Mark Noll observes in his Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Eerdmans, 1994), that biblical inerrancy was a “critical presupposition” for the Darbyite dispensationalist effort to interpret prophetic scripture literally which so appealed to evangelical America in the 1920s (p 122). The same was true for William Miller's historicist efforts in the 1840s and for his ecclesial descendants. In Trust and Doubt, Denis Kaiser thoroughly documents this connection. Seventh-day Adventism was theologically grounded in inerrantist “word-focused” (99) concepts of biblical inspiration from its beginnings although as he carefully points out, they did not formally adopt any specific theory of inspiration apart from evidencing a strong partiality to Louis Gaussen's verbal-plenary approach as did their Millerite forebears.

Early Adventist leadership held intellectual and theological notions about the nature of inspiration and the authority of scripture that were rooted in the deeply conservative Wesleyan Methodist and restorationist Christian Connexion traditions. Kaiser shows how the community's recognition of a genuine spiritual charisma in the young Ellen White (1827–1915), identified by fellow-believers as a prophetic gift, seriously complicated the inspiration problem for Adventists even as the phenomenon of the charisma would also eventually help clarify their concepts. In Trust and Doubt Denis Kaiser provides an authoritative, in-depth study of both the diversity of viewpoints and the common convictions among Adventists in their drawn-out quest for an elusive consensus in understanding the nature of inspiration. What they sought was an appropriate, workable doctrine that embraced both scripture with its primacy in authority and the potentially conflicting phenomenon of Ellen White's charisma.

Kaiser frames his study of this much-disputed topic within the period 1846 to 1930 reaching from the beginning of the movement to its encounter with the militant spirit of the evangelical fundamentalism of the 1920s. His work will be of value to all who are interested in the history of the debate among evangelicals over biblical inerrancy and the modus operandi of inspiration. It thoughtfully addresses the interaction of spiritual charisma with the generation of inspired texts, their transmission and the authority they acquire in communities of faith. This study will be particularly helpful to Adventist historians and theologians in their ongoing quest for a more adequate self-understanding of the movement's theological development.

Trust and Doubt, which is a published version of Kaiser's doctoral dissertation completed at Andrews University in Michigan in 2019, deals with its subject in four large chapters. Chapter 1 is an extended discussion of the historical, theological and socio-cultural context in which early Adventist ideas on inspiration were developed. Kaiser reviews five theoretical approaches to understanding the nature of biblical inspiration as articulated by thirteen prominent authors, including John Wesley, Adam Clarke and Louis Gaussen. The five theories range across the divine-human continuum from “strict divine control to more human involvement” with some overlap between them. (37) Kaiser shows how early influential Adventist writers interpreted these viewpoints and the challenges to their traditional views by modern science and higher biblical criticism. Kaiser notes that consistent with their religious antecedents, early Adventists often used “dictation imagery” to emphasize scripture's reliability. Chapters 2 through 4 are given to a detailed critical analysis of the views of eleven representative Adventist thinkers two of whom eventually left the church in disagreement over Ellen White's role and related issues. The eleven voices are considered in chronological sequence across the fifty-year period between 1880 and 1930.

Kaiser argues convincingly that Adventist views were “diffused” (101) in that they tended not to conform tightly with any of the five formal theories of inspiration though they frequently used theological language associated with the theories. He also argues that though his thinkers often used “dictation language” and found the verbal-plenary theory of Louis Gaussen with its emphasis on inerrancy generally consistent with their own views, they did not necessarily buy into mechanical dictation as the modus operandi for inspiration. (57, 237) While this may be true for the theologically elite in the movement as Kaiser demonstrates, others such as George Knight have observed, in vernacular Adventism the “dictation imagery” was taken as much more than metaphorical in reinforcing the absolute reliability of inspired texts whether biblical or those of Ellen White. The issue behind the verbal-plenary concept was the need for the texts to have authority. Inerrancy and verbal inspiration were the means to that end. Kaiser overlooks this issue.

Some Adventist scholars, shaped by their convictions that Ellen White's charisma bore the mark of the divine, and in light of her own ‘all of God or all of Satan’ binary account of the source of her gift, have been reluctant to offer any critique of the actual content of the writings she generated. In this study, Kaiser concedes that Ellen White on occasion may have misunderstood her own revelations, “neglected” to correct individuals for their wrong views, and neglected to set out a “systematic explanation” of inspiration, (100) but he seems unwilling to engage in a critique of the content of her writings as he so very ably does for the other voices he discusses. For example, in his discussion of Alonzo T. Jones's evolving viewpoint on inspiration he considers Jones to be entirely at fault for his inadequate views. There is no consideration that a lack of perspicuity or inconsistency in Ellen White's texts contributed in any way to Jones's difficulties. Nor is there any discussion of the extent to which Ellen White herself may have nurtured Jones and her readers in general in their inadequate views through her strong emphasis on the authority to be accorded her charisma. Some discussion of both of these would have contributed to a more complete picture.

The value of Kaiser's study of the development in Adventist thinking on inspiration is enhanced by his careful, thorough enquiry into the context of his sources and by the breadth of the sources his study embraces. He draws not only on Seventh-day Adventist periodical literature but relevant periodicals from other faith traditions and has accessed extensive correspondence and unpublished material recently made available by the custodians of Ellen White's literary estate. This has enabled him to challenge and clarify numerous misinterpretations. While a detailed list of contents helps to guide the reader, the lack of an index is an unfortunate editorial decision complicating access to the book's truly excellent content. Kaiser's abundant, richly detailed footnoting provides a valuable aid for those who wish to understand the nuances of the debate or undertake further study of their own on the topic.