John Nevins Andrews (July 22, 1829 – October 21, 1883) was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, the first official Seventh-day Adventist missionary, writer, editor, and scholar. Andrews University (Michigan, USA), a university owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church, is named after him.

Biography

Born in Poland, Maine in 1829, Andrews became a Millerite in February 1843 and began to observe the seventh-day Sabbath in 1845. He met James White and

Ellen G. White Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American woman author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, she wa ...

in September 1849. Later, the Whites boarded with the Andrews family. In 1850 he began itinerant pastoral ministry in New England, and he was ordained in 1853. Andrews played a pivotal role in the establishment of Adventist theology. Among his more memorable achievements in Adventist prophetic interpretation, was developing the connection between the two-horned beast of Revelation as the United States of America. On October 29, 1856, Andrews married Angeline Stevens (1824–1872) in Waukon, Iowa, where the Andrews and Stevens families had recently moved. In June 1859 a conference in Battle Creek voted that Andrews should assist

J. N. Loughborough John Norton Loughborough (January 26, 1832 – April 7, 1924) was an early Seventh-day Adventist minister. Biography Born in Victor, New York, Loughborough began preaching about the Second Coming of Christ at seventeen years of age, renting a c ...

in tent evangelism in Michigan. He returned to Iowa in the fall of 1860. During these years their first two children were born: Charles (b. 1857) and Mary (b. 1861), and Andrews wrote the first edition of his most prominent book, ''The History of the Sabbath and the First Day of the Week'' (Battle Creek Steam Press, 1859). In June 1862 John left Waukon to work with the evangelistic tent in New York and assisted in the founding of the New York Conference. In February 1863 Angeline and their two children moved from Iowa to join him in New York. Two more children were born to John and Angeline while in New York, both of whom died in infancy from tuberculosis. In 1864, John was chosen as the denominational representative to the provost marshal general in Washington, D.C., to secure recognition for the church as noncombatants. On May 14, 1867 Andrews was elected the third president of the General Conference (until May 18, 1869) after which he became editor of the Review and Herald (1869–1870), now the

Adventist Review The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Its headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland and oversees the church in directing its various divisions and ...

. In 1872 Angeline died from a stroke. John moved to

South Lancaster, Massachusetts South Lancaster is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Lancaster and close to the Town of Clinton in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,894 at the 2010 census. Geography South Lancaster is located at ...

, where the children could stay with the Harris family. Two years later (September 15, 1874) John, along with his two surviving children, Charles and Mary, were sent as the first official Seventh-day

Adventist missionaries The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Its headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland and oversees the church in directing its various divisions an ...

to Europe. Andrews helped start a publishing house in Switzerland and an Adventist periodical in French, ''Les Signes des Temps'' (1876). In 1878 Mary contracted tuberculosis and died soon after arriving for treatment at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. John continued his work as a missionary in Europe, dying there in 1883 of tuberculosis. He was 54. He is buried in Basel, Switzerland. His grandson

John Nevins Andrews John Nevins Andrews (July 22, 1829 – October 21, 1883) was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, the first official Seventh-day Adventist missionary, writer, editor, and scholar. Andrews University (Michigan, USA), a university owned and operated b ...

was a medical missionary working in Sichuan Province, West China.

Legacy

Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, was named after him in 1960, as well as John Nevins Andrews School, in 1907, which is located in Takoma Park, Maryland. In 1993 a sculpture of Andrews was unveiled in front of the Andrews University Pioneer Memorial Church. In 2005 the papers of J. N. Andrews were donated by descendants to the Center for Adventist Research.Center for Adventist Research
at Andrews University

Bibliography

* ''Review of the Remarks of O.R.L. Crozier on the institution, design, and abolition of the Sabbath'' (1853) * ''History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week'' (1861, 2nd edition 1873, 3rd edition 1887, 4th edition with L. R. Conradi 1912) * ''Samuel and the Witch of Endor, or, The Sin of Witchcraft'' (186-?) * ''The Sanctuary and Twenty-Three Hundred Days'' (1872) * ''The Complete Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and First Day (1873, 2nd edition 1876) * ''Sermon on the Two Covenants'' (1875) *

' (1877) * ''The Sunday Seventh-day Theory; an Examination of the Teachings of Mede, Jennings, Akers, and Fuller'' (1884) *

' (1890) * ''The Sabbath and the Law'' (1890?)

References

Sources

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External links