Lost! the Advent Message

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 29, 1908

Lost! the Advent Message

THE strong current which is now setting in in favor of the federation of all the Protestant churches is sweeping along with it some who have in years past claimed to have a specific message for the world, which would make it necessary for them to remain distinct from other denominations. An example of this has come to our attention. At a recent meeting of the ministers' association in a New England city, where the topic under consideration was “The Unification of Protestantism in New England,” a prominent representative of the First-day Adventist body is reported as having made the following statement:—

What reason is there for our being here as a denomination?—None, absolutely none. The things that separated us have passed away, and we could unite now with any evangelical body. Our denomination was started by a Baptist fanatic, who said the world was coming to an end in 1843 or 44, and about fifty thousand people withdrew themselves from the Baptists, Methodists, and Congregational churches, and formed another denomination; none of us now believe what Miller believed, and there is no longer need for separation. To my mind, the great hindrance to unification of Protestant bodies is the dogma of traditional infallibility [the infallibility of the Scriptures (?)] and denominational bigotry.

If this minister properly represents the denomination with which he is connected, we may expect that it will soon be merged into the older and larger religious bodies from which there was a coming out in the summer of 1844. At that time there was a living faith in the near advent of Christ, which seems to have almost died out among some of the successors of the original Adventists.