case before us, does apply to the seventh-day Sabbath, it is strange
that it should have been called in every case but this “the Sabbath,” we
reply that, were this true, this would simply prove a choice in titles,
and implies no disrespect to the day itself, since the term “Sabbath,”
equally with that of “Lord’s day,” was a sacred denomination. Not so,
however, if he be right in the supposition that the term, “Lord’s day,”
applies to the Sunday; for, if he be correct in this, then indeed we
have something which is _passing strange_. For, in all the New
Testament, that which he is pleased to style the “Christian Sabbath,”
and to which, according to his theory, belonged the honorable name of
“Lord’s day,” is not only so called but once; but, being spoken of nine
times by inspired men, it is mentioned eight times out of the nine by
them in an utter disregard of its hallowed nature, in the terms
employed, since it is referred to by its secular name, first day of the
week, in all these instances. The reader will recollect that, in our
positive argument, we showed that the term, “Lord’s day,” was a fitting
one for the last day of the week, provided the term translated “Lord”
was applicable to God, the Father, as well as to Christ, the Son. 1.
Because it was the day which he blessed and sanctified in Eden, thus
claiming it as his own (Gen. 2:3). 2. Because, in the commandment, he
calls it “the Sabbath of the Lord.” 3. Because, in Isa 58:13, 14, he
makes mention of it in the use of the terms, “Sabbath,” “my holy day,”
“the holy of the Lord,” &c.
In addition, we might cite other honorable and distinguishing terms by
which it is pointed out in the Bible as a day which belongs peculiarly
to the Lord our God, but these are sufficient.
If it be replied that the word translated “Lord” in Rev. 1:10, is
necessarily limited to Christ, we answer: 1. As we have argued formerly,
that he said he was Lord of the Sabbath. Mark 2:27, 28. 2. That the
following texts show conclusively that the divine Son of God was
engaged, equally with the Father, in the creation of this world; and,
therefore, that he undoubtedly shared in the rest which furnished the
foundation for the Edenic Sabbath, as well as in the act of blessing and
sanctifying it, or setting it apart for religious purposes. “All things
were made by him [Christ]: and without him was not anything made that
was made.” John 1:3. “He was in the world, and the world was made by
him, and the world knew him not.” John 1:10. “... Who [God] created all
things by Jesus Christ.” Eph. 3:9. “For by him were all things created,
that are in heaven, and that are in earth; ... all things were created
by him, and for him.” Col. 1:16. “God ... hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom
also he made the worlds.” Heb. 1:1, 2. Even though we should grant,
therefore, which we do not, that the term translated “Lord,” as above,
applies exclusively to the Son of God, we cannot see why the seventh day
might not, with all propriety, be called after him, the Lord’s day.
In the concluding remarks on this branch of the subject, it will not be
considered out of place for us to remind the reader of the protest which
we offered, in the rejoinder to the second article of the gentleman of
the _Statesman_, against his effort to obtain all the benefit which
could be derived from his interpretation of Rev. 1:10, before he had
struck a single blow, either in the direction of overturning our
construction, or establishing, by fair argument, his own. The reason why
this protest was offered is now apparent. The gentleman there, by
anticipation, _assumed_ that John meant by the term, “Lord’s day,” the
first day of the week. He _promised_ that in due time he would make good
his assertion. But how has it proved, now that he has reached the very
point where he should have fulfilled this engagement? Every one must see
that he has utterly failed. _Proof_ was the very thing which was
_promised_, and which was _needed_, right here. It is the very thing,
also, which he has neglected to adduce. All that is said in reference to
the theory of Wetstein, may have served to give respectability, in point
of length, to the treatment of that which he has regarded a most
important scripture in his line of evidence; but it was utterly
irrelevant to anything which we had said; for the reader will remember
that we emphatically planted ourselves on the position that it was the
weekly Sabbath to which allusion is made.
To the restatement of the scriptures employed in vindication of this
last opinion, there can be no objection, but we inquire again, Where are
the passages, where the deductions from Scripture teachings, by which
the gentleman has proved that the Lord’s day is the first day of the
week? He has not so much as cited one. He has not made even a
respectable effort at argument; but, with a haste which is irreverent,
if not indecent, he rushes away from the book of God, as if impelled by
the conviction that his view will find no support there, and plunges
headlong into the regions of patristic myth and moonshine. At this we
are not surprised. It is just what we expected. Sabbatarians are as well
acquainted with this device as they are with the emptiness of the
so-called Bible argument for the Sunday. It simply serves to strengthen
their conviction, so often expressed in these articles, that the
stronghold of first-day observance will ever be found in writings which
have been manipulated, retrenched, and interpolated, by the church of
Rome. For, be it remembered, it is from the authorities to which the
gentleman now appeals, that the papacy brings its stoutest testimonials
for apostolic succession, papistic supremacy, and the other heresies
which blacken the record of its apostasy.
All it is necessary to say to the reader here is, therefore, that he
should bear in mind that Sabbatarians are willing to leave the
arbitrament of this whole question where it can be determined from the
standpoint of Bible evidence. It is the opposition, and not we, who make
it necessary, in the investigation of this subject, to go upon forbidden
ground. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works.” 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. If, therefore, first-day sanctity
has no warrant in the Bible, which we have seen to be the case, then it
is not among those things which are _profitable_, or which, as Christian
doctrines, are _necessary to furnish the man of God unto all good
works_.
Footnote 7:
This point is an important one; and as we are anxious to satisfy the
reader that it is well taken, we append the following remarks of
Albert Barnes, who—though agreeing with the writer in the _Statesman_
that this passage furnishes proof for Sunday observance—nevertheless
frankly concedes, as will be seen, that the construction of the
original phrase for “treasuring up,” is such as to admit of the idea
that the work was to be done at home. He says: “The phrase in Greek,
‘treasuring up,’ may mean that each one was to put the part which he
had designated into the common _treasury_. This interpretation seems
to be demanded by the latter part of the verse. They were to lay it
by, and to put it into the common treasury, that there might be no
trouble of collecting when he should come. Or, it may, perhaps, mean
that they were individually to _treasure it up_, having designated in
their own minds the sum which they could give, and have it in
readiness when he should come.”
Footnote 8:
Instead of selecting a wealthy person, able to contribute ten dollars
per week, as has been done above, let an individual be chosen from the
poorer classes of Corinthians—say from among these who would be able
to donate only twenty-five cents per week—and the reader will be more
forcibly impressed with the unreasonableness of that construction
which makes it necessary that so small a pittance should first be
placed or devoted at home, and then carried to the church, and there
deposited in the general collection.
STATESMAN’S REPLY.
ARTICLE SEVEN.
TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY FATHERS TO THE FIRST-DAY SABBATH.
Besides the inspired records of the Scriptures, there have come down to
us the writings of men who were contemporaneous with some of the
apostles, and the writings of others who lived in the immediately
succeeding generations. We shall quote from the writings of those who
lived during the two centuries following the close of the canon of
inspiration. These writers give evidence enough that they were not
inspired, as were the penmen of the Divine Word. But it will be borne in
mind that we appeal to them here simply as witnesses to a matter of
fact. Many of their opinions and interpretations of Scripture may not be
worthy of acceptance; but their testimony to the existence of the Lord’s
day, an admitted fact, cannot be disputed. As there has been a great
deal of loose citation from the early fathers on this question, we have
been at considerable pains to translate carefully from the original in
every case, and accompany each quotation with minute and accurate
reference.
The first writer from whom we shall quote is Ignatius. This father stood
at the head of the church at Antioch at the close of the first century
and the beginning of the second. After occupying that position for many
years, he was condemned to death, as a Christian, by Trajan, transported
in chains to Rome, and there thrown to lions in the Coliseum for the
amusement of the populace, probably in the year 107. On his way to Rome,
he wrote seven epistles to various churches. Eusebius and Jerome arrange
these writings as follows (1) To the Ephesians; (2) to the Magnesians;
(3) to the Trallians; (4) to the Romans; (5) to the Philadelphians; (6)
to the Smyrneans; (7) to Polycarp, bishop, or presbyter, of Smyrna.
These seven epistles, in connection with a number of others confessedly
spurious, have come down to us in two Greek copies, a longer and a
shorter. A Syriac version of three epistles has recently been found.
Without entering into the controversy concerning these Ignatian
Epistles, we give the conclusion reached by Dr. Schaff, which is very
generally accepted: “The question lies between the shorter Greek copy
and the Syriac version. The preponderance of testimony is for the
former, in which the letters are no loose patch-work, but were produced,
each under its one impulse, were well known to Eusebius, probably even
to Polycarp, and agree also with the Armenian version of the fifth
century.” (History of the Christian Church, vol. i. p. 466.) It is
admitted, even by those who do not accept the Greek copy as genuine,
that it is the work of the close of the second century, or a little
later. In any event, then, it is important testimony. In the epistles to
the Magnesians occurs the following language: “Be not deceived with
false doctrines, nor old, unprofitable fables. For, if we still live in
accordance with Judaism, we confess that we have not received grace. For
even the most holy prophets lived according to Jesus Christ.... If,
then, they who were brought up in ancient things arrived at a newness of
hope, no longer keeping the Sabbath, but living according to the Lord’s
life, ... how can we live without him?... Since we have been made his
disciples, let us learn to live according to Christianity.”[9]—_Ad
Magnes._ capp. 8, 9; Coteler’s Edition, vol. ii. pp. 19, 20. Amsterdam,
1724.
In this passage, it will be observed, the writer draws a contrast
between Judaism and Christianity. To keep the seventh-day Sabbath was to
live according to Judaism. To live according to the dominical life, or,
as the thought is otherwise expressed, to live according to
Christianity, was opposed to the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath. The
argument of Ignatius tells strongly in favor of the first-day Sabbath.
If Jews, he argues, brought up in the old order of things, on turning
Christians, no longer keep the seventh-day Sabbath, but live according
to the dominical life, observing as part of that life, the dominical
day, the day on which the Lord rose from the dead, surely those who
never had been Jews should live according to Christianity, and not give
heed to Judaizing teachers.
Passing on, we come to a document called “The Epistle of Barnabas.” This
letter, though not the composition of the Barnabas of the New Testament,
was written in the early part of the second century. It cannot be
determined who was the author, but _the early date_ of the letter is
fully established; and that is the main point. Its language is: “We
celebrate the eighth day with joy, on which Jesus rose from the
dead.”—_Coteler’s Edition of the Apostolic Fathers_, vol. i. p. 47.
The testimony of Justin Martyr is full and explicit. As an itinerant
evangelist for many years during the first half of the second century,
just after the time of the apostle John, he enjoyed an excellent
opportunity of becoming, acquainted with the customs of the whole
church. Writing in the year 139 to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, in
vindication of his Christian brethren, he gives the following account of
their stated religious services: “On the day called the day of the sun
is an assembly of all who live either in cities or in the rural
districts, and the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the
prophets are read;” _i. e._, the Old and New Testaments. Then he goes on
to specify the various parts of their first-day services. Just as at the
present day, in Christian congregations, there were preaching, prayer,
the celebration of the Lord’s supper, and the contribution of alms. As
reasons why Christians should observe the first day, he assigns the
following: “Because it was the first day on which God dispelled the
darkness and chaos, and formed the world, and because Jesus Christ, our
Saviour, rose from the dead on it.”—_Robert Stephens’ edition of the
works of Justin Martyr_, p. 162. Lutetiæ, 1551.
In another of his works, the Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, written about
the same time as the Apology, from which we have quoted, occurs this
passage: “The command to circumcise infants on the eighth day was a type
of the true circumcision by which we were circumcised from error and
evil through our Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead on the first
day of the week; for the first day of the week remains the chief of all
the days.” (Stephens’ Edition, p. 59. See also Trollope’s edition of the
Dialogue with Trypho, pp. 85, 86.) The careful reader of Justin Martyr
will observe that, in addressing Trypho the Jew, he uses different terms
for the days of the week from those which he employs in addressing the
Emperor Antoninus. Addressing a heathen emperor, he employs the heathen
names for both the seventh and the first day of the week.
Two important notices of the Lord’s day, all the more important because
of their incidental character, are found in the History of Eusebius.
Dionysius, bishop or presbyter of Corinth, A. D. 170, in a letter to the
church at Rome, a fragment of which is preserved by Eusebius, says:
“To-day we kept the Lord’s holy day, in which we read your letter.”
(Hist. Eccles. iv. 23, Paris Ed. 1678, pp. 117, 118.) The other of these
notices is in regard to a treatise on the Lord’s day, by Melito, bishop
of Sardis, A. D. 170. This treatise, Eusebius remarks, along with others
by the same writer, had come to the historian’s knowledge.—_Hist.
Eccles._ iv. 26, Paris Ed. 1678, p. 119.
Although the letter of Pliny to Trajan is so well known as hardly to
need quotation, we shall close this article with its interesting
testimony in confirmation, from a pagan quarter, of what has already
been adduced from Christian writers: “They [the Christians] affirmed
that the sum of their fault, or error, was that they were accustomed to
assemble on a stated day—_Stato die_—before it was light, and sing
praise alternately among themselves to Christ as God—_carmenque Christo,
quasi Deo, dicere secum, invicem_.” (Plin. Epist. x., 97.) Here we have
the fact that Christians in the early part of the second century met
regularly on a stated day, and this stated day, as all the Christian
authorities of the same date prove, was the first day of the week, the
Lord’s day.
Additional patristic evidence will be given in the next article.
Footnote 9:
Not a few eminent writers, such as Dwight, and Wilson, of Calcutta,
who are followed by many lesser authors, quote Ignatius, as saying:
“Let us no more Sabbatize, but keep the Lord’s day.” From the literal
rendering of the original above given, it will be seen that these
writers take an unwarrantable liberty with their author. The words of
Ignatius are, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν κυριακὴν ζωὴν ζῶντες. To separate the noun
ζωὴν from the preceding adjective, and connect it with the following
participle, so as to read, “Living a life according to the Lord’s
day,” is an unnatural separation of the words of the original. To drop
out the word ζωὴν is unwarranted. If this word were spurious, then the
rendering would be, “Living according to the Lord’s day,” the
adjective κυριακη without the noun for “day” being expressed occurring
frequently for “the Lord’s day.” But there is no ground for rejecting
the word “life.” To color the language of an author for the sake of
giving it point in favor of one side of a question is unworthy of a
seeker after truth. In the present case there is really nothing gained
by departing from the precise language of the writer. Another passage,
often quoted as from Ignatius, is part of the spurious epistle to the
Galatians. It is as follows: “During the Sabbath, Christ continued
under the earth, in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathea had laid
him. At the dawning of the lord’s day, he arose from the dead. The day
of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Lord’s day
contains the resurrection.” This certainly has some weight as the
testimony of comparatively early writer, but it must not be ascribed
to Ignatius.
A REJOINDER.
“TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY FATHERS TO THE FIRST-DAY SABBATH.”
There is one feature which has characterized this debate, hitherto,
which has been a source of considerable satisfaction. The controversy,
up to this point, has been urged purely with reference to the teaching
of the Bible, as drawn from its sacred pages. Henceforth, however, this
is not to be the case. We are now to have, not the “sure word of
prophecy,” with the clear and forcible lines of textual evidence, drawn
from its inspired utterances, but that “word of prophecy,” supplemented
and explained by the apostolic fathers.
It has been said, and well said, that history repeats itself. If there
was one thing which marked the religious impulse that Protestantism gave
to the world, it was an utter rejection, in the decision of religious
opinions, of everything but Bible authority. The voice of Martin Luther
even now seems to reverberate in our ears, as—when fighting the very
battles which Sabbatarians am being called upon to fight over again—he
retorted in sharp and stinging words upon his cowled and priestly
opponents, who were ever citing patristic evidence, The Bible, and the
Bible alone, is our rule of faith. Again, as we read the words addressed
by him to those friends who were hopefully waiting the expected reply
from the Romanists of his time, to a courageous assault which he had
made upon them from the stand-point of the Bible, it seems as if they
were designed to be prophetic of our time, rather than descriptive of
his own. He said: “You are waiting for your adversaries’ answer; it is
already written, and here it is: ‘The fathers, the fathers, the fathers;
the church, the church, the church; usage, custom; but of the
Scriptures—nothing!’”—_D’Aubirgne’s Hist. Ref._, vol. viii., p. 717.
Wearisome as these repeated conflicts may be to the child of God, there
is a satisfaction in the thought that we hold in our hands the same
weapons, and bear aloft the same banners by which, under the blessing of
God, victory, complete and universal, has been attained in the past. The
opponents of Bible truth have never yet been able to stand before the
thunder of its power, or to balance the ponderous weight of its
influence, in the decision of religious questions. The homely phrase of
the great reformer is just as potent and irresistible in the present
contest as it was in that for which it was framed “When God’s word is by
the fathers expounded, construed, and glossed, then, in my judgment, it
is even like unto one that straineth milk through a coal-sack, which
must needs spoil the milk, and make it black; even so, likewise, God’s
word of itself is sufficiently pure, clean, bright, and clear; but
through the doctrines, books, and writings, of the fathers, it is very
surely darkened, falsified, and spoiled.”
The elegant and convincing logic of Philip Melancthon, the greatest
theologian of the sixteenth century—who, in the following brief lines,
discussed and summed up the whole question—is just as sound and
unanswerable now as it was when, under the blessing of God, it carried
confusion and defeat into the ranks of the papacy, three hundred years
ago. He says: “How often has not Jerome been mistaken! how often
Augustine! how often Ambrose! How often do we not find them differing in
judgment—how often do we not hear them retracting their errors! There is
but one Scripture divinely inspired, and without mixture of error.”
(_Idem._, p. 219.) In fine, we might prove from history that nearly
every Protestant writer, for the last three centuries, has forged for us
weapons which could be employed with the most telling effect in the
controversy in which we are now engaged.
This, however, we have not space to do, but must content ourselves with
several brief citations, by which we will show that the authorities of
our own times—equally with those of the past—are uniform in their
expressions of contempt for testimony which is so largely relied upon by
our reviewer in the present discussion. “To avoid being imposed upon, we
ought to treat tradition as we do a notorious and known liar, to whom we
give no credit, unless what he says is confirmed to us by some person of
undoubted veracity.... False and lying traditions are of an early date,
and the greatest men have, out of a pious credulity, suffered themselves
to be imposed upon by them.—_Archibald Bower._
“But of these, we may safely state that there is not a _truth_ of the
most orthodox creed that cannot be proved by their authority; nor a
_heresy_ that has disgraced the Romish church, that may not challenge
them as it abettors. In point of _doctrine_, their authority is, _with
me, nothing_. The WORD of God alone contains my creed. On a number of
points, I can go to the Greek and Latin fathers of the church, to know
what _they believed_, and what the people of their respective communions
believed; but after all this, I must return to God’s word to know what
he would have me to believe.” (A. Clark, Com. on Prov. 8.) “We should
take heed how we quote the fathers in proof of the doctrines of the
gospel; because he who knows them best, knows that on many of those
subjects they blow hot and cold.” (Quoted in Hist. of Sab. from
Autobiography of Adam Clarke.)
“Most of the writings, bearing the name of the apostolic fathers, are
regarded as spurious by various modern critics. The genuineness of all
has been disputed; but the fragments that remain are curious as relics
of an early age, and valuable as indicating the character of primitive
Christianity.” (Am. Cyc., Art. Apostolic Fathers.) Thus much for the
estimate which Protestants place upon the authorities which are brought
forward by the gentleman in the _Statesman_. Assuredly, he would never
have appealed to them, had he not felt that his cause was hopeless one,
when left to the arbitrament of Scripture.