Seventh-Day Adventist Origins: 6 Things That Led to Development of Protestant Christian Denomination

The Seventh-Day Adventist Protestant Christians believe Jesus is coming again. The church focuses on the imminent, literal, second "advent" or return of Jesus to the earth. They draw their name from the belief that Saturday, not Sunday, is the seventh day of creation and the day of God's Sabbath, which should be honored by Christians.

Here are 6 things that led to the development of the Seventh-Day Adventist Protestant Christian denomination:

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1. Millerite beliefs - The Seventh-Day Adventist Protestant tradition emerged from a group called the Millerites. They followed the teachings of William Miller who was a Baptist preacher. Miller studied the prophecies of Daniel and came to firmly believe in the literal Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He predicted it would happen on a specific date in the 1840's.

2. The Great Disappointment - Millerites believed in the prediction of William Miller that Jesus Christ would come back to earth on October 22, 1844. When Jesus did not return in October of 1844, some Millerites continued to meet together in a series of conferences to restudy the Bible. They still believed that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ was literal, not metaphorical.

3. Ellen G. White - Following the Great Disappointment, Ellen G White claimed to have had a vision from God — the first of many over time concerned with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Her visions heavily influenced teachings that the seventh day of the week was Sabbath and should be honored.

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4. First General Conference - In 1863, after many years of meeting together in small groups, those who held Adventist ideas believed it was time to organize a framework for a new church. Twenty delegates met in Battle Creek, Michigan to organize the Seventh-Day Adventist Protestant denomination.

5. The First Missionary - John Nevins Andrews was the first Seventh-Day Adventist Protestant Church missionary. He was the first to officially take the message of the church to Europe in the 1870's.

6. Message takes to the airwaves - The Voice of Prophecy radio show first hit the airwaves in 1929 in Los Angeles. The show became and still remains a vocal outlet for Seventh-Day Adventist Protestant teachings.

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