Divisions George Raymond Knight (born 1941) is a leading Seventh-day Adventist historian, author, and educator.
[1] At age nineteen, George R. Knight joined the Adventist church through an evangelistic series held in Eureka, California, by Ralph Larson.
Knight observes that the subject of his dissertation George S. Counts was particularly influential in the development of his thinking, in relating revolutionary and iconoclastic ideas with practical applications.
Toward the end of his academic career he had a pivotal 1975 meeting with Robert W. Olson, who at the time worked at the Ellen G. White Estate, and who had been Knight's first Bible teacher.
His 1985 book, Myths in Adventism, put him on the map in Adventist circles, and he began to rise to prominence in the church.
By the year 2000 he was the best-selling Adventist author in the denomination, with a steady stream of doctoral students and graduate assistants who helped him do research for his books.
He was also featured as one of the keynote speakers at the 2000 Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Session held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Knight transitioned to the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in the 1980s, a move that proved especially eventful in preparation for the centennial commemorative celebrations of the infamous 1888 General Conference session.
Adventist historian Benjamin McArthur describes his historiographical significance as creating a "usable past" helping the church to fulfill its mission.