WHENCE THE FANATICS?

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 20, 1879

WHENCE THE FANATICS?

The principles of Seventh-day Adventism do not furnish congenial soil for fanaticism. The inexorable logic of the views which we denominate present truth, are a good safeguard against the loose notions which furnish the fuel for that wild fire. Hence it is that so rarely any one from the ranks of S. D. Adventists is led into fanatical views or practices.

But fanaticism is too good a weapon to be used against the cause of truth, to be neglected by the enemy, if by any means he can make it available. And being unable to find the ones he can use in the ranks of believers, he lays hold of fanatics outside, and leads them to adopt enough of our faith to cause people to confound them with S. D. Adventists, and then speeds them on in their fanatical work to bring this cause into disrepute. All we can do is to take a firm stand against such spirits, and head them off as far as possible in their nefarious work.

We have just learned of a case of this kind which has appeared in Nebraska. A brother writes that one Eld. Irely has appeared among them, claiming to be a Sabbath-keeper, coming not to be taught but to teach; and his teaching is that there are two Christs, one for the eastern hemisphere, the other for the western; that the latter was born in 1844, and is the man child of Rev. 12; and other like nonsensical stuff. We have no fears that any of our brethren will be at all moved by any such pretender; but this fact should be made as prominent as possible before the people, that no such person is a Seventh-day Adventist.