Adventistische Schriften über: "Are the 144,000 meant literally or symbolically?"

The texts provided present different interpretations. Uriah Smith considers the 144,000 to be a fixed number of people, while Augustine understands the number as a symbol for the totality of the saints; another text argues for a literal reading of the tribal designations. Therefore, the quotations do not offer a single, unified answer as to whether the 144,000 are meant literally or symbolically.

Uriah Smith: a fixed number

»The number 144,000 must mean a definite number, consisting of exactly that many individual persons. It cannot stand for a larger but indefinite number. […] Could this number not, in some sense, be representative and include many more?«

1 - Uriah Smith, A Study of the 144,000 (S144 5.1)

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Augustine: a symbol for the totality of the saints

»One hundred forty-four [thousand]—this final number is used in Revelation to signify the totality of the saints.«

2 - LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1 (PFF1 484.5)

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An argument for a literal reading of the tribal designations

»What can a part of the Bible mean if the reader is supposed to find figures and hidden meanings in passages such as this: “Of the tribe of Asher were sealed 12,000; and of the tribe of Gad were sealed 12,000”? Even though we are expressly told, “And there were sealed 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel,” and the names of these tribes are listed.«

3 - Signs of the Times [J.V. Himes], The Advent Herald, and Signs of the Times Reporter [Himes], vol. 3 (HST September 1, 1840, page 82.7)

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