Preliminary judgment since 1844: Christ still judging
A preliminary judgment in progress since 1844 as the closing of Christ's work as priest. But God has determined a future day to judge the world with justice.
By Rodrigo Custódio ·
The moment
On Thursday, October 21, 1880, the Signs of the Times of Oakland, California — vol. 6, no. 39 — published on page 462 the article "The Time of the Judgment of Revelation 14:7," signed "U. S." — Uriah Smith, one of the editors of the paper itself (the masthead lists James White, J. N. Andrews, and Uriah Smith as editors, with J. H. Waggoner as resident editor). This was not a marginal opinion: it was the official theology, written by one of those who ran the periodical.
The article teaches that a preliminary work of judgment must occur before the coming of the Lord, linked to the work of Christ. This work — the cleansing of the sanctuary, the preliminary judgment — would have begun at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14. Daniel 9, says the author, explains Daniel 8: the period would begin with the decree to restore Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes (the year 457 B.C., according to Ptolemy's canon), and would extend to the same point in the year A.D. 1844.
The central thesis is the identity between two events: "the hour of God's judgment and the cleansing of the sanctuary involve the same work and occupy the same time." The closing of Christ's priestly work would determine forever who is His and who is not; and immortality would be granted to the forgiven "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," at the second coming. The judgment, therefore, would not be a future day — it would be a process in progress since 1844.
The article takes its leave by asking the sincere reader to ponder these things — and assures that the work "cannot, from the very nature of the case, be protracted much longer; and the coming of Christ follows immediately." It was 1880. The "brief period" that could not be protracted much longer has already lasted more than 145 years — and the paper is still waiting for the "immediately."
Writing desk with scales, books, lamp, and scrolls — atmospheric illustration.
The absurdity
A "preliminary judgment" in progress since 1844, presented as a work necessary for the "closing of Christ's work as priest." Notice the architecture of the thesis: Christ's priestly work would have been left open at the cross, awaiting an administrative closure eighteen centuries later; and the judgment — which the Bible marks for a future day — becomes a celestial business in progress, examining cases one by one. Here are the exact words of the printed page:
"This work has been in progress since the end of the days in 1844. It occupies a brief but indefinite period, immediately prior to the coming of Christ. It is a work that we have shown to be necessary as the closing of Christ's work as priest, and as the preliminary judgment that must closely precede His manifestation."
Source: Signs of the Times, vol. 6, no. 39, October 21, 1880 — p. 462.
Highlighted clipping of the printed page with the quoted passage, October 21, 1880 edition, p. 462.
Why this is serious
The "brief but indefinite period" falsified itself. In 1880, the author assured that the work could not be protracted much longer and that the coming of Christ would follow immediately. More than a century and four decades later, the "brief" period continues in progress — and each passing year makes the prophecy of imminence more embarrassing. A doctrine that has been promising the "immediately" for 145 years does not describe God's plan; it describes the failure of a calculation.
The thesis suggests that the cross left Christ's work unfinished. If the priestly work needs a "closing" in 1844, then for eighteen centuries it stood open — Christ interceding, but not concluding. This contradicts the cry of the cross: "It is finished" (John 19:30). Finished does not admit a later closing; a completed work needs no complementary phase. The "closing" of 1844 insinuates that Calvary was insufficient.
And the preliminary judgment makes forgiveness provisional. According to the article, the closing of the priestly work "will determine forever who is His and who is not" — that is, until your case is examined, your forgiveness is pending review. The believer who confessed, believed, and was forgiven lives under a suspended verdict: forgiven today, perhaps rejected tomorrow, when your name comes up on the docket. It is the assurance of salvation replaced by the anxiety of the process.
Finally, the judgment is shifted from the public future to the secret present. The Bible announces a determined day, before all; the article installs a celestial office that has been operating for decades, with no one knowing when their case enters the docket. The judgment ceases to be the great day of the Lord and becomes administrative business — and the believer, instead of awaiting the Judge with hope, awaits the auditor with fear.
Ancient courtroom with red velvet curtains — atmospheric illustration.
The verdict of the Scriptures
Hebrews 9:12 declares the priestly work accomplished: Christ "entered once into the sanctuary... having obtained eternal redemption." Once — not in two phases separated by eighteen centuries. And Hebrews 10:12 completes the picture: "having offered one sacrifice for sins, He sat down forever at the right hand of God." Sat down — the posture of one who has finished the work. A priest on duty does not sit down; Christ sat down because there is nothing more to close.
God "has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness" (Acts 17:31). A day — appointed, future, public. Not a period of 180 years of secret investigation, but a day marked on God's calendar. The biblical judgment is not a process in progress; it is a future event, before the throne, with the whole world present. The paper's thesis exchanges the appointed day for the endless business.
And the biblical order is clear: "it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). After death, the judgment — not before, in a celestial office, while the person is still alive. The text knows no preliminary judgment in progress since 1844; it knows death once and, after that, the judgment. The paper's chronology inverts that of Scripture.
The Bible knows no "preliminary judgment." What it knows is a Savior whose work is complete — "It is finished" — and a Judge whose day is marked. Between the paper's "in progress since 1844" and Scripture's "sat down forever," no reconciliation is possible: either Christ finished the work on the cross, or it continues as business in heaven. Scripture says He finished — and sat down.