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

Keywords

Adventist history, social justice, race, anti-slavery movement, apocalypticism, identity, historical research, church history, faith, abolitionism, prosopography, segregation, reform

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. https://nyupress.org/9781479839469/apocalyptic-abolitionism/

Upcoming Event

JustLove Summit — La Sierra University

Details: justlovecollective.org/summit

Listener Engagement

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EPISODE CREDITS

Dilys Brooks — Co-Host & Content Producer

Nathan Brown — Co-Host & Editorial Feedback

Beverly Maravilla Jaramillo — Scheduling Coordination & Guest Confirmations

Sam Gungaloo — Audio Engineer & Web Content Manager

Corban Rosspencer — Mix & Master

Music

Lumber Down — Intro Music, licensed via Riverside FM

Palms Down — Outro Music, licensed via Riverside FM

The JustCoz is a podcast of JustLove Collective.