Very few pioneers carried on from the American Advent revival into the Seventh-day Adventist church. Joseph Bates was one of those few. This is his autobiography.
About 3/4 of the book deals with his life as a sailor, and later a captain. Even in this phase of his life, he was being led and prepared for his role in the Advent movement. He came under conviction: both regarding his moral condition, and his physical habits. Of his own accord he gave up first hard alcohol, then all alcohol, and then coffee and tea.
Later, swearing was also given up: not such an easy task for a sailor, for whom swearing was considered the common language of the profession! Eventually, he attained full conversion, and the knowledge that his sins were washed away in the blood of Christ.
As a captain, he implemented these reforms on his ship: forbidding the use of alcohol, discouraging swearing, and encouraging the sailors to spend Sunday in religious exercises (he did not know about the Sabbath at that time).
When he retired from seafaring life, he was involved in numerous reform societies, but soon his attention was turned to the Advent revival, and the love of this truth swallowed up all other interests. His recounting of this history gives us a front-row seat in the exciting years that preceded the closing of the Biblical prophetic periods. 289p
