Curious History: How Adventists Ended the Civil War

Seventh-day Adventists are convinced that they are the reason that the civil war came to an end.

Now someone who has even a rudimentary understanding of the history of the civil war would immediately consider this statement to be totally absurd and preposterous. How did this tiny group of Sabbath keeping Christians have anything to do with stopping what “was incontrovertibly the bloodiest, most devastating conflict in American history”?

The civil war presented many dilemmas to the Adventists. The top two challenges being the difficulty of evangelism in a time of war and the challenges of Adventists facing the call to fight. While initially there was optimism that the war would be over quickly, the “tightening coils of war during the next three years” strangled all hope. Every year it was becoming harder and harder. With President Lincoln’s call for 300,000 more soldiers the Adventist church faced certain extinction. Uriah Smith would describe the situation “…The mind of the nation is so absorbed in this dreadful contest that it is almost impossible to call attention to religious subjects…” and with an additional draft of soldiers  “The cause would be crushed. We are thus brought, as it plainly appears to us, to a place where if the war continues, we must stop. We repeat it, The war must stop, or our work in spreading the truth, must stop.”

During this time of great pain and desperation Adventists were forced to stop and adopt a different strategy: they would fast and pray.

On January 31, 1865, James White wrote “…we recommend that the second Sabbath in each month be especially set apart to fasting and prayer in view of the present terrible war…” A month later on February 21 another call was issued by the General Conference Committee for more fasting and prayer from March 1-4.

What happened after Adventist humbled themselves and prayed for just four days?

Adventist historian Richard Schwarz delivers this amazing statement “Within six weeks Lee had surrendered, and the war was over. With the nation, Adventists rejoiced; many felt they had seen a direct answer to prayer.”

Another Adventist historian Arthur Spalding wrote  “In His inscrutable wisdom, having permitted the cup of woe to be drained by the nation, having purified His people of selfish thought, and bound their wills to His, God put forth His hand and touched the machine of war, and lo! It stopped, and there was silence. Scarce a month had passed when, on April 9, Lee surrendered at Appomattox, and on April 26 Johnston capitulated at Durham. The war was over.”

Wow! What an amazing answer to prayer! Praise the Lord!

1.  "incontrovertibly the bloodiest, most devastating conflict in American history” here
2. James White call to fasting and prayer. Advent Review January 31, 1865. {January 31, 1865 UrSe, ARSH 77.2} 
3. General Conference call to fasting and prayer for March 1865. {February 21, 1865 UrSe, ARSH 100.26}
4. Richard Schwarz, Lightbearers
5. Arthur Spalding, Captains of the Host can be downloaded free here.