Edward W. H. Vick, Prolific Adventist Theologian, Dies at 95
Edward W. H. Vick, a Seventh-day Adventist teacher, preacher, and writer, died on July 23 in Bournemouth, England. He was 95.
A lifelong member of the Adventist Church, Vick became one of the denomination’s foremost theological writers, and he was writing for Adventist journals and magazines by the age of 18. As an author, he has around 30 published books and started Evening Publications, his own publishing house. He has been published in several scholarly journals. In addition to his writing, Vick had a storied career as a pastor in the United States, Canada, and his homeland of England, preaching for over 50 years since his ordination at Newbold College. He also taught away from the pulpit as a professor at Canadian Union College (now Burman University) and as a teacher at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. Later in life, he was head of the Religious Studies Department at Forest Fields College in Nottingham, and he continued to teach philosophy at local institutions even after his retirement. Vick believed in the importance of sharing knowledge and engaging in theological and intellectual discussions.
Unafraid to pursue questions or ideas that could challenge the Adventist Church, Vick often used his writing to try and investigate and further the field of Adventist theology. A 1978 Spectrum article calls Vick “one of Adventism’s first” theologians and says he “saw theology and the theological seminary as beleaguered institutions in the Adventist church . . . in need of the most vigorous possible defense.” He was known not just for his ideas but for his approach, which was described as “systematic,” “meticulous,” and committed to academic principles while remaining easy to understand.
In his 2011 book, From Inspiration to Understanding: Reading the Bible Seriously and Faithfully, Vick critiques the contemporary approach to interpreting the Bible and seeks to understand its foundation of authority in the Adventist Church. He calls for Bible readers to take seriously the task of interpreting the Scriptures and give it time and effort. Vick addressed the themes of his book in a 2018 interview with Spectrum, reinforcing the role of the reader. The words of the Bible “are inert and lifeless apart from the experience;” Vick said. “They come alive when they mediate knowledge of a living reality.” He concluded with the suggestion that interpreters of the Bible “learn to show some humility in asserting our claims. That shows up in being willing to discuss, and if need be, revise them.”
Throughout his life, which began in Sussex, England, Vick unyieldingly pursued knowledge, including his studies at Newbold College, where he met his wife and was ordained, and his study of theology at Southern Missionary College (now Southern Adventist University). In 1956, a year after completing his theology degree at Southern, he received a master’s in New Testament Greek from Andrews University. While teaching at Canadian Union College, he earned a bachelor of divinity from the University of London. He went on to pursue a doctorate in theology from Vanderbilt University, and a bachelor of letters in contemporary philosophical theology from the University of Oxford, where his formal education stopped until after his retirement. Vick grew up in Berkshire, England, and moved constantly during the first 40 years of his life before settling in Nottingham for over 50 years, where he brought his detailed approach to tending his garden and enjoyed watching cricket. He continued to write and research after retirement, even earning a final bachelor’s in philosophy from the University of Nottingham.
Along with his wife, Vick is survived by a son, two daughters, and four grandchildren. Until his death, he remained committed to developing and sharing his ideas of constructive Adventism, leaving a lasting legacy of intellectual and spiritual influence.
