Editing Adventism (section)

{{Short description|Religious Movement}}
{{For|the largest church in the Adventist tradition|Seventh-day Adventist Church}}
{{Adventism}}
'''Adventism''' is a branch of [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Christianity]]<ref name="Handbook">{{cite book |chapter=Adventist and Sabbatarian (Hebraic) Churches |pages=256–276 |given=Frank S. |surname=Mead |given2=Samuel S. |surname2=Hill |given3=Craig D. |surname3=Atwood |title=[[Handbook of Denominations|Handbook of Denominations in the United States]] |edition=12th |year=2006 |place=Nashville, Tn |publisher=Abingdon Press}}</ref><ref name="Bergman">{{cite book |surname=Bergman |given=Jerry |year=1995 |chapter=The Adventist and Jehovah's Witness Branch of Protestantism |editor-surname=Miller |editor-given=Timothy |editor-link=Timothy Miller |title=America's Alternative Religions |publisher=SUNY Press |place=Albany, NY |pages=33–46 |isbn=978-0-7914-2397-4 |chapter-url={{Google books|id=og_u0Re1uwUC|plainurl=y|page=33|keywords=|text=}} |url={{Google books|id=og_u0Re1uwUC|plainurl=y}} |url-status=live |archive-date=2020-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724210513/https://books.google.com/books?id=og_u0Re1uwUC}}</ref> that believes in the imminent [[Second Coming of Christ|Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ]]. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the [[Second Great Awakening]] when [[Baptists|Baptist]] preacher [[William Miller (preacher)|William Miller]] first publicly shared his belief that the Second Coming would occur at some point between 1843 and 1844. His followers became known as [[Millerism|Millerites]]. After [[Great Disappointment|Miller's prophecies failed]], the Millerite movement split up and was continued by a number of groups that held different doctrines from one another. These groups, stemming from a common Millerite ancestor, collectively became known as the Adventist movement.

Although the Adventist churches hold much in common with mainline Christianity, their [[Christian theology|theologies]] differ on whether the [[Intermediate state (Christianity)|intermediate state]] of the dead is [[Soul sleep|unconscious sleep]] or consciousness, whether the ultimate punishment of the wicked is [[annihilationism|annihilation]] or eternal torment, the nature of immortality, whether the wicked are resurrected after the millennium, and whether the sanctuary of [[Daniel 8]] refers to the one in [[heavenly sanctuary|heaven]] or one on earth.<ref name="Handbook"/> Seventh-day Adventists and some smaller Adventist groups observe the [[Sabbath in Seventh-day Adventism|seventh day Sabbath]]. The [[General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists]] has compiled that church's core beliefs in [[the 28 Fundamental Beliefs]] (1980 and 2005).

In 2010, Adventism claimed to have some 22 million believers who were scattered in various independent churches.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf |title=Christianity report |access-date=2014-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805020311/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf |archive-date=2013-08-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The largest church within the movement—the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]]—had more than 23 million members in 2025. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Witherspoon |first=Stanton |date=2025-05-14 |title=Adventist Membership Tops 23 Million with Surge in Africa and PNG |url=https://spectrummagazine.org/news/adventist-membership-tops-23-million-surge-in-africa-and-png/ |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Spectrum Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>