![]() ![]() Raztlaff’s lack of serious research shows in his failure to discuss the 15 proofs in context. These two important sources were not considered in Ratzlaff’s discussion. ![]() Miller’s Apology and Defense (1845), for example, are basic Millerite sources that provide a general framework for Miller and his 15 proofs. Sylvester Bliss’s definitive nineteenth-century biography, Memoirs of William Miller (1853), and Miller’s own Wm. Ratzlaff does give a nod to the extensive collection of Millerite literature at Aurora College in Aurora, Illinois (in a footnote), but he chooses to completely ignore what it tells us about William Miller. Does this brief slice of Miller’s background tell us everything we really need to know–that he started the second great advent movement, that he authored the 15 proofs, and that he used some faulty methods of interpretation? Is this all we need to know? Does this do justice to the William Miller of history that Ellen White and her contemporaries knew? Hardly! Mr. For example, he writes: “Much has been written about William Miller, but for our purposes all we need to know is that he started ‘the great second advent movement’ by his predictions that Christ would come in 1843″ (52 emphasis mine). Does he?Īnother issue in Ratzlaff’s argument is his lack of serious research regarding William Miller. Thus, he believes he has a strong argument against Ellen White and Seventh-day Adventist interpretation in Miller’s 15 proofs. Ratzlaff’s mind, serves doubly to impeach her prophetic credibility. Moreover, the fact that “what she wrote about Miller and his being led by God in his methods and conclusions was written after 1844” (82 emphasis his). And since prophets are never wrong, Ellen White cannot be a true prophet. The obvious conclusion of the chapter is this: William Miller was wrong in his 15 proofs Ellen White endorsed the 15 proofs therefore, she was wrong. After critiquing Proof 11, for example, he states: “This is another broken link in the ‘perfect chain of truth’ which Ellen White said God gave to Miller” (73 my emphasis). After listing each proof, he provides a brief evaluation, capitalizing on the numerous errors in Miller’s exegesis, and referring to them as “absurd,” “foolhardy,” and “a mockery of sound biblical interpretation.” In most of his evaluation, he applies Ellen White’s phrase, “perfect chain of truth,” to the proofs, leaving the reader with the impression that by this phrase she meant the 15 proofs. After leaving the reader with this “glowing, prophetic endorsement,” he moves on to Chapter 4, “William Miller: His Methods and Message,” and focuses on Miller’s 15 proofs that Christ would come in 1843. Ratzlaff spends all of Chapter 3, “White, God, and Miller,” documenting Ellen White’s strong endorsement of William Miller. ![]()
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