This thesis attempts to account for the emergence, development, and function of Seventh-day Adventist apocalyptic rhetoric within its social context. As the title indicates, the argument is that the rhetoric was political in character, having been derived from the apocalyptic rhetoric of American \"civil religion,\" which originated in the colonial wars with the French during the eighteenth century. After tracing the formation of Adventist rhetoric from William Miller's preaching of the Second Coming to John N. Andrew's interpretation of the third angel's message found in Revelation 14, the author concludes with an analysis of this rhetoric's influence on Adventist behavior in regard to the preeminent political reform of the day: the abolition of slavery.
All primary sources employed will be familiar to historians of Adventism--and to many non-historians as well. The novelty of this study is the manner in which it relates these sources to a wider intellectual and social context, of which few who will read this paper will have been aware. For the recovery of this context, the author has relied heavily on several recent studies on American \"civil religion,\" the citations of which may be found in the documentation.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis attempts to account for the emergence, development, and function of Seventh-day Adventist apocalyptic rhetoric within its social context. As the title indicates, the argument is that the rhetoric was political in character, having been derived from the apocalyptic rhetoric of American "civil religion," which originated in the colonial wars with the French during the eighteenth century. After tracing the formation of Adventist rhetoric from William Miller's preaching of the Second Coming to John N. Andrew's interpretation of the third angel's message found in Revelation 14, the author concludes with an analysis of this rhetoric's influence on Adventist behavior in regard to the preeminent political reform of the day: the abolition of slavery.</p> <p>All primary sources employed will be familiar to historians of Adventism--and to many non-historians as well. The novelty of this study is the manner in which it relates these sources to a wider intellectual and social context, of which few who will read this paper will have been aware. For the recovery of this context, the author has relied heavily on several recent studies on American "civil religion," the citations of which may be found in the documentation.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Smith, Jeffrey Boyd"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jonathan M. Bulter","Paul J. Landa","Frederick G. Hoyt"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1983,"date_issued":"1983-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1983-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:53:20Z","subjects":["History of Religion","Seventh-day Adventists -- Doctrines -- History; Eschatology -- History of doctrines -- 19th century"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/944","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jonathan M. Bulter","Paul J. Landa","Frederick G. Hoyt"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Smith, Jeffrey Boyd"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["History of Religion","Seventh-day Adventists -- Doctrines -- History; Eschatology -- History of doctrines -- 19th century"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/944"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis attempts to account for the emergence, development, and function of Seventh-day Adventist apocalyptic rhetoric within its social context. As the title indicates, the argument is that the rhetoric was political in character, having been derived from the apocalyptic rhetoric of American \"civil religion,\" which originated in the colonial wars with the French during the eighteenth century. After tracing the formation of Adventist rhetoric from William Miller's preaching of the Second Coming to John N. Andrew's interpretation of the third angel's message found in Revelation 14, the author concludes with an analysis of this rhetoric's influence on Adventist behavior in regard to the preeminent political reform of the day: the abolition of slavery.
All primary sources employed will be familiar to historians of Adventism--and to many non-historians as well. The novelty of this study is the manner in which it relates these sources to a wider intellectual and social context, of which few who will read this paper will have been aware. For the recovery of this context, the author has relied heavily on several recent studies on American \"civil religion,\" the citations of which may be found in the documentation.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Political Character of Adventist Rhetoric Until the End of the Civil War"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jonathan M. Bulter","Paul J. Landa","Frederick G. Hoyt"],"dc:creator":["Smith, Jeffrey Boyd"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis attempts to account for the emergence, development, and function of Seventh-day Adventist apocalyptic rhetoric within its social context. As the title indicates, the argument is that the rhetoric was political in character, having been derived from the apocalyptic rhetoric of American \"civil religion,\" which originated in the colonial wars with the French during the eighteenth century. After tracing the formation of Adventist rhetoric from William Miller's preaching of the Second Coming to John N. Andrew's interpretation of the third angel's message found in Revelation 14, the author concludes with an analysis of this rhetoric's influence on Adventist behavior in regard to the preeminent political reform of the day: the abolition of slavery.
All primary sources employed will be familiar to historians of Adventism--and to many non-historians as well. The novelty of this study is the manner in which it relates these sources to a wider intellectual and social context, of which few who will read this paper will have been aware. For the recovery of this context, the author has relied heavily on several recent studies on American \"civil religion,\" the citations of which may be found in the documentation.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/944"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"dc:subject":["History of Religion","Seventh-day Adventists -- Doctrines -- History; Eschatology -- History of doctrines -- 19th century"],"dc:title":["The Political Character of Adventist Rhetoric Until the End of the Civil War"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:53:20Z"}