Whatever Happened to the Millerites?

“But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone (Mk.13:32).

People are strange but Christians are peculiar. Who else but God’s own would try to figure out what Jesus said so clearly that not even He knew? But like little Johnny who can’t resist touching the hot stove when he’s been warned, history is filled with the stories of those who thought they knew and got burned in the end. The story of William Miller and the Millerites is our American version of this story. Miller was a preacher and pillar of his New England community and was converted in the waves of revival that had come to the east coast and frontiers in the 1820’s. If you were to ask him what he believed especially concerning the Scriptures and the significance of Christ, William Miller would seem to you a typical modern evangelical. But if secrets are things we keep to ourselves (whether good or bad), Miller had a secret: through his commonsense reading of the Bible particularly the books of Daniel and Revelation, and a careful study of historic chronology and current events, Jesus Christ had to be returning to earth no later than 1843. For at least 20 years Miller more or less kept his own counsels on this but eventually his views became known in a wider circle and he was soon made into a bit of a celebrity with the help of several publicists and organizers. Of course his prophecy seminars with elaborate charts and weeks of nightly meetings came to many of America’s big cities and Miller gained a devoted following of true believers. To his credit, William Miller was an effective evangelist and no charlatan. He believed the end really was near and his message was so compelling that thousands were converted and preparing to meet the savior very soon. As the year drew nigh, people were interested in a specific date and Miller calculated it to early spring but no further. When spring came and went without the Second Coming, he suggested an error in his calculations and that it would happen the following year. When the inevitable came to pass, many of Miller’s followers gave up and others offered alternative explanations such as that Christ came spiritually (an excellent fall back position for people who like to overreach on an issue) and began a new work on earth. Two groups which descend from Miller’s teaching are the Seventh Day Adventists and the Jehovah’s Witnesses who continue their teaching based on a spiritual second-coming in the mid 19^th century. Miller himself died a few years after the failed prophecy but held on to his beliefs to the very end. William Miller and the Millerites have three lessons to teach that are worth considering:

1. The Second Coming of Christ is going to happen but it’s timing is not within the purview of God’s will for humanity, but is in reality part of the secret counsels of His will. If we were to know, we would probably behave badly, act faithlessly, and no doubt try to figure out a way to profit from it. We need to trust God that there are some things we are not intended to know and that it is for our well-being.
2. Good, solid, life-giving interpretation of the Bible is not done in a vacuum. William Miller ignored a legacy of nearly two millennia of Bible teaching to come up with his views. It is always good to read the word for oneself and as a Christian you have every right to expect the Holy Spirit’s assistance in understanding. But the New Testament clearly teaches that the Church will have expert teachers to explain the scriptures. This doesn’t mean everyone is right about everything but it does mean that over time consensus does build about certain ideas and wisdom would dictate it to be prudent to at least consider the teaching of others.
3. When a man goes out on a limb and makes a prediction in the name of the Lord the standard of the Bible is 100% accuracy or the person is a false teacher. I personally believe Miller had good intentions and motives and actually tried to avoid this pitfall. But to the other side of the equation, many people who claim “God spoke to me that this is going to come to pass….” Often equivocate when it doesn’t and spiritualize it in some sense. It’s a nice, face-saving gesture (and of course saves the Lord from embarrassment at the same time!) but it needs to be seen for what it is: a bad mistake and presumptuous behavior. This needs public confession if it was a public statement, and needs to be repented of nor recycled as a ‘spiritual event’.