The Second Great Awakening gave rise to what L. Michael White, a professor at the University of Texas in Austin, calls a free-market religious economy in America. It was trademarked by it’s collection of particularly apocalyptic religions. One of the most significant persons of the Second Great Awakening was William Miller. A simple farmer from upstate New York, Miller paid particular attention to the book of Revelations and brought to society his unique interpretation of how the end of the world as we know it would unfold.
His first unique idea was contrary to all Christian philosophers up to this point. You see, philosophers had assumed that the book of Revelations had been unfolding itsself throughout time and was on it’s path to being fulfilled. Miller, however, stated that none of it had yet been undertaken and would BEGIN in the future.
This Second Coming of Christ (which Miller began to call the Advent: hence the name the Adventists), according to Miller will occur on March 21 or 22, 1843: which he claims is exactly one millenium from the writing of the prophecies of Daniel. This belief in Christ’s new reign upon earth starting on the millenium has come to be known as Pre-Millennialism, which has, surprisingly, survived to this day and is still powerful.
Of course, the Advent did not occur in 1843. The Advent movement had been viewed with great skepticism by the majority of America, and of course, this failure of Christ to grace the Earth with his presence merely added ridicule to laughter. The Millerites, however, utilized the power of the press and journals to spread their beliefs and garnished a huge following. Miller was no preacher and did not sway people to his beliefs with words: he relied on the press entirely.
Anyhow, when the first disappointment occurred, the Millerites went back to their pen and paper and discovered they had made a “mathematical error” in failing to account for the switch from BC to AD, and therefore were a year off. So, they moved it forward a year… And on October 22, 1844, 100,000 Millerites were anxiously awaiting their trip to heaven and found that life was simply going to go on, and Christ was not going to come to Earth. This “Great Disappointment,” surprisingly, failed to dismantle the movement but simply stagnated it for a short period of time.
Said Miller of the Great Disappointment of 1844:
“Although I have been twice disappointed, I am not yet cast down or discouraged ... My hope in the coming of Christ is as strong as ever. I have done only what after years of sober consideration I felt a solemn duty to do ... I have fixed my mind upon another time, and here I mean to stand until God gives me more light. And that is Today, TODAY, and TODAY, until He comes, and I see HIM for whom my soul yearns.”
When William Miller died on December 20, 1849, the Millerites or Adventists fell apart. This fragmentation of Miller’s original creativity and rebellion (against the organized churches that prevailed in the Second Great Awakening) created several new denominations in itself: including the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Seventh-Day Adventists. Fairly recently, there was another surge of Millerite type apocalypticism when the Seventh-Day Adventists claimed a Second Coming of Christ on April 22, 1959. When God yet again failed to show up, the “Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists” broke into factions, one of which is the (now) popular group called the Branch Dividians.
