Posted on Friday, April 03, 2009 - 07:43 am:

Before accepting William Miller’s teachings, the three leading Millerite ministers, Litch, Himes, and Fitch had all been vigorous opponents of slavery. They supported abolition.

Josiah Litch

At first, Josiah Litch tried to show where Miller was wrong. Instead, he found Miller’s arguments very convincing. He asked to be released from Methodist denominational employment so he could devote his full time to preaching the Advent. He has been described as Millerism’s leading theologian. He was the first full-time paid Millerite preacher.

Joshua Himes

Joshua Himes belonged to a group known as the Christian Connexion, a group attempting to get back to the teachings of the early church. He established several Millerite periodicals, including Signs of the Times, and “provided the necessary organization and structure to transform Millerism from a one-man show into a genuine social movement.”

Charles Fitch

Charles Fitch helped design the 1843 prophetic chart and a Daniel 2 image with interlocking pieces. He combined the preaching of sanctification, living a moral life, with the preaching about the second advent. He published a paper called the ‘Second Advent of Christ’. He taught that those who rejected the message of the Second Coming, both Protestants and Catholics, had become what the Bible calls Babylon. He presented Revelation 18’s message, “Come Out of Her, My People.” He also taught that the wicked would be destroyed rather than burning forever. Miller, Himes, and Litch did not accept Fitch’s views on Babylon or the destruction of the wicked. Fitch also taught the importance of Baptism by immersion. He died on October 14, 1844 of pneumonia after baptizing in icy water.

The Midnight Cry

Miller did not present an exact day, but rather a year of time, March 21, 1843 to March 21, 1844. When Jesus did not come during this time, people studied further. In Matthew 25, they noted that the parable described a delay when everyone slept and then a cry went forth at midnight, “Behold the bridegroom cometh.”

In the summer of 1844, S.S. Snow taught that the cleansing of the sanctuary matched the Day of Atonement of the Old Testament; in 1844, October 22, 1844. He said that Jesus would return then. Snow’s message has been called the Midnight Cry and the Seventh-month Movement. The Day of Atonement comes in the Jewish seventh month.