When the “omega” of apostasy entered the Seventh-day Adventist church in the 1950’s, one man had the courage to give the trumpet a clear warning sound. That man was M.L. Andreasen (1876-1962), who served the church his whole lifetime as pastor, evangelist, teacher, theologian, and author.
The apostasy was crowned with a meeting of Adventist and Evangelical Protestant leaders, whereby the Adventists made changes to some of their core doctrines, in order to be seen as “brothers in Christ” with the Protestant evangelicals. These changes were publicized in a book called “Questions on Doctrine.”
Andreasen was alarmed, and after a futile attempt to protest to the leadership, he wrote a series of six studies in protest, which were eventually gathered and published by others as a single booklet. He correctly saw that the “foundation pillars” of Adventism were being destroyed, the church was being “sold down the river,” and the doctrine of Antichrist was being embraced. In his own words:
“This is more than apostasy. This is giving up Adventism. It is the rape of a whole people. It is denying God’s leading in the past.”
Because his protest was considered too damaging and critical to the church, his ministerial credentials were removed, which was heart-breaking to him. Shortly after he contracted an ulcer in his duodenum and was not strong enough to undergo surgery, and died less than a year after his credentials were revoked.
Although a biography of his life was written that downplayed his protest as unwarranted criticism, and tried to gloss over all the doctrinal changes, other Adventists saw the problems as well, and also raised a protest.
Another factor, which Andreasen did not deal with, was the agitation over the writings of Waggoner and Jones, also called the “1888 Message”. Because the changes of doctrine by the Adventist leaders involved a neglect and even rejection of that gospel message, it was more serious than many suppose. A more full treatment of the issues involved can be found in the book “The Destiny of a Movement”.
Although there was more to the issue than just change of doctrine, Andreasen’s parting work still speaks today. I have reformatted it for ease of reading. 117p
Updated Jan 2023: New ePDF formatting rules applied, new cover, some corrections, addition of “I have not recanted” letter.
Contents
- Letter 1: The Incarnation: Was Christ Exempt?
- Letter 2: Attempted Tampering
- Letter 3: Down-Grading Mrs White
- Letter 4: A Resume
- Letter 5: Why Not a Hearing?
- Letter 6: The Atonement
