PRECOGNITION 21s
ular meteor shower by chance lit up the night sky in 1833, one of the
largest of its kind, further enhancing the influence of Miller's prophecy.
Tens of thousands of devout followers, called Millerites, awaited
the coming of Armageddon. When 1843 came and went without the arrival of the End of Days, the Millerite movement split into several large
groups. Because of the huge following amassed by the Millerites, each
of these splinter groups would have a major impact on religion even
today. One large piece of the Millerite movement regrouped in 1863
and changed their name to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which
today has about 14 million baptized members. Central to their belief is
the imminent Second Coming of Christ.
Another splinter group of Millerites later drifted toward the work
of Charles Taze Russell, who pushed back the date of Doomsday to
1874.
When that date also passed, he revised his prediction, based on
analyses of the Great Pyramids of Egypt, this time to 1914. This group
would later be called Jehovah's Witnesses, with a membership of over
6 million.
Other segments of the Millerite movement, however, continued to
make predictions, hence precipitating further splits each time a prediction failed. One small splinter group of Millerites was called the
Branch Davidians; they broke off from the Seventh-Day Adventists in
the 1930s. They had a small commune in Waco, Texas, which fell under the charismatic influence of a young preacher named David Roresh, who spoke hypnotically of the end of the world. That group met
a fiery end in their tragic encounter with the FBI in 1993, when a raging inferno consumed the compound, incinerating 76 members, including 27 children, and also Roresh.
CAN WE SEE THE FUTURE?
Can rigorous scientific tests prove that some individuals can see the future? In Chapter 12 we saw that time travel might be consistent with
the laws of physics, but for an advanced, Type III civilization. But is
precognition possible on Earth today?
ular meteor shower by chance lit up the night sky in 1833, one of the
largest of its kind, further enhancing the influence of Miller's prophecy.
Tens of thousands of devout followers, called Millerites, awaited
the coming of Armageddon. When 1843 came and went without the arrival of the End of Days, the Millerite movement split into several large
groups. Because of the huge following amassed by the Millerites, each
of these splinter groups would have a major impact on religion even
today. One large piece of the Millerite movement regrouped in 1863
and changed their name to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which
today has about 14 million baptized members. Central to their belief is
the imminent Second Coming of Christ.
Another splinter group of Millerites later drifted toward the work
of Charles Taze Russell, who pushed back the date of Doomsday to
1874.
When that date also passed, he revised his prediction, based on
analyses of the Great Pyramids of Egypt, this time to 1914. This group
would later be called Jehovah's Witnesses, with a membership of over
6 million.
Other segments of the Millerite movement, however, continued to
make predictions, hence precipitating further splits each time a prediction failed. One small splinter group of Millerites was called the
Branch Davidians; they broke off from the Seventh-Day Adventists in
the 1930s. They had a small commune in Waco, Texas, which fell under the charismatic influence of a young preacher named David Roresh, who spoke hypnotically of the end of the world. That group met
a fiery end in their tragic encounter with the FBI in 1993, when a raging inferno consumed the compound, incinerating 76 members, including 27 children, and also Roresh.
CAN WE SEE THE FUTURE?
Can rigorous scientific tests prove that some individuals can see the future? In Chapter 12 we saw that time travel might be consistent with
the laws of physics, but for an advanced, Type III civilization. But is
precognition possible on Earth today?