ANDREWS UNIVERSITY SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Primary Source Report:
Submitted to Dr. Denis Kaiser
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
CHIS 674
Development of Seventh-day Adventist Theology
by
October 5, 2018
ii
CONTENTS
William M. Miller’s Apology and Defense, 1845 ………………………………………………………………1
Overview of the Content ………………………………………………………………………………………..1
Implications for Seventh-day Adventist Theology …………………………………………………….2
Connections to Later Theological Development ……………………………………………………….3
Biblical Evaluation ………………………………………………………………………………………………..4
Letter from William Miller to Joshua V. Himes – Cleaning of the Sanctuary …………………….4
Overview of the Content ………………………………………………………………………………………..4
Implications for Seventh-day Adventist Theology …………………………………………………….6
Connections to Later Theological Development ……………………………………………………….7
Biblical Evaluation ………………………………………………………………………………………………..7
Showing that the Seventh Day Should be Observed as the Sabbath Instead of the First Day;
“According to the Commandment.” ………………………………………………………………………………..9
Overview of the Content ………………………………………………………………………………………..9
Implications for Seventh-day Adventist Theology …………………………………………………..10
Connections to Later Theological Development ……………………………………………………..11
Biblical Evaluation ………………………………………………………………………………………………11
1
William M. Miller’s Apology and Defense, 1845
Overview of the Content
William Miller recounts his experience in his youth, and his struggle with certain biblical
passages that made no sense to him. Subsequently, Miller moved to Poultney, VT., to a mostly
deist community. In that community the young Miller began to think that the Bible was merely
human and rejected it for twelve years. During those twelve years, William Miller adopted a
Deistic though. However, the Deist doctrine of annihilation began to make Miller doubt, for he
preferred heaven or the hell of Scripture.
In 1813 William Miller began serving in the army. On many occasions, while William
served in the army, he could see the divine intervention protecting his life. Even at the Battle of
Plattsburgh, the United States army, with about five thousand men in battle, defeated the British
army consisting of fifteen thousand strong men. Subsequently, Miller retired from the military
and moved to Low Hampton, NY.
On one occasion, while Miller was doing his daily activities, a sin came to his mind of
which he was a victim, William’s conscience pointed out to him that he was taking God’s name
in vain. That fact caused Miller to fall on the feet of his Savior, and he began to look for Him
constantly in the Bible. The veil of Deism that William had in his eyes fell and he could
understand that the Scripture, which he had once rejected, was the inspired Word of God. As
William looked for his Savior through the Scripture he arrived at different prophetic passages
that caught his attention. Some of those passages, according to the connection he made, had
already had their fulfillment in history. One of the passages that most attracted William’s
attention was the Millennium, which would take place between the first resurrection and the
second. William would also face different chronological periods that he would interpret using a
concordance. Soon, William would find the passage that would catch his attention, Daniel 8:14, a
verse that exposes the time period of 2300 days. After incessant study, William Miller concluded
that the 2300 days would have their fulfillment in 1843. Although at the beginning Miller had
doubts about putting dates on the return of Christ, when studying the Bible every day he was
convinced that his conclusion was correct.
Although the conclusions reached by Miller were reliable for him, he did not want to
preach them to the people, until one day God called him to preach them, and for that he had to
subdue William’s rebellion. The message about the second coming of Christ was delivered with
power by the providence of God. Little by little Miller’s studies were published in journals. His
fame ran throughout the United States and day after day his message was gaining followers.
Miller’s message was clear, if the earth was the sanctuary of God, which was to be purified with
