What if the church we know today was built on a foundation of radical social justice — and then forgot it? Historian Dr. Kevin Burton joins co-hosts Dilys Brooks and Nathan Brown to uncover the surprising, inspiring, and sometimes uncomfortable truth about early Adventism's role in the American anti-slavery movement — and what it means for who we are called to be today.
KEY QUOTES
"What were the pioneers thinking?"
"Ellen White said we are reformers."
"We need to be the good Samaritan."
"If we have a problem with any human being out there in the world, then we are desecrating God himself because we are created in his image."
"I cannot be silent. That is actually a sin."
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro & Theme Music
0:56 Guest Introduction — Dr. Kevin Burton
0:57 Why Study History?
2:42 Why Study Adventist History?
4:40 How History Shapes Identity
6:08 How Do We Balance Who We Were?
7:44 Justice and the Adventist Church
12:00 The Impact of Adventism on the Anti-Slavery Movement
14:00 Apocalyptic Abolitionism — The Book
23:00 Methodology: Prosopography & Cross-Archive Research
29:00 Long Anti-Slavery Movement
33:46 How We Lost This History — WWI and the Conservative Turn
39:00 The Two-Horned Beast Doctrine & America in Prophecy
49:00 How the Saints Are Receiving This Work
53:00 Personal Transformation Through Research
60:00 Closing — An Invitation to Get Into Good Trouble
1:01 Host Sign-Off & Episode Credits
Featured Book
Apocalyptic Abolitionism — Dr. Kevin Burton (forthcoming)
People & Works Referenced This Episode
Ellen White — "We are reformers" (recurring theme in her writings)
Joseph Bates — Adventist founder and anti-slavery activist
Uriah Smith — Editor of the Adventist Review; called slavery "the prime mover"
Joseph & Sarah Clark — Early Adventist evangelists in the post-Reconstruction South
A.G. Daniels — General Conference President; racial segregation in Washington D.C.
Jan Loughborough — One of the first Adventist historians
Doug Morgan — Adventist historian; work on race and the church
Michael Campbell — Adventist historian; Adventism and fundamentalism
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — "The Danger of a Single Story" (TED Talk)
Matthew 25 — "Whatever you have done for the least of these"
Luke 10 — The Good Samaritan
Revelation 13 — The Two-Horned Beast and America in prophecy
CALL TO ACTION
This Week's Challenge
Sit with this question from Dr. Burton: What does my faith mean if I remain silent in the face of injustice? Then take one concrete step — however small — to act on the answer. As our Adventist pioneers understood, silence is not neutral.
Book Recommendation
Pre-order Apocalyptic Abolitionism by Dr. Kevin Burton — and add it to your JustLove Book Circle reading list for 2026.
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