Very dear brother,—We know well the system of the Adventists in the United States.... They are numerous but divided. They had announced the coming of the Lord for a day named in 1844, which has failed. The greater part are entirely removed from all the truths of Christianity: one party amongst them, more orthodox—separate in the large towns, but in small localities walking together. But all hold the darkest errors. We do not go to heaven at all: we sleep until Christ comes; then He establishes His reign in resurrection on the earth, and then only we have eternal life, which is not possessed now at all; we have only the promise of it. That is the doctrine of those who have the least departed from the truth. The others deny the immortality of the soul, and a good number amongst them almost all christian truths. A small section wish to maintain the observance of the sabbath on the seventh day of the week, but I do not think they are numerous.... The mass of Adventists is composed of the worst heretics of the country, denying at bottom all that is important in Christianity, and really infidel.... I hope the brethren will avoid them.... May God keep them in His goodness.
Ottawa,
June 4th, 1877.