Seventh-Day Adventist

Member of the Protestant religious sect of the same name. It originated in the USA in the fervent expectation of Christ's Second Coming, or advent, that swept across New York State following William Miller's prophecy that Christ would return on 22 October 1844. When this failed to come to pass, a number of Millerites, as his followers were called, reinterpreted his prophetic speculations and continued to maintain that the millennium was imminent. Adventists observe Saturday as the Sabbath and emphasize healing and diet; many are vegetarians. The sect has 36,920 organized churches and almost 8 million members in 210 countries and territories (1995).

The chief author of what became Seventh-Day Adventist doctrine was Ellen G White, and the sect considers her works canonical. She held that Christ's judgement of humanity had begun in 1844 and would continue in preparation for his return and thousand-year reign on Earth.