The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

IV. Within the “Circle of a Few Years”

After the Albany Conference, leaders like Miller and Himes tried to hold the movement together while waiting for the end, which they still supposed was imminent. They held that the work must go on and that they must continue to give the angelic message of Revelation 14:6, 7, proclaiming the hour of God’s judgment as right upon them. Miller, believing that the Advent Movement had been fulfilling this prophetic description, said, “This proclamation must of course continue until Christ shall actually come to judge the quick and dead at his appearing and kingdom.” ¹⁵ His frank and manly statement of August, 1845, deserves a representative extract, as it was also a declaration of his prophetic faith: PFF4 836.3

“In all the essential doctrines of the Bible, as they have been held by the pious of the church in all ages, [which] were given to the saints, and for which we are commanded earnestly to contend, I have never seen any reason to change my faith.” ¹⁶ PFF4 836.4

“That 1 have been mistaken in the time, J freely confess; and I have no desire to defend my course any further than I have been actuated by pure motives, and it has resulted to God’s glory. My mistakes and errors God, I trust, will forgive. I cannot, however, reproach myself for having preached definite time; for as I believe that whatsoever was written aforetime was written for our learning, the prophetic periods are as much a subject of investigation, as any other portion of the Word.... PFF4 837.1

“But while I frankly acknowledge my disappointment in the exact time, I wish to enquire whether my teachings have been thereby materially affected. My view of exact time depended entirely upon the accuracy of chronology: of this I had no absolute demonstration.... Other chronologers had assigned later dates for the events from which I reckoned; and if they are correct, we are only brought into a circle of a few years, during which we may rationally look for the Lord’s appearing. As the prophetic periods, counting from the dates from which I have reckoned, have not brought us to the end; and as I cannot tell the exact time that chronology may vary from my calculations, I can only live in continual expectation of the event. I am persuaded that I cannot be far out of the way, and I believe that God will still justify my preaching to the world. PFF4 837.2

“With respect to other features of my views, I can see no reason to change my belief. We are living under the last form of the divided fourth kingdom, which brings us to the end. The prophecies which were to be fulfilled previous to the end, have been so far fulfilled that I find nothing in them to delay the Lord’s coming. The signs of the times thicken on every hand; and the prophetic periods I think must certainly have brought us into the neighborhood of the events.” ¹⁷ PFF4 837.3