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IX.
Sabbath
Chapter 100
:
Walking as He Walked
1. THE way of the
Christian life was set for us by Jesus Himself.
"He that saith he abideth in Him
ought himself also so to walk, even as He
walked." 1 John 2:6. "Leaving us an example,
that ye should follow His steps." 1 Peter
2:21.
2. The footprints that
Jesus set for us to follow, lead unvaryingly
along the way of God's commandments.
"I have kept My Father's
commandments, and abide in His love." John
15:10. "For this is the love of God, that we
keep His commandments." 1 John 5:3.
3. The pathway is the
same today as when Jesus walked in Judea.
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
and today, and forever." Heb. 13:8.
4. When it is shown
that Jesus kept the seventh day holy as our
example, many ask, "Why have not scholars and
church-men found out that there is no Bible
authority for first-day sacredness?
The answer is, They have found it so,
and have freely declared the fact.
Testimony of Eminent Men
5. The extracts that follow are from noted
clergymen, scholars, and eminent writers, all of
whom doubtless kept the Sunday as a matter of
church custom. But they nevertheless bear
witness that there is no Bible command for it.
Church of England Writers:
Archdeacon Farrar: "The Sabbath is Saturday,
the seventh day of the week." "The Christian
church made no formal, but a gradual and
almost unconscious transference of the one
day to the other."- "The Voice From
Sinai," pages 163,167.
Canon Eyton (of Westminster): "There is no
word, no hint, in the New Testament about
abstaining from work on Sunday." "The
observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands
exactly on the same footing as the
observance of Sunday." "Constantine's decree
was the first public step in establishing
the first day of the week as a day on which
there should be secular rest as well as
religious worship. . . . Into the rest of
Sunday no divine law enters."- "The Ten
Commandments," Trubners & Co.
Canon Knox-Little, replying to those who
quote the example of Christ against the
High-church ritualism, says:-
"It is certain that our Lord when on earth
did observe Saturday, and did not observe
Sunday." "If they are consistent, as I have
said, they must keep Saturday, not Sunday,
as the day of rest."- "Sacerdotalism,"
Longman Company.
Sir William Domville: "Centuries of the
Christian era passed away before the Sunday
was observed by the Christian church as a
Sabbath."- "Examination of Six Texts,"
chap. 8, page 291.
Writers of Other Churches
Bishop Grimelund, of Norway (Lutheran) :
"The Christians in the ancient church very
soon distinguished the first day of the
week, Sunday; however, not as a sabbath, but
as an assembly day of the church, to study
the Word of God together."- "Geschichte
des Sonntags," page 60.
Dr. R. W. Dale (British Congregationalist):
"It is quite clear that however rigidly or
devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not
keeping the Sabbath. . . . The Sabbath was
founded on a specific, divine command. We
can plead no such command for the observance
of Sunday. . . . There is not a simple line
in the New Testament to suggest that we
incur any penalty by violating the supposed
sanctity of Sunday."- "The Ten
Commandments," Hodder and Stoughton, pages
106, 107.
Dr. Lyman Abbott (American
Congregationalist): "The current notion that
Christ and His apostles authoritatively
substituted the first day for the seventh,
is absolutely without any authority in the
New Testament."- Christian Union, June
26, 1890.
Dr. Edward T. Hiscock (Baptist): "There was
and is a commandment to 'keep holy the
Sabbath day,' but that Sabbath was not
Sunday. It will, however, be readily said,
and with some show of triumph, that the
Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to
the first day of the week. . . . Where can
the record of such a transaction be found?
Not in the New Testament- absolutely not."-
The New York Examiner, Nov. 16, 1893.
Dr. D. H. Lucas (Disciple): "There is no
direct Scriptural authority for designating
the first day the Lord's day."- Christian
Oracle, Jan. 23, 1890.
Cardinal Gibbons (Roman Catholic): "You may
read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation,
and you will not find a single line
authorizing the sanctification of Sunday."-
"Faith of Our Fathers," edition 1892,
page 111.
Prize Essay of American Sunday-school Union:
"Up to the time of Christ's death, no change
had been made in the day. . . . So far as
the record shows, they [the apostles] did
not give any explicit command enjoining the
abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath, and
its observance on the first day of the
week."- "Lord's Day, ' pages 185, 186.
Encyclopedias and Church Manuals
"Dictionary of Christian Antiquities:" "The
notion of a formal substitution by apostolic
authority of the Lord's day [meaning Sunday]
for the Jewish Sabbath, and the transference
to it, perhaps in a spiritualized form, of
the Sabbatical obligation established by the
promulgation of the fourth commandment, has
no basis whatever, either in the Holy
Scriptures or in Christian antiquity."-
Article "Sabbath," Smith and Cheetham.
"Cyclopedia of Biblical Theology:" "It must
be confessed that there is no law in the New
Testament concerning the first day."-
Article "Sabbath," McClintock and Strong.
Methodist Episcopal "Theological Compend,"
by Amos Binney: "It is true, there is no
positive command for infant baptism. . . .
Nor is there any for keeping holy the first
day of the week."- Pages 180, 181.
Protestant Episcopal "Manual of Christian
Doctrine:" "Is there any command in the New
Testament to change the day of weekly rest
from Saturday?- None."- Page 127.
Protestant Episcopal "Explanation of
Catechism:" "The day is now changed from the
seventh to the first day; . . . but as we
meet with no Scriptural direction for the
change, we may conclude it was done by the
authority of the church."
6. What influence do
the Bible and history show working in the church
immediately after apostolic days?
"Also of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
disciples after them." Acts 20:30.
NOTE.-"In the interval between the days of
the apostles and the conversion of
Constantine, the Christian commonwealth
changed its aspect. . . . Rites and
ceremonies of which neither Paul nor Peter
ever heard, crept silently into use, and
then claimed the rank of divine
institutions."-
Dr. W. D. Killen's
(Presbyterian) "The Ancient Church,"
Preface.
7. What did Christ say
of worship based upon I the commandments of men?
"In vain they do worship Me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Matt. 15:9.
8. What did He say
should be done with every plant not planted by
God?
"Every plant, which My Heavenly
Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."
Verse 13. |
