HISTORY OF THE ADVENTISTS. BY JOSIAH LITCH, OF PHILADELPHIA. ADVENTISTS are so called from the prominence which they give to the doctrine of the near and personal coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have no new views of truth, and base their belief entirely of the testimony of the holy Scriptures, as understood by the church in its best and purest ages. As a body they have arisen under the labors of Wm. Miller, of Low Hampton, N. Y., and others who looked to the coming of the Lord, about A. D. 1843. Wm. Miller commenced lecturing in 1833, and his views were published about the same time in the Vermont Telegraph. To meet the calls for information on his views, he collected these articles in a pamphlet, which he distributed gratui tously. One edition of his lectures was published in 1836. Early in 1840, Joshua V. Himes, a minister in the Christian Connexion, became a believer in these views, and commenced the publication of a paper called "the Signs of the Times, and Exposition of Prophecy," issuing it for nearly two years, only once in two weeks. Since that time it has been published weekly, and has reached the fourteenth Volume. It is now called "The Advent Herald." It was commenced without subscribers or funds, but its circulation gradually increased, so that it is widely circulated in our own country, and is sent to Canada, England and the West Indies. PECULIARITIES OF ADVENTISTS. Advent believers are not distinguished as a body by any dissent from the great leading doctrines of the Evangelical portion of the Christian Church, such as the Divinity of Christ, His Sacrifice and Atonement for sin, the doctrine of future and cternal rewards and punishment, &c. On all these points they receive the plain literal testimony of the Bible, in its most obvious import, without attempting to explain it away. THEY DO DIFFER FROM MOST BODIES OF CHRISTIANS. On the personal, Premillennial Advent of Christ, and his personal, bodily reign on the earth with his Resurrected and glorified saints. They cannot see, if, according to Isa. vii. 14, Christ was fortold to be born of a virgin, and it came to pass; Matth. i. 18-25;-If, as foretold Micah. v. 2. Christ was literally born in Bethlehem, Matth. ii. 1 :—And that according to Dan. ix. 26, Messiah came at the expiration of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, Mark i. 15; and if after the sixty-two weeks, Messiah was literally cut off:If, as foretold by Isa. liii. 8, 9, he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of his people;-And made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death;-If according to Ps. xvi. 10, Christ's soul was not left in hell (hades) nor did his flesh see corruption;-If according to Ps. cx. 1, Christ did sit on the right hand of God, and is to sit there till his enemies be made his footstool-If all these predictions have litterally come to pass, and they have;Then the Adventists cannot see, ground for doubting that the same rule will be observed in the fulfilment of all other prophecies relating to Christ. Thus, prophecy foretels Christ as the seed of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed; Gen. xxii. 18. It also promises to the seed of Abraham, all the land of Canaan, for an EVERLASTING Possession, in connection with Abraham himself, Gen. xvii. 8. Hence the land is called Isa. viii. 8, Emanuel's land. But when Christ was on earth he had not where to lay his head:-Therefore, he must return personally to inherit it. Christ is the predicted Son of David, who is to sit forever on David's throne; he is the Son of David according to the flesh, Ps. cxxxii. 11. But while on earth he never sat on David's throne. He went to Jerusalem as foretold, on an ass' colt; claimed his rights, was proclaimed king by the children, but rejected by the Rulers; Matth. xxi. Hence, he must return to earth to enjoy his kingdom and “reign over the house of Jacob forever." Luke i. 32, 33. Christ has the promise of the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession; but he never yet had it. Ps. ii. 8. Therefore, he must come back to earth, to possess it. Prophecy points out the coming of Christ to receive his kingdom and dominion over all nations, to be in "the Clouds of Heaven." Dan. vii. 13, 14. But he never yet came thus :-He must, therefore, fulfil the prediction in futurity, at his Second Advent. He cannot have universal dominion till he does. Christ rose from the dead in the identical body in which he was crucified and buried, and was so identified; John xx. 24-31. Those who thus identified his person, of flesh and bones, saw him go from earth up into heaven, and a cloud received him out of their sight. They were told by divine messengers, that this same Jesus, whom they saw go into heaven, "Shall so come again in like manner." Acts i. 2-11.— That the Second Advent of Our Lord will be pre-millennial, they conclude from various considerations. 1. The Millennial Reign is placed after THE FIRST RESURRECTION, Rev. xx. 1-6, which cannot be till the Second Advent of Christ. Those who have part in the first resurrection are Saints, and will live forever. The Second death has no power on them. But they that are Christ's, are to be raised at his coming; and that is the order of the resurrection to follow Christ's resurrection. 1 Cor. xv. 23. Christ's coming, and the resurrection of the just, must therefore, precede the millennial reign. Again :-The Millennial period, follows the casting the beast and false prophet into the lake of fire, and shutting up the devil in the Abyss or bottomless pit. Rev. xix. 20; and xx. 1—3. Thus, before the Millennium, all the great anti-christian powers are put down. The man of Sin, however, the Son of perdition, is only to be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming. 2 Thess. ii. 8. The coming of Christ, for his distruction must, therefore, be pre-millennial. "the It will be seen by the foregoing, that they believe there will be two distinct resurrections, a thousand years apart; life;" "the resurrection of the just ;”first resurrection;" "the resurrection of and the resurrection of "the rest of the dead;" "the resurrection of damnation ;” "the resurrection of the unjust." separating period is only named in Rev. xx, but the distinction in the resurrection is frequently made. The THE NATURE OF THE MILLENNIUM. The general view entertained by the Church that the millennium will be a thousand years of peace, and be introduced by the conversion of the world to Christ, and consist in his universal Spiritual reign; together with the Millinnarian or Litteralist view, that although Christ will come and reign personally on earth during the Millennium, yet that period will be a period of probation, in which the heathen who never heard the Gospel, and the Jews who have been cut off during the christian dispensation, will have the gospel preached to them and be converted, are both unscriptural and not | conversion of the world before the Second to be received. Advent of our Saviour. The Adventists cannot receive the first, because both the general and specific teachings of the bible are against it. Throughout the bible the descriptions given of the moral and political state of the world, show the utter impossibility of the triumph of righteousness till the establishment of the ETERNAL kingdom of God, in all the earth, and under the whole heaven. Thus the dream of Nebuchadnezar, Dan. ii, foretels four universal empires, which are to fill up the period from then, till the everlasting Kingdom of God comes and destroys them and fills the whole earth. But there can be no everlasting kingdom without immortality, which cannot be till the resurrection at the Second Advent of Christ. The Seventh Chapter of Daniel, presents in vision the same four empires, with the divisions and successions of the fourth empire, which only end (see verses 13, 14) when the son of man comes in the clouds of Heaven, to receive his everlasting dominion, which is also universal. Till the judgment, the little blasphemous horn wears out the saints, and prevails against them. So likewise in the 24th of Matthew; the course of events from the time of Christ, to the Second coming of Christ and end of the world, is given. There were to be wars, famines, pestilence, persecution of the saints, false prophets, false christ's, abominations, great tribulation, mourning of all the tribes of the earth, the preaching of this gospel of the kingdom in all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come; and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. There is no peace in the prediction, till he comes. Therefore, he will come personally to judge the world and reign; and not spiritually to convert and save the world. Once more;-The tares and wheat, (righteous and wicked) are to grow together till the end of the world or age. And then the one be cast off and punished, the other glorified in the kingdom of God. Matth. xiii. 24-43. For these and many other reasons they cannot believe in the They also find equal difficulty, in receiving the Millennarian theory of the conversion of the heathen and Jews, after the Second Advent of Christ, and during the Millennium. For they regard the thousand years as being rather a DAY OF JUDGMENT than of PROBATION. For they read in the second Psalm, that when the heathen are given to Christ for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, that he is to break them, or rule them (Rev. xii. 5. and . 27.) with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potters vessel. Such a description they consider to be any thing else beside conversion. They also learn from the cxlix. Psalm, that all the saints will have the honor to "bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron, and to execute upon them the judgments written." From the lx, of Isa. and xiv, of Zech. they learn that the worship and service of the heathen, will be compulsory service. That neither Jew or Gentile will be converted after the Second coming of Christ, they think the xxv, chapter of Matth. and xiii, of Luke, plainly teach. The first of eternal retribution will be awarded to all these texts expressly declare that final and nations, when the Son of man comes in his glory. There is no exception of any one nation. They will some of them plead, but in vain, for a Change of doom. There are but two classes; one of them enters the kingdom of God; the other goes away into everlasting punishment. There is no middle class, who will have another pro bation. Luke xiii, teaches still more expressly that the unbelieving Jews will seek to en ter the kingdom of God or be saved, after the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, "but shall not be able." They will see the patriarch's there, with some from the east, west, north and south, but they thrust out in outer darkness. Paul asserts, Rom. ii. 9, 10, 16, that God will render, Glory, honor, peace, to every soul of man who doeth good, Jew and Gentile; but indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man that doeth evil, Jew and Gen tile, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. This is not probation. THE JEWS. On the subject of the return of the Jews to the land of Palestine, they differ from most others. They hold that the promises made to Israel, of a yet future and final gathering to the land of Canaan, will be literally accomplished; and that Israel will forever dwell there in peace. But then they cannot think such a promise can be fulfilled before the resurrection of the just, when the believing remnant of Israel, of every generation, including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will be raised from the dead, and restored to their own land. This, Ezekiel, xxxvii. chapter, declares will be the way the whole house of Israel will be restored. "I will open your graves, and bring you up out of your graves, and bring you into your own land." The resurrection, according to Paul, is "the hope of Israel." But if the resurrected and glorified Israel are to have the land and dwell there forever, the Jews in flesh and blood, as a nation cannot have it forever. All the promises, however, of a future return, promise an everlasting possession of the land. But mortal Jews cannot possess it forever. Glorified and immortal ones can; therefore, they are the heirs of promise. A distinguishing feature of the faith of Adventists, was their confidence in the termination of the prophetic periods, and the second advent of Christ, about 1843. reasonable one, but the result has proved it erroneous. Since 1844, many have adopted the views of the English Literalists, which ended the 2300 days in 1847, instead of 1843. But as a general thing they adopt a waiting position, and wait for more light on the import and dates of the prophetic periods, which they still firmly believe are of Divine origin, and to be understood by the church in God's own appointed time. For they cannot think any portion of Revelation has been given in vain. They regard the coming of the Lord to be at the door, for various reasons: 1. The four great empires are to be succeeded by the everlasting kingdom of God; and it is very manifest that the last, the Roman government, has passed its predicted divisions and must soon end. 2. The wancing of the Ottoman or Mahommedan power, is regarded as another index that the kingdom of Christ will soon come. 3. The universal movements and agitations, with the famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, together with the signs in the sun, moon and stars, &c., &c., they consider conclusive evidence of the speedy coming of Christ. This gospel of the kingdom which was to be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, is now completing its work. They likewise consider the study of the prophetic Scriptures an important but greatly neglected duty of the church; and being fully convinced that the coming of Christ is at hand, they feel constrained to make it a prominent theme in their public ministrations and writing; that thus they may supply, in some measure, the lack of service of other denominations, in this department of religious truth. They feel in a great measure compensated for their disappointment in relation to time, by witnessing the great change which has taken place in the public mind since this discus The main argument on which they rested, was that relative to the termination of the 2300 days in Dan. viii. 14, which they regarded as years. And then they considered the period of 70 weeks named in Dan. ix. 24, as the key to the date of the 2300 days of the preceding chapter. Dating the periods B. C. 457, when Artaxerxes, king of Persia, sent up Ezra from his captivity, to restore the Jewish polity at Jerusalem, (see Ezra, 7th chap.)sion came up, on the subject of the perand ending the 70 weeks as commenta tors generally do, in A. D. 33, with the crucifixion of Christ; they found the remainder of the 2300 days, which was 1810, would end in 1843. The argument, many beside Adventists thought a sonal advent and reign of Christ on earth with his saints. They still labor for the extension of these principles over the world, by every lawful means in their power; being fully persuaded that their sentiments are those of the primitive church for the first three hundred years, and that they will be restored, as the deceptions of the great apostacy yield to the word of God. over There are at present, as near as the number can be arrived at, in the United States and Canada, between fifteen and twenty thousand believers identified with the body. These are scattered nearly all the States in the Union. There are also prosperous missions in England, Scotland, and the West Indies. In this estinate, those in the different churches are not included. But they are numerous. As in all great religious movements, fanatics and imposters have availed themselves of the deep interest felt on this great subject, to lead away disciples after them, and introduce fanatical doctrines and practices. These have been uniformly resisted and exposed when detected. As a body, Adventists give no countenance to fanaticism. Although contrary to the original design and wish of those who commenced this movement, yet circumstances which they could not control, rendered it necessary to adopt some form of associated church action. The Mutual Conference of Adventists held in Albany, N. Y., April 29th, 1845, thus briefly express themselves on this subject. ASSOCIATED ACTION. Order is heaven's first law. All things emanating from God, are constituted on principles of perfect order. The New Testament rules for the government of the Church, we regard as binding on the whole brotherhood of Christ. No circumstances can justify us in departing from the usages established by Christ and his Apostles. We regard any congregation of believers who habitually assemble for the worship of God, and the due observance of the Gospel ordinances, as a Church of Christ. As such, it is an independent body, accountable only to the great Head of the Church. To all such we recom mend a careful examination of the Scripturcs, and the adoption of such principles of association and order, as are in accord ance therewith, that they may enjoy the advantages of that Church relation which Chrich has instituted. In accordance with the foreging recommendation, the Second Advent believers generally throughout the country, have united in Church fellowship, with no other creed or form of discipline than the writ ten word of God, which they believe is a sufficient rule both of faith and duty. Second Advent conferences are held as often as it is deemed necessary, for the consideration and discussion of such subjects and measures as the interests of the cause may demand; they are constituted of both ministerial and lay members, from all portions of the country. This body is purely voluntary and advisory, and claims to exercise no authority over the conscience of any. They look upon the Advent doctrine, embracing as it does, the resurrection of the body, the personal and visible appearance and reign of Christ on earth, the restitution of the heavens and earth to their paradisical state as the eternal inheritance of the saints, &c., as the only view which will explain and harmonize the word of God. They believe the Second Advent of Christ to judge the world, to be near at hand; and, that is the great practical doctrine set forth and used by the apostles as a motive to holiness. It was to them and their suffering brethren the great source of comfort, and the hope of the whole Israel of God. |