April 26 to May 23, 2026:
“Edward Heppenstall: Reforming Theologian of the 20th Century”
With Author Gilbert Valentine
ORDER THE BOOK HERE
KINDLE OR HARD COPY
ABC ONLINE HERE
Read Steve Case’s Spectrum Online Review HERE
Part 1: Biography as Theology or Vice Versa - Chapters 1-5: Early Life, Marriage and Youth Ministry
Part 2: Molding the Ministry Chapters 6-8 Teaching at La Sierra and the Seminary up to 1959
Part 3: Making the Best of a Mistake Chapters 9-12 The Berrien Springs and Loma Linda Years
Part 4: The Politics of Publication and Problematic Friends Chapters 13-17 The Writing Years, Retirement and the Trauma of Glacier View
Part 5, May 23: The Witness of His Students and Family Chapter 18 Reflections, Panel discussion with those who knew him:
Astrid Heppenstall Heger, Jan Paulsen, Larry Geraty, John Jones, Jolene Zackrison, Richard Rice
Edward Heppenstall may not be a household name today, but the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been shaped by his influence. A thoughtful teacher, persuasive preacher, and deeply respected mentor, Heppenstall helped shift an entire denomination’s theological center of gravity. His clear emphasis on righteousness by faith, the assurance of salvation, and a Christ-centered reading of Scripture offered a fresh path forward during the middle decades of the twentieth century, one that still resonates today.
In this first full-length biography, historian Gilbert M. Valentine traces the life and legacy of a man whose quiet leadership helped define an era. Heppenstall’s story offers a behind-the-scenes look at key moments in modern Adventist history from the 1952 Bible Conference to the Glacier View meetings and brings into focus a scholar who challenged his students to think deeply and live faithfully. From the classroom to the pulpit, Heppenstall stood as a bridge between tradition and progress, conviction and compassion. Based on extensive archival research and personal interviews, this biography invites readers to better understand not only Heppenstall himself, but the church he helped shape. (ABC Online)
Gilbert M Valentine, PhD., recently retired, continues to teach as an adjunct professor in the H.M.S. Richards Divinity School at La Sierra University, California, USA. His pastoral and teaching career involved a variety of settings in New Zealand and Australia. Mission service took him to teaching and senior administrative positions in higher education in Pakistan, England, and Thailand, in addition to his service in Australia and in his homeland, New Zealand. He has written extensively on Adventist history and is the author of J. N. Andrews: Mission Pioneer, Evangelist, and Thought Leader (2019); W. W. Prescott: Forgotten Giant of Adventism’s Second Generation (2005); The Struggle for the Prophetic Heritage (2006), a book on the history of the White Estate; and The Prophet and the Presidents (2011), a study of the political influence of Ellen White. He has authored more than twenty articles in the new Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. His most recent works include Adventism in America in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History (2021) and Ostriches and Canaries: Coping with Change in Adventism 1966-1979 (2022). (Adventist Today Online)
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Sabbath Seminars
Room 3208
Centennial Complex of Loma Linda University Sabbath Morning 10:30-12:30
Galileo Galilei: 'I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.'
