Sketches of the Christian life and public labors of William Miller

by James White

“From the time that Mr. Miller became established in his religious faith, till he commenced his public labors—a period of twelve or fourteen years—there were few prominent incidents in his life to distinguish him from other men. He was a good citizen, a kind neighbor, an affectionate husband and parent, and a devoted Christian; good to the poor, and benevolent, as objects of charity were presented; in the Sunday-school, was teacher and superintendent; in the church he performed important service as a reader and exhorter, and, in the support of religious worship, no other member, perhaps, did as much as he.

“He was very exemplary in his life and conversation, endeavored at all times to perform the duties, whether public or private, which devolved on him, and whatever he did was done cheerfully, as for the glory of God. His leisure hours were devoted to reading and meditation; he kept himself well informed respecting the current events of the time; occasionally communicated his thoughts through the press, and often, for his own private amusement, or for the entertainment of friends, indulged in various poetical effusions, which, for unstudied productions, are possessed of some merit; but his principal enjoyment was derived from the study of the Bible. His state of mind at this time can be better given in his own language.

“‘With the solemn conviction,’ writes Mr. Miller, ‘that such momentous events were predicted in the Scriptures, to be fulfilled in so short a space of time, the question came home to me with mighty power regarding my duty to the world, in view of the evidence that had affected my own mind. If the end was so near, it was important that the world should know it. I supposed that it would call forth the opposition of the ungodly; but it never came into my mind that any Christian would oppose it. I supposed that all such would be so rejoiced, in view of the glorious prospect, that it would only be necessary to present it, for them to receive it. My great fear was that in their joy at the hope of a glorious inheritance so soon to be revealed, they would receive the doctrine without sufficiently examining the Scriptures in demonstration of its truth. I therefore feared to present it, lest, by some possibility, I should be in error, and be the means of misleading any.

“‘Various difficulties and objections would arise in my mind from time to time; certain texts would occur to me which seemed to weigh against my conclusions; and I would not present a view to others, while any difficulty appeared to militate against it. I therefore continued the study of the Bible, to see if I could sustain any of these objections. My object was not merely to remove them, but I wished to see if they were valid.

“‘Sometimes, when at work, a text would arise like this: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man,” &c.; and how, then, could the Bible reveal the time of the advent? I would then immediately examine the context in which it was found, and I saw at once that, in the same connection, we are informed how we may know when it is nigh, even at the doors; consequently, that text could not teach that we could know nothing of the time of that event. Other texts, which are advanced in support of the doctrine of a temporal millennium, would arise; but on examining their context, I invariably found that they were applicable only to the eternal state, or were so illustrative of the spread of the gospel here as to be entirely irrelevant to the position they were adduced to support.

“‘Thus all those passages that speak of the will of God being done on earth as in Heaven, of the earth being full of the knowledge of the glory of God, &c., could not be applicable to a time when the man of sin was prevailing against the saints, or when the righteous and wicked were dwelling together, which is to be the case until the end of the world. Those who speak of the gospel being preached in all the world, teach that, as soon as it should be thus preached, the end was to come; so that it could not be delayed a thousand years from that time, nor long enough for the world’s conversion after the preaching of the gospel as a witness.

“‘The question of the resurrection and judgment was, for a time, an obstacle in the way. Being instructed that all the dead would be raised at the same time, I supposed it must be so taught in the Bible; but I soon saw it was one of the traditions of the elders.

“‘So, also, with the return of the Jews. That question I saw could only be sustained by denying the positive declarations of the New Testament, which assert: “There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek;” that the promise that he shall be the heir of the world was not to Abraham and his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith; that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female;” but that “if ye are Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” I was, therefore, obliged to discard an objection which asserts there is a difference between the Jew and Greek; that the children of the flesh are accounted for the seed, &c.

“‘In this way I was occupied for five years—from 1818 to 1823—in weighing the various objections which were being presented to my mind. During that time, more objections arose in my mind than have been advanced by my opponents since; and I know of no objection that has been since advanced which did not then occur to me. But, however strong they at first appeared, after examining them in the light of the divine word, I could only compare them to straws, laid down singly as obstacles on a well-beaten road; the car of truth rolled over them, unimpeded in its progress.

“‘I was then fully settled in the conclusions which seven years previously had begun to bear with such impressive force upon my mind; and the duty of presenting the evidence of the nearness of the advent to others—which I had managed to evade while I could find the shadow of an objection remaining against its truth—again came home to me with great force. I had, previously, only thrown out occasional hints of my views. I then began to speak more clearly my opinions to my neighbors, to ministers, and others. To my astonishment, I found very few who listened with any interest. Occasionally, one would see the force of the evidence; but the great majority passed it by as an idle tale. I was, therefore, disappointed in finding any who would declare this doctrine, as I felt it should be, for the comfort of saints, and as a warning to sinners.’