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A Historical-Contextual Analysis of the Final-Generation Theology of M. L. Andreasen

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A Historical-Contextual Analysis of the Final-Generation Theology of M. L. Andreasen Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertations Graduate Research 2010 A Historical-Contextual Analysis of the Final-Generation Theology of M. L. Andreasen Paul M. Evans Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations Part of the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Evans, Paul M., "A Historical-Contextual Analysis of the Final-Generation Theology of M. L. Andreasen" (2010). Dissertations. 1725. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/1725 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT A HISTORICAL-CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE FINAL-GENERATION THEOLOGY OF M. L. ANDREASEN by Paul M. Evans Adviser: Jerry A. Moon ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH Dissertation Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Title: A HISTORICAL-CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE FINAL-GENERATION THEOLOGY OF M. L. ANDREASEN Name of researcher: Paul M. Evans Name and degree of faculty adviser: Jerry A. Moon, Ph.D. Date completed: July 2010 Topic This study analyzes the teaching of the early twentieth-century Seventh-day Adventist writer M. L. Andreasen regarding a final-generation perfection that vindicates God in the great controversy between good and evil, comparing Andreasen’s views with related concepts in the writings of previous Adventist writers. Purpose The study has the limited objective of attempting to trace possible antecedents for Andreasen’s final-generation theology in the writings of other Adventists, in order to determine the degree of uniqueness or variance in Andreasen’s views. By means of this historical-contextual analysis, relationships are clarified between Andreasen’s views and those of other prominent Adventist writers, such as Joseph Bates, Ellen White, J. N. Andrews, Uriah Smith, E. J. Waggoner, and A. T. Jones. Since non-Andreasen Adventist writings subsequent to Andreasen’s 1937 The Sanctuary Service are not examined, later reaction to Andreasen’s last-generation concepts is not addressed by this study. Further, an examination of the validity, or biblical foundation, of final-generation theology lies outside the scope of this work. Sources Andreasen’s published books and articles were examined for his final-generation views, which are stated most fully in the penultimate chapter of his 1937 The Sanctuary Service, entitled “The Last Generation.” The principal secondary source used was Dwight Eric Haynes’s M.A. thesis on Andreasen’s final-generation theology; Haynes’s categorization of Andreasenian motifs was adapted for the purposes of this study. The views of other, pre-1937 Adventist writers were researched primarily with the aid of digitized libraries; the two primary collections used were (1) the second edition of the Adventist Pioneer Library’s Words of the Pioneers and (2) version 3.0 of the Ellen G. White Estate’s The Complete Published Ellen G. White Writings. The Online Document Archives of the Office of Archives and Statistics of the General Conference of Seventh- day Adventists also made possible the location of a few key documents not found in the other collections. Conclusions This study found all of the basic components of Andreasen’s final-generation theology expressed by previous Adventist writers. In regard to complete overcoming of sin on the part of believers anticipating translation, a rather consistent correspondence was observed over the period investigated. Less agreement was seen regarding the relationship between an end-time blotting out of sins and an end-time maturation of the saints, with A. T. Jones and Andreasen seeing a clear connection, while Ellen White, significantly, refrained from explicitly joining these two end-time phenomena. With attention was turned to the relationship between the end-time overcoming of the saints and the vindication of God in His controversy with evil, much less correspondence was observed. While antecedents for this part of Andreasen’s theology seem implied in several passages from Ellen White, they become quite explicit in the writings of E. J. Waggoner. In the post-1888 years, Waggoner’s view of an end-time vindication of God based on the overcoming of His people, seems to have been spreading, as witnessed in the writings of W. W. Prescott, I. H. Evans, and Uriah Smith. The study concludes that while Andreasen did not invent the concepts on which his final-generation theology is based, he did craft them into an end-time scenario by which he links the end-time saints to the outcome of the cosmic controversy much more emphatically than does any previous Adventist writer. Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary A HISTORICAL-CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE FINAL-GENERATION THEOLOGY OF M. L. ANDREASEN A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Paul M. Evans July 2010 © Copyright by Paul M. Evans 2010 All Rights Reserved A HISTORICAL-CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE FINAL-GENERATION THEOLOGY OF M. L. ANDREASEN A dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy by Paul M. Evans APPROVAL BY THE COMMITTEE: Faculty Adviser, Director, Ph.D. in Religion/Th.D. Program Jerry A. Moon Rudi Maier Associate Professor of Church History Denis Fortin Dean, SDA Theological Seminary Professor of Theology Denis Fortin John K. McVay Professor of New Testament Studies Walla Walla University Darius W. Jankiewicz Associate Professor of Theology Roy Adams Date approved Associate Editor Adventist Review/Adventist World To Sung Oc, Michelle, and Erica iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................ ix Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................. 1 Background of the Problem .................................. 1 M. L. Andreasen ........................................ 2 Studies on Andreasen .................................... 2 Problem Addressed by the Research ............................ 5 Purpose of the Research ..................................... 6 Justification for the Research ................................. 6 Scope/Delimitations ........................................ 7 Methodology .............................................. 8 Word and Phrase Searches ................................... 11 Outline of the Study ........................................ 12 2. FOUNDATIONS FOR A FINAL-GENERATION THEOLOGY, 1846–1888 ................................................... 13 Introduction ............................................... 13 Crosier’s Understanding of the Day of Atonement Antitype .......... 14 Early Publishing Activities ................................ 14 The Day-Star Extra ...................................... 15 Spring Versus Autumn Types ........................... 15 Significance of the Day of Atonement ..................... 17 Cleansing of the sanctuary ........................... 17 Cleansing of the people ............................. 18 Joseph Bates’s View of the Cleansing of the Sanctuary ............. 20 The Voice of God and a Cleansed People ..................... 21 Complete Sanctification in Connection with the Sabbath ......... 22 The Sealing Process and the Cleansing of the Sanctuary .......... 24 Trial Before Sins Blotted Out ........................... 24 Perfecting of the Saints as a Preparation ................... 25 Ellen White’s Views of End-Time Events ........................ 29 Focus on the 144,000 in Her First Visions, 1844–1845 .......... 30 iv Early Sketches of Needed Preparation for the Time of Trouble, 1845–1849 ...................... 32 Blotting Out of Sins before Christ Leaves the Sanctuary ...... 33 Satan’s Efforts to Deceive .............................. 35 Focus on Preparing for the Time of Trouble, 1850–1857 ......... 37 Purified by Obedience to the Truth ....................... 39 Reflecting the Image of Jesus ........................... 40 Complete Victory over Sin ............................. 41 Confession of Sin and a Deep Experience .................. 42 Sealing Places beyond Satan’s Power ..................... 43 Satan’s Efforts to Prevent Sealing ........................ 44 The Great Controversy Vision, 1858 ......................... 45 Preparing for Translation, 1859–1868 ........................ 48 Without Blemish ..................................... 49 A Goal-Driven Process ................................ 52 Continuing Sense of Unworthiness ....................... 56 Delivered by the Voice of God .......................... 58 Expanded Views of the Great Controversy, 1869–1883 .......... 58 Character Perfection a Universal Requirement .............. 59 Needed Preparation for Translation ....................... 60 The Time and Extent of the Purifying Process .............. 62 A Final Work of Vindication ............................ 66 Developed Portrayal of the Time of Trouble (1884–1888) ........ 69 Spirit of Prophecy, Volume 4, 1884 ...................... 70 Other Writings from the Period, 1884–1888 ................ 76 The Great Controversy, 1888 ........................... 84 Other Pioneer Adventist Authors on End-time Events .............. 88 James White ...........................................
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