Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-01-12
THE ADVENTIST DENOMINATION.

herewith data concerning the Seventh
Day Adventist denomination. This his
tory was written from the denomina-
tons records by it's secretary, w. A..
Spicer:
The history of Seventh Day Adventists
may be said to begin in the years 1886
and 1916, when a few believers in the
nearness of the second coming of Christ
began also to observe the seventh day
of the week as the Sabbath. This was
just following the great awakening on
the subject of the second advent, which
commanded the attention of m%ultitudes
in Europe and America in the years
1881 to 1874.
An English writer of that time, Mou-
rant Brock, a clergyman of the Church
of England, described the extent of this
movement in these words:
1T IL not merely in Great Britain that
the expectation of the near return of
the Redeemer is entertained, and the
voice of warning raised, but also in
America, India, and on the continent of
Europe. In America about three hum
dred ministers of the Word are thus
preaching the gospel of the kingdom;
while in this country about seven hun
dred of the Church of England are rails
ing the same cry"
William Miller of Low Hampton, NJ.
Y, and Josiah Litch and ]. V. Hines,
of Boston, Mass, were leaders in the
movement in America. They looked for
the coming of Christ in 1874. This hope
was based on the fact that the 1900 days
Qiteral days. of Daniels prophecy DAN
iel viii: 1910, dating from the command
ment to restore Jerusalem Daniel ix.:
25), In the year 457 B. c., expired in 1874.
Then" said the angel to Daniel, shall
the sanctuary be cleansed." This
cleansing of the sanctuary, they sup
posed. meant the cleansing of the earth
by fire at the coming of Christ.
After the passage of the time, in
1874, many believers in the advent doc
trine gave up the hope of Christ's soon
coming, and others set new times. There
were some, however, who reviewed the
facts of history and prophecy, and who
were confirmed in the belief that no
mistake had been made in the date Of
the fulfllment of the 2300-year period of
Daniels prophecy in 1874. They were
convinced also that the advent move
ment, rising spontaneously in many
lands, was of God.
AS they investigated, they found that
the mistake of the Adventists had been
in the event, and not in the time; tina
the sanctuary to be cleansed was not
this earth, but the sanctuary in heaven,
where Christ ministered as high priest;
that this work of cleansing, according to
the Levitical type, was the final work of
atonement, the beginning of the prelim-
mary judgment in heaven, which is to
precede the coming of Christ, as de-
scribed in the judgment scene of DAN
lei viii: ., 10, showing an Investigated
judgment sitting in heaven while events
are still taking place on earth.
AS they studied the subject of the
sanctuary and the judgment they found
the law of God, the Ten Commandments,
to be the standard of that judgment, the
CO 49, ODD rxlsA - 49, 49,. H. G---
of God, was placed in the ark in the
earthly sanctuary, the type of the
heavenly. The fourth precept of this
law, they found, commanded the observ-
ance of the seventh day as the Sabbath.
They found nothing in Scripture COM
handing or authorizing the change of
the Sabbath from the seventh to the
first day. From the representation of
the final work of the gospel, in Revela-
ton xiv: ella, beginning with the proc
lamation, THE hour of his judgment is
come lin 1S44), they understood that a
movement was now called for, to carry
to every nation and tongue a warning
against following tradition, and calling
men to the platform of the command
ments of God, and the faith of Jesus;
that when this final message had been
carried to all the world Christ would
come to reap the harvest of the earth.
Thus in 1915 and 1916 a few persons in
New England, formerly First Day Ad-
v%entists, began to keep the seventh day,
and to preach the doctrines which have
built up the Seventh Day Adventist de-
nomination, though this name was not
formally adopted until October, 1860, at
a conference held in Battle Creek, Mich,
being the name chosen as expressive OF
the two prominent features of their
faith and practice; namely. the observ-
ance of the seventh day of the week as
the Sabbath, and a belief in the per-
sonal, visible return of the Lord as near
at hand.
Respecting the last-named event, now
ever, this branch of Adventists have
never set time. Their belief is hat the
event is near, even at the door," but
that the day and hour have not been
revealed. Three persons prominently
connected with the movement which re-
suited in the organization of the Seventh
Day Adventist denomination were Jo-
seph Bates, James White and Mrs. +.
G.. White, all of whom were, as early as
1916, observers of the seventh day Sab
bath.
In 1S49 their first paper appeared al
Middletown, Conn. In 1855 they trans.
ferred their headquarters from Roches.
ter, N. Y, to Battle Creek, Mich, where
1t remained until 1908, when 1t was re-
moved to Washington, d. c., where thu
general headquarters is at present. BY
1000 THEIR WOIh 1Hdu 5IoWu 81 as u re
quire the organization of a general con
ference. which was accordingly perfect
ed at Battle Creek, Mich, on May 81.
AT that time their membership Qocate(
principally in the eastern and centra
parts of the United States), approx
mated $500 members, organized into ~
churches, with thirty ministers and 81,
local or state conferences. At the clos,
of 1907 there were 94,04S communicate
2504 churches. HOG ordained and licensed
ministers, SO organized local conference
(53 being in the United States, and ~
mission stations in all the world (tw
being in the United States. For the pur
poses of this sketch, no distinction 4
made between organized conferences an
mission fields in countries outside tn
United States. In most cases a mission
field includes several stations).
The Seventh Day Adventist denomina
ton has gained in membership abou
ten per cent each year; in other words
every ten years its membership through
out the world has doubled from the tim