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 examination of William Miller’s 15 proofs (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) that Ellen White said constituted a “a perfect chain of truth” (Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 129).

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 #7 of William Miller’s “Time Proved Fifteen Different Ways”

SEVEN: I can prove it by the length of the vision which Daniel had (8:1-14) of the ram, he-goat and the horn, which Daniel was informed was 2300 days long. Dan. 8:13, 14: “Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto the certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot. And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and thee hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” And from which the 70 weeks were cut off, and fulfilled, the year of Christ’s death. Dan. 9:20-27. Then 70 weeks of years being cut off from 2300 days, makes these days years; and 490 years being fulfilled in A.D. 33, leaves 1810 years to the fulfilment of the vision, which added to 33 makes 1843, when the Sanctuary will be cleansed, and the people of God justified.

This is the proof that the Seventh-day Adventist church still hangs on to. In case you didn’t know, this proof is where the 1843/1844 concept came from. Ellen White’s endorsement has turned it into one of the 27 Fundamental Beliefs.

As Dale Ratzlaff notes in Cultic Doctrine

Most people—without previous prejudice—who read the above Bible references in context, will immediately see that Daniel 8:1–14 is not a time prophecy of the second coming of Christ. Most scholars believe this wicked “little horn” power to be Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who polluted the sanctuary. He sacrificed a pig on the altar of burnt offerings and set up the image of Zeus, which Daniel calls “The Abomination of Desolation.”

The “cleansing” referred to in Daniel 8:14 has the literal Jewish sanctuary in view, not the cleansing of the world, as Miller taught. However, the above “proof” was the one proof that was most widely used by Miller and even more so by his followers, and it was this text which, after the 1843 disappointment, helped Adventists regain their momentum. It became the basis of the “seven-month movement” with October 22, 1844, set as the new date for the second coming of Christ. This text is the one text to which Seventh-day Adventists still cling “as the central pillar of Adventism.”

Later, as we will see, Adventists reinterpreted this “proof” of Miller’s and it became the foundation for their cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the investigative judgment doctrine to which this book is devoted. This “proof” will be evaluated in depth in subsequent chapters. It will be seen that it is built on numerous assumptions, over half of which are invalid or directly contrary to clear Bible evidence.

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 #8. I can’t even follow the logic, so I will let William Miller’s proof speak for itself.

Things are not going well for Ellen White. We have examined 7 of 15 proofs and found them all to be faulty.