Astounding Errors: The Prophetic Message of the Seventh-day Adventists and the Chronology of Pastor C. T. Russell in the Light of History (1914)
ASTOUNDING ERRORS
THE PROPETIC MESSAGE OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS AND THE CHRONOLOGY OF PASTOR CHARLES T. RUSSELL CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE DATE DUE
MR16105W2
INTERLIBRARY LOAN
FEB 15 1979 F
APR 10 1997
GAYLORD
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
BX6124 .N99 Cornell University Library
3 1924 029 459 439
olin
Cornell University Library
The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text.
Auron Ryman ASTOUNDING ERRORS
THE PROPHETIC MESSAGE OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS AND THE CHRONOLOGY OF PASTOR C. T. RUSSELL IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORY AND BIBLE KNOWLEDGE
BY
AARON NYMAN
Copyright, 1914, by Aaron Nyman.
Introduction
I have been requested by the author of the present volume to write a few introductory words, and I do it gladly because this book contains a great deal of truth, and because I have known the author for a number of years.
This is chiefly a polemical book, directed as the title indicates against two religious heresies, the Seventh-day Adventism and the Russellism (Millennial Dawn), which for several years have made a considerable propaganda and won many converts in this and other lands. In common with other protestant denominations they believe in the inspiration of the Bible, salvation from sin and the necessity of living a pure and holy life. But they differ from other Christian bodies in believing as the Adventists do that the world is coming to an end in this generation, that only they have a correct understanding of the prophecies in the Bible, that all other churches are backslidden and totally depraved, referring to them as Babylon, etc., and that they themselves are the one hundred and forty-four thousand who shall be glorified when Christ returns and go with him to heaven for one thousand years. Pastor Russell teaches that Christ returned in 1874 and that the time of the gentiles will come to an end and restitution of all things commence in 1914 or 1915. Since these denominations carry on a constant warfare against other churches and exist principally on the recruits they can make from them, thereby using means, which are neither Christian nor honorable, then we think it is time that someone stands up and shows not only how insidious their attacks are but also how utterly false the foundation is for their claims.
There are chiefly two doctrinal views held by the Adventists which deserve special attention, viz., that Mrs. White, the present leader of the movement, is an inspired prophetess, that her visions and revelations have the same divine authority as those of the Old Testament prophets, and that Jesus shall return to the earth in this generation, in spite of his own declaration that no man knows the hour of his coming.
Against these suppositions the author has directed a tremendous attack. He shows with irrefutable arguments from the Bible, history and science that their prophetic message is false and that the doctrines built upon such a foundation is without any value whatever. Mr. Nyman points out that the Adventists have misunderstood the prophecy of the 2,300 days and seventy weeks in Daniel's eighth and ninth chapters as well as the interpretation of "the little horn," and that they therefore have jumped at false conclusions. In his treatment of "the little horn," showing that it cannot be Rome, politically or ecclesiastically, he has many learned scholars on his side; and the views that the seventy weeks begin B.C.457 and end with the crucifixion he rejects, because it is laboring under serious difficulties. Although no entirely satisfactory interpretation of this passage (Dan.9:24-27) appears yet to have been found, the author offers a solution that seems very probable. Whether the reader is willing to accept the conclusions Mr. Nyman has set forth or not; the author has given us the benefit of much painstaking study that any Bible student may derive profit from. Therefore this book has a special exegetical value, apart from its nature of being a polemical work.
The supposition that Mrs. White is an inspired prophetess who has brought us a new light from the very throne of God is in itself so ridiculous that to state it is to refute it; but the author has put the prophetess and her visions under the microscope, and shown in the minutest details how arrogant these claims are.
It is surprising that a business man who must work daily for the support of himself and his family has had the time and ability to investigate so difficult problems as these.
He certainly cannot have done it for material gain, but in interest of those who have been brought under the harsh legalism of the Adventists. As he has, for some time, been a member of this denomination, he is familiar with their way of reasoning and working; and therefore he is able to speak with the authority that he has done.
The language in this book may not be the king's English, as there are many indications that the book is a translation from another language; but it is clear enough for any reader who is trying to find the truth.
Nyman has been a soldier in his younger days, and he is a sharpshooter still who levels his gun with a deadly aim, and he generally hits the mark. His book has a certain mission to fulfill and we wish for it a large circle of readers.
C. G. Wallenius.
A. N.
Contents
Page Preface 9
CHAPTER I.
Beginning of the Advent Movement...11
Faith With or Without Foundation...13
Can You Find Truth From These Terms?...14
All True Science Is in Harmony With God...15
How Much Truth Will You Accept?...15
A Verse That Ought to be Practiced More...16
How the Adventists Will be Treated in This Book...19
The Founder of Their Mistake...20
CHAPTER II.
Mrs. Ellen G. White... 24
Mrs. White's Conversion... 25
Mrs. White's Prophecy of W. Miller... 28
Mrs. White Has Now Found the Right Time... 32
Another Errror by Mrs. White... 33
Error Is Slow in Dying... 36
The Marriage of Jesus. His Receiving a Great Kingdom.
Prophecy of the Ten Virgins Fulfilled in 1844... 37
Mrs. White Does not Write Her Own but God's Thoughts... 38
Are the Adventists Willing to Defend Their Prophetess... 39
The Door of Grace was Shut, A. D. 1844... 44
Mrs. White Sees Satan Before the Throne of God... 48
The Great Error of Going to Jerusalem to Convert the Jews.. 53
Pork Is a Nourishing Food... 54
False Prophecies Concerning Our Nation... 56
Satan Takes Part in the Atonement... 62
Mrs. White Is a False Guide... 63
Was the Plan of Salvation Laid After the Fall?... 65
Superstition in First Degree... 67
Mrs. White's Visions of the Deliverance of God's People... 71
Who Is According to the Adventists, the Spirit of Prophecy?... 74
The Writer Is Getting Tired of Mrs. White's Illusions... 84 What the Bible Teaches of the Testimony of Jesus the Spirit of Prophecy ...
Fulfilled Prophecies... 87
Do All Go Out in Sin Who Leave the Adventists?... 95
"Mrs. White Has Not Pretended to Be Perfect"... 96
Letter From the Auther to Mrs. White... 101
CHAPTER III.
Private Letters to the Adventist Papers and to the Swedish Congregation of Seventh-day Adventists in Chicago, and Also to Private Individuals...102
Letters to the Swedish Seventh-day Adventist Church in Chicago and to Two of the Denomination’s Paper...108
The Untenable Position of the Adventists Is Held Up to the Public...112
Letter From S. Mortenson Concerning a Debate...116
The Real Foundation of the Prophetic Message of the Seventh-day Adventists...134
CHAPTER IV.
The Eighth Chapter of Daniel’s Book...140
Is the Little Horn a Person or a Kingdom?...145
How Should the Little Horn Grow?...147
Antiochus’ First Attack on Jerusalem...154
An Unanswerable Argument...163
Illustration to Dan. 8: 23...165
What Follows If the Numbers B. C. 457 and A. D. 1844 Are Found to Be Wrong?...178
Closing Words to Daniel’s Eighth Chapter...181
The Adventists Untenable Exposition of Daniel’s Ninth Chapter...182
CHAPTER V.
Eleventh Chapter of the Book of Daniel...189
CHAPTER VI
Twelfth Chapter of the Book of Daniel...229 CHAPTER VII.
The Seventy Weeks in Dan. 9: 24-27...251
What Is Possible and What Impossible Concerning the
Seventy Weeks, Four Hundred and Ninety Years?...253
An Illustration to Help Us Understand the Subject...254
A False Explanation of the Anointed Prince Spoken of In
Dan. 9: 24-27...269
Is There Only One Anointed Prince Spoken of In Dan.
9: 24-27?...272
We Will Now Explain the Prophecy In Dan. 9: 24-27 With
Biblical, Historical and Scientific Facts...277
A New Book On Daniel...296
CHAPTER VIII.
A New Reformer...297
Pastor Charles T. Russell’s Great Error In Daniel’s Eighth
Chapter...297
CHAPTER IX.
Errors Concerning Daniel’s 11th Chapter...312
Pastor Russell’s Astounding Errors In the 11th Chapter...312
CHAPTER X.
A Mistake of Eighteen Year’s In the Chronology of Pastor
Russell...340
CHAPTER XI.
A Warning to the Adventist Preachers...344
Warning to the Seventh-day Adventist Preachers and Their
People...371
CHAPTER XII.
Let the People Know the Truth...396
Appendix...405 Preface
After careful deliberation, and in order to keep a clear conscience before God I have published this book; and in preparing the same I have had especially two objects in view:—
To show every Seventh-day Adventist his great mistake in the prophecies. The foundation which they believe to be unshakable will be proven to be false according to the Bible, history and science, and will sooner or later be overthrown.
I intend to prove to other readers outside of the Adventist communion, who desire information, the correct interpretation of Dan. 8th, 9th, 11th, and 12th chapters.
In order to understand the book of Daniel it is necessary to be familiar with the general history of the world. Daniel predicts what is going to happen, history when it did happen. To find the truth it becomes necessary to draw right conclusions from the facts of history and apply them correctly to the times and peoples mentioned in the book.
The Adventists have at this writing (1912) for sixty-eight years proclaimed a message, to which they have given several names, viz.: The Third Angel's Message (Rev. 14:6-12); The Prophetic Message; The Last Message of Grace; The Saving Message, etc., indicating that the prophecy is for the believers.
They claim they have proved to the world that the second coming of our Lord is near at hand, and have had the audacity to call their teachings "the present truth," yea, the whole truth. When anyone departs this life, the death notices inform us, that the deceased died believing in the present truth, and also state when he accepted it. To believe in their doctrines means life according to the Adventists. But when anyone finds out, that their doctrines are wrong and leaves them, then he has abandoned "the present truth," and is considered as an enemy, having fallen from grace.
Members, who have left the Adventists, and who may be ever so godly, waiting for the coming of the blessed Lord, are excluded by the Adventists from the fold of Christ and are treated as enemies. We believe with St. Paul it is expedient to preach all the word of God, and among other doctrines also that of the second coming of Christ, one of the most glorious truths of the Gospel; but in doing so we should not base our preaching on a false foundation as we are going to show that the Adventists have done.
If these prophecies were not in perfect accord with historical facts, we could not do anything else but either believe or reject them; they would simply become a matter of faith. But now they are not based on our faith only, but upon biblical and historical facts. If, therefore, the reader wishes to familiarize himself with the contents in this book, let him take sufficient time to study it carefully with the Bible and the diagrams on the last pages of the book.
If he should encounter any points that are contrary to his previous belief, he should not pass hasty judgment, but study them over and over with this end in view, to find the truth.
Seventh-day Adventists of all shades! For your own welfare, lay aside the spirit of prejudice and seek the truth with reference to this subject and you will find that your prophetical structure has never had any real foundation, but has been, and is still, built upon sand.
My greatest desire is to make my arguments so plain and clear that anyone should be able to grasp and understand them. Then I have reached the goal to which I have been aiming. Even if I had the ability to express my thoughts in elegant and polished phrases I would refrain from doing so. When the common and plain reader understands what is said, the present writer will feel that he has succeeded in his efforts.
AARON NYMAN.
Beginning of the Advent Movement
The Founder of This Movement Was William Miller, Who
Misinterpreted the Prophecies of Daniel, and Built His
Doctrine on a Supposition Without Evidence.
The cause of all religious fanaticism is ignorance. As knowledge is power, so ignorance is the mother of various religious follies, fanaticisms and superstitions. One sect surpasses the other in its peculiar ideas. Such people know everything. They are always ready to condemn those who differ from them in religious questions. If they only can get a leader they are ready to follow him whithersoever he leads. Evidences and arguments for what one shall believe are not required. Take everything they say for granted.
I wish to submit some proofs of the foregoing statement:
The "Kansas City Star" for August 30, 1911, contained a story of a party from Findlay, Ohio, who had been informed by their leader that they must be baptized in secret water in order to receive secret power, and therefore it was necessary for them to go to California. To obtain the required funds they sold their houses and farms thus raising the amount of ten thousand dollars. The money was deposited with the leader who at the arrival to their destination suddenly absconded and found a hiding place, as it was believed, somewhere in Pennsylvania. The party consisted of twenty-six persons. Another party were ready to follow the first one, but had to send their money to help their deluded brethren in California.
A sect calling themselves "waterwalkers" pretends that its members can walk on the water.
Some people in the South made a trial of walking on water in 1911, but all were drowned. One of the leaders said at a meeting, that if they had met an accident at sea they would have been able to walk on the water. There was seemingly some reason in this. Then it happened that some members went out on a lake excursion. The boat sprang a leak. All came into the water. Now they had a fine opportunity to show their ability to walk on the wet element; but not one could keep himself above the surface. They all went down.
July 14, 1912, I read of a party from Kamsack, Canada, who had heard from a preacher that Christ had come down somewhere on the prairies of western Canada to fetch a prepared people. But it was necessary to meet him in the costume our first parents had in Eden. Clothes and money were burnt the same night and with as little apparel as possible they set out to meet Christ. The Northwest Mountain police received word about it and started out with blankets to protect them. Some were taken to jail, and others were sent to Veregin, where they had their headquarters.
In the "Chicago Daily News" for Jan. 26, 1912, we read that thirty fanatical women from Lodz in Russian Poland had chosen a certain man for their Saviour, whom they also worshipped as the Son of God. Soon the idea struck them that he should be crucified; if he could rise again on the third day he must be the right one. The man refused to concede to their wishes. Then his adherents stormed the house, and if the police had not interfered no one could predict what would have happened.
When William Miller, the founder of Adventism, began to preach the second coming of Christ he was ignorant of the Word of God. We have no objection to the preaching of this doctrine, but he started from a mistaken ground. He even went so far as to set the time on two different occasions.
Several thousand followed him, most of them belonging to the ignorant class. "International Cyclopedia," Vol. I, page 112.
FAITH WITH OR WITHOUT FOUNDATION.
Reason is the most valuable gift that God has given us. When the light of reason is extinguished the victim is a burden to himself and others. Several times I have seen insane people who have been out for an airing. What a sight! One is ready to exclaim, "My God, whatever be my lot in this life, let me keep my reason!"
The mind should be cultivated. In 2 Peter, 1st chapter, we read that God "hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Christ." Here are also mentioned nine different kinds of fruits. If we want to become possessors of these fruits and be partakers of divine nature we must aim to obtain knowledge of God. If we lack these fruits Peter says we are blind and cannot see afar off.
We should learn to think for ourselves. We should dare to think. Just think, how many there are who believe what others have said without understanding in the least. Let not other people so hedge in your mind that all your thoughts belong to somebody else. To take other people's thoughts is good if they are true and throw any light upon the desired questions. If you do not dare to think for yourself but set your mind aside, your opinions will be those of some other person. If his opinion is wrong, and you take it without investigation, you will also have a wrong opinion.
Let us use our understanding and think freely as well as correctly. Should you become a freethinker it matters not, if you don't become an atheist.
It happens frequently that people ask us what we believe in regard to a certain question.
Formerly I used to give a ready answer and was always sure I was right. Lately my answer is, that it is of very small importance what I believe, but what I know. We may believe one thing and be sure in our belief, but if our belief is without a foundation in fact or science it does not amount to very much. And the things I know I don't need to believe.
CAN YOU FIND TRUTH FROM THESE TERMS?
"Both periods of time shall begin there."—"If this view is correct, then it is so."—"We think it is so."—"If it is as we believe, then it is right."—"Without any doubt it is meant prophetic time."—"According to our opinion it belongs here or there."—"If we are right, now, then the Turk becomes the King in the North."—"If this application is correct, then the time of the end commenced A. D. 1798."
But when we now will prove to you, that the end of the time is not A. D. 1798, that the end of time has nothing whatever to do with 1798, are you then willing to accept the truth and admit that your application is wrong?
The whole doctrine of the Adventists is built on "ifs" and "buts," suppositions, imaginations, fancies and assertions. It has gone so far that they don't think it is necessary to examine the foundation.
If one of their number comes to the conclusion, that one-half times one-half equals one, then it is so. But let us think a little. If one-half times one-half is not one, what then? Many have discussed the question how much one-half times one-half makes, and said it is one, of course. If this problem were a matter of faith, you could not do anything with it. But arithmetic is a science and "figures do not lie," therefore they may be examined and the one who is right can prove his statement.
And the same thing can be said about the foundation, upon which the Adventists have built their message. It can be proved with mathematical certainty that it is absolutely wrong and rests only upon the loose suppositions of some mistaken leaders. It is my intention to point out in this book, that their message does not correspond with the certain and well known facts of the Bible and history, and I advise every reader to think over and study carefully each statement, before drawing any conclusions. I do not promise to send out a book that is perfect, errors may occur, but let the reader apply the exhortation of St. Paul, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
ALL TRUE SCIENCE IS IN HARMONY WITH GOD.
As a rule a number of good people mistake true science for worldly wisdom which the apostle warns against. When you try to prove to them from history that their suppositions are wrong, they often answer that for God everything is possible, because it says so in the Bible. But there are in fact many things that God cannot do. It is just as impossible for him as for you and me to make two times two anything but four. He can do a miracle today if he so desires, but to make two times two equal anything else but four would not be a miracle. That would simply be an untruth or a falsehood. Lying doesn't require miraculous power, folks have been able to do that a long time. But God cannot lie. All truth must be in harmony with itself.
HOW MUCH TRUTH WILL YOU ACCEPT?
All truth is valuable from whatever source it comes. But unfortunately there are many people who dare not believe in anything that is not subscribed to or promulgated by their own denomination.
Their church is inspired, she alone has the truth, everyone else is in the wrong. If they find that their theology does not harmonize with the Bible or history, then these sources must be changed, because their theology must be correct. But is it not a better method to investigate the questions in doubt, and if you find that your theology is wrong, do not fear to accept the truth. Truth will be victorious at last, no matter what position you take in regard to it.
A Seventh-day Adventist pastor, whose eyes were opened in regard to the question of the Sanctuary, began to show others their mistakes. He was excluded from their communion. One of his former colleagues said to him lately, "I know you are right, my brother, but if I should commence to preach this I would be expelled, and what should I then do?"
Ministers of the Gospel! We sympathize with you if you have to lose your daily bread because you speak the truth. But fear not. Truth is worth more than anything else. Preach the truth and you will have bread enough. In Rev. 21:8 we read of a sinful company among whom are counted the "fearful." The Lord does not compromise.
A VERSE THAT OUGHT TO BE PRACTICED MORE.
Heb. 5:14 has something to say about strong meat belonging to them that are of full age, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. With St. Paul we say, we are not perfect but are reaching forth unto those things which are before.
Of what use is our reading if we do not understand what we read, or if we are receiving a wrong impression of the word? It is by far better to get the right meaning. The way of salvation is plain and simple, it is true, so a wayfaring man can see it.
But when theological disputes are to be settled the Bible is no easy book to comprehend. Even those, who make the greatest ado about the Spirit who shall lead them, have made great mistakes. Those who claim to be in possession of the whole truth, only show their ignorance. The Bible has many different versions and has been differently translated, giving various meanings of the same verse. The pertinent question often arises, "Which is the correct meaning?"
"Believe all," some say. No, we want the facts. Then it is good to have the senses exercised by reason of use to discern between good and evil. I have often been attacked as one who falsifies the Bible when I call attention to some of its discrepancies.
Let me quote some examples.
Take for instance the story of David's sinful treatment of Uriah and his wife Bath-Sheba (2 Sam. 11). In 1 Kings 15:5 we see, that David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as he lived, save only in the matter of Uriah. In the first book of Chronicles (21:1) it says that Satan provoked David to number Israel, and in 2 Sam. 24:1 it is plainly stated that it was the Lord who moved David to number Israel and Judah. And a little further on (verse 10), "David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done." There is certainly reason to inquire, how can this be?
God had forbidden Israel to go in to see the ark when the holy things are covered lest they die (Num. 4:20). When the ark was brought to Beth-she-mesh (1 Sam. 6:19) it is said that the Lord killed fifty thousand and three score and ten men, because they had looked into the ark. Now history tells us that this particular place never had over five thousand inhabitants. This passage should read fifty princes and three score and ten men.
In Luke 17:20 the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God should come, and he answered (v. 21), the Kingdom of God is within you. One D. D. wrote in a paper that this is meant the disciples, but that is to falsify the text. Other commentators say that it should read, "The Kingdom of God is among you." By reason of use we now discern between right and wrong and say, the Kingdom of God was not in the Pharisees but among them. And the Kingdom of God is neither in the modern Pharisees who attack me for calling their attention to these things.
Bitter contentions have been going on regarding the meaning of Isaiah 9:6, the child that was born, the son that was given. Most people admit that this has reference to Christ. But then his name is The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. It is impossible that Jesus can be mighty God and everlasting Father, when God himself is it. One commentator suggests the following reading, "The one in council wonderful and mighty God and everlasting Father shall call him Prince of Peace." Then there is only one everlasting God and Father. To this I say; Amen; the reader may think what he pleases.
The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (chapter 9) has placed the golden censer within the vail in the Holiest of all. This is an error. In an Adventist paper they had got the censer in two different places in the same issue. If you tell them this is impossible, you distort the Scripture.
Of Stephen we read in the 6th chapter of the Acts, that he was full of faith and the Holy Ghost, grace and power; but in his address before the Council he made several errors. In chapter 7 he says, "Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran (Haran), and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred .
. . Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans." Abraham did not come out from his kindred and from the country of the Chaldaeans; for his father Terah went out from there with his kindred and Abraham went with his father (Gen. 11:31). Terah was seventy years old when Abraham was born (Gen. 11:26). Abraham was seventy-five when he came out of Charran (Gen. 12:4). Terah was therefore seventy plus seventy-five, or one hundred and forty-five years when Abraham left Charran. When Abrahams father had died, Stephen says, Abraham came out of Charran. But in Gen. 11:32 we are informed that Terah was two hundred and five years when he died in Charran. The difference between two hundred and five and one hundred and forty-five is sixty. Abraham could not attend his fathers funeral sixty years before the latter was dead. We believe therefore that Terah lived sixty years after Abraham had left Charran, that the Old Testament is reliable here and that Stephen was wrong or there may have been some error in the translations.
Is it fair to accuse a person of distorting the Scripture because he shows that some parts do not harmonize?
HOW THE ADVENTISTS WILL BE TREATED IN THIS BOOK.
If the leaders of this sect should be dealt with according to their merits this would be an astounding book. But we will leave them to him who says, "Vengeance is mine." A number of smaller treatises have been published against various mistakes in their system, or showing them where they are wrong, so there is no excuse for their ignorance. And if any of their professors, preachers or members tried to open the eyes of the believers, their answer has invariably been, "We have the whole truth. Out with him who does not think like we do.
Mrs. White is an inspired and true prophetess." And as long as they adhere to this belief neither God nor man can do anything for them. Not to believe in her visions means eternal damnation. This the deluded people believe and are therefore bound in fetters. Fortunately there are some who begin to doubt her inspiration; and if it is in my power to throw some light upon their path out of ignorance and superstition I shall consider myself well repaid for my efforts.
Fifteen years ago there appeared a small book by J. Nyquist on the eighth and eleventh chapters of Daniel's prophecy which are the real foundation of their doctrines. When glancing over the pages the first time, I found an expression which alone is powerful enough to sound the deathknell over their doctrine. It made me ashamed not to have thought of that before. This book has been criticized by their preachers; but they have not seen that it is sufficient to demolish their interpretation of the prophecies. They well deserve the epithet "leaders of the blind." Most of their people burn the books of other authors. They cry, This is Babylon, Babylon!
I shall return to the fatal argument later on.
THE FOUNDER OF THEIR MISTAKE
is William Miller, a farmer, who was born at Pittsfield, Mass. 1781, and died 1849. He enjoyed but slender educational advantages. During the war of 1812 he served as a volunteer with the rank of captain. About 1833, while a resident of Low Hampton, N.Y., he began his career as an apostle of a new doctrine, which taught that the world would come to an end in 1844. The main argument on which he rested his belief was Daniel 8:14, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." This passage he misunderstood. We will here only state his arguments and postpone the refutation of the same till later on.
The ninth chapter of Daniel relates that the prophet was engaged in prayer. While he was speaking and praying the angel Gabriel came forth and announced that he was sent from God to give him skill and understanding. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city," the angel said (v. 24). In the following verse we read that this time should begin at the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, etc. One day means one year in Daniel's chronology. Seventy weeks are thus 490 years, Miller thought that this commandment went forth in the seventh year of the Persian king Artaxerxes, when he sent Ezra up from his captivity, to restore the Jewish polity at Jerusalem (Ezra 7) in the year 457 B. C., and that there was no other prophetic time from which to cut off the 490 years than from the 2,300 days. He therefore dated these two periods from the year 457 B. C. He ended the 490 years (or seventy weeks) in A. D. 33 with the crucifixion of Christ and the 2,300 days ended A. D. 1843. He thought furthermore that the earth was the sanctuary to be cleansed by fire according to 2 Pet. 3:10, 12.
No one doubts that Miller was a sincere and honest reasoner, a humble and devoted Christian man; but he was impervious to any argumentation that contradicted his set opinions.
A conference was held in Boston, Oct. 22-24, 1840. Miller was present. Dr. Ward was elected chairman. He called Miller aside and asked him not to fix a certain time for the second coming of Christ, according to Mark. 13:32, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." Other members of the conference said the same: How do you pretend to know the time when the Son and the angels do not know it? Nothing could change his opinion. He went home and preached as before.
Religious fanatics always claim a great measure of God's Spirit. The Spirit will make up for the lack of knowledge. But they forget that the Spirit leads according to the word.
A person who can make such a mistake as this will commit any blunder. There is not a sound thought in his doctrine. The 2,300 days are not years. They did not begin 457 B.C and did not end A.D.1843.The earth is not the sanctuary. This I intend to prove to the satisfaction of any whose mind is open for conviction.
If Miller had used his reason for ten minutes he would have thought, The power which is represented by the little horn in Dan. 8:9 should cast down the place of the sanctuary at the beginning of the 2,300 days. If the earth is the sanctuary, does history record that this power cast down the earth 457 B.C.? No, history does not know any sanctuary which was cast down the year 457.
The power which was to destroy the sanctuary should appear, according to the angel, toward the end of Alexander's divided kingdom (Greece). It is proved that this time was between 176-30 B.C. This power could no more destroy the sanctuary 457 B.C. (281 years before its beginning) than Miller could preach the second coming of Christ in the year 1498, or 281 years before he was born.
But nevertheless the "History of Advent Message" is bold enough to declare on page 596 that this is God's truth as sure as the Bible. There is no possibllity of a mistake this time. Those who reject this light are lost. Those who do not accept these arguments are reprobates.
When a person will contradict the plain statements of the Word of God, we think that he has no message from the Lord and that he is not led by God's Spirit, no matter how sincere are his intentions.
"It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has set within his own authority." (Acts 1:7.)
"I know the time," says Miller; "1843 is the right time. I have calculated that Christ shall return then."
The predicted year went by, but Miller's calculation was wrong. Then he and his followers made the great discovery that the commandment was given late in the year 457 B.C., and accordingly the end of time could not occur before late in the fall of 1844.
Jesus says, "No man knoweth the day."
Miller said, "Now we know the day with certainty; it is Oct. 22,1844. There is no mistake about it this time. He who does not believe this is lost."
There is no need of proving that this message also was false—the Lord has not come in these sixty-eight years since then.
When 1844 had gone by, Miller and most of the Adventists admitted they were mistaken; Miller himself being honest enough to make a public statement to that effect, saying that it was wrong and dishonest to deny the facts. ("Hist. of the Second Advent Message," page 383.)
As we have seen, Miller did the right thing to admit his error, when his calculations had failed. But the Adventists took up his false way of reasoning and have gone further than he did. They still insist that the 2,300 days are just so many years, beginning 457 B.C. and ending A.D.1844. If these dates are false, then their whole doctrinal system is crumbling to the ground with all they have built thereon.
We are going to prove with unalterable facts that these two dates are resting upon a loose and shaky foundation.
Mrs. Ellen G. White
Conclusive Proofs, Showing That Her Prophecies are False and Deceptive.
Superstition and theological mistakes are slow in dying, because there is generally someone ready to stand up and defend the originator even when he is defeated. In this case the instrument was a young girl, Miss Ellen Harmon, now Mrs. Ellen G. White. Because she has with her visions and hallucinations misled these people she is the principal cause of their numerous mistakes. She has published several books, some of them good. But when it comes to interpretation of the prophecies, their special message to the world, there is no end to her superstition and follies. As she has played the most important part in the propaganda, we will have occasion to refer to her frequently in this book. We will begin with a short biography of this remarkable woman.
Mrs. Ellen G. White was born in Gorham, Maine, Nov. 26, 1827. Her parents moved later to Portland, where they were members of the Methodist Church. At the age of nine she met with an accident in which she suffered the fracture of the nasal bone, preventing her breathing through the nostrils for a couple of years.
Depressed at heart on account of this calamity it seemed impossible for her to continue her studies, and she attended school but little. Her nervous system was so weak, that the hand trembled when she was writing and while reading her forehead was dampened by perspiration. Following the advice of her physician she stayed out of school for two years. After taking up studies again her condition grew worse; so she was compelled to leave school at the age of twelve.
This is a condensed story of her life, taken from the book "Early Writings," given under the heading "My Youth."
MRS. WHITE'S CONVERSION.
In March, 1840, W. Miller made his first visit to Portland, Me., and delivered lectures on the prophecies, that Jesus was coming again to the earth A.D.1843.His statements found a fruitful soil in her heart,and although her experience of conversion was fluctuating up and down she finally believed that her sins were pardoned. But this excellent experience did not last long before she fell in despair again.
While in this despondent condition she had a dream, in which she saw a temple. Those who sought protection there were saved. She entered the temple, but was seized with fear and shame over the fact that she had to humble herself before the people who were there. When she awoke she thought that the Spirit of God had departed from her, never to return again.
When Miller preached that the Lord should return in 1844, she says, "Miller gave a careful and convincing exposition of the prophecies. The year 1842 Miller came to Portland again. Several of the ministers of the city pointed out Miller's heresy, but he brought out so clear and convincing truths and supported his statements with biblical arguments, and an irresistible power accompanied the word, so many received the impression that he presented the truth."
Now let us reason a little. Miller came to Portland in 1840 and in 1842.Mrs. White was born,1827,therefore she was thirteen and fifteen years old when she heard these sermons. We ask, How much does a thirteen or fifteen-year old girl know of the prophecies of Daniel, when the Adventists after sixty-eight years of meditation do not understand them in spite of the fact that they have several learned men among them?
And besides the Adventists, there are many scholars who admit that they stand baffled before many of their hidden meanings.
In order to understand Daniel's book it is necessary to be thoroughly familiar with the history of the Bible lands and understand the chronology of this writer. Lacking in these qualifications no one will understand him. It is already clear to the reader that Miller did not have enough knowledge, and Mrs. White much less,a frail girl who had left the school at the age of twelve.
Miller believed without a reasonable foundation; the Adventists have believed Miller and Mrs. White without investigating their foundation.
Miller's doctrine that Christ was to return to the earth in 1843 or 1844 proved to be a miserable failure, and it is evidence enough that Miller did not know his subject and had no convincing truth or power in his message. But he was sincere, and admitted his failure as an interpreter of the oracles of God. If his followers were as sincere as he, their prophetic message would cease in a month. Miller had none to show him what his mistake was; now there are many who are able and willing to do it.
When Miller was forced by the calendar to give up his belief Mrs. White took up his mantle. She knew it was right because it corresponded with the Bible, with this difference only that it was the sanctuary in heaven which should be cleansed. Miller did not understand that, she says in her book "Early Writings." My edition was published in 1885. She was then fifty-eight years old and should have known better than to insist that God had sent Miller. Let the Scripture decide the issue.
"When a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Jehovah hath not spoken." (Deut. 18:22.)
The thing which Miller prophecied did not come to pass, therefore the message was not from Jehovah.
If his hearers have no judgment, and the speaker enjoys the confidence of the public, everything he says is right. If he then can show that the Bible approves of his statements, he must be all right. But who cannot find support in the Bible for his opinions, no matter how inconsistent and impossible?
"We must resemble Christ in all," a man said to me once. I told him that is impossible and is not God's meaning either. The man was shocked. I said that if we should be as poor as he was we would freeze to death. "And you are not like Christ in everything," I added. "Yes, I am," was his reply. "But Christ was not married; you have both a wife and children," I answered. The fact of the matter is that we should be like Christ in all principles of righteousness.
A person once asked one of Dr. Dowie's preachers, why the doctor traveled in such elegant style in Chicago. Is that to be like Christ? The minister answered, "Have you not read that he became poor in order to make us rich?"
A man whom I know very well told me one day that he had heard a powerful sermon on a certain subject, when the speaker had proved with the Bible everything he said. One or two weeks after he heard another speaker on the same subject who spoke absolutely against the conclusions of the former. Then he said to me that he had seen the latter speaker many times filled with God's Spirit, but not to the same extent as this time, and proved all that he said with the Scripture.
What was the cause of the ridiculous and contradictory statements of this man? He had not a particle of judgment, and I am sorry to say he is in a numerous company. The truth in the matter is this, the former speaker preached what he thought without any real knowledge, and the latter said what he knew.
I heard his sermon and know that it would have been hard to disprove his arguments.
MRS. WHITE'S PROPHECY OF W. MILLER.
I have just finished a book, "Early Writings," by Mrs. White, which contains more superstition and fanaticism than I formerly would credit her with. Either one must leave Mrs. White and her experience or the Bible; it is impossible to hold both. "Early Writings" contains 295 pages. She says 351 times what she has seen, what God has shown to her. Her imagination is extremely productive. She mentions Satan 269 times, and what he has said and done. It is hard to understand that the Adventists try to defend her peculiar views in general, but it is incomprehensible that they really try to stand by her, even when her visions run in opposition to God's word.
Referring to W. Miller she says, "God directed the mind of Miller to the prophecies, and gave him great light upon the book of Revelation . . . and in the power of the Holy Spirit he opened the prophecies." "Early Writings", page 231.
"Angels of God accompanied Wm. Miller in his mission. He was firm and undaunted, fearlessly proclaiming the message committed to his trust. I saw that God was in the proclamation, of the time in 1843." Page 231. Miller's message was that Christ was to return 1843.
This she calls the message of the first angel. But the message of the first angel in Rev. 14,7 reads, "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come," and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." This verse does not say that Jesus should come, but Jesus says himself that the hour for the judgment of God had come (about A.D.90). Therefore it is clear, that the judgment Jesus speaks of had already come.
This is the judgment, that the light has come, not shall come in the future. Afterwards Jesus warns against false worship.
God sends no angels with him who goes out to preach error.
Did Mrs. White see that God was in the movement of 1843? We dare not make such accusations against the Lord. If God had given to Miller a special message and sent angels with him, he would not have preached the way he did.
How could she see that the Lord was in the movement of 1843? She had not had any vision yet. The first vision came 1845. ("Early Writings", page 13). And in this she sees that she is going to live until Christ's second coming; because on page 17 she says, "We all went under the tree, and sat down to look at the glory of the place, when Brethren Fitch and Stockman, who had preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, and whom God had laid in the grave to save them, came up to us and asked us what we had passed through while they were sleeping."
What she writes on pages 13-17 shows, that Jesus came and brought his people to the new earth, and that she was included without having to lie in the dust. Mrs. White is now past 85 years of age; but if she dies before Jesus comes, are the Adventists then willing to admit, that her first vision was a mistake?
Again she says, "Some left their field to sound the message, while others were called from their shops and their merchandise. And even some professional men were compelled to leave their professions to engage in the unpopular work of giving the first angel's message. Thousands were led to embrace the truth preached by Wm. Miller, and servants of God were raised up in the Spirit and power of Elijah to proclaim the message." ("Early Writings," pages 232, 233.) No one called them to leave their occupations to go out and preach errors.
They went owing to their deplorable ignorance and their superstitious beliefs. Can a preacher proclaim false doctrines in the Spirit and power of Elijah. It only seems so to those, who are ignorant in the Scripture and are lacking in the Spirit of Christ.
Again, "But these (false) shepherds stepped in between the truth and the people, and preached smooth things to lead them from the truth. They united with Satan and his angels, crying 'Peace, peace' when there was no peace."—"Ministers who would not accept this loving message themselves hindered those who would have received it. The blood of souls is upon them. Preachers and people joined to oppose this message from heaven."—"The most devoted gladly received this message. They knew that it was from God, and that it was delivered at the right time. Angels were watching with deepest interest the result of the heavenly message, and when the churches turned from and rejected it they in sadness consulted with Jesus. He turned his face from the churches, and bade his angels faithfully watch over the precious ones who did not reject the testimony, for another light was yet to shine upon them." Pages 234, 235.
If the preachers never before had done their duty, they did it now. Because the message was not from heaven. The ignorant who accepted it thought it was from God, but they believed without knowledge. Neither was it timely. The angels did not expect with interest to see errors. When the congregation turned away, they did their duty. And the Lord Jesus does not turn his face away from a congregation which refuses to accept foolish doctrines.
"I saw," she says again, "the people of God joyful in expectation, looking for their Lord. But God designed to provo them.
His hand covered a mistake in the reckoning of prophetic time." (Same page).
Miller had now preached the message of God from heaven during ten years. The angels of the Lord accompanied him on his mission, she says. The message was that Jesus should appear again on earth 1843. The time passed, and so they were forced against their asserted proofs from the Bible and history to admit that they were mistaken.
She continues, "Jesus and all the heavenly host looked with sympathy and love upon those who had with sweet expectation longed to see him whom their souls loved. Angels were hovering around them, to sustain them in the hour of their trial. Those who had neglected to receive the heavenly message were left in darkness, and God's anger was kindled against them, because they would not receive the light which he had sent them from heaven. Those faithful, disappointed ones, who could not understand why their Lord did not come, were not left in darkness. The hand of the Lord was removed from the figures, and the mistake was explained. They saw that the prophetic periods reached to 1844.—God designed to disappoint them." (Page 236.)
Thus the mistake that led to their disappointment was with God. Miller had in all his sincerity preached the message of God for a number of years. Faithful believers had believed and followed him. But God had hidden the figures with his hand, so it was impossible for anyone to find the truth, before God removed his hand. First to send a message and then cover it with his hand, that none could see it for a period of ten years, afterwards showing his wrath upon those who did not believe, this kind of reasoning is enough to make God a veritable arch hypocrite. To those who believed in God's strange dealings, though disappointed, God sent his angels to comfort them. That was indeed not too much, when he himself was made the cause of their sorrow.
But is this good logic?
MRS. WHITE HAS NOW FOUND THE RIGHT TIME.
In "The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan" we read, God in his providence ordered it so, that this message was coupled with the message of the second angel and added to its force.
And in "Early Writings", page 237, she says, "As the churches refused to receive the first angel's message, they rejected the light from heaven, and fell from the favor of God. They trusted to their own strength, and by opposing the first message placed themselves where they could not see the light of the second angel's message. But the beloved of God, who were oppressed, accepted the message, 'Babylon is fallen,' and left the churches."
The message of the second angel is found in Rev. 14:8, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
In "The Great Controversy" we are told, that since it was found that 1844 was the correct time when Jesus should come again and the believers were not permitted to bear testimony to this new discovery in the churches, the followers of Miller could no longer look upon them as Christian congregations. Therefore about 50,000 left the churches in the summer, 1844.
It is not at all surprising that these fanatics were silenced in the churches. Their testimony was of course that Christ was going to return this time 1844. This the churches refused to believe, and their opinion was the correct one, whereas the Adventists who left were disappointed again.
No congregation becomes a Babylon because it refuses to accept a false message. On the contrary it becomes such by accepting it.
ANOTHER ERROR BY MRS. WHITE.
As the Saviour did not come in 1843 some Adventists began to doubt their whole system. In "The Great Controversy" Mrs. White has written a chapter under the heading "Prophecies fulfilled," in which she lets us understand that the parable of the Ten Virgins was fulfilled between 1843-1844. (Matth. 25.) This the Adventists believe and preach to this day. One of their preachers who worked among them for some time chose this parable as text for a discourse in Chicago. But he did not agree with Mrs. White on this point. I remember clearly how the hearers signified their disapproval and afterwards accused him of heresy. God afterwards showed him that their views on the prophecies also were in contrast with God's word, so he took courage and found his way out of this place of torment.
Unmistakable signs indicated that the coming of the Lord was nigh.
"The coming of the Lord as announced by the first angel's message, was understood to be represented by the coming of the bridegroom. The widespread reformation under the proclamation of his soon coming, answered to the going forth of the virgins." ("The Great Controversy," page 393.)
"William Miller had no sympathy with those influences that lead to fanaticism. He declared with Luther, that every Spirit should be tested by the word of God. 'The devil,' said Miller, "has great power over the minds of some at the present day, There are many spirits gone out into the world; and we are commanded to try the spirits. The spirit of error will lead us from the truth." ("The Great Controversy," pages 396, 397.)
"While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, "Behold, the bridegroom; go ye out to meet him." Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
In the summer of 1844, midway between the time when it had been first thought that the 2,300 days would end, and the autumn of the same year, to which it was afterward found that they extended, the message was proclaimed, in the very words of Scripture, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh."
"This work was not founded on human wisdom and learning but upon the power of God. It had a persuasive power, and the "midnight cry" was proclaimed by thousands of believers."
"In like manner, Miller and his associates fulfilled prophecy and gave a message which inspiration had foretold should be given to the world, but which they could not have given had they fully understood the prophecies pointing out their disappointment, and presenting another message to be preached to all nations before the Lord should come. The first and second angel's messages were given at the right time, and accomplished the work which God designed to accomplish by them." Pages 398-405.
"An exceedingly bright and glorious light shone around those who had cherished the light which had been imparted to them. Their faces shone with excellent glory, and they united with the angels in the cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!" ("Early Writings", page 242.)
From these extracts of her writings we learn, that she taught, that the parable of the ten virgins in Matth. 25 was fulfilled. They were not mistaken in regard to the signs. Miller had no sympathy with fanaticism. She was convinced that Miller was led by the Spirit of truth, that the power of God accompanied the message. But as it appears from her interpretation, as though it was necessary for God to send Miller first with an erroneous message in order to get in another which possibly might be true. Near the end of the message of the second angel the poor woman has wrought herself up to such a certainty that she heard angels crying, "the Bridegroom cometh!"
We have not yet come to the end of 1844, and she has already said a dozen times at least,"I saw," "God has shown me" etc. But all her visions came since the time was passed. The first vision she had, according to her own statement, was 1845. It had reference to the future.
It is most likely that she had brooded over these things which had passed, and so she began to believe that what she thought about them came directly from the Lord. But this is in plain English self-deception.
With reference to the ten virgins in Matth. 25, we know with certainty,
That they all were slumbering and slept. But all were not slumbering in 1844. Your books testify truly against you. Mrs. White says that the assurance of pleasing their Saviour was of greater importance to them than their daily bread, and if their hearts were under any cloud they did not rest before the cloud was removed. When I read this I wrote in the margin, "That is the way it ought to be." Political papers had also this to say, "The Adventists have never been more awake than in 1844." The parable does not apply to the Adventists at that time; it fits in better now.
When the parable was fulfilled Jesus came. He did not come in 1844. When Jesus came the door was closed, the time of grace was gone. The door was not closed 1844, though Mrs. White said so. Thousands and thousands have been converted to God since 1844. Among them is the writer.
A TIME OF TRIAL.
God held his hand over the figure 1843 in order to conceal an error; but then he removed his hand and they saw immediately where the mistake was.
Jesus was not going to return to the earth before October 22,1844.Now they were sure, no possibility of a mistake now,because the word of God could not fail.The word did not fail either,but it was Miller's false chronology and Mrs. White's visions that failed and are a failure to this day.
October 22,1844,passed by the same way as other days, and another mistake was discovered: Jesus did not come. Their troubles increased and the jeering of the multitude was more pronounced than they had anticipated. Some became so offended on account of this defeat that they wished they could disappear from earth. Miller and others abandoned their peculiar notions, while others planned for an honorable retreat by new speculations.
ERROR IS SLOW IN DYING.
The principal error in their doctrinal system is that the 2,300 days in Dan. 8:14 are thought to be so many years, beginning in 457 B.C. and ending in A.D.1844. This view they retained as correct. When Jesus did not come to cleanse the earth, which they thought was the sanctuary, they hit upon the idea that he went into the holiest of all, accomplishing there the same work for his people which the high priest did in the Jewish sanctuary once a year. There Jesus has been officiating ever since, viz. 68 years. The period has been called "The Investigative Judgment."
The two greatest and most glaring mistakes they made in connection with Jesus' change from the holy to the holy of holies were, that Jesus had a marriage feast, when the parable of the ten virgins was fulfilled and that the door of grace was closed. When a whole denomination, as well as an individual, use subterfuges and fasify the meaning of their own writings, we can no longer consider them as honest men and women.
THE MARRIAGE OF JESUS. HIS RECEIVING A GREAT KINGDOM. PROPHECY OF THE TEN VIRGINS FULFILLED IN 1844.
Mrs. White says, "Jesus sent his angels to direct the minds of his disappointed ones to the most holy place, where he had gone to cleanse the sanctuary and make a special atonement for Israel. Jesus told the angels that all who found him would understand the work which he was to perform. I saw that while Jesus was in the most holy place He would be married to the New Jerusalem; and after his work should be accomplished in the holiest, He would descend to the earth in Kingly power." ("Early Writings", page 251.)
The marriage represents the reception by Christ of his Kingdom. The holy city, the new Jerusalem, which is the capital and representative of the Kingdom, is called "the bride, the Lamb's wife." Said the angel to John, "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." "He carried me away in the Spirit," says the prophet, "and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God." (Rev. 21:9,10.) Clearly then the bride represented the holy city, and the virgins that go out to meet the bridegroom are the symbols of the church. ("The Great Controversy," page 426.)
"I was shown what did take place in heaven at the close of the prophetic periods in 1844. As Jesus ended his ministration in the holy place, and closed the door of that apartment, a great darkness settled upon those who had heard and rejected the messages of His coming, and they lost sight of Him. Jesus then clothed Himself with precious garments. Around the bottom of His robe was a bell and a pomegranate. A breastplate of curious work was suspended from His shoulders. As He moved, this glittered like diamonds, magnifying letters which looked like names written or engraved upon the breastplate.
Upon His head was something which had the appearance of a crown. When fully attired, He was surrounded by angels, and in a flaming chariot He passed within the second vail. ("Early Writings", page 251.)
…