Josiah Litch (April 4, 1809 – January 31, 1886) was a

Methodist Episcopal The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

preacher in the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

region of the United States, who was best known for his connections with the

Millerite Millerite is a nickel sulfide mineral, Ni S. It is brassy in colour and has an acicular habit, often forming radiating masses and furry aggregates. It can be distinguished from pentlandite by crystal habit, its duller colour, and general l ...

movement, and for using

Bible prophecy Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Jews and Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from G ...

to predict a loss of power for the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Biography

Early life and ministry

Josiah Litch was born April 4, 1809 in

Lunenburg, Massachusetts Lunenburg is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,946 at the 2020 census. History Lunenburg was first settled by Europeans in 1718 and was officially incorporated in 1728. The name stems from one of t ...

. His parents' names were John and Jerusha (Lincoln) Litch, and on his mother's side, he was a descendant of

Samuel Lincoln Samuel Lincoln (born 1622 – died May 26, 1690) was an Englishman and progenitor of many notable United States political figures, including his 4th great-grandson, President Abraham Lincoln, Maine governor Enoch Lincoln, and Levi Lincoln Sr. an ...

. He attended Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham and joined the

ministry as an itinerant minister in 1833. Litch spent his itinerant ministry traveling through

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. He left the Methodist Episcopal ministry in 1841 to join the Millerites.

Family

Litch intended to marry Sarah Barstow on April 25, 1836.John Stetson Barry, ''A Historical Sketch of the Town of Hanover, Mass., With Family Genealogies'' (Boston: John S. Barry, 1853)
p. 231
/ref> Sarah's father, William Barstow, was a fellow minister with the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. Josiah and Sarah had two children who survived to adulthood, Wilbur Fisk Litch, and Josiah Lincoln Litch.

Millerism

In 1838, a friend asked Josiah Litch to read the writings of William Miller. Litch at first was hostile to Miller's prediction of the

second coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...

of Jesus, but after reading he was converted into the Millerite movement. Litch then wrote his own book, ''The Probability of the Second Coming of Christ About A.D. 1843''. In a comment on , Litch predicted that the Ottoman Empire would lose power in August 1840. When on August 11, 1840, the Ottoman Empire accepted guarantees from the Great Powers, it was interpreted as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy and Litch's interpretation thereof. Litch was responsible for inviting

Charles Fitch Charles Fitch (1805–1844) was an American preacher in the early 19th century, who rose to prominence for his work with the Millerite movement. Early years During his early years, in the 1830s, he had associated with famous evangelist Charles ...

to reconsider his rejection of Miller's teachings. Fitch later became one of the foremost preachers in the Millerite movement. Around 1841, the Millerite movement requested Litch to become the first general agent. Litch was granted release from his pastoral duties, and became the first paid Millerite worker. Litch was successful as a promoter and secretary for the movement. Another idea that Litch developed was the idea of a

pre-advent judgment In Christian theology, the pre-advent judgment is a belief that the Last Judgment will occur before the Second Coming (or "Advent") of Jesus.

. According to Litch, "no human tribunal would think of executing judgment on a prisoner until after his trial; much less God." He began to develop the idea in 1840, but didn't publish until 1841. After the

Great Disappointment The Great Disappointment in the Millerite movement was the reaction that followed Baptist preacher William Miller's proclamations that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth by 1844, which he called the Second Advent. His study of the Daniel 8 p ...

, some Millerites applied Litch's pre-advent judgment to October 22, 1844, the Millerites' predicted date of Jesus' return. The

Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

later developed this into the "

investigative judgment The investigative judgment, or pre-Advent Judgment (or, more accurately the pre-Second Advent Judgment), is a unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, which asserts that the divine judgment of professed Christians has been in progress since 1844. It ...

" doctrine. Litch was among the last of the prominent Millerites to accept the date of October 22, 1844, proposed by Samuel S. Snow, as the anticipated date of Jesus' return.

Beyond 1844

After the Great Disappointment, Litch first thought there was some misunderstanding with regard to what happened in 1844. In 1845, he was present at the Albany Conference where the Millerites who were opposed to the shut-door doctrine met to work out the meaning of the Great Disappointment, and determine the future of the movement. Litch eventually worked with the Evangelical Adventists, and served as president of the American Millennial Association. He formed his own organization known as the Messianians, and served as president in both

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and Canada. Litch slowly abandoned the

historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...

view of prophecy, in favor of

futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

. He attended the

Prophetic Conference Prophetic conferences were a manifestation for English-speaking Protestants of the 19th century of the interest in Biblical prophecy and its interpretation. Such conferences have been thought a likely source of some of the analytical terms now depl ...

held at the Church of Holy Trinity, in New York City, Oct. 30–Nov. 1, 1878.Nathaniel West, ed., ''Premillennial Essays of the Prophetic Conference'' (Chicago: F. H. Revell)
p. 14
/ref> Litch died January 31, 1886.

References

Sources

* * *
Letter to Rev. J. Litch, on the Second Coming of Christ
by Charles Fitch (1841)
''Lest We Forget'' 4th Quarter, 1993
Adventist Pioneer Library, vol. 3, no. 4

External links

An Address to the Public, and Especially the Clergy, on the Near Approach of the Glorious, Everlasting Kingdom of God on Earth
by Josiah Litch (1842)
Prophetic Expositions
by Josiah Litch (1842) (2 vols)
Judaism Overthrown
by Josiah Litch (1843)
Refutation of "Dowling's Reply to Miller," on the Second Coming of Christ in 1843
by Josiah Litch (1842)
The Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment
The transcript of a debate between Josiah Litch and Miles Grant (1859)
The Pre-Millennial Advent Vindicated; Being a Review of Rev. Dr. David Brown's ''Post-Millennial Advent of Christ''
by Josiah Litch
Christ Yet to Come: a Review of Dr. I. P. Warren's ''Parousia of Christ''
by Josiah Litch (1880) {{DEFAULTSORT:Litch, Josiah 1809 births 1886 deaths Adventism Millerites Methodists from Massachusetts People from Lunenburg, Massachusetts