Great Disappointment
Christianity • Protestantism The Great Disappointment in the Millerite movement was the reaction that followed Baptist preacher William Miller's proclamation that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth by 1844, which he called the Second Advent.
[1][2][3][4] Between 1831 and 1844, on the basis of his study of the Bible, and particularly the prophecy of Daniel 8:14[5]—"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed"—William Miller, a rural New York farmer and Baptist lay preacher, predicted and preached the return of Jesus Christ to the earth.
To understand a doctrine, Miller said one needed to "bring all scriptures together on the subject you wish to know; then let every word have its proper influence, and if you can form your theory without a contradiction you cannot be in error."
The French Revolution was one of several factors that caused many Bible students around the world who shared Miller's concerns to delve into the time prophecies of Daniel using the historicist methodology of interpretation.
Miller became convinced that the 2,300-day period started in 457 BC, the date of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem by Artaxerxes I of Persia.
"[22] In August 1844, at a camp meeting in Exeter, New Hampshire, Samuel S. Snow presented a new interpretation, which became known as the "seventh-month message" or the "true midnight cry".
[24] Henry Emmons, a Millerite, later wrote, I waited all Tuesday [October 22] and dear Jesus did not come;—I waited all the forenoon of Wednesday, and was well in body as I ever was, but after 12 o'clock I began to feel faint, and before dark I needed someone to help me up to my chamber, as my natural strength was leaving me very fast, and I lay prostrate for 2 days without any pain—sick with disappointment.
The public prints, of the most fashionable and popular kind [...] are caricaturing in the most shameful manner of the 'white robes of the saints,' Revelation 6:11,[26] the 'going up,' and the great day of 'burning.'
In Loraine, Illinois, a mob attacked the Millerite congregation with clubs and knives, while a group in Toronto was tarred and feathered.
Responses varied: some continued to look daily for Christ's return, while others predicted different dates—among them April, July, and October 1845.
Others acted as children, basing their belief on Jesus' words in Mark 10:15:[29] "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."
Popularized by Joseph Turner, this belief was based on a key Millerite passage, Matthew 25:1–13;[33] the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
"[36] The widespread acceptance of the shut-door belief lost ground as doubts were raised about the significance of the October 22, 1844, date—if nothing happened on that date, then there could be no shut door.
On that day, during a prayer session with a group of Advent believers, Hiram Edson became convinced that "light would be given" and their "disappointment explained".
Members of the Baháʼí Faith believe that Miller's interpretation of signs and dates of the coming of Jesus were, for the most part, correct.
[39] They believe that the fulfillment of biblical prophecies of the coming of Christ came through a forerunner of their own religion, the Báb, who declared that he was the "Promised One" on May 23, 1844, and began openly teaching in Persia in October 1844.
The explanation provided in Chapter 10 draws on the same biblical verses that William Miller used, and comes to the same conclusion about the year in which to expect the 'cleansing of the sanctuary' which was interpreted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to be the 'dawn' of a new 'Revelation' – AD 1844.
[45] The theory was proposed by Leon Festinger to describe the formation of new beliefs and increased proselytizing in order to reduce the tension, or dissonance, that results from failed prophecies.
[46] According to the theory, believers experienced tension following the failure of Jesus's reappearance in 1844, which led to a variety of new explanations.
