From Prophetic Disappointment to Literal Creation: How the Millerite Movement Shaped Young Earth Creationism
In the burnt-over district of upstate New York during the 1830s and 1840s, a Baptist preacher named William Miller sparked a massive religious firestorm. Convinced that his mathematical analysis of biblical prophecy was infallible, Miller proclaimed that Jesus Christ would return to Earth between March 1843 and October 1844. Tens of thousands of followers, known as Millerites, sold their possessions, abandoned their farms, and waited expectantly for the end of the world. Some Thessalonians did the very same thing. Sell their belongings and wait for Christ. Paul warns them not to do this " ...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." — 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 When October 22, 1844 passed without event, the movement suffered what became known in American history as the Great Disappoint...