October 22: Religious Disappointment and Rejoicing
On 22 October 1844, followers of Baptist minister William Miller gathered for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Jeri Holland and Michael Cohill explain that “Many quit their jobs and gave all of their possessions to nonbelievers in the days before October 22nd as a testimony to their faith. When the day came, the Millerites watched and prayed. Donning white ascension robes, many stood upon rooftops, anticipating a heavenly ride. As the midnight hour approached, the faithful were at peace with God. They spent the last hours in quiet solitude. Softly praying. Resting. Waiting.”
After he had a conversion experience in 1816, Miller studied the Bible for seven years. As a result of these studies, he concluded that Christ’s second coming would take place in 1843. Eventually, the date was set for 1844. Christ, however, did not appear as Miller had predicted and October 23 has become known as the “Great Disappointment.”
Followers of Miller reacted to the disappointment in a variety of fashions. Some realized that Miller’s date had been correct, but that the event he predicted was the error. Instead of returning to Earth, Christ cleaned out the heavenly sanctuary on that day to prepare for his second coming.
One of Miller’s legacies is the Seventh Day Adventist Church. As the church explains on its website, “Because William Miller, a well-known Baptist preacher, exhibited profound knowledge of the Scriptures as he lectured upon the literal soon advent of Christ, scores of Christian Connection churches and many of its ministers and leaders became ‘Adventist’ in the late 1830s and 1840s.”
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Although Miller’s prediction caused a great disappointment for his followers, 22 October 1978 was a day of rejoicing for Roman Catholics when Pope John Paul II was inaugurated as the 263rd successor to Peter. When Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected Pontiff of October 16, he was the first non-Italian selected for this position since Pope Adrian VI had been elected in 1522. His pontificate lasted for 26 years.
–Steven L. Berg, PhD
Photo Caption/Credit: William Miller. From Seventh Day Adventist Church. (top) Pope John Paul II. From Holy See Press Office.
Although Today in History is primarily student written, there are some days when we do not have a student author. You will enjoy another student entry tomorrow.
There have been over 200 predictions for the end of the world, and clearly every single one of them has been incorrect. Around 50 of these examples are from ancient history. I found a list of these dates at http://www.bible.ca/pre-date-setters. And while much of this site is most certainly faith based, this page is a very nice list of years the world ended
My personal favorite is the first example on the page, 44 AD. A man named Theudas claimed he was the Messiah. He managed to get 400 people to follow him into the desert. They were all killed. It’s rather gruesome, but interesting nonetheless.