The 1919 Bible Conference and its Significance for Seventh-day Adventist History and Theology

311 Pages·2017·1.11 MB·English

by  Michael W. Campbell

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Dissertations Graduate Research
2008
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Michael W. Campbell
Andrews University
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ABSTRACT
THE1919 BIBLE CONFERENCE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
FOR SEVENTH-DAYADVENTIST
HISTORY ANDTHEOLOGY
by
Michael W. Campbell
Adviser: Jerry Moon
ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE RESEARCH
Dissertation
Andrews University
Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary
Title: THE 1919 BIBLE CONFERENCE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST HISTORY AND THEOLOGY
Name of researcher: Michael W. Campbell
Name and degree of faculty adviser: Jerry Moon, Ph.D.
Date completed: June 2008
The Topic
The 1919 Bible Conference was held immediately after World War I during a
heightened interest in the apocalyptic and soon after the death of Ellen White. Patterned
after the Fundamentalist prophetic conferences of 1918 and 1919, it was arguablythe first
“scholarly” conference held by Seventh-day Adventists. Duringa theologically turbulent
time, Adventists found the emerging Fundamentalist movement attractive for its biblicist
theology, its opposition to modernism and evolution, and the apparent popular appeal of
its prophetic conferences.
The Purpose
The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the significance of the 1919 Bible
Conference for Seventh-day Adventist history and theology.
The Sources
This was a documentary study based on published and unpublished sources, most
of which wereproduced by Seventh-day Adventists between 1910 and 1922. The most
heavily used primary source was the collection of original transcripts of the 1919 Bible
Conference. Although these transcripts are not entirely complete, they are extensive.
These transcripts weresupplemented by other primary sources that included periodicals,
correspondence, and other archival materials.
Conclusions
The 1919 Bible Conference illustrates the polarization in Seventh-day Adventist
theology that took place as Adventists grappled with conservative evangelicalism (what
later became known as Fundamentalism). Adventist theologians became divided, most
notably, between “progressives” and “traditionalists,” both of whom were influenced by
the emerging Fundamentalist movement. Some issues were quite controversial at the
time, such as the identity of the king of the north in Dan 11, while others such as the
covenants and the Trinity would become more important with the passing of time. The
topics that had the most lasting effect upon Adventist history and theology were the
discussions about Ellen G. White’s writings and their relationship to the Bible. These
hermeneutical issues evidenced atheological polarization that continues to shape
Adventist thought.
Andrews University
Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary
THE1919 BIBLE CONFERENCE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
FOR SEVENTH-DAYADVENTIST
HISTORY ANDTHEOLOGY
A Dissertation
Presented in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Michael W. Campbell
July 2007
© Copyright by Michael W. Campbell 2007
All Rights Reserved
THE1919 BIBLE CONFERENCE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
FOR SEVENTH-DAYADVENTIST
HISTORY ANDTHEOLOGY
A dissertation
presented in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Michael W. Campbell
APPROVAL BY THE COMMITTEE:
________________________________ _________________________________
Faculty Adviser Director, Ph.D./Th.D. Program
Jerry Moon Roy Gane
Associate Professor of Church History
________________________________ ________________________________
GaryLand Dean, SDA Theological Seminary
Professor of History J. H. Denis Fortin
________________________________
Woodrow W. Whidden
Professor of Theology
________________________________
George R. Knight
Professor Emeritus of Church History
________________________________ ________________________________
Donald W. Dayton Date approved
External Examiner
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Scope and Delimitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Review of Literature and Prior Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
Published Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
Unpublished Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii
Methodology and Primary Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Published Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Periodicals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Books and Pamphlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxii
Unpublished Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Correspondence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Records and Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiv
Design of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiv
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv
Chapter
1. THE ORIGINS OF FUNDAMENTALISM, THE PUBLICATION OF
THE FUNDAMENTALS: A TESTIMONY TO THE TRUTH, AND THE
PROPHETIC CONFERENCE MOVEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
TheTraits of Fundamentalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Revivalist Evangelicalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Dispensationalist Premillennialism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Holiness Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Efforts to Defend the Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Publication of The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth . . . . . . 10
The Prophetic Conference Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Fundamentalist Opinions About Seventh-day Adventists . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Historiography of Fundamentalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST REACTIONS TO FUNDAMENTALISM,
1910-1922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
iii
Historical Introduction to Seventh-day Adventism, 1910-1922. . . . . . . . . 23
The Final Years of Ellen G. White, 1910-1915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
World War I and Seventh-day Adventists, 1914-1918 . . . . . . . . . . 27
Other Events from 1910-1922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Seventh-day Adventists and Shared Concerns with Fundamentalism . . . . . 35
Concerns About Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Concerns About Modernism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Concerns About the Authority of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Observations by Adventists About the Emerging Fundamentalist
Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Adventists and The Fundamentals:A Testimony to the Truth. . . . . 40
Adventist Attendance at the Prophetic Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The 1918 Philadelphia Prophetic Conference . . . . . . . . . . 42
The 1918 New York Prophetic Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
The 1919 Philadelphia Prophetic Conference . . . . . . . . . . . 48
References to the Prophetic Conferences During the 1919 Bible
Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3. ON THE CUSP OF A WAR: THE “BIG GUNS ARE FIRING
BROADSIDES” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Pertinent Events in the Formation of Seventh-dayAdventist TheologyPrior
to the 1919 Bible Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
The 1888 General Conference Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
The “Daily” Controversy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
The Battle Creek Crisis, 1902-1907. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Another Conference Needed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Plans for a Bible Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
The 1919 Bible Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Purpose of the Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Topics of Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Conferees at the 1919 Bible Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
The “Progressives”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
The Traditionalists or “Conservatives” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The Critics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
The Historians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
The Transcripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Reactions to the 1919 Bible Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4. IN BATTLE ARRAY: PROGRESSIVES AND TRADITIONALISTS
WAGE WAR OVER HERMENEUTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
The Bible and Hermeneutics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
iv