Click Here to Order Edward Oliver's book "PROPHETS AND FRAUDS"
On October 22nd 1844, thousands of the religious followers of the Reverend William Miller climbed to the tops of mountains all over New England, expecting to be lifted up into the sky at the stroke of midnight in a great heavenly Rapture. Reverend William Miller's failed Rapture of 1844 made him the laughing stock of all New England, and resulted in the breakup of his church. Miller was a brilliant man who had successfully deciphered the prophecies of the book of Daniel, but was discredited due to a rare typographical error that had occurred during the transcription of our English bibles from the original Greek Septuagint text. William Miller became one of the most influential religious figures of the nineteenth century, and even today Miller's work still forms the basis for most modern interpretations of the biblical book of Daniel.
Miller was born the son of a farmer in the Northwestern hilltown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. When Miller was about four years old, his family relocated to Hampton, New York. Miller eventually married and settled in Poultney, Vermont where he became a member of the Deist church. The Deists were the first of the secular humanist churches, founding their beliefs in the natural world. Many Protestant churches were distrustful of the teachings of the Christian Bible because they thought the Bible had been infected with pagan doctrines by the Holy Roman Church.
After serving in the War of 1812, Miller tried to find a deeper purpose in life, and decided to join the born again Christians of the Baptist Church. Miller began to study the Bible in great depth, and succeeded in deciphering the secret codes of the book of Daniel that held the key to the timing of many prophetic events. Miller announced that he had determined the time of The End to be about the year 1843. Miller began to speak on his controversial theory in local churches, and found many people very receptive to it. Soon Miller was invited to speak in churches all over New England, and he quickly developed a loyal following. When the year 1843 passed rather uneventfully, Miller was forced to recalculate his figures, and announced that the end of the world (marked by the end of the Catholic Church) would occur in the year 1845, and that the event would be preceeded by a Rapture of the Lord's followers up to Heaven on October 22, 1844 at exactly midnight.
And so on October 22, 1844, hundreds of Millerites sold all their worldly goods and treked to the tops of mountains all over New England. Some were dressed in white Ascension Robes and others sat in metal washtubs, all patiently waiting to be Raptured up to Heaven at the stroke of midnight. When midnight passed with no Rapture occurring, the Millerites were forced to return to their homes in great humiliation, as townsfolk all over New England laughted and jeered at the many fools who'd fallen for Miller's great folly. After what eventually came to be known as "The Great Disappointment," Miller's church rapidly fell apart. But the church eventually reformed under the leadership of a woman named Ellen Gould White. The Millerites went down in history as just another example of the silly fanaticism of religion.
Click Here to Order Edward Oliver's book "PROPHETS AND FRAUDS"