Adventists

Adventists, members of a number of related Protestant denominations that stress the doctrine of the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ. Adventism received its clearest definition and most earnest support under the leadership of an American former Baptist preacher, William Miller. Miller and his followers, known initially as Millerites, proclaimed that the second coming would occur between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. The failure of this prediction was called the First Disappointment, and many left the movement. Following this, a second date—October 22, 1844—was set, and many Adventists disposed of their property in anticipation of the event. The movement was widely ridiculed after the day passed uneventfully. Thereafter many Adventists lost faith and returned to their former Churches. Those remaining split into four main bodies, which continue to flourish.

By far the largest group is the Seventh-Day Adventists. The Church originated between 1844 and 1855 under the leadership of three American Millerites, Joseph Bates and James and Ellen White, but was not formally organized until 1863. Three tenets are prominent in the Church's theology: belief in the visible, personal second coming of Christ at an early but indefinite date; the observance of Saturday as the Sabbath; and the importance of health care and a healthy lifestyle. In 1875 the Seventh-Day Adventists became associated with John Harvey Kellogg, who invented the popular breakfast cereal cornflakes as a health and purgative food as part of a spiritual regime based upon Adventist teachings. This led to a very strong emphasis on abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and even, in some communities, tea and coffee. Members accept the Bible as their sole religious authority, placing special trust in the literal interpretation of prophetic passages. They hold that grace alone is sufficient for salvation; they administer baptism by immersion and practise foot washing in connection with observance of the Lord's Supper (see Eucharist).

Seventh-Day Adventists maintain hospitals and clinics around the world. The denomination also conducts missionary, educational, and philanthropic programmes supported by a voluntary system of tithing (contributing a tenth of one's income) and by freewill offerings. Church activists are maintained in all parts of the world, and denominational publications are printed in numerous languages and dialects.

The Advent Christian Church, first known as the Advent Christian Association and then the Advent Christian Conference, was first organized in 1860 in Salem, Massachusetts. It preached a doctrine of “conditional immortality”, according to which the dead remain in an unconscious state until the resurrection, which would take place at the second coming after the millennium. The Church observes the sacraments of baptism by immersion and the Eucharist. Although organized into regional and central groups (the central group is the Advent Christian General Conference of America), each church governs itself independently. The Church supports missionary work in Mexico, Malaysia, Japan, India, and the Philippines. In 1964 the Life and Advent Union, founded in 1848, merged with the Advent Christian Church.

The Church of God General Conference, also known as the Church of God (Abrahamic Faith), developed from several smaller groups of similar faith (some dating from 1800); some of them had organized in 1888 under the name Church of God in Christ Jesus. The churches, however, did not function as a unit until 1921, when a national conference was established and the name Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith was adopted. Acceptance of the Bible as the supreme standard of the faith results in a literal interpretation of the biblical references to the kingdom of God; the premillennial coming of Christ, the belief that the return of Christ will precede the millennial kingdom of God predicted in Revelation 20:1-6, is central. The members maintain that the dead are merely asleep; at the second coming the righteous will be resurrected. Acceptance of these doctrines, repentance, and purification through baptism by immersion are requirements for admission to the Church. The individual churches are autonomous. Missionary work is carried out in India, Mexico, and the Philippines.