Eschatology

====Specific prophetic movements====
{{main|Great Disappointment}}
[[File:William Miller.jpg|thumb|upright|left|William Miller predicted the end of the world in 1843, known as the [[Great Disappointment]].]]

In 1843, [[William Miller (preacher)|William Miller]] made the first of several predictions that the world would end in only a few months. As his predictions did not come true (referred to as the [[Great Disappointment]]), [[Millerites|followers of Miller]] went on to found separate groups, the most successful of which is the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]].

Members of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] believe Miller's interpretation of signs and dates of the coming of Jesus were, for the most part, correct.<ref name="momen">{{cite journal | journal = [[Baháʼí Studies Review]] | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | year = 1992 | first = Moojan | last = Momen | title = Fundamentalism and Liberalism: towards an understanding of the dichotomy |url=http://bahai-library.com/momen_fundamentalism_liberalism_dichotomy }}</ref> They believe the fulfillment of biblical prophecies of the coming of Christ came through a forerunner of their own religion, the [[Báb]]. According to the Báb's words, 4 April 1844 was "the first day that the Spirit descended" into his heart.<ref name="Momen 2007 71–88">{{cite journal| last =Momen | first = Moojan | title =Messianic Concealment and Theophanic Disclosure | journal =Online Journal of Baháʼí Studies | volume =1 | pages =71–88 | year =2007 | url =http://oj.bahaistudies.net/OJBS_1_Momen_Messianic_Concealment.pdf | issn =1177-8547 | access-date = 14 April 2012}}</ref> His subsequent declaration to [[Mullá Husayn|Mullá Husayn-i Bushru'i]] that he was the "Promised One"—an event now commemorated by Baháʼís as a [[Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh|major holy day]]—took place on 23 May 1844. It was in October of that year that the Báb embarked on a [[Hajj|pilgrimage to Mecca]], where he openly declared his claims to the [[Sharif of Mecca]].<ref name="Chron">{{cite book |url=https://bahai-library.com/cameron_momen_bahai_chronology |first1=Glenn |last1=Cameron |first2=Wendi |last2=Momen |year=1996 |title=A Basic Baháʼí Chronology |publisher=George Ronald |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=0-85398-404-2 |pages=15–20, 125 |via=Bahá'í Library Online}}</ref><ref name="gpb">{{cite book|title=God Passes By|author=Shoghi Effendi Rabbani|page=9|url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-2.html}}</ref> The first news coverage of these events in the West was in 1845 by ''[[The Times]]'',<ref name="Momen 1999 online">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Momen | first = Moojan | title = Early Western Accounts of the Babi and Baháʼí Faiths | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia articles | publisher = Bahá'í Library Online | year = 1999 | url =http://bahai-library.com/momen_encyclopedia_western_accounts | access-date = 2 February 2012}}</ref> followed by others in 1850 in the United States.<ref name="Bahá'í Library Online">{{cite web | title =Early mention of Bábís in western newspapers, summer 1850| work = Historical documents and Newspaper articles| publisher =Baháʼí Library Online | date =17 September 2010 | url =http://bahai-library.com/1850_brief_reports | access-date = 14 April 2012}}</ref> The first Baháʼí to come to America was in 1892.<ref name="Chron"/> Several Baháʼí books and pamphlets make mention of the Millerites, the prophecies used by Miller and the Great Disappointment, most notably [[William Sears (Baháʼí)|William Sears]]'s ''Thief in the Night''.<ref name="sears">{{cite book |first=William |last=Sears |title=Thief in the Night |author-link=William Sears (Baháʼí) |year=1961 |isbn=0-85398-008-X |publisher=George Ronald |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/thiefinnightor00sear }}</ref><ref name="Bowers 2004 12">{{cite book | first = Kenneth E. | last = Bowers | year = 2004 | publisher = Baháʼí Publishing Trust | isbn = 1-931847-12-6 | title = God Speaks Again: An Introduction to the Baháʼí Faith | page = 12 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IOjBc_wK4m8C}}</ref><ref name="Motlagh 1992 205–213">{{cite book | title = I Shall Come Again | first = Hushidar Hugh | last = Motlagh | publisher = Global Perspective | location = Mt. Pleasant, MI | year = 1992 | isbn = 0-937661-01-5 | pages = 205–213 | edition = The Great Disappointment}}</ref>