. While it is true that C. Moench came to by George Akers and Humberto Rasi 11. Myron F. Wehtje, And There Was Light: A His- Union College with a Ph.D. in modern languages in (1990s through the present), and the In- tory of South Lancaster Academy, Lancaster Junior Col- 1895-1896, he apparently earned it before joining ternational Conference on the Seventh- lege, and Atlantic Union College, vol. 1, 1882-1928 the church. See Everett Dick, Union: College of the (South Lancaster, Mass.: Atlantic Press, 1982), pp. day Adventist Philosophy of Education Golden Cords (Lincoln, Neb.: Union College Press, 74-84; White, Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 586-590; 1967), p. 348. (2001). “Record of Meetings of Stockholders of S. Lancaster 36. Frederick Griggs, “Our Times, Our Message, Today, there is little doubt about the Academy, 1883,” pp. 63-70. and Our Schools,” Convention of the Department of success of Adventist higher education in 12. See George R. Knight, Angry Saints: Tensions Education of the General Conference of Seventh-day the area of academics. The greater chal- and Possibilities in the Adventist Struggle Over Righ- Adventists (1910), p. 19. teousness by Faith (Washington, D.C.: Review and 37. E. A. Sutherland, Studies in Christian Educa- lenge is to maintain the vitality of Ad- Herald Publ. Assn., 1989), pp. 100-115. tion, reprint ed. (Payson, Ariz.: Leaves-of-Autumn ventist mission. 13. W. C. White to E. R. Jones, July 28, 1891. Books, n.d.), pp. 137, 138. The tension between the two, as we have 14. W. W. Prescott, “Report of the Educational 38. Vande Vere, Wisdom Seekers, p. 142. Secretary,” Daily Bulletin of the General Conference 39. John Francis Waters, Warren Eugene Howell: seen, had existed from the inception of the (February 23, 1893), p. 350. denomination’s tertiary institutions. And Seventh-day Adventist Educational Administrator, 15. Ibid. Ph.D. dissertation, Andrews University, 1988. while this tension has been and continues 16. Ibid., p. 357. 40. Dick, Union, p. 157. to be taxing at times, I believe that it is 17. W. W. Prescott to E. G. White (November 8, 41. Ellen G. White, Counsels to Parents, Teachers, absolutely necessary for the health of Ad- 1893). and Students Regarding Christian Education (Moun- 18. Ibid. tain View: Pacifi c Press Publ. Assn., 1943), p. 255. ventist colleges and universities. Without 19. W. W. Prescott to O. A. Olsen, December 8, 42. Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Christian 1893. it, there are only two options: the-dying- Education (Nashville: Southern Publ. Assn., 1923), 54 20. W. W. Prescott to E. G. White, December of-the-light syndrome in the absence of a p. 534. 8, 1893; Wilmott Poole to parents, December 16, distinctive Adventist emphasis; or a Bible 43. Dores Eugene Robinson, The Story of Our 1893. Health Message, 2d ed. (Nashville: Southern Publ. college program that would be inadequate 21. W. W. Prescott to O. A. Olsen, December 8, Assn., 1955), pp. 371-389. for 21st-century needs. While the tension 1893; W. W. Prescott to E. G. White, December 8, 44. Ellen G. White, letter reproduced in “A 1893. is always uncomfortable, the alternatives Medical School at Loma Linda,” Review and Herald 22. W. W. Prescott to O. A, Olsen, December 8, would be disastrous in fulﬁ lling the commis- (May 19, 1910), p. 18. 1893. 45. ______, Counsels to Teachers, pp. 479, sion envisioned by James and Ellen White in 23. John R. Mott, “Report of the Executive Com- 480. the founding of Battle Creek mittee,” in Student Mission Power: Report of the First 46. E. A. Sutherland to O. J. Graf, May 18, 1931. 0 International Convention of the Student Volunteer College. 47. [E. A. Sutherland], “Why Should Madison ______Movement for Foreign Missions, Held at Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., February 26, 27, 28 and March 1, 1891 Become a Senior College,” The Madison Survey George R. knight served (Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library, 1979), (January 7, 1931). the Seventh-day Adventist pp. 21-23; Ernest R. Sandeen, The Roots of Funda- 48. O. J. Graf to E. A. Sutherland, January 16, Church for 40 years as a pas- mentalism (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1978), p. 1931. Cf. Clifford G. Howell to E. A. Sutherland, tor, elementary and secondary 183; Sydney E., Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the March 18, 1932. American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univer- 49. William G. White, Jr., “Another Look at teacher, school administrator, Those Pioneers of Adventist Accreditation,” Focus and Professor of Philosophy of Education and Ad- sity Press, 1972), p. 864. 24. See Virginia Lieson Brereton, (Winter 1978), p. 11. ventist History at Andrews University in Berrien Training God’s Army: The American Bible School, 1880-1940 (Bloom- 50. W. H. Branson, “Our Presentation of the Springs, Michigan. He is the author of 30 books ington: Indiana University Press, 1990). Report of the Survey Commission on Education and writes from Rogue River, Oregon. 25. See George R. Knight, “The Dynamics of Regarding Accreditation,” speech delivered at Fall ______Educational Expansion,” Journal of Adventist Educa- Council, October 30, 1935. NOTES AND REFERENCES tion 52:4 (April-May 1990), pp. 13-19, 44, 45. 51. For the best and most extensive treatment 26. Ellen G. White in O. A., Olsen to W. W. of the accreditation struggle, see the unpublished 1. J. N. Andrews, “Our Proposed School,” Review Prescott, December 20, 1893. book manuscript by William G. White, Jr., entitled and Herald (April 1, 1873), p. 124. 27. Ibid. “New Times, New Measures, New Men: The Re- 2. George I. Butler, “What Use Shall We Make of 28. See Milton Hook, The Avondale School and gional Accreditation of Seventh-day Adventist Lib- Our School?” Review and Herald (July 21, 1874), Adventist Educational Goals, 1894-1900. Ed.D. dis- eral Arts Colleges, 1922-1945.” pp. 44, 45. sertation, Andrews University, 1978. 52. Walter C. Utt, A Mountain, A Pickax, A Col- 3. See Joseph G. Smoot, “Sidney Brownsberger: 29. See George R. Knight, Myths in Adventism, op lege (Angwin, Calif.: Alumni Assn. of Pacifi c Union Traditionalist,” in Early Adventist Educators, George cit., pp. 17-25. College, 1968), p. 70; Dick, Union, pp. 179, 180; R. Knight, ed. (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews 30. See Vande Vere, Wisdom Seekers, pages 95- Vande Vere, Wisdom Seekers, p. 157. University Press, 1983), pp. 72-94. 103. For the best study of Sutherland’s early career, 53. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, 2d. rev. 4. W. C. White, “Pioneer Pilots in Christian Edu- see Warren Sidney Ashworth, Edward Alexander ed. (1996), s.v. “Andrews University.” cation,” in Founders’ Golden Anniversary Bulletin of Sutherland and Seventh-day Adventist Educational 54. See James Tunstead Burtchaell, The Dying of Battle Creek College and Emmanuel Missionary Col- Reform, 1890-1904. Ph.D. dissertation, Andrews the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges and Universi- lege: 1874-1924, p. 29. University, 1986. ties From Their Christian Churches (Grand Rapids, 5. Battle Creek College Catalogue, 1876-1877, p. 31. See Arnold Colin Reye, Frederick Griggs: Sev- Mich.: Eerdmans, 1998).

28 The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2008 http://education.gc.adventist.org/jae