End of year prophecies have involved a wide range of religious affiliations. In this article, you will encounter the failed prophecy of William Miller, who founded the Millerite movement. The woman behind the Seven Day Adventists movement also made a prediction that momentarily hurt the momentum of believers.
1843 , March 21
It was this date that William Miller (founder of the Millerite movement) made the prediction that Jesus would appear on this date. His religious movement is estimated to have attracted between 50,000, and 500,000 followers with a great deal of Christians accepted his prophecy. When Jesus did not return on this date, Miller made a new prediction of October 22, 1844. This event would be known as ‘the Great Disappointment.’ In preparation for the second coming, a lot of Christians sold their possessions and property. They also left their jobs and made other arrangements for the end of the world prediction. The day came and went without any inkling of a second coming.
After the Great Disappointment, the majority of Millerites abandoned their beliefs, leaving remaining members to expand upon the viewpoints and explanations of the prediction. Miller made mention that discrepancies in the Bible chronology contributed to predicting an incorrect date. Until his death in 1849, Miller never turned his back on the belief of the Second Coming of Christ. He was still convinced that the Second Coming was looking. Miller was buried close to his residence in Low Hampton, NY. His home has become a registered National Historic Landmark and is now used as a museum.
1850
The founder of the Seven Day Adventists movement, Ellen White, is responsible for many predictions regarding the end of the world. None of them have come true. One June 27, 1850, she made a prophecy that after a couple of few months have passed , the end would come. Her writings reveal include: “My accompanying angel said, ‘Time is almost finished. Get ready, get ready, get ready.’ …now time is almost finished…and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months.”
The last prediction that White made came around 1856 or later, where she claimed to have been shown a vision during an SDA conference of what would happen to believers. As a result, she wrote down: “I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: ‘Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus.” She noted that some of the attendees would die of normal causes; some would die from plagues to take place at the last days, while others would live until the coming of Jesus. Time passed and by the early 1900s, all of the people that attended the prophetic conference had already died. The Church was left with the issue of explaining how White made a prophetic blunder.
1891
Mother Shipton was a mystic that lived during the 16th century. She predicted that the end of the world would come in 1891.
1919 , December 17
Astronomy has played a role in end of the world predictions, as seen in the prophecy of meteorologist Albert Porta, who believed the union of six planets would create a magnetic current that would set the sun to explode. The act was thought to engulf the earth in flames.