A Historical-Theological Understanding of the “Latter Rain”

This study is a historical-theological analysis of the understanding of the “Latter Rain” developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The understanding of the Latter Rain stems from the Holiness-Pentecostal Movement in the United States in the 19th century. The Latter Rain in the Second Great Awakening and the subsequent Holiness Movement was presented as the concept of Holiness or Holy Spirit Baptism. In this process, Holiness-Pentecostalism expected the Latter Rain. Later, in the early 20th century, the Latter Rain Movement took place in the Pentecostal Movement, which was developed along with the gift of the tongue. The Adventists’ understanding of Latter Rain was influenced by the 19th century Holiness-Pentecostalism. White used the term “Latter Rain” without any specific explanation. She emphasized her understanding of the Latter Rain, which differed from Holiness-Pentecostalism, by linking the Latter Rain to the loud cry of the third angel. In the 1880s, the Adventist Church realized that the experience of the third angel's loud cry and the Latter Rain was imminent, and in 1888, the Minneapolis Session of the General Conference understood the announcement as the beginning of a loud cry and the Latter Rain. Consequently, in 1893, the Revival Movement through the Latter Rain took place at Battle Creek Church. The delay in the loud cry reduced the interest in the Latter Rain, and the Adventists waited for the true Latter Rain, defining the tongues and Pentecostal movements that occurred in the 20th century as false Holy Spirit movements. Delaying the achievement of the Latter Rain is becoming an important task in Adventist eschatology.