Stanley Edwin Anderson
From J.H. Spencer Historical Society, 2023

      Stanley Edwin Anderson was born in Minnesota in 1900. Sensing a call of God upon his life, he surrendered to preach and soon became the pastor of a nearby Congregational (now United Church of Christ) Church. Realizing he needed more education, Anderson began looking for a Bible College to attend. He had read reports of a school in Tennessee that believed the Bible and was full of young preacher boys. So he moved south and enrolled at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.

      At Union, Anderson studied under professors such as Dr. George Savage and Dr. I.N. Penick. He also was a fellow student with men such as J.D. Grey (later president of the SBC) Joe T. Odle (author of Church Member's Handbook), Frank Carlton (later professor at Mid-Continent Baptist Bible College), and Percy Ray (founder of Camp Zion in Myrtle, Mississippi). At first the strict Baptist views of these men amused him, but after studying his Bible, he soon found himself agreeing with them. It wasn't long before S.E. Anderson was scripturally baptized by a Baptist Church and scripurally ordained to pastor a local Baptist Church.

      After graduating with an A.B. degree from Union, Anderson secured his B.D. and Th.D degrees from the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary of Chicago. During World War II he was a captain in the U. S. Army, serving as a chaplain in Europe. After the war, he served on the faculty of the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago and later Judson University in Elgin, Illinois.

      In the 1960s and 1970s, S. E. Anderson regularly came to west Kentucky to visit Mid-Continent Baptist Bible college. There he guest-lectured in classrooms, preached in chapel spoke at an Alumni Bible conference ar Northside Baptist Church and his books were recommended by O. C. Marham, President of the college.

      However, his greatest impact was thorugh his writings. He authored at least fourteen books. These ranged in topics from commentaries (Nehemiah for Us Now), to apologetics (Armstrong Analyzed and Is Rome the True Church), to evengelism (The Work of Jesus and Paul...Worldwide) to pastoral leadership (Every Pastor a Counselor and Shepherds to 24,000.000 Service Men) and finally to doctrine (Our Dependable bible, Your Baptism is Important, Baptists Unshackled and Scofield Unshackled and Scofieldism... Upgraded).

      S. E. Andreson's writings have been recommended by such diverse Baptists as Charles Blair, Myron Cedarholm, W. E. Criswell, Jerry Flawell, O. C. Markham, Joe T. Odle, H. H. Overby, Lee Robertson, Wendell H. Rone and Faris Whitesell. Although many of Anderson's books are now out of print, they can still be readily obtained on the secondary market, through eBay or Amazon.

      S. E. Anderson died in 1977 after many years of faithful service to Jesus Christ. He and his wife are buried in Lincoln County, Minnesota. Yet the life of S. E. Anderson reminds us of Hebrews 11:4 - "he being dead, yet liveth.

      Thankfully several of Anderson's books are still in print from Challenge Press - Book Haven, a ministry of the Leigh Valley Baptist Church of Emmaus, Pennsylvania. www.baptist.books.com These include:

The Meaning and Use of Ekklesia in the First Christian Century
Open Windows for Catholics
The First Baptist
The First Church
Four Front Doors to New Testament Churches

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[Published by the J.H. Spencer Historical society. Transcribed by Jim Duvall.

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