Advent Christian Church
Introduction
The Advent Christian Church is an evangelical denomination which grew out of the teachings of William Miller. Adherents to Miller’s teachings became known as Millerites. The denomination is based on William Miller’s prediction that Jesus Christ would return to earth around October 22, 1844. It was not his intention to start a new denomination, but rather, to proclaim the return of Jesus Christ. William Miller used the Bible especially the Books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation to predict the specific, but incorrect, date of the return of Christ.
The Advent Christian Church has it denominational office in Charlotte, North Carolina. There are regional offices around the United States. The Western office is located in Lewiston, Idaho, the central office is in St. Louis Missouri, the eastern office is in Rochester, New Hampshire, the Appalachian office is in Lenoir, North Carolina, and the southern office is held in Princeton, North Carolina. The denomination supports the Center for Advent Christian Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary located in South Hamilton, Massachusetts through the Berkshire Christian College. They hold membership in the National Association of Evangelicals, the Evangelical Foreign Missions Association, and the Evangelical Council for financial Accountability.
History
The Advent Christian Church was founded by William Miller who believed that the End Times were coming in his life time. He is also the founder of the Millerite movement.
William Miller was born at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on February 15, 1782. His mother was a devout Christian who taught William to read; and when he was sent to the common school, he could read from the Bible, Psalter, and an old Hymn Book, which are all books in the library of his father. At age four, his family moved to the town of Hampton, Washington County, New York. As an adult, William Miller declared he was an atheist and ridiculed the Christian faith. Miller said he had believed in a God, but could not believe the Bible was the actual Word of God.
Miller married at the age of twenty two and lived in Poultney, Vermont. He was commissioned as a captain in the United States Army until June 25, 1815 and moved to Low Hampton in 1816. He fought in the War of 1812; because he fought on the losing side, he realized the dreadfulness of war. He was converted from Deism; which is a belief in God based on reason rather than revelation, and involving the view that God has set the universe in motion but does not interfere with how it runs.
William Miller became a Baptist and dedicated himself to studying the Bible. He lived in northern New York as a farmer, a Baptist layman and an amateur student of the Bible. Miller became fascinated with the predicted Second coming of Christ and believed he could predict the date by studying the Old Testament, through the exegesis of the Books of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation. He based his theory that every day mentioned in the Bible represented of a year in the Book of Daniel. He specifically concentrated on Daniel 8: 14 “ And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” (Daniel 8:14). Daniel 8 refers to the description of the four apocalyptic visions. Miller knew this was to be two thousand and three hundred years. The start point to his countdown began in 457 B.C. when King, Artaxerxes, the Persian king, ordered the rebuilding of Jerusalem. His calculation was based on the Jewish calendar that Christ would return between March 21, 1843 and end on March 21, 1844.
The Millerites
William Miller was ordained as a Baptist preacher and built a temple which was dedicated in Boston in the early months of 1843. He preached his message of the Second Coming of Christ beginning on March 21, 1843 throughout the northeastern United States. Although he did not prophesy an exact date, he narrowed the time period between March 21, 1843 to March 21, 1844. There were a number of Baptist preachers who joined the Miller movement, but, most Baptist and other mainline Protestant Churches believed William Miller and his movement to be crazy. Yet, Miller was able to gain quite a large following.
On the last day for the fullfillment of prophesy, March 21,1844, the Millerite believers put on white ascension robes and faced eastward to wait for the Lord’s return. They believed that dead saints would arise and the children of God would be changed and caught up in the air to be united with Christ. There was a comet which came across the skies during this time which helped feed their frenzy with certainty of the return of Christ. They waited expectantly, but Christ’s did not return. March 22, 1844 became known as the “Great Disappointment.”
The disappointed Millerites demanded an explanation and Miller contributed the false prophecy date to a mathematical error. He readjusted the date for the return of Christ to October 22, 1844. October 23rd came and went and still no return of Christ. This time Miller did not give an excuse. He fell on the same explanation so many others have fallen to and that is the date of the return of Christ is meant to be taken literally, and not spiritually; he had made a simple mathematical mistake. He still held to the fact that Christ was still coming but he decided the exact date could not be determined.
Hiram Edson, pioneer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, claimed to have received a divine revelation that told him October 22 was the date when Christ was to begin cleansing Heaven. It would only be when Christ had finished this task that he could then begin to cleansing the earth. Because of this explanation, other groups started using other interpretations of ambiguous Bible passages. Those disappointed Millerites maintained their faith and in 1860 the remaining Millerites formed the Seventh Day Adventist Church. From the Seventh Day Adventists later came the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Today, there are modern Millerite branches that identify themselves as Evangelical Protestant Christians. The Advent Christian Church grew from the roots of the post-Great Disappointment group. There are also Millerites who have professed the Unitarian belief and deny the Trinity. The Seventh-day Adventists, founded by Ellen G. White, came to be formed after the October date passed without Christ’s return, which they explained in their doctrine as the pre-Advent Divine Investigative Judgment. Believers of the Baha’i faith uphold the signs and dates of Christ’s coming, and attribute it to the coming of their “Promised One” (the Bab), who began to openly teach in Iran in October 1844). Most Millerites groups emphasize some sort of element of the lost truth, such as laws on diet, the conditional immortality of the soul, and there are certain ordinances concerning the cutting of hair and wearing special clothing and fidelity to the Israelite race.
Prophesy Interpretation
The Advent Christian Church believes the return of Christ suggests the appointment of the Millennium. This Millennium is the conclusion of the age of the Church and the end of the world. They believe the return of Christ will be cataclysmic and replace the old order of things and think the conflict will be started when the antichrist appears and leads the world and the world’s religion into a great deception. They claim the Civil War, World War I and World War II, the Great Depression and the New Deal, and the Middle East wars are all examples of the antichrist in action. They think that only those Millerites who are able to correctly distinguish cataclysmic events and associate them with prophetic messages will be able to survive the coming Tribulation.
The mainstream Millerites within the Advent Christian Church believe that the true day of Sabbath is the key element for understanding the faithfulness of the church. They believe those who worship on Sunday are committing idolatry and have received the Mark of the Beast. The Advent Christian Church hold strict literal interpretation of the Bible, paying close interest to the present day fulfillment of prophecy. Prophecies of Scripture are regarded as having historical and future significance, with some specific Biblical prophecy yet to be fulfilled. The Advent Christian Church have a strong commitment to the separation of church and state.
Today, the largest Millerite group is the Seventh Day Adventist General Conference. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are the second largest group of Millerites. They share some features of doctrine and history of the Latter Day Saint Movement. There is no conclusive evidence that the Millerites and the Latter Day Saints have directly influenced each other. They both belong to the Restoration Movement. They both came out of the post-Revolutionary period and they were both born out of the same district of New York and during the same time. Joseph Smith, Jr. is the founder of the Mormonism and was murdered by a mob in 1844. The Advent Christian Church has it denominational office in Charlotte, North Carolina and rejects any claims made by the teachings of Ellen G. White.
Belief
The Advent Christian Church believes the Bible is the infallible rule of faith and practice. They believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God and in its entirety is a revelation that was given to man through Divine inspiration and is historically correct and the only Divine and infallible standard of faith and practice.
The Church believes in One God who is the Father of all things and all things are in Him. They believe that God the Father is eternal and infinite in His wisdom, love, and power. They believe God the Father is the Creator of all things.
The Advent Christian Church believes in one Lord Jesus Christ who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit and seen by angels. They believe Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God and was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. They believe Jesus Christ came into our world to seek and to save that which was lost and that Jesus Christ died our sins, was raised bodily from the dead for justification, ascended in heaven as our High Priest and Mediator, and who will come again in the end of this age, to judge the living and the dead, and to reign forever.
The Advent Christian Church believes salvation is accessible for anyone who repents, has faith, is faithful to God, and believes in the imminent return of Jesus Christ. They believe salvation in this life is received on easy and uncomplicated conditions that require a Believer to turn from sin, repent and turn to God, have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and serve God.
The Church believes Jesus Christ will come again personally and visibly in His own glory to this earth. They believe Jesus Christ will reign forever. They further believe the return of Jesus is the hope of the church. and is revealed fully through His resurrection. They expect Jesus Christ will reward the righteous, abolish sin and the consequences of sin, and renew the earth upon His coming, and the present-day earth will become the eternal home of those who are redeemed with the earth freed from sin and death.
The Advent Christian Church believes the prophecy in the Bible denotes the time of the return of Christ. They are confident the time is near according to the New Testament accounts in the Bible which testifies of the signs and wonders of the times.
They believe the Holy Spirit is the Comforter sent from God to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. They believe they are sanctified and sealed unto the day of redemption. The Advent Christian Church believes in one Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, bears witness of Jesus Christ, guides believers into all truth, declares all things that are to come, and bears witness of the children of God. They believe the children of God have fruit in all goodness, righteousness and truth.
The Advent Christian Church believes death is a condition of unconsciousness to all persons, righteous and wicked. This unconscious condition will remain unchanged until the resurrection at the Second Coming of Christ when the righteous will receive everlasting life and the wicked will be punished with everlasting destruction.
The Advent Christian Church believes in two ordinances consisting of the water baptism of believers by full immersion and the Lord’s Supper.
The Advent Christian Church is against war because it is contrary to the spirit and the teachings of Jesus Christ as well as the true spirit of brotherhood. They teach their congregants to respect those who choose to bear arms as well as those who refuse to bear arms. The Advent Christian Church believes the bible teaches the government is ordained of God and is the divine instrument for the welfare and the protection of man.
The Advent Christian Church believes the first day of the week is the proper day of worship and rejects the teachings of Ellen G. White.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Advent Christian Church: Evangelical Protestant: .” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2006.<https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2558,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006, January) “Advent Christian Church: Evangelical Protestant: .” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2558,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006) “Advent Christian Church: Evangelical Protestant: .” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2558, (accessed).
