Seventh‐day Adventism

Seventh‐day Adventism. Emerging from the prophetic interpretations of William Miller (1782–1849) about the second coming of Christ, Adventism coalesced around three beliefs during the late 1840s. First, the “sanctuary” doctrine of Hiram Edson held that on 22 October 1844, when Millerites had expected Christ's return to earth, Christ instead had entered the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 9) to begin determining the final fate of all human beings. Second, Joseph Bates promoted Saturday as the true Sabbath (Exodus 20: 8–10). Third, Ellen G. White (1827–1915) began experiencing “visions” regarded by her followers as resulting from the “spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). Sabbatarian Adventists also denied the immortality of the soul and practiced baptism by immersion. In 1850, Ellen White's husband, James, launched the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, and in 1863, in Battle Creek, Michigan, the Whites led in organizing the General Conference of Seventh‐day Adventists, with 3,500 members. In 1876 the church adopted tithing, which required members to contribute a tenth of their income, as its primary means of economic support.

After the Civil War, Adventism expanded across the United States, flourishing especially in the West. In 1874 the church sent John Nevins Andrews to Europe as its missionary. Meanwhile, Ellen White had begun advocating vegetarianism and drugless medicine. The Battle Creek Sanitarium established in 1866 as the first of many Adventist medical institutions, achieved prominence under the leadership of John Harvey Kellogg (1852–1943), promoter of flaked breakfast cereals. Beginning with Battle Creek College (established 1874), the Adventists created an extensive school system. Opposed to bearing arms in wartime, the church achieved noncombatant status for its draftees during World War II. One of its most influential members, George McCready Price (1870–1963), laid the foundations of the modern creationist movement.

By the close of the twentieth century, over 900,000 Adventists were living in the United States, but most growth in America was occurring among ethnic minorities. The overwhelming majority of the more than 8 million Adventists in the world resided in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
See also Antebellum Era; Bible, The; Millennialism and Apocalypticism; Protestantism; Religion.

Bibliography

Gary Land, ed., Adventism in America: A History, 1986.
Malcolm Bull and and Keith Lockhart , Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh‐day Adventism and the American Dream, 1989.

Gary Land