The Great Movement by Editor

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 12, 1863

The Great Movement.

By Editor

WE must regard the great Advent movement as being in the special providence of God, yet we see it marred by the lack of experience, spirituality and caution of its professed friends. This perhaps is no more than we have reason to expect. God has never been able to make anything very great or good of man. The Jewish church had its murmurers, rebels and fanatics. The deepest afflictions of the apostles were false apostles and false brethren. The reformers were stung the worst with discord, and fanaticism in their midst.

The great Advent movement has also had as its professed friends and supporters, rash men, selfish men, fanatics, fanciful interpreters of the Word, traitors, Judases, corrupt men. The great Advent net gathered many bad fish with the good.

William Miller was a great and good man. Elder J. V. Himes who joined Bro. Miller at an early date in the progress of the cause was the man for the times. He was energetic, yet comparatively cautious. He was bold, benevolent, yet prudent. These men whom God called to lead out in the Advent cause ever had in advance of them, and most grievously in their way, a class of professed Adventists who taught ultra holiness, and would denounce them while bearing the burdens of the cause as formalists. But these persons generally grounded in some disgraceful fanaticism. These things made the managing of the great cause doubly perplexing, and probably had a tendency to keep the leaders of the cause from keeping pace with the opening providence of God in unfolding the present truth. However this may be, all true Adventists, who love the Advent name, especially those who had part in the work in 1843 and 1844 will respect the names of Miller, Himes, Litch, Hale, Fitch and many others who stood unitedly in the work, and spirit of the Advent cause.

Many circumstances have been against the prosperity of the cause. The movement was a stirring, exciting one, and in the absence of organization confusion might be expected. Unfortunately for the cause, it was the plan of some of the most cautious to remain in the several churches to which they belonged. Many were pushed out of these churches, and the incautious took the lead in a work which required generalship. Had the proper leaders marched out of their several churches, and led all true Adventists out with them, and then immediately impressed them with the necessity of Bible order, much fanaticism might have been saved.

And then another error arose. Seeing the extravagances of some who followed impressions and exercises of various kinds, those who should have taken the right position, and should have had the confidence of the Advent body, took too broad ground, and indiscriminately condemned the spiritual gifts of the New Testament, and all those spiritual exercises of which we read in the book of Acts, and in the history of every branch of the Christian church down to our time. The result of such a position directly against New Testament spirituality, was to confirm the fanatic in his fanaticism, unsettle the confidence of those who had had a deep and pure Advent experience, in the leaders of the cause, and thus shake the cause to fragments.

As a whole, the Adventists were the cream of the churches. We may at best expect one Judas and a rash Peter in every twelve; but the Advent message attracted the pure, the conscientious, the believing, the confiding, the best. And we think the leading men in the cause were in a great degree responsible for the cause. They were God's watchmen, the guardians of his truth and the shepherds of his flock. As leaders of every enterprise are in a degree responsible for its results, so were these. In accepting the responsibilities of the publication of the Advent faith and hope, they should have felt that the prosperity of believers depended on their faithfulness, and they should have guarded the cause from dangers.

Some have murmured because the cause of the third message moved no faster, and have charged certain ones with being too cautious. But we have often thanked God that he would not let it move any faster than it could move right. And we also thank God that the message is in the hands of a people who do not trample in the dust the spiritual gifts of the New Testament. This for ten years has proved our safeguard against fanaticism. Cold formality never could handle fanaticism. It might inflame it, and drive the fanatic at a greater distance. The Spirit of God, in the exercise of spiritual gifts, disarms the fanatic and helps him. The position the Review occupies in relation to the great Advent movement is the same in 1863 that it was in 1851. It has ever taught that Rev. xiv, contains the prophetic outlines of the great Advent movement, down to the Second Advent. And this position was once held by all American Adventists. At the great breaking up of the Advent body, a few clung to the original position, which has since been made very plain by the opening truths connected with the third message. And here we stand in that message, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.