By Sam Oliveira
Let’s take a quick look at some events that occurred throughout history that have led the Seventh-day Adventist denomination to where it is today. You will see on the timeline different events outlined throughout Adventist history showing how prophecy was very prevalent and at the forefront. To create this timeline of events, I researched different publications. Most of the information was found in the book Seeking a Sanctuary.
The first event is dating back to 1844. On October 22 of that year, followers of William Miller, founder of the Advent movement, were certain that Jesus was coming back that day. But when Christ didn’t show up, it led to what is known as The Great Disappointment.
In 1851, J.N. Andrews, a Adventist minister, wrote an article for the Adventist Review suggesting that America was not divinely favored, but rather the second, or two-horned beast that had risen from earth. Only three years later, J.N. Loughborough, an Adventist minister, in an article about the two-horned beast, referred to the earlier Sunday mail campaign as an example of the ease with which America could be coerced into enacting the Sunday law, which is a law that Adventist believe will be enacted shortly before Jesus’ Second Coming.
The Sunday law, as described by Adventist theologians, is meant to have all organized religions worship on Sunday, which goes against the Fourth Commandment requiring the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath as outlined in Exodus 20:8-12.
Then, in 1888, a book titled, The Great Controversy, was published. Written by Ellen G. White the denomination’s beloved prophetess and one of its co-founders, the book laid out end-time events in the context of the war between God and Satan.
All of the events that happened after the publishing of White’s book really caused Adventists to look at prophecy and eschatology a bit differently. They suddenly became very intrigued about political occurrences and natural disasters. A lot of what White mentioned in the book was occurring before their eyes. One of the major events that White writes about in the book correlated was the 9/11 terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhard make it clear in Seeking a Sanctuary that the wave of eschatology still takes Adventists by storm. However, the focus on prophecy does not seem to be as prevalent among younger Adventists as it among older ones.
So, what changed? Did we suddenly get tired of reading about it? Or did we dive in too deep and create a big stir only to be disappointed when some aspects of prophecy didn’t seem to materialize?
Next blog post, I will interview a fellow Millennial on his perspective of growing up with prophecy. We will uncover together how his upbringing was and how it may or may not have changed his views today.
