| M. L. Andreasen (1876-1962) is probably best known by present
generations of Adventists for his protests
against church leaders during the last years of his life. This
is not only unfortunate but highly ironic when one considers his long
years of active and faithful service to the church and his
disapproval of just such public controversy as he himself stirred
up in his last years.
But, greatly disturbed by what he considered to be false teachings in the book Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine,
when his first protests to church leaders did not yield the
results he wanted, he penned what
were known as "Letters to the Churches," in which he
strongly and publicly expressed his dissent. The controversy thus
generated resulted in his
ministerial credentials being temporarily withdrawn.
Unfortunately, though the rift between himself and leaders was
repaired, the controversies sparked by his actions not only did not
die out with his passing, but took on a life of their own as others of
like opinions gave them ever broader circulation and expression.
This book, however, does not focus upon these last six years of his
life nor upon theological controversies, but rather upon M. L.
Andreasen, the person, unfolding his life in an "eminently
readable style from his boyhood in Copenhagen, Denmark, through
his years in America as pastor, evangelist, administrator, seminary teacher,
author, and dean of Adventist theologians".
Virginia Steinweg, the author, has skillfully woven together pages
from Andreasen's own unfinished autobiography with the results of her
own research to bring us a many faceted view of the man, his life,
thought, attitudes and relationships.
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