Church History · 1844 and 1863

The Seventh day Adventists

William Miller predicted that Jesus would return around 1844. When October 22, 1844 passed, his followers called it the Great Disappointment. A small group, including Ellen G. White, came to keep the Saturday Sabbath and organized the Seventh day Adventist Church in 1863.

Read it in the Bible: Daniel 8:14 Matthew 24:36 Exodus 20:8 Hebrews 8:1-2

The Seventh day Adventist Church grew out of a failed prediction. In the 1840s a Baptist preacher named William Miller taught that Jesus would return around 1844, and tens of thousands believed him. When October 22, 1844 came and went, his followers called it the Great Disappointment. A small group kept studying, came to worship on Saturday, the seventh day, and looked to the writings of Ellen G. White. They organized the Seventh day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, on May 21, 1863. Today it has more than 20 million members around the world.

Who Was William Miller?

William Miller was a farmer from upstate New York and a veteran of the War of 1812. He had been a skeptic, but he came to faith and spent years studying Bible prophecy. He focused on one verse in Daniel.

He said to me, "It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be properly restored." Daniel 8:14

Miller took each day to stand for a year and started the count in 457 BC, the year he linked to a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. That brought him to about 1843. He believed the sanctuary meant the earth, and its cleansing meant the return of Jesus. He began preaching in 1831, and by the early 1840s the Millerite movement had spread through newspapers, tents and camp meetings. It was one of many movements born in the Second Great Awakening.

What Was the Great Disappointment?

At first Miller spoke of a period from spring 1843 to spring 1844. When that passed, a Millerite preacher named Samuel Snow argued for a specific date: October 22, 1844, which he took to be the Day of Atonement that year. Many believers left their crops in the field, paid off debts and waited.

Jesus did not come. One believer wrote that they wept until the day dawned. Many left the movement. Others set new dates. Miller himself admitted his mistake but kept his faith in Jesus' soon return until he died in 1849.

How Did the Seventh day Adventist Church Begin?

A few Millerites believed the date was right but the event was misunderstood. Hiram Edson came to believe that in 1844 Jesus began a new stage of His work as our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary, as described in Hebrews. Adventists later called this the investigative judgment.

At the same time, a Seventh Day Baptist named Rachel Oakes Preston convinced Adventists in New Hampshire that the fourth commandment still pointed to Saturday. A sea captain named Joseph Bates wrote on the Sabbath in 1846 and spread the idea. Ellen Harmon, a teenager from Maine, reported her first vision in December 1844. She married the preacher James White, and together with Bates they led the young movement. The group took the name Seventh day Adventist in 1860 and formed its General Conference in 1863, with about 3,500 members.

What Do Seventh day Adventists Believe?

Adventists hold many beliefs in common with other Protestants, including the Trinity, the Bible as the Word of God, and salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. Their distinct beliefs include these:

The Sabbath: They keep the seventh day, from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, as a day of rest and worship.
The Second Coming: They believe Jesus is coming soon, visibly and personally, but they no longer set dates.
The state of the dead: They teach that the dead rest unconscious until the resurrection, and that the wicked will finally be destroyed rather than suffer forever.
The heavenly sanctuary: They teach that Jesus has ministered in the heavenly sanctuary since 1844.
Ellen G. White: They see her writings as a gift of prophecy, while saying the Bible is the standard by which all teaching is tested.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Exodus 20:8

Why Are Adventists Known for Health?

Ellen White taught that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Adventists avoid alcohol and tobacco, and many are vegetarian. Their Battle Creek Sanitarium was run by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, and his brother turned their health food experiments into breakfast cereal. So if you have ever eaten corn flakes, you can thank an Adventist hospital. Today Adventists run one of the largest Protestant networks of hospitals and schools in the world, and studies of Adventists in Loma Linda, California, have found long lifespans.

Are Seventh day Adventists Christians?

Some critics in the past called Adventism a cult because of the 1844 teaching and Ellen White's role. In the 1950s, evangelical researchers Walter Martin and Donald Grey Barnhouse met with Adventist leaders and concluded that, despite some unusual teachings, Adventists hold the core of the Christian faith. Most evangelicals today agree. Disagreements remain on the Sabbath, the sanctuary teaching and the role of Ellen White.

Why It Matters for You Today

The Millerite story is a loving warning. Miller was sincere and studied hard, but Jesus already told us that date setting does not work.

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew 24:36

The other half of the lesson is just as important. The Millerites were ready and eager for Jesus. We should be too, not by guessing the date, but by living each day as if He could come.

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Questions People Ask

What was the Great Disappointment?

It was the moment on October 22, 1844, when followers of William Miller expected Jesus to return and He did not. Many left the movement in sorrow. A small group reinterpreted the date and later became the Seventh day Adventist Church.

When was the Seventh day Adventist Church founded?

The church formally organized its General Conference in Battle Creek, Michigan, on May 21, 1863. The name Seventh day Adventist was adopted in 1860. Its roots go back to the Millerite movement of the early 1840s.

Why do Seventh day Adventists worship on Saturday?

They believe the fourth commandment still calls for keeping the seventh day holy. They keep the Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Most other Christians worship on Sunday to honor Jesus' resurrection.

Who was Ellen G. White?

Ellen G. White lived from 1827 to 1915 and was a cofounder of the Seventh day Adventist Church. Adventists believe she had a prophetic gift. She wrote many books, including The Great Controversy and Steps to Christ, and promoted health reform.

Sources

← The Third Great Awakening and D. L. Moody The Anglican Communion and the First Lambeth Conference →

See the whole Church History