4. Millerite meetings were full of fanaticism.


Answer: Contemporary accounts indicate that Millerite meetings overall were remarkably free from fanaticism.


Resources:

Francis D. Nichol, Midnight Cry, 1944 (Christian Home Library edition), pp. 339-354.

George Knight, Millennial Fever, 1993, pp. 171-178

"Days of Delusion" is a remarkable account of the Millerite movement.

But, it is available on line...
http://www.ellenwhite.org/delusion/daysofc.htm

I strongly recommend it - but it is hard to come by.

/Bevin

Quote:

---

The year had no sooner opened than fanaticism, which had been held more or less in abeyance, now broke loose. Before this, the impending cataclysm seemed far away, but now the days were slipping by and the nerves of those who had accepted Prophet Miller's calculations began to feel on edge. Even the unbelievers and the scoffers insensibly felt the influence of the constant reiterations of the fact that the end of all things was at hand. The newspapers were full of it. The public talked of it, and discussed the possibilities of it in lecture halls; on the street corners; in all places where groups of people met together. The orthodox clergy were filled with dismay at finding a nervous dread percolating through their congregations. Wherever Prophet Miller and his co-workers held meetings, the crowds gathered, and among them were many who belonged to denominations strongly opposed to the approaching Second Advent doctrine, as interpreted by Prophet Miller. In a frantic effort to stem the tide of delusion the Bishop of Vermont, the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, D.D., wrote as follows, in an article which was published in pamphlet form and given a wide circulation:

---

Opening paragraph, chapter 5.

The early stages of many new religious movements and denominations involve what seems to be fanaticism and excessive excitement.

This was the case with many of the early Wesleyan Methodist revivals in England, the early Salvation Army campaigns/rallies, and many other Christian denominations which had their beginnings at about the same time as the SDA church.

Why can't we just accept this stage in our past, and move on?

aldona