Introduction
The year was 1844 – a group of anxiously hopeful people had committed themselves to the belief that life was about to change as they had once known it. They were Christians who believed that their work on earth was done and they were about to be taken out of this world at the second advent. In preparation of their anticipated departure, they sold all their possessions, allowed their crops to go to ruin, quit their jobs, abandoned their houses and lived with the bare necessities.[1] These Christians had come to believe that they would never need anything of an earthly nature again as of October 22. This was the date that had been established by their leader as bringing an end to all things.[2] The day finally arrived as they awaited the Lord’s return with vast eagerness, hope, and joy. Unfortunately for them, the morning hours turned to afternoon, and the afternoon awaited hours turned to night, but nothing took place. No breath-taking arrival, no sudden rapture, no grand escape – only a Great Disappointment.
The Panic of 1837
In 1837, the United States experienced a devastating financial crisis that lasted until the mid-1840s. England had gone into a depression and the prices of their cotton declined from 17 ½ cents to 13 ½ cents per pound, which prevented them from engaging in loan extensions to the United States giving rise to the U.S. financial despair due to its reliance on Britain’s economy.[3] The economic collapse began with Andrew Jackson having placed a stop on federal deposits to the United States Bank, vetoing its re-charter, and requiring that the state banks receive the federal money instead.[4] The economic chaos was then passed down to the newly elected president, Martin Van Buren. Wages, profits and prices on goods and services drastically declined as unemployment significantly soared.[5] The Bank of the United States issued paper notes to its customers but in order to cash-in their paper currency, they would have to accept gold and/or silver. The bank had strict lending policies that aided in crippling them and each bank had their own currency which did not extend to other banks outside of their region.[6]
Other contributing factors included the United States being dependent on foreign investments, excessive borrowing, and credit defaults caused bank failures and rejections of specie repayments.[7] Not only was the United States going through economic hardships as never before, but the morale socially had also declined. There were food price spikes, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and massive unemployment which led to panic and street riots.[8] A people without hope were looking for answers which may have given rise to the successful advent movement of a young preacher by the name of William Miller.
William Miller
Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, Soldier and Baptist Preacher
William Miller was born to Captain William and Paulina Miller on February 15, 1782, in Pittsburg, Massachusetts. [9] William Miller did not receive a lot of formal education but was brought up in the Baptist faith and home-schooled by his mother for a while, until a school opened up in their new hometown of Low Hampton, New York.[10] He did, however, have access to the libraries of several influential and prominent people in his local area that expanded his knowledge on subjects such as politics, war, and religion.[11]
In 1803, William Miller got married, became a farmer, and later took interest in politics where he was elected to several positions – deputy sheriff, justice of the peace and military officer.[12] His political affiliations brought him into contact with certain upstanding citizens in his community who believed in Deism (the belief that God is far removed from that of human affairs), which caught his interest after studying some of the materials they gave to him.[13] This led him to reject his Baptist faith, only to return to it having served in combat in 1812 and experiencing God’s hands of protection over him whereas others had died.[14] Although William Miller never attended any school of theology, he was licensed to preach in 1833.[15] The year prior, he began placing articles concerning his beliefs about the second coming of Christ in the Vermont Telegraph, a Baptist Newspaper, which gained the interest of many readers and opened the door for him to recruit followers, critics, and ultimately the Great Disappointment.[16]
The Great Disappointment
William Miller became greatly interested in Bible prophecy and after studying for years the passages in Daniel 8:13-14 and the book of Revelation, he came to the conclusion that Jesus would return in the year 1843 but the date was readjusted to October 22, 1844.[17] He believed that the Prophet Daniel’s prophecy of the sanctuary being cleansed in 2,300 days would be the fulfillment of Jesus’ return to earth where He would destroy the earth and rid it from all sin and wicked people with the countdown starting from 457 BC.[18] “Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the Lord’s people?” He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated” (Daniel 8:13-14).[19]
Miller, at first, only told close friends and family of his beliefs and findings regarding his determined date of the Lord’s return. Later, he supposed that God wanted him to share his discoveries with the rest of the world when he was invited to speak at a church after having prayed and believing it to be a sign for him to declare the coming of the Lord. This began a movement of followers called the Millerites and although this was not William Miller’s intentions, it gained momentum nonetheless.[20]
What became known as Millerism began to grow with numbers of approximately 50,000 followers consisting of many Christians and their leaders who were looking for answers to the things that were going wrong in their society.[21] The solution to all of their troubles came with the belief that Miller had regarding the end of all things and that their troubles would soon be over.[22] People began getting ready by getting rid of their earthly possessions and preparing spiritually for the great advent. Many conferences began to spring forth as the message of the Lord’s second coming began to become widely acclaimed.[23] This movement, however, did not go without strong criticism from both Christians who did not follow the movement and secular skeptics.
Finally, the long-awaited day came when many of Miller’s followers thought that they were about to be raptured from the earth. They waited with great expectation but were deeply disappointed when the Lord did not return as they thought that he would.[24] Many wept profusely as the realization that they had been wrong finally set in. Some were so discouraged that they turned from the faith altogether while for others, it was the beginning of new religious organizations such as the Seventh-Day Adventist. Ellen G. White, the founder of the Seventh-Day Adventist, gives an explanation of her and others’ experience after being one of those who was waiting for the Lord’s return in the following statement from her book The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan:
[“When the Lord did not come as expected in 1844, many were in doubt and confusion who had once had faith and believed in His imminent return. Many mocked them and thought that they had been shamed and defeated for believing a great delusion that proved to be false. Nevertheless, they continued to search the Scriptures for answers as well as the prophecies they contained to renew their faith. They held on to their position according to what they believed the Bible to say in that Jesus’ return was very near. They did not think that they had misread the signs of Jesus’ return due to sinners being converted and the faithfulness of the Christians in their daily walk. They were amazed at the disappointment that they had encountered”] (White 1964, 218).[25]
Other Date Setters and Religious Movements
Jonas Wendell
After the Great Disappointment, many Christians went their separate ways and formed new religious organizations while others either returned to their former houses of worship or fell away from any faith altogether. One Adventist preacher by the name of Jonas Wendell became zealous in his preaching about Jesus’ second return after having been disappointed by William Miller’s failed prophecy.[26] He began studying the Bible timetable and came to the conclusion that Jesus would return in the year 1868 or between 1873 and 1874, based on his belief that it had been six-thousand years since Adam’s fall, and that the world would end by being cleansed by fire.[27] He published his findings in a booklet called The Present Truth, or Meat in Due Season.[28] Jonas Wendell’s calculation of Jesus’ return proved to have been just as mistaken as his former leader, William Miller. An attendee, Charles Taze Russell, of one of Wendell’s evangelistic meetings, led to Russell being taken as an understudy by one of Jonas Wendall’s associates, George Storrs, and much of Storrs teachings became the foundation for Russell’s founding of the Jehovah Witnesses.[29]
Charles Taze Russell
Charles T. Russell was a pastor from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who was the founder of the Bible Study Movement later known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.[30] At the age of twenty, Russell left his Presbyterian background and became interested in the return of Jesus.[31] He became well versed in Hebrew and Greek and formed a Bible class in 1872.[32] In 1877, Russel began publishing his beliefs concerning Christ’ return in a publication called The Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return.[33] Russell joined forces with a man named N. H. Barbour to print a paper called The Herald of the Morning which was financed by Russell stating that Jesus would return in 1878.[34] Russell and Barbour parted ways in 1879 when Russell declared a new date for Christ return which, according to him, would be on the Jewish Day of Atonement in 1914.[35]
After the split between Russell and Barbour, Russell funded his own paper called The Zion Watch Tower, which allowed him to have full reign to spread his message concerning the coming of Christ.[36] 1914 came and went, but Russell did not retreat from his beliefs but reestablished yet another date for of the end of all things to take place before the end of 1915.[37] Russell died in 1916 but at the end of his life, he believed that WWI would lead to the Armageddon.[38] In 1975, the Jehovah’s Witnesses believed that Armageddon would take place and that Jesus would destroy everyone who was not a Jehovah’s Witness.[39] Another date that was set to once again be a great disappointment.
Hiram Edson
Hiram Edson was a successful farmer from New York who belonged to the Methodist church but became captivated by the preaching of William Miller and his followers concerning the message of Christ return.[40] Edson had attended a series of evangelistic meetings that were held in his area and felt led to teach others that same message having visited an ill friend who was healed after he had laid hands on him.[41] Nevertheless, he too was one of the ones who was greatly impacted by the lack of Jesus’ return on October 22, 1844. In an attempt to avoid the mockers who celebrated he and the others’ disappointment, he walked through his cornfield where he claimed to have had a vision on October 23, 1844.[42] This vision explained the misunderstanding of the date set by William Miller in his written quote as follows:
[“We went underway, and while traveling through an open large field I paused in the center of the field. Heaven unlocked for me to see, and I was able to see that Jesus, our High Priest was not coming out of the Most Holy place in sanctuary to return to earth at the end of the 2300 days as I thought. Jesus would be entering the second compartment of the Heavenly sanctuary to complete the work in the Most Holy Place before His return for the saints."] (Nichol and Miller 1945, 458).[43]
Edson spread this message to the disheartened followers of William Miller which gave them a new-found hope in that their Great Disappointment was not so disappointing after all.[44] This message of Jesus and the heavenly sanctuary became one of the central doctrinal beliefs and pillars of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church that they still maintain today as a core belief.[45] Others like Edson formed various beliefs and churches from their disappointment, which gave them hope for the future in that they would one day see Jesus return. Until such time, there were many who continued to set various dates about the return of Jesus but every one of them has failed to be accurate.
Conclusion
It is quite natural for one to search for answers regarding life’s challenges that will offer some type of hope and reassurance that things will get better. Due to the era of financial insecurity, illnesses, death, and uncertainty about the future, there were those who were looking for answers as to how to escape the hand that they had been dealt. In an attempt to find those answers, many were willing to gravitate towards anyone who had what they felt was hope about their future. This opened the door for many leaders who were obviously not well-versed in the understanding that it was absolutely unbiblical to set a date concerning the Lord’s return which regrettably gained momentum. “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36).[46] Despite the Bible being clear concerning date-setting for the Lord’s return, many did not take heed to the scriptures correctly in their teaching and were blindly led to a great disappointment.
The Great Disappointment was the beginning of various religious sects to begin such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and other organizations sprang forth. It is important, however, for Christians to learn from the mistakes of the past to avoid a great deception in the future. Everyone who has attempted to set a date regarding the Lord’s return has failed in their effort. One must not allow their circumstances to forfeit what they know to be true in the Word of God. Regardless of the economy, God is still Jehovah-Jireh. Despite receiving bad news from a physician, God is Jehovah-Rapha. In times of despair, God is Jehovah-Nissi. Where the people in 1844 failed to realize is that one cannot always escape their problems in life, but God is there to hold their hand as they traveled through them.
In today’s times, there are those who try to take advantage of naïve Christians who are not studying the Bible for themselves. Many people are looking for answers and will follow any and everyone who has bishop, prophet, apostle, and/or pastor in front of their name or letter behind it. The answer cannot be found in setting dates that will obviously fall to the ground. The answer is in having a personal relationship with God. There may be many disappointments in life, but God will never mislead His people into deception and a Great Disappointment.
Bibliography
Abrahams, Edward H. "The Pain of the Millennium: Charles Taze Russell and the Jehovah's Witnesses 1879-1916." American Studies 18, no. 1 (Spring 1977), 57-70. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40641257.
Adams, Sean P. "How Choice Fueled Panic: Philadelphians, Consumption, and the Panic of
1837." Enterprise & Society 12, no. 4 (2011), 761-789.
Bicknell, John. America 1844: Religious Fervor, Westward Expansion, and the Presidential
Election That ... Transformed a Nation. [Place of publication not identified]: Chicago
Review, 2017.
Bliss, Sylvester, and George R. Knight. Memoirs of William Miller. Berrien Springs, MI:
Andrews University Press, 2005.
Clarke, Caroline. "The Advent of the Disappointed: Why the Millerites Joined the Shakers and
Why They Quickly Left." Communal Societies 35, no. 1 (2015), 55-79. http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1822359438?accountid=12085.
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Charles Taze Russell | American Religious Leader."
Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified February 14, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Taze-Russell.
Eisenstadt, Peter, and Laura-Eve Moss, editors. "William Miller." In The Encyclopedia of New
York State, 986. Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press, 2005.
Encyclopedia Britannica. "William Miller | American Religious Leader." Encyclopedia
Britannica. Last modified February 14, 2018.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Miller.
Galli, Mark, and Ted Olsen. 131 Christians Everyone Should Know. Nashville, TN: Holman
Bible Publishers, 2000.
Jack, Albert. The Millerites: The Seventh Day Adventists & The Great American Fraud. Cape
Town: Albert Jack Publishing, 2015.
Kelsey, Richard. "The Great Disappointment." MM Outreach Inc. Accessed June 22, 2018.
https://mmoutreachinc.com/jehovahs_witnesses/greatdisap.html.
Loughborough, J. N. The Great Second Advent Movement, Its Rise and Progress. [Loma Linda,
Calif.]: Adventist Pioneer Library, 1992.
Maxwell, C. Mervyn. Tell It to the World: The Story of Seventh-Day Adventists. Nampa, ID:
Pacific Press Pub. Association, 2011.
Miller, William. Mr. Miller's Apology and Defence. Low Hamption: J. V. Himes, 1845.
Mitchell, Mary H., and Francis D. Nichol. "The Midnight Cry: A Defense of the Character and
Conduct of William Miller and the Millerites who Mistakenly Believed that the Second
Coming of Christ Would Take Place in the Year 1844." The American Historical Review
51, no. 2 (2000), 331. doi:10.2307/1839619.
Nichol, Francis D., and William Miller. The Midnight Cry. A Defense of the Character and
Conduct of William Miller and the Millerites, Who Mistakenly Believed That the Second
Coming of Christ Would Take Place in the Year 1844. [With Plates, Including
Portraits.]. Review & Herald Pub. Association: Washington, 1945.
Nix, James. "The Life and Work of Hiram Edson." PhD diss., Andrews University, 1971.
Powell, Alison. "The Great Disappointment." Michigan Quarterly Review 55, no. 2 (2016), 223-
com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1793929942?accountid=12085.
Rowe, David L. God's Strange Work: William Miller and the End of the World. Grand Rapids,
Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2008.
Shankman, Andrew. "Book Reviews. Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies." Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 81, no. 1 (Winter 2014), 134-136.
UVA Miller Center. "July 10, 1832: Bank Veto." Miller Center. Last modified February 23,
veto.
Wendell, Jonas. The Present Truth: Or, Meat in Due Season. Edenboro, Pa: J Wendell, 1870.
White, Ellen Gould Harmon. The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan: The Destruction of Jerusalem to the End of the Controversy. Paradise, Calif: Klacena M. Ferguson, 1964.
White, Ellen G. Early Writings. North Charleston: Createspace Independent Publishing, 2013.
White, Ellen G. Testimonies for the Church Volume 1. North Charleston: Ellen G. White Estate, Inc., 2010.
[1] Alison Powell, "The Great Disappointment," Michigan Quarterly Review 55, no. 2 (2016): 30, http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1793929942?accountid=12085.
[2] Mary H. Mitchell and Francis D. Nichol, "The Midnight Cry: A Defense of the Character and Conduct of William Miller and the Millerites who Mistakenly Believed that the Second Coming of Christ Would Take Place in the Year 1844," The American Historical Review 51, no. 2 (2000): 331, doi:10.2307/1839619.
[3]Andrew Shankman, "Book Reviews. Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies," Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 81, no. 1 (Winter 2014): 134-136.
[4] UVA Miller Center, "July 10, 1832: Bank Veto," Miller Center, last modified February 23, 2017, https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/july-10-1832-bank-veto.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Shankman, "Pennsylvania History," 134-136.
[8] Sean P. Adams, "How Choice Fueled Panic: Philadelphians, Consumption, and the Panic of 1837," Enterprise & Society 12, no. 4 (2011): 762-764.
[9] Albert Jack, The Millerites: The Seventh Day Adventists & The Great American Fraud (Cape Town: Albert Jack Publishing, 2015), 1.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] William Miller, Mr. Miller's Apology and Defense (Low Hampton: J. V. Himes, 1845), 24-36.
[14] Sylvester Bliss and George R. Knight, Memoirs of William Miller (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2005), 31-35.
[15] Mark Galli and Ted Olsen, 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2000), 190-192.
[16] Miller, Mr. Miller’s Apology, 24.
[17] Encyclopedia Britannica, "William Miller | American Religious Leader," Encyclopedia Britannica, last modified February 14, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Miller.
[18] John Bicknell, America 1844: Religious Fervor, Westward Expansion, and the Presidential Election That ... Transformed a Nation ([Place of publication not identified]: Chicago Review, 2017), 197-200.
[19] Daniel 8:13-14 (New International Version).
[20] Caroline Clarke, "The Advent of the Disappointed: Why the Millerites Joined the Shakers and Why They Quickly Left," Communal Societies 35, no. 1 (2015):, http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1822359438?accountid=12085.
[21] Clarke, "The Advent,".
[22] J. N Loughborough, The Great Second Advent Movement, Its Rise and Progress ([Loma Linda, Calif.]: Adventist Pioneer Library, 1992), 108-120.
[23] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 (North Charleston: Ellen G. White Estate, Inc., 2010), 30-45.
[24] Ellen G. White, Early Writings (North Charleston: Createspace Independent Publishing, 2013), 229-231.
[25] Ellen Gould Harmon White, The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan: The Destruction of Jerusalem to the End of the Controversy (Paradise, Calif: Klacena M. Ferguson, 1964), 218.
[26] Jonas Wendell, The Present Truth: Or, Meat in Due Season (Edenboro, Pa: J Wendell, 1870), 1-16.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Richard Kelsey, "The Great Disappointment," MM Outreach Inc, accessed June 22, 2018, https://mmoutreachinc.com/jehovahs_witnesses/greatdisap.html.
[30] The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, "Charles Taze Russell | American Religious Leader," Encyclopedia Britannica, last modified February 14, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Taze-Russell.
[31] Ibid.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Edward H. Abrahams, "The Pain of the Millennium: Charles Taze Russell and the Jehovah's Witnesses 1879-1916," American Studies 18, no. 1 (Spring 1977): 57-70, https://www.jstor.org/stable/40641257.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Kelsey, "The Great Disappointment."
[38] Ibid.
[39] Ibid.
[40] C. Mervyn Maxwell, Tell It to the World: The Story of Seventh-Day Adventists (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Pub. Association, 2011), 46-50.
[41] Ibid.
[42] James Nix, "The Life and Work of Hiram Edson," (PhD diss., Andrews University, 1971).
[43] Francis D. Nichol and William Miller, The Midnight Cry. A Defense of the Character and Conduct of William Miller and the Millerites, Who Mistakenly Believed That the Second Coming of Christ Would Take Place in the Year 1844. [With Plates, Including Portraits.] (Review & Herald Pub. Association: Washington, 1945), 458.
[44] Ibid., 458-462.
[45] Nichol and Miller, The Midnight Cry, 458-462.
[46] Matt. 24:36 (English Standard Version).
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