The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

II. Publication of Miller’s Views Gives New Impetus

From this recital it is evident that, from 1834 on until the great Disappointment in the autumn of 1844, there was scarcely a pause in Miller’s public proclamation of Christ’s soon coming, which was always presented in the setting of the prophecies. But up to the close of 1839 his efforts had been confined to the small towns and rural sections. The pastors of these smaller churches plied him with urgent, and often importunate, invitations to come and preach to their congregations on the second advent. They were not so prejudiced against his earnest messages, and revivals followed. Reformations were wrought and a gratifying ingathering of souls resulted. Miller never separated the prophetic and doctrinal from the spiritual and practical. He was in good standing in his own church and in other churches. And while, at the outset, this attitude of friendliness was particularly true of Baptist congregations—because Miller was a Baptist—he nevertheless responded to calls from churches of various faiths to which he was constantly invited. PFF4 510.2

Picture 1: MILLER PREACHED IN CHURCHES OF ALL FAITHS
For years urgent invitations came from all over eastern North America for Miller to preach in churches of all faiths. Here were two: (left) baptist church, at penfield, New York, and first congregational church, of westfield, massachusetts
Page 511

Almost from the beginning of his public labors, Miller received many more invitations than he could respond to. It was then that he thought he would attempt to publish his views in printed form, as he had frequently been urged to do. He accordingly prepared the series of articles, sending them as anonymous contributions to the Baptist weekly at Brandon, the Vermont Telegraph. But the paper declined to publish them unless informed as to the identity of the author. When this information was received, as their content and emphasis did not appear to the editor to be inconsistent with Baptist teachings, the editor proceeded to publish them under the initials “W.M.,” the first article appearing on May 15, 1832. ³⁰ PFF4 511.1

The series resulted in widespread discussion. Indeed, they awakened such an interest among ministers and other Bible students that considerable correspondence was opened up with Miller. In fact, he was flooded with inquiries about his views on the second advent and the prophecies. Then a further step was taken. The articles were assembled, in 1833, and issued in a sixty-four-page pamphlet form, entitled Evidences From Scripture & History of the Second Coming of Christ About the Year A.D. 1843, and of His Personal Reign of 1,000 Years. ³¹ This too was published by the same Baptist “Telegraph Office,” at Brandon, Vermont. Obviously there had been no unfavorable reaction from the readers. And again, in 1835, a second edition of fifteen hundred was issued. PFF4 512.1