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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 27, 1876

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 48, No. 5.

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TENT-MEETINGS

By J. H. Rogers; L. R. Long; H. Wren

MISSOURI TENT, NO. 1.

We pitched the tent in Memphis, Scotland Co., Mo., July 7, and so far have delivered six discourses to good audiences. This place is celebrated among spiritualists as being the residence of one of their famous mediums. But while famous abroad, and sought by strangers from all parts of the country, he has not made a very great impression on this community.
The people here are friendly, and a great many seem to feel a real interest.
Attached are some notices published by the papers of the place this week. The long article, headed “Seventh-day Adventists,” was prepared by the intelligent and gentlemanly correspondent of the Reveille, while the card by us was printed in all three of the papers, with good local notices.
J. H. ROGERS, L. R. LONG, H. WREN.

TENT-MEETINGS

“MEMPHIS, JULY 11, 1876.”
“MR. EDITOR: Through your courtesy we wish to say a few words to the good people of Memphis and vicinity, who have already placed us under many obligations by their readiness to help us in preparing the tent, and by their liberal attendance and good behavior and attention at the meetings already held. We are greatly pleased with the pleasant and sociable spirit and manners of those with whom we have had intercourse, and with their willingness to hear what we have to say on topics on which, in some cases, we differ from the views commonly held. We hope that these and many more will attend the meetings while they continue.
“We would also state that it always gives us pleasure to receive visitors at the tent who may wish to converse on any Scripture subject. We are here to lay before the people many important doctrines. The following are some of the subjects we shall discuss: The prophecies of Daniel and John; the United States in prophecy; the near approach of the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ to this world; the Sabbath, Is it Sunday or Sabbath? The soul, Is it immortal? The present state of the dead; the destiny of the wicked; the origin, nature and destiny of Satan; spiritualism, and other topics of profound interest and importance at this age of the world.”
“TENT ELDERS.”

“SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS.”

“A missionary party of Seventh-day Adventists set up an audience tent on the vacant lots near the Baptist church, in this place, last week. Elds. J. H. Rogers and L. R. Long, of Hamilton, Mo., are in charge assisted by H. Wren, of Knox Co. Meetings have been held nightly since their arrival with large attendance each evening, and it is proposed to continue the work while the interest seems to justify.
“The event will naturally raise the inquiry in the minds of many, as it did in ours: What are Seventh-day Adventists? Through the courtesy of the gentlemen above named, we are able to give a brief outline of their faith in answer to the inquiry.
“These Adventists have arisen since 1844, following the preaching of Eld. Miller, who fixed a definite time for the coming of Christ and the end of the world, but should not be confounded with the fallacy of that day. As compared with other Adventists, Seventh-day Adventists differ from one class in believing in the unconscious state of the dead, and the final destruction of the unrepentant wicked; from another, in believing in the perpetuity of the law of God, as summarily contained in the ten commandments, in the operation of the Holy Spirit in the church, and in setting no time for the advent to occur; from all, in the observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord, and in many applications of the prophetic scriptures.
“In common with other Christian denominations, they believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures; in the personality of God, the Creator of all things; in Christ, the Son of God and Redeemer of the race; in repentance, faith, and baptism by immersion; in the new birth as a change necessary to fit us for the kingdom of God; in the prophecies as the revelation of God’s will to man; in the resurrection of the dead, the saving of the righteous, the punishment and ultimate destruction of the wicked.
“Some distinguishing features of doctrine peculiar to themselves are a belief that the world’s history from specified dates in the past, the rise and fall of empires, and chronological succession of events down to the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom, are outlined in numerous great chains of prophecy, and that these prophecies are now all fulfilled except the closing scenes; that the millennium is to follow the coming of Christ; that the time of the second advent is now at hand, even at the door, and will occur in the present generation; that the state to which we are reduced by death is one of silence, inactivity, and entire unconsciousness; that from the grave mankind are to have a bodily resurrection, the righteous having part in the first resurrection, which takes place at the second advent of Christ—the wicked in the second resurrection, which takes place a thousand years thereafter; and that, at the last trump, the living righteous are to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and with the resurrected righteous are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, so forever to be with the Lord. At the end of a thousand years, the wicked dead will be raised on the earth yet unrenewed, and be consumed by fire from heaven, and utterly destroyed as if they never had been. Satan will also be destroyed about this time.
“The head-quarters of the Seventh-day Adventists is at Battle Creek, Michigan, where the REVIEW AND HERALD, a weekly exponent of their faith, is published, with five monthly periodicals, one in the Danish language, and one in the Swedish. A number of books and pamphlets have also been issued. A weekly—the SIGNS OF THE TIMES—is also published at Oakland, Cal.
“The organization has now in the field of the United States fifty tents, with about one hundred and twenty-five missionaries, preaching daily the message they understand God has commissioned them to deliver to the world. These men are supported by the missionary fund of the church, and such contributions as may be made by individuals and communities where they sojourn.
“Their services are held in tents as a matter of convenience, to avoid intruding upon other denominations; and their object is to disseminate the doctrines of their faith, to organize churches, and to warn the world that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”