The name of a religious sect from its founder, William Miller.
The distinguishing doctrines of this sect are, a belief in the re-appearance of Jesus Christ on earth, "with all his saints and angels; that he will raise the dead bodies of all his saints, and change the bodies of all that are alive on the earth that are his; and that both these living and raised saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. There the saints will be judged. While this is being done in the air, the earth will be cleansed by fire; the bodies of the wicked will be burned; the devil and evil spirits will be banished from the earth, shut up in a pit, and will not be permitted to visit the earth again until a thousand years. This is the first resurrection and first judgment. Then Christ and his people will come down from the heavens, and live with his saints on the new earth." After a thousand years, a second death, resurrection, and judgment take place; when the righteous will possess the earth forever." The judgment-day will be a thousand years in duration. The righteous will be raised and judged in the commencement, the wicked at the end of that day. The millennium is between the two resurrections and the two judgments."--Evans's Hist. Religions, American Ed.
Believing in the literal fulfilment of the prophecies, the Millerites first asserted that, according to their calculations, the first judgment would take place about the year 1843. Subsequently other periods were named; and so firm was the faith of many that the Saviour would descend from the heavens and take his followers up into the air, that they disposed of all their worldly treasures, provided themselves with 'ascension robes,' and waited with great anxiety for the sounding of the last trumpet, the signal for their aerial voyage. Many persons became insane In consequence of the excitement and fear attending this delusion. Others have come to their senses, owing to their repeated disappointments in not being elevated according to Father Miller's promise; and at the present time the sect has happily dwindled down to an insignificant number.