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Preface
ix
the Sabbathkeeping Adventists during the decade or two preceding
the first publication of the materials that appear here
.
[viii]
In the opening paragraphs Mrs. White makes brief reference to
her conversion and her early Christian experience. She tells also
of hearing lectures on the Bible doctrine of the expected personal
advent of Christ, which was thought to be near at hand. The great
Advent Awakening to which such brief reference is here made was
a movement worldwide in its outreach. It emerged as the result of
careful study of the prophetic scriptures on the part of many, and
the acceptance of the good news of the coming of Jesus by large
numbers of people throughout the world
.
The Great Advent Awakening
But it was in the United States that the Advent message was most
widely proclaimed and received. As Bible prophecies relating to
the return of Jesus were accepted by able men and women of many
religious faiths, a large following of earnest Adventist believers
resulted. It should be noted, however, that no separate and distinct
religious organization was formed. The Advent hope led to deep
religious revivals that benefited all the Protestant Churches and led
many skeptics and infidels to publicly confess their faith in the Bible
and in God
.
As the movement neared its high point in the early 1840’s, several
hundred ministers united in proclaiming the message. In the lead
was William Miller, who lived in the eastern edge of New York
State. He was a man of prominence in his community and engaged
in farming as a livelihood. In spite of a rich religious background, he
had grown skeptical in his youth. He lost faith in the Word of God
and adopted deistic views. While reading a sermon in the Baptist
Church one Sunday morning, the Holy Spirit touched his heart, and
he was led to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour. Miller set about to
study the Word of God, determined to find in the Bible a satisfactory
[ix]
answer to all his questions, and to learn for himself the truths set
forth in its pages
.
For two years he devoted much of his time to a verse-by-verse
study of the Scriptures. He determined not to take up the next verse
until he felt he had found a satisfactory explanation of the one he