John Harvey Kellogg |
But revivalism did more than recruit for the existing churches. It created new ones. Thus one baptist, William Miller, was inspired by the Second Great Awakening to conduct a personal study of the scriptures for two years, and in 1818 declared that 'all the affairs of our present state' would be wound up by God in a quarter of a century, that is in 1844. He recruited many thousands of followers, who composed a hymn-book, The Milennial Harp, survived 'The Great Disappointment' when nothing happened in the appointed year, and even the death of their founder. In 1855 they settled a Battle Creek, took the tittle Seventh-Day Adventists six years later, and eventually, with 2 million worldwide members, became the center of a vast vegetarian breakfast-cereal empire created by John H. Kellogg, first president of Battle Creek College. |