- published: 05 Jun 2013
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The Millerites were the followers of the teachings of William Miller who, in 1833, first shared publicly his belief in the coming Second Advent of Jesus Christ in roughly the year 1843.
Miller was a prosperous farmer, a Baptist lay preacher and unschooled student of the Bible, living in northern New York, in the region of that state which has come to be known as the Burned-over district. Through years of intensive study of symbolic meaning of the prophecies of Daniel and using the year-day method of prophetic interpretation, Miller became convinced that Christ's Second Coming was revealed in Bible prophecy. In September 1822, Miller formally stated his conclusions in a twenty-point document, including article 15, “I believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ is near, even at the door, even within twenty-one years,—on or before 1843.” This document however, remained private for many years.
Miller did eventually share his views—first, to a few friends privately, and later to some ministerial acquaintances. Initially he was disappointed at the lack of response from those he spoke to. “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.”