Seventh-day Adventists, like other Christian communities, are not immune to identity crises. In contemporary times such struggles can affect all segments of the church, from young people to church leaders. This article seeks to offer insight into the benefits of Ellen White’s writings and ministry, particularly for early Adventists who experienced a loss of identity and religious direction, and to draw important lessons that can help us remain grounded in our identity today.
Excitement Over Their Identity
Anticipating the second coming of Jesus on October 22, 1844, was an exciting moment for the Millerites. They put all their effort and focus into preparing for this event. All theological controversies were set aside. Farmers abandoned their harvests. Traders closed their shops. The mechanics didn’t do their usual work. Laborers did not report to their employers. Adventists paid their debts and settled their worldly matters so that they would be ready to see Jesus.
I. T. Hough, a tailor, wrote a note in his window stating that “this shop is closed in honor of the King of Kings, who will appear about the 22nd of October. Get ready, friends, to crown him Lord of all.”[1] N. Southard noted in a Millerite periodical that “if any human being has a just pecuniary claim against me, he is requested to inform me instantly.”[2] The Millerites prepared their hearts to meet Jesus by settling as much of their worldly business as possible. The soon return of the Savior became their identity.
Identity Crisis
When Jesus did not come on October 22, Adventists experienced the Great Disappointment. As Hiram Edson wrote: “Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before. It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends could have been no comparison. We wept, and wept, till the day dawn.”[3] Edson also testified to the loss of spiritual direction and identity he felt: “I mused in my own heart, saying, My advent experience has been the richest and brightest of all my Christian experience. If this had proved a failure, what was the rest of my Christian experience worth?”[4]
Joseph Bates gave another testimony describing how the Great Disappointment led Adventists to pursue different spiritual paths, resulting in a lack of theological identity. “The effect of this disappointment can be realized only by those who experienced it,” he wrote. “Advent believers were then thoroughly tested, with various results. Some turned away and gave it up, while a large majority continued to teach and urge that the days were not ended. Still another class believed that the days had ended, and that duty would soon be made plain. All, excepting this latter class, virtually rejected their former experience, and in consequence were left in darkness relative to the true position and work for the Advent people.”[5]
Following the Great Disappointment, Adventists experienced an identity crisis because of their diverse interpretations of the nonappearance of Jesus, leaving them scattered, without clear spiritual direction, or a solid sense of identity. Ellen White, who personally experienced the Great Disappointment, later testified that “it was a bitter disappointment that fell upon the little flock whose faith had been so strong and whose hope had been so high.”[6] The collapse of their “Second Coming identity” resulted in a profound identity crisis.
The collapse of their ‘Second Coming identity’ resulted in a profound identity crisis.
No wonder the Millerites began to be known as the scattered flock—a people without identity. William Miller called them “brethren scattered abroad.”[7] Ellen White described this group as the “little remnant scattered abroad.”[8]
Comforted and Strengthened to Reclaim Their Identity
Like many others, Ellen White, a young Millerite, was deeply disappointed when Jesus did not return as expected. Soon, however, God granted her a vision revealing that the Great Disappointment was under His care, and this experience strengthened her faith. She later wrote to Joseph Bates, “At the time I had the vision of the midnight cry I had given it up in the past and thought it future, as also most of the band had.”[9]
The vision she received from the Lord not only benefited her personally but also strengthened the small band of believers. As she explained: “I told my vision, and the band, believing my visions from God, received what God bade me to deliver to them.”[10] James White later testified that when Ellen shared her first vision in Portland, Maine, “about sixty confessed their error, and acknowledged their seventh-month experience to be the work of God.”[11]
The vision helped Ellen White and the disappointed little flock regain their faith in the Lord. Otis Nichols felt comforted and strengthened and invited William Miller to examine Ellen’s prophetic gift. He wrote to Miller that “her message was always attended with the Holy Ghost, and wherever it was received as from the Lord it broke down and melted their hearts like little children, fed, comforted, strengthened the weak, and encouraged them to hold on to the faith.”[12]
Joseph Bates also testified about the importance of the gift of prophecy in comforting God’s people and strengthening their faith during this identity crisis. He stated, “I have seen her in vision a number of times. . . . I can now confidently speak for myself. I believe the work is of God, and is given to comfort and strengthen His ‘scattered,’ ‘torn,’ and ‘pealed people,’ since the closing up of our work for the world in October, 1844.”[13]
Perspectives for the Future
Ellen White’s writings and ministry were a blessing to the Adventist people during the early years of the movement, especially at a time of identity crisis. She wrote that God has given “visions in the ‘last days;’ not for a new rule of faith, but for the comfort of His people.”[14] Thus, the guiding and comforting functions of the prophetic gift helped gather and strengthen a scattered people, reclaiming their prophetic identity in the 2,300-day prophecy, and refocusing their faith on Jesus and His leading.
As we live in the postmodern era marked by numerous interpretations and widespread confusion, we must return to the Bible to reclaim our identity and be comforted and strengthened through the Spirit of Prophecy. As demonstrated in early Adventism, this gift has proven effective in uniting believers and calling them to faithfulness in God’s way.
[1] Philadelphia Public Ledger, Oct. 5, 1844, in Gary Land, Adventism in America (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 1998), p. 23.
[2] N. Southard, “Notice,” The Midnight Cry, Oct. 3, 1844, p. 104.
[3] Hiram Edson, manuscript fragment, pp. 8, 9, Andrews University Heritage Room; George R. Knight, “The Millerite Movement, 1830-1845,” pp. 23, 24.
[4] Edson, manuscript fragment, pp. 8, 9.
[5] Joseph Bates, The Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates: Embracing a Long Life on Shipboard, With Sketches of Voyages on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas; Also Impressment and Service on Board British War Ships, Long Confinement in Dartmoor Prison, Early Experience in Reformatory Movements; Travels in Various Parts of the World; and a Brief Account of the Great Advent Movement of 1840-44 (Battle Creek, Mich.: Steam Press, 1868), p. 300.
[6] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 1, p. 56.
[7] William Miller, “Address to the Brethren Scattered Abroad,” The Advent Herald, May 14, 1845, p. 108.
[8] Ellen G. White, broadside, Apr. 6, 1846.
[9] Ellen G. White to Joseph Bates, letter 3, July 13, 1847.
[10] Ibid.
[11] James White, A Word to the “Little Flock,” ed. James White (Brunswick, Me.: [James White], 1847), p. 22.
[12] Otis Nichols, handwritten note to William Miller on the reverse of the broadside entitled “Little Remnant Scattered Abroad,” Apr. 20, 1846.
[13] Joseph Bates, “Remarks,” in James White, A Word to the “Little Flock,” p. 21.
[14] Ellen G. White, A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.: James White, 1851), p. 64.
