Thursday 22 October 2020

seventy weeks

Relying on methodical biblical scholarship and some creative calculations, northeastern New York Baptist preacher William Miller convinced himself and his extensive flock of followers that the End of Days was upon us, and that Jesus Christ, in what Miller referred to as the Advent, would return to Earth on this day in 1844. When this prophecy failed to materialise, the following day came to be known as the Great Disappointment with many adherents becoming disillusioned with this charismatic figure. In order to prevent a further exodus, a splinter group explained that Miller’s research on the Book of Daniel was technically sound but led to the wrong conclusion, not in the Second Coming but rather the beginning of the final preparations to make the world rapture-ready.