Second Adventists

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a religious organization having six slightly differing branches in the United States. They are Protestants and their belief is characterized by faith that at some time in the future there will be a visible reappearance of Christ. They do not agree among themselves whether this "divine return" will be visible to all the Church, or to the whole world, or to certain elect "firstfruits" of the Church. The original Adventists were called Millerites, and were followers of William Miller (1782-1849). Miller promulgated a belief that the world would end and that the millennium would begin in October, 1843. Many people had such implicit faith in his prophecy that they did not "plant or reap" crops, neglected their business, and spent months of time before the appointed hour in religious exercises so as to be in readiness to ascend to heaven. When Miller's prediction proved a failure, some of his followers lost faith in the doctrine, while others decided that an error in calculation had been made. Other predictions have been made since that time. Disappointment, however, has not materially lessened the number of Adventists, since from 50,000 in 1843 they increased to 60,- 000 in 1890, and in 1900 attained a following of over 125,000. In 1919 there were 4,181 churches with a membership of 162,667, and 5,610 Sunday schools with 171,914 members. All sects of Adventists are congregational in church government. They are very orthodox and strict to an extreme in their mode of living. Many kinds of amusements are prohibited. The denominations are: Evangelical Adventists, Seventh Day Adventists, Church of God, Life and Advent Union, Age to Come Adventists, and the Advent- Christians.