SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS (ADVENTISTS, SEVENTR-DAY, ante), a sect whose peculiar views of prophecy were developed in 1845, just after the great Advent excite ment of 1840-44. Elder James White and wife, and elder J. N. Andrews, of Maine, with elder Joseph Bates, of Mass., were the pioneers of this denomination. The first church was formed in Washington, N. H; In 1849 elder James White commenced pub lishing in connection with this movement. In 1855 this publishing work was removed to its present location, Battle Creek, Mich.; and in 1861 a legally incorporated associa tion was formed under the title of the 'Seventh-day Adventist publishing association. Four buildings, the central one a large brick structure, are used in printing, electrotyp ing, binding, and other branches of the work. Nine power-presses and 100 hands are regularly employed in the publishing house, from which are issued 2 weeklies and 2 monthlies in English, 1 semi-monthly in Danish, 1 monthly in German, 1 in Swedish, and a quarterly in the Holland language. Their denominational literature embraces 18 bound books, and numerous tracts and pamphlets, many in the foreign languages above named. They had issued before the autumn of 1880, 230,000,000 pp. of books, pam phlets, and tracts. They also have a large and equally well-equipped publishing house at Oakland, Cal., from which is issued weekly The Signs of the Times. They publish a monthly in French at Bale, Switzerland, and a semi-monthly in Danish at Christiania, Norway. The aggregate monthly circulation of their periodicals is about 85,000 copies.
The government of. the denomination is administered by a general conference and 24 state conferences, having under their charge 640 churches with 15,570 members, besides whom several thousands living in many parts of the country have as yet no organized church near them with which they can unite. There are 144 ordained minis
ters and 116 licentiates. The churches being without settled pastors and maintaining religious services with only occasional ministerial help, the preachers are free to,devote themselves chiefly to missionary work. During the summer months they hold meet ings in large tents, 70 of which were used in 1879. They have a college and sanitarium at Battle Creek.
Seventh-day Adventists are distinguished from the denominations known as evan gelical principally on the three following points : First. the Sabbath, whic• they hold to be still the seventh day of the week, as ordained in Eden; secondly, the prophecies, which they believe to teach that the second coming of Christ, personally and premillen ninny, is near at hand; and, thirdly, the nature of man, which they hold to be such as to show that lie has no immortality out of Christ. The founders of the denomination were strenuous opposers of the use of alcoholic liquors as a beverage, and of tobacco and other narcotics; and, as the fruit of efforts then begun, the whole denomination are abstainers from the use of alcoholic drinks of all kinds. Tobacco, in all its forms, is also discarded, none addicted to the use of it being received into the churches unless they promise .to abandon it immediately. Besides abstinence from these things, which is made a condition of fellowship, other useful reforms are strongly advocated. Articles of diet which experience shows to be unwholesome are little used. Meat is seldom eaten; grains, vegetables, and fruits are the staple articles of food. The reform aimed at is not limited to diet and drink. As the health of the body is greatly affected by the manner in which it is clothed, the subject of dress receives much attention. See ADVENTISTS, SEVENTH-DAY.