The Great Disappointment that resulted from the Millerite prophets' misinterpretation of the second coming of Jesus Christ led to the formation of several small sects, including the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which have similar beliefs. Who was William Miller? Miller's life is chronicled by many Adventist movements today. In this part of the article I used three websites: Pastor Russell, Adventist Heritage Ministry, and New Hampshire Seventh Day Adventist Church. William Miller was a farmer and Baptist preacher. More detailed information about Miller's life is provided in this article, although some of this information may be recalled from the class lesson in chapter eight "Visions of the Religious Community." He was born in 1782 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and grew up in Low Hampton, upstate New York. His father was a soldier and his mother was a very religious woman. Miller was mostly self-taught. Between the ages of 9 and 14, he went to school for only three months each winter. After marrying Lucy P. Smith, the couple moved to Poultney, Vermont. Miller read many books and was influenced by his friends until he became a deist. According to the dictionary, deism is “belief in the existence of God solely on the basis of the evidence of reason and nature, with the rejection of supernatural revelation.” According to Knight, this belief began to become popular in the late 18th century in Europe and North America. After the French Revolution of 1790, many deists in Europe returned to Christianity in the early 19th century. In the United States, this return was called the Second Great Awakening. Miller returned to Christianity at this time (Knight). During the War of 1812, the young man volunteered for community service. There, halfway through the document, thousands of followers had waited in faith for Christ's return. As the day approached, many followers began a diet imitating Adam in Paradise. Some of them even sold their houses and others stopped working on their farms because they thought it would be useless. After October 22, the Great Disappointment, Miller announced that he had miscalculated the date. He continued to believe that the “day of the Lord is near” (Duke). Although many followers abandoned the movement, many kept the faith but were ridiculed. Those who remained, including leader Miller, were comforted by the gospel of Matthew: “Therefore keep watch, for you do not know the day or the hour when the Son of man will come” (Matthew 25:13). Their new understanding of the Bible was that there were no errors, but they simply could not predict a specific date (Parry).