< http://www.todd.seidel.com/millmvmt.htm
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William Miller (1783-1849) has the dubious honor of being the founder of the most popular end-time movement in American history. Millerism promoted a teaching that resembled the English premillennialism which we have already seen. Miller's rejection of the more optimistic postmillennialism is understandable. O'Leary describes the situation as one in which the "...labors of revivalists to reform American society had not achieved the desired effects..."70 of bringing about the millenium. In the face of such failure, William Miller and his followers rejected the idea that the millennium would arrive gradually. Instead, they looked for Christ to return to usher in the golden age.
What gained such wide spread recognition for Miller, however, was his calculation based on Daniel which revealed Christ would return in 1843. With the help of publisher Joshua V. Himes, Miller began spreading his message to a ready audience in 1839. Adventists publications and conferences quickly sprung up to get the word out, and many revivalists preachers eagerly embraced the teaching as means of sparking new life into the countries waning revival.71 The message preached was no longer one which called people to the idealistic visions of the postmillennial eschatology, for Millerism rejected postmillennialism as being "a new gospel, which is not the gospel our Lord preached..."72 Instead, the message was one which called people to repent and prepare for the end in 1843!
As the date approached public criticism of the movement grew, and the Millerites began promoting separatism. In September 1843 a Millerite leader, Charles Fitch, preach a sermon entitled "Come Out of Her, My People!" in which he redefined anyone who opposed their prophetic message as the harlot of Babylon. He said the churches who opposed their view had:
…turned away their ears to the groundless fable of a spiritual reign of Christ, during what is called a temporal millennium when they expect all the world will be converted; and each sect is expecting at that time to have the predominant influence....The professed Christian world, Catholic and Protestant, are Antichrist."73
When Christ failed to return by the March 22, 1844 cut-off date which Miller had given, the faithful did not give up. Instead, one devoted follower, Samuel Snow, reworked the biblical texts to come up with a new date of October 22, 1844. The date quickly spread among disappointed followers as its adoption was aided by the explanation that the Bridegroom had tarried as foretold in Mt. 25:1-13. The Millerites were even more certain then before. The failure of Christ to return was reinterpreted as the delay described in Matthew's parable, and it was now up to them to keep their lamps filled until the new date arrived. In anticipation of October 22 many quit their jobs, sold their houses, and left crops to rot in the fields. When Christ failed to appear in October 1844 the date became known as "The Great Disappointment."
In the aftermath, many lost their faith altogether, some returned to denominational churches, and others regrouped. Two notable groups formed out of The Great Disappointment. The first was the Seventh Day Adventists who reinterpreted October 22, 1844 saying Christ had indeed returned to reign but it was a spiritual return not a physical one. Ironically, the spiritual interpretation of the millennium was one of the main critiques used in their earlier rejection of postmillennialism. The second byproduct of Millerism was the founding of the Jehovah's Witnesses as an offshoot of Adventists Bible studies conducted by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916). The Jehovah's Witnesses went on to set new dates for Christ's return in 1874, 1878, 1881, 1910, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, and 1984.74 Though Millerism did not end in armed conflict, the divisions and disappointment that resulted were in many ways just as tragic.
After such consequences one might expect millenarian fervor to die down, but thanks to the advent of dispensationalism, millenarian thinking was able to reshape itself once again. The success of John Darby's system can be attributed to its ability to break with the historicist approach to Revelation in favor of a futurist interpretation,75 and in the appeal of its literal hermeneutic among fundamentalists.76 The doctrine of the Rapture which dispensationalism popularized was not new, for Increase Mather (1639-1723) and his son Cotton Mather (1663-1728) had also emphasized the doctrine. Though the doctrine of imminence made it much more difficult to repeat the Millerite fiasco, Darby's stress upon the nation of Israel as a distinct people of God did pave the way for modern day date setters.
The legacy of millenarianism is easily visible today. Dispensationalism has been directly responsible for numerous waves of speculation, conspiracy theories, and date setters. Throughout the 1970s and 80s apocalyptic expectations were at a fever pitch as many Christians in America expected the rapture at any moment. Hal Lindsey's Great Late Planet Earth sold over 24 million copies, making him the New York Times best-selling author of the 1970s.77 In Lindsey's book he hinted that Christ would come within a generation of 1948, defining a generation to be 40 years.78 Not surprisingly, in 1988 Edgard Whisenant sold two million copies of his book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.79 Such failure (albeit a lucrative one for Whisenant) did not stop Harold Camping from predicting the end would come in September 1994 in his book 1994 and its sequel Are You Ready?80
Overall, the trend in dispensational eschatology represents a downward spiral that reminds us of past millenarian failures. Though the essence of dispensational eschatology has remained the same since the nineteenth century, Richard Kyle believes:
…the tone has changed. The more scholarly and thoughtful prophetic interpreters have taken a backseat to the popularizers, who are usually not restrained by external institutions. Many have their own organizations, television programs, and publishing houses. Therefore, as the twentieth century winds down, the popularizers have become increasingly reckless. Their predictions are often irresponsible and even laughable.81
In essence, the legacy of millenarian hopes, errors, and tragedies continues to live on in dispensational premillennialism. It is without question the most successful form of millenarian eschatology ever developed, and in all likelihood it will continue to garner the allegiance of many in the twenty-first century as it adapts its understanding of prophecy to fit the need of the moment.
The legacy of violence and bloodshed also lives on today, and was most recently witnessed in Waco, Texas. Most remember the fiery end to David Koresh's Branch Davidians, but few even know or remember the history of millenarianism behind this sect. It is worth remembering the Branch Davidian's were formed during the Great Depression as an offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventists which in turn owed its existence to the Millerite movement of the 1840s.82 And like so many tragedies throughout history, they too were convinced that prophecies were being fulfilled in their own day – prophecies which, to them, guaranteed the soon arrival of a golden age.
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sKally