The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

VI. Editor of “Maine Wesleyan Journal” Casts in Lot

Take specific instances of breaking with the churches. GERSHOM FREEMAN Cox, ²² for several years editor of the Maine Wesleyan Journal, of Portland, Maine, became an able writer and preacher in the Millerite cause. A man of superior natural endowments, able and versatile, Cox was six feet tall, erect and well proportioned, dignified and graceful in his pulpit decorum, and Avas highly esteemed. His jet-black hair, large and lustrous eyes, and his clear and mellow voice made him a striking figure in the pulpit. He was studious and scholarly, a forceful writer, and would be classified anywhere as an able and impressive preacher. PFF4 773.1

In 1837 he was handed a copy of Litch’s Synopsis of Aliller’s Views, giving it only a cursory scanning at the time. However, in 1839 the rising public interest led him to re-examine the question. ²³ So he read Miller’s full set of Lectures on the second advent, and for a time wrote somewhat on the millennium, the restitution of all things, the signs of the times, and kindred subjects. But during this period he failed to present his full convictions. He was troubled concerning this compromise, and sought clearer evidence of the connection between the 70 weeks and the 2300 years, and the contention that the latter ended in “1843.” Then, becoming fully persuaded, he openly preached the advent message from March, 1842, to June of 1843, when the “Bath [Maine] Resolutions,” against Millerism, overtook him. He had been appointed to Orrington in 1842, where over a hundred were converted, and then to Saco in 1843. PFF4 773.2

In a letter to Zion’s Herald and Wesleyan Journal in March, 1842, he stated that he had believed the days of Daniel 8:14 would “end in 1843.” ²⁴ While Zion’s Herald had excluded discussion of the subject, it nevertheless published this extended letter, headed “Eighteen Hundred Forty-Three,” which was copied in the Signs of the Times of June 28, 1843. Methodist historians Allen and Pilsbury speak, from the Methodist angle, of his “aberration” over premillennialism, adding: PFF4 774.1

“The second advent excitement had been quite extensive, resulting, in some places, in serious injury to the church. Rev. G. F. Cox had industriously inculcated this theory, while serving as Presiding Elder in Portland district; a considerable number of the preachers had imbibed the Second Advent views of William Miller. Mr. Cox was removed from the district and appointed to Orrington, where he [still] taught the doctrines of Miller, to the damage of the strong and flourishing society in that place.” ²⁵ PFF4 774.2

The eighteenth session of the Maine Methodist Conference was held at Bath, Maine, July 19, 1843, under Bishops Hedding and Morris. The subject of Millerism came very prominently before the conference. Lecturers had traveled over the country, Allen says, with “charts and hideous diagrams demonstrating the second coming of Christ, to destroy the world and inaugurate the judgment.” Some, both of preachers and people, professed to have received the witness of the Holy Spirit to the truth of this dogma. Pilsbury puts it this way: PFF4 774.3

“The church in all its parts and departments continued to grow and thrive till 1842, when it was made the field of labor of the good brother who was ‘as sure that Christ would come, to call home those who were watching for his coming, and to judge the world, in 1843, as of his justification or sanctification;’ which good brother, without reservation, early and late, and everywhere, made this his theme, and who, when admonished, by the Bishop, as requested, by the Conference, in 1843, threw the entire responsibility of his heresy upon the ‘fathers.’” ²⁶ PFF4 775.1

Pilsbury adds, of course from the Methodist viewpoint: PFF4 775.2

“When during the following Conference year, the church was purged of more than half its nominal membership, there remained a noble band of more firmly united members.” ²⁷ PFF4 775.3

The times were tense, and the crisis for Cox is attested by the Signs of the Times: PFF4 775.4

“We learn that at the Maine Conference, Bishop Hedding commanded our Brother G. F. Cox not to teach or speak any more in the name of the coming Jesus. But whether he will consider he ought to obey God rather than Bishop Hedding, we shall learn when he visits Boston, as he is expected to do in a few weeks, to preach in the Tabernacle.” ²⁸ PFF4 775.5