From the book Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet
Barbour returned from Australia, setting sail in 1859 and taking the route around Africa to the United Kingdom. For Barbour the return voyage was life changing. He fell into a Bible discussion with a clergyman. “To wile away the monotony of a long sea voyage, the English chaplain proposed a systematic reading of the prophecies,” Barbour remembered.[1]
In Barbour’s assent to the chaplain’s suggestion, we see something of the “peculiar combination of the lion and the lamb” in his personality attributed to him by an associate.[2] He “readily assented,” no doubt because he remained interested, but primarily because “having been a Millerite in former years, he knew right well there were arguments it would puzzle the chaplain to answer, even though the time has past.”[3] There is a certain perverse deviousness in his motive, but there may also have been an acute desire to discover wherein Miller had erred.
He took the Millerite failure as a personal failure because he had invested his faith and life in the movement and because he could find no underlying error. He found a sense of personal validity as a Millerite and mourned the loss of significance and belonging it gave him. He suggested that accepting his interpretations re-validated Miller and his movement.[4]
When Barbour and the clergyman read and discussed Daniel 12:7, Barbour felt a sense of revelation. He “saw what he had never seen before, though he had read it a hundred times.”[5] Daniel chapter twelve, verse eleven, says: “From the time the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Millerite expositors almost without exception extended the 1290 days from 508 C.E. to 1798 C.E. (A.D.). Most Millerite expositors were convinced that they must end in 1798, so they must begin in 508. They found in “the eminence which Clovis had attained in the year 508, and the significance of his victories to the future of Europe and the church”[6] the beginning of the 1290 days. The virtual imprisonment of Pope Pius VI in 1798 by the French general Louis Alexandre Berthier was supposed to have ended the power of the popes, at least as political rulers and, in the Millerite view, fulfilled the prophecy.
Millerite predictions were based primarily on three prophetic periods of 1260, 1290 and 1335 days mentioned in the Bible. Miller counted the prophetic 1260 days mentioned in Revelation 11:3 and elsewhere from a starting point thirty years later than the starting point for the 1290 days. Barbour felt all the prophetic time counts should start at the same time. Doing so ended the 1290 days in 1828 at the start of the Millerite movement,[7] and the 1335 days in 1873, a date he knew some were looking toward.
Barbour believed he had discovered a more logical approach to Daniel’s prophecy. “In our explanation of this in 1843, why did we begin the thousand years[8] thirty years before the abomination was set up? Here is our mistake,” he wrote,” ... The days end in ‘73, not ‘43. All this came in a moment. From that hour ... the whole truth of our position was made clear.”[9]
Barbour believed this new explanation was irrefutable. He had stumbled onto the first of a series of “stubborn facts which none can question,”[10] and he had little patience with those who saw things differently. Barbour doesn’t tell us if the argument, sudden revelation in his view, that convinced him also convinced the ship’s chaplain. Probably if it had, Barbour would have said so.
When he reached London in 1860, he obtained access to the British Library which may have required a recommendation from someone of at least moderate importance. He sought confirmation of his new understanding among the “many ... extensive works on the prophecies.”[11] How many and which of these he read he neglects to say. Except for E. B. Elliott’s Horae Apocalypticae,[12] they are all unnamed.
It would be surprising indeed if Barbour were unfamiliar with Elliott’s Horae. He calls it a “standard work,” which it was; it was very influential among American expositors until at least 1900. He found in Elliott a satisfying Bible chronology which relied exclusively on the Bible’s internal evidence and ignored secular history and opinion and from which he could support his 1873 date. “I was looking to 1873,” he wrote, “and when I saw this chronology supported the argument of the 1260 and 1335 days of Dan. 12, naturally examined it with interest and ... have never seen a scriptural reason to abandon it.”[13]
The chronology was developed by Christopher Bowen, the Anglican Vicar of Southwark.[14] Bowen was a prophetic student in his own right and published a pamphlet entitled Things to Come Practically Enquired Into in 1847.[15] He contributed a chronological table to Elliot’s Horae that was a restatement and revision of Henry F. Clinton’s chronology, incorporating revisions to it made by Elliot. Bowen’s table is distinctive enough to call it a new chronology and contemporaries differentiated between the two. Daniel T. Taylor prints the two chronologies along with others in a table. Clinton and Bowen differ by ten years.[16] Because Bowen crafted the table, he is credited with the chronology. In truth, credit belongs at least equally and maybe primarily to Elliott.[17]
The evidence is plain that Barbour read John Aquila Brown’s[18] The Even-Tide; or Last Triumph of the Blessed and Only Potentate, a two-volume work published in 1823, either then or earlier. Brown was of interest to Millerites because he ended the prophetic 2300 days in 1844, and his book was well enough known in America that the anonymous author and publisher of Watchman of the Night and Millennial Morning[19] and Peters in his Theocratic Kingdom[20] could refer to it without further explanation. Matthew Habershon, an author recommended by J. A. Seiss, referred to him.[21] Isaac Wellcome mentions Even-Tide and connects Barbour to it, though he says, “Barbour... terminated his time argument at the same point, but by a different mode of reckoning, in some respects.”[22] One would conclude that Barbour read Brown’s Even-Tide, even without Isaac Wellcome’s statement.
Key elements of Barbour’s prophetic scheme are found in Even-Tide, which seems to be their ultimate source. Brown would have interested Barbour because he ended the 1290 days in 1873. Barbour wouldn’t have read far into Brown to discover this. It is on the frontis chart in volume one and on the title page. Though Barbour doesn’t mention Brown or Even-Tide, he admits that others had pointed to 1873. He quotes Miller as saying after the 1843 disappointment that he could see “no light this side of 1873.”[23] He saw Miller’s words as a seal to his own conclusions; yet, he wrote “others have said as much or more” about 1873.
John Fry in Observations on the Unfulfilled Prophecies pointed to 1873.[24] Fry ended the 1260 days in 1872/73, writing that “the arrival of the years 1844, 1872, and 1889 must be expected with feelings of the deepest interest by all who are looking for ‘this great day of the Lord.’” W. Snell Chauncy also pointed to 1873 in his 1839 publication Dissertations on Unaccomplished Prophecy.[25] In 1835 Thomas Brown suggested that the 1335 prophetic days might end in 1873, and he felt the way was opening up for “the full triumph of the Gospel kingdom and the final restoration and conversion of Israel.”[26] Matthew Habershon counted the 1290 days from 583 to 1873-74 C.E. (A.D.).[27] At least one advocate of 1873 was mentioned in The Literalist, printed by Orrin Rogers in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1842.[28] Closer to Barbour’s time, the anonymous British writer “S. A.” suggested in his Apocalyptic History that at least one prophetic period might end in 1873.[29] Though the basis for fixing on 1873 varied, there were a number who believed it a prophetically significant date.[30]
No great doctrinal shifts occurred in Barbour’s thinking. He merely shifted the long familiar Millerite 1843/4 calculations thirty years forward. In other areas Barbour continued to hold to beliefs that were at least familiar to Adventists of all stripe, even if not believed by all. Second Adventism was a fragmented movement. It was divided into competing sects, and it was divided on issues such as the Trinity, conditional immortality, and the resurrection of the wicked. The newly formed Advent Christian body and Sabbatarian Adventists were both divided internally over the Trinity doctrine. Barbour ignored all these issues, concentrating on his new date system.
[1] Barbour, N. H.: Evidence for the Coming of the Lord, page 32.
[2] Paton, John H.: Two More at Rest, The World's Hope, November 1, 1905, page 336.
[3] Barbour, N. H.: Evidence for the Coming of the Lord, page 32.
[4] “Do you not see,” he would write referring to the parable of the foolish and wise virgins, “that we must accept of that movement, as the going forth of the virgins, or abandon our whole position as Adventists ... ?” (Evidence, page 25.) Note also this statement: “Convince me that the 1843 movement was based in falsehood, and that the past has been only confusion and error, and I will admit, with the world, that the chances are a hundred to one that this 1873 movement will be of a like nature, and end in disappointment.” - Barbour, N. H.: The Seventy Weeks, The World’s Crisis and Second Advent Messenger, April 3, 1872.
[5] Barbour, N. H.: Evidence for the Coming of the Lord, page 32.
[6] Smith, Uriah: The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, Review and Herald, page 328 in the undated edition I consulted.
[7] “Not only does Bro. Miller state in his lectures, published in 1840, that he began the study of these periods twelve years previous, viz., in 1828, but I have a book before me now, published in London in 1831, in which the author states that he began to look for this glorious hope in 1828. And in different parts of the world there were many who began about that time to look and wait ‘for his Son from heaven.’”- Barbour, N. H.: The 1290 and 1335 Days, The World’s Crisis and Second Advent Messenger, December 20, 1871.
[8] He doesn’t mean the 1000 years of Revelation chapter twenty. Barbour divides the 1290 days into two periods and finds a complementary application for each.- Barbour, N. H.: The 1290 and 1335 Days, The World’s Crisis and Second Advent Messenger, December 20, 1871.
[9] Barbour, N. H.: Evidence for the Coming of the Lord, pages 32-33.
[10] Barbour, N. H.: Evidence for the Coming of the Lord, page 4.
[11] Barbour, N. H.: Evidence for the Coming of the Lord, page 33.
[12] Elliott, Edward B.: Horae Apocalypticae, or Commentary on the Apocalypse, Critical and Historical: Including also an Examination of the Chief Prophecies of Daniel, Second Edition, London, 1846.
[13] Barbour, N. H.: Chronology, The Herald of the Morning, August 1875, page 38.
[14] Burke’s A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland (London, 1899, page 3) contains the following brief biographical note: “Rev. Christopher Bowen, M.A., of Hollymount, and Heatherwood, Isle of Wright, formerly rector of St. Thomas, Winchester, b. 16 Oct. 1801; m. 17 Jan. 1834, Katherine Emily, dau. of Sir Richard Steele, 3rd Bart, of Hampstead, d. 1890.” Dictionary of National Biography, Supplement, Volume I, New York, 1901, page 238, says that Bowen “was successively curate of Woolaston, near Chepatow, and of Bath Abbey church, rector of Southwark, and rector of St. Thomas’s, Winchester.”
A brief profile of Christopher Bowen is found in his son Edward’s biography: “The Rev. Christopher Bowen was the eldest representative of an Irish family holding property in county Mayo, and was distinguished by many of the best characteristics of the Evangelical school of those days — devotion, spirituality, a hearty dislike of ecclesiasticism, profound earnestness, unquestionable sincerity. He was also very gentle and affectionate, full of sympathy with the trials of others, full of compassion for their failures or mistakes. Sir Henry Cunningham, in his memoir of Lord Bowen, has referred to him as ‘an excellent reader, whose children enjoyed no greater treat than to lie on the hearthrug and listen to his rendering of one of Shakespeare’s plays.’ He was, too, one whose able mind remained fresh and active with advancing years. ... It may be added, in view of the striking poetical gifts of his two elder sons, that he was a somewhat copious writer of verses, both humorous and sentimental.... He died on the Riviera in 1890.” - Bowen, W. E.: Edward Bowen: A Memoir, Longmans, Green, and Company, London, 1902, page 8.
[15] Bowen, Christopher: Things to Come Practically Enquired Into, Binns & Goodwin, Bath, and J. Nisbet & Co., London, [1847] 1849 edition. Other works by Bowen exist. This is his only work on prophetic subjects of which I am aware. Bowen’s chronology doesn’t appear in the booklet. The chronology seems to have been drawn up specifically for Elliott.
[16] Taylor, Daniel T.: The Reign of Christ on Earth: Or The Voice of the Church in All Ages Concerning the Coming and Kingdom of the Redeemer, H. L. Hastings, Boston, 1883 revised edition, pages 538-540.
[17] Elliott, Edward B.: Horae Apocalypticae, Second Edition, London, 1846, page 254-259.
[18] John Aquila Brown was a silversmith and a Factor or agent for one of the Sheffield silverplaters. He appeared as a witness at the Old Bailey on April 6, 1826, in the case of Elizabeth Wood Lloyd. He declared, “I live in Bouverie Street, and I am a silversmith.” (Sessions Paper: The Right Honourable William Venables, Mayor. Fourth Session, Held at Justice Hall, in the Old Bailey, On Thursday, the 6th of April, 1826, and Following Days, London, 1826, pages 316-217.) He died in March 1849. His birth date is unknown. His wife’s name was Ann E., maiden name unknown. They had two sons, Daniel born March 1, 1814, and David born January 1, 1816. Both sons were enrolled in The Merchant Taylors’ School.
Brown is occasionally described as a Church of England clergyman. This is incorrect. Brown belonged to the Philo-Judaean Society. He sponsored or seconded a resolution at one of their meetings and is included in a list of “movers and seconders.” All listed are given the title “Rev.” except Brown who is listed as “Mr. John Aquila Brown.” — The Missionary Register For M DCCC XXVIII Containing the Principal Transactions of Institutions for Propagating the Gospel, London, 1828, page 229.
In 1808 Brown was one of the principals at an organizational meeting for The Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East. He lived in Pall Mall then. - The Early History of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East to the end ofA.D. 1814, London, 1896, page 193.
[19] Volume 1, page 26-32; 107, 118-119 cited by Froom, Prophetic Faith, Volume 4, page 266-267. Though Brown’s Even-Tide was printed in the UK, there are many more copies in American libraries than in British libraries. One gets the impression that Brown’s primary audience was in the United States.
[20] Peters, G. N. H.: The Theocratic Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Funk and Wagnalls, New York, 1884, Volume 3, page 99.
[21] Habershon, Matthew: A Dissertation on the Prophetic Scriptures Chiefly Those of a Chronological Character: Shewing Their Aspect on the Present Times, and on the Destinies of the Jewish Nation, James Nisbet and Co, 1834, page 197.
[22] Wellcome, Isaac: History of the Second Advent Message and Mission, Doctrine and People, Yarmouth, Maine, 1874, page 477.
[23] Barbour, N. H.: Evidence for the Coming of the Lord, page 34. Despite extensive research, I cannot find the source for this quotation. It seems an uncharacteristic statement for Miller to have made. Isaac Wellcome, questioned the quotation. — History of the Second Advent Message, page 370.
[24] Fry, John: Observations on the Unfulfilled Prophecies of Scripture: Which are yet to Have Their Accomplishment Before the Coming of the Lord in Glory or at the Establishment of His Everlasting Kingdom, Printed for James Duncan and T. Combe, London, 1835, page 380. This book is in the British Library.
[25] Published by James Nisbet & Co.; J. Johnstone, 1838, page 387. This book is in the British Library.
[26] Brown, Thomas: A Key to the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament, Published by the Author, London, 1858, page 103.
[27] Habershon, Matthew: A Dissertation on the Prophetic Scriptures Chiefly Those of a Chronological Character: Shewing Their Aspect on the Present Times, and on the Destinies of the Jewish Nation, James Nisbet and Co, 1834, page 452.
[28] The Literalist: Elements of Prophetical Interpretation, etc., Orin Rogers, 1840, page 333.
[29] S. A.: Apocalyptic History, S. W. Partridge and Company, Second Edition, London, 1871, page 21.
[30] Peters mentions a Balfour who looked to 1873. This seems to be a misprint for Barbour. — Peters, G. N. H.: The Theocratic Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, Funk and Wagnalls, New York, Volume 3, 1884, page 99.