What does Ellen White write about...
Adventistische Schriften über: "Explain in detail the great persecution during the church age of Smyrna, the ten days of tribulation, and the persecution under Diocletian from an Adventist perspective."
Answer
In Adventist understanding, Smyrna represents a prophetic church period of tribulation: approximately from the end of the first century until the time of Constantine. The church is portrayed as persecuted under Roman rule, yet proven faithful through suffering. Uriah Smith interprets the “ten days” as ten prophetic years and applies them to the particularly bloody persecution under Diocletian from A.D. 303 to 313; thus, they constitute the highlighted final phase, not the entire Smyrna period. Jones describes the broader persecution as lasting about 250 years, with varying intensity; he sees the conflict as a clash between Rome’s demand for religious subordination and Christian liberty of conscience. Froom confirms that assigning the ten years to 303–313 accords with Smith’s Adventist interpretation, while Haskell highlights the subsequent change under Constantine.
Smyrna as a church age of persecution
»The meaning of the word “Smyrna” is myrrh; it signifies that the church would be a sweet savor to God while passing through its persecuted condition, which lasted approximately from the end of the first century until the reign of Constantine, in A.D. 312. The church was oppressed and persecuted by the Roman governments, with only occasional periods of respite.«
The “ten days” as ten years
»Since this message is prophetic, the time mentioned in it must also be understood prophetically and signify ten years. It is remarkable that the last and bloodiest of the ten persecutions lasted exactly ten years: it began under Diocletian in A.D. 303 and ended in A.D. 313.«
The longer persecution and its interpretation
»Although the account of the “ten persecutions” is a myth, this does not mean that all accounts of the persecution of Christians by pagan Rome are myths as well. There were not ten persecutions as such, but there was an uninterrupted persecution, with varying intensity, over two hundred and fifty years. […] On the side of Christianity, the principle of true liberty and the rights of conscience and the individual was proclaimed; on the side of Rome, the principle of the individual’s complete subordination to the state in all things, both religious and civil, was asserted.«
Smith’s Adventist identification of the Diocletian persecution
»Smith counted the seven churches as seven major periods of the Christian church, spanning the Christian era. He dated the “ten days” of terrible persecution under Smyrna to A.D. 303–313; they were endured under Diocletian.«
The change after the persecution
»The ten-year persecution during the reign of Diocletian failed to achieve the aim of its instigator, and a remarkable change followed. Constantine took up the cause of that despised group, and through him Christianity was raised to the throne of Rome.«
Original Sources (English)
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