Seventh-day Adventism and Apocalyptic Political Dissent, 1898-1919

Abstract

This dissertation examines the intersection of American imperialism and the protest culture of dissenting Protestantism in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century through the lens of an American-born apocalyptic movement: Seventh-day Adventism. Invoking biblical apocalypticism to foreground their anti-imperialism, Adventists developed a theological framework to interpret the ethics of US foreign policy. They rendered the book of Revelation’s symbol of a “lamblike” beast that behaves like a “dragon” as a prophetic indictment against the United States for professing to champion civil and religious liberty while carrying out an imperialistic policy abroad. Challenging the popular notions of American exceptionalism and Christian nationalism, Adventists decried the government’s collusion with a politicized religious establishment––mainline Protestantism––that endorsed its abuse of power. This case study analyses Adventist dissent during three episodes in American foreign policy history: the Philippine-American War, the Boxer Rebellion in China, and World War I. Chapter 1 focuses on the intellectual underpinnings of Adventists’ apocalyptic worldview, which informed their political philosophy and shaped their subversive views against the US government. Chapter 2 analyses Adventist opposition to the United States’ formal debut as an overseas imperial power during the forceful annexation of the Philippines. Throughout the Philippine-American War, Adventists rejected the myth of a “Christian Nation”; they declared a national apostasy from the nation’s founding documents, and addressed the warped conceptions of race influencing US policies abroad. Chapter 3 traces how they turned their attention from formal to informal imperialism in China during the Boxer Rebellion, leveling a multifaceted protest against violations of human rights and national sovereignty. They depicted the Open Door policy as a sinister ploy to enforce US commercial interests, denounced Euro-centric notions of international law, and arraigned the missionary enterprise for its complicity in making a mockery of both diplomacy and Christianity. Finally, chapter 4 considers the intense backlash against Adventists who were targeted by the US government for their subversive views during World War I. As Adventist apocalyptic beliefs were deemed unpatriotic and a danger to the government, the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Investigation subjected the church to government surveillance, banned their literature, and threatened them with imprisonment under federal enactments like the Espionage Act (1917) and the Sedition Act (1918). Studying how the US government responded to criticism from religious groups during times of national crisis sheds light on the tensions between the American state and religious culture in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Overall, this study offers broader insights beyond merely the Adventist movement. It reveals a wider network of Protestants who were critical of American imperialism. It also draws attention to the understudied dynamic of how some Protestants opposed American imperialism, highlighting a dissenting tradition from within Protestantism that is a counter- witness against the ways religion has been utilized to promote nationalistic and jingoistic visions of America in the world.