As Senior Writer on Religious Stuff, I’m constantly looking for different ways to blend together my two passions, religion and comedy. In the past that has consisted of inventing various funny religious situations such as conversations with various deities and heavenly beings. Well, today I’m steering clear of invention and fantasy. Instead, I’m sticking to the cold, hard facts of history. Today I present you with The Funniest Thing in Religious History!
It is not my intent to embarrass any particular religion or set of religious ideologies with the publication of this thought. I also am not trying to set any particular religion up as “correct” or conversely, as “incorrect.” The simple fact of the matter is that I have deadlines to meet and by writing about something that actually happened I can meet my deadline without having to put in very much effort. You, the reader, get to experience the joy of learning about The Funniest Thing in Religious History. Today everyone wins with the exception of half of all sports teams participating in games.
The 19th century in America was home to a hotbed of religious involvement and activism. Charismatic preachers were calling for revivals within previously established Christian denominations while other individuals moved away from traditional Christian theology and started their own religious movements. William Miller was one of the people whose alternative teachings gained some popularity.
Miller became the leader of the creatively named Millerites, one of many premillenialist groups that sprang to life in America. The basic doctrine of premillenialism was that the second coming of Christ was, well, coming. And that it was coming soon! Very soon! So stop sinning you bozos! And clean up your room! It needs to look nice for Jesus!
What set Miller and the Millerites apart from other premillenial groups was that Miller set a specific date that Christ would return. Using apocalyptic material from the Old Testament Book of Daniel, Miller predicted that Jesus would return to earth on April 3, 1843. The earthly world would end, everyone would be judged, all of that fun apocalyptic stuff would happen.
April 3, 1843 came. April 3, 1843 went. Not even a thunderstorm.
Hmmm…
“Whoops! Don’t worry everyone it’s going to be alright. He just forgot to carry the one when he was adding the math from Daniel 9:24. No biggie, just a clerical error. Christ is actually going to return on October 22, 1844. Sorry about that. Alright, just keep not sinning and keep that room clean and we’ll see you in October when Christ Almighty returns from the heavens.”
Now in the world of creative writing and storytelling, specificity is very important and is highly recommended. In the world of prophecy it should be handled with care. What could be more embarrassing than creating a whole religious movement around the idea that something very particular was going to happen on a particular day and then have that particular day go by without that very particular thing happening? What could be more embarrassing than having that happen to you? Hmm, maybe having it happen to you twice.
Since the world has continued on since then, you’ve probably guessed by now that the Apocalypse did not occur on October 22, 1844. Instead a religious movement that consisted of thousands of people ended in one day. A handful of followers still tried to explain their way around the obviously awkward inaccuracy in their preaching and went on to form the Seventh Day Adventists. The vast majority of Miller’s followers returned to more traditional Christian churches.
October 22, 1844 is referred to in history by one particular name. It is used today by everyone, including those who continued in the Millerite tradition. It is one of the greatest examples of understatement ever recorded. It is also The Funniest Thing in Religious History. October 22, 1844 is the date of “The Great Disappointment.”