October 22, 1844 – Failed Prediction of Jesus Christ’s Return Results in “Great Disappointment”

180 years ago this month, New York-based Baptist preacher William Miller’s predicted date of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ failed to occur. This “Great Disappointment” left thousands to ponder their faith in the months and years afterward and resulted in various new American religious sects, including what would become the Jehovah’s Witnesses and various Adventist movements.​

Years earlier, Miller became fascinated with the biblical book of Daniel and convinced the text contained key prophetic insights into his own time. Starting from the estimated end of the Israelites’ exile in Babylon in 457 BCE, Miller added 2,300 years — an interpretation of Daniel 8:14 — and arrived at the year 1843. Miller initially asserted that Jesus would return at some point in between March 1843 and March 1844, but he eventually provided a date of October 22, 1843, following internal pressure for specification.​

As Miller’s message spread, thousands joined his movement. Many of these so-called “Millerites” were so confident and hopeful for Christ’s soon return that they sold their property and quit their jobs in anticipation, while others mocked Miller as “dangerous” or deluded by Satan. In a likely response to the Millerite movement’s growth, Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, declared, “hear this, O earth, the Lord will not come to reign over the righteous in this world in 1843.”

Eventually, Miller shifted to his final prediction of October 22, 1844, and Jesus’ failure to return on this date came to be known as the “Great Disappointment.” In this non-event’s aftermath, many questioned their faith, returned to their previous churches, or joined other religious movements, including the forerunners of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventists. The latter group eventually came to reinterpret October 22, 1844, as the date that Christ began judging humanity rather than the date of the Second Coming.

Miller himself never predicted another date for the Advent but remained adamant in its imminence, saying that his “hope in the coming of Christ is as strong as ever.”