Gary Land (1944–2014)

As a lifelong Seventh-day Adventist, I grew up hearing "Mrs. White says..." but not really understanding the theological, historical, and cultural impacts Ellen White held over the Seventh-day Adventist Church until I got to college. And now, I believe this volume provides an interesting and multi-faceted examination of her writings, life, theological impact, and cultural impact upon a denomination that is simultaneously known and unknown in the world.

For me, as an academic and literary scholar, the chapter on culture proved the most fascinating. To this day, I have encountered people in the SDA church reluctant to read "fiction," simply because White wrote extensively against it. And I think the author brought up an interesting point--here, her own lack of formal education probably did not assist her in coming to literary fiction that rose above the sensationalist stories and pulp romances that were more easily accessible than more enduring works.… (mais)

The man who came to personify the Review and Herald over 50 years of working on it going from one of the young pioneers to elder statesmen of the Second Advent movement. Uriah Smith: Apologist and Biblical Commentator by Gary Land chronicles the life of this indispensable yet very opinionated man who was influential with Adventist readers around the United States.

Land quickly covers Smith’s early life in New Hampshire including the two biggest events of that time, the loss of his leg at age 12 and his conversion to Millerism. This latter event eventually led to Smith’s joining the then small Sabbath-keeping Adventists led by Joseph Bates and the Whites, the latter Smith would impress when he submitted a 3,000-line blank verse poem about the foundation, rise, and progress of the Adventist movement leading to James White offering Smith a position at the Review and Herald. Smith did everything for the magazine from typesetting to editorials during his early years before James White took a backseat, letting the younger Smith take the lead. Throughout his tenure Smith would constantly cover Adventist doctrines and how present-day events had prophetic implications especially when it came to other Christians attempting to get through Sunday legislation on various levels of government. Yet Smith flirted with controversy throughout his time at the magazine and in denominational work from Battle Creek College to the 1888 Minneapolis meeting to confrontations with the General Conference leadership and getting admonished by Ellen White.

With a text of almost 250 pages, Land is quick and concise in his writing but not in his research as seen in his chapter endnotes. While the reader does get a very informative look at Smith’s life, there seems to be a rushed feeling with the biography. Unfortunately, this seems to be a consequence of Land working between cancer treatments to complete this and two other historical works that he finished just before his death.

Uriah Smith: Apologist and Biblical Commentator is the first biography of its kind in over 35 years through with a different perspective than previous books. Gary Land’s informative and concise wording gives the reader a better look at the man whose name is known in Adventist circles but his life is not.… (mais)

The question of how Christians, including Seventh-day Adventists, approach the study of history compared to their secular colleagues is an important topic of thought and debate. Distinguished Adventist educator and historian Gary Land’s Teaching History: A Seventh-day Adventist Approach gives both teachers and students insight into how they can unite their learning and faith to better appreciate both.

In 86 pages of texts, with footnotes at the end of each chapter, Land covers historiography in all its secular philosophies and analysis of history and how suggests how Christians might approach and use each in their own ways. In the text, Land brings up three ways Christians can apply their beliefs with the teaching and writing of history and in the last chapter he provides case studies to showcase how each can be used while still speaking to a wide academic audience. Land doesn’t forget to address how Seventh-day Adventists should approach history, whether their own denomination’s or that of the wider world, amongst themselves whether in journals or in classrooms.

Overall this small book about how Christians can approach the study of history while still using their beliefs is a wonderful thought provoking read for both teachers and students.… (mais)

Adventism in America is a history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from it's roots in the Millerite movement in the 1830s to approximately 1980. The book is a collection of historical essays by the leading Adventist historians at the time of it's original publication in 1986. The essays, edited by Gary Land who wrote two of them, are a well-researched and footnoted collection that dives into historical, theological, and social dynamics that the Seventh-day Adventist Church experienced both internally and as part of the greater fabric of American and Christian history and society.

The book is not for a general reader, the essays are of peer-review quality and thus meant for the serious student of history or historian. Of the seven essays, the final one covering the period for 1961-81 is the weakest given that the major challenges the Seventh-day Adventist Church dealt with during the period were still being felt. Given that it has been nearly 30 years since the book's original publication and a little over 15 since this revised edition, it makes the last essay's weaknesses even more glaring.

Notwithstanding this one flaw, the book is a candid look by Adventist historians into the history and issues that the Seventh-day Adventist Church dealt over the course of 150 years. For the serious student of Adventist history this is a must read book.… (mais)