Gilbert Jorgensen’s Weblog

[Editor’s note: All 15 Proofs as well as William Miller’s 1843 chart (that Ellen White said was just as God wanted it) are also available in my Library at DefendingTheGospel.com.]

In part 1 we identified that the foundation for Adventism is laid in Ellen White’s comprehensive endorsement of William Miller’s methods and message. If Miller was right, so was Ellen G. White.

In part 2 we carefully examined what Ellen White said about William Miller and saw that her endorsement of William Miller was comprehensive. We found that Ellen White unequivocally stated that Miller was guided by God in his methods, his conclusions, and his message.

Part 3 began an examining William Miller’s “perfect chain” of biblical truth, the foundation for his 1843 message.

Much of the material covered in this series is explained in much greater detail in Cultic Doctrine by Dale Ratzlaff. Dale has done a masterful job with the facts clearly laid out before the reader to evaluate. I consider this book to be invaluable in understanding how the 1844 Sanctuary doctrine and the 1857 Investigative Judgment doctrine came to be in the first place. No matter what your theological perspective, this book presents the historical backdrop in a gripping, easy-to-read, narrative. This is one of those books that you will be unable to put down until you complete it. If you don’t have it, you should order it today.

As Dale points out in chapter 4, “William Miller: His Methods and Message”

Did he really discover “a perfect chain of truth,” as Ellen White stated? The stakes are high for Adventists. If Miller was wrong, then Ellen White was equally wrong.

Let’s examine proof #2 of William Miller’s “Time Proved Fifteen Different Ways”

TWO: It is proved typically by the year of release. See Deut. 15:1, 2: “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release; and this is the manner of the release; every creditor that lendeth aught unto his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor or of his brother, because it is called the Lord’s release.” Also Jer. 34:14: At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother a Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee, and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee; but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.” We are, by this type, taught that the people of God will be delivered from their servitude and bondage when they have served their 7 prophetic years. 7 times 360 years is 2520. Beginning with the captivity of Israel and the king of Judah, Manasseh, 677 B.C., must end in A.D. 1843, when the children of God will be released from all bondage and slavery.

William Miller discovers a new way to identify that the Second coming will take place in 1843. First he says

It is proved typically by the year of release.

Then he determines that

7 prophetic years …times 360 [literal] years is 2520 [literal years].

As Dale Ratzlaff notes in Cultic Doctrine

This text says nothing about the second coming of Christ. Here it appears Miller is using an allegorical method of interpretation in that he is giving a meaning to a passage which is not evident in the passage itself. This method was used by some of the early church fathers and also during the dark ages, but was renounced by the reformers as invalid. It has no controls, and by using this method one can make the Bible prove anything. We find here another broken link in the “perfect chain of truth.”

Ellen White said God chose William Miller, guided his mind, his methods of Bible study, his conclusions, his charts, his mission, and more.

Next time we will begin examining William Miller’s proof #3. In it he takes an obscure, apocalyptic section in Ezekiel, which mentions people burning weapons for seven years, and turns this into a prophecy of the second coming.

While I am just including proofs and summaries from Dale’s excellent book Cultic Doctrine, you will find a generous amount of supporting references and footnotes in his book.