The 1942 Interview: V. T. Houteff and M. L. Andreasen — Truth Seeker or Informant?

For students of the original Shepherd’s Rod message it is instructive to examine some of the history of how the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church responded to the message during the tenure of Brother Houteff from 1930 to 1955. To aid us in our analysis we will be releasing some important historical documents that have not seen wide spread exposure and are now available for the first time.

In this post we will focus on a notable interview take took place between M.L. Andreasen and V. T. Houteff (pictured above) at Mt. Carmel Center Waco, Texas on December 15, 1942. Elder Andreasen was a professor on assignment from the S.D.A. Theological Seminary located at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan at the time. He is regarded as one of the more prominent and influential theologians in the 1930‘s – 50‘s and is best know for writings a series of letters opposing the Adventist publication “Questions on Doctrine” which came out in 1957 which was seen by many conservative S.D.A’s as a compromise with the Evangelical Protestant churches on the doctrine of justification, the atonement, and the nature of Christ.

The actual interview took place over a period of one and one half days and a written transcript was left in the S.D.A. church archives. There are also several letters of correspondence between Elder Andreasen and his colleagues at the General Conference, Brother Houteff, and Brother E. T. Wilson that are very interesting and set the background for the interview along with some followup responses. For those of us who are looking back on this incident the question naturally arises was Elder Andreasen coming to Mt. Carmel to visit to honestly investigate the claims of the SRod message or was he sent on a mission for the purpose to fishing information that could be used in a way to discredit or defame the message and its messenger that creating so much controversy in the denomination? With the attached documents we encourage you all to carefully investigate and come to your own conclusions. It is clear to us that is was the latter reason that Elder Andreasen came to Mt. Carmel for the records show that he ordered copies of the books Shepherd’s Rod Vols. 1 and 2 and was provided copies of the Rod tract literature for his own studies. No record exists of a testimony or public statement from Elder Andreasen of his acceptance of the Rod message.

Interview between M.L. Andreasen and V.T. Houteff Dec. 15, 1942 and Associated Correspondence.

Several questions were directed at Brother Houteff’s claims to inspiration and whether he considered himself a prophet. Another subject of preoccupation seemed to be a concern about how Mt. Carmel was financed and what what Davidians practiced in regard to tithing. This can be expected as the church leaders are very fearful of losing tithe money and are very vigilant to protect the source of income that provides for their comfortable way of life. By way of note, in our current day Davidians who are identified by church leadership are often quickly confronted with the questions such as: “what church are you a member of?” and “where do you return your tithes?”

The last question asked by Elder Andreasen to Brother Houteff was particularly revealing where he brought up allegations that some of the children at Mt. Carmel had been physically abused. Brother Houteff replied these were malicious rumors. So where did Andreasen get wind of such rumors? As it turns out they most likely came from Hazel Hendricks a former Davidian who rejected the message and became a bitter enemy of the Rod. She even went so far as to write a booklet that was published by the General Conference entitled “True Witness Speaks” which alleges to refute the principle doctrines found in the original SRod message.

From personal interviews with Davidians who lived at Mt. Carmel and knew Hazel Hendricks well, they said she left the message and became a bitter enemy of Brother Houteff over differences on how her children who attended the academy at Mt. Carmel where being disciplined. The problem with over indulgent parents bringing their undisciplined children to Mt. Carmel for education was not a secret. Brother Houteff addressed the issue extensively in the Symbolic Codes by providing counsels and warnings to parents regarding their responsibilities to raise their children in the fear of God so that they could become faithful servants in the cause of present truth. Below is a list of these articles which would be excellent material for your review. All of these articles are compiled into one single document for your convenience to download and read on your own computer. Please click this link:  School for Children, Symbolic Code Reference Compilation.

• Symbolic Code Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1-5: Mt. Carmel Academy: Testimonies from teachers and students.
• Symbolic Code Vol. 3, Nos. 3, 4, pp. 4-6: Counsels and Warnings to Parents, Part 1
• Symbolic Code Vol. 3, Nos. 5, 6, pp. 8-11: Question 161: Who Are the Guardians of the Children Mt. Carmel or the Parents?
• Symbolic Code Vol. 3, Nos. 7, pp. 5-11: Counsels and Warnings to Parents, Part 2
• Symbolic Code Vol. 5, Nos. 6-12, pp. 5-8: Why do children have to be disciplined? Alleged cruelties addressed.

Is it possible that Hazel Hendricks was one of the principle over indulgent parents whose undisciplined children were a major cause for trouble at the Mt. Carmel Academy? After reading the extensive treatment of this subject in the Codes it certainly seems to be the case. And if this is true then how sincere can we take Elder Andreasen’s leading question about the abuse of children at Mt. Carmel when they were likely malicious rumors from a former Davidian malcontent?

What are your thoughts? After reviewing this interesting case please feel free to make any comments below so that we can get a healthy and productive discussion going on this interesting episode in the history of the original Shepherd’s Rod message.

(This website will soon be releasing an article providing more details on the background of Hazel Hendricks and how the S.D.A. church leaders used her testimony as a means to discredit the teachings of the original SRod message. A number of letters of correspondence between church leaders and Hendricks will be included).

Tagged as: interview, M. L. Andreasen, shepherd's rod, V.T. Houteff