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Joseph Bates.Pdf 1 Adventist Heritage Joseph Bates Script By Richard Wright Today, Joseph Bates is considered to be one of the three co-founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In fact, Adventist historian George Knight considers Bates to be the “real founder” of the church. However, his early life would have never given this impression. Joseph was born in 1792 in Rochester, Massachusetts. His father was a former Revolutionary War officer. The family soon moved to nearby Fairhaven, where Joseph would grow-up. At the age of 15, Joseph left home to become the cabin boy on a ship. This was the beginning of many years he would spend at sea. During its war against the French emperor Napoleon, Britain began to impress U.S. sailors into the British navy. Joseph Bates was forced to join the British navy in 1810. During the U.S. War of 1812 against Britain, Joseph and other American sailors were kept in a British prison. He did not see his home again, until 1815. In 1818, he married Prudence Nye, but he soon returned to the sea. By 1820, Joseph Bates had become the captain of the ship, Francis F. Johnson. And within seven years, he became the owner and captain of the Empress. Within a year, he was able to sell his ship and retire as a wealthy man. During his time at sea, Joseph Bates became a Christian. He soon gave-up the use of tobacco, alcohol, and caffinated drinks. He later became a vegetarian. He helped to found the Fairhaven Christian Church. At the age of 35, it appeared as if Joseph and “Prudy” could settle into the life of prominent of their local community. During this time, Joseph became involved in both the temperance and the anti-slavery movements. In time, the family would include five children. Then in 1839, William Miller came to town, preaching about the soon coming of Christ. Joseph Bates and his wife accepted the Millerite message, and Joseph soon became a prominent Millerite preacher. Within a few years, Joseph had given away his fortune to support the Advent movement. At one point, the Bates family was so destitute that they could not buy flour and other food staples. Joseph, a man of great faith, prayed that God would supply their needs. He then went to the post office, where he received a letter containing the needed money. After the Great Disappointment in 1844, Joseph Bates worked tirelessly to strengthen the faith of his fellow Adventists. In 1845 he accepted the belief in the 2 seventh-day Sabbath. Upon returning to Fairhaven, he met a friend, Captain James Hall, on a bridge. Hall asked him, “What’s the news, Captain Bates?” Joseph replied, “The news is that the seventh-day is the Sabbath.” Hall would soon become a convert to the Sabbath. Joseph Bates became a relentless evangelist for both the Advent message and the Sabbath. He wrote a tract that convinced James and Ellen White to accept the seventh-day Sabbath. Bates believed that the 24-hour Sabbath should begin at 6:00 on Friday evening. It was not until 1855 that Sabbath-keeping Adventists began to keep Sabbath at sundown on Friday. Between 1848 and 1850, Joseph Bates chaired a series of “Sabbath Conferences,” where committed Adventists met for intensive Bible study. It was at these conferences that the basic beliefs of what would become the Seventh-day Adventist Church were proposed, debated, and eventually accepted. By 1853, Joseph Bates was working as a “missionary” in Michigan. In March, he entered the small town of Battle Creek. He immediately went to the post office and asked the postmaster whom the most honest man in town was. The postmaster offered the name, David Hewitt. Bates walked to the Hewitt home, knocked on the door, and introduced himself, telling Mr. Hewitt that he had a special message for him. The Hewitt’s became the first Sabbath-keeping Adventist family in Battle Creek. The Bates family relocated to the town in 1858. Within a few years, Battle Creek would become the first headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. From 1860 through 1863, Joseph Bates chaired a series of General Conferences that eventually led to the official formation of the denomination. The meetings could often be contentious, with many delegates adamantly opposed to organization, because they had been expelled from such denominations. On the other side, James White was advocating the necessity of bringing some organization to the growing movement. Bates, now in his seventies, was considered the “Senior Statesman” of the church. He gently, but firmly guided the discussions toward a consensus. He always maintained the respect of his fellow Adventists. Joseph Bates had set a quiet, but consistent example of healthful living for many years. He was therefore quite pleased when Ellen White had her famous “Health Reform” vision in 1863. Now, there was a spiritual dimension to the lifestyle that had blessed him with a long and healthy life. Even with his healthful living, however, the years caught-up with Joseph Bates. On March 19, 1872, the great pioneer died at the age of 80 in the Western Health Reform Institute, which would later become the Battle Creek Sanitarium. 3 Of Joseph Bates, Ellen White wrote that he had an “independent mind, a noble and courageous soul, and a heart imbued with love to God and to his fellow men.” .
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