dedicated the Sabbath to the Virgin Mary, with a mass. _Binius_ says,
"Pope _Innocent I._ constituted a fast on the Sabbath day, which seems
to be the first constitution of that fast; but dedicating the Sabbath
to the Virgin Mary was by _Urban II._, in the latter part of the
eleventh century." About this time we find _Esychius_ teaching the
doctrine that the precept for the observance of the Sabbath is not one
of the commandments, because it is not at all times to be observed
according to the letter; and _Thomas Aquinas_, another Romish
ecclesiastic, saying, "that it seems to be inconvenient that the
precept for observing the Sabbath should be put among the precepts of
the Decalogue, if it do not at all belong to it; that the precept,
'_Thou shall not make a graven image_,' and the precept for _observing
the Sabbath_, are ceremonial."
The observance of the first day was not so early in England and in
Scotland as in most other parts of the Roman Empire. According to
_Heylyn_, there were Christian societies established in Scotland as
early as A. D. 435; and it is supposed that the gospel was preached in
England in the first century by St. Paul, For many ages after
Christianity was received in those kingdoms, they paid no respect to
the first day. _Binius_, a Catholic writer, in the second volume of
his works, gives some account of the bringing into use of the
Dominical day [Sunday] in Scotland, as late as A. D. 1203. "This
year," he says, "a council was held in Scotland concerning the
introduction of the Lord's day, which council was held in 1203, in the
time of Pope _Innocent III._," and he quotes as his authority Roger
Hoveden, Matth. Paris, and Lucius' Eccl. Hist. He says, "By this
council it was enacted that it should be holy time from the twelfth
hour on Saturday noon until Monday."
_Boethus_ (de Scottis, p. 344) says, "In 1203, _William_, king of
Scotland, called a council of the principal of his kingdom, by which
it was decreed, that Saturday, from the twelfth hour at noon, should
be holy, that they should do no profane work, and this they should
observe until Monday."
_Binius_ says that in 1201 _Eustachius_, Abbot of Flay, came to
England, and therein preached from city to city, and from place to
place. He prohibited using markets on Dominical days; and for this he
professed to have a special command from heaven. The history of this
singular document, entitled, _A holy Command of the Dominical Day_,
the pious Abbot stated to be this: "It came from Heaven to Jerusalem,
and was found on St. Simeon's tomb in Golgotha. And the Lord commanded
this epistle, which for three days and three nights men looked upon,
and falling to the earth, prayed for God's mercy. And after the third
hour, the patriarch stood up; and Akarias the archbishop stretched out
his mitre, and they took the holy epistle of God and found it thus
written."
[We give some extracts from this epistle, partly as a matter of
curiosity, and partly to show the credulity of our ancestors, and the
means by which they were awed into what was to them a new religious
observance.]
"I, the Lord, who commanded you that ye should observe the Dominical
day, and ye have not kept it, and ye have not repented of your sins,
as I said by my gospel, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word
shall not pass away; I have caused repentance unto life to be
preached unto you, and ye have not believed; I sent pagans against
you, who shed your blood, yet ye believed not; and because ye kept
not the Dominical day, for a few days ye had famine; but I soon gave
you plenty, and afterwards ye did worse; I will again, that none from
the ninth hour of the Sabbath until the rising of the sun on Monday,
do work any thing unless what is good, which if any do, let him amend
by repentance; and if ye be not obedient to this command, amen, I say
unto you, and I swear unto you by my seat, and throne, and cherubim,
who keep my holy seat, because I will not change any thing by another
epistle; but I will open the heavens, and for rain I will rain upon
you stones, and logs of wood, and hot water by night, and none may be
able to prevent, but that I may destroy all wicked men. This I say
unto you, ye shall die the death, because of the Dominical holy day
and other festivals of my saints which ye have not kept. I will send
unto you beasts having the heads of lions, the hair of women, and
tails of camels; and they shall be so hunger-starved that they shall
devour your flesh, and ye shall desire to flee to the sepulchres of
the dead, and hide you for fear of the beasts; and I will take away
the light of the sun from your eyes; and I will send upon you
darkness, that without seeing ye may kill one another; and I will
take away my face from you, and will not show you mercy; for I will
burn the bodies and hearts of all who keep not the Dominical holy
day. Hear my voice, lest ye perish in the land because of the
Dominical holy day. Now know ye, that ye are safe by the prayers of
my most holy mother Mary, and of my holy angels who daily pray for
you. I gave you the law from Mount Sinai, which ye have not kept. For
you I was born into the world, and my festivals ye have not known;
the Dominical day of my resurrection ye have not kept; I swear to you
by my right hand, unless ye keep the Dominical day and the festivals
of my saints, I will send pagans to kill you."
Provided with this new command from heaven, "_Eustachius_ preached in
various parts of England against the desecration of the Dominical day,
and other festivals; and gave the people absolution upon condition
that they hereafter reverence the Dominical day, and the festivals of
the saints." And the people vowed to God, that thereafter they would
neither buy nor sell any thing but food on Sunday.
"Then," says _Binius_, "the enemy of man, envying the admonitions of
this holy man, put it into the heart of the king and nobility of
England, to command that all who should keep the aforesaid traditions,
and chiefly all who had cast down the markets for things vendible upon
the Dominical day, should be brought to the king's court to make
satisfaction about observing the Dominical day."
Binius relates many miraculous things that occurred on the Sabbath to
those that labored after the ninth hour (i. e. after three o'clock in
the afternoon) of the seventh day, or Saturday. He says, that upon a
certain Sabbath, after the ninth hour, a carpenter, for making a
wooden pin, was struck with the palsy; and a woman, for knitting on
the Sabbath, after the ninth hour, was also struck with the palsy. A
man baked bread, and when he broke it to eat, blood came out. Another,
grinding corn, blood came in a great stream instead of meal, while the
wheel of his mill stood still against a vehement impulse of water.
Heated ovens refused to bake bread, if heated after the ninth hour of
the Sabbath; and dough, left unbaked out of respect to Eustachius' new
doctrine, was found on Monday morning well baked without the aid of
fire. These fables were industriously propagated throughout the
kingdom; "yet the people," says Binius, "fearing kingly and human
power more than divine, returned as a dog to his own vomit, to keep
markets of saleable things upon the Dominical day."
_Mr. Bampfield_, in his Enquiry, p. 3, says, "The king and princes of
England, in 1203, would not agree to change the Sabbath, and keep the
first day, by this authority. This was in the time of _King John_,
against whom the popish clergy had a great pique for not honoring
their prelacy and the monks, by one of whom he was finally poisoned."
_Binius_ (Councils, cent. 13) states that King John of England, in
1208, in the tenth year of his reign, for not submitting to popish
impositions upon his prerogatives, was excommunicated by the Pope, and
his kingdom interdicted, which occasioned so much trouble at home and
abroad, that it forced him at last to lay down his crown at the feet
of Mandulphus, the Pope's agent. After he was thus humbled by that
excommunication and interdiction, the king, in the fifteenth year of
his reign, by writ, removed the market of the city of Exon from
Sunday, on which it was held, to Monday. The market of Lanceston was
removed from the first to the fifth day of the week. In the second and
third years of Henry III. many other markets were removed from the
first to other days of the week, which the King at first would not
permit. He also issued a writ which permitted the removal of markets
from the first day to other days without special license.
The Parliament of England met on Sundays until the time of Richard
II., who adjourned it from that to the following day.
In 1203, according to _Boethus_, "a council was held in Scotland to
inaugurate the king, and concerning the feast of the Sabbath; and
there came also a legate from the Pope, with a sword and purple hat,
and indulgences and privileges to the young king. It was also there
decreed, that Saturday, from the twelfth hour at noon, should be
holy." The _Magdeburgenses_ say that this Council was about the
observance of the Dominical day _newly brought in_, and that they
ordained that it should be holy from the twelfth hour of Saturday even
till Monday.
_Binius_ says, "A synod was held in Oxford, A. D. 1223, by _Stephen_,
Archbishop of Canterbury, where they determined that the Dominical day
be kept with all veneration, and a fast upon the Sabbath."
According to Bampfield, the first law of England made for the keeping
of Sunday, was in the time of Edward VI., about 1470. "Parliament then
passed an act, by which Sunday and many holy days, the feasts of all
Saints and of holy Innocents, were established as festivals by law.
This provided also, that it should be lawful for husbandmen, laborers,
fishermen, and all others in harvest, or at any other time of the year
when necessity should require, to labor, ride, fish, or do any other
kind of work, at their own free will and pleasure, upon any of the
said days."
By such means as these, the observance of the first day was gradually
forced upon the people wherever they owned allegiance to the Pope as
head of the church, and the Sabbath was as gradually brought into
contempt and disuse.
The process by which the change was effected appears to be this: By
first obtaining an annual celebration of the first day at the close of
the Passover, in honor of the resurrection; then a partial observance
of the day weekly, it being generally so observed among the heathen;
then obtaining for it the support of civil laws, ecclesiastical canons
and penalties, and by giving it the title of Lord's day; then by
requiring the consecration of the entire day. To abate and ultimately
eradicate all respect for the Sabbath, it was first turned into a
fast; then it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, resting upon it was
stigmatized as Judaism and heresy, and the preaching of it was called
Antichrist; and finally the fourth commandment was pronounced
ceremonial, and was effectually abstracted from the Decalogue. And
thus, so far as the Roman church was concerned, the point was gained;
and thus, probably, she performed her part in the fulfillment of the
prophecy of Daniel, (7:25,) "He shall think to change TIMES and LAWS;
and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the
dividing of time."
The cause of the Sabbath must also have been seriously affected by the
rise of the Ottoman Empire in the seventh century, and the success of
the Mahometans in conquering the eastern division of the church.
Mahomet formed the plan of establishing a new religion, or, as he
expressed it, of replanting the only true and ancient one professed by
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the prophets; by destroying
idolatry, and weeding out the corruptions which the later Jews and
Christians had, as he supposed, introduced. He was equally opposed to
both Jews and Christians. To distinguish his disciples from each, he
selected as their day of weekly celebration the sixth day, or Friday.
And thus, as a writer of the seventeenth century remarks, "they and
the Romanists crucified the Sabbath, as the Jews and the Romans did
the Lord of the Sabbath, between two thieves, the sixth and the first
day of the week."
We have thus traced the history of the Sabbath in the Roman church
down to the thirteenth century; and we see that through the whole of
this period, the seventh day every where retained the honor of being
called the Sabbath, and that no other day had ever borne that title;
that not until the remarkable letter found on St. Simeon's tomb, had
it been asserted by any one, that the observance of the _first day_,
_Lord's day_, or _Sunday_, was enjoined by the authority of Jesus or
his apostles, nor was any example of theirs plead in its favor. Even
then it was not pretended that the Scriptures required its observance.
There are some traces of the Sabbath among those Christians who
separated from the Catholic communion, or were never embraced in it.
The Greek church separated from them about the middle of the eleventh
century, and had a larger extent of empire than the papists. According
to _Brerewood's Enquiries_, p. 128, this church solemnized Saturday
festivals, and forbade as unlawful to fast on any Saturday except in
Lent, retaining the custom followed before their separation. The same
author states that the Syrian Christians, who composed a numerous body
in the East, celebrated divine worship solemnly on both the Sabbath
and first day, continuing the custom of the Roman church at the time
they separated from that community. _Sandy's Travels_, p. 173, speak
of a Christian empire in Ethiopia that celebrate both Saturday and
Sunday, "that they have divers errors and many ancient truths." The
Abyssinian Christians, another numerous body, are represented as being
similar in some respects to the Papists; and _Purchase_ speaks of them
as "subject to Peter and Paul, and especially to Christ," and as
observing the Saturday Sabbath. They are also mentioned by
_Brerewood_. _Mosheim_ mentions a sect of Christians in the twelfth
century, in Lombardy, called _Pasaginians_, charged with circumcising
their followers, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath. _Mr. Benedict_
considers the account of their practicing the bloody rite a slander
charged on them on account of their keeping the Jewish Sabbath.
_Binius_ says that in 1555 there were Christians in Rome who kept the
Sabbath, and were therefore called _Sabbatarii_, and they are
represented as differing in other respects from the Romanists. Many of
the Armenian Christians are believed to observe the ancient Sabbath.
_Dr. Buchanan_, in his Researches, when speaking of those of them who
are settled in the East Indies, says, "Their doctrines are, as far as
the author knows, the doctrines of the Bible. Besides this, they
maintain the solemn observation of Christian worship throughout our
empire on the seventh day."
Probably there has not existed a class of Christians since the times
of the Apostles, who could more justly claim to be Apostolic than the
_Waldenses_, formerly a numerous people living in the valleys of
Piedmont; whither they retired, says Burnside, on the promulgation of
Constantine's laws for the observance of the first day, in the fourth
century; and where they remained, according to Scaliger and Brerewood,
in the time of Elizabeth of England, in the latter part of the
sixteenth century. They adhered firmly to the apostolic faith, and
suffered severe persecutions from the Catholics. _Robinson_, in his
_History of Baptism_, says, "They were called _Sabbati_ and
_Sabbatati_, so named from the Hebrew word _Sabbath_, because they
kept the _Saturday_ for the Lord's day." They were also called
_Insabbatati_, because they rejected all the festivals, or Sabbaths,
in the low Latin sense of the word. The account the Papists gave of
their sentiments in 1250, was briefly this: That they declared
themselves to be the apostolic successors, and to have apostolic
authority; that they held the church of Rome to be the 'whore of
Babylon;' that none of the ordinances of the church which have been
introduced since Christ's ascension ought to be observed; that baptism
is of no advantage to infants, because they cannot actually believe.
They reject the sacrament of confirmation, but instead of that their
teachers lay their hands upon their disciples. _Jones_, in his Church
History, says that because they would not observe _saints' days_, they
were falsely supposed to neglect the Sabbath also. Another of their
enemies, an Inquisitor of Rome, charged them with despising all the
feasts of Christ and his saints. Another, a Commissioner of Charles
XII. of France, reported to him, "that he found among them none of the
ceremonies, images, or signs of the Romish church, much less the
crimes with which they were charged; on the contrary, they kept the
Sabbath day, observed the ordinance of baptism according to the
primitive church, and instructed their children in the articles of the
Christian faith and commandments of God."
The Sabbath since the Reformation.
With the commencement of the Reformation, a new spirit of religious
inquiry was awakened. Nearly every item of Christian practice was
brought under review, and not dismissed until either approved or
rejected. Among the subjects for discussion we find the Sabbath early
introduced and thoroughly examined. There were three leading views
then maintained by different classes of Reformers, which deserve
particular notice.
1. One class of Reformers there was, who, dwelling alone on the
sufficiency of faith, and the freeness of the Gospel, trembled at the
thought of imposing rules upon men, and seemed to fear the term _law_.
These declared, that the law of the Sabbath was abolished; that Sunday
was no Sabbath, only a festival of the church, which had been
appointed and might be altered at her pleasure. That we may not be
thought in error here, as well as to give a full understanding of the
opinions of that time, we will present the assertions of some of these
men.
_Bishop Cranmer's Catechism_, A. D. 1548, says: "The Jews were
commanded in the Old Testament to keep the Sabbath-day, and they
observed it every seventh day, called the Sabbath, or Saturday; but we
Christian men are not bound to such commandments in Moses' law, and
therefore we now keep no more the Sabbath, or Saturday, as the Jews
did, but we observe the Sunday, and some other days, _as the
magistrates do judge convenient_."
_William Tindal_ says, in his answer to More, chap. 25: "We be lords
over the Sabbath, and may change it into Monday, or any other day, as
we see need; or may make every tenth day holy-day, only if we see
cause why; we may make two every week, if it were expedient, and one
not enough to teach the people. Neither was there any cause to change
it from the Saturday, other than to _put a difference between us and
the Jews_, and lest we should become servants to the day after their
superstition."
_Bullinger_, on Rev. 1:10, says: "Christian churches entertained the
Lord's day, not upon any commandment from God, but according to their
free choice."
_Melancthon_ says: "The Lord's day, from the Apostles' age, hath been
a solemn day; notwithstanding, we find not the same commanded by any
apostolic law; but it is collected from hence that the observance
thereof was free, because Epiphanius and St. Augustine testify that on
the fourth and the sixth days of the week church assemblies were held,
as well as upon the Lord's day."
_The Augustan Confession_, drawn up by Melancthon, and approved by
Luther, says: "We teach that traditions are not to be condemned which
have a religious end,... namely, traditions concerning holy-days, the
Lord's day, the feast of the nativity, easter, &c."
These passages distinctly do away with the Sabbath, and place the
observance of the Lord's day on the ground of human authority. In the
books of some early authors who adopted those views, may be found
frequent references to a difficulty which drove them to deny the
perpetuity of the Sabbath. Bishop _White_, in 1635, says: "If the
fourth commandment, concerning the keeping of the seventh day, is
moral and perpetual, then it is not such in respect to the first and
eighth day; for this precept requireth the observance of that one day
only which it specifieth in that commandment." In speaking of the
Lord's day, he says: "Every day of the week and of the year is the
Lord's; and the Sunday is no more the Lord's by the law of the fourth
commandment, than the Friday, for the Lord's day of that fourth
commandment is the Saturday."
From each of these quotations, it appears to have been felt to be
inconsistent to admit the perpetuity of the Sabbath, without keeping
the seventh day. But to come back to this ancient day, and keep it in
company with Jews, seemed too great a change. Hence the abrogation of
the institution was asserted, as the easiest way of escaping from the
dilemma. John Milton, speaking of this difficulty, says: "If we under
the Gospel are to regulate the time of our public worship by the
prescriptions of the Decalogue, it will surely be far safer to observe
_the seventh day_, according to the express command of God, than, on
the authority of mere human conjecture, to adopt the _first_."
Another influence which led to the rejection of the Sabbath by these
men, was the view of it which was held by the Romish Church. When the
leaders of the Reformation separated from that church, it was claimed
that all her festival days, including Sundays, were holier than other
days, not only in relation to the use made of them, but to a natural
and _inherent holiness_ wherewith they thought them to be invested. In
addition to this, many and hurtful restraints had been imposed upon
the consciences of God's people, until these were days of
_punishment_, rather than of holy pleasure and profit. Seeing these
days perverted from their real design, and made the means of
strengthening papal power, it is not surprising that they were
discarded together. Anxious to escape one error, they fell into
another equally dangerous.
2. But another class of Reformers, (probably somewhat fearful of the
consequences of those lax notions to which we have just referred,)
considering that the Sabbath was given in Paradise, rehearsed at
Sinai, and placed among the precepts of the Decalogue, declared that
it must be moral in its nature, and perpetually binding. But having
admitted its perpetuity, and having rested its claims upon the fourth
commandment, the way of explaining and enforcing the change of the day
presented an obstacle to the spread of this view. How this was
treated, let their own words answer. _Dr. Bound_, in 1595, says, "The
fourth commandment is simply and perpetually moral, and not ceremonial
in whole or in part." _Richard Byfield_, 1630, says, "The fourth
commandment is part of the law of nature, and thus part of the image
of God, and is no more capable of a ceremony to be in it than God is."
Afterwards he says, "The institution of the Lord's day is clearly in
the work of Christ's resurrection, as the institution of the seventh
day was in the work of finishing the creation." "The resurrection
applieth and determineth the Sabbath of the fourth commandment to the
Lord's day." Such was the course of reasoning adopted by this class of
persons. Having established the morality and perpetuity of the Sabbath
by means of Scripture, and brought the sanctions of the Word of God to
sustain them, they apply all this to the support of an institution,
the existence and time of keeping which is inferred from Christ's
resurrection. It is easy to see what must have been the consequence.
3. There was another class among the disputants about the Sabbath, who
endeavored, by strict adherence to the Scriptures, to escape the
difficulties and inconsistencies into which others had been led. They
contended for the early institution of the Sabbath, for its morality
and perpetuity as inferred from its being placed in the Decalogue, and
for _the seventh day of the week_ as an essential and necessary part
of the commandment. _Theophilus Brabourne_, in 1628, says: "1. The
fourth commandment of the Decalogue is a divine precept, simply and
entirely moral, containing nothing legally ceremonial, in whole or in
part, and therefore the weekly observation thereof ought to be
perpetual, and to continue in full force and virtue to the world's
end. 2. The Saturday, or seventh day of the week, ought to be an
everlasting holy-day in the Christian church, and the religious
observation of this day obligeth Christians under the Gospel, as it
did the Jews before the coming of Christ. 3. The Sunday, or Lord's
day, is an ordinary working day; and it is superstition and
will-worship to make the same the Sabbath of the fourth commandment."
These opinions were vindicated by Brabourne in two volumes which
appeared, one in 1628, and the other in 1632. They have never been
answered to the satisfaction of many candid mind. It is true, an
answer has been attempted. But this answer, laboring as it did mainly
to prove that such doctrine "is repugnant to the public sentence of
the Church of England, and to the sentence of divines who lived at the
beginning of the Reformation," could not satisfy one who believed the
Scriptures to be a sufficient rule of faith and practice. To these
volumes might be added others, which appeared soon after, and to the
results of which, living witnesses have testified from that day to
this.
It was while the discussion just referred to was yet in progress, that
King James, in 1618, published his Book of Sports for Sunday, in which
is set forth, that "by the preciseness of some magistrates and
ministers in several places in this kingdom, in hindering people from
their recreations on the Sunday, the papists in this realm being
thereby persuaded that no honest mirth or recreation was tolerable in
our religion," wherefore, it pleased his majesty to set out his
declaration, "that for his good people's lawful recreation, his
pleasure was, that after the end of divine service, they should not be
disturbed, letted, or discouraged, from any lawful recreation, such as
dancing, either men or women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or
any other such harmless recreations; nor from having of May-games,
Whitsun-ales, or Morrice-dances, and setting up of May-poles, or other
sports therewith used; so as the same be had in due and convenient
time, without impediment or let of divine service." This book was
designed to counteract what was then called the Puritan notion, and
maybe regarded as expressing the opinion of the English Church at that
time in regard to the sacredness of the day. It was re-published in
1636, by Charles, with how much real effect upon the practices of his
subjects it is not easy to determine.
It is evident that a reäction in favor of the sabbatic institution had
already commenced; and the earnestness of Puritanism on this subject,
joined to the influence of Sabbatarianism, affected almost the whole
body of the English Church. To Puritanism and Sabbatarianism belong
the credit of having preserved to that country a regard for the day of
rest, which raises it indefinitely above many other Protestant
countries. Had Scriptural ground been taken, who can estimate the
results which would have followed?
In Germany, according to Ross' "Picture of all Religions," observers
of the seventh-day as the Sabbath were common in the sixteenth
century, their numbers being such as to lead to organization, and
attract attention. A number of these formed a church, and emigrated to
America in the early settlement of the country. There were
Sabbath-keepers in Transylvania, about the same time, among whom was
_Francis Davidis_, first chaplain to the Court of Sigismund, the
prince of that kingdom, and afterwards superintendent of all the
Transylvanian churches. In France, also, there were Christians of this
class, among whom was _M. de la Roque_, who wrote in defense of the
Sabbath, against Bossuet, the Catholic Bishop of Meaux. But it is
difficult to determine to what extent this day was observed in those
countries.
In England we find Sabbath-keepers very early. _Dr. Chambers_ says,
"They arose in England in the sixteenth century;" from which we
understand that they then became a distinct denomination in that
kingdom. They increased considerably in the seventeenth century; and
we find that towards the close of that century there were eleven
flourishing churches in different parts of that country. Among those
who held this view were some men of distinction. Theophilus Brabourne
was called before the Court of High Commission, in 1632, for having
written and published books vindicating the claims of the seventh day.
One Traske was about the same time examined in the Starr Chamber,
where a long discussion on the subject seems to have been held. Nearly
thirty years after this, John James, preacher to a Sabbath-keeping
congregation in the east of London, was executed in a barbarous
manner, upon a variety of charges, among which was his keeping of the
Sabbath. Twenty years later still, Francis Bampfield died in Newgate,
a martyr to non-conformity--especially as one who could not conform in
the matter of the Sabbath. It is needless to mention more names, or to
speak particularly of Edward, Joseph, Dr. Joseph, and Dr. Samuel
Stennett, John Maulden, Robert Cornthwaite, and others, who have
written and suffered in proof of their attachment to this truth.
But the Sabbath met with great opposition in England, being assailed,
both from the pulpit and the press, by those who were attached to the
established church. Many men of learning and talent engaged in the
discussion, on both sides of the question. It is evident that the
opposers of reform felt the difficulty of defending themselves against
the strength of talent and scripture brought to bear in favor of the
seventh day. The civil powers attempted to check the progress of all
Dissenters by means of the famous _Conventicle Act_. By that law,
passed in 1664, it was provided, that if any person, above sixteen
years of age, was present at any meeting of worship different from the
Church of England, where there were five persons more than the
household, for the first offense he should be imprisoned three months,
or pay five pounds; for the second, the penalty was doubled; and for
the third he should be banished to America, or pay one hundred pounds
sterling. This act was renewed in 1669, and, in addition to the former
penalties, made the person preaching liable to pay a fine of twenty
pounds; and the same penalty was imposed upon any person suffering a
meeting to be held in his house. Justices of the Peace were empowered
to enter such houses, and seize such persons; and they were fined one
hundred pounds if they neglected doing so. These acts were exceedingly
harrassing to those who observed the Sabbath. Many of their
distinguished ministers were taken from their flocks and confined in
prison, some of whom sunk under their sufferings. These persecutions
not only prevented those who kept the Sabbath from assembling, but
deterred some who embraced their opinions from uniting with them, and
discouraged others from investigating the subject. At present the
Sabbath is not as extensively observed in England as formerly. But the
extent of Sabbath-keeping cannot be determined by the number and
magnitude of the churches, either there or in other countries. For
many persons live in the observance of the seventh day and remain
members of churches which assemble on the first day; and a still
greater number acknowledge its correctness, who conform to the more
popular custom of keeping the first day.
At what time the Sabbath became the subject of attention in America,
we cannot definitely say. The intolerance of the first settlers of New
England was unfavorable to the Sabbath. The poor Christian who may
have been banished to this country for its observance could find no
refuge among the _Pilgrim Fathers_. The laws of Rhode Island were more
tolerant than those of some other States, and observers of the Sabbath
first made their appearance at Newport in 1671. The cause of the
Sabbath has gradually gained ground in this country from that period;
but it has found much to oppose its progress, even in Rhode Island. It
was in opposition to the general practice of Christians, on which
account an odium was put upon it, and those who have kept the Sabbath
have been reproached with Judaizing, and classed with Jews. Besides
this, they have ever been subjected to great inconvenience in their
occupations, especially in cities and towns.
At no time does there appear to have been in this country any general
excitement on the subject. The observers of Sunday have avoided as far
as possible its discussion; so that those who have observed the
Sabbath have had but little encouragement, as they have supposed, to
try to extend their sentiments. But the propagation of their opinions
has not depended exclusively on their efforts. The common English
version of the Bible has been found in many instances a sufficient
means of converting men to the truth. Churches observing the Sabbath
have been formed in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and in most of the
Western States, embracing, as is supposed, a population of forty or
fifty thousand.
Conclusion.
From the foregoing historical sketch, it appears that through the
apostolic age, and for a long time after, the Sabbath was religiously
observed by the church of Christ; and that not until the latter part
of the second century was the first day introduced to religious notice
as a festival of the resurrection; and then, probably, as an annual
celebration at the close of the Passover only. It also appears, that
it was a work of some hundreds of years to establish the weekly
celebration of this day, even in the Romish church; and that this was
not done without the aid of ecclesiastical and civil laws and
penalties--the same instrumentalities used to bring the Sabbath into
disrepute in the popular branches of the church. Thus it appears that
the Romish clergy, and the princes under their control, have been the
principal actors in bringing about the change from the Sabbath to the
first day of the week.
For a long time before the Reformation the popular branches of the
Christian church were literally without a Sabbath. Until after that
period, it is not known that a single passage of Scripture was ever
cited as authority for the celebration of the first day, even as a
festival; the notion that the apostles observed it as a memorial of
the resurrection, being of comparatively modern origin. When, however,
the Reformers threw off the yoke of the Romish church, and protested
against her corruptions, some of them could no longer be satisfied to
let the observance of the first day rest upon her authority. They saw
that they must either give it up as a human invention, or find some
Scripture to support it. Hence the numerous theories which have been
invented to justify its observance--theories which necessarily
conflict with each other, as well as with Scripture, and are
altogether unsatisfactory to inquiring minds.
The history of this matter shows us, that neither the adoption of the
first day, nor the abandonment of the seventh, took place until the
corruptions of the Catholic church in other respects had become so
numerous and flagrant, as to drive from her communion many of her most
conscientious and apostolic members, who still retained the observance
of the Sabbath. The case of those sects in different ages of the
church who have kept the Sabbath in connection with the first day, and
practiced other things peculiar to the Romish church, furnishes
additional evidence that the observance of the first day was adopted
while the Sabbath was retained, and consequently that the first day
was not adopted as a substitute for the Sabbath, which it ultimately
displaced. The permitting of labor on the first day in the earlier
ages of the church, and the canons of Councils and Synods and the
edicts of Princes to bring about a general conformity in this respect,
together with the slow progress made, even in Catholic countries,
evince in the strongest manner that it was viewed in no other light,
even by its warmest advocates, than that of a human institution, and
one that could be enforced by human authority only. As such it was
looked upon by enlightened and conscientious Christians in every age,
who would not make void a commandment of God through a tradition of
men.
In the light of these facts, we are led to the conclusion of Dr.
Neander, set forth in his Church History, that "the festival of Sunday
was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intention
of the Apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far
from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws
of the Sabbath to Sunday." As a "_human ordinance_," the observance of
Sunday has long been and is now considered by many. While they
consider it in this light, it is not to be expected that they will
render it that sacred regard which the Sabbath claims, and must have
in order to our safety and its usefulness.
What, then, shall be done? Shall we allow an institution of so much
importance to rest upon mere human authority? To such a proposition
every friend of the institution ought to say, No. To set it adrift, or
to attempt to enforce it upon such authority, would be to withdraw
from it the high sanction which it once had, and expose it to certain
contempt and neglect. There is but one course dictated by wisdom and
prudence. If we would save the Sabbath from threatened destruction, we
must come back to the law as it was originally given, place the
institution under the care of the Lawgiver, and enforce its claims by
his authority. We must join the commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day
to keep it holy," with the explanation of it, "The seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God," and united they shall stand. Let this be
done, and we need not fear. The Lord of the Sabbath is pledged for its
safety; and he will cause those who "call the Sabbath a delight, holy
of the Lord, honorable," to rejoice in Him, and ride upon the high
places of the earth.
No. 5.
A CHRISTIAN CAVEAT
TO THE OLD AND NEW SABBATARIANS.
BY EDWARD FISHER, ESQ.
The following article is taken from the fifth edition of a work with
the above title, printed in London, 1653. The book was written in
defence of the "orthodoxal doctrine of the Church of England,"
respecting festivals, against the "Sabbatarian novelties," as they
were called, of the Puritans. While it demolishes the claims set up
on behalf or _Sunday_ or _Lord's Day_, it fully establishes
the claims of the _Sabbath_ or _Seventh Day_. And it is
worthy of note here, that it is not possible to refute any of the
erroneous views in regard to the Sabbath and Lord's Day, without
taking positions which necessarily lead to the observation of _the
Seventh Day_. How much easier it would be to fasten the claims of
the Sabbatic institution upon the consciences of men, if we were
satisfied to take the fourth commandment _as it reads_, and
enforce it by "_Thus saith the Lord_."
"The third opinion is, of the new Sabbatarians, who dream of a middle
way betwixt a Jew and a Christian; and this they usually lay down in
two propositions. The first is, _That the Lord's Day, or first day of
the week, namely_ Sunday, _may be called_ the Sabbath: the next is,
_That the observation of the Lord's Day is a moral duty, enjoined by
God himself, and declared both by the doctrine and practice of Christ
and his apostles_. The first appearance of this kind of teachers was
in the year of our Lord 1595, near the end of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth: and because they are neither able to produce direct
Scripture, nor solid reason for what they say, they labor to support
their conceits by fallacies, falsities and wrestings of God's holy
word, as upon scanning their proofs will be manifest to the meanest
capacity.
"For their first proposition, they alledge two reasons why the _Lord's
Day_ may be called _the Sabbath_. One is because the Sabbath signifies
_a rest_; and therefore the Lord's Day being a _rest_, may be called
the Sabbath. But to this we answer, it is false that _the Sabbath_
signifies _a rest_; for when by custom of speech a common name is
restrained to a particular place, thing, or person, it then becomes a
proper name, and so losing its community, does signify that only
particular, unto which by custom of speech it is applied; as for
instance, _the temple_ is a common name, signifying _the Church_; yet
in London, where by custom of speech this name, _The Temple_, is
restrained to an Inns of Court, it is false and absurd to say you were
at _the Temple_, and mean _the Church of St. Giles_. In like manner
_the Sabbath_ is a common name, signifying _the rest_; yet in the
Christian Church, where by custom of speech, according to God's holy
phrase throughout the Old and New Testament, this name, _the Sabbath_,
is restrained to the Jewish weekly festival, it is false and absurd to
speak of _the Sabbath_, and mean _the Lord's Day_. Their other reason
why the Lord's Day may be called _the Sabbath_, is, because the Lord's
Day succeeded in the room of the Sabbath. But if this argument be
good, then may _baptism_ be called _circumcision_, the _Lord's Supper_
the _Passover_, and King _James_ Queen _Elizabeth_.
"As for the second proposition, wherein they assert the _morality and
divine institution of the Lord's Day_, we shall here notice only three
of their reasons. The first is, because Adam, according to God's
command, kept the Sabbath in the state of innocency.... But what is
the sanctification of the Sabbath spoken of by Moses in the second
chapter of Genesis, to our observing the Lord's Day? That was
appointed to be kept on _the seventh_ and _last_ day of the week; this
is kept on _the first_ day of the week: that was the day in which God
_rested_ from his work of creation; this is the day in which God
_began_ to create the heavens and the earth: that was our _Saturday_;
this is our _Sunday_. Their second proof for the morality of the
Lord's Day, is from the fourth commandment, where they seek to corrupt
the very text, and would persuade us that for _the_ seventh day, we
must read _a_ seventh day; as if God did not there set apart a certain
day of the week, but left it to man to keep which of the seven he
pleased. Unto which we answer, that this conceit is not only against
the letter of all our translations, but even repugnant to the sense of
the commandment; for the words are express that God blessed and
hallowed the Sabbath day; that Sabbath day was _the seventh_ day; that
seventh day was _the day in which God rested from his six days' work
of creation_. Nay, grant it were true (as these men would have) that
this special precept does exactly oblige us, and that no particular
day of the seven was by God appointed to be kept holy, then may we set
apart Monday, or Tuesday, or any other day to God's service, as well
as Sunday; and so, by their own argument, the Lord's Day is no more
moral than any other day of the week. Their third proof is from the
title or name, _Lord's Day_, which (say they) cannot be for any other
reason, but because it is of the Lord's institution. We answer, this
is false; for the Lord's Day was not so called because it was
_instituted by the Lord_, but because it was _dedicated to the Lord_;
as we commonly say, Saint Mary's Church, or Saint Peter's Church;
which no man did ever imagine were built or founded by Saint Mary or
Saint Peter."
Near the close of his book, after having examined each of the
positions here referred to, he comes directly to his design, and
says:--
"In vain, therefore, it is, and most absurd, for you our opponents to
charge us with _befooling and misleading the people_. Your own
_practice_, your own _doctrines_, shall bear witness betwixt us.
"You who say one while, that God did not appoint _the_ seventh day,
the day on which he rested, to be kept holy, but _a_ seventh day, and
so one day in seven be observed, no matter which of them; another
while, that by this commandment God enjoins us to keep holy _the first
day of the week_ on which he _began_ his work of creation--Do you not
_befool and mislead the people_?
"You who (forgetting your own doctrine of the fourth commandment) do
teach, that the keeping holy the first day of the week, or Lord's Day,
was appointed and practised by Christ and his apostles, yet cannot
produce so much as one _example_ for it, much less a _precept_--Do you
not _befool and mislead the people_?
"You who infer, because St. Paul, and the disciples at Troas, spent
the whole night of the first day of the week in praying, preaching,
and heavenly conference, in regard he was to leave them and depart on
the morrow; _therefore_, St. Paul and the disciples at Troas met _that
night_ to keep holy _the day past_; _therefore_ the disciples at Troas
met _every first day of the week_, to keep that day holy; _therefore_
the Church at _Philippi_, the Church in _Cilicia_, and _all_ Christian
Churches, did then keep holy the first day of the week; _therefore all
the apostles_ did constantly keep holy that day; _therefore_ Christ
and his apostles _appointed the first day of the week_ to be for ever
celebrated, instead of the Sabbath--Is not this pitiful logic? Do you
not _befool and mislead the people_?
"You who tell stories of an _old_ Sabbath and a _new_ Sabbath, a
_Jewish_ Sabbath and a _Christian_ Sabbath, a Sabbath of the _seventh_
day and a Sabbath of the _first_ day of the week; that so you may
slily fix the name _Sabbath_ on _the Lord's Day_, and then persuade
the simple and ignorant that all those texts of Scripture wherein
mention is made of _the Sabbath day_, are intended of _the Lord's
Day_; when indeed to call the Lord's Day _the Sabbath_, is as
senseless as to call Sunday _Saturday_, or the _first_ day _the last
day_ of the week, when throughout the Old and New Testament we have
not the least intimation of any other weekly Sabbath, save the old,
Jewish, seventh day Sabbath; when you yourselves confess, that the
name Lord's Day, is more proper and particular, and less obvious to
exception, than the name Sabbath; and that the name Sabbath is in
dignity inferior to both Lord's Day and Sunday--Do you not _befool and
mislead the people_?
"You that condemn the yearly observance of Christ's birth-day as
heathenish, yet acknowledge this feast to be a constitution of the
ancient primitive Church--Do you not _befool and mislead the people_?
"Take ye heed; these are not small matters; consider well with
yourselves what it is to stand guilty before God of belying Christ and
his apostles, and wilfully wresting the Holy Scriptures. Be advised;
take time while time is to repent of those notorious slanders
wherewith you have aspersed the ancient approved ways of God's
worship; and let the sincerity of your repentance appear by the speedy
abandoning of your unchristian practices and principles; lest the
heavy judgment of seducers, _to wax worse and worse_, fall upon you,
and God in the end _deliver you up_ to such _strong delusions_, that
you _should believe your own lies_."
Published by the American Sabbath Tract Society,
No. 9 Spruce Street, N. Y.
No. 6.
TWENTY REASONS FOR KEEPING HOLY IN EACH WEEK,
THE SEVENTH DAY INSTEAD OF THE FIRST DAY.
1. Because the Seventh Day was blessed and sanctified for a Sabbath,
by God, immediately after the creation of the world, as a perpetual
memorial of that wonderful work, and of His own resting from it; and
because there is now as much need for man to remember God's creative
work, and to enjoy a weekly rest, as ever there was.
2. Because there is evidence that the Seventh Day was observed from
Adam to Moses, by Noah, Jacob, Joseph, and Job. (See Gen. vii. 4, 10;
viii. 10, 12; xxix. 27, 28; l. 10; Job. ii. 3.)
3. Because the Seventh Day is a necessary part of the fourth
commandment, given at Mount Sinai, graven on stone by the finger of
God, and incorporated with the other nine precepts of the Decalogue,
which are admitted to be moral in their nature, and perpetually
binding. "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." "The Seventh Day
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." "For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
_Seventh Day_; _wherefore_ the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day and
hallowed it."
4. Because the Old Testament abounds with declarations of God's
blessing upon those who keep holy the Seventh Day, and of his
vengeance upon those who profane it.
5. Because our Lord Jesus Christ enforced the claims of the law to the
fullest extent, saying in regard to the code to which the Seventh Day
belonged, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in
no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled;" and because He
always kept holy the Seventh Day, in this doubtless "leaving us an
example that we should follow in His steps."
6. Because the holy women who had attended Jesus Christ at his death
and burial, are expressly said to have "rested the SABBATH DAY
_according to the commandment_," (Luke xxiii. 56;) and because, though
the narrative proceeds immediately to record the appearance of Jesus
Christ, on the morning of the _first day of the week_, neither there
nor elsewhere is one word said about a change of the Sabbath, or about
the sabbatic observance of the First Day of the Week.
7. Because the Apostles of our Lord constantly kept the Seventh Day,
of which there is abundant evidence in the Acts of the Apostles, and
it is declared of Paul, that, "_as his manner was_," he went into the
synagogue frequently on the Sabbath Day. (Compare Luke iv. 16 with
Acts xvii. 2; see also Acts xiii. 14, 42, 44, and xvi. 13.)
8. Because Jesus Christ, foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem,
warned his disciples to pray that their flight might not happen "on
the Sabbath Day;" and as that event was to take place almost forty
years after the resurrection of our Lord, it appears that the same
Sabbath was to be then observed by his disciples.
9. Because there is no other day of the week called by the name of
"Sabbath," in all the Holy Scriptures, but the Seventh Day alone; and
because, when "the First Day of the Week" is mentioned in the New
Testament, it is always clearly distinguished from "the Sabbath."
10. Because not one of those passages which speak of the "First Day of
the Week," records an event or transaction peculiar to the Sabbath.
11. Because when God had so carefully committed his Law to writing,
had repeated his precepts throughout the prophetic books, and had left
so many testimonies and examples of the Seventh Day Sabbath on His
sacred records, it is most unreasonable to suppose that He would have
repealed or changed one single article thereof, without recording it
among the words of our Lord Jesus or His Apostles, in the writings of
the New Testament.
12. Because the observance of the Moral Law, (without any exception
from it,) is constantly enjoined, in the writings of the Apostles; and
one of them says that "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all," quoting at the same time
the sixth and seventh commandments. (See Rom. xiii. 9; Gal. v. 14;
Eph. vi. 2, 3; and James ii. 8-11.)
13. Because the religious observance of the _Seventh Day_ of the Week
_as the Sabbath_, was constantly practised by the primitive
Christians, for three or four hundred years at least; and because,
though it gradually fell into disuse, the neglect of the Sabbath was
caused only by those corruptions of Christianity, which at length grew
up into the grossest idolatry; so that the second commandment was in
fact, and the fourth was in effect, abolished by an ignorant,
superstitious, and tyrannical priesthood.
14. Because it was only through the superstitious observance of the
anniversaries of saints and martyrs, and a multitude of other fasts
and feasts, with which the simplicity of revealed religion was
encumbered and overwhelmed, that the sabbatic observance of the
Seventh Day went out of use; and not (in fact) by any real or
pretended command of Christ or His apostles, nor at first by the
express authority of any Pope or Council: for it was kept _as a strict
fast_, for ages after it lost every other token of a holy day.
15. Because the leaders of the Reformation never claimed for the First
Day the name of the Sabbath, and never enforced the observance of that
day by any other authority than that of the Church.
16. Because it is obviously absurd--(_and it is an objection often
made by irreligious people_)--that the observance of the First Day of
the Week as the Sabbath, should be grounded on a divine precept which
commands the observance, not of the _First_, but of the _Seventh_ Day.
17. Because, if the fundamental principle of Protestantism be right
and true, that "the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants," then
the Seventh Day must be the true and only _Sabbath of Protestants_;
for, unless that day of the week be kept, they have no _scriptural_
Sabbath at all.
18. Because the pertinacious observance of the First Day of the Week,
in the stead of the Seventh, has actually given occasion of great
scandal to the Protestant faith; it has caused the Papists to declare
that Protestants admit the _authority of human tradition_ in matters
of religion; and it has led to intolerance and persecution.
19. Because the observance of the First Day, and neglect of the
Seventh, having been adopted partly in contempt of the Jews, has
always laid a burden upon them, and presented an obstacle to their
receiving Christianity, which ought to be removed.
20. Because the observance of the Seventh Day obeys God, honors the
Protestant Principle, rebukes Papacy, removes stumbling-blocks, and
secures for us the presence and blessing of "the Lord of the Sabbath."
Published by the American Sabbath Tract Society,
No. 9 Spruce Street, N. Y.
No. 7.
PLAIN QUESTIONS.
Reader! be pleased to give a plain answer to each of these plain
questions, without equivocation or mental reservation.
1. Did God, after he had finished the work of creation, "bless and
sanctify" THE _seventh day of the week_; or simply the _seventh part
of time_, without reference to any _particular day_ of the seven?
2. Did He not sanctify THE _very day in which he rested_ from his
work? Was not that _the last day_ of the seven? Did He sanctify any
other?
3. WHY did He "bless and sanctify" _the_ seventh day? Was it not
because he _rested_ on that day? Will this reason apply to _any other
day_ of the seven? Did he not _work_ on EVERY other day? (See Gen.
2:2, 3.)
4. Is not God's example of resting on the seventh day enjoined upon us
for imitation? (Ex. 20:8-11.) Do we imitate him, when we rest upon
some other day than the one in which He rested?
5. Is it the special _appointment of God_ which renders a day holy, or
is it _our own act_? Is the day holy because we _count_ it so, or
because God has made it so?
6. When God enjoins us to count the Sabbath, "the holy of the Lord,"
(Isa. 58:13,) is it not equivalent to telling us that He himself has
_previously_ constituted it a holy day by blessing and sanctifying it?
Is it any thing more than requiring us to reckon the day to possess
that dignity which He _has already_ conferred upon it?
7. If God's blessing does not rest upon one particularly specified
day, to the exclusion of all others, and we are nevertheless required
to keep a day holy, are we not required to do what _is impossible_?
For how can we count a day to be holy, which God has not previously
made so? (Compare Quest. 5.)
8. If God's blessing did not rest upon one particularly specified day,
could he challenge to himself any propriety in one day more than in
another? Yet in the Sabbath day he claims a special propriety; "MY
_holy day_." (Isa. 58:13.)
9. Are we not commanded to refrain from labor in _that very day_ which
God once "blessed and sanctified," and thereby made holy time? "In IT
thou shalt not do any work," &c. Do we obey this command when we work
all of that day, and make it the busiest day of all the seven?
10. If it be downright disobedience to set about our work on the
seventh day, when God says, "in _it_ thou shalt NOT do any work," can
we think to make amends for this act of disobedience by ceasing from
work on another day? Even the performance of a required duty will not
make amends for another one neglected. How much less, then, the
performance of something which is not required! "Who hath required
this at your hand?"
11. Has God ever _taken away_ the blessing which he once put upon the
seventh day, and made that day a common or secular day?
12. Does not the _reason_ of the blessing (See Quest. 3,) possess all
the cogency now that it ever did? Has it lost force by the lapse of
time? And while the reason of an institution remains, does not the
institution itself remain?
13. Was the reason of the blessing which God originally put upon the
seventh day, founded upon any need that men then had of a Redeemer?
Was it therefore to receive its accomplishment and fulfillment by the
actual coming of the Redeemer? In what possible sense can it be said,
that Jesus Christ fulfilled and made an end of this reason?
14. Has God ever said of the first day of the week, In _it_ thou shalt
not do any work? Has Christ ever said so? Have the apostles?
15. Is there any scriptural proof that Christ, or his apostles, or the
Christian churches in the days of the apostles, _refrained from labor_
on the first day of the week?
16. As there is no transgression where there is no law, (Rom. 4:15;
John 3:4,) what sin is committed by working on the first day of the
week?
17. Does not the Sabbatic Institution RESULT from the blessing and
sanctifying of _a particular day_? Is not this _the very thing in
which it consists_? How then is the institution _separable_ from the
day thus "blessed and sanctified"? How can it be separated from that
upon which its very existence depends?
18. If the very life and soul of the institution consist in the
blessing which was once put upon a particular day, is it not idle to
talk of the _transfer_ of the institution to another day? If another
day has been sanctified and blessed, then it is an _entirely new_
institution, and not a transfer of the old.
19. Does not the law of the Sabbath require the weekly commemoration
of _that_ rest which God entered into after he had finished the work
of creation? By what principle of law or logic, then, can that law be
made to _require_ the commemoration of the work of redemption?
20. If it be necessary that the work of redemption be commemorated
weekly by a positive institution, must not the obligation so to
commemorate it arise from some law which directly and specifically
requires it? But when, instead of this, the attempt is made to derive
the obligation from the Sabbath law, is it not a tacit acknowledgment
that there is no law requiring the weekly commemoration of the work of
redemption?
21. Does the Scripture ever apply the name, _Sabbath_, to the first
day of the week? Even in the _New_ Testament, where the term is used,
is not the reference always to the _seventh_ day?
22. If Luke, who wrote the Acts of the Apostles ful thirty years after
the death of Christ, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, still
calls the seventh day of the week the Sabbath, can it be wrong in us
to do so? (See Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 16:1, 3; 17:1, 2; 18:4.) If this be
the _inspired_ application of the term so many years after all the
ceremonial institutions were nailed to the cross, is it not our duty
to make the same use of the term now?
23. Is it not a manifest perversion of the scriptural use of terms, to
take away the sacred name from the seventh day of the week, and give
it to the first day?
24. When the first day of the week is so generally called the Sabbath,
are not the common people thereby led to suppose that the Bible calls
it so? Are they not thus grossly deceived?
25. If the name _Sabbath_ were no longer applied to this day, and it
should simply be called first day of the week, as in the Bible, is it
not probable that it would soon lose its sacredness in the eyes of the
people?
26. Is it possible, then, that God has not given the day a name
sufficiently sacred to secure for it a religious regard, nor even
guarded it with a law sufficient to prevent its desecration?
27. _What then?_ HAS GOD LEFT HIS WORK FOR MAN TO MEND! IS IT NOT SAFE
TO LEAVE THE DAY AS GOD HAS LEFT IT! "Who hath directed the Spirit of
the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?" (Isa. 11:13.)
28. Are you very sure that by the Lord's day, (Rev. 1:10,) is meant
the first day of the week? Have you any _Scripture_ proof of it? Have
you any other proof of it than the testimony of those who are called
the early Fathers?
29. If the testimony of the early Fathers is to be relied on, that the
Lord's day means the first day of the week, ought not their testimony
to be just as much relied on, as to the manner in which the primitive
Christians observed the day?
30. If it were even certain that by the Lord's day the writer of the
book of Revelations meant to designate the first day of the week,
would it thence follow that it is a day _sacred_ by _divine_
appointment, any more than that the "_Sabbath day's journey_" (Acts
1:12,) was a distance limited and prescribed by _divine_ authority? If
Luke could select the latter expression from the vocabulary of _human
tradition_, without intending to sanction it as being of divine
origin, could not John do the same with regard to the former
expression?
31. Do the Fathers, or any one of them, inform us that the Lord's day
was observed by _abstinence from labor_?--that it was observed as the
Sabbath? Mark the question. It is not, was the day _observed_, simply;
but, was it observed _as the Sabbath_?
32. Is there not an important distinction between the _Sabbath_ and a
_religious festival_? Does not the word Sabbath mean _rest_? Can any
day, therefore, be called a Sabbath day, which is not a day of rest
from ordinary labor?
33. Does a religious _festival_ require any thing more than the
commemoration of some important event, allowing the time not occupied
in the public celebration of it to be spent in labor or amusement? Is
not this precisely the manner in which the first day of the week was
observed, according to the testimony of the ancient Fathers?
34. Though the observance of the first day of the week as a religious
festival be in itself innocent, (Rom. 14:5,) so long as it is not made
a pretext for dispensing with an express law of God, (Matt. 15:6,) yet
do you find it any where in the word of God _commanded_ as a _duty_?
35. Do you believe that a Sabbath, in the true and proper sense of the
term; namely, a day of rest from all ordinary labor, is necessary and
indispensable to the well-being of mankind? If so, do you honestly
suppose that God would set it aside, and have its place supplied by
nothing more than a religious festival?
36. Is it not wicked to uphold a course which makes the commandment of
God of none effect? (Matt. 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13.)
Reader! carefully ponder the foregoing questions, together with the
Scripture references. Answer them as you would if you stood at the
gates of death. Do not trifle with the Holy Spirit of God, by forcibly
wresting his word from its obvious meaning. Let conscience be
unfettered; and act, as fully realizing that "THOU, GOD, SEEST ME."
Published by the American Sabbath Tract Society,
No. 9 Spruce Street, N. Y.
DIALOGUE,
Between a Minister of the Gospel and a Sabbatarian
_Sabbatarian._ Did Jehovah ever sanctify one day above another?
_Minister._ He did.
_S._ And what day was that?
_M._ The seventh.
_S._ When?
_M._ When he finished his creative work.
_S._ Where?
_M._ In Eden.
_S._ On whom was it obligatory?
_M._ On our first parents, and all their posterity.
_S._ Did he ever unsanctify that day?
_M._ No.
_S._ Did he ever sanctify the first, or any other day than the
seventh, as a day of rest?
_M._ Not that I know of.
_S._ Then do not those who neglect the seventh day, take away
something from the word of God? And do not those who keep the first
day add to that word? Read the threatnings of the Lord against
such:--"If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him
the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away
his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book."
COUNTERFEIT COIN.
Being the substance of a recent Conversation between an eminent
Counsellor at Law and a Sabbatarian.
The Lawyer contended that although the first day of the week had no
divine authority for its sanctity or observance as a Sabbath, yet if
it be kept as scrupulously and conscientiously as the seventh day
demanded, _it could not but be_ as acceptable to God.
In answer to such sophistry, the Sabbatarian submitted the following
legal case to him:--
"I am told that I can purchase, in the State of Connecticut, _one
hundred_ copper cents, bearing the impress and superscription of the
United States Mint, and equal in every respect in value to the mint
coin, for _sixty-five_ cents, payable in gold or silver. But I admit
them to be counterfeit. I admit, also, that I circulate this spurious
coin. Now, will you undertake, for a fee of $10,000, to defend my
cause against a prosecution for passing such false coin, and exonerate
me from conviction in the United States' Courts."
The honest lawyer's answer unhesitatingly was, "I cannot argue your
cause in the very teeth of so unquestionable a law as appears to exist
on the Statute Books."[9]
The Sabbatarian replied:--"Then, as you admit _your first day Sabbath
a counterfeit_, allow me to answer you as the celebrated Mr. Whiston
did Chancellor King of England upon a similar question: 'If God
Almighty should be as consistent, as just, and as jealous of his laws
in the Court of Heaven, as my Lord Chancellor is in his, _where are we
then_?'"
THE INFERENCE.--If, then, I cannot obtain an advocate on earth, (for
no one of repute would undertake it,) to plead my cause with the offer
of a fee of $10,000, for the violation of a law of man's making, what
ground have I to expect that the only advocate to be obtained in the
Court of Heaven, i. e. _the Lord Jesus Christ_, will defend my cause
against a breach of that law which his father ever made punishable
with DEATH, temporal and eternal?--and who himself, when on earth, in
his comment on that law, averred that not one _jot_ or _tittle_ could
in any wise pass from it? (Matt. 5:18, 19.)
[9] If any person shall falsely make or counterfeit any copper coin of
the United States, or pass or publish the same, he shall be subjected
to a fine of $1000, and suffer imprisonment to hard labor for a term
not exceeding three years.--Gordon's Digest, p. 922.
Published by the American Sabbath Tract Society,
No. 9 Spruce Street, N. Y.
No. 8.
SABBATH CONTROVERSY.
THE TRUE ISSUE.
One of the greatest difficulties which we who observe the seventh day
have ever found in the Sabbath controversy, is to make our opponents
understand what is the real question at issue. So long have their
thoughts, feelings and habits, been moulded under one particular view
of the subject, that it seems almost a miracle if one is found who can
disregard all foreign matter, and look at the precise point in debate
long enough to come to any certain and intelligent conclusion about
it. But it is evident, that if an opponent is suffered to raise false
issues, or to be continually striking off into the discussion of some
point which does not affect the final question, we may prolong the
controversy _ad infinitum_.
Let us then endeavor to state distinctly what is, and what is not, the
issue between us and the observers of the first day of the week.
1. The issue is not whether the first day of the week was observed at
a very early period by Christians. We admit that it was. We admit that
its observance may be traced up to very near the borders of the
apostolic age. What more can a generous, conscientious opponent, who
scorns any other aid than what the truth will give him, ask? He knows
in his own soul that this is the very utmost that can be produced from
any of his histories. Let him ransack his old musty volumes all the
way backward, till he fancies he can almost talk to the "beloved
disciple" face to face, and what more can he find? Verily, nothing.
But when you have got this admission from us, then we have another
question to ask. _How_--don't dodge the question--HOW was the day
observed by the early Christians? We admit the observance of it; but
that is not the issue. The issue respects the _manner_ of observing
it. You, if you are consistent, will say that the early Christians
observed it not only by public worship, but by _abstaining from
labor_. We, on the other hand, deny that they abstained from labor. We
admit that they held public worship; but--we repeat it--_we deny that
they abstained from labor_. We deny that they regarded it as a
_Sabbath_, "resting according to the commandment." Now with the issue
thus fairly stated, we put the laboring oar into your hands, and
challenge you to prove your position. Bring proof, if you can, that
the early Christians regarded the first day of the week as any thing
else than a _religious festival_; between which and a _Sabbath_ there
is a very important difference, the latter requiring abstinence from
labor, the former merely requiring public worship in honor of the
event commemorated, and allowing the remainder of the day to be spent
in labor or amusement.
2. When it is once settled, that in a very early period of the church
the first day was observed as a festival; when our opponents have
fairly jaded themselves to a "weariness of the flesh," in their "much
study" of the old fathers, to find proof of it;--though we never
called it in question;--then the issue is, whether this festival was
_ordained_ by _Christ_?--whether the New Testament furnishes _inspired
example_ of such festival? Our opponents affirm; we deny. We maintain
that in every passage of the New Testament, where the first day of the
week is mentioned, the context furnishes a sufficient reason why it is
mentioned, without the least necessity of supposing it to have been a
festival season. No exception can be made to this, unless in regard to
1 Cor. 16:2. The reason why the Apostle in this place specifies the
first, rather than any other day of the week, does not so clearly
appear from the context; but the peculiar phraseology employed, "let
each one of you lay by him," [himself,] is against the idea of any
public meeting; and if no public meeting, of course no festival
season. As every allusion to the first day of the week is sufficiently
explained by other circumstances noticed in the context, the
_inferential_ proof of its festival character is thereby destroyed. As
for _clear_, _positive_ proof of it, such as express precept or
command, no person of modesty pretends it. Still less is there any
proof of its _Sabbatic_ character.
3. Another point wherein we are necessarily at issue with great
numbers of Christians, is whether the _institution_ of the Sabbath is
separable from the particular _day_ to be observed. They affirm; we
deny. We maintain that God's blessing and sanctifying a particular day
is the very thing in which the institution consists. To render this
plain matter yet more plain, we invite close attention to the wording
of the fourth commandment; premising, however, that the word Sabbath
is not _translated_ from a Hebrew word, but is the Hebrew word itself
anglicized, just as baptism is an anglicized Greek word. The proper
translation of the word is _Rest_. Now let the word Rest be
substituted for Sabbath, and how clear it becomes--
"_Remember the Rest day to keep it holy._" [Surely some particular day
is denoted; for it is THE Rest day, not A Rest day.] _Six days shalt
thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Rest of
the Lord thy God._ [Is it any where historically recorded as a fact
that God rested on THE seventh day? It is Gen. 2:2. 'On the seventh
day God rested from, all his work which he had made.' Who does not see
that that day on which God rested, was the _last_ of the seven which
constituted the first week of time?] _In it_--[in WHAT? why, in the
seventh day, the last day of the week; for the pronoun _it_ can have
no other antecedent]--_thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son,
nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy
cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates._ [WHY must no work
be done on that particular day, the seventh or last day of the week?
The reason follows.] _For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that in them is, and_ RESTED _on the seventh day_, [as
the record in Gen. 2:2 proves. See also Heb. 4:4.] _Wherefore the Lord
blessed the Rest day and sanctified it._
The conclusion is irresistible, that the Rest day spoken of is the
particular day on which God rested from his work, which, as before
shown, was the last day of the week. That very day, and no other, God
blessed and sanctified. The only reason assigned _why_ he sanctified
it, is "because that in it he had rested from all his work which God
created and made." Gen. 2:3. The Rest day, then, which we are required
to observe, is "the Rest of the Lord thy God:" which does not mean the
rest which the Lord thy God has appointed, though it is true that he
has appointed it; nor does it mean a rest which becomes the Lord's by
reason of our appropriating it to him; but "the rest of the Lord thy
God" means THE REST WHICH THE LORD THY GOD OBSERVED.
Now from all this we think it must be evident, that whoever observes
any other Rest day than the seventh day of the week, does not observe
the Rest--Sabbath--"of the Lord thy God." He may, it is true,
appropriate it to the Lord his God, and in that sense call it the
Lord's; he may ignorantly suppose that Christ in the Gospel has
appointed it, and in that sense also call it the Lord's; but it can by
no means be called "the Rest of the Lord thy God" in the sense of that
expression in the fourth commandment. Hence, irresistible is our
conviction, that he does not obey the commandment. O brother
Christian, why will you persist in maintaining that your Sunday
keeping is an act of obedience to the law of the Sabbath?
Published by the American Sabbath Tract Society,
No. 9 Spruce-street, New-York.
No. 9
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.
FALSE EXPOSITION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
The Fourth Commandment has been variously expounded by its professed
friends. Among these expositions, none has been more injurious than
that which represents it as requiring the observance, not of _the_
Sabbath, and _the_ seventh day, but of _a_ Sabbath, and _a_ seventh
day--not of a certain and well-known time, but of an uncertain and
varying time. Yet this is the exposition of it which is given both by
commentators and writers on the subject of the Sabbath. It will be
found, however, that this view is generally presented in order to
prepare the way to introduce the first day of the week, under the
specious name of Lord's Day, into the place of the Sabbath. Thus some
are made to think, that the name Sabbath may as well be applied to the
first day of the week as to the seventh. But to such an exposition
there are several serious objections:--
1. It is a perversion of the original text itself. In every place
where the weekly Sabbath and the seventh day are spoken of, the Hebrew
article is uniformly used. This article is often used like our
demonstrative _this_--but more commonly like our definite article
_the_--never as our indefinite article _a_ or _an_; and _Gesenius_, in
answer to the question whether it may be used _indefinitely_, says,
"The definite article cannot be rightly said to stand indefinitely."
To this opinion agree all our translators, both ancient and modern,
who have rendered the terms, both in the fourth commandment and all
other places of the Scripture, by _the_ Sabbath and _the_ seventh day.
2. It makes the Fourth Commandment to be indefinite and absurd. If
that commandment only requires the observance of _a_ Sabbath or
_rest_, and that on _a_ seventh day, then one man might keep the
seventh day, another the third day, and another the fifth day, yet all
obey the commandment. What confusion would thus result from carrying
out this exposition to its legitimate results! But God's commandment
is not yea and nay after this manner. It says, "_the_ seventh day is
_the_ Sabbath of the Lord thy God." That man will not be held
guiltless who misinterprets and misrepresents it, for however pious a
purpose he may do so.
3. It is contrary to the teachings of the very men who give this
exposition; for they affirm, that the fourth commandment required the
keeping of _the_ seventh day until Christ came. Now, if the Jews
before Christ, were bound to keep a certain and definite day, and that
_the_ seventh day, then the commandment required a certain and
definite day, and that _the_ seventh day.
From these considerations it is evident, that those who represent the
fourth commandment as requiring the observance of only _a_ Sabbath,
and that upon _some one_ day of the seven indefinitely, are guilty of
a false exposition of the commandment, and of handling the word of God
deceitfully. They make a plain passage of Scripture to signify one
thing for some thousands of years, and then ever afterwards to signify
another thing. Thus do they make void the commandment of God, that
they may keep their own traditions.
Now let us turn to a consideration of some of the _consequences_ of
this kind of exposition. Among these we will mention only three.
1. It overturns all certainty in explaining the Scriptures. If a man,
in translating from a Latin or Greek author, should pervert his
author's meaning in this manner, by using words in a different sense
from that in which they were intended, he would be cast out and
despised. But yet when a preacher represents the term _the Sabbath_ as
meaning simply _a rest_, that so he may call the first day of the week
_a rest_, and therefore _the Sabbath_, he deals worse with the
Scriptures than the translator just mentioned does with his profane
author. Instead, however, of being cast out and despised, his
speculations are allowed to go for truth. Thus unbelievers are
encouraged in their infidelity; and occasion is given for them to say,
that the Bible is interpreted by its friends to mean just what they
please to have it. It is dangerous for men to use their wits thus to
blind the eyes of their fellows.
2. It abolishes the Lord's Sabbath, and makes the Fourth Commandment
to be a mere cipher. First, it abolishes the Lord's Sabbath, because
it teaches that the observance of the seventh day, on which God rested
and which he introduced into the commandment as one with the Sabbath,
is not at all binding, but the day may be spent in any kind of labor.
Is not this to abolish _the Lord's_ Sabbath? Second, it makes the
fourth commandment a cipher, because it takes away the _time_, which
is the seventh day, and the _event commemorated_, which is God's
resting from his creative work. Now read the commandment, as these
expounders would have it, bereft of the _time_ and the _event
commemorated_. It then commands only _a rest_, without any precept or
example as to its length or frequency. One person, therefore, may rest
one hour in each day; another one day in a month; and a third one
month in a year; and each may call this keeping the Sabbath. Does not
this make the fourth commandment a mere cipher?
3. It abuses God's Word, and misleads his people. It abuses his word
by representing that the Word teaches what it does not teach, and that
it fails to teach what it attempts to teach. It misleads his people,
on one side, by pressing the fourth commandment to sustain the first
day of the week, which it says nothing about, thus laying a yoke upon
the people, requiring them to observe a day, in regard to which they
will finally be asked, Who hath required this at your hands? On the
other side, it misleads the people, by encouraging them to neglect a
day which God hath sanctified; and commanded them to keep holy.
Such are some of the consequences of this false exposition of the
fourth commandment. They affect both the sabbatic institution itself,
and those whose duty it is to remember it. It is true that the persons
who countenance such expositions are called very zealous and godly
men; but this, instead of bettering the case, makes it worse. If they
were enemies to the commandment, such things might be expected, and
would be comparatively unimportant; but that the wound should be
inflicted by its friends, aggravates the evil. There is occasion to
tremble for some religious teachers, who profess great interest in the
Sabbath, but who yet refuse to hear the truth in regard to it. Some
such there are, who, if the truth be presented to them, instead of
inquiring if these things are so, imitate the Jews of old who, when
they were cut to the heart, gnashed on their reprover with their
teeth; and when they could endure it no longer, "stoppped their ears,
and ran upon him with one accord." Such would do well to inquire if
they are not in this thing teaching error for truth, and their own
traditions for the commandments of God.
Published by the American Sabbath Tract Society,
No. 9 Spruce-street, New-York.
[No. 10.]
THE TRUE SABBATH
EMBRACED AND OBSERVED.
BY ELD. SAMUEL DAVISON,
Many years a regular Baptist Minister; now Pastor of the Seventh day
Baptist Church in Shiloh, New Jersey.
NEW-YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMER. SABBATH TRACT SOCIETY
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.
Having often been solicited to give an account of my conversion from
the observance of what is commonly called the Lord's Day, or Sunday,
to the observance of the ancient Sabbath of Jehovah, the seventh day
of the week, I submit this brief narrative to public notice, not so
much for the justification of my present practice, as in the hope that
it may be the means of leading many other Christian people candidly to
examine this subject, which, as it appears to me, is very essential to
the restoration of primitive Christianity. The narrative derives its
importance, not from the person of the narrator, but from the
practical exhibition which it furnishes of the working of divine truth
upon the mind.
EARLY PREPOSSESSIONS.
My parents, and nearly all of my family connections, being members of
Baptist churches, or attached to that denomination--and I having been
a member of the same for above twenty-five years, and more than half
that time an accredited minister among them--all my preferences and
prepossessions were with their peculiarities as churches of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If there was one characteristic doctrine of the Baptists
which I esteemed above another, it was this: "We believe that the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by the inspiration
of God, and are a perfect rule of faith and practice." I could say
with the Psalmist, "My heart standeth in awe of thy word; for thou
hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
MATURED ATTACHMENTS.
I believed firmly, that if there was a Christian people upon the earth
who had kept the primitive faith from the days of the apostles, and
had never symbolized with the errors of the church of Rome in her
idolatrous and adulterous course, that people was the Baptist
denomination. If there was any thing in my religious privileges in
which I gloried, it was in thinking that I had never been deceived by
the working of that mystery of iniquity. I was sensible that the
Baptists had errors among them; but I regarded them as the errors of
fallible human nature, and not as departures from the constitutional
doctrine and law of the Holy Scriptures--some of them superinduced by
an unwatchful and familiar intercourse with our more erroneous
Pedobaptist brethren, and hence mediately, though not directly, the
effect of that great apostacy which was predicted as to come and
deceive all nations. Holding these sentiments, I was ardently and
conscientiously attached to that denomination, as the most scriptural
people on earth. I did not doubt but that I should remain united with
them in time, in death, and in eternal life.
REGARD FOR SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY.
Notwithstanding my prepossessions and attachments, it has been my
prevailing desire, from the time of my conversion, to be a Scriptural
Christian; and since I became a teacher of others, I have felt a
growing sense of obligation to know and teach the whole counsel of God
aright. The words of the Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples, saying,
"Call no man master," "Call no man father," have for years been so
deeply impressed upon my heart, that I have scrupulously refused to
call myself a Fullerite, a Calvinist, an Armenian, or after any human
name. Although I have my preferences in reading and approving the
sentiments of great and good men, the Bible alone is my creed book.
FORMER SABBATH SENTIMENTS.
My former Sabbath sentiments were formed according to the Puritan
model. While a child, I learned Sutcliff's and Watts' Catechisms, in
both of which it is taught, that the ten commandments are a rule of
life to good men; and traditionally I was taught, that the Sabbath was
changed from the seventh to the first day of the week in honor of the
resurrection of Christ; and I fully believed this was confirmed by the
various references to the first day contained in the New Testament.
DISTURBED ABOUT THE SABBATH.
I was first disturbed about the Sabbath seven years ago, when a
brother sent me a tract upon the subject, called the _Investigator_. I
read it with considerable interest, and was much perplexed in
attempting to satisfy myself with my own views, as I went along in the
perusal of it. I wished then, that there had been something more
explicit upon the subject of the change of the day than what I could
find in the New Testament. Not questioning, however, but that it was
divinely changed, I quieted, rather than satisfied, my mind with what
I supposed to be abundant apostolic example; and I remarked, that if
our Pedobaptist brethren could produce from the Scriptures as clear
examples of infant baptism, as we could of keeping the first day of
the week for a Sabbath, I would admit its validity. Although I would
not dare to say so now, then it sufficed to quiet my mind.
I had no farther solicitude upon the subject, until about midsummer of
1843. At that time, as several professors of religion of my
acquaintance did not regard the day as I thought the Lord's Day ought
to be regarded, I concluded to preach a sermon upon the subject, and
commenced preparing one. I had then recently purchased Neander's
History of the Christian Religion and Church during the First Three
Centuries. I read this book with much satisfaction, as the work of an
able and candid historian, who takes a philosophical view of the
events and circumstances of society which operated to give character
to those early ages of church history. In the section on Christian
Worship and Festivals, I was surprised to find the following
statement, viz: "OPPOSITION TO JUDAISM _introduced the particular
festival of Sunday_ very early indeed into the place of the
Sabbath.... The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was
always only a human ordinance; and it was far from the intentions of
the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect--far from
them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the
Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century a false
application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by
that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin." I was the
more surprised at this statement, as I found Neander was not a
Sabbath-keeper. He takes the high-church ground, acknowledging the
right of the so-called apostolic or catholic church to alter or ordain
the rites of Christian worship; which is indeed, the foundation
principle of all Papal, Puseyite, and Pedobaptist observances. I saw
clearly enough, that if Neander was right, I had no better foundation
for Sunday-keeping than hierarchists have for their Easter, Ascension,
and Christmas Festivals, which I had always repudiated; or than
Pedobaptists have for sprinkling infants. I therefore determined to
give the subject
A THOROUGH EXAMINATION.
I commenced with human authors, and read Fuller, Buck, Doddridge,
Paley, Wilson, Humphrey, Nevins, Kingsbury, Phelps, Whateley, and
others; and I was astonished to find every one of them admitting, that
there is no express command, precept, or passage of Scripture, to
authorize the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day
of the week. They all attempt to support the practice by inferences
and analogical reasonings from particular events. Not having
veneration large enough to bow to their great names and acute
reasonings, I was landed upon a lonely shore, without pilot or
compass, with no guide but the truthful chart of Revelation. As I had
often vowed in my heart to the Lord, that I would be a Bible Christian
so far as I could discover the meaning of the divine Word, or know the
revealed will of God; and had more than once told my Pedobaptist
friends, when accused of sectarianism, that I would leave all for the
truth's sake, if I could discover that I was wrong; I was greatly
perplexed, for _I found a great fact_--The Sabbath was changed. The
greater part of the world, the most estimable of Christians, do keep
their weekly Sabbath on the first day! Can they all be wrong? I
conversed with some, and found them more inconsistent in their reasons
than the authors I read. For a time, to sanction the change of the
Sabbath, I took what may properly be called prelatical ground. It may
be stated as follows, viz: "The thing exists; and in the New Testament
we find some things which appear to us so like it, that, we conclude
this and they are identical; though we cannot find the particulars of
the change. And besides, we find some occurrences mentioned in the New
Testament which seemingly happened in accordance with it and which
afford reasons for it, and so we think, they should be considered
satisfactory evidences of the change existing at the time." But my
confidence in this fact was overturned by discovering _another great
fact_, viz: That the first day was not honored as a Sabbath during the
first two centuries of the Christian era; and that when it did come to
be so observed, it was not on the considerations that are now
alledged, but on what appeared to me a wicked reason--mere spite to
the Jews. I therefore commenced anew,
A THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
But the more attentively I read it, with this object in view, viz. to
find out the mind of Christ upon the subject of the Sabbath, the more
plainly I saw that it was against me. I found that Christ and his
apostles enjoined the observance of the law of the ten commandments as
holy, just, and good--that law which says, "Remember the Sabbath day
to keep it holy, ... the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy
God." I found, also, that Christ had said, (Mark 2:27, 28,) "The
Sabbath was made for man; therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the
Sabbath day"--plainly incorporating it into the laws of his kingdom.
Luke also says, many years after the resurrection, writing the account
in his Gospel of that event, "The women rested the Sabbath day
according to the commandment"--thus recognizing it, as it appeared to
me, to be a commandment still in force.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
The Resurrection of Christ being regarded as the great event which
required the change in question, I carefully considered that matter.
But I no where found it spoken of by the New Testament writers, as it
is by divines of modern times. The only instance I could find of its
celebration by the apostles, was in the ordinance of baptism, in these
words, "If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." (Rom. 6:5.) And
again, "What shall they do which are baptized for the [resurrection of
the] dead, if the dead rise not at all?" (1 Cor. 15:29.) I concluded
that there could not be two apostolic ways of celebrating it; and
hence that I must look for some other reason to justify the change in
question.
THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
I had always supposed that our Saviour rose on the morning of the
first day of the week, and had no doubt about finding it plainly
recorded that he did. But when I searched for it in the evangelists, I
found the accounts very different from what I had supposed. Matthew
28:1, reads, "In the end of the Sabbath." Mark 16:1--"When the Sabbath
was passed." Matthew--"As it began to dawn towards the first day of
the week." Mark--"Very early in the morning, the first day of the
week." Luke 24:1--"Very early in the morning." John 20:1--"Early, when
it was yet dark, ... they came to the sepulchre, and found not the
body of the Lord Jesus." As this did not tell the exact time of his
resurrection, I set myself to see if I could find it by any other
passages. On examination, it appeared plain to me, that as he was
buried at sun-down, according to that law in Deut. 21:23, to fulfill
his own prediction, "So shall the Son of man be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth," his resurrection must have taken
place at the same hour of the day, or rather evening--which would
destroy its identity with the first day as now reckoned, and carry
back his crucifixion to the fourth day of the week.
All we know of the time of the crucifixion, I found to be, that it was
on the fourteenth day of the first month, the preparation day of the
Passover The fifteenth day was the Passover Sabbath, a high day with
the Jews. (See John 19:14, 31.)
If Jesus was thus crucified on the fourth day of the week, I found
that it made a striking correspondence between the event and the
prediction in Daniel 9:7.
The reason why the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of PENTECOST,
I found to be, because it was the first annual national assembly after
the crucifixion--the Saviour being put to death at the Passover, and
Pentecost being fifty days after. This event, therefore, had nothing
to do with the Sabbath.
CHRIST'S APPEARANCES.
The appearances of Christ to his disciples on the first day of the
week, are considered as good reasons for sanctifying that day. It is
supposed that he so designed them. But these did not appear to me as I
expected, when I came to examine them carefully, I knew them as
related by the evangelists, but I had them traditionally arranged and
associated to suit the arguments for keeping the first day; and when I
came to read them with an honest inquiry after the truth, they
appeared very different from what I had supposed. I found that there
were five appearances of Christ to his disciples on the first day
following his resurrection; and neither of them occurred when the
disciples were assembled for worship; neither were they accompanied by
any such direction.
His first appearance was to the four women, as they returned from the
sepulchre, where they had been with spices to embalm the body of
Jesus. They were directed by an angel, and by Jesus himself, to go and
tell his disciples that Christ was risen, and would meet them on a
mountain in Galilee as he had promised them before his crucifixion.
There was nothing in this like Sabbath-keeping!
The women having gone into the city, informed Peter and John, who went
immediately to the sepulchre; and having looked in and satisfied
themselves that the report of the women was true, Peter and John
returned to the city. But Mary tarried still at the sepulchre,
weeping, when Jesus appeared to her alone. (John 20:16.)
Next he appeared to Peter. (Luke 24:34, 1 Cor. 15:5.)
Afterward he appeared to Cleopas and another disciple as they journied
to Emmaus. (Luke 24:13-35.)
At night, when they had retired for their evening repast, Jesus
appeared in the midst of them, and partook with them of a piece of
broiled fish and an honey comb. (Luke 24:42.)
These were all on the first day of the week, and they appeared to me
conclusive evidence, that the disciples had not yet received any
intimations of a change of Sabbath time, there being no evidence of it
in their conduct or discourse.
Eight days after this, Jesus appeared again to his disciples, Thomas
being with them. (John 20:26.) After these things, he shewed himself
again to seven of his disciples as they were fishing at the sea of
Tiberius. (John 21:1-14.)
At another time, probably on the mountain in Galilee, he was seen of
five hundred brethren at once. (1 Cor. 15:6.)
After this, he was seen of James. (1 Cor. 15:7.)
Then of the disciples when he was taken up into heaven. (Luke 24:50,
51.)
Last of all, he was seen by Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus.
(1 Cor. 15:8.)
There are eleven instances mentioned of his meeting his disciples, and
not one of them contains a single reference to the Sabbath in any way
whatever, which fully convinced me that the pretence of the Sabbath
being changed at the resurrection of Christ was wholly groundless. How
any one, without very strong prepossessions and blindness, could think
these things make a Sabbath, I could not see. Only five of these
instances are said to be on the first day, and these were all private
interviews! Saul of Tarsus might as well conclude that he ought to
build a meeting-house where Jesus met him, as for the disciples to
make a Sabbath of the first day because Jesus appeared to them on that
day. After examining these things, it looked to me as though the
Papists were quite as justifiable for changing the second commandment
to make an image of Christ and his cross, as Protestants are for
altering the fourth commandment to honor the resurrection. The Papists
honor the crucifixion, and the Protestants the resurrection.
APOSTOLIC EXAMPLES.
I looked for apostolic examples. But alas, they all failed me. They
did not afford me the evidences I had supposed they would. I found but
one account of a Christian assembly on the first day of the week,
which was at Troas; and that was an evening meeting, and a parting
meeting which Paul held with his friends; and while he was holding
that meeting, seven of his companions in travel went and removed the
ship in which they were to sail from Troas to Assos, whither he
followed them on foot to go aboard. I thought, Could they be keeping
Sabbath in so doing? (See Acts 20:1-14.)
"_The Lord's Day_," I found mentioned but once in the New Testament,
(Rev. 1:10,) and there it does not tell what day of the week it was
on, so that I judged it certainly must favor that day for which there
is both Bible command and example, rather than that day for which
there is nothing but custom and tradition. Thus it appeared to me,
that all apostolic example was not only against the observance of the
first day, but clearly in favor of the seventh; for I found that at
Antioch in Pisidia, the Apostle observed the Sabbath with both Jews
and Gentiles. (Acts 13:14, 42, 44.) The same at Philippi. (Acts
16:13.) And at Thessalonica. (Acts 17:2, 3.) Also at Corinth, where
the Apostle continued a year and six months, he observed EVERY Sabbath
day. (Acts 18:4, 11.)
_The law of God_, with all its awful sanctions, flaming from Mount
Sinai, appeared to me to threaten my destruction if I dared to reject
any part of its holy claims, for when I read what Jesus said, (Luke
16:17,) "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle
of the law to fail," I could not entertain a doubt but that it was
obligatory upon his disciples.
THE DECISION.
These things greatly distressed me, and in the end separated me from
Sunday-keeping forever. At this time I was not acquainted with a
single seventh-day Christian. But a bookseller sent me some copies of
the "Address of the Seventh-day Baptists to the Baptists of the United
States," which was peculiarly opportune to my state of mind. It showed
me the inconsistency of Sunday-keeping with all the foundation
principles of the faith I had received, and the order I had observed;
and served to bring me to a decision. Yet I did not dare to submit my
mind at once to the force of truth, until I had repeatedly
investigated every Scripture passage and event on which I had formerly
relied for a justification of my faith. I endeavored to do this as
independently of extrinsic considerations as I could; and each time
brought me to the same conclusion. I could find no Scripture authority
for a first-day Sabbath. Yet the conflict was not over. I suffered for
some time that deep mental anguish which attends a conscientious mind,
where enlightened judgment conflicts with all the inclinations,
expectations, and kindliest associations of life. If ever an anxious
mariner sailed tremblingly between Sylla and Charybdis, surely his
condition was like mine at this time. To advocate the Sunday
observance without Bible authority, I could not for conscience's sake.
To embrace the no-Sabbath doctrine, I dared not; this was too dark and
downward a leap from the highway of holiness for me to hazard; and the
former was too disloyal and dishonest a course for me to pursue in the
name of the King of saints. For a time I indulged a forlorn hope, that
I might find some way of reconciling the matter so as to appear
consistent without leaving the denomination. But accustomed to speak
the honest sentiments of my heart, I found the subject naturally
influencing my prayers and my preaching, and in other ways
embarrassing me, so that it became a burden I knew not how to bear. I
commenced keeping the Sabbath alone in my study. It seemed now as if
God had shut me up to my own vows; _I was compelled to renounce all_
for his truth, or prove apostate to the principles of godliness! Dark
indeed appeared my prospects. I had a wife and eight children to
support, and no human resource to look to but my salary. I felt, too,
for the reputation, sentiments, and prepossessions of my wife and
children, some of whom had already made a profession of religion, and
for many other young converts recently gathered into the church of
which I was pastor. But just at that time, I was called to baptize a
young woman who had to leave father and mother, and brothers and
sisters, and all she had on earth, for her faith in Christ. This
greatly assisted me to determine to do so too.
The decision gave great relief to my mind. I could now with more
confidence appeal to our Father in heaven for support and direction. I
could with great comfort appropriate many precious promises of God's
Word to my own case, and find them a precious cordial to my soul.
Never have I found more enjoyment in divine things than since I thus
renounced all for Christ. I found as the Psalmist expresses it, that
"great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend
them." "O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that
trusteth in him."
CONCLUSION.
The result has been happy in my own family. All in my house who have
come to years of discretion have since united in walking according to
the commandments. Although it was not easy at first to throw off early
prepossessions, we have found no embarrassments from them since the
decision was made. Many things which we feared have proved imaginary,
and all necessary good has been added unto us; and the truth of God
has more abounded toward us. Thus will it be with all them that obey
God. "All his commandments are sure." "No good thing will he withhold
from him that walketh uprightly." Its influence upon my religious
feelings, and views of divine truth in general, has been to clear up
some things that were previously obscure, and give a beautiful harmony
to the requirements of the law and the doctrines of the Gospel. My
hope is, when Babylon shall fall, to be found among them who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Rev. 14:12.)
TAKING UP THE CROSS.
BY JOSEPH STENNETT.
Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow thee;
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shalt be.
Let the world neglect and leave me;
They have left my Saviour too;
Human hopes have oft deceived me;
Thou art faithful, thou art true.