4 , • • . �. ••,1! J.' HERITAGE ROOM James White Library ANDREWS UNIVERSITY Hokrien Spiings, Ali 49104 -4 HISTORY - 0 - THE SABBATH AND FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, SHOWING THE BIBLE RECORD OF THE SABBATH, ALSO THE MANNER IN WHICH IT HAS BEEN SUP- PLANTED BY THE HEATHEN FESTIVAL OF THE SUN. BY J. N. ANDREWS. STEAM PRESS OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, BATTLE CREEK, MICH. 1862. HERITAGE ROOM James White library ANDREWS UNIVERSITY ogriert Swings. MI 49104 PREFACE. WHxN the claims of the Bible Sabbath are brought to bear upon the consciences of men, various excuses are framed with which to evade their force. Some affirm that the Sabbath of the Lord is a Jewish institution with which Christians have no concern; others affirm that Sunday is the true seventh day ; others that one day in seven is all that is essential to the proper observance of the commandment ; another class affirm that no one can tell what day is the true seventh day; and a still more numerous class profess to believe that Sun- day has, by divine authority, obtained the place of the an- cient Sabbath. And it is not unfrequently that persons are met with, who, in one conversation, attempt to maintain all these positions. It is believed that nothing can present so direct a refuta- tion of these discordant and unscriptural positions as a plain narrative of facts relative to the Sabbath of the Lord and the heathen festival of the sun. To correct these errors is one object of the present work ; a more important object in view is to set forth in a clear light the character and the claims of the ancient Sabbath. The institution of the Sabbath for the human family while the race was yet unfallen attests alike the sacredness of the in- stitution and the unfounded nature of that theory which rep- resents it as designed only for the Hebrew people. The com- plete apostasy of the human race with the single exception of the family of Abraham, fully explains the Law-giver's choice of that people as the depositaries for ages of his Sab- bath and his law. At the close of the Mosaic dispensation, the action of the Lord of the Sabbath is scrutinized with pe- culiar care. It is there shown that while he vindicated the 420354 iv � PREFACE. Sabbath as a merciful institution, he did not weaken, abro- gate, or change it. The question of the obligation of the Gentiles to observe the Sabbath. and the whole moral law is carefully considered ; and the claims of the first day of the week as a divine institution are shown to be without any foundation. The means by which that festival obtained a. foothold in the church, and the nature of the testimonies by which it is now defended are carefully examined. Whoever will trace the persistent efforts for ages, of kings, emperors, popes and councils, to establish Sunday in place of the day divinely sanctified, may find ample proof that these two days are not identical ; that Sunday is not the true sev- enth day ; and that the reckoning of the days of the week has never been a matter of doubt. It will also be seen that the seventh-part-of-time theory was invented soon after the Reformation of the sixteenth century, by men who professed to follow the Bible, in order to justify themselves in retaining the venerable day of the sun, instead of returning to the observance of the ancient Sabbath. It is shown also that the Sabbath was observed by the prim- itive church, and that the true people of God when they fled into the wilderness before the papal power, did there sacredly preserve that ancient institution ; and that in all ages of our world's history a remnant at least have retained the Sabbath of the Lord. The only seventh-day historians quoted in this work are Mr. Maxon and Mr. Utter ; and these are quoted near the conclusion of the work, and on matters that are not in dis- pute. The reader has therefore the best possible guaranty that the testimonies quoted in this work were not written in the interest of the Bible Sabbath. To the fear, so often expressed, that the discussion of this subject will do hurt, and that it would be better to induce men to keep Sunday well than to show them that they are not observing the true Sabbath, we have only to cite in reply the words of inspiration: " In vain do ye worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." � J. N. A. DD EX. PART I-BIBLE HISTORY. The six days of creation, . . � The Sabbath ordained as a great memorial at the close of the Creator's work, �13-26, 37-42, 45-49. Testimony of Josephus and of Philo, �25. Negative argument from the book of Genesis, 26-30, 92-95. Vindication of Divine Providence in the choice of the Hebrews found, in that mankind as a whole had twice completely apostatized, � Analysis of Ex. xvi, � The Sabbath committed to the Hebrews, � The fourth commandment, The seventh day of the commandment is the sev- enth day of the New Testament week, � 47, 48. Moral obligation of the fourth commandment, � 49. The Sabbath written by the finger of God, ..... � 50-63. The Sa.bbath becomes a sign between God and Is- rael, � ...... � 40-42, 52-57. Valid reason why God himself should write the moral law, � The Sabbath in the wilderness, ...... . ............ � 64. Its violation excluded the Hebrews from the land of promise, � 65-67. Statute respecting fires upon the Sabbath, � 67-71. Sabbath not a Jewish feast, � 71. PAGE. 9-13. 31-35. 35-40. 40-42. 43-49. 59-63. Conference of the apostles at Jerusalem, � Sabbatarian origin of the apostolic churches, � Self-contradiction of Dr. Edwards, � Examination of 1 Cor. xvi, 1, 2, Paul at Troas, Examination of Rom. xiv, 1-6, Flight of the disciples from Judea, The Sabbath at the close of the first century, 169-172. 172-175. 176, 177. 175-178. 178-182. 183-186. � 186, 187. 187-192. vi � INDEX. The man who gathered sticks upon the Sabbath, Examination of Deut. v, 1-3, � Examination of Deut. v, 12-15, � What words were engraven upon stone, General summary from the books of Moses, � The feasts, new moons and sabbaths of the He- brews, . � ..... ............ Ceremonial sabbaths distinguished from the Sab- bath of the Lord, . 85-92, 98, 99. Negative argument from Genesis illustrated by the silence of six successive books of sacred 92-95. history, Incidents of interest, ... � 95-98. First mention of the Sabbath after Moses, ..... � 92, 93, 99. The Sabbath a blessing to the human race, � 101, 102. Commentary on the fourth commandment, � 102. Jerusalem to be saved from the king of Babylon if she would keep the Sabbath, � . �103, 104. The days of the week scripturally designated, � 106. Sabbath after the return from Babylon, •••••• � 106-109. Time for the commencement of the Sabbath, � 107, 108. Jerusalem destroyed for violating the Sab- bath, ... 103-105, 107-109. History of the Sabbath between the Old and New Testaments, � State of the Sabbatic institution when Christ's ministry began, � His fitness as a judge of Sabbatic observance, .... His teaching and miracles relative to the Sab- bath, ..... ... Examination of Matt � xxiv, 20, � Abolition of ceremonial sabbaths, The Sabbath of the Lord not nailed to the Re- deemer's cross, � Change of the Sabbath considered, The law of ten commandments in the gospel dis- pensation, . � ..• • � The apostolic church observed the Sabbath, � Examination of Acts xiii, � INDEX. PART II-SECULAR HISTORY. Early apostasy in the church, � PAGE. 193-198. Tradition and the fathers, � 198. The two rules of faith, � Sunday sustained only by the rule of the Rom- anists, � . � 202, 203. Cutting reproof from a Romanist, � The first witnesses for Sunday, � � � 204-216. Discrepancy between Mosheim and Neander, � 204, 205. The epistle of Barnabas, � 206-210. Pliny's stated day, � . 210, 211. The epistle of Ignatius, � 211-216. Examination of a famous falsehood, � 217-223. Sunday an ancient heathen festival,... � 224-227. How Sunday gained a foothold in the church, ... 225-229. Testimony of Justin Martyr, ..... ........ � ...... 229-234. Sunday first found in the church at Rome, � Testimony of Tremens, � First act of Papal ursurpation was in behalf of Sunday, ..... 236. Testimony of Tertullian, � � 238-241. Rome turns the Sabbath into a Fast, � 242, 243. Sabbath observed by the early Christians, � 245-251. 72. 74, 75. 75-79. 79-81. 81, 82. 82-92. 109-114. 113-116. 115. 116-132. 132-138. 138, 139. 140-142. 142-157. 159-166. vu viii PART I—BIBLE HISTORY. INDEX. 252-264. Constantine's Sunday edict a heathen law, � Name of Lord's day given it by the Pope, ...... Foundation of the Sunday festival � The council of Laodicea curses the Sabbath-keep- ers, � Nature of church councils, � Chrysostom, Augustine, and Jerome, ...• � Sunday destitute of divine authority in the fifth 266-269. century, � Sabbath in the fifth century, ...... � ..... � ...... � 269, 270. The church in the wilderness, � 271, 272, 295-298. Decrees of the Papal power in behalf of Sunday, 271-294. When Sunday gained the title of Sabbath, � 273, 274. When it became a day of rest, � 274. Curious first-day arguments, � 285. Apparition from St. Peter, � 286. Sunday enforced in England by a roll which the Pope obtained from heaven, � Waldensian Sabbatarians, Other bodies of Sabbatarians, � Church festivals at the Reformation, The position taken by the Reformers, Calvin preferred Thursday to Sunday, Sabbath-keepers then brought to light, Seventh-part-of-time theory originated, Great Sunday controversy in England, Persecution of Sabbath-keepers, � English Sabbatarians, � Seventh-day Baptists of America, � Prophecy relative to the Papacy � Seventh-day Adventists of America, � Sabbath in the New Earth, � CHAPTER I. THE CREATION. Time and eternity—The Creator and his work—Events of the first day of time—Of the second—Of the third—Of the fourth—Of the fifth—Of the sixth. TIME, as distinguished from eternity, may be defined as that part of duration which is measured by the Bible. From the earliest date in the book of Genesis to the resurrection of the unjust at the end of the millennium, the period of about 7000 years is measured off.* Before the commencement of this great week of time, duration without begin- ning fills the past and at the expiration of this period, unending duration opens before the people of God. Eternity is that word which embraces duration without beginning and without end. And that Being whose existence comprehends eter- nity, is he who only hath immortality, the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God.- *For the scriptural and traditional evidence on this point, see Shimeall's Bible Chronology, part I. chap. vi ; Taylor's Voice of the Church, pp. 25-30 ; and Bliss' Sacred Chronol- ogy. fisa. lvii, 15; 1 Sam. xv, 29, margin; Jer. x, 10, margin; Micah v, 2, margin ; 1 Tim. vi, 16 ; i, 17; Ps. xc, 2. 2 266-269. 286-290. � 296-303. 303-313. � � 314, 315. 314-319. 317. 319-323. 324-327. 323-328. 329-334. 328-336. 336, 337. 338. 337-339. 339, 340. HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. • THE CREATION. � 11 10 �HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. When it pleased this infinite Being, he gave ex- istence to our earth. Out of nothing God created all things ;* "so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." This act of creation is that event which marks the com- mencement of the first week of time. He who could accomplish the whole work with one word chose rather to employ six days, and to accom- plish the result by successive steps. Let us trace the footsteps of the Creator from the time when he laid the foundation of the earth until the close of the sixth day, when the heavens and the earth • were finished, " and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good."-t On the first day of the week God created the heaven and the earth. The earth thus called in- to existence was without form and void, and total darkness covered the Creator's work. Then God said, Let there be light ; and there was light." " And God divided the light from the darkness," and called the one day and the other night.t On the second day of the week " God said, Let there be a firmament [margin, Heb., expansion] in the midst of the waters ; and let it divide the wa- ters from the waters." The dry land had not yet *Dr. Adam Clarke in his commentary on Gen. i, 1, uses the following language : " Created] Caused that to exist which, previously to this moment, had no being. The rab- bins, who are legitimate judges in a case of verbal criticism on their own language, are unanimous in asserting that the word bars, expresses the commencement of the existence of a thing : or its egression from nonentity to entity. . . . These words should be translated: 'God in the beginning created the substance of the heavens and the substance of the earth ; i. e., the prima materia, or first elements, out of which the heavens and the earth were successively formed.'" tHeb. xi, 3; Gen. i. � IGen. i, 1-5; Heb. i. appeared ; consequently the earth was covered with water. As no atmosphere existed, thick va- pors rested upon the face of the water ; but the atmosphere being now called into existence by the word of the Creator, the fogs and vapors that had rested upon the bosom of the water are borne aloft by it. This atmosphere or expansion is called heaven. * On the third day of the week, God gathered the waters together and caused the dry land to appear. The gathering together of the waters God called seas ; the dry land, thus rescued from the waters, he called earth. " And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind ; and it was so." "And God saw that it was good. "t On the fourth day of the week " God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven, to di- vide the day from the night ; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." " And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, ant the lesser light to rule VI° night ; he made the stars also." Light had been created on the first day of the week ; and now on the fourth day lto causes the sun and moon to appear as light-bearers, and places the light un- der their rule. And they continue unto this day according to his ordinances, for all are his serv- ants. Such was the work of the fourth day. And the great Architect, surveying what he had wrought, pronounced it good.T On the fifth day of the week " God created *Gen. i, 5-8; Job xxxvii, 18. 1-Gen. i, 9-13; Ps. cxxxvi, 6; 2 Pet. iii, 5. IGen. i, 14-19; Ps. exix, 91 ; Jer. xxxiii, 25. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. �13 12 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. great whales, and every living creature that mov- eth, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind : and God saw that it was good."* On the sixth day of the week " God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind : and God saw that it was good." Thus the earth having been fitted for the purpose, was filled with every order of living crea- ture, while the air and waters teemed with animal existence. To complete this noble work of crea- tion, God next provides a ruler, the representative of himself, and places all in subjection under him. " And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nos- trils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden east- ward in Eden ; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food ; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowl- edge of good and evil." Last of all God created Eve, the mother of all living. The work of the Creator was now complete. " The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." " And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." Adam and Eve were *Gen. i, 20-23. in Paradise ; the tree of life bloomed on earth sin had not entered our world, and death was not here, for there was no sin. " The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Thus ended the sixth day.* CHAPTER II. THE INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. Event on the seventh day—Why the Creator rested—Acts by which the Sabbath was made—Time and order of their occurrence—Meaning of the word sanctified—The fourth commandment refers the origin of the Sabbath to creation —The second mention of the Sabbath confirms this fact— The Saviour's testimony—When did God sanctify the sev- enth day—Object of the Author of the Sabbath—Testimony of Josephus and of Philo—Negative argument from the book of Genesis considered—Adam's knowledge of the Sab- bath not difficult to be known by the patriarchs. The work of the Creator was finished, but the first week of time had not yet expired. Each of the six days had been distinguished by the Crea- tor's work upon it ; but the seventh was rendered memorable in a very different manner. " And on the seventh- day God ended his work which he had made ; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." In yet strong- er language it is written : " On the seventh day he rested and was REFRESHED."X *Gen. i, 24-31 ; 11, 7-0, 18-22 ; iii, 20 ; Job xxxviii, 7. "On the sixth day God ended his work which he had made ; and he rested on the seventh day," &o., is the read- ing of the Septuagint, the Syriac and the Samaritan ; " and this should be considered the genuine reading," says Dr. A. Clarke. See his commentary on Gen. ii. *Gen. ii, 2 ; Ex. xxxi, 17. 14 � IIISTORY OF THE SABBATH. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. � 15 Thus the seventh day of the week became the rest-day of the Lord. How remarkable is this fact ! " The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is wea- ry."* He needed no rest ; yet it is written, " On the seventh day he rested and was refreshed." Why does not the record simply state the cessa- tion of the Creator's work ? Why did he at the close of that work employ a day in rest ? The answer will be learned from the next verse. He was laying the foundation of a divine institution, the memorial of his own great work. " And God blessed the seventh day and sancti- fied it; because that in it lie had rested from all his work which God created and made." The fourth commandment states the same fact : He " rested the seventh day ; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it."1- The blessing and sanctification of the seventh day was because that God had rested upon it. His resting upon it then, was to lay the foundation for blessing and sanctifying the day. His being re- freshed with this rest, implies that he delighted in the act which laid the foundation for the memori- al of his great work. The second act of the Creator in instituting this memorial was to place his blessing upon the day of his rest. Thenceforward it was the blessed rest-day of the Lord. A third act completes the sacred institution. The day already blessed of God, is now, last of all, sanctified or hallowed by him. To sanctify is " to separate, set apart, or appoint to a holy, sacred or religious use." To *Isa, xl, 28, � tGen. ii, 3 ; Ex. xx, 11. hallow is " to make holy ; to consecrate ; to set apart for a holy or religious use."* The time when these three acts were performed is worthy of especial notice. The first act was that of rest. This took place on the seventh day ; for the day was employed in rest. The second and third acts took place when the seventh day was past. " God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work." Hence it was on the first day of the second week of time that God blessed the sev- enth day and set it apart to a holy use. The blessing and sanctification of the seventh day, therefore, relate not to the first seventh day of time, but to the seventh day of the week for time to come, in memory of God's rest on that day from the work of creation. The days of the week are measured off by the revolution of our earth on its axis ; and hence our seventh day, as such, can come only to dwellers on this globe. To Adam and Eve, therefore, as inhabitants of this earth, and not to the inhabit- ants of some other world, were the days of the week given to use. Hence, when God set apart one of these days to a holy use in memory of his own rest on that day of the week, the very essence of the act consisted in his telling Adam that this day should be used only for sacred purposes. Adam was then in the garden of God, placed there by the Creator to dress it and to keep it. He was also commissioned of God to subdue the earth.t When therefore the rest-day of the Lord should *Webster's Unabridged Dictionary on the words sanctify and hallow. tGen. ii, 15; i, 28. 16 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. return from week to week all this secular employ- ment, however proper in itself, must be laid aside, and the day observed in memory of the Creator's rest. The Hebrew verb, kadash, here rendered sanc- tified, and in the fourth commandment rendered hallowed, is defined by Gesenius, " to pronounce holy, to sanctify ; to institute any holy thing, to appoint."* It is repeatedly used in the Old Tes- tament for a public appointment or proclamation. Thus when the cities of refuge were set apart in Israel, it is written : " They appointed [margin, Heb., sanctified] Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim," &c. This sanctification or appointment of the cities of refuge was by a public announcement to Israel that these cities were set apart for that purpose. This verb is also used for the appointment of a public fast, and for the gathering of a solemn as- sembly. Thus it is written : "Sanctify [i. e., ap- point] ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God." " Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify [i. e., appoint] a fast, call a solemn assembly." " And Jehu said, Pro- claim [margin, Heb., sanctify] a solemn assembly for Baal."t This appointment for Baal was so public that all the worshipers of Baal in all Israel were gathered together. These fasts and solemn assemblies were sanctified or set apart by a public appointment or proclamation of the fact. When therefore God set apart the seventh day to a holy *Hebrew Lexicon, p. 914, ed. 1854. j Josh. xx, 7 ; Joel i, 14; ii, 15; 2 Kings x, 20, 21 ; Zeph. i, 7, margin. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. � 17 use, it was necessary that he should state that fact to those who had the days of the week to use. Without such announcement the day could not be set apart from the others. But the most striking illustration of the mean- ing of this word may be found in the record of the sanctification of mount Sinai.* When God was about to speak the ten commandments in the hearing of all Israel, he sent Moses down from the top of mount Sinai to restrain the people from touching the mount. " And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai ; for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount and sanctify it." Turning back to the verse where God gave this charge to Moses we read : " And thou shalt set bounds unto the peo- ple round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves that ye go not up into the mount or touch the border of it." Hence to sanctify the mount was to command the people not to touch even the bor- der of it, for God was about to descend in majesty upon it. In other words, to sanctify or set apart to a holy use mount Sinai, was to tell the people that God would have them treat the mountain as sacred to himself. And thus also to sanctify the rest-day of the Lord was to tell Adam that he should treat the day as holy to the Lord. The declaration, " God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it," is not indeed a commandment for the observance of that day ; but it is the rec- ord that such a precept was given to Adam. For how could the Creator " set apart to a holy use" the day of his rest, when those who were to use *Ex. xix, 12, 23. 18 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. the day knew nothing of his will in the case ? Let those answer who are able. This view of the record in Genesis we shall find to be sustained by all the testimony in the Bible relative to the rest-day of the Lord. The facts which we have examined are the basis of the fourth commandment. Thus spake the great Law-giver from the summit of the flaming mount : " 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 bless- ed the Sabbath-lay, and hallowed it."* The term Sabbath is transferred from the He- brew language, and signifies rest. j' The command " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy," is therefore exactly equivalent to saying, "Remember the rest-day to keep it holy." The explanation which follows sustains this statement : " The sev- enth day is the Sabbath [or rest-day] of the Lord thy God." The origin of this rest-day is given in these words : "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." That which is enjoined in the fourth commandment is to keep holy the rest-day of the Lord. And this is defined to be the day on which he rested from the work of creation. Moreover the fourth com- mandment calls the seventh day the Sabbath-day at the time when God blessed and hallowed that *Ex. xx, 8-11. -1-Buck's Theological Dictionary, article, Sabbath; Calmet's Dictionary, article, Sabbath. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. �19 day ; therefore the Sabbath is an institution dat- ing from the foundation of the world. The fourth commandment points back to the creation for the origin of its obligation ; and when we go back to that point, we find the substance of the fourth commandment given to Adam : " God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it ;" i. e., set it apart to a holy use. And in the commandment itself the same fact is stated : " The Lord blessed the Sab- bath day and hallowed it ;" i. e., appointed it to a holy use. The one statement affirms that " God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it," the oth- er that " the Lord blessed -the Sabbath-day and hallowed it." These two statements refer to the same acts. Because the word Sabbath does not occur in the first statement it has been contended that the Sabbath did not originate at creation, it being the seventh day merely which was hallowed. From the second statement it has been contended that God did not bless the seventh day at all, but simply the Sabbath institution. But both state- ments embody all the truth. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it ; and this day thus blessed and hallowed was his holy Sabbath, or rest- day. Thus the fourth commandment establishes the origin of the Sabbath at creation. The second mention of the Sabbath in the Bi- ble furnishes a decisive confirmation of the testi- monies already adduced. On the sixth day of the week, Moses in the wilderness of Sin said to Isra- el, " To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord."* What had been done to the seventh day since God blessed and sanctified it as his rest-day in Paradise ? Nothing. What did *Ex. xvi, 22, 23. r 20 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Moses do to the seventh day to make it the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord ? Nothing. Moses on the sixth day simply states the fact that the morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. The seventh day had been such ever since God blessed and hallowed the day of his rest. The testimony of our divine Lord relative to the origin and design of the Sabbath is of peculiar importance. He is competent to testify, for he was with the Father in the beginning of the cre- ation.* " The Sabbath was made for man," said he, " not man for the Sabbath." -t. The following grammatical rule is worthy of notice : " A noun without an adjective is invariably taken in its broadest extension, as, Man is accountable.1 The following texts will illustrate this rule, and also this statement of our Lord's : " Man lieth down and riseth not : till the heavens be no more they shall not awake." " There hath no tempta- tion taken you but such as is common to man." "It is appointed unto men once to die."§ In these texts man is used without restriction, and therefore all mankind are necessarily intended. The Sabbath was therefore made for the whole human family, and consequently originated with mankind. But the Saviour's language is even yet more emphatic in the original : " The Sabbath was made for THE man, not THE man for the Sabbath." This language fixes the mind on the man Adam, who was made of the dust of the ground just before the Sabbath was made for him, *John i, 1-3; Gen. i, 1,26; Col. i, 13-16. -I-Mark ii, 27. IBarrett's Principles of English Grammar, p. 29. Job xiv, 12; 1 Cor. x. 13; Heb. ix, 27. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. � 21 of the seventh day. This is a striking confirma- tion of the fact already pointed out that the Sab- bath was given to Adam, the head of the human family. " The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God ;" yet he made the Sabbath for man. " God made the Sabbath his by solemn appropri- ation, that he might convey it back to us under the guarantee of a divine charter, that none might rob us of it with impunity." But is it not possible that God's act of blessing and sanctifying the seventh day did not occur at the close of the creation week ? May it not be mentioned then because God designed that the day of his rest should be afterward observed ? Or rather, as Moses wrote the book of Genesis long after the creation, might he not insert this account of the sanctification of the seventh day Midi the record of the first week, though the day itself was sanctified in his own time ? It is very certain that such an interpretation of the record cannot be admitted, unless the facts in the case demand it. For it is, to say the least, a forced explanation of the language. The record in Genesis, unless this be an exception, is a plain narrative of events. Thus what God did on each day is recorded in its order down to the seventh. It is certainly doing violence to the narrative to affirm that the record respecting the seventh day is of a different character from that respecting the other six. He rested the seventh day ; he sanc- tified the seventh day because he had rested upon it. � The reason why he should sanctify the sev- enth day existed when his rest was closed. To say, therefore, that God did not sanctify the day 22 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. at that time, but did it in the days of Moses, is not only to distort the narrative, but to affirm that he neglected to do that for which the reason existed at creation, until twenty-five hundred years after. But we ask that the facts be brought forward which prove that the Sabbath was sanctified in the wilderness of Sin, and not at creation. And what are the facts that show this ? It is confessed that such facts are not upon record. :►heir exis- tence is assumed in order to sustain the theory that the Sabbath originated at the fall of the man- na and not in Paradise. Did God sanctify the Sabbath in the wilderness of Sin ? There is no intimation of such fact. On the contrary, it is mentioned at that time as some- thing already set apart of God. On the sixth day Moses said, " To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord."* Surely this is not the act of instituting the Sabbath, but the familiar mention of an existing fact. We pass on to mount Sinai. Did God sanctify the Sabbath when he spoke the ten commandments ? No one claims that he did. It is admitted by all that Moses spoke of it familiarly the previous month.t Does the Lord at Sinai speak of the sanctification of the Sabbath ? He does; but in the very language of Genesis he goes back for the sanctification of the Sabbath, not to the wilderness of Sin, but to the creation of the world. t We ask those who hold the theory under examination, .this question : If the Sabbath was not sanctified at creation, but was sanctified in the wilderness of Sin, why does the *Ex. xvi, 23. � tEx. xvi. � tEx. xx, 8-11. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. � 23 narrative in each i1 stance* record the sanctification of the Sabbath xt creation, and omit all mention of such fact in the wilderness of Sin ? Nay, why does the record of events in the wilderness of Sin show that the holy Sabbath was at that time al- ready in existence ? In a word, How can a theory subversive of all the facts in the record, be main- tained as the truth of God ? We have seen the Sabbath ordained of God at th6 close of the creation week. The object of its Author is worthy of especial attention. Why did the Creator set up this memorial in Paradise ? Why did he set apart from the other days of the week that day which he had employed in rest ? " Because that in it," says the record, " he had rested from all his work which God created and made." A rest necessarily implies a work per- formed. And hence the Sabbath was ordained of God as a memorial of the work of creation. And therefore that precept of the moral law which relates to this memorial, unlike every other pre- cept of that law begins with the word, " Remem- ber." The importance of this memorial will be appreciated when we learn from the Scriptures that it is the work of creation which is claimed by its Author as the great evidence of his eternal power and Godhead, and as that great fact which distinguishes him from all false gods. Thus it is written : " He that built all things is God." " The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens." " But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King." " He hath made the earth by his power, he bath es- *Compare Gen. ii, 1-3 ; Ex, xx, 8-11. 24 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. � 25 tablished the world by his wisdom, and bath stretched out the heavens by his discretion." "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." " For he spike and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." Thus " the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."* Such is the estimate which the Scriptures place upon the work of creation as evincing the eternal power and Godhead of the Creator. The Sabbath stands as the memorial of this great work. Its observance is an act of grateful acknowledgment on the part of his intelligent creatures that he is their Creator, and that they owe all to him ; and that for his pleasure they are and were created. How appropriate this observance for Adam ! And when man had fallen, how important for his well- being that he should " remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." He would thus have been pre- served from atheism and from idolatry ; for he could never forget that there was a God from whom all things derived their being ; nor could lie worship as God any other being than the Cre- ator. The seventh day, as hallowed by God in Eden, was not Jewish, but divine ; it was not the memo- rial of the flight of Israel from Egypt, but of the Creator's rest. Nor is it true that the most dis- tinguished Jewish writers deny the primeval origin of the Sabbath, or claim it as a Jewish memori- al. � We cite the historian Josephus and his learn- ed cotemporary, Philo Judzeus. Josephus, whose *Heb. iii, 4; Jer. x, 10-12; Rom. i, 20; Ps. xxxiii, 9; Heb. xi, 8. " Antiquities of the Jews" ran parallel with the Bible from the beginning, when treating of the wilderness of Sin makes no allusion whatever to the Sabbath, a clear proof that he had no idea that it originated in that wilderness. But when giving the account of creation he bears the follow- ing testimony : " Moses says that in just six days the world and all that is therein was made. And that the seventh day was a rest and a release from the labor of such operations; WHENCE it is that we celebrate a rest from our labor on that day, and call it the Sabbath ; which word denotes rest in the Hebrew tongue."* And Philo bears an emphatic testimony rela- tive to the character of the Sabbath as a memorial. Thus he says : "But after the whole world had been completed according to the perfect nature of the number six, the Father hallowed the day following, the seventh, praising it and calling it ho- ly. � For that day is the festival, not of one city or one coun- try, but of all the earth ; a day which alone it is right to call the day of festival for all people, and the birth-day of the world."t Nor was the rest-day of the Lord a shadow of man's rest after his recovery from the fall. God will ever be worshiped in an understanding man- ner by his intelligent creatures. When therefore he set apart his rest-day to a holy use, if it was not as a memorial of his work, but as a shadow of man's redemption from the fall, man in his unfal- len state could never observe the Sabbath as a de- light, but ever with deep distress as reminding him that he was soon to apostatize from God. *Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, chap. 1, V. tWorks, Vol. I, sec. 3t). 26 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Nor was the holy of the Lord and honorable, one of the " carnal ordinances imposed until the times of reformation ;"* for there could be no refor- mation with unfallen beings. But man did not continue in his uprightness ; Paradise was lost, and Adam was excluded from the tree of life. The curse of God fell upon the earth, and death entered by sin, and passed upon all men.- After this sad apostasy, no farther mention of the Sabbath occurs until Moses on the sixth day said, " To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." It is objected that there is no precept in the book of Genesis for the observance of the Sabbath, and consequently no obligation on the part of the patriarchs to observe it. There is a defect in this argument not noticed by those who use it. The book of Genesis was not a rule given to the patri- archs to walk by. On the contrary, it was writ- ten by Moses 2500 years after creation, and long after the patriarchs were dead. Consequently the fact that certain precepts were not found in Gene- sis is no evidence that they were not obligatory up- on the patriarchs. Thus the book does not com- mand men to love God with all their hearts, and their neighbors as themselves ; nor does it prohib- it idolatry, blasphemy, disobedience to parents, adultery, theft, false witness or covetousness. Who will affirm from this that the patriarchs were under no restraint in these things ? As a mere record of events, written long after their occur- rence, it was not necessary that the book should contain a moral code. But had the book been given to the patriarchs as a rule of life, it must of *Isa. lviii, 13, 14; Heb. ix, 10. tGen. iii; Rom. v, 12. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. � 27 necessity have contained such a code. It is a fact worthy of especial notice that as soon as Mo- ses reaches his own time in the book of Exodus, the whole moral law is given. The record and the people were then cotemporary, and ever after- ward the written law is in the hands of God's peo- ple, as a rule of life, and a complete code of mor- al precepts. The argument under consideration is unsound. Because based on the supposition that the book of Genesis was the rule of life for the patriarchs. Because if carried out it would release the patriarchs from every precept of the moral law except the sixth.* 3. Because the act of God in setting apart his rest-day to a holy use, as we have seen, necessarily involves the fact that he gave a precept concerning it to Adam, in whose time it was thus set apart. And hence, though the book of Genesis contains no precept concern- ing the Sabbath, it does contain direct evidence that such precept was given to the head and repre- sentative of the human family. After giving the institution of the Sabbath, the book of Genesis, in its brief record of 2370 years, does not again mention it. This has been urged as ample proof that those holy. men, who, during this period, were perfect, and walked with God in the observance of his commandments, statutes and laws,- all lived in open profanation of that day which God had blessed and set apart to a holy use. But the book of Genesis also omits any dis- tinct reference to the doctrine of future punish- ment, the resurrection of the body, the revelation of the Lord in flaming fire, and the judgment of *Gen. ix, 5, 7. � teen, v, 24 ; vi. 9; xxvi, 5. INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. �29 recurrence of the sanctified rest-day of the Crea- tor. That the patriarchs reckoned time by weeks and by sevens of days, is evident from several texts.* That they should retain the week and forget the Sabbath by which alone the week is marked, is not a probable conclusion.' That the reckoning of the week was rightly kept is evident from the fact that in the wilderness of Sin on the sixth day the people of their own accord gathered a double portion of manna. And Moses said to them, " To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord."t The brevity of the record in Genesis causes us to overlook many facts of the deepest interest. Adam lived 930 years. How deep and absorbing the interest that must have existed in the human family to see the first man ! To converse with one who had himself talked with God To hear from his lips a description of that Paradise in which he had lived ! To learn from one created on the sixth day the wondrous events of the crea- tion week ! To hear from his lips the very words of the Creator when he set apart his rest-day to a holy use ! And to learn, alas ! the sad story of the loss of Paradise and the tree of life ! It was therefore not difficult for the facts re- specting the six days of creation and the sanctifi- cation of the rest-day to be diffused among man- supposed, indicated by the phases or quarters of the moon. It was originated by divine appointment at the creation—six days of labor and one of rest being wisely appointed for man's physical and spiritual well-being." Bliss' Sacred Chronology, p. 6. *Gen. xxix, 27, 28 ; viii, 10, 12 ; vii, 4, 10 ; a, 10 ; Ex. vii, 25; Job ii, 13. tEx. xvi, 23, 23. 28 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. the great day. Does this silence prove that the patriarchs did not believe these great doctrines ? Does it make them any the less sacred ? But the Sabbath is not mentioned from Moses to David, a period of five hundred years, during which it was enforced by the penalty of death. Does this prove that it was not observed during this period ?* The jubilee occupied a very prom- inent place in the typical system, yet in the whole Bible a single instance of its observance is not re- corded. What is still more remarkable, there is not on record a single instance of the observance of the great day of atonement, notwithstanding the work in the holiest on that day was the most important service connected with the worldly sanc- tuary. And yet the observance of the other and less important festivals of the seventh month, which are so intimately connected with the day of atone- ment, the one preceding it by ten days, the other following it in five, is repeatedly and particularly recorded.f It would be sophistry to argue from this silence respecting the day of atonement, when there were so many instances in which its mention was almost demanded, that that day was never observed ; and yet it is actually a better argument than the similar one urged against the Sabbath from the book of Genesis. The reckoning of time by weeks is derived from nothing in nature, and can only be traced to the six days of creation, and to the rest of the Sab- bath.t This period of time is marked only by the ' � *See the beginning of chap. viii. tEzra iii, 1-6 ; Neh. viii, 2, 9-12, 14-18 : 1 Kings viii, 2, 65 ; 2 Chron. v, 3 ; vii, 8, 9 ; John vii, 2-14, 37. t" The week, another primeval measure, is not a natural measure of time, as some astronomers and chronologers hay.) 30 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH TO THE HEBREWS. �31 kind in the patriarchal age. Nay, it was impossi- ble that it should be otherwise, especially among the godly. From Adam to Abraham a succession of men—probably inspired of God—preserved the knowledge of God upon earth. Thus Adam lived till Lamech, the father of Noah, was 56 years of age ; Lamech lived till Shem, the son of Noah, was 93 ; Shem lived till Abraham was 150 years of age. Thus are we brought down to Abraham, the father of the faithful. Of him it is recorded that he obeyed God's voice and kept his charge, his commandments, his statutes and his laws. And of him the Most High bears the following testimo- ny : " I know him, that he will command his chil- dren and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judg- ment."* The knowledge of God was preserved in the family of Abraham ; and we shall next find the Sabbath familiarly mentioned among his pos- terity, as an existing institution. *Gen. xxvi, 5; xviii, 19. CHAPTER III.. THE SABBATH COMMITTED TO THE HEBREWS. Object of this chapter—Total apostasy of the human family in the antediluvian age—Destruction of mankind—The family of Noah spared—Second apostasy of mankind in the patriarchal age—The apostate nations left to their own ways—The family of Abraham chosen—Separated from the rest of mankind—Their history—Their relation to God —the Sabbath in existence when they came forth fi ona Egypt—Analysis of Ex. xvi—The Sabbath committed to the Hebrews. We are now to trace the history of divine truth for many ages in almost exclusive connection with the family of Abraham. That we may vindicate the truth from the reproach of pertaining only to the Hebrews—a reproach often urged against the Sabbath—and justify the dealings of God with mankind in leaving to their own ways the apostate nations, let us carefully examine the Bible for the reasons which directed divine providence in the choice of Abraham's family as the depositaries of divine truth. The antediluvian world had been highly favored of God. The period of life extended to each gen- eration was twelve-fold that of the present age of man. For almost one thousand years, Adam, who had conversed with God in Paradise, had been with them. Before the death of Adam, Enoch be- gan his holy walk of three hundred years, and then he was translated that he should not see death. This testimony to the piety of Enoch was a powerful testimony to the antediluvians in behalf 82 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH TO THE HEBREWS. �38 of truth and righteousness. Moreover the Spirit of God strove with mankind ; but the perversity of man triumphed over all the gracious restraints of the Holy Spirit. " And God saw that the wick- edness of man was great in the earth, and that ev- ery imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil and that continually." Even the sons of God joined in the general apostasy. At last a single family was all that remained of the wor- shipers of the Most High.* Then came the deluge sweeping the world of its guilty inhabitants with the besom of destruction.t So terrible a display of divine justice might well be thought sufficient to restrain impiety for ages. . Surely the family of Noah could not soon forget this awful lesson. But alas, revolt and apostasy speedily followed and men turned from God to the worship of idols. Against the divine mandate separating the human family into nations,X man- kind united in one great act of rebellion in the plain of Shinar. " And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heav- en; and let us make us a name, lest we be scat- tered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Then God confounded them in their impiety and scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth.§ Men did not like to retain God in their knowledge wherefore God gave them *Gen. ii—vi ; Heb. xi, 4-7; 1 Pet. iii, 20; 2 Pet. ii, 5. Gen. vii ; Matt. xxiv, 37-39 ; Luke xvii, 26, 27 ; 2 Pet. iii, 5, 6. petit. xxxii, 7, 8; Acts xvii, 26. Gen. xi, 1-9 ; Josephus' Antiquities, Book I, chap. iv. This took place in the days of Peleg who was born about one hundred years after the flood. Gen. x, 25, compared with xi, 10-16 ; Antiquities, Book I, chap. vi, 4. over to a reprobate mind, and suffered them to change the truth of God into a lie, and to worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator. Such was the origin of idolatry and of the apos- tasy of the Gentiles.* In the midst of this wide-spread apostasy one man was found whose heart was faithful with God. Abraham was chosen from an idolatrous family, as the depositary of divine truth, the father of the faithful, the heir of the world and the friend of God.' When the worshipers of God were found alone in the family of Noah, God gave up the rest of mankind to perish in the flood. Now that the worshipers of God are again reduced almost to a single family, God gives up the idolatrous nations to their own ways, and takes the family of Abra- ham as his peculiar heritage. " For I know him," said God, " that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment."I That they might preserve in the earth the knowl- edge of divine truth and the memory and worship of the Most High, they were to be a people walled off from all mankind, and dwelling in a land of their own. That they might thus be separated from the heathen around, God gave to Abraham the rite of circumcision, and afterward to his posterity the whole ceremonial law.§ But they could not pos- sess the land designed for them until the iniquity of the Amorites, its inhabitants, was full, that they *Rom. i, 18-32. Acts xiv, 16, 17 ; xvii, 29, 30. tGen. xii, 1-3 ; Josh. xxiv, 2, 3, 14 ; Neh. ix, 7, 8 ; Rom. iv, 13-17; 2 Chron. xx, 7 ; Isa. xli, 8 ; James ii, 23. IGen. xviii, 19. Wen. xvii, 9-14; xxxiv, 14; Acts x, 28; xi, 2, 3; Eph. ii, 12-19 ; Num. xxiii, 9; Deut. xxxiii, 27, 28. SABBATH TO THE HEBREWS. �35 84 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. should be thrust out before them. The horror of great darkness, and the smoking furnace seen by Abraham in vision, foreshadowed the iron furnace and the bitter servitude of Egypt. The family of Abraham must go down thither. Brief prosperity and long and terrible oppression follow.* At length the power of the oppressor is broken, and the people of God are delivered. The expi- ration of four hundred and thirty years from the promise to Abraham marks the hour of deliver- ance to his posterity.t The nation of Israel is brought forth from Egypt as God's peculiar treas- ure, that he may give them his Sabbath, and his law, and himself. The psalmist testifies that God " brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness, and gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labor of the peo- ple, that they might observe his statutes and keep his laws." And the Most High says, " I am the Lord which hallow you, that brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to be your God."T Not that the commandments of God, his Sabbath and himself, had no prior existence, nor that the peo- ple were ignorant of the true God and his law ; for the Sabbath was appointed to a holy use before the fall of man ; and the commandments of God, his statutes and his laws, were kept by Abraham ; and the Israelites themselves, when some of them had violated the Sabbath, were reproved by the question, " How long refuse ye to keep my com- mandments and my laws ?"§ And as to the Most *Gen. xv ; Ex. i—v ; Deut. iv, 20. tEx. xii, 29-42 ; Gal. iii, 17. cv, 43-45 ; Lev. xxii, 32, 33 ; Num. xv, 41. iGen. ii, 2, 3 ; xxvi, 5 ; Ex. xvi, 4, 27, 28 : xviii, 16. High the psalmist exclaims, " Before the moun- tains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."* But there must be a formal public espousal of the people by God, and of his law and Sabbath and himself by the peo- ple.t But neither the Sabbath, nor the law, nor the great Law-giver, by their connection with the Hebrews, became Jewish. The Law-giver indeed became the God of Israel,t and what Gentile shall refuse him adoration for that reason ? but the Sab- bath still remained the Sabbath of the Lord,§ and the law continued to be the law of the Most High. In the month following their passage through the Red Sea the Hebrews came into the wilder- ness of Sin. It is at this point in his narrative that Moses for the second time mentions the sanc- tified rest-day of the Creator. The people mur- mured for bread : " Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gath- er a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no. And it shall come to pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily � I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God. And it came to pass that at even the quails came up and covered the camp ; and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold upon the *Ps. xc, 2. xix, 3-8 ; xxiv, 4-8 ; Jer. iii, 14 compared with last clause of Jer. xxxi, 32. $Ex. xx, 2; xxiv, 10. iEx. xx, 10; Deut. v, 14; Neh. ix, 14. 36 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it., they said one to another, It is manna; for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord ha,th commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack ; they gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms and stank; and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating; and when the sun waxed hot it melted. And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread,* two omers for one man ; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord bath said,-[ To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the *On this verse Dr. A. Clarke thus comments:— " On the sixth day they gathered twice as much—This they did that they might have a provision for the Sabbath." tThe Douay Bible reads : " To-morrow is the rest of the Sabbath sanctified unto the Lord." Dr. Clarke comments as follows upon this text: "To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath: There is nothing either in the text or context that seems to intimate that the Sabbath was now first given to the Israelites, as some have supposed ; on the contrary it is here spoken of as being perfectly well known, from its having been generally observed. The commandment, it is true, may be considered as being now renewed; because they might have supposed, that in their unsettled state in the wilder- ness, they might have been exempted from the observance of it. � Thus we find, 1. That when God finished creation he in- stituted the Sabbath ; 2. When he brought the people out of Egypt., he insisted on the strict observance of it ; 3. When he gave the LAW, he made it a tenth part of the whole : SABBATH TO THE HEBREWS. �37 Lord: bake that which ye will bake to-clay, and seethe that ye will seethe, and that which remaineth over lay up to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord :* to-day ye shall not find it in the field .Six days ye shall gather it ; but on the seventh day which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord bath given you the Sab- bath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go such importance has this institution in the eyes of the Su- preme Being !" Richard Baxter, a famous divine of the seventeenth centu- ry, and a decided advocate of the abrogation of the fourth commandment, in his " Divine Appointment of the Lord's Day," thus clearly states the origin of the Sabbath : " Why should God begin two thousand years after [the creation of the world] to give men a Sabbath upon the reason of his rest from the creation of it., if he had never called man to that commemoration before? And it is certain that the Sabbath was observed at the falling of the manna before the giving of the law ; and let any considering Christian judge 1. Whether the not falling of the manna, or the rest of God after the creation was like to be the original reason of the Sabbath. 2. And whether if it had been the first, it would not have been said, Remember to keep holy the Sab- bath-day; for on six days the manna fell, and not on the seventh ; rather than for in six days God created heaven and earth, &c., and rested the seventh day.' And it is casually added, Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it.' Nay, consider whether this annexed reason in- timates not that the day on this ground being hallowed be- fore, therefore it was that God sent not down the manna on that day, and that he prohibited the people from seeking it."—Prfictical Works, Vol. 3, p. 784, ed. 1707. *The Douay Bible reads: " Because it is the Sabbath of the Lord." 38 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day."* This narrative shows, 1. That God had a law and commandments prior to the giving of the man- na. � 2. That God in giving his people bread from heaven designed to prove them respecting his law. That in this law was the holy Sabbath ; for the test relative to walking in the law pertained di- rectly to the Sabbath ; and when God said, " How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ?" it was the Sabbath which they had violated. That in proving the people respecting this ex- isting law, Moses gave no new precept respecting the Sabbath, but remained silent relative to the preparation for the Sabbath until after the peo- ple of their own accord, had gathered a double portion on the sixth day. 5. That by this act the people proved not only that they were not ignor- ant of the Sabbath, but that they were disposed to observe it.t 6. That the reckoning of the week, traces of which appear through the patri- archal age,t had been rightly kept, for the people *Ex. xvi. tIt has indeed been asserted that God by a miracle equal- ized the portion of every one on five days, and doubled the portion of each on the sixth, so that no act of the people had any bearing on the Sabbath. But the equal portion of each on the five days was not thus understood by Paul. He says: "But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want : that there may be equality : as it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over ; and he that had gathered little had no lack." 2 Cor. viii, 14, 15. And that the double portion on the sixth day was the act of the people, is affirmed by Moses. He says that " on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread." Verse 22. IGen. vii, 7, 10 ; viii, 10, 12 ; xxix, 27, 28 ; a, 10 ; Ex. vii, 25 ; Job ii, 18. SABBATH TO THE HEBREWS. �39 knew when the sixth day had arrived. 7. That had there been any doubt existing on that point, the fall of the manna on the six days, the with- holding of it on the seventh, and the preservation of that needed for the Sabbath over that day, must have settled that point incontrovertibly.* 8. That there was no act of instituting the Sabbath in the wilderness of Sin ; for God did not then make it his rest-day, nor did he then bless and sanctify the day. On the contrary, the record shows that the seventh day was already the sancti- fied rest-day of the Lord.f 9. That the obliga- tion to observe the Sabbath existed and was known before the fall of the manna. For the language used implies the existence of such an obligation, but does not contain a new enactment until after some of the people had violated the Sabbath. Thus God says to Moses, " On the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in," but he does not speak of the seventh. And on the sixth day Moses says, " To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord," but he does not com- mand them to observe it. On the seventh day he *By this three-fold miracle, occurring every week for for- ty years, the great Law-giver distinguished his hallowed day. The people were therefore admirably prepared to listen to the fourth commandment enjoining the observance of the very day on which he had rested. Ex. xvi, 35 ; Josh. v, 12; Ex. xx, 8-11. -The twelfth chapter of Exodus relates the origin of the passover. It is in striking contrast with Ex. xvi, which is supposed to give the origin of the Sabbath. If the reader will compare the two chapters he will see the difference be- tween the origin of an institution as given in Ex. xii, and a familiar reference to an existing institution as in Ex. xvi. If he will also compare Gen. ii with Ex. xii, he will see that the one gives the origin of the Sabbath in the same manner that the other gives the origin of the passover. 40 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. says that it is the Sabbath, and that they should find no manna in the field. " Six days ye shall gather it ; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none." But in all this there is no precept given, yet the existence of such a precept is plainly implied. 10. That when some of the people violated the Sabbath they were reproved in language which plainly implies a pre- vious transgression of this precept. " How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ?" 11. And that this rebuke of the Law- giver restrained for the time the transgression of the people. " See for that the Lord hath given you the Sab- bath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days :* abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the sev- enth day."t As a special trust God committed the Sabbath to the Hebrews. It was now given them, not now made for them. It was made for man at the close of the first week of time ; but all other nations having turned from the Creator to the worship of idols, it is given to the Hebrew peo- ple. Nor does this prove that all the Hebrews had hitherto disregarded it. For Christ uses the same language respecting circumcision. Thus he says : " Moses therefore gave unto you circum- cision, not because it is of Moses, but of the fa- thers."t Yet God had enjoined that ordinance *This implies, first, the fall of a larger quantity on that day, and second, its preservation for the wants of the Sabbath. -This must refer to going out for manna, as the connection implies ; for religious assemblies on the Sabbath were com- manded and observed. Lev. xxiii, 3 ; Mark i, 21 ; Luke iv, 16 ; Acts i, 12 ; xv, 21. John vii, 22. SABBATH TO THE HEBREWS. �41 upon Abraham and his family four hundred years previous, and it had been retained by them.* The language, " the Lord hath given you the Sabbath," implies a solemn act of committing a treasure to their trust. How was this done ? No act of instituting the Sabbath here took place. No precept enjoining its observance was given un- til some of the people violated it, when it was giv- en in the form of a reproof ; which evinced a pre- vious obligation, and that they were transgressing an existing law. And this view is certainly strengthened by the fact that no explanation of the institution was given to the people ; a fact which indicates that some knowledge of the Sab- bath was already in their possession. But how then did God give them the Sabbath ? He did this, first, by delivering them from the ab- ject bondage of Egypt, where they were a nation of slaves. And second, by providing them food in such a manner as to impose the strongest obli- gation to keep the Sabbath. Forty years did he give them bread from heaven, sending it for six days, and withholding it on the seventh, and pre- serving food for them over the Sabbath. Thus was the Sabbath especially entrusted to them. As a gift to the Hebrews, the Creator's great memorial became a sign between God and them- *Gen. xvii xxxiv ; Ex. iv. Moses is said to have given circumcision to the Hebrews; yet it is a singular fact that his first mention of that ordinance is purely incidental, and plainly implies an existing knowledge of it on their part. Thus it is written : " This is the ordinance of the passover : There shall no stranger eat thereof; but every man's serv- ant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof." Ex. xii, 43, 44. And in like manner when the Sabbath was given to Israel, that peo- ple were not ignorant of the sacred institution. 4 42 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. selves. " I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." As a sign, its object is stated to be, to make known the true God ; and we are told why it was such a sign. "It is a sign between me and the children of Is- rael forever ; for in six days the Lord made heav- en and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed."* The institution itself sig- nified that God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. Its ob- servance by the people signified that the Creator was their God. How full of meaniLg was this sign ! The Sabbath was a sign between God and the children of Israel, because they alone were the worshipers of the Creator. All othe'r nations had turned from him to " the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth."f For this reason the memorial of the great Creator was com- mitted to the Hebrews, and it became a sign be- tween the Most High and themselves. Thus was the Sabbath a golden link uniting the Creator and his worshipers. *Eze. xx, 12 ; Ex. xxxi, 17. � tJer. x, 10-12. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. �43 CHAPTER IV. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. The Most High upon mount Sinai—Three great gifts bestowed upon the Hebrews—The Sabbath proclaimed by the voice of God—Position assigned it in the moral law—Origin of the Sabbath—Definite character of the commandment— Revolution of the earth upon its axis—Name of the Sabbat- ic institution—Seventh day of the commandment identical with the seventh day of the New Testament week—Testi- mony of Nehemiah—moral obligation of the fourth com- mandment. And now we approach the record of that sub- lime event, the personal descent of the Ancient of days upon mount Sinai.* The sixteenth chapter of Exodus, as we have seen, is remarkable for the fact that Uod gave to Israel the Sabbath; the nineteenth chapter for the fact that God gave him- self to that people in solemnly espousing them as a holy nation unto himself ; while the twentieth chapter will be found remarkable for the act of the Most High in giving to Israel his law. It is customary to spak against the Sabbath ani the law as Jewish, because thus given to Isra- el. As well might the C Bator be spoken against who brought them out of Egypt to be their God, and who styles himself th:! God of Israel.t The Hebrews were honored by being thus entrusted with the Sabbath and the law, not the Sabbath and the law and the Creator rendered Jewish by this connection. The sacred writers speak of the *That God was there in person with his angels, see besides the narrative in Ex. xix ; xx ; xxxii—xxxiv, the following testimonies Deut. xxxiii, 2 ; Judges v, 6 ; Nehemiah ix, 6-13 ; Ps. lxviii, 17. }Ex. xxiv, 10 ; Lev, xxii, 82,83 ; Num. xv, 41; Isa. xli, 17. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. �45 44 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. high exaltation of Israel in being thus entrusted with the law of God. "He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any na- tion, and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord!" " What advantage then bath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision ? Much every way: chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen."* After the Most High had solemnly espoused the people unto himself, as his peculiar treasure in the earth,t they were brought forth out of the camp to meet with God. " And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descend- ed upon it in fire : and the smoke thereof ascend- ed as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." Out of the midst of this fire did God proclaim the ten words of his law.T The fourth of.these precepts is the grand law of the Sabbath. Thus spake the great Lawgiver : *Ps. cxlvii, 19, 20; Rom. iii, 1, 2; ix, 4, 5. The follow- ing from the pen of Mr. Wm. Miller presents the subject in a clear light : " I say, and I believe that I am supported by the Bible, that the moral law was never given to the Jews as a people exclusively ; but they were for a season the keepers of it in charge. And through them the law and testimony have been handed down to us. See Paul's clear reasoning in Rom. ii, iii, iv, on that point."—Miller's Life and Views, p. 161. tEx. xix: Deut. vii, 6; xiv, 2; 2 Sam. vii, 23; 1 Kings viii, 53 ; Amos iii, 1, 2. xx, 1-17 ; xxxiv, 28, margin ; Deut. v, 4-22; x, 4, margin. "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man- servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy strang- er that is within thy gates: 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." The estimate which the Law-giver placed upon his Sabbath is seen in that he deemed it worthy of a place in his code of .ten commandments, thus causing it to stand in the midst of nine immutable moral precepts. Nor is this to be thought a small honor that the Most High, naming one by one the great principles of morality until all are given, and he adds no more,* should include in their number the observance of his hallowed rest-day. This precept is expressly given to enforce the ob- servance of the Creator's great memorial, and un- like all the others, this one traces its obligation back to the creation, where that memorial was or- dained. The Sabbath is to be remembered and kept ,holy because that God hallowed it, i. e., appointed it to a holy use, at the close of the first week. And this sanctification or hallowing of the rest-day, when the first seventh day of time was past, was the solemn act of setting apart the seventh day for time to come in memory of the Creator's rest. Thus the fourth commandment reaches back and embraces the institution of the Sabbath in Para- dise, while the sanctification of the Sabbath in Paradise extends forward to all coming time. The narrative respecting the wilderness of Sin admira- *Deut. v, 22. 46 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. bly cements the union of the two. Thus in the wilderness of Sin, before the fourth commandment was given, stands the Sabbath, holy to the Lord, with an existing obligation to observe it, though no commandment in that narrative creates the ob- ligation. This obligation is derived from the same source as the fourth commandment, namely, the sanctification of the Sabbath in Paradise, showing that it was an existing duty, and not a new pre- cept. For it should never be forgotten that the fourth commandment does not trace its obligation to the wilderness of Sin, . but to the creation ; a decisive proof that the Sabbath did not • originate in the wilderness of Sin. The fourth commandment is remarkably defi- nite. It embraces, first, a precept : " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy ;" second, an ex- planation of this precept : " Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work ; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates ;" third, the reasons on which the precept is based, embracing the origin of the institution, and the very acts by which it was made, and en- forcing all by the example* of the Law-giver him- self : " 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." The rest-day of the Lord is thus distinguished *He who created the world on the first day of the week, and completed its organization in six days, rested on the seventh day and was refreshed. Gen. i ; ii ; Ex. xxxi, 17. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. �47 from the six days on which he labored. The bless- ing and sanctification pertain to the day of the Creator's rest. There can be therefore no indefi- niteness in the precept. It is not merely one day in seven, but that day in the seven on which the Creator rested, and upon which he placed his bless- ing, namely, the seventh day.* And this day is definitely pointed out in the name given it by God : " the seventh day is the Sabbath, i. e., the rest- day of the Lord thy God." That the seventh day in the fourth command- ment is the seventh day of the New Testament week may be plainly proved. In the record of our Lord's burial, Luke writes thus :t " And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Gali- lee, followed after and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath-day according to the com- mandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the *To this, however, it is objected that in consequence of the revolution of the earth on its axis, the day begins earlier in the East than with us ; and hence that there is no definite seventh day to the world of mankind. To suit such object- ors the earth ought not to revolve. But in that case, so far from removing the difficulty, there would be no seventh day at all ; for one side of the globe would have perpetual day and the other side perpetual night. The truth is, everything depends upon the revolution of the earth. God made the Sabbath for man [Mark ii, 27] ; he made man to dwell on all the face of the earth [Acts xvii, 26] ; he caused the earth to revolve on its axis that it might measure off the days of the week; causing that the sun should shine on the earth as it revolves from west to east, thus causing the day to go round the world from east to west. Seven of these revolutions con- stitute a week ; the seventh one brings the Sabbath to all the world. fLuke xxiii, 54-56 ; xxiv, 1. 48 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." Luke testifies that these women kept " the Sab- bath-day according to the commandment." The commandment says " the seventh day is the Sab- bath of the Lord thy God." This day thus ob- served was the last or seventh day of the week, for the following* day was the first day of the week. Hence the seventh day of the command- ment is the seventh day of the New Testament week. The testimony of Nehemiah is deeply interest- ing. " Thou earnest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gayest them right judgments, and true laws, good stat- utes and commandments : and madest known un- to them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes and laws by the hand of Moses thy servant."j- It is remarkable that God is said to have made known the Sabbath when he thus came down upon the mount ; for the children of Israel had the Sabbath in possession when they came to Sinai. This language must therefore re- fer to that complete unfolding of the Sabbatic insti- tution which is given in the fourth commandment. And mark the expression : " madest knownI un- to them thy holy Sabbath :" not madest the Sab- *See also Matt. xxviii, 1 ; Mark xvi, 1, 2. j-Neh. ix, 13, 14. /This expression is strikingly illustrated in the statement of Eze. xx, 5, where God is said to have made himself known unto Israel in Egypt. This language cannot mean that the people were ignorant of the true God, however wicked some of them might be, for they had been God's peculiar people from the days of Abraham. Ex. ii, 23-25; iii, 6, 7; iv, 31. The language implies the prior existence both of the Law- giver and of his Sabbath, when it is said that they were " made known" to his people. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. �49 bath for them : language which plainly implies its previous existence, and which cites the mind back to the Creator's rest for the origin of the in- stitution.* The moral obligation of the fourth command- ment which is so often denied may be clearly shown by reference to the origin of all things. God created the world and gave existence to man upon it. To him he gave life and breath, and all things. Man therefore owes everything to God. Every faculty of his mind, every power of his being, all his strength and all his time be- long of right to the Creator. � It was there- fore the benevolence of the Creator that gave to man six days for his own wants. And in setting apart the seventh day to a holy use in memory of his own rest, the Most High was reserving unto him- self one of the seven days, when he could rightly claim all as his. The six days therefore are the gift of God to man, to be rightly employed in secular affairs, not the seventh day the gift of man' to God. The fourth commandment, therefore, does not require man to give something of his own to God, but it does require that man should not appropriate to himself that which God has re- served for his own worship. To observe this day then is to render to God of the things that are his; to appropriate it to ourselves is simply to rob God. *It should never be forgotten that the term Sabbath-day signifies rest-day ; that the Sabbath of the Lord is the rest- day Of the Lord; and hence that the expression, " Thy holy Sabbath," refers the mind to the Creator's rest-day, and to his act of blessing and hallowing it. Ill 50 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. CHAPTER V. THE SABBATH WRITTEN BY THE FINGER OF GOD. Classification of the precepts given through Moses—The Sabbath renewed—Solemn ratification of the covenant be- tween God and Israel-7Moses called up to receive the law which God had written upon stone—The ten command- ments probably proclaimed upon the Sabbath—Events of the forty days—The Sabbath becomes a sign between God and Israel—The penalty of death—The tables of testimony given to Moses—And broken when he saw the idolatry of the people—The idolators punished—Moses goes up to re- new the tables—The Sabbath again enjoined—The tables given again—The ten commandments were the testimony of God—Who wrote them—Three distinguished honors which pertain to the Sabbath—The ten commandments a complete code—Relation of the fourth commandment to the atonement—Valid reason why God himself should write that law which was placed beneath the mercy-seat. When the voice of the Most High had ceased, " the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." A brief interview follows* in which God gives to Moses a series of precepts, which, as a sample of the stat- utes given through him, may be classified thus : ceremonial precepts pointing to the good things to come; judicial precepts intended for the civil government of the nation ; and moral precepts stating anew in other forms the ten command- ments. In this brief interview the Sabbath is not forgotten : "Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger may be re- freshed."f This scripture furnishes incidental proof that the Sabbath was made for mankind, and for those *Ex. xx-xxiv. � tEx. xxiii, 12. SABBATH WRITTEN BY GOD. �51 creatures that share the labors of man. The stranger and the foreigner must keep it, and it was for their refreshment.* But the same per- sons could not partake of the passover until they were made members of the Hebrew church by cir- cumcision.f When Moses had returned unto the people he repeated all the words of the Lord. With one voice all the people exclaim, " All the words which the Lord hath said will we do." Then Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. " And he took the book of the covenant and read in the audience of the people : and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." Then Moses " sprinkled both the book and all the peo- ple, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you./ The way was thus prepared for God to bestow a second signal honor upon his law. " And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the-Lord abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days : and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.l And the sight of the glory of the *See also Ex. xx, 10; Deut. v, 14; Isa. lvi. fEx. xii, 43-48. � IEx. xxiv, 3-8; Heb. ix, 18-20. pr. Clarke has the following note on this verse: "It is very likely that Moses went up into the mount on the first day of the week ; and having with Joshua remained in the region during six days, on the seventh, which was the Sab- bath, God spake to him."—Commentary on Ex. xxiv, 16. The marking off of a week from the forty days in this re- markable manner, goes far toward establishing the view of Dr. C. And if this be correct, it would strongly indicate that the ten commandments were given upon the Sabbath ; 52 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH WRITTEN BY GOD. �53 Lord was like devouring fire on,the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got him up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights."* During this forty days God gave to Moses a pattern of the ark in which to place the law that he had written upon stone, and of the mercy-seat to place over that law, and of the sanctuary in which to deposit the ark. He also ordained the priesthood, which was to minister in the Sanctua- ry before the ark.' These things being ordained, and the Lawgiver about to commit his law as writ- ten by himself into the hands of Moses, he again enjoins the Sabbath. "And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations ; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath there- fore ; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death ; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done ; but in the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord : whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath-day he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a per- for there seems to be good evidence that they were given the day before Moses went up to receive the tables of stone. For the interview in whi3h chapters xxi—xxiii were given would require but a brief space, and certainly followed immediate- 17 upon the giving of the ten commandments. Ex. xx, 18- 22. When the interview closed, Moses came down to the people and wrote all the words of the Lord. In the morn- ing he rose up early, and having ratified the covenant, went up to receive the law which God had written. Ex. xxiv, 3-13. *Ex. xxiv, 12-18. � fEx. xxv—xxxi. petual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever : for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refresh- ed. And he gave unto Moses, when be had made an end of communing with him upon Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."* This should be compared with the testimony of Ezekiel speaking in the'name of God : "I gave them my statutes and showed them my judgments, which if a man do he shall even live in them. Moreover al- so I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them � I am the Lord your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and hallow my Sab- baths ; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God."f It will be observed that neither of these scrip- tures teach that the Sabbath was made for Israel, nor yet do they teach that it was made after the Hebrews came out of Egypt. In neither of these particulars do they even seem to contradict those texts that place the institution of the Sabbath at creation. But we do learn, 1. That it was God's act of giving to the Hebrews his Sabbath that made it a sign between them and himself. " I gave them my Sabbaths TO BE a sign between me and them." This act of committing to them the Sabbath has been noticed already.t 2. That it was to be a sign between God and the Hebrews, " that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Wherever the word LORD in the Old Testament is in small capital's, as in the texts under consideration, it is in the Hebrew, Jehovah. The Sabbath then as a sign signified that it was *Ex. xxxi, 12-18, � jEze. xx, 11, 12, 19, 20. :See third chapter of this work. ri ( 54 � HISTORY OP THE SABBATH. Jehovah, i. e., the infinite, self-existent God, who had sanctified them. To sanctify is to separate, set apart or appoint to a holy, sacred or religious use.* That the Hebrew nation had thus been set apart in the most remarkable manner from all mankind was sufficiently evident. But who was it that had thus separated them from all other people ? As a gracious answer to this important question God gave to the Hebrews his own hallowed rest- day. But how could the great memorial of the Creator determine such a question ? Listen to the words of the Most High : " Verily my Sab- baths," i. e., my rest-days, " ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you � It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever ; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refresh- ed." The Sabbath as a sign between God and Israel, was a perpetual testimony that he who had separated them from all mankind as his peculiar treasure in the earth, was that Being who had created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. It was therefore the strongest possible assurance that he who sancti- fied them was indeed Jehovah. From the days of Abraham God had set apart the Hebrews. He who had previously borne no local, national or family name, did from that time until the end of his covenant relation with the *" To sanctify, kadash, signifies to consecrate, separate, and set apart a thing or person from all secular purposes to some religious use." Clarke's Commentary on Ex. xiii, 2. The same writer says, on Ex. xix, 23, " Here the word kadash is taken in its proper, literal sense, signifying the sepa- rating of a thing, person or place from all profane or com- mon uses, and devoting it to sacred purposes. � SABBATH WRITTEN BY GOD. �55 Hebrew race, take to himself such titles as seemed to show him to be their God alone. From his choice of Abraham and his family forward he desig- nates himself as the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob ; the God of the Hebrews, and the God of Israel.* He brought Israel out of Egypt to be their God,t and at Sinai did join himself to -them in solemn espousal. He did thus set apart or sanctify unto himself the Hebrews, because that all other nations had given themselves to idolatry. Thus the God of heaven and earth condescended to give himself to a single race, and to set them apart from all mankind. It should be observed that it was not the Sabbath which had set Israel apart from all other nations, but it was the idola- try of all other nations that caused God to set the Hebrews apart for himself ; and that God gave to Israel the Sabbath which he had hallowed for mankind at creation as the most expressive sign that he who thus sanctified them was, indeed the living God. It was the act of God in giving his Sabbath to the Israelites that rendered it a sign between them and himself. But the Sabbath did not derive its existence from being thus given to the Hebrews ; for it was the ancient Sabbath of the Lord when given to them, and we have seent that it was not given by a new commandment. On the contrary it rested at that time upon existing obligation. But it was the providence of God in behalf of the Hebrews, first, in rescuing them from abject ser- vitude, and second, in sending them bread from *Gen. xvii, 7, 8; xxvi, 24 ; xxviii, 13 ; Ex. iii, 6, 13-16, 18; v, 8 ; Isa. xlv, 3. fLev. xi, 46. � /See chapter third. 0 it i f 1 56 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. heaven for six days, and preserving food for the Sabbath that constituted the Sabbath a gift to that people. And mark the significancy of the man- ner in which this gift was bestowed, as showing who it was that sanctified them. It became a gift to the Hebrews by the wonderful providence of the manna : a miracle that ceased not cpenly to declare the Sabbath every week for the space of forty years ; thus showing incontrovertibly that He who led them was the author of the Sabbath, and therefore the Creator of heaven and earth. That the Sabbath which was made for man should thus be given to the Hebrews is certainly not more remarkable that than the God of the whole earth should give hii oracles and himself to that people. The Most High and his law and Sabbath did not become Jewish; but the Hebrews were made the honored depositaries of divine truth ; and the knowledge of God and of his commandments was preserved in the earth. The reason on which this sign is based points unmistakably to the true origin of the Sabbath. It did not originate from the fall of the manna for six days and its cessation on the seventh—for the manna was given thus because the Sabbath was in existence—but because that " in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." Thus the Sabbath is shown to have originated with the rest and re- freshment of the Creator, and not at the fall of the manna. As an INSTITUTION, the Sabbath de- clared its Author, to be the Creator of heaven and earth ; as a sign* between God and Israel, it de- *As a sign it did not thereby become a shadow and a cere- mony, for the Lord of the Sabbath was himself a sign. "Be- SABBATH WRITTEN BY GOD. �57 dared that he who had set them apart was indeed Jehovah. The last act of the Law-giver in this memorable interview was to place in the hands of Moses the " two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Then he revealed to hold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in mount Zion." Isa. viii, 18. In Heb. ii, 13 this language is referred to Christ.. � And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel ; and for a sign which shall be spoken against." Luke ii, 34. That the Sab- bath was a sign between God and Israel throughout their generations, that is, for the time that they were his peculiar people, no more proves that it is now abolished than the fact that Jesus is now a sign that is spoken against proves that he will cease to exist when he shall no longer be such a sign. Nor does this language argue that the Sabbath was made for them, or that its obligation ceased when they ceased to be the people of God. For the prohibition against eating blood was a perpetual statute for their generations ; yet it was giv- en to Noah when God first permitted the use of animal food, and was still obligatory upon the Gentiles when the apostles turned to them. Lev. iii, 17 ; Gen. ix, 1-3 ; Acts xv. The penalty of ueath at. the hand of the civil magistrate is affixed to the violation of the Sabbath. The same penalty is affixed to most of the precepts of the moral law. Lev. xx, 9, 10; xxiv, 15-17 ; Dent.. xiii, 6-18 ; xvii, 2-7. It should be remembered that the moral law embracing the Sabbath form- ed a part of the CIVIL code of the Hebrew nation. As such the great Law-giver annexed penalties to be inflicted by the magistrate, thus doubtless shadowing forth the final retribu- tion of the ungodly. Such penalties were suspended by that remarkable decision of the Saviour that those who were with- out sin should cast the first stone. But such a Being will arise to punish men, when the hailstones of his wrath shall desolate the earth. Our Lord did not, however, set aside the real penalty of the law, the wages of sin, nor did he weak- en that precept which had been violated. John viii, 1-9 ; Job xxxviii, 22,23 ; Isa. xxviii, 17 ; Rev. xvi, 17-21 ; Rom. vi, 23. 5 Moses the sad apostasy of the people of Israel, and hastened him down to them. "And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides : on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. . . . And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing : and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." Then Moses inflicted retribution upon the idol- aters, " and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men." And Moses returned unto God and interceded in behalf of- the people. Then God promised that his angel should go with them, but that he himself would not go up in their midst lest he should consume them.* Then Moses pre- sented an earnest supplication to the Most High that he might see his glory. This petition was granted, saving that the face of God should not be seen.: But before Moses ascended that he might be- hold the majesty of the infinite Law-giver, the Lord said unto him : " Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first : and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest. . . . And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and he went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him *This fact will shed light upon those texts which introduce the agency of ani5els in the giving of the law. Acts vii, 38, 63 ; Gal. iii 19 i Heb. ii, 2. thx. there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him." Then Moses beheld the glory of the Lord, and he " made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped." This interview lasted for- ty days and forty nights, as did the first, and seems to have been spent by Moses in intercession that God would not destroy the people for their sin.* The record of this period is very brief, but in this record the Sabbath is mentioned. " Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest : in caring time and in harvest thou shalt rest.t Thus admonishing them not to for- get in their busiest season the Sabbath of the Lord. This second period of forty days ends like the first with the act of God in placing the tables of stone in the hands of Moses. " And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights ; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. "And he wrote *Ex. xxxiv; Deut. ix. � tEx. xxxiv, 21. The idea has been suggested by some from this verse that it was Moses and not God who wrote the second tables. This view is thought to be strengthened by the previous verse : " Write thou these words : for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel." But it is to be observed that the words upon the tables of stone were the ten commandments ; while the words here referred to were those which God spoke to Moses during this interview of forty days, beginning with verse 10 and extending to verse 27. � That the pronoun he in verse 28 might properly enough refer to Moses, if positive testimony did not forbid such ref- erence, is readily admitted. That it is necessary to attend to the connection in deciding the antecedents of pronouns, is strikingly illustrated in 2 Sam. xxiv, 1, where the pronoun he would naturally refer to the Lord, thus making God the one who moved David to number Israel. Yet the connection shows that this was not the case; for the anger of the Lord was kindled by the act ; and 1 Chron. xxi. 1 postively de- clares that he who thus moved David was Satan. For posi- 58 �HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH WRITTEN BY GOD. �59 60 � HISTORY OP THE SABBATH. upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments." Thus it appears that the tables of testimony were two tables of stone with the ten commandments written upon them by the finger of God. Thus the testimony of God is shown to be the ten commandments. The writing on the second tables was an exact copy of that on the first. " Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first ; and I will write," said God, " upon these tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest." And of the first tables Mo- ses says : " He declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments ; and he wrote them upon two ta- bles of stone."* Thus did God commit to his people the ten com- mandments. Without human or angelic agency he proclaimed them himself ; and not trusting his most honored servant Moses, or even an angel of his presence, himself wrote them with his own fin- ger. "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it ho- ly," is one of the ten words thus honored by the Most High. Nor are these two high honors the only ono conferred upon this precept. While it shares them in common with the other nine com- mandments, it stands in advance of them in that it is established by the EXAMPLE of the Law-giver himself. These precepts were given upon two ta- tive testimony that it was God and not Moses who wrote up- on the second tables, see Ex. xxxiv 1 ; Deut. x, 1-5. These texts carefully discriminate between the work of Moses and the work of God, assigning the preparation of the tables, the carrying of them up to the mount and the bringing of them down from the mount to Moses; but expressly assigning the writing on the tables to God himself. *Ex. xxxiv, 1, 28 ; Deut. iv, 12, 13; v, 22. SABBATH WRITTEN BY GOD. � 61 bles with evident reference to the two-fold division of the law of God : supreme love to God, and the love of our neighbor as ourselves. The Sabbath commandment, placed at the close of the first ta- ble, forms the golden clasp that binds together both divisions of the moral law. It guards and enforces that day which God claims as his ; it f ol- lows man through the six days which God has giv- en him to be properly spent in the various rela- tions of life, thus extending over the whole of hu- man life, and embracing in its loan of six days to man all the duties of the second table, while itself belonging to the first. That these ten commandments form a complete code of moral law is proved by the language of the Law-giver when he called Moses up to himself to receive them. " Come up to me into the mount and be there : and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law and commandments which I have writ- ten."* This law and commandments was the tes- timony of God engravers upon stone. The same great fact is presented by Moses in his blessing pronounced upon Israel : " And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them : he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints : from his right hand went a fiery law for them."t There can be no dispute that in this language the Most High is represented as personally present with ten thou- sands of his holy ones, or angels. And that which he wrote with his own right hand is called by Mo- *Ex. xxiv, 12. j-Deut. xxxiii, 2. That angels are sometimes called saints or holy ones, see Dan. viii, 13-16. That angels were pres- ent with God at Sinai, see Ps. lxviii, 17. 62 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ses " a fiery law," or as the margin has it, " a fire of law." And now the man of God completes his sacred trust. And thus he rehearses what God- did in committing his law to him, and what he himself did in its final disposition : " And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly : and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which 'I had made ; and there they be as the Lord commanded me." Thus was the law of God deposited in the ark be- neath the mercy-seat.* Nor should this chapter close without pointing out the important relation of the fourth commandment to the atonement. The top of the ark was called the mercy-seat, because that man who had broken the law con- tained in the ark beneath the mercy-seat, could find pardon by the sprinkling of the blood of atone- ment upon it. The law within the ark was that which demand- ed an atonement ; the ceremonial law which or- dained the Levitical priesthood and the sacrifices for sin, was that which taught men how the atone- ment could be made. The broken law was beneath the mercy-seat ; the blood of sin-offering was sprinkled upon its top, and pardon was extended to the penitent sinner. There was actual sin, and hence a real law which man had broken ; but there was not a real atonement, and hence the need of the great antitype to the Levitical sacrifices. The real atonement when it is made must relate to that law respecting which an atonement had been shad- *Deut. x, 4, 6; Ex. xxv, 10-22. SABBATH WRITTEN BY GOD. �63 owed forth. In other words, the shadowy atone- ment related to that law which was shut up in the ark, indicating that a real atonement was demand- ed by that law. It is necessary that the law which demands atonement in order that its transgressor may be spared, should itself be perfect, else the fault would in part at least rest with the Law-giv- er, and not wholly with the sinner. Hence, the atonement when made does not take away the broken law, for that is perfect, but is expressly designed to take away the guilt of the transgress- or.* Let it be remembered then that the fourth commandment is one of the ten precepts of God's broken law ; one of the immutable holy principles that made the death of God's only Son necessary before pardon could be extended to guilty man. These facts being borne in mind, it will not be thought strange that God the Father should re- serve the proclamation of such a law to himself ; and that he should entrust to no created being the writing of that law which should demand as its atonement the death of his only Son. *1 John iii, 4, 6. 64 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 65 CHAPTER VI. THE SABBATH DURING THE DAY OF TEMPTATION. General history of the Sabbath in the wilderness—Its viola- tion one cause of excluding that generation frian the prom- ised land—Its violation by their children in the wilderness one of the causes of their final dispersion from their own land—The statute respecting tires upon the Sabbath—Va- rious precepts relative to the Sabbath—The Sabbath not a Jewish feast—The man who gathered sticks upon the Sab- bath—Appeal of Moses in behalf of the decalogue—The Sabbath not derived from the covenant at Horeb—Finf.1 appeal of Moses in behalf of the Sabbath—The original fourth commandment—The Sabbath not a memorial of the flight from Egypt—What words were engraven upon stone —General summary from the books of-Moses. The history of the Sabbath during the provoca- tion in the day of temptation in the wilderness when God was grieved for forty years with his peo- ple may be stated in few words. Even under the eye of MoKs, and with the most stupendous mir- acles in their memory and before their eyes, they were idolaters,* neglecters of sacrifices, neglect- ers of circutncision,t murmurers against God, de- spisers of his lawI and violators of his Sabbath. Of their treatment of the Sabbath while in the wilderness, Ezekiel gives us the following graphic description :§ "But the house of Israel rebered against me in the wil- derness : they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, heshall evenlive in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly polluted : then I said 1 would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. But. I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not *Ex. xxxii ; Josh. xxiv, 2, 14, 23 ; Eze. xx, 7, 8, 16, 18, 24. f Amos v, 25-27; Acts vii, 41-43 ; Josh. v, 2-8. INum. xiv; Ps. xev ; Eze. xx, 13. lEze. xx, 13-24. be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out." This language shows a general violation of the Sabbath, and evidently refers to the apostasy of Israel (luring the first forty days that Moses was absent from them. God did then purpose their destruction ; but at the intercession of Moses spar- ed them for the very reason assigned by the proph- et.* A further probation being granted them they signally failed a second time, so that God lifted up his hand to them that they should not enter the promised land. Thus the prophet con- tinues : " Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilder- ness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands ; BECAUSE they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but po;luted my Sabbaths : for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness." This language has undoubted reference to the act of God in excluding all that were over twenty years of age from entering the promised land.t It is to be noticed that the violation of the Sab- bath is distinctly stated as one of the reasons for which that generation were excluded from the land of promise. God spared the people so that the nation was not utterly cut off; for he extended to the younger part a further probation. Thus the prophet continues : " But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols : I am the Lord your God ; walk in my statutes, and keep my judg- *Ex. xxxii. �-fNum. xiv. 66 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ments, and do them; and hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding the children re- belled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do he shall even live in them; they polluted my Sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my an- ger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I wtuld scatter them among the heath- en, and disperse them through the countries ; because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my stat- utes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were af- ter their fathers' idols." Thus it appears that the younger generation, which God spared when he excluded their fathers from the land of promise, did like their fathers transgress God's law, pollute his Sabbath, and cleave to idolatry. God did not see fit to exclude them from the land of Canaan, but he did lift up his hand to them in the wilderness, that he would give them up to dispersion among their enemies after they had entered the land of promise. Thus it is seen that the Hebrews while in the wilder- ness laid the foundation for their subsequent dis- persion from their own land ; and that one of the acts which led to their final .ruin as a nation was the violation of the Sabbath before they had en- tered the promised land. Well might Moses say to them in the last month of his life " Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you."* In Caleb and Joshua was another spirit, for they followed the Lord fully.t *Dent. ix, 24. � tNum. xiv ; Heb. iii, 16. SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 67 Such is the general history of Sabbatic observ- ance in the wilderness. Even the miracle of the manna, which every week for forty years bore public testimony to the Sabbath,* became to the body of the Hebrews a mere ordinary event, so that they dared to murmur against the bread thus sent from heaven ;1- and we may well believe that those who were thus hardened through the deceit- fulness of sin, had little regard for the testimony of the manna in behalf of the Sabbath.t In the Mosaic record we next read of the Sabbath as follows : "And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord bath commanded that ye should do them. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord : whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.4 Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath-day."Ii The chief feature of interest in this text relates to the prohibition of fires on the Sabbath. As this is the only prohibition of the kind in the Bi- ble, and as it is often urged as a reason why the Sabbath should not be kept, a brief examination of the difficulty will not be out of place. It should be observed, 1. That this language does not form part of the fourth commandment, the grand law of the Sabbath. 2. That as there were laws pertain- *Ex. xvi ; Josh. v, 12. � fNum. xi ; xxi. IA comparison of Ex. xis ; xx, 18-21 ; xxiv, 3-8, with xxxii, will show the astonishing transitions of the Hebrews from faith and obedience to rebellion and idolatry. S ee a general history of these acts in Ps. lxxviii ; cvi. IFor a notice of this penalty see chapter v. IlEx. xxxv, 1-3. 6S �HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ing to the Sabbath, that were no part of the Sab- batic institution, but that grew out of its being entrusted to the Hebrews, such as the law respect- ing the presentation of the Ehew-bread on the Sabbath; and that respecting the burnt offering for the Sabbath :* so it is at least possible that this is a precept pertaining only to that nation, and not a part of the original institution. 3. That as there were laws peculiar only to the Hebrews, so there were many that pertained to them only while they were in the wilderness. Such were all those precepts that related to the manna, the building of the tabernacle and the setting of it up ; the-man- ner of encamping about it, &e. 4. That of this class were all the statutes given from the time that Moses brought down the second tables of stone until the close of the book of Exodus, unless the words under consideration form an exception. 5. That the prohibition of fires was a law of this class, i. e., a law designed only for the wilderness, is ev- ident from several decisive facts. 1. That the land of Palestine during a part of the year is so cold that fires are necessary to pre- vent suffering.t *Lev. xxiv, 6-9 ; Num. xxviii, 9, 10. j-The Bible abounds with facts that establish this proposi- tion. Thus the psalmist, in an address to Jerusalem, uses the following language: " He giveth snow like wool; he scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels : who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word and melteth them ; he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel." Ps. cxlvii, 16-19. Dr. Clarke has the following note on this text: "At partic- ular times the cold in the East is so very intense as to kill man and beast. Jacobus de Vitriaco, one of the writers in the Gesta Dei per Francos, says that in an expedition in which he was engaged against mount Tabor, on the 24th of Decem- SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 69 2. That the Sabbath was not designed to be a cause of distress and suffering, but of refreshment, of delight and of blessing.* 3.. That in the wilderness of Sinai where this precept respecting fires on the Sabbath was given it was not a cause of suffering, as they were two hundred miles south of Jerusalem, in the warm climate of Arabia. 4. That this precept was of a temporary char- acter, is further implied in that while other laws ber, the cold was so intense that many of the poor people, and the beasts of burthen, died by it. And Albertus Aguen- sit, another of these writers, speaking of the cold in Judea, says that thirty of the people who attended Baldwin I, in the mountainous districts near the Dead sea, were killed by it : and that in that. expedition they had to contend with horri- ble hail and ice ; with unheard of snow and rain. From this we find that the winters are often very severe in Judea ; and that in such cases as the above we may well call out, Who can stand against his cold !" See his commentary on Ps. cxlvii. See also Jer. xxxvi, 22 ; John xviii, 18; Matt. xxiv, 20 ; Mark xiii, 18. *The testimony of the Bible on this point is very explicit. Thus we read: "Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest : that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed." Ex. xxiii, 12. To be without fire in the severity of winter would cause the Sabbath to be a curse and not a refreshment. It would ruin the health of those who should thus expose themselves, and render the Sabbath any- thing but a source of refreshment. The prophet uses the fol- lowing language: "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sab- bath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable," &c. The Sabbath then was designed by God to be a source of delight to his people, and not a cause of suffering. The merciful and beneficent character of the Sabbath is seen in the follow- ing texts : Matt. xii, 10-13 ; Mark ii, 27, 28; Luke xiv, 3-6. Front them we learn that God regards the sufferings_of the trute creation, and would have them alleviated upon the Sab- bath ; how much more the distress and the needs of his peo- ple for whose refreshment and delight the Sabbath was made. SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 71 70 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. are said to be perpetual statutes and precepts to be kept after they should enter the land,* no hint of this kind here appears. On the contrary, this seems to be similar in character to the precept re- specting the manna,t and to be co-existent with, and adapted to it. 5. If the prohibition respecting fires did indeed pertain to the promised land, and not merely to the wilderness, it would every few years conflict directly with the law of the passover. For the passover was to be roasted by each family of the children of Israel on the evening following the fourteenth day of the first month,I which would fall occasionally upon the Sabbath. The prohibi- tion of fires upon the Sabbath would not conflict with the passover while the Hebrews were in the wilderness ; for the passover was not.to be observ- ed until they reached that land.§ But if that pro- hibition did extend forward to the promised land, where the passover was to be regularly observed, these two statutes would often come in direct con- flict. This is certainly a strong confirmation of the view that the prohibition of fires upon the Sab- *Ex. xxix, 9; xxxi, 16; Lev. iii, 17 ; xxiv, 9 ; Num. xix, 21 ; Dent. v, 31 ; vi, 1 ; vii. The number and variety of these allusions will surprise the inquirer. tEx. xvi, 23. � ,tEx. xii; Dent xvi. .The law of the passover certainly contemplated the arriv- al of the Hebrews in the promised land before its regular ob- servance. Ex. xii, 25. Indeed, it was only once observed in the wilderness; namely, in the year following their de- parture from Egypt; and after that, was omitted until they entered the land of Canaan. Num. ix ; Josh. v. This is proved, not merely from the fact that no other instances are recorded, but because that circumcision was omitted during the whole period of their sojourn in the wilderness ; and without this ordinance the children would have been exclud- ed from the passover. Ex. xii ; Josh. v. bath was a temporary statute relating only to the wilderness. From these facts it follows that the favorite ar- gument drawn from the prohibition of fires, that the Sabbath was a local institution adapted only to the land of Canaan, must be abandoned , for it is evident that that prohibition was a temporary statute not even adapted to the land of promise, and not designed for that land. We next read of the Sabbath as follows : "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy ; for I the Lord your God am holy. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his fa- ther, and keep my Sabbaths : I am the Lord your God � Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary : I am the Lord."* These constant references to the Sabbath con- trast strikingly with the general disobedience of the people. And thus God speaks again : "Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwell- ings."t *Lev. xix; 1-3, 30. j Lev. xxiii, 3. It has been asserted from verse 2, that the Sabbath was one of the feasts of the Lord. But a com- parison of verses 2, 4, shows that there is a break in the narrative, for the purpose of introducing the Sabbath as a holy convocation; and that verse 4 begins the theme anew in the very language of verse 2 ; and it is to be observed that the remainder of the chapter sets forth the actual Jewish feasts, viz., that of unleavened bread, the pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles. what• further clears this point of all obscurity, is the fact that verses 37, 38, carefully discrimin- ate between the feasts of the Lord and the Sabbaths of the Lord. But Ex. xxiii, 14, settles the point beyond contro- versy: "Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year." And then verses 15-17 enumerate these feasts as in Lev. xxiii, 4-44. See also 2 Chron. viii, 13. 72 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 73 Thus does God solemnly designate his rest-day as a season of holy worship, and as the day of weekly religious assemblies. Again the great Law-giver sets forth his Sabbath : "Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image of stone in your land to bow down unto it ; for I am the Lord your God. Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary : I am the Lord."* Happy would it have been for the people of God had they thus refrained from idolatry and sacred- ly regarded the rest-day of the Creator. Yet idolatry and Sabbath-breaking were so general in the wilderness that the generation which came forth from Egypt were excluded from the promised lancl.t After God had thus cut off from the inher- itance of the land the men who had rebelled against him,X we next read of the Sabbath as follows :§ "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath-day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Mcsel, The man shall be surely put to death ; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the con- gregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses." The following facts should be considered in ex- plaining this text : 1. That this was a case of pe- culiar guilt ; for the whole congregation before whom this man stood in judgment, and by whom he was put to death, were themselves guilty of vi- olating the Sabbath, and had just been excluded from the promised land for this and other sins. *Lev. xxvi, 1, 2. tEze. xx, 15, 16. $Nutn. xiii, xiv. ?,Num. xv, 32-30. lEze. xx, 15, 16 compared with Num. xiv, 35.. 2. That this was not a case which came under the existing penalty of death for work upon the Sab- bath ; for the man was put in confinement that the mind of the Lord respecting his guilt might be obtained. The peculiarity of his transgression may be learned from the context. The verses which next precede the case in question read thus : ." But the soul that doeth aught presumptuously, wheth- er he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same re- proacheth the Lord ; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he bath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.* These words being followed by this remarkable case were evidently designed to be illustrated by it. � It is manifest therefore that this was an in- stance of presumptuous sin in which the trans- gressor intended despite to the Spirit of grace and to the statutes of the Most High. This case can- not therefore be quoted as evidence of extraordi- nary strictness on the part of the Hebrews in ob- serving the Sabbath for we have direct evidence that they did greatly pollute it during the whole forty years of their sojourn in the wilderness.t It stands therefore as an instance of transgression in which the sinner intended to show his contempt for the Law-giver, and in this consisted his peculiar guilt.t *Num. xv, 3. � tEze. xx. THengstenberg, a distinguished German anti-Sabbatarian, thus candidly treats this text : " A man who had gathered wood on the Sabbath is brought forth at the command of the Lord, and stoned by the whole congregation before the camp. Calvin says rightly, The guilty man did not fall through er- ror, but through gross contempt of the law, so that he treat- ed it as a light matter to overthrow and destroy all that is holy.' It is evident from the manner of its introduction that 6 74 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 75 In the last month of his long and eventful life Moses rehearsed all the great acts of God in be- half of his people, with the statutes and precepts that he had given them. This rehearsal is con- tained in the book of Deuteronomy, a name which signifies second law, and which is applied to that book, because it is a second writing of the law. It is the farewell of Moses to a disobedient and re- bellious people and he endeavors to fasten upon them the strongest possible sense of personal obli- gation to obey. Thus when he is about torrehearse the ten commandments he uses language evidently designed to impress upon the minds of the Hebrews a sense of their individual obligation to do what God had commanded. Thus he says : " Hear, 0 Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us who are all of us here alive this day."* It was not theact of your fathers that placed this responsibility upon you, but your own indi- vidual acts that brought you into the bond of this covenant. You have personally pledged yourselves to the Most High to keep these precepts.- Such is the obvious import of this language yet it has the account is not given with any reference to its chronolog- ical position; it reads, 'And when the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering sticks up- on the Sabbath.' It stands simply as an example of the pre- sumptuous breach of the law, of which the preceding verses speak. He was one who despised the word of the Lord and broke his commandments [verse 31] ; one who with a high hand sinned and reproached the Lord. Verse 30."—The Lord's Day, pp. 31, 32. *Deut. v, 1-3. See the pledges of this people in Ex. six ; xxiv. been gravely adduced as proof that the Sabbath of the Lord was made for the Hebrews, and was not obligatory upon the patriarchs. The singu- larity of this deduction appears in that it is brought to bear against the fourth commandment alone whereas if it is a just and logical argument it would show that the ancient patriarchs were un- der no obligation in respect to any precept of the moral law. But it is certain that the covenant at Horeb was simply an embodiment of the precepts of the moral law with mutual pledges respecting them between God and the people, and that that covenant did not give existence to either of the ten commandments. At all events we find the Sabbath ordained of God at the close of creation* and obligatory upon the Hebrews in the wilderness before God had given them a new precept on the subject.- As this was before the covenant at Ho- reb it is conclusive proof that the Sabbath did no more originate from that covenant than did the prohibition of idolatry, theft or murder. The man of God then repeats the ten command- meats. And thus he gives the fourth : " Keep the Sabbath-day to rinotify it, as the Lord thy God hat h commanded thee. Six th.ys thou shalt labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-serv- ant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates ; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou. And re- member that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a *See the second chapter of this work. fSee chapter third. HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 76 4, SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 77 mighty hand and by a stretched out arm : therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day."* It is a singular fact that this scripture is uni- formly quoted by those who write against the Sab- bath, as the original fourth commandment ; while the original precept itself is carefully left out. Yet there is the strongest evidence that this is not the original precept ; for Moses rehearses these words at the end of the forty years' sojourn, whereas the original commandment was given in the third month after the departure from Egypt.- The commandment itself, a's here given, contains di- rect proof on the point. Thus it reads : " Keep the Sabbath-day to sanctify it, AS the Lord thy God HATH COMMANDED thee ;" thus citing else- where for the original statute. Moreover the pre- cept as here given is evidently incomplete. It contains no clue to the origin of the Sabbath of the Lord, nor does it show the acts by which the Sab- bath came into existence. This is why those who represent the Sabbath as made in the wilderness and not at creation quote this as the fourth com- mandment, and omit the original precept which God himself proclaimed, where all these facts are distinctly stated.t But while Moses in this rehearsal omits a large part of the fourth commandment, he refers to the original precept for the whole matter, and then appends to this rehearsal a powerful plea of obli- gation on the part of the Hebrews to keep the Sabbath. It should be remembered that many of the people had steadily persisted in the violation of *Deut. v, 12-15. -Compare Ex. xix ; xx ; Deut. i. tEx. xx, 8-11. the Sabbath, and that this is the last time that Moses speaks in its behalf. Thus he says : "And remember that thou wart a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: there- fore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath- day." These words are often cited as proof that the Sabbath originated at the departure of Israel from Egypt, and that it was ordained at that time as a memorial of their deliverance from thence. But it will be observed, 1. That this text says not one word respecting the origin of the Sabbath or rest- day of the Lord. 2. That the facts on this point are all given in the original fourth commandment, and are there referred to creation. 3. That there is no reason to believe that God rested upon the seventh day at the time of this flight from Egypt; nor did he then bless and hallow the day. 4. That the Sabbath has nothing in it of a kind to com- memorate the deliverance from Egypt, as that was a flight and this is a rest ; and that flight was upon the fifteenth of the first month, and this rest upon the seventh day of each week. Thus one would occur annually ; the other weekly. 5. But God did ordain a fitting memorial of that deliverance to be observed by the Hebrews : the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month in memory of God's passing over them when he smote the Egyptians ; and the feast of unleavened bread in memory of their eating this bread when they fled out of Egypt.* But what then do these words imply? Perhaps their meaning may be more readily perceived by *Ex. xii: xiii. 78 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. r SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 79 comparing them with an exact parallel found in the same book and from the pen of the same writer : "Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless ; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge ; but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence ; therefore I command thee to do this thing,"* It will be seen at a glance that this precept was not given to commemorate the deliverance of Isra- el from Egyptian bondage ; nor could that deliv- erance give existence to the moral obligation ex- pressed in it. If the language in the one case proves that men were not under obligation to keep the Sabbath before the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, it proves with equal conclusiveness in the other that before that deliverance they were not under obligation to treat with justice and mercy the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. And if the Sabbath is shown in the one case to be Jew- ish, in the other the statute of the great Lawgiver in behalf of the needy and the helpless must share the same fate. It is manifest that this language is in each case an appeal to their sense of grati- tude. You were slaves in Egypt and God rescued you ; therefore remember others who are in dis- tress, and oppress them not. You were bondmen in Egypt and God redeemed you ; therefore sanc- tify unto the Lord the day which he has reserved unto himself ; a most powerful appeal to those who had hitherto persisted in polluting it. De- liverance from abject servitude was necessary, in- deed, in each case, in order that the things en- joined might be fully observed ; but that deliver- ance did not give existence to either of these du- *Deut. xxiv, 17, 18. ties. It was indeed one of the acts by which the Sabbath of the Lord was given to that nation, but it was not one of the acts by which God made the Sabbath, nor did it render the rest-day of the Lord a Jewish institution. That the words engraven upon stone were sim- ply the ten commandments is evident. It is said of the first tables : " And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire : ye heard the voice of words, but saw no simili- tude ; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments ; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone."* Thus the first tables of stone contained the ten commandments alone. That the second tables were an exact copy of what was written upon the first, is plainly stated : " And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first : and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables which thou breakest." " And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou breakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark."t This is confirmed by the following decisive testimony : "And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant,. the ten commandments," margin, words. "And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten com- mandments [margin, words], which the Lord spake un- to you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly, and the Lord gave them unto me."t These texts will explain the following language : *Deut. iv, 12, 13. � tEx. xxxiv, 1; Deut. x, 3. tEx. xxxiv, 28 ; Deut. x, 4. SABBATH DURING DAY OF TEMPTATION. 81 80 �HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. "And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God ; and on them was written according to all the words which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly."* Thus God is said to have written upon the tables according to all the words which he spoke in the day of the assembly ; and these words which he thus wrote, are said to have been TEN WORDS. But the preface to the decalogue was not one of these ten words, and hence was not written by the finger of God upon stone. That this distinction must be at- tended to, will be seen by examining the following text and its connection. " THESE WORDS the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice : and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and deliv- ered them unto me."t THESE WORDS here brought to view as written by the finger of God after having been uttered by him in the hearing of all the people, must be un- derstood as one of two things. 1. They are sim- ply the ten words of the law of God ; or 2. They are all the words used by Moses in this rehearsal of the decalogue. But they cannot refer to the words used in this rehearsal ; for, 1. Moses omits an important part of the fourth precept as given by God in its proclamation from the mount. 2. In this rehearsal of that precept he cites back to the original for that which is omitted.t 3. He ap- pends to this precept an appeal in its behalf to their gratitude, which was not made by God in *Deut. ix, 10. �-1-Deut. v, 22. Went. v, 12-15, compared with Ex. xx, 8-11. giving it. 4. This language only purports to be a rehearsal and not the original itself ; and this is further evinced by many verbal deviations from the original decalogue.* These facts are decisive as to what was placed upon the tables of stone. It was not an incomplete copy citing elsewhere for the original, but the original code itself. And hence when Moses speaks of THESE WORDS as en- graven upon the tables he refers not to the words used by himself in this rehearsal, but to the TEN WORDS of the law of God, and excludes all else. Thus have we traced the Sabbath through the books of Moses. We have found its origin in Paradise when man was in his uprightness ; we have seen the Hebrews set apart from all mankind as the depositaries of divine truth ; we have seen the Sabbath and the whole moral law committed as a sacred trust to them ; we have seen the Sab- bath proclaimed by God as one of the ten com- mandments ; we have seen it written by the fin- ger of God upon stone in the bosom of the moral law; we have seen that law possessing no Jewish features, but simply moral and divine, placed be- neath the mercy-seat in the ark of God's testa- ment ; we have seen that various precepts pertain- ing to the Sabbath were given to the Hebrews and designed only for them ; we have seen that the Hebrews did greatly pollute the Sabbath dur- ing their sojourn in the wilderness; and we have heard the final appeal made in its behalf by Moses to that rebellious people. We rest the foundation of the Sabbatic institu- tion upon its sanctification before the fall of man the fourth commandment is its great citadel of de- *Deut. v. compared with Ex. xx. • 82 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. fense ; its place in the midst of the moral law beneath the mercy-seat shows its relation to the atonement and its immutable obligation. CHAPTER VII. THE FEASTS, NEW MOONS AND SABBATHS OF THE HEBREWS. Enumeration of the Hebrew festivals—The pasiover—The pentecost—The feast of tabernacles—The new moons—The first and second annual sabbaths—The third—The fourth The fifth—The sixth and seventh—The sabbath of the land—The jubilee—None of these festivals in force until the Hebrews entered their own land—The contrast between the Sabbath of the Lord and the sabbaths of the Hebrews Testimony of Isaiah—Of Hosea—Of Jeremiah—Final cessation of these festivals. We have followed the Sabbath of the Lord through the books of Moses. A brief survey of the Jewish festivals is necessary to the complete view of the subject before us. Of these there were three feasts ; the passover, the pentecost and the feast of tabernacles ; each new moon, that is, the first day of each month throughout the year ; then there were seven annual sabbaths, namely, 1. The first day of unleavened bread. 2. The seventh day of that feast. 3. The day of pentecost. 4. The first day of the seventh month. 5. The tenth day of that month. 6. The fifteenth day of that month. 7. The twenty-second day of the same. In addition to all these every seventh year was to be the sabbath of the land, and every fiftieth year the year of jubilee. The passover takes its name from the fact that NEW MOONS AND SABBATHS. �83 the angel of the Lord passed over the houses of the Hebrews on that eventful night when the first- born in every Egyptian family was slain. This feast was ordained in commemoration of the deliv- erance of that people from Egyptian bondage. It began with the slaying of the paschal lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month, and extended through a period of seven days, in which nothing but unleavened bread was to be eaten. Its great antitype was reached when Christ our passover was sacrificed for us.* The pentecost was the second of the Jewish feasts and occupied but a single day. It was celebrated on the fiftieth day after the first fruits of barley harvest had been waved before the Lord. At the time of this feast the first-fruits of wheat harvest were offered unto God. The antitype of this fes- tival was reached on the fiftieth day after the res- urrection of Christ, when the great outpouring of the Holy Ghost took place.t The feast of tabernacles was the last of the Jew- ish feasts. It was celebrated in the seventh month when they had gathered in the fruit of the land, and extended from the fifteenth to the twenty-first day of that month. It was ordained as a festival of rejoicing before the Lord ; and during this pe- riod the children of Israel dwelt in booths in com- memoration of their dwelling thus during their so- journ in the wilderness. It probably typifies the great rejoicing after the final gathering of all the people of God into his kingdom.t *Ex. xii : 1 Cor. v, 7, 8. tLev. xxiii, 10-21 ; Num. xxviii, 20-31; Dent. xvi, 9-12 ; Acts ii, 1-18. ILev. xxiii, 34-43 ; Deut. xvi, 13-15 ; Neh. viii ; Rev. vii, 9-14. 84 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. NEW MOONS AND SABBATHS. �85 In connection with these feasts it was ordained that each new moon, that is, the first day of every month should be observed with certain specified offerings, and with tokens of rejoicing.* The an- nual sabbaths of the Hebrews have been already enumerated. The first two of these sabbaths were the first and seventh days of the feast of unleav- ened bread, that is, the fifteenth and twenty-first days of the first month. They were thus ordained by God : " Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread ; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses. . . . . And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you."t The third in order of the annual sabbaths was the day of pentecost. This festival was ordained - as a rest-day in the following language: "And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you : ye shall do no servile work therein ; it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations." The first day of the seventh month was the fourth annual sabbath of the Hebrews. It was thus ordained : " Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein; but ye shall offer an of- firing made by fire unto the Lord.1 *Num. x, 10; xxviii, 11-15 ; 1 Sam. xx, 5, 24, 27 ; Ps. lxxxi, 3. tEx. xii, 16; Lev. xxiii, 7, 8; Num. xxviii, 17, 18, 25. ILev. xxiii, 21 ; Num. xxviii, 26. Lev. xxiii, 24 25 ; Num. xxix, 1-6. �• The great day of atonement was the fifth of these sabbaths. Thus spake the Lord unto Moses : " Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement : it shall be an holy convocation unto you � Ye shall do no manner of work ; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls : in the ninth day of the month at even, from even to even shall ye celebrate your sabbath."* The sixth and seventh of these annual sabbaths were the fifteenth and twenty-second days of the seventh month, that is, the first day of the feast of tabernacles, and the day after its conclusion. Thus were they enjoined by God : "Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days ; on the first day shall be a sab- bath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath."t Besides all these every seventh year was a Sab- bath of rest unto the land. The people might la- bor as usual in other business, but they were for- bidden to till the land, that the land itself might rest. t After seven of these sabbaths, the follow- ing or fiftieth year was to be the year of jubilee, in which every man was to be restored unto his in- heritance.§ There is no evidence that the jubilee was ever observed, and it is certain that the sab- batical year was almost entirely disregarded.I1 Such were the feasts, new moons and sabbaths of the Hebrews. A few words will suffice to point out the broad distinction between them and the Sabbath of the Lord. The first of the three feasts *Lev. xxiii, 27-32 ; xvi, 29-31 ; Num. xxix, 7. tLev. xxiii, 39. � tEx. xxiii, 6, 7 : Lev. xxv, 2-7. aLey. xxv, 8-54. 1lLev. xxvi 34, 35, 43 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi, 21. NEW MOONS AND SABBATHS. �87 86 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. was ordained in memory of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, and was to be observed when they should enter their own land.* The second feast, as we have seen, could not be observed un- til after the settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan ; for it was to be celebrated when the first fruits of wheat harvest should be offered before the Lord. The third feast was ordained in memory of their sojourn in the wilderness, and was to be celebrat- ed by them each year after the ingathering of the entire harvest. Of course this feast, like the oth- ers, could not be observed until the settlement of the people in, their own land. The new moons, as has been already seen, were not ordained until af- ter these feasts had been instituted. The annual sabbaths were part and parcel of these feasts, and could have no existence until after the feasts to which they belonged had been instituted. Thus the first and second of these sabbaths were the first and seventh days of the paschal feast. The third annual sabbath was identical with the feast of pen- tecost. The fourth of these sabbaths was the same as the new moon in the seventh month. The fifth one was the great day of atonement. The sixth and the seventh of these annual sabbaths were the fifteenth and twenty-second days of the sev- seventh month, that is, the first day of the feast of tabernacles, and the next day after the close of that feast. As these feasts were not to be observed until the Hebrews should possess their own land, the annual sabbaths could have no existence until that time. And so of the sabbaths of the land. These could have no existence until after the Hebrews should *Ex. xii, 25. possess and cultivate their own land ; after six years of cultivation the land should rest the seventh year, and remain untilled. After seven of these sabbaths of the land came the year of jubilee. The contrast between .the Sabbath of the Lord and these sabbaths of the Hebrews* is strongly marked. 1. The Sabbath of the Lord was insti- tuted at the close of the first week of time ; while these were ordained in connection with the Jewish feasts. 2. The one was blessed and hallowed by God, because that he had rested upon it from the work of creation ; the others have no such claim to our regard. 3. When the children of Israel came into the wilderness, the Sabbath of the Lord was an existing institution, obligatory upon them ; but the annual sabbaths then came into existence. It is easy to point to the very act of God while leading that people, that gave existence to these sabbaths ; while every reference to the Sabbath of the Lord shows that it had been ordained be- fore God chose that people. 4. The children of Israel were excluded from the promised land for violating the Sabbath of the Lord in the wilder- ness ; but the annual sabbaths were not to be ob- served until they should enter that land. This *On this point Mr. Miller uses the following language : " Only one kind of Sabbath was given to Adam, and one on- ly remains for us. See Hosea ii, 11. � will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.' All the Jewish sab- baths did cease when Christ nailed them to his cross. Col. ii, 14-17. These were properly called Jewish sabbaths. Hosea says, her sabbaths.' But the Sabbath of which we are speaking, God calls ' my sabbath.' Here is a clear dis- tinction between the creation Sabbath and the ceremonial. The one is perpetual; the others were merely shadows of good things to come."—Life and Views, pp. 161, 162. 88 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. contrast would be strange indeed were it true that the Sabbath of the Lord was not instituted until the children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin ; for it is certain that two of the annual sab- baths were instituted before they left the land of Egypt.* 5. The Sabbath of the Lord was made for man ; but the annual sabbaths were designed only for residents in the land of Palestine. 6. The one was weekly, a memorial of the Creator's rest ; the others were annual, connected with the memorials of the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. 7. The one is termed " the Sabbath of the Lord," " my Sabbaths," "my holy day," and the like ; while the others are designated as " your sab- baths,"" her sabbaths," and similar expressions.t 8. The one was proclaimed by God as one of the ten commandments, and was written with his fin- ger in the midst of the moral law upon the tables of stone, and was deposited in the ark beneath the mercy-seat ; the others did not pertain to the moral law, but were embodied in that hand-writ- ing of ordinances that was a shadow of good things to come. 9. The distinction between these festi- . vals and the Sabbaths of the Lord was carefully marked by God when he ordained the festivals and their associated sabbaths. Thus he said : " These are the feasts of the Lord which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, � BESIDE the Sab- baths of the Lord."t The annual sabbaths are presented by Isaiah in a very different light from that in which he pre- . � *Ex. xii, 16. fEx. xx, 10 ; xxxi, 13 ; Isa. lviii, 13 ; compared with Lev. xxiii, 24, 32, 39 ; Lam. i, 7 ; Hosea ii, 11. ILev. xxiii, 37, 38. NEW MOONS AND SABBATHS. �89 sents the Sabbath of the Lord. Of the one he says : "Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomina- tion unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with ; it is iniquity, even the sol- emn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth ; they are a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear them."* In striking contrast with this, the same prophet speaks of the Lord's Sabbath : " Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment and do justice for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Nei- ther let the son of the stranger that bath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people ; neither let the eunuch say, Behold I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters ; I will give them an ever- lasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants; every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy moun- tain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer ; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people."t Hosea carefully designates the annual sabbaths in the following prediction: "I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast-days, *Isa. i, 13, 14. � tIsa. lvi, 1-7 ; lviii, 13, 14. 7 90 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. her new moons, and HER sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts."* This prediction was uttered about B. c. 785. It was fulfilled in part about two hundred years after this, when Jerusalem was destroyed by Neb- uchadnezzar. Of this event Jeremiah, about B. c. 588 speaks as follows : "Her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her : the adversaries saw her, and did mock at HER sabbaths � The Lord was as an enemy-; he hath swal- lowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed her strongholds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden ; he hath destroyed his places of the assembly ; the Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be for- gotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. The Lord bath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a sol- emn feast."t The feasts of the Lord were to be holden in the place which the Lord should choose, namely, Je- rusalem and when that city, the place of their solemn assemblies, was destroyed and the people themselves carried into captivity, the complete cessation of their feasts, and as a consequence of the annual sabbaths, which were specified days in those feasts, must occur. The adversaries "mock- ed at her Sabbaths, by making a noise in the house of the Lord as in the day of a solemn feast." But the observance of the Lord's Sabbath did not cease with the dispersion of the Hebrews from *Hosea ii, 11. � tLam. i, 7; ii, 5-7. IDeut. xvi, 16; 2 Chron. vii, 12 ; Ps. cxxii. NEW MOONS AND SABBATHS. � 91 their own land ; for it was not a local institution, like the annual sabbaths. Its violation was one chief cause of the Babylonish captivity ;* and their final restoration to their own land was made conditional upon their observing it in their disper- sion.t The feasts, new moons and annual sab- baths were restored when the Hebrews returned from captivity, and with some interruptions, were kept up until the final destruction of their city and nation by the Romans. But ere the provi- dence of God thus struck out of existence these Jewish festivals, the whole typical system was abolished, having reached the commencement of its antitype, when our Lord Jesus Christ expired upon the cross. The handwriting of ordinances being thus abolished, no one is to be judged re- specting its meats or drinks or holy days or new moons or sabbaths, " which were a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ." But the Sabbath of the Lord did not form a part of this handwriting of ordinances ; for it was insti- tuted before sin had entered the world, and conse- quently before there was any shadow of redemp- tion ; it was written by the finger of God, not in the midst of types and shadows, but in the bosom of the moral law ; and the day following that on which the typical sabbaths were nailed to the cross, the Sabbath commandment of the moral law is ex- pressly recognized. Moreover when the Jewish festivals were utterly extinguished with the final destruction of Jerusalem, even then was the Sab- bath of the Lord brought to the minds of his peo- ple.t Thus have we traced the annual sabbaths *Jer. xvii, 19-27 ; Neh. xiii, 15-18. tIsa. lvi, See the eighth chapter of this work. See chapter x. • SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. 93 92 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. until their final cessation, as predicted by Hosea. It remains that we trace the Sabbath of the Lord until we reach the endless ages of the new earth, when we shall find the whole multitude of the re- deemed assembling before God for worship on each successive Sabbath. CHAPTER VIII. THE SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. Silence of six successive books of the Bible relative to the Sabbath—This silence compared with that of the book of Genesis—The siege of Jericho—The standing still of the sun—David's act of eating the shew-bread—The Sabbath of the Lord, how connected with and how distinguished from the annual sabbaths—Earliest reference to the Sab- bath after the days of Moses—Incidental allusions to the Sabbath—Testimony of Amos—Of Isaiah—The Sabbath a blessing to MANKIND—The condition of being gathered to the holy land—Not a local institution—Commentary on the fourth commandment—Testimony of Jeremiah—Jeru- salem to be saved if she would keep the Sabbath—This gracious offer despised—The Sabbath distinguished from the other days of the week—The Sabbath after the Bab- ylonish captivity—Time for the commencing of the Sab- bath—The violation of the Sabbath caused the destruction of Jerusalem. When we leave the books of Moses there is a long continued break in the history of the Sab- bath. No mention of it is found in the book of Joshua, nor in that of Judges, nor in the book of Ruth, nor in that of first Samuel, nor in the book of second Samuel, nor in that of first Kings. It is not until we reach the book of second Kings* that the Sabbath is even mentioned. In the book of *2 Kings iv, 23. first Chronicles, however, which as a narrative is parallel to the two books of Samuel, the Sabbath is mentioned* with reference to the events of Da- vid's life. Yet this leaves a period of five hundred years, which the Bible passes in silence respecting the Sabbath. During this period we have a circumstantial his- tory of the Hebrew people from their entrance in- to the promised land forward to the establishment of David as their king, embracing many particu- lars in the life of Joshua, of the elders and judges of Israel, of Gideon, of Barak, of Jephthah, of Sam- son, of Eli, of Naomi and Ruth, of Hannah and Samuel, of Saul, of Jonathan and of David. Yet in all this minute record we have no direct men- tion of the Sabbath. It is a favorite argument with anti-Sabbatari- ans in proof of the total neglect of the Sabbath in the patriarchal age, that the book of Genesis, which does give a distinct view of the origin of the Sabbath in Paradise, at the close of the first week of time, does not in recording the lives of the pa- triarchs, say anything relative to its observance. Yet in that one book are crowded the events of two thousand three hundred and seventy years. What then should they say of the fact that six successive books of the Bible, relating with com- parative minuteness the events of five hundred years, and involving many circumstances that would call out a mention of the Sabbath, do not mention it at all ? Does the silence of one book, 1 Chron. ix, 32. It is true that this text relates to the order of things after the return from Babylon ; yet we learn from verse 22, that this order was originally ordained by David and Samuel. See verses 1-32. 94 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. which nevertheless does give the institution of the Sabbath at its very commencement, and which brings into its record almost twenty-four hundred years, prove that there were no Sabbath-keepers prior to Moses ? What then is proved by the fact that six successive books of the Bible, confining themselves to the events of five hundred years, an average of less than one hundred years apiece, the whole period covered by them being about one- fifth that embraced in the book of Genesis, do nevertheless preserve total silence respecting the Sabbath? No one will adduce this silence as evidence of total neglect of the Sabbath during this period ; yet why should they not ? Is it because that when the narrative after this long silence brings in the Sabbath again, it does this incidentally and not as a new institution ? Precisely such is the case with the second mention of the Sabbath in the Mosaic record, that is, with its mention after the silence in Genesis.* Is it because the fourth commandment had been given to the Hebrews whereas no such precept had previously been giv- en to mankind ? This answer cannot be admitted for we have seen that the substance of the fourth commandment was given to the head of the human family ; and it is certain that when the Hebrews came out of Egypt they were under obligation to keep the Sabbath in consequence of existing law.' The argument therefore is certainly more conclu- sive that there were no Sabbath-keepers from Mo- ses to David, than that there were none from Adam to Moses ; yet no one will attempt to main- *Compare these two cases : Ex. xvi, 23 ; 1 Chron. ix, 32. tSee chapters ii and iii. SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. 95 tain the first position, however many there will be to affirm the latter. Several facts are narrated in the history of this period of five centuries, that have a claim to our notice. The first of these is found in the record of the siege of Jericho.* By the command of God the city was encompassed by the Hebrews each day for seven days ; on the last day of the seven they encompassed it seven times, when by divine inter- position the walls were thrown down before them and the city taken by assault. One day of this seven must have been the Sabbath of the Lord. Did not the people of God therefore violate the Sabbath in their acting thus ? Let the following facts answer : 1. That which they did in this case was by direct command of God. 2. That which is forbidden in the fourth commandment is OUR OWN work : " Six days shalt thou labor and do ALL THY WORK; but the seventh day is the Sab- bath of the Lord thy God." He who reserved the seventh day unto himself, had the right to re- quire its appropriation to his service as he saw fit. 3. The act of encompassing the city was strictly as a religious procession. The ark of the cove- nant of the Lord was borne before the people; and before the ark went seven priests blowing with trumpets of rams' horns. 4. Nor could the city have been very extensive, else the going round it seven times on the last day, and their having time left for its complete destruction, would have been impossible. 5. Nor can it be believed that the Hebrews, by God's command carrying the ark before them, which contained simply the ten words of the Most High, were violating the *Josh. vi. 96 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. 97 fourth of those words, " Remember the Sabbath- day to keep it holy." It is certain that one of those seven days on which they encompassed Jer- icho was the Sabbath ; but there is no necessity for supposing this to have been the day in which the city was taken. Nor is this a reasonable con- jecture when all the facts in the case are consid- ered. On this incident Dr. Clarke remarks as follows : "It does not appear that there could be any breach in the Sabbath by the people simply going round the city, the ark in company, and the priests sounding the sacred trumpets. This was a mere religious procession, performed at the com- mand of God in which no servile work was done.", At the word of Joshua it pleased God to arrest the earth in its revolution and thus to cause the sun to remain stationary for a season, that the Ca- naanites might be overthrown before Israel. Did not this great miracle derange the Sabbath ? Not at all ; for the lengthening of one of the six days by God's intervention, could not prevent the actu- al arrival of the seventh day, though it would de- lay it ; nor could it destroy its identity. The case involves a difficulty for those who hold the theory that God sanctified the seventh part of time, and not the seventh day ; for in this case the seventh part of time was not allotted to the Sabbath ; but there is no difficulty involved for those who believe that God set apart the seventh day to be kept as it arrives, in memory of his own rest. One of the six days was allotted a greater length than ever before or since ; yet this did not in the slightest degree conflict with the seventh day, which nevertheless did come. Moreover all this *See Dr. A. Clarke's commentary on Josh. vi, 15. was while inspired men were upon the stage of ac- tion ; and it was by the direct providence of God ; and what is also to be particularly remembered, it was at a time when no one will deny that the fourth commandment was in full force. The case of David's eating the shew-bread is worthy of notice, as it probably took place upon the Sabbath, and because it is cited by our Lord in a memorable conversation with the Pharisees.* The law of the shew-bread enjoined the setting forth of twelve loaves in the sanctuary upon the pure table before the Lord EVERY Sabbath.f When new bread was thus placed before the Lord each Sabbath, the old was taken away to be eaten by the priests.X It appears that the shew-bread which was given to David had that day been taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in its place, and consequently that that day was the Sabbath. Thus when David asked bread the priest said, " There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread." And David said, " The bread is in a manner common, especially (as the margin has it), when THIS DAY there is other sanctified in the vessel." And so the sacred writer adds : " The priest gave him hallowed bread ; for there was no bread there but the shew-bread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away." The circumstances of this case all favor the view that this was upon the Sabbath. 1. There was NO COMMON bread with the priest. *1 Sam. xxi, 1-6 ; Matt. xii, 34 ; Mark ii, 25, 26; Luke vi, 3, 4. tLev. xxiv. 5-9 ; 1-Chron. ix, 32. Sam. xxi, 5, 6; Matt. xii, 4. SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. 99 provision made for these offerings.* When the ceremonial law was nailed to the cross, all the Jewish festivals ceased to exist ; for they were ordained by it ;t but the abrogation of that law could only take away those rites which it had ap- pended to the Sabbath, leaving the original insti- tution precisely as it came at first from its author. The earliest reference to the Sabbath after the days of Moses is found in what David and Samu- el ordained respecting the offices of the priests and Levites at the house of God. It is as follows : " And other of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the shew-bread to prepare it every Sabbath."1 It will be observed that this is only an inciden- tal mention of the Sabbath. Such an allusion, oc- curring after so long a silence, is decisive proof that the Sabbath had not been forgotten or lost during the five centuries in which it had not been mentioned by the sacred historians. After this no direct mention of the Sabbath is found from the days of David to those of Elisha the prophet, a period of about one hundred and fifty years. Per- haps the ninety second Psalm is an exception to this statement, as its title both in Hebrew and English declares that it was written for the Sab- bath-day ;§ and it is not improbable that it was *1 Chron. xxiii, 31; 2 Chron. ii, 4; viii, 13 ; xxxi, 3 ; Neh. x, 31, 33 ; Eze..xlv, 17. fSee chapter vii. � $1 Chron. ix, 32. iCotton Mather says: "There is a psalm in the Bible whereof the title is, 'A psalm or song for the Sabbath- day.' Now 'tis a clause in that psalm, 0 Lord, how great are thy works ! thy thoughts are very deep.' Ps. xcii, 5. That clause intimates what we should make the subject of our meditations on the Sabbath-day. Our thoughts are to be on God's works."—Discourse on the Lord's Day, p. 30, 1703. And Hengstenberg says " This psalm is according to the 98 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. This is not strange when it is remembered that the shew-bread was to be taken from before the Lord each Sabbath and eaten by the priests. 2. That the priest did not offer to prepare other bread, is not singular if it be understood that this was the Sabbath. 3. The surprise of the priest in meeting David may have been in part owing to the fact that it was the Sabbath. 4. This also may ac- count for the detention of Doeg that day before the Lord. 5. When our Lord was called upon to pro- nounce upon the conduct of his disciples who had plucked and eaten the, ears of corn upon the Sab- bath to satisfy their hunger, he cited this case of David, and that of the priests offering sacrifices in the temple upon the Sabbath as justifying the disciples. There is a wonderful propriety and fitness in this citation, if it be understood that this act of David's took place upon the Sabbath. It will be found to present the matter in a very dif- ferent light from that in which anti-Sabbatarians present it.* A distinction may be here pointed out which should never be lost sight of. The presentation of the shew-bread and the offering of burnt sac- rifices upon the Sabbath as ordained in the cere- monial law, formed no part of the original Sab- batic institution. For the Sabbath was made be- fore the fall of man ; while burnt-offerings and ceremonial rites in the sanctuary were introduced in consequence of the fall. While these rites were in force they necessarily, to some extent, connected the Sabbath with the festivals of the Jews in which the like offerings were made. This is seen only in those scriptures which record the *See the tenth chapter of this work. v 100 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. composed by David, the sweet singer of Israel. The son of the Shunamite woman being dead she sought the prophet Elisha. Her husband not knowing that the child was dead said to her : " Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day ? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath. And she said, It shall be well."* It is probable that the Sabbath of the Lord is here intended as it is thrice used in a like connec- tion.t If this be correct, it shows that the He- brews were accustomed to visit the prophets of God upon that day for divine instruction a very good commentary upon the words used relative to gath- ering the manna : " Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." � Incidental allusion is made to the Sabbath at the accession of Jehoash to the throne of Judah,§ about B. c. 778. In the reign of Uzziah the grandson of Jehoash, the prophet Amos, B. c. 787, uses the following lan- guage : " Hear this, 0 ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, When will the new moon be gone that we may sell corn ? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes ; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat ?"Il These words were spoken more directly con- cerning the ten tribes, and indicate the sad state heading, ' A song for the Sabbath-day.' The proper posi- tive employment of the Sabbath appears here to be a thankful contemplation of the works of God, a devotional absorption in them which could only exist when ordinary occupations are laid aside."—The Lord's Day, pp. 36, 37. *2 Kings iv, 23. fIsa. lxvi, 23 ; Eze. xlvi, 1 ; Amos viii, 5. xvi, 29. � Kings xi, 5-9 ; 2 Chron. xxiii, 4-8. IlAmos viii, 4-6. SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. 101 of apostasy which soon after resulted in their overthrow as a people. About fifty years after this, at the close of the reign of Ahaz, another al- lusion to the Sabbath is found.* In the days of Hezekiah, about B. c. 712, the prophet Isaiah uses the following language in enforcing the Sab- bath : " Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment and do justice ; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord bath utterly separated me from his people ; neither let the eunuch say, Behold I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant, even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls, a place and a name bet- ter than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an ever- lasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant ; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, be- side those that are gathered unto him." -f• This prophecy presents several features of pe- culiar interest. 1. It pertains to a time when the salvation of God is near at hand. t 2. It most distinctly shows that the Sabbath is not a Jewish *2 Kings xvi, 18. � Elsa. lvi, 1-8. XFor the coming of this salvation see Heb. ix, 28 ; 1 Pet. i, 9. II 102 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. institution ; for it pronounces a blessing upon that man without respect of nationality who shall keep the Sabbath ; and it then particularizes the son of the stranger, that is the Gentile,* and makes a peculiar promise to him if he will keep the Sabbath. 3. And this prophecy relates to Is- rael when they are outcasts, that is, when they are in their dispersion, promising to gather them, and others, that is, the Gentiles, with them. Of course the condition of being gathered to God's holy mountain must be complied with, namely, to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants and to keep the Sabbath from polluting it. 4. And hence it follows that the Sabbath is not a local in- stitution susceptible of being observed in the promised land alone, like the annual sabbaths,t but one made for mankind and capable of being observed by the outcasts of Israel when scattered in every land under heaven.X Isaiah again presents the Sabbath; and this he does in language most emphatically distinguishing it from all ceremonial institutions. Thus he says : "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day ; and call the Sabbath a de- light, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words : then shalt thou delight thy- self in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."l This language is an evangelical commentary upon the fourth commandment. It appends to it an exceeding great and precious promise that *Ex. xii, 48, 49 ; Isa. xiv, 1; Eph. ii, 12. � tSee chapter vii. petit. xxviii, 64; Luke xxi, 24. � lIsa. lviii, 13, 14. SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. 103 takes hold upon the land promised to Jacob, even the new earth.* In the year B. c, 601, thirteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, God made to the Jewish people through Jeremiah the gracious offer, that if they would keep his Sab- bath, their city should stand forever. At the same time he testified unto them that if they would not do this, their city should be utterly destroyed. Thus said the prophet : " Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: thus saith the Lord: Take heed to your- selves and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem � neither carry forth a bur- dent out of your houses on the Sabbath-day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their necks stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction4 And it shall come to pass, if ye dili- gently hearken unto me saith the Lord, to bring in no bur- den through the gates of this city on the Sabbath-day, but hallow the Sabbath-day, to do no work therein ; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sit- ting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the *Matt. viii, 11; Heb. xi, 8-16; Rev. xxi. tOn this text Dr. A. Clarke comments thus: " From this and the following verses we find the ruin of the Jews attrib- uted to the breach of the Sabbath: as this led to a neglect of sacrifice, the ordinances of religion, and all public worship ; so it necessarily brought with it all immorality. The breach of the Sabbath was that which let in upon them all the wa- ters of God's wrath." TFor an inspired commentary on this language, see Neh. xiii, 15-18. IThis language strongly implies that the violation of the Sabbath had ever been general with the Hebrews. See Jer. vii, 23-28. 104 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. inhabitants of Jerusalem ; and this city shall REMAIN FOR- EVER. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Ben- jamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise unto the house of the Lord. But if ye will not heark- en unto me to hallow the Sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day ; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."* This gracious offer of the Most High to his re- bellious people was not regarded by them ; for eight years after this Ezekiel testifies thus : " In thee have they set light by father and mother : in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast pro- fttned my Sabbaths � Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them � Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defied my sanctuary in the same day, and have pro- faned my Sabbaths. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctua- ry to profane it; and lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house."-I- � • Idolatry and Sabbath-breaking which were be- setting sins with the Hebrews in the wilderness, and which there laid the foundation for their dis- persion from their own land,T had ever cleaved unto them. And now when their destruction was *Jet% xvii, 20-27. � fEze. xxii, 7, 8, 26 ; xxiii, 38, 39. tEze. xx, 23, 24; Deut. xxxii, 16-35. SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. 105 impending from the overwhelming power of the king of Babylon, they were so deeply attached to these and kindred sins, that they would not re- gard the voice of warning. Before entering the sanctuary of God upon his Sabbath, they first slew their own children in sacrifice to their idols!* Thus iniquity came to its height, and wrath came upon them to the uttermost. " They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man or him that stooped for age : he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes ; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the king of Persia."-1- While the Hebrews were in captivity at Babylon, God made to them an offer of restoring them to their own land and giving them again a city and a temple under circumstances of wonderful glory.t The condition of that offer being disregarded,§ the offered glory was never inherited by them. In this offer were several allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord, and also to the festivals of the He- brews.II One of these allusions is worthy of par- � *Eze. xxiii, 38, 39. � -I-2 Citron. xxxvi, 16-20. � tEze. xl—xlv!ii. �Eze. xliii, 7-11. liEze. xliv, 24; xlv, 17 ; xlvi, 1, 3, 4, 12. 8 106 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ticular notice for the distinctness with which it discriminates between the Sabbath and the other days of the week : "Thus saith the Lord God : The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut THE SIX WORKING DAYS ; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened."* Six days of the week are by divine inspiration called " the six working days ;" the seventh is called the Sabbath of the Lord. Who shall dare confound this marked distinction ? After the Jews had returned from their captivi- ty in Babylon, and had restored their temple and city, in a solemn assembly of the whole people they recount in an address to the Most High all the great events of God's providence in their past history. Thus they testify respecting the Sabbath: "Thou earnest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gayest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments : and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes and laws by the hand of Moses thy ser- vant."t Thus were all the people reminded of the great events of mount Sinai—the giving of the ten words of the law of God, and the making known of his holy Sabbath. So deeply impressed was the whole congregation with the effect of their for- mer disobedience, that they entered into a solemn covenant to obey God.t. They pledged themselves to each other thus : " And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the Sabbath-day to sell, that we would not buy it of them *Eze. xlvi, 1. � fNeh. ix, 13, 14. INeh. ix, 10. SABBATH FROM DAVID TO NEHEMIAH. 107 on the Sabbath, or on the holy day ; and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt."* In the absence of Nehemiah at the Persian court, this covenant was in part, at least, forgotten. Eleven years having elapsed, Nehemiah thus tes- tifies concerning things at his return about B. c. 434: "In those days saw I in Judah some treading wide-presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses ; as also wine, grapes and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day ; and I testified aoainst them in the day wherein they sold vict- uals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath-day ? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city ? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath. And it came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath,t I commanded that the gates should he shut, *1•Teh. x, 31. f.A few words relative to the time of beginning the Sabbath are here demanded. 1. The reckoning of the first week of time necessarily determines that of all succeeding weeks. The first division of the first day was night ; and each day of the first week began with evening ; the evening and the morning, an expression equivalent to the night and the day, constituted the day of twenty-four hours. Gen. i. Hence, the first Sabbath began and ended with evening. 2. That the night is in the Scriptures reckoned a part of the day of twenty-four hours, is proved by many texts. Ex. xii, 41, 42 ; 1 Sam. xxvi, 7, 8; Luke ii, 8-11; Mark xiv, 30 ; Luke xxii, 34, and many other testimonies. 3. The 2300 days, symbolizing 2300 years, are each constituted like the days of the first week of time. Dan. viii, 14. The margin, which gives the literal Hebrew, calls each of these days an " even- ing morning." 4. The statute defining the great day of atonement is absolutely decisive that the day begins with 108 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath : and some of my servants set I at the gates that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath-day. So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of ware lodged with- out Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall ? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath- day. Remember me, 0 my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy."* This scripture is an explicit testimony that the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews at Babylon was in consequence of their profanation of the Sabbath. It is a striking con- firmation of the language of Jeremiah, already no- ticed, in which he testified to the Jews that if they would hallow the Sabbath, their city should stand forever ; but that it should be utterly destroyed if they persisted in its profanation. Nehemiah evening, and that the night is a part of the day. Lev. xxiii, 32. � " It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls : in the ninth day of the month at even ; from even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." 5. That evening is at sunset is abundantly proved by the fol- lowing scriptures : Deut. xvi, 6 ; Lev. xxii, 6, 7 ; Deut. xxiii, 11 ; xxiv, 13, 15; Josh. viii, 29; x, 26, 27 ; Judges xiv, 18; 2 Sam. iii, 35 ; 2 Chron. xviii, 34; Matt. viii, 16 ; Mark i, 32; Luke iv, 40. But does not Neh. xiii, 19, conflict with this tes- timony, and indicate that the Sabbath did not begin until after dark? I think not. The text does not say, " When it began to be dark at Jerusalem before the Sabbath," but it says, " When the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark." If it be remembered that the gates of Jerusalem were placed under wide and high walls, it will not be found difficult to harmon- ize t4iis text with the many here adduced, which prove that the day begins with sunset. *Neh. xiii, 15-22. SABBATH FROM NEHEMIAH TO CHRIST. 109 bears testimony to the accomplishment of Jere- miah's prediction concerning the violation of the Sabbath ; and with his solemn appeal in its be- half ends the history of the Sabbath in the Old Testament. CHAPTER IX. THE SABBATH FROM NEHEMIAH TO CHRIST. Great change in the Jewish people respecting idolatry and Sabbath-breaking after their return from Babylon—Decree of Antiochus Epiphanes against the Sabbath—Massacre of a thousand Sabbath-keepers in the wilderness—Similar massacre at Jerusalem—Decree of the Jewish elders rela- tive to resisting attacks upon the Sabbath—Other martyr- doms—Victories of Judas Maccabeus—How Pompey cap- tured Jerusalem—Teaching of the Jewish doctors re- specting the Sabbath—State of the Sabbatic institution at the first advent of the Saviour. The period of almost five centuries intervenes between the time of Nehemiah and the commence- ment of the ministry of the Redeemer. During this time an extraordinary change came over the Jewish people. Previously they had been to an alarming extent idolaters, and outbreaking violat- ers of the Sabbath. But after their return from Babylon they were never guilty of idolatry to any extent, the chastisement of that captivity effecting a cure of this evil.* In like manner did they change their conduct relative to the Sabbath ; and during this period they loaded the Sabbatic insti- tution with the most burdensome and rigorous or- *Speaking of the Babylonish captivity in his note on Eze. xxiii, 48, Dr. Clarke says : " From that time to the present day the Jews never relapsed into idolatry." 110 �HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. dinances. A brief survey of this period must suf- fice. Under the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of Syria, B. c. 170, the Jews were greatly oppressed. "King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people, and every one should leave his laws : so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king. Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the Sab- bath."* The greater part of the Hebrews remained faith- ful to God, and as a consequence were obliged to flee for their lives. Thus the historian continues : "Then many that sought after justice and judgment went down into the wilderness, to dwell there: both they, and their children, and their wives, and their cattle ; because af- flictions increased sore upon them, Now when it was told the king's servants, and the host that was at Jerusalem in the city of David, that certain men who had broken the king's commandment, were gone down into the secret places in the wilderness, they pursued after them a great number, and having overtaken them they camped against them, and made war against them on the Sabbath-day. And they said unto them, Let that which ye have done hitherto suffice ; come forth, and do according to the commandment of the king, and ye shall live. But they said, We will not come forth, neither will we do the king's commandment to profane the Sabbath-day. So then they gave them the battle with all speed. Howbeit they answered them not, neither cast they a stone at them, nor stopped the places where they lay bid. But they said, Let us die all in our innocency : heav- en and earth shall testify for us that ye put us to death wrongfully. So they rose up against them in battle on the Sabbath, and they slew them, with their wives and children, and their cattle to the number of a thousand people."t *1 Mac. i, 41-43. t1 Mae. ii, 29-38; Josephus' Antiquities, book xii, chap. vi. SABBATH FROM NEHEMIAH TO CHRIST. 111 In Jerusalem itself a like massacre took place. King Antiochus sent Appollonius with an army of twenty-two thousand, "Who coming to Jerusalem, and pretending peace did for- bear till the holy day of the Sabbath, when taking the Jews keeping holy day, he commanded his men to arm themselves. And so he slew all them that were gone to the celebrating of the Sabbath, and running through the city with weapons slew great multitudes."* In view of these dreadful acts of slaughter, Mat- tathias, " an honorable and great man," the fa- ther of Judas Maccabeus, with his friends decreed thus : " Whosoever shall come to make battle with us on the Sabbath-day, we will fight against him; neither will we die all, as our brethren that were murdered in the secret places."t Yet were some martyred after this for observ- ing the Sabbath. Thus we read : " And others, that had run together into caves near by to keep the Sabbath-day secretly, being discovered to Phillip, were all burnt together, because they made a conscience to help themselves for the honor of the most sacred day."1 After this, Judas Maccabeus did great exploits in defense of the Hebrews, and in resisting the dreadful oppression of the Syrian government. Of one of these battles we read: "When he had given them this watchword, The help of God, himself leading the first band, he joined battle with Nicanor. And by the help of the Almighty they slew above nine thousand of their enemies, and wounded and maimed the most part of Nicanor's host, and so put all to flight; and took their money that came to buy them, and pursued them far; but lacking time they returned: for it was the day be- fore the Sabbath, and therefore they would no longer pursue *2 Mac. v, 25, 26. � j•l Mac. ii, 41. � 12 Mac. vi, 11. 112 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. them. So when they bad gathered their armor together, and spoiled their enemies, they occupied themselves about the Sabbath, yielding exceeding praise and thanks to the Lord, who had preserved them unto that day, which was the beginning of mercy distilling upon them. And after the Sabbath, when they had given part of the spoils to the maim- ed, and the widows, and orphans, the residue they divided among themselves and their servants."* After this the Hebrews being attacked upon the Sabbath by their enemies, defeated them with much slaughtent About B. C. 68, Jerusalem was besieged and taken by Pompey, the general of the Romans. To do this it was necessary to fill an immense ditch, and to raise against the city a bank on which to place the engines of assault. Thus Josephu-s re- lates the event : "And had it not been our practice, from the days of_ our forefathers, to rest on the seventh day, this bank could nev- er have been perfected, by reason of the opposition the Jews would have made ; for though our law gives us leave then to defend ourselves against those that begin to fight with us, and assault us, yet does it not permit us to meddle with our enemies while they do anything else. Which thing when the Romans understood, on those days which we ' call Sab- baths, they threw nothing at the Jews, nor came to any pitched battle with them, but raised up their earthen banks, and brought their engines into such forwardness, that they might do execution the next days."I From this it is seen that Pompey carefully re- frained from any attack upon the Jews on each Sabbath during the siege, but spent that day in filling the ditch and raising the bank, that he *2 Mac. viii, 23-28. ti Mac. ix, 43-49; Josephus' Antiquities, book xiii, chap. 1; 2 Mac. xv. t Antiquities of the Jews, book xiv, chap. iv. SABBATH FROM NEHEMIAH TO CHRIST. 113 might attack them on the day following each Sab- bath, that is, upon Sunday. Josephus further re- lates that the priests were not at all hindered from their sacred ministrations by the stones thrown among them from the engines of Pompey, even " if any melancholy accident happened ;" and that when the city was taken, and the enemy fell upon them, and cut the throats of those that were in the temples, yet did not the priests run away or desist from the offering of the accustomed sac- rifices. These quotations from Jewish history are suffi- cient to indicate the extraordinary change that came over that people concerning the Sabbath, after the Babylonish captivity. A brief view of the teaching of the Jewish doctors respecting the Sabbath at the time when our Lord began his ministry, will conclude this chapter : " They enumerated about forty primary works, which they said were forbidden to be done on the Sabbath. Under each of these were numerous secondary works, which they said were also forbidden. � . . Among the primary works which were forbidden, were ploughing, sowing, reap- ing, winnowing, cleaning, grinding, etc. Under the head of grinding, was included the breaking or dividing of things which were before united. . . . Another of their tradi- tions was, that, as threshing on the Sabbath was forbidden, the bruising of things, which was a species of threshing, was also forbidden. Of course, it was a violation of the Sabbath to walk on green grass, for that would bruise or thresh it. So, as a man might not hunt on the Sabbath, he might not catch a flea; for that was a species of hunting. As a man might not carry a burden on the Sabbath, he might not car- ry water to a thirsty animal, for that was a species of bur- den; but he might pour water into a trough, and lead the animal to it. . . . Yet should a sheep fall into a pit, 114 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. � LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 115 they would readily lift him out, and bear him to a place of safety. . . . They said a man might minister to the sick for the purpose of relieving their distress, but not for the purpose of healing their diseases. He might put a covering on a diseased eye, or anoint it with eye-salve for the pur- pose of easing the pain, but not to cure the eye."* Such was the remarkable change in the conduct of the Jewish people toward the Sabbath ; and such was the teaching of their doctors respecting it. The most merciful institution of God for mankind had become a source of distress ; that which God ordained as a delight and a source of refreshment had become a yoke of bondage ; the Sabbath, made for man in Paradise, was now a most oppressive and burdensome institution. It was time that God should interfere. Next upon the scene of action appears the Lord of the Sab- bath. *Sabbath Manual of the American Tract Society, pp. 214, 215. CHAPTER X. THE SABBATH DURING THE LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. Mission of the Saviour—His qualifications as a judge of Sab- batic observance—State of the institution at his advent— The Saviour at Nazareth—At Capernaum—His discourse in the corn-field—Case of the man with a withered arm—The Saviour among his relatives—Case of the impotent man— Of the man born blind—Of the woman bound by Satan— Of the man who had the dropsy—Object of our Lord's teaching and miracles relative to the Sabbath—Unfairness of many anti-Sabbatarians—Examination of Matt. xxiv, 20 —The Sabbath not abrogated at the crucifixion—Fourth commandment after that event—Sabbath not changed at the resurrection of Christ—Examination of John xx, 26— Of Acts ii, 1, 2—Redemption furnishes no argument for the change of the Sabbath—Examination of Ps. cxviii, 22-24—The Sabbath neither abolished nor changed as late as the close of the seventy weeks. In the fullness of time God sent forth his Son to be the Saviour of the world. He who fulfilled this mission of infinite benevolence was both the Son of God and the Son of man. He was with the Father before the world was, and by him God created all things.* The Sabbath being ordained at the close of that great work as a memorial to keep it in lasting remembrance, the Son of God by whom all things were created, could not be otherwise than a perfect judge of its true design, and of its proper observ- ance. The sixty-nine weeks of Daniel's prophecy being accomplished, the Redeemer began to preach, saying, " The time is fulfilled."t The ministry of the Saviour was at a time when the Sabbath of the Lord had become utterly perverted from its *Gal. iv, 4, 5 ; John i, 1-10; xvii,-5, 24 ; Heb. i. j-Dan. ix, 25 ; Mark i, 14, 15. 116 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. gracious design, by the teaching of the Jewish doc- tors. As we have seen in the previous chapter, it was to the people no longer a source of refresh- ment and delight, but a cause of suffering and dis- tress. It had been loaded down with traditions by the doctors of the law until its merciful and benificent design was utterly hidden beneath the rubbish of men's inventions. It being impracti- cable for Satan, after the Babylonish captivity, to cause the Jewish people, even by bloody edicts, to relinquish the Sabbath and openly to profane it as before that time, he turned their doctors so to pervert it, that its real character should be utter- ly changed and its observance entirely unlike that which would please God. We shall find that the Saviour never missed an opportunity to correct their false notions respecting the Sabbath ; and that he selected with evident design the Sabbath as the day on which to perform many of his mer- ciful works. It will be found that no small share of his teaching through his whole ministry was devoted to a determination of what was lawful on the Sabbath, a singular fact for those to explain who think that lie designed its abrogation. At the opening of our Lord's ministry we read thus : "And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Gali- lee ; and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up ; and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and stood up for to read." Such was the manner of the Saviour relative to the Sabbath. It is evident that in this he design- ed to show his regard for that day ; for it was not *Luke iv, 14-16. LAST OP THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 117 necessary thus to do in order to gain a congrega- tion, as vast multitudes were ever ready to throng his steps. His testimony being rejected, our Lord left Nazareth for Capernaum. Thus the sacred historian says : " But he passing through the midst of them went his way, and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath-days. And they were astonished at his doctrine ; for his word was with power. And in the syna- gogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone ; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth ? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this ! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits and they come out. And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. And he arose out of the synagogue and en- tered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever ; and it left her; and immediately she arose and ministered unto then:."* These miracles are the first which stand upon record as performed by the Saviour upon the Sab- bath. But the strictness of Jewish views rel- ative to the Sabbath, is seen in that they waited till sunset, that is, till the Sabbath was passed,t before they brought the sick to be healed. Thus it is added : " And at even when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased and them that were possessed with *Luke iv, 30-39; Mark i, 21-31 ; Matt. viii, 5-15. tSee on this point the conclusion of chapter viii. 118 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils ; and suffered not the devils to speak because they knew him."* The next mention of the Sabbath is of peculiar interest: " At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath-day through the corn ; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath-day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; how he en- tered into the house of God, and did eat the chew-bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests ? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath-day the priests in the temple irofane the Sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the tem- ple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath- day."t The parallel text in Mark has an important ad- dition to the conclusion as stated by Matthew : "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath ; therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."1 The following points should be noted in examin- ing this text : 1. That the question at issue did not relate to the act of passing through the corn on the Sabbath ; for the Pharisees themselves were in the company ; and hence it may be concluded *Mark i, 32-34 ; Luke iv, 40. Watt. xii, 1-9; Mark ii, 23-28; Luke vi, 1-6. $Mark ii, 27,28. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 119 that the Saviour and those with him were either going to, or returning from, the synagogue. 2. That the question raised by the Pharisees was this : Whether the disciples in satisfying their hunger from the corn through which they were passing were not violating the law of the Sabbath. 3. That he to whom this question was proposed was in the highest degree competent to answer it ; for he was with the Father when the Sabbath was made.* 4. That the Saviour was pleased to appeal to scriptural precedents for the decision of this ques- tion; rather than to assert his own independent judgment. 5. That the first case cited by the Saviour was peculiarly appropriate. David, flee- ing for his life, entered the house of God upon the Sabbath,t and ate the shew-bread to satisfy his hunger. The disciples to relieve their hunger simply ate of the corn through which they were passing upon the Sabbath. If David did right though eating in his necessity of that which be- longed only to the priests, how little of blame could be attached to the disciples who had not even violated a precept of the ceremonial law ? Thus much for the disciples satisfying their hun- ger as they did upon the Sabbath. Our Lord's next example is designed to show what labor upon the Sabbath is not a violation of its sacredness. 6. And hence the case of the priests is cited. The same God who had said in the fourth com- mandment, " Six days shalt thou labor and do all THY work," had commanded that the priests upon the Sabbath should offer certain sacrifices in his temple.t Herein was no contradiction ; for the *Compare John i, 1-3; Gen. i, 1, 26 ; ii, 1-8. tSee chapter viii. � :Num. xxviii, 9, 10. AIL 120 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. labor performed by the priests upon the Sabbath was simply the maintenance of the appointed wor- ship of God in his temple, and was not doing what the commandment calls " THY WORK." Labor of this kind therefore, the Saviour being judge, was not, and never had been, a violation of the Sab- bath. But it is highly probable that the Saviour in this reference to the priests had his mind not merely upon the sacrifices which they offered up- on the Sabbath, but upon the fact that they were re- quired to prepare new shew-bread every Sabbath ; when the old was to be removed from the table before the Lord and eaten by them.* This view of the matter would connect the case of the priests with that of David, and both would bear with won- derful distinctness upon the act of the disciples. Then our Lord's argument could be appreciated when he adds : " But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple." So that if the shew-bread was to be prepared each Sab- bath for the use of those who ministered in the temple, and those who did this were guiltless, how free from guilt also must be the disciples who, in following HIM that was greater than temple, but who had not where to lay his head, had eaten of the standing corn upon the Sabbath to relieve their hunger ? But our Lord next lays down a principle worthy of the most serious attention. Thus he adds : " But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless." The Most High had ordained certain labor to be performed upon *Lev. xxiv, 5-9 ; 1 Chron. ix, 32. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 121 the Sabbath, in order that sacrifices might be of- fered to himself. But Christ affirms upon the au- thority of the Scriptures,* that there is some- thing far more acceptable to God than sacrifices, and that this is acts of mercy. If God held those guiltless who offered sacrifices upon the Sabbath, how much less would he condemn those who ex- tend mercy and relief to the distressed and suffer- ing, upon that day. Nor does the Saviour even leave the subject here ; for he adds : " The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath ; therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." If the Sabbath was made, certain acts were necessary in order to give existence to it. What were those acts ? (1.) God rested upon the seventh day. This made the seventh day the rest-day or Sab- bath of the Lord. (2.) He blessed the day ; thus it became his holy day. (3.) He sanctified it, or set it apart to a holy use ; thus its observance be- came a part of man's duty toward God. There must be a time when these acts were performed. And on this point there is really no room for con- troversy. They were not performed at Sinai, nor in the wilderness of Sin, but in Paradise. AM! is . this strikingly confirmed by the language here used by the Saviour : " The Sabbath was made for THE man, not THE man for the Sabbath ;"-r thus citing our minds to the man Adam that was made of the dust of the ground, and affirming that the Sabbath was made for him ; a conclusive tes- *Hosea vi, 6. -1•Thus the Greek Testament : Kai 12,e-yev ai,roic • T6 crO- paro, ata r6v avi9pwrrov kyivero, ax 6 api9pwroc ath ri) 170- liaro v • 9 122 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. timony that the Sabbath originated in Paradise. This fact is happily illustrated by a statement of the apostle Paul : "Neither was the man created for the woman ; but the woman for the man."* It will not be denied that this language has direct reference to the creation of Adam and Eve. If then we turn back to the beginning we shall find Adam made of the dust of the ground, Eve taken from his side, and the Sabbath made of the sev- enth day. j- Thus the Saviour to complete the so- lution of the question raised by the Pharisees, traces the Sabbath back to the beginning, as he does the institution of marriage when the same class proposed for his decision the lawfulness of divorce.t His careful statement of the design of the Sabbath and of marriage, tracing each to the beginning, in the one case striking down their per- version of the Sabbath, in the other that of mar- riage is the most powerful testimony in behalf of the sacredness of each institution. The argu- ment in the one case stands thus : In the begin- ning God created one man and one woman, design- ing that they TWO should be one flesh. The mar- riage relation therefore was designed to unite simply two persons, and this union should be sa- cred and indissoluble. Such was the bearing of his argument upon the question of divorce. In relation to the Sabbath his argument is this : God made the Sabbath for the man that he made of the dust of the ground; and being thus made for an unfallen race, it can only be a merciful and be- neficent institution. He who made the Sabbath for man before the fall saw what man needed, and 1 Cor. xi, 9. � tGen. ii, 1-3, 7, 21-23. t Matt. six, 3-9. LAST OE TIIE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 123 knew how to supply that want. It was given to him for rest, refreshment and delight ; a charac- ter that it sustained after the fall,* but which the Jews had wholly lost sight of.t And thus our Lord lays open his whole heart concerning the Sabbath. He carefully determines what works are not a violation of the Sabbath ; and this he does by Old-Testament examples that it may be evident that he is introducing no change in the in- stitution ; he sets aside their rigorous and burden- some traditions concerning the Sabbath, by trac- ing it back to its merciful origin in Paradise ; and having thus disencumbered the Sabbath of Pharisaic rigor, he leaves it upon its Paradisiacal foundation, enforced by all the authority and sa- credness of that law which he came not to destroy, but to magnify and make honorable.t 10. Having thus divested the Sabbath of all Pharisaic additions, our Lord concludes with this remarkable declaration : "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." (1.) It was not a disparagement to the Sabbath, but an honor, that God's only Son shw:ld claim to be its Lord. Re=deemer ) Nor was it derogato-y to the character of the to be the Lord of the Sabbath ; with all the high honors perta. cling to his Messiahship he i s ALSO Lord of the Sabbath. Or if we take the expression in Matthew, he is " Lord EVEN of the Sabbath-day," it implies that it is not a small honor to possess such a title. (3.) This title implies that the Messiah should be the protector, and not the destroyer, of the Sabbath. And *Ex. xvi, 23 ; xxiii, 12 ; Isa. lviii, 13, 14. tSee conclusion of chapter ix. tMatt. v, 17-19; Isa. xlii, 21. I 124 � HISTORY OF THE SAB13ATH. hence that he was the rightful being to decide the proper nature of Sabbatic observance. � With these memorable words ends our Lord's first dis- course concerning the Sabbath. From this time the Pharisees watched the Sav- iour to find an accusation against him of violating the Sabbath. The next example will show the malignity of their hearts, their utter perversion of the Sabbath, the urgent need of an authoritative correction of their false teachings respecting it, and the Saviour's unanswerable defense : "And when he was departed thence he went into their synagogue: and behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-days ? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep ? Wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath-days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him."* What was the act that caused this madness of the Pharisees ? On the part of the Saviour it was a word; on the part of the man it was the act of stretching out his arm. Did the law of the Sabbath forbid either of these things ? No one can affirm such a thing. But the Saviour had publicly transgressed that tradition of the Phar- isees that forbade the doing of any thing whatever toward the healing of the sick upon the Sabbath. And how necessary that such a wicked tradition should be swept away, if the Sabbath itself was to *Matt. xii, 9-14; Mark iii, 1-6; Luke vi, 6-11. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 125 be preserved for man. But the Pharisees were filled with such madness that they went out of the synagogue and consulted how they might destroy the Saviour. Yet Jesus only acted in behalf of the Sabbath in setting aside those traditions by which they had perverted it. After this our Lord returned into his own coun- try, and thus we read of him : ' And when the Sabbath-day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue; and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence bath this man these things ? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands ?"* Not far from this time we find the Saviour at Jerusalem, and the following miracle was perform- ed upon the Sabbath : "And a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been there now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole ? The impotent man an- swered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into • the pool ; but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked; and on the same day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath-day : it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed and walk ? . . . The man de_ parted and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which bad made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath-day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought *Mark vi, 1.-6, 126 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God."* Our Lord here stands charged with two crimes : 1. He had broken the Sabbath. 2. He had made himself equal with God. The first accusation is based on these particulars : (1) By his word he had healed the impotent man. But this violated no law of God ; it only set at nought that tradi- tion which forbade any thing to be done for curing diseases upon the Sabbath. (2) He had directed the man to carry his bed. But this as a burden was a mere trifle,f like a cloak or mat, and was designed to show the reality of his cure, and thus to honor the Lord of the Sabbath who had healed him. Moreover, it was not such a burden as the Scriptures forbid upon the Sabbath.t (3) Jesus justified what he had done by comparing his pres- ent act of healing to that work which his Father had done HITHERTO, i. e., from the beginning of the creation. Ever since the Sabbath was sanc- tified in Paradise, the Father, by his providence had continued to mankind, even upon the Sabbath all the merciful acts by which the human race has been preserved. This work of the Father was of precisely the same nature as that which Jesus had now done. These acts did not argue that the Fa- ther had hitherto lightly esteemed the Sabbath, for he had most solemnly enjoined its observance in the law and in the prophets ;§ and as our Lord *John v, 1--18. tDr. Bloomfield's Greek Testament on this text; Family Testament of the American Tract Society on the same ; Nev- ins' Biblical Antiquities, pp. 62, 63. $Compare Jer. xvii, 21--27 with Neh. xiii, 15--20. iGen. ii, 1--3 ; Ex. xx, 8--11 ; Isa. lvi ; lviii, 13, 14; Eze. xx, LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 127 had most expressly recognized their authority,* there was no ground to accuse him of disregarding the Sabbath, when he had only followed the exam- ple of the Father from the beginning. The Sav- iour's answer to these two charges will remove all difficulty : " Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, veri- ly, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do ; for what things soever he do- eth, these also doeth the Son likewise."t This answer involves two points : 1. That he was following his Father's perfect example, who had ever laid open to him all his works ; and hence as he was doing that only which had ever been the pleasure of the Father to do, he was not engaged in the overthrow of the Sabbath. 2. And by the meek humility of this answer—" The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do"—he showed the groundlessness of their charge of self-exaltation. Thus in nothing was there left a chance to answer him again. Several months after this the same case of healing was under discusssion "Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work and ye all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you cir- cumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers) ; and ye on the Sabbath-day circumcise a man. If a man on the , abbath-day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath-day ?"1 This Scripture contains our Lord's second an- swer relative to healing the impotent man upon the Sabbath. In his first answer he rested his *Gal. iv, 4 ; Matt. v, 17--19 ; vii, 12 ; xix, 17; Luke xvi, 17. tJohn v, 19. �John vii, 21--23. 1 128 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. defense upon the fact that what he had done was precisely the same as that which his Father had done hitherto, that is, from the beginning of the world ; which implies that the Sabbath had exist- ed from the same point, else the example of the Father during this time would not be relevant. In this, his second answer, a similar point is in- volved relative to the origin of the Sabbath. His defense this time rests upon the fact that his act of healing no more violated the Sabbath than did the act of circumcising upon the Sabbath. But if circumcision, which was ordained in the time of Abraham, was older than the Sabbath—as it cer- tainly was if the Sabbath originated in the wilder- ness of Sin—there would be an impropriety in the allusion ; for circumcision would be entitled to the priority as the more ancient institution. It would be strictly proper to speak of the more recent insti- tution as involving no violation of an older one ; but it would be otherwise to speak of an ancient institution as involving no violation of one more recent. The language therefore implies that the Sabbath was older than circumcision ; in other words, more ancient than the days of Abraham: These two answers of the Saviour are certainly in harmony with the unanimous testimony of the sa- cred writers, that the Sabbath originated with the sanctification of the rest-day of the Lord in Eden. What had the Saviour done to justify the hatred of the Jewish people toward him ? He had healed upon the Sabbath, with one word, a man who had been helpless thirty-eight years. Was not this act in strict accordance with the Sabbatic institu- tion ? Our Lord has settled this point in the af- firmative by weighty and unanswerable argu- LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 129 ments,* not in this case alone, but in others al- ready noticed, and also in those which remain to be noticed. Had he left the man in his wretchedness because it was the Sabbath, when a word would have healed him, he would have dishonored the Sabbath, and thrown reproach upon its Author. We shall find the Lord of the Sabbath still further at work in its behalf in rescuing it from the hands of those who had so utterly perverted its design ; a work quite unnecessary had he designed to nail the institution to his cross. The next incident to be noticed is the case of the man that was born blind. Jesus seeing him said : "I must work the works of him that sent me whilst it is day : the night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way there- fore, and washed, and came seeing � And it was the Sabbath-day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes."t Here is the record of another of our Lord's merciful acts upon the Sabbath-day. He saw a man blind from his birth ; moved with compassion toward him he moistened clay and anointed his eyes, and sent him to the pool to wash ; and when he had washed he received sight. The act was *Grotius well says : "If he healed any on the Sabbath he made it appear not only from the law, but also from their received opinions, that such works were not forbidden on the Sabbath."—The Truth of the Christian Religion, book 4, Sect. 7. tJohn ix, 1-16. ( I 130 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. alike worthy of the Sabbath and of its Lord : and it pertains only to the opponents of the Sabbath now, as it pertained only to the enemies of its Lord then, to see in this even the slightest violation of the Sabbath. After this we read as follows : "And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold there was a woman which had a spir- it of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath-day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work : in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath-day. The Lord then answered him and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath-day ? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him."* This time a daughter of Abraham, that is, a pioui woman,t who had been bound by Satan eighteen years, was loosed from that bond upon the Sabbath-day. Jesus silenced the clamor of of his enemies by an appeal to their own course of action in loosing the ox and leading him to water upon the Sabbath. With this answer our Lord made ashamed all his adversaries, and all the peo- ple rejoiced for all the glorious things that were *Luke xiii, 11-17. � -1.1 Pet. iii, 6. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 131 done by him. The last of these glorious acts with which Jesus honored the Sabbath is thus nar- rated : " And it came to pass as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath-day, that they watched him. And behold there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus spake unto the law- yers and Pharisees saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sab- bath-day ? And they held their peace. And he took him and healed him and let him go ; and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath- day? And they could not answer him again to these things."' It is evident that the Pharisees and lawyers durst not answer the question, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day ? If they said, " Yes," they condemned their own tradition. If they said, " No," they were unable to sustain their answer by fair argument. Hence they remained silent. And when Jesus had healed the man, he asked a second question equally embarrassing : Which of you shall have an ox fall into a pit and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath ? They could not answer him again to these things. It is apparent that our Lord's argument with the Phar- isees from time to time relative to the Sabbath had satisfied them at last that silence relative to their traditions was wiser than speech. In his public teaching the Saviour declared that the weightier matters of the law were judgment, MERCY and faith 0- and his long-continued and powerful effort in behalf of the Sabbath, was to vindicate it as a MERCIFUL institution, and to rid it of Phari- saic traditions, by which it was perverted from its *Luke xiv, 1-6. � -Matt. xxiii, 28. 132 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. original purpose. Those who oppose the Sabbath are here guilty of unfairness in two particulars : 1. They represent these Pharisaic rigors as actually belonging to the Sabbatic institution. By this means they turn the minds of men against the Sabbath. 2. And having done this they repre- sent the effort of the Saviour to set aside those traditions as directed to the overthrow of the Sab- bath itself. And now we come to the Saviour's memorable discourse upon the mount of Olives, on the very eve of his crucifixion, in which for the last time he mentions the Sabbath : "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desola- tion, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whose readeth, let him understand :) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains : let him which is on the house-top not come down to take any thing out of his house; neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day ; for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."* In this language our Lord brings to view the dreadful calamities of the Jewish people, and the destruction of their city and temple as pre- dicted by Daniel the prophet.t His watchful care over his people as their Lord leads him to point out their means of escape. 1. He gives them a token by which they should know when this terri- ble overthrow .was immediately impending. It was " the abomination of desolation" standing " in the holy place ;" or as expressed by Luke, the *Matt. xxiv, 15-21. �pan. ix, 26, 27. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 133 token was " Jerusalem compassed by armies."* The fulfillment of this sign is recorded by the historian Josephus. After stating that Cestius, the Roman commander, at the commencement of the contest between the Jews and the Romans, encompassed the city of Jerusalem with an army, he adds : "Who, had he continued the siege a little longer, had cer- tainly taken the city; but it was, I suppose, owing to the aversion God had already at the city and the sanctuary, that he was hindered from putting an end to the war that very day. It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation of tak- ing it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world."t 2. This sign being seen the disciples were to know that the desolation of Jerusalem was nigh. " Then," says Christ, " let them which be in Ju- dea flee into the mountains." Josephus records the fulfillment of this injunction : " After this calamity had befallen Cestius, many of the most eminent of the Jews swam away from the city, as from a ship when it was going to sink."I Eusebius also relates its fulfillment : "The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety, there before the war, removed from the city and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella. Here, those that believed in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men had entirely abandoned the royal city itself, and the whole land of Judea ; the divine justice for their crimes against Christ and his apostles, final- ly overtook them, totally destroying the whole generation of these evildoers from the earth.1 *Luke xxi, 20. � 1-Jewish War, book II, chap. six. kid. book II, chap. xx. � Hist., book lir. civil). T. T-T AST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 135 f h d mountains." The closing of the city gates could not therefore affect the flight of but a part o te isci- ples. 2. Josephus states the remarkable fict that when Cestius was marching upon Jerusalem in ful d h � - fillment of the Saviour's token, an � ad reached Lydda, not many miles from Jerusalem, " he found the city empty of its men, for the whole multitude were gone up to Jerusalem to the feast of taber- nacles."* The law of Moses required the pres- ence of every male in Israel at this feast in Jerusalem ;t and thus, in the providence of God, the disciples had no Jewish enemies left in the country to hinder their flight. 3. The Jewish na- tion being thus assembled at Jerusalem did most openly violate the Sabbath a few days prior to the flight of the disciples ; a singular commentary on their supposed strictness in keeping it at that time.t Thus Josephus says of the march of Ca- tins upon Jerusalem that, *Jewish War, book II, chap. xix. � tDeut. xvi, 16. tThus remarks Mr. Crozier in the Advent Harbinger for Dec. 6, 1851: " The reference to the Sabbath in Matt. xxiv, 20, only shows that the Jews who rejected Christ would be keeping the Sabbath at the destruction of Jerusalem, and would in consequence, add to the dangers of the disciples' flight by punishing them perhaps with death for fleeing on that day." And Mr. Marsh, forgetting that Christ forbade his disci- ples to take anything with them in their flight, uses the fol- lowing language : "If the disciples should attempt to flee from Jerusalem on that day and carry their things, the Jews would embarrass their flight and perhaps put them to death. The Jews would be keeping the Sabbath, because they re- jected Christ and his gospel."—Ad. Har., Jan. 24, 1852. These quotations betray the bitterness of their authors. In honorable distinction from these anti-Sabbatarians, the following is quoted from Mr. William Miller, himself an ob- server of the first day of the week : " Neither on the Sabbath-day.' Because it was to be 134 � HISTORY 0 TKE SAEBATU. So imminent was the danger when this sign should be seen that not a moment was to be lost. He that was upon the housetop could not even come down to take a single article from his house. The man that was in the field was forbidden to re- turn to the house for his clothes. Not a moment was to be lost ; they must flee as they were, and flee for life. And pitiable indeed was the case of those who could not flee. In view of the fact that the disciples must flee the moment that the promised token should ap- pear, our Lord directed them to pray for two things : 1. That their flight should not be in the winter. 2. That it should not be upon the Sab- bath-day. Their pitiable situation should they be compelled to flee to the mountains in the depth of winter, without time to even take their clothes, sufficiently attests the importance of the first of these petitions, and the tender care of Jesus as the Lord of his people. The second of these peti- tions will be found equally expressive of his care as Lord of the Sabbath. But it is replied that this last petition has reference only to the fact that the Jews would then be keeping the Sabbath strictly, and as a conse- quence the city gates would be closed that day, and those be punished with death who should at- tempt to flee ; and hence this petition indicates nothing in proof of Christ's regard for the Sab- bath. An assertion so often and so confidently uttered should be well founded in truth ; yet a brief examination will show that such is not the case. 1. The Saviour's language has reference to the whole land of Judea, and not to Jerusalem only : " Let them which be in Judea flee into the LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 137 136 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. "He pitched his camp at a certain place called Gabao, fifty furlongs distant from Jerusalem`. But as for the Jews, when they saw the war approaching to their metropo- lis, they left the feast, and betook themselves to their arms ; and taking courage greatly from their multitude went in a sudden and disorderly manner to the fight, with a great noise, and without any consideration had of the rest of tlae seventh day, although the Sabbath was the day to which they had the greatest regard; but that rage which made them forget the religious observation [of the Sabbath] made them too hard for their enemies in the fight."* Thus it is seen that on the eve of the disciples' flight the rage of the Jews toward their enemies made them utterly disregard the Sabbath ! 4. But after Cestius encompassed the city with his army, thus giving the Saviour's signal, he sudden- ly withdrew it, as Josephus says, " without any reason in the world." This was the moment of flight for the disciples, and mark how the provi- dence of God opened the way for those in Jeru- salem: But when the robbers perceived this unexpected retreat of his, they resumed their courage, and ran after the hinder parts of his army, and destroyed a considerable number of both their horsemen and footmen : and now Cestius lay all night at the camp at Scopus, and as he went. off farther next kept as a day of rest, and no servile work was to be done on that day, nor would it be right for them to travel on that day. Christ has in this place sanctioned the Sabbath, and clearly shows us our duty to let no trivial circumstance cause us to break the law of the Sabbath. Yet how many, who profess to believe iu Christ, at this present day, make it a point to visit, travel and feast on this day ? What a false-hearted profession must that person make who can thus treat with contempt the moral law of God, and despise the precepts of the Lord Jesus ! We may here learn our obligation to remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy."— Exposition of Matt. xxiv, p. 18. *Jewish War, book, II, chap. xix. day, he thereby invited the enemy to follow him who still fell upon the hindermost and destroyed them."* This sally of the excited multitude in pursuit of the Romans was at the very moment when the disciples were commanded to flee, and could not but afford them the needed facility of escape. Had the flight of Cestius happened upon the Sab- bath, undoubtedly the Jews would have pursued him upon that day, as under less exciting circum- stances they had a few days before gone out sev- eral miles to attack him upon the Sabbath. It is seen, therefore, that whether in city or country, the disciples were not in danger of being attacked by their enemies even had their flight been upon the Sabbath-day. 6. There is therefore but one view that can be taken relative to the meaning of these words of our Lord, and that is that he thus spake, out of sacred regard for the Sabbath. For in his tender care for his people he had given them a precept that would require them to violate the Sabbath, should the moment for flight happen upon that day. For the command to flee was imperative the instant the promised signal should be seen, and the distance to Pella where they found a place of refuge, was at least sixty miles. This prayer which the Saviour left with the disciples would cause them to remember the Sabbath whenever they should come before God. It was therefore impossible that the apostolic church should forget the day of sacred rest. Such a prayer that they might not at a future time be compelled to violate the Sabbath was a sure and certain meansof perpetuating its sacred observance for the coming *Id. book II, chap. xix. 10 LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 189 Glared a shadow of good things to come ; and the body which casts this shadow is of Christ. That law which was proclaimed by the voice of God and written by his own finger upon the tables of stone, and deposited beneath the mercy-seat, was alto- gether unlike that system of carnal ordinances that was written by Moses in a book, and placed in the side of the ark.* It would be absurd to speak of the tables of STONE as NAILED to the cross ; Or to speak of BLOTTING Out what was EN- GRAVED in STONE. It would be blasphemous to represent the Son of God as pouring out his blood to blot out what the finger of his Father had writ- ten. It would be to confound all the immutable principles of morality, to represent the ten com- mandments as " contrary" to man's moral nature. It would be to make Christ the minister of sin to represent him as dying to utterly destroy the mor- al law. Nor does that man keep truth on his side who represents the ten commandments as among the things contained in Paul's enumeration of what was abolished. Nor is there any excuse for those who would destroy the ten commandments with this statement of Paul ; for he shows last of all that what was thus abrogated was a shadow of good things to come—an absurdity if applied to the moral law. The feasts, new moons and sab- baths of the ceremonial law, which Paul declared to be abolished in consequence of the abrogation of that code, have been particularly noticed al- *Deut. x; 4, 5, compared with xxxi, 24-26. Thus Morer remarks : "In the side of the ark, or more critically, in the outside of the ark; or in a chest by itself on the right side of the ark, saith the Targum of Jonathan."--Morer's Dia- logues on the Lord's Day, p. 211, London, 1701. 138 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. forty years, until the final destruction of Jerusa- lem, and was never forgotten by that early church as we shall hereafter see.* The Saviour who had taken unwearied pains during his whole ministry to show that the Sabbath was a merciful institution, and to set aside those traditions by which it had been perverted from its true design, did, in this his last discourse, most tenderly commend the Sabbath to his people, uniting in the same peti- tion their own safety and the sacredness of the rest-day of the Lord. A few days after this discourse, the Lord of the Sabbath was nailed to the cross as the great sacrifice for the sins of men.- The Messiah was thus cut off in the midst of the seventieth week ; and by his death he caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease.t Paul thus describes the abrogation of the typic- al system at the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus : "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way. nailing it to hib cross � Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath-days ; which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body is of Christ. II" The object of this action is declared to be the handwriting of ordinances. The manner of its abrogation is thus stated : 1. Blotted out ; 2. Nailed to the cross ; 3. Taken out of the way. Its nature is shown in these words : " against us" and " contrary to us." The things contained in it were meats,. drinks, holy days [Gr. eop7r, a feast day], new moons and sabbaths.§ The whole is de- *See chap. xvi. � -Matt. xxvii; Isa. *Dan. ix, 24-27. �liCol. ii, 14-17. For an extended view of these Jewish festivals see chap- ter vii. 140 � HISTORY OF THE SAI3EATII. ready.* That the Sabbath of the Lord is not in- cluded in their number the following facts evince : The Sabbath of the Lord was made before sin entered our world. It is not therefore one of those things that shadow redemption from sin.' Being made FOR man before the fall it is not one of those things that are AGAINST him and CON- TRARY to him.I When the ceremonial sabbaths were ordain- ed they were carefully distinguished from the Sab- bath of the Lord.11 The Sabbath of the Lord does not owe its ex- istence to the handwriting of ordinances, but is found in the very bosom of that law which Jesus came not to destroy. The abrogation of the cer- emonial law could not therefore abolish the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.§ The effort of our Lord through his whole ministry to redeem the Sabbath from the thraldom of the Jewish doctors, and to vindicate it as a merciful institution, is utterly inconsistent with the idea that he nailed it to his cross, as one of those things against man and contrary to him. Our Lord's petition respecting the flight of the disciples from Judea, recognizes the sacred- ness of the Sabbath many years after the crucifix- ion of the Saviour. The perpetuity of the Sabbath in the new earth is not easily reconciled with the idea that it was blotted out and nailed to our Lord's cross as one of those things that were contrary to man.¶ *See chapter vii. � fSee chapter ii. � tMark ii, 27. xxiii, 37, 38. iGen. ii, 1-3; Ex. xx ; Matt. v, 17, 10. lxvi, 22, 23. See also the close of chap. xix of this work. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 141 Because the authority of the fourth com- mandment is expressly recognized after the Sav- iour's crucifixion.* And finally, because the royal law which is unabolished embodies the ten commandments, and consequently embraces and enforces the Sabbath of the Lord.t When the Saviour died upon the cross the whole typical system which had pointed forward to that event as the commencement of its antitype, ex- pired with him. The Saviour being dead, Joseph of Arimathea went in unto Pilate and begged the body of Jesus, and with the assistance of Nicode- mus, buried it in his own new tomb.t. "And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments ; and rested the Sabbath-day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."b This text is worthy of special attention. 1. Be- cause it is an express recognition of the fourth commandment after the crucifixion of the Lord Je- sus. 2. Because it is the most remarkable case of Sabbatic observance in the whole Bible. The Lord of the Sabbath was dead ; preparation be- ing made for his embalming, when the Sabbath drew on. it was suspended, and they rested, says the sacred historian, according to the command- *Luke xxiii, 54-56. flames ii, 8-12; Matt. v, 17-19; Rom. iii, 19, 81, $lieb. ix, x ; Luke xxiii, 46-53; John xix, 38-42. Puke xxiii, 54-56, • 142 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. went. 3. Because it shows that the Sabbath-day accordinff ° to the commandment is the day before the first day of the week ; thus identifying the seventh day in the commandment with the seventh day of the New-Testament week. 4. Because it is a direct testimony that the knowledge of the true seventh day was preserved as late as the crucifix- ion ; for they observed the day enjoined in the commandment ; and that was the day on which the Most High had rested from the work of cre- ation. In the course of the day following this Sabbath, that is, upon the first day of the week, it was as- certained that Jesus was risen from the dead. It appears that this event must have taken place up- on that day, though it is not thus stated in express terms. At this point of time it is supposed by many that the Sabbath was changed from the sev- enth to the first day of the week ; and that the sacredness of the seventh day was then transferred to the first day of the week, which thenceforth was the Christian Sabbath, enforced by all the au- thority of the fourth commandment. To judge of the truthfulness of these positions, let us read with care each mention of the first day found in the four evangelists. Thus writes Matthew : " In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the oth- er Mary to see the sepulchre." Thus also Mark writes : "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun � Now LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 143 ( when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he ap- peared first to Mary Magdalene." Luke uses the following language : " And they returned and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath-day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morn- ing, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared." John bears the following testimony : " The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre � Then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in their midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."* In these texts the foundation of the " Christian Sabbath" must be sought—if indeed such an in- stitution actually exists—for there are no other records of the first day which relate to the time when it is supposed to have become sacred. These texts are supposed to prove that at the resurrection of the Saviour, the first day absorbed the sacred- ness of the seventh, elevating itself from the rank of a secular to that of a sacred day, and abasing the Sabbath of the Lord to the rank of "the six working days."1- Yet the following facts must be regarded as very extraordinary indeed if this supposed change of the Sabbath here took place : 1. That these texts should contain no mention of this change of the Sabbath. 2. That they should carefully discriminate between the Sabbath of the fourth commandment and the first day of the week. *Matt. xxviii, 1; Mark xvi, 1, 2, 9 ; Luke xxiii, 56 ; xxiv, 1 ; John xx, 1, 19. � tEze. xlvi, 1. • 144 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 3. That they should apply no sacred title to that day ; particularly that they should omit the title of Christian Sabbath. 4. That they should not mention the fact that Christ rested upon that day; an act essential to its becoming his Sabbath.* 5. That they do not relate the act of taking the blessing of God from the seventh day, and placing it upon the first ; and indeed that they do not mention any act whatever of blessing and hallow- ing the day. 6. That they omit to mention any- thing that Christ did TO the first day ; and they even neglect to inform us that Christ so much as took up the first day of the week into his lips ! 7. That they give no precept in support of first- day , � observance, nor do they contain a hint of the manner in which the first day of the week can be enforced by the authority of the fourth command- ment. Should it be asserted however from the words of John that the disciples were on this occasion convened for the purpose of honoring the day of the resurrection, and that Jesus sanctioned this act by meeting with them, thus accomplishing the change of the Sabbath, it is sufficient to cite in re- ply the words of Mark in which the same inter- view is narrated : "Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen."t This testimony of Mark shows that the infer- ence so often drawn from the words of John is ut- *See the origin of the ancient Sabbath in Gen. ii, 1-8. tMark xvi, 14. That this interview was certainly the same with that in John xx, 19, will be seen from a careful examination of Luke xxiv. � LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 145 terly unfounded. 1. The disciples were assem- bled for the purpose of eating supper. 2. Jesus came into their midst and upbraided them for their unbelief respecting his resurrection. The Scriptures declare that " with God all things are possible ;" yet this statement is lim- ited by the declaration that God cannot lie.* Does the change of the Sabbath pertain to those things that are possible with God, or is it exclud- ed by that important limitation, God cannot lie? The Law-giver is the God of truth, and his law is the truth.t Whether it would still remain the truth if changed to something else, and whether the Lawgiver would still continue to be the God of truth after he had thus changed it, remains to be seen. The fourth commandment which is affirmed to have been changed is thus expressed : � "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." If now we insert " first-day" in place of the seventh, we shall bring the matter to a test : " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy � The first 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 first day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it." This changes the truth of God into a lie a for it is false that God rested upon the first day of the week and blessed and hallowed it. Nor is it pos- sible to change the rest-day of the Creator from that day on which he rested to one of the six days on *Matt. xix, 26 ; Titus i, 2. j-Isa. lxv, 16 ; Ps. cxix, 142, 151. � Illora. i, 25. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 147 Sabbath. The texts which are employed in rear- ing the institution upon this foundation will be noticed in their proper order and place. Several of these texts properly pertain to this chapter. " And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them; then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you."* It is not asserted that on this occasion our Lord hallowed the first day of the week ; for that act is affirmed to date from the resurrection itself on the authority of the texts already quoted. But the sacredness of the first day being assumed as the foundation, this text furnishes the first stone for the superstructure ; the first pillar in the first- day temple. The argument drawn from it may be thus stated : Jesus selected this day as the one in which to manifest himself to his disciples ; and by this act strongly attested his regard for the day. But it is no small defect in this argument that his next meeting with them was on a fishing occasion,t and his last and most important mani- festation, when he ascended into heaven, was upon Thursday.$ The act of the Saviour in meeting with his disciples must therefore be yielded as in- sufficient of itself to show that any day is sacred ; for it would otherwise prove the sacredness of sev- eral of the working days. But a still more seri- ous defect in this argument is found in the fact that this meeting of Jesus with his disciples does not appear to have been upon the first day of the week. It was " after eight days" from the previ- ous meeting of Jesus and the disciples, which com- *John xx, 26. � xxi. t Acts i, 3. Forty days from the day of the resurrection would expire on Thursday. 146 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. p which he did not rest.* To change a part of the commandment and to leave the rest unchanged, will not therefore answer, as the truth which is left is still sufficient to expose the falsehood which is inserted. A more radical change is needed like the following : " Remember the Christian Sabbath to keep it holy. The first day is the Sabbath of the Lord Jesus Christ. For on that day he arose from the dead; wherefore he blessed the first day of the week and hallowed it." After such a change no part of the original Sabbatic institution remains ; not only is the rest- day of the Lord reft out, but even the reasons on which the fourth-commandment is based are of ne- cessity omitted also. But does such an edition of the fourth commandment as this exist ? Not in the Bible, certainly. Is it true that such titles as these are applied to the first day ? Never in the holy Scriptures. Did the Law-giver bless and hallow that day ? Most assuredly not. He did 'not even take the name of it into his lips. Such a change of the fourth command- ment on the part of the God of truth is impossible ; for it not merely affirms that which is false and denies that which is true, but it turns the truth of God itself into a lie. It is simply the act of set- ting up a rival to the Sabbath of the Lord, which having neither sacredness nor authority of its own, has contrived to absorb that of the Bible Sabbath itself. Such is the FOUNDATION of the first-day *It is just as easy to change the crucifixion day from that day of the week on which Christ was crucified, to one of the six days on which he was not, as to change the rest-day of the Creator from that day of the week on.which he rested, to one of the six days on which he wrought in the work of cre- ation. !i+ A 148 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ing at the very close of the resurrection day, could not but have extended into the second day of the week* " After eight days" from this meeting, if made, to signify only one week, necessarily carries us to the second day of the week. But a different expression is used by the Spirit of inspiration when simply one week is intended. " After seven days" is the chosen term of tii Holy Spirit when designating just one week.t " After eight days" most naturally implies the ninth or tenth day ;1 but allowing it to mean the eighth day it fails to prove that this appearance of the Saviour was up- on the. first day of the week. To sum up the ar- gument : the first meeting of Jesus with his dis- ciples in the evening at the close of the first day of the week was mainly if not wholly upon the second day of the week ;II the second meeting *When the resurrection day was " far spent," the Saviour and two of the disciples drew near to Emmaus, a village seven and a half miles from Jerusalem. They constrained him to go in with them to tarry for the night. Whilst they were eating supper they discovered that it was Jesus, when he vanished from their sight. Then they arose and returned to Jerusalem; and after their arrival the first meeting of Je- sus with the eleven took place. It could not therefore have lacked but little of sunset which closed the day, if not actu- ally upon the second day, when Jesus came into their midst. Luke xxiv. In the latter case the expression, " the same day at evening being the first day of the week," would find an exact parallel in meaning, in the expression, " in the ninth day of the month at even," which actually signifies the evening with which the tenth day of the seventh month com- mences. Lev. xxiii, 32. -Those who were to come before God from Sabbath to Sabbath to minister in his temple, were said to come "after seven days." 1 Chron. ix, 25 ; 2 Kings xi, 5. I" After six days" instead of being the sixth day was about eight days after. Matt. xvii, 1. Mark ix, 2 ; Luke ix, 28. 11That sunset marks the close of the day, see the close of chapter viii. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 149 could not have been earlier in the week than the second or third day, and the day seems to have been selected simply because that Thomas was present the third meeting was upon a fishing oc- casion and the fourth was upon Thursday when he ascended into heaven. The argument for first- day sacredness drawn from this text is eminently fitted to the foundation of that sacredness already examined and the institution of the first-day Sabbath itself, unless formed of more substantial frame work than enters into its foundation, is at best only a castle in the air. The text which next enters into the fabric of first-day sacredness is the following : " And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting."* This text is supposed to contribute an impor- tant pillar for the first-day temple. On this wise it is furnished: The disciples were convened on this occasion to celebrate the first-day Sabbath, and the Holy Spirit was poured out at that time in honor of that day. To this deduction there are however the most serious objections. 1. That there is no evidence that a first-day Sabbath was then in existence. � 2. That there is no intimation of the disciples coming together on this occasion for its celebration. 3. Nor that the Holy Spirit was then poured out in honor of the first day of the week. 4. That from the ascension of Jesus until the day of the Spirit's outpouring, the disciples had continued in prayer and supplication, so that their being convened on this day was nothing materially different from what *Act.s ii, 1, 2. 150 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. had been the case for the past ten or more days.* 5. That had the sacred writer designed to show that a certain day of the week was honored by the events narrated, he would doubtless have stated that fact, and named that day. 6. That Luke was so far from naming the day of the week that it is even now a disputed point ; eminent first-day authorst even asserting that the day of Pehtecost that year came upon the seventh day. 7. That the one great event which the Holy Spirit designed to mark was the antitype of the feast of Pentecost ; the day of the week on which that should occur being wholly immaterial. How widely therefore do those err who reverse this or- der, making the day of the week, which the Holy Spirit has not even named, but which they assume to be the first day, the thing of chief importance, and passing in silence over that fact which the Ho- ly Spirit has so carefully noted, that this event took place upon the day of Pentecost. The con- clusion to which these facts lead is inevitable, viz. : that the pillar furnished from this text for the first-day temple is like the foundation of that edifice, simply a thing of the imagination, and quite wor- thy of a place beside the pillar furnished from the record of our Lord's second appearance to his dis- ciples. A third pillar for the first-day edifice is the fol- lowing : Redemption is greater than creation ; *Luke xxiv, 49-53 ; Acts i. -Horatio B. Hacket, D. D., Professor of Biblical Literature, in Newton Theological Institution, thus remarks : "It is generally supposed that this Pentecost, signalized by the out- pouring of the Spirit, fell on the Jewish Sabbath, our Sat- urday."—Commentary on the Original text of the Acts, pp. 50, 51. LAST OP THE SEVENTY WEEKS. �151 therefore the day of Christ's resurrection should be observed instead of the day of the Creator's rest. But this proposition is open to the fatal ob- jection that the Bible says nothing of the kind.* Who then knows that it is true ? When the Cre- ator gave existence to our world, did he not fore- see the fall of man ? And foreseeing that fall, did he not entertain the purpose of redeeming man ? And does it not follow that the purpose of redemp- tion was entertained in that of creation ? Who then can affirm that redemption is greater than creation ? But as the Scriptures do not decide this point, let it be assumed that redemption is the greater. Who knows that a day should be set apart for its commemoration ? The Bible says nothing on the point. But granting that a day should be set apart for this purpose, what day should have the preference ? Is it said, That day on which re- demption was finished ? It is not true that re- demption is finished ; the resurrection of the saints and the redemption of our earth from the curse are included in that work.t But granting *In 1633 William Prynne, a prisoner in the tower of Lon- don, composed a work in defense of first day-observance, en- titled, " Dissertation on the Lord's Day Sabbath." He thus acknowledges the futility of the argument under considera- tion: " No scripture prefers the work of redemption before the work of creation ; both those works being very great and glorious in themselves ; wherefore I cannot believe the work of redemption, or Christ's resurrection alone, to be more excellent and glorious than the work of creation, with- out sufficient texts and scripture ground to prove it ; but may deny it as a presumptuous fancy or unsound assertion, till satisfactorily proved, as well as peremptorily averred without proof."—Page 59. This is the judgment of a can- did advocate of the first day as a Christian festival. On Acts xx, 7, he will be allowed to testify again. xxi, 28: Boni. viii, 23: Eph. i. 13. 14: iv. N. 152 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. that redemption should be commemorated before it is finnished, by setting apart a day in its honor, the question again arises, What day shall it he ? The Bible is silent in reply. If the most memor- able day in the history of redemption should be selected, undoubtedly the day of the crucifixion on which the price of human redemption was paid must have the preference. Which is the more memorable day, that on which the infinite Law- giver gave up his only and well-beloved Son to die an ignominious death for a race of rebels who had broken his law, or that clay on which he re- stored that beloved Son to life ? The latter event, though of thrilling interest, is the most natural thing in the world the crucifixion of the Son of God for sinful men may be safely pronounced the most wonderful event in the annals of eternity. The crucifixion day is therefore beyond all com- parison the more memorable day. And that re- demption itself is asserted of the crucifixion rath- er than of the resurrection is an undoubted fact. Thus it is written : In whom we have redemption through his blood ;" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree ;" " Thou wast slain, and hast re- deemed us to God by thy blood."* If therefore any day should be observed in memory of redemption, unquestionably the day of the crucifixion should have the preference. But it is needless to pursue this point further. Wheth- er the day of the crucifixion or the day of the res- urrection should be preferred is quite immaterial. The Holy spirit has said nothing in behalf of ei- *Eph. i, 7 ; Gal. iii, 13 ; Rev. v, 9. LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 153 ther of these days, but it has taken care that the event in each case should have its own appropriate memorial. Would you commemorate the crucifix- ion of the Redeemer ? You need not change the Sabbath to the crucifixion day. It would be a presumptuous sin in you to do this. Here is the divinely appointed memorial of the crucifixion : " The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betray- ed took bread; and when he had given thanks he brake it, and said, Take eat ; till's is my body, which is broken for you ; this do in remembrance of me. After the same man- ner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lord's death till he come."* It is the death of the Redeemer therefore and not the day of his death that the Holy Spirit has thought worthy of commemoration. Would you also commemorate the resurrection of the Redeem- er ? You need not change the Sabbath of the Bi- ble for that purpose. The great Law-giver has never authorized such an act. But an appropriate memorial of that event has been ordained : " Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Fa- ther, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection."t To be buried in the watery grave as our Lord was buried in the tomb, and to be raised from the water to walk in newness of life, as our Lord was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, *1 Cur. si, 28-26. � t Rom. vi. 8-5: Col. ii, 12. 11 154 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. is the divinely authorized memorial of the resur- rection of the Lord Jesus. And let it be observed, it is not the day of the resurrection, but the res- urrection itself, that was thought worthy of com- memoration. The events which lie at the founda- tion of redemption are the death, burial and res- urrection of the Redeemer. Each of these has its appropriate memorial ; while the days on which they severally occurred have no importance at- tached to them. It was the death of the Redeem- er, and not the day of his death, that was worthy of commemoration ; and hence the Lord's supper was appointed for that purpose. It was the res- urrection of the Saviour, and not the day of the resurrection, that was worthy of commemoration ; and hence burial in baptism was ordained as its memorial. It is the change of this memorial to sprinkling that has furnished so plausible a plea for first-day observance in memory of the resur- rection. To celebrate the work of redemption by resting from labor on the first day of the week after six days of toil, it should be true that our Lord ac- complished the work of human redemption in the six days prior to that of his resurrection, and that he rested on that day from the work, blessing it, and setting it apart for that reason. Yet not one of these particulars is true. Our Lord's whole life was devoted to this work. He rested temporarily from it indeed over the Sabbath following his cru- cifixion, but resumed the work on the morning of the first day of the week, which he has never since relinquished, and never will, until its perfect ac- complishment in the resurrection of the saints and the redemption of the purchased possession. Re- LAST O' THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 155 demption therefore furnishes no plea for a change of the Sabbath ; its own memorials being quite sufficient, without destroying that of the great Creator. And thus the third pillar in the temple of first-day sacredness, like the other parts of that structure which have been already examined, is found to be a thing of the imagination only. A fourth pillar in this temple is taken from an ancient prophecy in which it is claimed that the Christian Sabbath was foretold : " The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone I the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is mar- velous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."* This text is considered one of the strongest tes- timonies in support of the Christian Sabbath. Yet it is necessary to assume the very points that this text is supposed to prove. 1. It is assumed that the Saviour became the head of the corner by his resurrection. 2. That the day of his res- urrection was made the Christian Sabbath in com- memoration of that event. 3. And that this day thus ordained should be celebrated by abstinence from labor, and attendance upon divine worship. To these extraordinary assumptions it is proper to reply : 1. There is no proof that Jesus became the head of the corner on the day of his resurrec- tion. The Scriptures do not mark the day when this event took place. His being made head of the corner has reference to his becoming the chief corner stone of that spiritual temple composed of his people ; in other words, it has reference to his becoming head of that living body, the saints of the Most High. It does not appear that he as- *Ps. oxviii, 22-24. 11 - LAST OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS. � 157 through which we have been passing is the most eventful period in the history of the Sabbath. It embraces the whole history of the Lord of the Sabbath as connected with that institution : his miracles and teaching, by which it is affirmed that he weakened its authority ; his death, at which many affirm that he abrogated it ; and his resur- rection, at which a still larger number declare that he changed it to the first day of the week. We have had the most ample evidence however that each of these positions is false ; and that the open- ing of the great work for the Gentiles witnessed the Sabbath of the fourth commandment neither weakened, abrogated nor changed. 156 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. sumed this position until his ascension on high, where he became the chief corner stone in Zion above, elect and precious.* And hence there is no evidence that the first day of the week is even referred to in this text. 2. Nor is there the slightest evidence that that day or any other day was set apart as the Christian Sabbath in memory of Christ's resurrection. 3. Nor can there well be found a more extraordinary assumption than that this text enjoins the Sabbatic observance of the first day of the week ! This scripture has manifest reference to the Saviour's act of becoming the head of the New- Testament church and consequently it pertains to the opening of the gospel dispensation. The day in which the people of God rejoice, in view of this relation to the Redeemer can therefore be un- derstood of no one day of the week, for they are commanded to " rejoice EVERMORE ;t but of the whole period of the gospel dispensation. Our Lord uses the word day in the same manner when he says : "Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad.1 To assert the existence of what is termed the Christian Sabbath on the ground that this text is the prediction of such an institution, is to furnish a fourth pillar for the first-day temple quite as substantial as those already tested. The seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy ex- tends three and a half years beyond the death of the Redeemer, to the commencement of the great work for the Gentiles. This period of seven years *Eph. i, 20-23 ; ii, 20, 21 ; 1 Pet. ii, 4-7. tl Them v. 16. �tJohn viii, 56. _al 158 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. CHAPTER XI. THE SABBATH DURING THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLES. The knowledge of God preserved in the family of Abraham —The call of the Gentiles—The new covenant puts the law of God into the heart of each Christian—The new cov- enant has a temple in heaven ; and an ark containing the great original of that law which was in the ark upon earth —And before that ark a priest whose offering can take away sin—The Old and New Testaments compared—The human family in all ages amenable to the law of God— The good olive tree shows the intimate relation between the church of the New Testament and the Hebrew church —The apostolic church observed the Sabbath—Examina- tion of Acts xiii—The assembly of the apostles at Jerusa- lem—Sabbatarian origin of the church of Philippi—Of the church of the Thessalonians—Of the church of Corinth— The churches in Judea and in many cases among the Gen- tiles began with Sabbath-keepers—Examination of 1 Cor. xvi, 1, 2—Self-contradiction of Dr. Edwards—Paul at Troas—Examination of Rom. xiv, 1-6—Flight of the disci- ples from Judea—The Sabbath of the Bible at the close of the first century. We have now traced the Sabbath through the period of its especial connection with the family of Abraham. The termination of the seventy weeks brings us to the call of the Gentiles, and to their admission to equal privileges with the He- brew race. We have seen that with God there was no injustice in conferring especial blessings upon the Hebrews, and at the same time leaving the Gentiles to their own chosen ways.* Twice had he given the human family, as a whole, the most ample means of grace that their age of. the world admitted, and each time did it result in the almost total apostasy of mankind. Then God se- *See chapter iii. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 159 lected as his heritage the family of Abraham, his friend ; and by means of that family preserved in the earth the knowledge of his law, his Sabbath, and himself, until the coming of the great Messiah. During his ministry the Messiah solemnly affirmed the perpetuity of his Father's law, enjoining obe- dience even to its least commandment ;* at his death he broke down that middle wall of partition j' by which the Hebrews had so long been preserved a separate people in the earth ; and when about to ascend into heaven commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to ev- ery creature ; teaching them to observe all things which he had commanded them.t With the ex- piration of the seventieth week, the apostles en- ter upon the execution of this great commission to the Gentiles.11 � Several facts of deep interest should here be noticed. 1. The new covenant or testament dates from the death of the Redeemer. In accordance with the prediction of Jeremiah, it began with the He- brews alone, and was confined exclusively to them until the expiration of the seventieth week. Then the Gentiles were admitted to a full participation with the Hebrews in its blessings, being no longer aliens and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints.§ God entered into covenant this time with his people as individuals and not as a nation. The promises of this covenant embrace two points of great interest. (1.) That God will put his law into the hearts of his people. (2.) That he will for- *Matt. v, 17-19. � j-Eph. ii, 13-16; Col. ii, 14-17. IMatt. xxviii, 19, 20 ; Mark xvi, 15. pan. ix, 24-27 ; Acts ix, x, xi ; xxvi, 12-17 ; Rom. xi, 13. Cor. xi,25 ; Jer. xxxi, 31-34 ; Heb. viii, 8-12 ; Dan. ix, 27 ; Ep. ii, 11-22. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 161 160 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. give their sins. These promises being made six hundred years before the birth of Christ, there can be no question relative to what was meant by the law of God. It was the law of God then in existence that should be put into the heart of each new-covenant saint. The new covenant then is based upon the perpetuity of the law of God ; it does not abrogate that law, but takes away sin, the transgression of the law, from the heart, and puts the law of God in its place.* The perpetuity of each precept of the moral law,-lies therefore at the very foundation of the new covenant. 2. As the first covenant had a sanctuary, and within that sanctuary an ark containing the law of God in ten commandments,t and had also a priesthood to minister before that ark, to make atonement for the sins of men,- even thus is it with the new covenant. Instead of the tabernacle erected by Moses as the pattern of the true, the new covenant has the greater and more perfect tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man— the temple of God in heaven.Ij As the great cen- tral point in the earthly sanctuary was the ark containing that law which man had broken, even thus it is with the heavenly sanctuary. " The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament. "§ Our Lord Jesus Christ as a great High Priest presents his own blood before the ark of God's testament in the temple in heaven. Respecting *Matt. v, 17-19; 1 John iii, 4, 5; Rom. iv, 15. tHeb. ix, 1-7; Ex. xxv, 1-21 ; Deut. x, 4, 5 ; 1 Kings viii, 9. vii—x ; Lev. xvi. viii, 1-5 ; ix, 23, 24. � lRev. xi, 19. this object before which he ministers, let the follow- ing points be noted : The ark in the heavenly temple is not empty ; it contains the testament of God ; and hence it is the great center of the sanctuary above, as the ark of God's testament was the center of the sanctua- ry on earth.* The death of the Redeemer for the sins of men, and his work as High Priest before the ark in heaven, has direct reference to the fact that within that ark is the law which mankind have broken. As the atonement and priesthood of Christ have reference to the law within that ark before which he ministers, it follows that this law existed and was transgressed before the Saviour came down to die for men. And hence, the law contained in the ark above is not a law which originated in the New Testament ; for it necessarily existed long anteri- or to it. If therefore God has revealed this law to mankind, that revelation must be sought in the Old Testament. For while the New Testament makes many references to that law which caused the Saviour to lay down his life for sinful men, and even quotes from it, it never publishes a sec- ond edition, but cites us to the Old Testament for the original code.t It follows therefore that this law is revealed, and that this revelation is to be found in the Old Testament. *Ex. xxv, 21, 22. fRom. iii, 19-31 ; v, 8-21; viii, 3, 4; xiii, 8-10; Gal. iii, 13, 14 ; Eph. vi, 2, 3; James ii, 8-12 : 1 John iii, 4, 5. 162 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. In that volume will be found, (1.) The de- scent of the Ancient of days upon mount Sinai ; (2.) The proclamation of his law in ten command- ments ; (3.) The ten commandments written by the finger of God upon two tables of stone ; (4.) These tables placed beneath the mercy-seat in the ark of the earthly sanctuary. * That this remarkable Old-Testament law which was shut up in the ark of the earthly sanc- tuary was identical with that in the ark in heav- en, may be thus shown : (1.) The mercy-seat which was placed over the ten commandments was the place from which pardon was expected, the great central point in the work of atonement;' (2.) The law beneath the mercy-seat was that which made the work of atonement necessary ; (3.) There was no atonement that could take away sins ; it was only a shadowy or typical atonement ; (4.) But there was actual sin, and hence a real law which man had broken ; (5.) There must therefore be an atonement that can take away sins ; and that real atonement must pertain to that law which was broken, and respecting which an atonement had been shadowed forth4 (6.) The ten commandments are thus set forth in the Old Testament as that law which demanded an atonement ; while the fact is ever kept in view that those sacrifices there provided could not avail to take away sins. � (7.) But the death of Jesus as the antitype of those sacrifices, was designed to accomplish precisely what they shadowed forth, but which they could not effect, viz., to make *Ex. xix, xx ; xxiv, 12 ; xxxi, 18 ; Deut. x. tLev. xvi. IRom. iii, 19-31; 1 John iii, 4, 5. IlPs. xl, 6-8; Heb. x. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 163 atonement for the transgression of that law which was placed in the ark beneath the mercy-seat.* We are thus brought to the conclusion that the law of God contained in the ark in heaven is iden- tical with that law which was contained in the ark upon earth ; and that both are identical with that law which the new covenant puts in the heart of each believer.- � The Old Testament therefore gives us the law of God and pronounces it perfect ; it also provides a typical atonement, but pronounces it inadequate to take away sins4 Hence what was needed was not a new edition of the law of God ; for that which was given already was per- fect ; but a real atonement to take away the guilt of the transgressor. So the New Testament re- sponds precisely to this want, providing a real atonement in the death of the Redeemer, but giv- ing no new edition of the law of God, II though it fails not to cite us to the perfect code given long before. But although the New Testament does not give a new edition of the law of God, it does show that the Christian dispensation has the great original of that law in the sanctuary in heaven. 3. We have seen that the new covenant places the law of God in the heart of each believer, and that the original of that law is preserved in the temple in heaven. That all mankind are amena- ble to the law of God, and that they ever have been, is clearly shown by Paul's epistle to the Romans. In the first chapter he traces the ori- gin of idolatry to the willful apostasy of the Gen- tiles, which took place soon after the flood. In the second chapter he shows that although God *Heb. ix, x. j-Jer. xxxi, 33; Rom. viii, 3, 4; 2 Cor. iii, 3. $Ps. xix, 7 ; James i, 25 ; Ps. xl. � IlRom. v. 164 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. gave them up to their own ways, and as a conse- quence left them without his written law, yet they were not left in utter darkness ; for they had by nature the work of the law written in their hearts ; and dim as was this light, their salvation would be secured by living up to it, or their ruin accom- plished by sinning against it. In the third chap- ter he shows what advantage the family of Abra- ham had in being taken as the heritage of God, while all other nations were left to their own ways. It was that the oracles of God, the written law, was given them in addition to that work of the law written in the heart, which they had by nature in common with the Gentiles. He then shows that they were no better than the Gentiles, because that both classes were transgressors of the law. This he proves by quotations from the Old Testa- ment. Then he shows that the law of God has jurisdiction over all mankind : " Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."* He then shows that the law cannot save the guilty, but must condemn them, and that justly. Next he reveals the great fact that redemption through the death of Jesus is the great means by which God can justify those who seek pardon, and at the same time remain just himself. And finally he exclaims : "Do we then make void the law through faith? God for- bid ; yea, we establish the law."1- It follows therefore that the law of God is una- bolished ; that the sentence of condemnation which it pronounces upon the guilty, is as exten- *Rom. iii, 19. �fRom. iii, 31. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 165 sive as is the offer of pardon through the gospel ; that its work exists in the hearts of men by nature ; from which we may conclude that man in his up- rightness possessed it in perfection, as is further proved by the fact that the new covenant, af- ter delivering men from the condemnation of the law of God, puts that law perfectly into their hearts. From all of which it follows that the law of God is the great standard by which sin is shown,* and hence the rule of life, by which all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles should walk. That the church in the present dispensation is really a continuation of the ancient Hebrew church is shown by the illustration of the good olive tree. That ancient church was God's olive tree, and that olive tree has never been destroyed. j- Because of .unbelief some of its branches were broken off; but the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles does not create a new olive tree ; it only grafts into the good olive tree such of the Gentiles as believe ; giving them a place among the original branches, that with them they may partake of its root and fatness. This olive tree must date from the call of Abraham after the apostasy of the Gentiles ; its trunk representing the patriarchs, beginning with the. father of the faithful ;I its branches the He- brew people. The ingrafting of the wild olive in- to the place of those branches which were broken off, represents the admission of the Gentiles to equal privileges with the Hebrews after the ex- piration of the seventy weeks. The Old Testa- ment church, the original olive tree, was a king- *Rom. iii, 20 ; 1 John iii, 4, 5 ; ii, 1, 2. -Per. xi, 16; Rom. xi, 17-24. taom. iv, 16-18 : Gal. iii, -••••1=1,_ SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 167 decisive evidence that the apostolic church did keep the fourth commandment. The testimony of James relative to the ten commandments, that he who violates one of them becomes guilty of all, is yet another strong evidence that the primitive church did sacredly regard the whole law of God.* But besides these facts we have a peculiar guaran- ty that the Sabbath of the Lord was not forgotten by the apostolic church. The prayer which our Lord taught his disciples that their flight from Ju- dea should not be upon the Sabbath was, as we have seen, designed to impress its sacredness deep- ly upon their minds, and could not but have se- cured that result.t In the history of the primitive church we have several important references to the Sabbath. The first of these is as follows : " But when they departed from Perga, they came to Anti- och in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath- day, and sat down."1 By invitation of the rulers of the synagogue, Paul delivered an extended address, proving that Jesus was the Christ. In the course of these re- marks he used the following language : " For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, be- cause they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath-day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him."11 When Paul's discourse was concluded we read : "And when the Jews were gone out, of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 1 Now when the congregation was *James ii, 8-12. -$-See chapter x. IActs xiii, 14. Ferse 27. pr. Bloomfield has the following note on this text: "The words, tic rd pera0 (TOP. are by many commentators sup- posed to mean ' on some intermediate week-day.' But that 166 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. dom of priests and an holy nation ; the New Tes- tament church, the olive tree after the ingrafting of the Gentiles, is described in the same terms,* When God gave up the Gentiles to apostasy be- fore the call of Abraham, he confounded their lan- guage, that they should not understand one anoth- er, and thus scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth. Standing over against this is the gift of tongues on the day of Pentecost, prepara- tory to the call of the Gentiles, and their ingrafting into the good olive tree.t We have followed the Sabbath to the call of the Gentiles, and the opening events of the gospel dis- pensation. We find the law of God, of which the Sabbath is a part, to be that which made our Lord's death as an atoning sacrifice necessary ; and that the great original of that law is in the ark above, before which our Lord ministers as high priest ; while a copy of that law is by the new covenant written within .the heart of each believer. It is seen therefore that the law of God is more intimately connected with the people of God since the death of the Redeemer than before that event. That the apostolic church did sacredly regard the Sabbath, as well as all the other precepts of the moral law, admits of no doubt. The fact is proved not merely because the early Christians were not accused of its violation by their most in- veterate enemies ; nor wholly by the fact that they held sin to be the transgression of the law, and that the law was the great standard by which sin is shown, and that by which sin becomes ex- ceeding sinful. � These points are certainly very *Ex. xix, 5, 6 ; 1 Pet. ii, 9, 10. fGen. xi, 1-9 ; Acts ii, 1-11. � IRom. vii, 12, 18. 168 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes follow- ed Paul and Barnabas : who speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next Sab- bath-day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God."* These texts show, 1. Tha t by the term Sabbath in the book of Acts is meant that dly on which the Jewish people assembled in the synagogue to listen to the voices of the prophets. 2. That as this discourse was fourteen years after the resur- rection of Christ, and the record of it by Luke was some thirty years after that event, it follows that the alleged change of the Sabbath at the resurrec- tion of Christ had not, even after many years, come to the knowledge of either Luke or Paul. 3. That here was a remarkable opportunity to mention the change of the Sabbath, had it been true that the Sabbath had been changed in honor of Christ's resurrection. For when Paul was asked to preach the same words the next Sabbath, he might have answered, that the following day was now the proper day for divine worship. And Luke in placing this incident upon record could not well avoid the mention of this new day, had it been true that another day had become the Sab- bath of the Lord. 4. That as this second meet- ing pertained almost wholly to Gentiles, it cannot be said in this case that Paul preached upon the Sabbath out of regard to the Jews. On the con- trary, the narrative strongly indicates Paul's re- is refuted by verse 44, and the sense expressed in our com- mon version is, no doubt, the true one. It is adopted by the best recent commentators, and confirmed by the ancient ver- sions." Greek Testament with English notes, Vol. I, p. 521. And Prof. Hacket has a similar note. Commentary on Acts, p. 233. � *I,TerseF 42-44. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 169 gard for the Sabbath as the proper day for divine worship. 5. Nor can it be denied that the Sab- bath was well understood by the Gentiles in this city, and that they had some degree of regard for it, a fact which will be corroborated by other texts. Several years after these things, the apostles assembled at Jerusalem to consider the question of circumcision.* " Certain men which came down from Judea," finding the Gentiles uncircumcised, had " taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved." Had they found the Gentiles neglect- ing the Sabbath, unquestionably this would have first called out their rebuke. It is indeed worthy of notice that no dispute at this time existed in the church relative to the observance of the Sab- bath, for none was brought before this apostolic assembly. Yet had it been true that the change of the Sabbath was then advocated, or that Paul had taught the Gentiles to neglect the Sabbath, without doubt those who brought up the question of circumcision would have urged that of the Sab- bath with even greater earnestness. That the law of Moses, the observance of which was under dis- cussion in this assembly, is not the ten command- ments, is evident from several decisive facts. 1. Because that Peter calls the code under consider- ation a yoke which neither their fathers nor them- selves were able to bear. But James expressly calls that royal law, which, on his own showing, embodies the ten commandments, a law of liberty. 2. Because that this assembly did decide against the authority of the law of Moses ; and yet James who was a member of this body did some years af- *Act s xv. 12 170 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. terward solemnly enjoin obedience to the com- mandments, affirming that he who violated one was guilty of all.* 3. Because the chief feature in the law of Moses as here presented was circumcis- ion.t But circumcision was not in the ten com- mandments ; and were it true that the law of Mo- ses includes these commandments, circumcision would not in that case be a chief feature of that law. 4. Finally, because that the precepts still de- clared obligatory are not properly either of the ten commandments. These were, first, the pro- hibition of meats offered to idols ; second, of blood; third, of things strangled ; and fourth, of fornica- tion.t Each of these precepts may be often found in the books of Moses,II and the first and last ones come under the second and seventh command- ments respectively ; but neither of these cover but a part of that which is forbidden in either com- mandment. It is evident therefore that the au- thority of the ten commandments was not under consideration in this assembly, and that the decis- ion of that assembly had no relation to those pre- cepts. For otherwise the apostles released the Gentiles from all obligation to eight of the ten cimmandments, and from the greater prohibitions contained in the other two. It is evident that those greatly err who repre- sent the Gentiles as released from the obligation of the Sabbath by this assembly. The question did not come before the apostles on this occasion ; a strong proof that the Gentiles had not been *Acts xv, 10, 28, 29 ; James ii, 8-12. tVerses 1, 5. �/Verse 29; xxi, 25. NEx. xxxiv, 15, 16; Num. xxv, 2 ; Lev. xvii, 13, 14 ; Gen. ix, 4 ; Lev.. iii, 17 ; Gen. xxxiv ; Lev. xix, 29. SABBATH DURING} APOSTLES' DAYS. � 171 taught to neglect the Sabbath, as they had to omit circumcision, which was the occasion of its being brought before the apostles at Jerusalem. Yet the Sabbath was referred to in this very assembly as an existing institution, and that, too, in con- nection with the Gentile Christians. Thus when James pronounced sentence upon the question he used the following language : " Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles, are turned to God ; but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sab- bath-day."* This last fact is given by James as a reason for the course proposed toward the brethren among the Gentiles. " For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day." From this it is apparent that the ancient custom of divine worship upon the Sabbath was not only preserved by the Jewish people al. .1 carried with them into c very city of the Get.tiles, but that the Gentile Christians did attend tl: use meetings. Otherwise tie reason assigned by James would lose all its force, as having no appl.cation to this case. That they did attend them strongly attests the Sabbath as the day of divine worship with the Gentile churches. That the ancient Sabbath of the Lord had nei- ther been abrogated nor changed prior to this meeting of the apostles, is strongly attested by the nature of the dispute here adjusted. And the *Acts xv, 19-21. 172 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 173 close of their assembly beheld the Bible Sabbath still sacredly enthroned within the citadel of the fourth commandment. After this in a vision of the night Paul was called to visit Macedonia. In obedience to this call he came to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia. Thus Luke records the visit : " And we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made ; and we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain wo- man named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us ; whose heart the Lord open- ed, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul."* This does not appear to have been a gathering of Jews but of Gentiles, who like Cornelius were worshipers of the true God. Thus it is seen that the church of the Philippians originated with a pious assembly of Sabbath-keeping Gentiles. And it is likely that Lydia and those employed by her in business, who were evidently observers of the Sabbath, were the means of introducing the gospel into their own city of Thyatira. " Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apol- lonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul as his manner wast went into them, and three Sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scrip- tures. . . . And some of them believed and consorted with Paul; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few."I *Acts xvi, 12-14. tPaul's manner is exemplified by the following texts, in all of which it would appear that the meetings in question were upon the Sabbath. Acts xiii, 6 . xiv, 1 ; xvii, 10, 17 ; xviii, 19 ; xix, 8. tActs xvii, 1-4. Such was the origin of the Thessalonian church. That it was an assembly of Sabbath-keepers at its beginning admits of no doubt. For besides the few Jews who received the gospel through the la- bors of Paul, there was a great multitude of de- vout Greeks that is, of Gentiles who had united themselves with the Jews in the worship of God upon the Sabbath. We have a strong proof of the fact that they continued to observe the Sab- bath after their reception of the gospel in the fol- lowing words of Paul addressed to them as a church of Christ. " For ye brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus."* The churches in Judea as we have seen were observers of the Sabbath of the Lord. The first Thessalonian converts before they received the gospel were Sabbath-keepers, and when they be- came a Christian church they adopted the church- es in Judea as their proper examples. And this church was adopted as an example by the church- es of Macedonia and Achaia. In this number were included the churches of Philippi and of Cor- inth. Thus writes Paul : '.4 And ye became followers of us. and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost ; so that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Mac- edonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in ev- ery place your faith to Godward is spread abroad."t After these things Paul came to Corinth. Here he first found Aquila and Priscilla. "And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought ; for by their occupation they were tent- *1 These. ii, 14. �ft These. i, 7, 8. 174 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks."* At this place also Paul found Gentiles as well as Jews in attendance upon the worship of God on the Sabbath. The first members of the church at Corinth were therefore observers of the Sabbath at the time when they received the gospel ; and as we have seen, they adopted as their pattern the Sabbath-keeping church of Thessalonica, who in turn patterned after the churches in Judea; The first churches were founded in the land of Judea. All their members had from childhood been familiar with the law of God, and well under- stood the precept, " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." Besides this precept all these churches had a peculiar memento of the Sabbath. They knew from our Lord himself that the time was coming when they must all suddenly flee from that land. And in view of this fact they were to pray that the moment of their sudden flight might not be upon the Sabbath ; a prayer which was designed as we have seen to pre- serve the sacredness of the Sabbath. That the churches in Judea were composed of Sabbath- keeping members, admits therefore of no doubt. Of the churches founded outside the land of Judea, whose origin is given in the book of Acts, nearly all began with Jewish converts. These were Sabbath-keepers when they received the gos- pel. Among these the Gentile converts were en- grafted. And it is worthy of notice that in a large number of cases, those Gentiles are termed " devout Greeks," "religious proselytes," persons tifat "worshiped God," that "feared God" and *Acts xviii, 3, 4. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 175 that " prayed to God alway."* These Gentiles at the time of their conversion to the gospel were, as we have seen, worshipers of God upon the Sab- bath with the Jewish people. When James had proposed the kind of letter that should be address- ed by the Apostles to the Gentile converts, he as- signed a reason for its adoption, the force of which can now be appreciated : " For Moses," said he, " of old time hath in EVERY CITY them that preach him, being read in the synagogue ev- ery Sabbath-day." The Sabbatarian character of the apostolic churches is thus clearly shown. In a letter addressed to the Corinthians about five years after they had received the gospel, Paul is supposed to contribute a fifth pillar to the first- day temple. -Thus he wrote them : "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."t From this text it is argued in behalf of the first day Sabbath, 1. That this was a public collection. 2. That hence the first day of the week was the day of public worship in the churches of Corinth and Galatia. 3. And therefore that the Sabbath had been changed to that day. Thus the change of the Sabbath is inferred from the public assem- blies for divine worship on the first day at Corinth and Galatia ; and the existence of these assem- blies on that day is inferred from the words of Paul, " Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store." *Acts x, 2, 4, 7, 22, 30-35; xiii, 43; xiv, 1; xvi, 13-15 ; xvii, 4, 10-12. �tl. Cor. xvi, 1, 2. 176 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 177 What then do these words ordain ? But one answer can be returned : They ordain precisely the reverse of a public collection. Each one should lay by himself on each first day of the week ac- cording as God had prospered him, that when Paul should arrive, they might have their bounty. ready. Mr. J. W. Morton, late Presbyterian mis- sionary to Hayti, bears the following testimony : "The whole question turns upon the meaning of the ex- pression, by him ;' and I marvel greatly how you can im- agine that it means in the collection box of the congrega- tion.' Greenfield, in his Lexicon, translates the Greek teem, with one's self, i. e., at home.' � Two Latin versions, the Vulgate and that of Castellio, render it apud se,' with one's self, at home. Three French translations, those of Martin, Osterwald and De Sacy, 'chez se at his own house, at home. The German of Luther, 'bei sich selbst,' by himself, at home. The Dutch, ' by hemselven,' same as the German. The Ital- ian of Diodati, appresso di se,' in his own presence, at home. The Spanish of Felippe Scio, 'en su cam,' in his own house. The Portugese of Ferreira, 'para isso,' with himself. The Swedish, 'nor sig sielf,' near himself."* Dr. Bloomfield thus comments on the originid : "Hoc' � ,by him.' French, chez lui, 4at home.' The Douay Bible reads : " Let every one of you put apart with himself." Mr. Sawyer thus translates : " Let each one of you lay aside by himself." Theodore Beza's Latin version has it: " Apud se," i. e., at home. The Syriac reads thus : " Let every one of you lay aside and pre- serve at home." It is true that an eminent first-day writer, Jus- tin Edwards D. D., in a labored effort to prove the *Vindication of the True Sabbath, pp. 51, 52. -fGreek Testament with English Notes, Vol. II, p. 173. change of the Sabbath, brings forward this text to show that Sunday was the day of religious wor- ship with the early church. Thus he says : " This laying by in store was NOT laying by AT HOME, for that would not prevent gatherings when he should come."* Such is his language as a theologian upon whom has fallen the difficult task of proving the change of the Sabbath by the authority of the Scriptures. But in his Notes on the New Testament, in which he feels at liberty to speak the truth, he thus squarely contradicts his own language already quoted. Thus he comments on this text : "Lay by him in store; AT HOME. That there be no gath- erings; that their gifts might be ready when the apostle should come.1 Thus even Dr. Edwards confesses that the idea of a public collection is not found in this scripture. On the contrary, it appears that each individual in obedience to this precept, would at the opening of each new week be -found AT HOME laying aside something for the cause of God, according as his worldly affairs would warrant. The change of the Sabbath, as proved by this text, rests wholly upon an idea which Dr. Edwards confesses is not found in it. We have seen that the church at Corinth was a Sabbath-keeping church. It is evident that the change of the Sabbath could never have been suggested to them by this text. This is the only scripture in which Paul even mentions the first day of the week. It was writ- ten nearly thirty years after the alleged change of the Sabbath. Yet Paul omits all titles of sacred- ness, simply designating it as first day of the week ; *Sabbath Manual of the American Tract Society, p. 116. tFamily Testament of the American Tract Society, p. 286. 178 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. a name to which it was entitled as one of " the six working days."* It is also worthy of notice that this is the only precept in the Bible in which the first day is even named ; and that this precept says nothing relative to the sacredness of the day to which it pertains ; even the duty which it en- joins being more appropriate to a secular than to a sacred day. Soon after writing his first epistle to the Corin- thians, Paul visited Troas. In the record of this visit occurs the last instance in which the first day of the week is mentioned in the New Testament : " And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of un- leavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days ;-1- where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow ; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered to- gether. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep ; and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves ; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were *Eze. xlvi, 1. tProf. 'Jacket remarks on the length of this voyage: " The passage on the apostle's first journey to Europe occupied two days only ; see chapter xvi, 11. Adverse winds or calms would be liable, at any season of the year, to occasion this variation."—Commentary on Acts, p. 329. This shows how little ground there is to claim that Paul broke the Sabbath on this voyage. There was ample time to reach Troas before the Sabbath when he started from Philippi, had not provi- dential causes hindered. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 179 not a little comforted. And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul ; for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot."* This scripture is supposed to furnish a sixth pillar for the first-day temple. The argument may be concisely stated thus : This testimony shows that the first day of the week was appropriated by the apostolic church to meetings for the break- ing of bread in honor of Christ's resurrection up- on that day ; from which it is reasonable to con- clude that this day had become the Christian Sab- bath. If this proposition could be established as an undoubted truth, the change of the Sabbath would not follow as a necessary conclusion ; it would even then amount only to a plausible conjecture. The following facts will aid us in judging of the truthfulness of this argument for the change of the Sabbath. 1. That this is the only instance of a religious meeting upon the first day of the week recorded in the New Testament. 2. That no stress can be laid upon the expression, " when the disciples came together," as proving that meetings for the purpose of breaking bread were held on each first day of the week ; for there is nothing in the original answering to the word " when;" the whole phrase being translated from three words, the perfect passive participle arvimievia, " being assembled," and rwv pathrwv, " the disci- ples ;" the sacred writer simply stating the gath- ering of the disciples on this occasion.t 3. That the ordinance of breaking bread was not appoint- *Acts xx, 6-13. tThus Prof. Whiting renders the phrase : " The disciples being assembled." And Sawyer has it : " We being assem- bled." 711717-Fri 180 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ed to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, but to keep in memory his death upon the cross.* The act of breaking bread therefore upon the first day of the week, is not a commemoration of Christ's resurrection. 4. That as the breaking of bread commemorates our Lord's crucifixion, and was instituted on the evening with which the cru- cifixion day began, on which occasion Jesus him- self and all the apostles were present;- it is evi- dent that the day of the crucifixion presents great- er claims to the celebration of this ordinance than does the day of the resurrection. 5. But as our Lord designated no day for this ordinance, and as the apostolic church at Jerusalem are recorded to have celebrated it daily,1 it is evidently presump- tion to argue the change of the Sabbath from a single instance of its celebration upon the first day of the week. 6. That this instance of breaking bread upon first-day, was with evident reference to the immediate and final departure of Paul. 7. For it is a remarkable fact that this, the only instance of a religious meeting on the first day re- corded in the New Testament, was a night meet- ing. This is proved by the fact that many lights were burning in that assembly, and that Paul preached till midnight. 8. And from this fact follows the important consequence that this first- day meeting was upon Saturday night.11 For the *1 Cor. xi, 23-26. � Platt. xxvi. � tActs ii, 42-46. liThis fact has been acknowledged by many first-day com- mentators. Thus Prof. Hacket comments upon this text : " The Jews reckoned the day from evening to morning, and on that principle the evening of the first day of the week would be our Saturday evening. If Luke reckoned so here, as many commentators suppose, the apostle then waited for the expiration of the Jewish Sabbath, and held his last re- SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 181 days of the week being reckoned from evening to evening, and evening being at sunset,* it is seen ligious service with the brethren at Troas, at the beginning of the Christian Sabbath, i. e., on Saturda y � evening, and consequently resumed his journey on Sunday morning." (Commentary on Acts, pp. 329, 330.) But he endeavors to shield the first-day Sabbath from this fatal admission by suggesting that Luke probably reckoned time according to the Pagan method, rather than by that which is ordained in the t-criptures ! Kitto in noting the fact that this was an evening meeting, speaks thus : "It has from this last circumstance been in- ferred that the assembly commenced after sunset on the Sab- bath, at which hour the first day of the week had commenc- ed, according to the Jewish reckoning [Jahn's Bibl. Antiq., 398], which would hardly agree with the idea of a com- memoration of the resurrection." Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, article Lord's day. And Prynne, whose testimony relative to redemption as an argument for the change of the Sabbath has been already quoted, thus states this point : Because the text saith there were many lights in the upper room where they were gather- ed together, and that Paul preached till midnight, . . . this meeting of the disciples at Troas began at evening. The sole doubt will be what evening this was. For my own part I conceive clearly that it was upon Saturday night, as we falsely call it, and not the coming Sunday night � Be- cause St. Luke records that it was upon the first day of the week when this meeting was, therefore it must needs be on the Saturday, not on our Sunday evening, since Sunday evening in St. Luke's and the Scripture account was no part of the first, but of the second day; the day ever beginning and ending at evening." Prynne notices the objection drawn from the phrase, "ready to depart on the morrow," as indicating that his de- parture was not on the same day of the week with his night meeting. The substance of his answer is this : If the fact be kept in mind that the days of the week are reckoned from evening to evening, the following texts, in which in the night, the morning is spoken of as the morrow, will show at once that another day of the week is not necessarily intend- ed by the phrase in question. 1 Sam. six, 11 ; Esth. ii, 14; Zeph. iii, 8 ; Acts xxiii, 81, 82. Diss. on Lord's Day Sab. pp. 36-41, 1683. � ' *See the conclusion of chap. viii. 182 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. that the first day of the week begins Saturday night at sunset, and ends at sunset on Sunday. A night meeting_ therefore upon the first day of the week could be only upon Saturday night. 9. Paul therefore preached until midnight of Sat- urday night—for the disciples held a night meet- ing at the close of the Sabbath, because he was to leave in the morning—then being interrupted by the fall of the young man, he -went down and healed him; then went up and attinded to the breaking of bread ; and at break of day on Sun- day morning he departed. 10. Thus are we furn- ished with conclusive evidence that Paul and his companions resumed their journey toward Jerusa- lem on the morning of the first day of the week ; they taking ship to Assos, and he being pleased to go on foot. This fact is an incidental proof of Paul's regard for the Sabbath, in that he waited till it was past before resuming his journey; and it is a positive proof that he knew nothing of what in modern times is called the Christian Sabbath. 11. This narrative was written by Luke at least thirty years after the alleged change of the Sab- bath. It is worthy of note that Luke omits all titles of sacredness, simply designating the day in question, as the first day of the week. This is in admirable keeping with the fact that in his gospel, when recording the very event which is said to have changed the Sabbath, he not only omits the slightest hint of that fact, but designates the day itself by its secular title of first day of the week, and at the same time designates the previous day as the Sabbath according to the commandment.* The same year that Paul visited Troas, he wrote as follows to the church at Rome : *Luke xxiii, 56; xxiv, 1. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 188 " Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things : another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that' eateth despise him that eateth not ; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth ; for God hath re- ceived him. Who art thou that judgest another man's ser- vant ? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another : another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he cloth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks ; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks."* These words have often been quoted to show that the observance of the fourth commandment is now a matter of indifference ; each individual be- ing at liberty to act his pleasure in the matter. So extraordinary a doctrine should be thoroughly tested before being adopted. For as it pleased God to ordain the Sabbath before the fall of man, and to give it a place in his code of ten command- ments, thus making it a part of that law to which the great atonement relates ; and as the Lord Jesus dur- ing his ministry spent much time in explaining its merciful design, and took care to provide against its desecration at the flight of his people from the land of Judea, which was ten years in the future when these words were written by Paul ; and as the fourth commandment itself is expressly recognized after the crucifixion of Christ ; if under these cir- cumstances we could suppose it to be consistent with truth that the Most High should abrogate the Sabbath, we certainly should expect that ab- *Rom. xiv, 1-6. 184 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. rogation to be stated in explicit language. Yet neither the Sabbath nor the fourth commandment are here named. That they are not referred to in this language of Paul, the following reasons will show 1. Such a view would make the observance of one of the ten commandments a matter of indiffer- ence; whereas James shows that to violate one of them is to transgress the whole.* 2. It directly contradicts what Paul had previously written in this epistle ; for in treating of the law of ten commandments, he styles it holy, spiritual, just and good ; and states that sin—the transgression - of the law—by the commandment becomes " EX- CEEDING SINFUL."t 3. Because that Paul in the same epistle affirms the perpetuity of that law which caused our Lord to lay down his life for sinful men ;T which we have seen before was the ten commandments. 4. Because that Paul in this case not only did not name the Sabbath arid the fourth commandment, but certainly was not treating of the moral law. 5. Because that the topic under consideration which leads him to speak as he does of the days in question was that of eat- ing all kinds of food, or of refraining from certain things. 6. Because that the fourth command- ment did not stand associated with precepts of such a kind, but with moral laws exclusively.II 7. Because that in the ceremonial law associated with the precepts concerning meats, vas a large number of festivals, entirely distinct from the Sabbath of the Lord.§ 8. Because that the *James ii, 8-12. � tRom. vii, 12, 13; 1 John iii, 4, 5. iii. �IlEx. xx. .&Lev. xxiii. These are particularly enumerated in Col. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 185 church of Rome, which began probably with those Jews that were present from Rome on the day of pentecost, had many Jewish members in its com- munion, as may be gathered from the epistle it- self ;* and would therefore be deeply interested in the decision of this question relative to the cer- emonial law; the Jewish members feeling consci- entious in observing its distinctions, the Gentile members feeling no such scruples. Hence the ad- mirable counsel of Paul exactly meeting the case of both classes. 9. Nor can the expression, " ev- ery day," be claimed as decisive proof that the Sabbath of the Lord is included. At the very time when the Sabbath was formally committed to the Hebrews, just such expressions were used, al- though only the six working days were intended. Thus it was said : " The people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day ;" and the narra- tive says " they gathered it every morning." Yet when some of them went out to gather on the Sabbath, God says, " How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ?"-1- The Sab- bath being a great truth, plainly stated and many times repeated, it is manifest that Paul in the ex- pression, " every clay," speaks of the six working days among which a distinction had existed pre- cisely co-eval with that respecting meats ; and that he manifestly excepts that day which from the be- ginning God had reserved unto himself. Just as when Paul quotes and applies to Jesus the words of David, " All things are put under him," he ii, as we have already noticed in chapter vii, and in the con- cluding part of chapter x. *Acts ii, 1--11 ; Rom. ii, 17 ; iv, 1; vii, 1. t Ex. xvi, 4, 21, 27, 28. 13 186 � HISTORY OP THE SABBATH. adds : " It is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him."* 10. And lastly, in the words of John, " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,"t written many years after this epis- tle of Paul, we have an absolute proof that in the gospel dispensation one day is still claimed by the Most High as his own.t About ten years after this epistle was written, occurred the memorable flight of all the people of God that were in the land of Judea. It was not in the winter; for it occurred just after the feast of tab- ernacles, sometime in October. And it was not upon the Sabbath ; for Josephus, who speaks of the sudden withdrawal of the Roman army after it had by encompassing the city given the very signal for flight which our Lord promised his people, tells us that the Jews rushed out of the city in pursuit of the retreating Romans, which was at the very time when our Lord's injunction of in- stant flight became imperative upon the disciples. The historian does not intimate that the Jews thus pursued the Romans upon the Sabbath, although *1 Cor. xv, 27; Ps. viii. � j-Rev. i, 10. 1To show that Paul regarded Sabbatic observance as dan- gerous, Gal. iv, 10, is often quoted; notwithstanding the same individuals claim that Rom. xiv, proves that it is a matter of perfect indifference; they not seeing that this is to make Paul contradict himself. But if the connection be read from verse 8 to verse 11, it will be seen that the Gala- tians before their conversion were not Jews but heathen; and that these days, months, times and years were not those of the Levitical law, but those which they had regarded with superstitious reverence while heathen. Observe the stress which Paul lays upon the word " again" in verse 9. And how many that profess the religion of Christ at the present day superstitiously regard certain days as "lucky" or " un- lucky days ;" though such notions are derived only from heathen distinctions. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 187 he carefully notes the fact that a few days previ- ous to this event they did, in their rage, utterly forget the Sabbath and rush out to fight the Ro- mans upon that day. These providential circum- stances in the flight of the disciples being made dependent upon their asking such interposition at the hand of God, it is evident that the disciples did not forget the prayer which the Saviour taught them relative to this event ; and that as a conse- quence the Sabbath of the Lord was not forgotten by them. And thus the Lord Jesus in his tender care for his people and in his watchful care in be- half of the Sabbath, showed that he was alike the Lord of his people and the Lord of the Sabbath.* Twenty-six years after the destruction of Jeru- salem the book of Revelation was committed to the beloved disciple. It bears the following deeply interesting date as to place and time : "I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in THE ISLE that is called PATHOS, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit ON THE LORD'S DAY, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last; and, What thou seest, write in a book." t This book is dated in the isle of Patmos, and upon the Lord's day. The place, the day and the individual have each a real existence, and not merely a symbolical or mystical one. Thus John almost at the close of the first century, and long after those texts were written which are nowad- duced to prove that no distinction in days exists, shows that the Lord's day has as real an exis- *See chapter x. � tRev. i, 9711. 188 � HISTORY OF THE SAI3BATH. SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 189 tence, as has the isle of Patmos, or as had the be- loved disciple himself. What day then is intended by this designation? .Several answers have been returned to this ques- tion. 1. It is the gospel dispensation. 2. It is the day of judgment. 3. It is the first day of the week. 4. It is the Sabbath of the Lord. The first answer cannot be the true one ; for it not on- ly renders the day a mystical term, but it involves the absurdity of representing John as writing to Christians sixty-five years after the death of Christ, that the vision which he had just had, was seen by him in the gospel dispensation ; as though it were possible for them to be ignorant of the fact that if he had a vision at all he must have it in the existing dispensation. Nor can the second answer be admitted as the truth. For while it is true that John might have a vision CONCERNING the day of judgment, it is impossible that he should have a vision ON that day when it was yet future. If it be no more than an absurdity to represent John as dating his vision in the isle of Patmos, on the gospel dispen- sation, it becomes a positive untruth, if he is made to say that he was in vision at Patmos on the day of judgment. The third answer, that the Lord's day is the first day of the week, is now almost universally received as the truth. The text under examina- tion is brought forward with an air of triumph as completing the temple of first-day sacredness, and proving beyond all doubt that that day is indeed the Christian Sabbath. Yet as we have examined this temple with peculiar carefulness, we have dis- covered that the foundation on which it rests is a thing of the imagination only ; and that the pil- lars by which it is supported exist ohly in the minds of those who worship at its shrine. It re- mains to be seen whether the dome which is sup- posed to be furnished by 'this text is more real than the pillars on which it rests. That the first day of the week has no claim to the title of Lord's day, the following facts will show : 1. That as this text does not define the term Lord's day, we must look elsewhere in the Bible for the evidence that shows the first day to be entitled to such a designation. 2. That Mat- thew, Mark, Luke, Paul, and the other sacred writers who mention the day, use no other desig- nation for it than first day of the week, a name to which it was entitled as one of the six working days. Yet three of these writers mention it at the very time when it is said to have become the Lord's day ; and two of them mention it also some thirty years after that event. 3. That while it is claimed that the Spirit of inspiration, by simply leaving John to use the term Lord's day, though he did in no wise connect the first day of the week therewith, did design to fix this as the proper title of the first day of the week, it is a re- markable fact that after John returned from the isle of Patmos he wrote his gospel ;* and in that *Dr. Bloomfield, though himself of a different opinion, speaks thus of the views of others concerning the date of John's gospel: " It has been the general sentiment, both of ancient and modern inquirers, that it was published about the close of the first century."—Greek Testament with English Notes, Vol. i, p. 328. Morer says that John " penned his gospel two years later than the Apocalypse, and after his return from Patmos, as SABBATH DURING APOSTLES' DAYS. � 191 190 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. gospel he twice mentioned the first day of the week ; yet in each of these instances where it is certain that first-day is intensded, no other desig- nation is used than plain first day of the week. This is a most convincing proof that John did not regard the first day of the week as entitled to this name, or any other, expressive of sacredness. 4. What still further decides the point against the" first day of the week is the fact that neither the Father nor the Son have ever claimed the first day in any higher sense than they have each of the six days given to man for labor. 5. 'And what completes the chain of evidence against the claim of first day_to this title, is the fact that the testi- mony adduced by first-day advocates to prove that it has been adopted by the Most High in place of that day which he once claimed as his, having been been examined, is found to have no such meaning or intent. In setting aside the third answer also, as not being in accordance with truth, the first day of the week may be properly dismissed with it, as having no claim to our regard as a scriptural institution. * St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and Eusebius affirm."—Dia- logues on the Lord's Day, p. 54. The Paragraph Bible of the London Religious Tract Socie- ty, in its preface to the book of John, speaks thus : " Ac- cording to the general testimony of ancient writers, John wrote his gospel at Ephesus, about the year 97." *The Encyclopedia Britannica, in its article concerning the Sabbath, undertakes to prove that the "religious observation of the first day of the week is of apostolical appointment." After citing and commenting upon all the passages that could be urged in proof of the point, it makes the following candid acknowledgment : " Still however it must be owned that these apssages are not sufficient to prove the apostolical institution of the Lord's day, or even the actual observation of it." The absence of all scriptural testimony relative to the change That the Lord's day is the Bible Sabbath ad- mits of clear and certain proof. The argument stands thus : When God gave to man six days of the week for labor, he did expressly reserve unto himself the seventh, on which he placed his bless- ing in memory of his own act of resting upon that day, and thenceforward through the Bible has ever claimed it as his holy day. As he has never put away this sacred day and chosen anoth- er, the Sabbath of the Lord is still his holy day. These facts may be traced in the following Scrip- tures. At the close of the Creator's rest it is said : "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, be- cause that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."* After the children of Israel had reached the wilderness of Sin, Moses said to them on the sixth day : " To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord."t In giving the ten commandments the Law-giver thus stated his claim to this day : " The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. of the Sabbath, is accounted for by certain advocates of that theory, not by the frank admission that it never was changed by the Lord, but by quoting John xxi, 25, assuming the change of the Sabbath as an undoubted truth, but that it was left out of the Bible lest it should make that book too large! They think therefore that we should go to ecclesiastical his- tory to learn this part of our duty ; not seeing that as the fourth commandment still stands in the Bible, unrepealed and unchanged, to acknowledge that that change must be sus- tained wholly outside of the Bible, is to acknowledge that first-day observance is a tradition which makes void the commandment of God. The following chapters will however patiently examine the argument for first-day observance drawn from ecclesiastical history. *Gen. ii, 3. �tEx. xvi, 23. PART II—SECULAR HISTORY. 192 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. � 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 hallow- ed it."* He gives to man the six days on which himself had labored ; he reserves as his own that day up- on which he had rested from all his work. About eight hundred years after this, God spoke by Isaiah as follows : "If thou turn away thy foot from THE SABBATH, from doing thy pleasure on MY HOLY DAY, � then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth."t This testimony is perfectly explicit ; the Lord's day is the ancient Sabbath of the Bible. The Lord Jesus puts forth the following claim : " The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.'1 Thus whether it be the Father or the Son whose title is involved, the only day that can be called " the Lord's day" is the Sabbath of the great Cre- ator.II And here at the close of the Bible history of the Sabbath, two facts of deep interest are pre- sented : 1. That John expressly recognizes the existence of the Lord's day at the very close of the first century. 2. That it pleased the Lord of the Sabbath to place a signal honor upon his own day in that he selected it as the one on which to give that revelation to John, which himself alone had been worthy to receive from the Father. *Ex. yx, 8-11. tIsa. lviii, 13, 14. � Mark ii, 27, 28. IlAn able opponent of Sabbatic observance thus speaks relative to the term Lord's day of Rev. i, 10 ; " If a current day was intended, the only day bearing this definition, in either the Old or New Testament, is Saturday, the seventh day of the week."—W. B. Taylor, in the Obligation of the Sabbath, p. 296. CHAPTER XII. EARLY APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH. General purity of the apostolic churches—Early decline of their piety—False teachers arose in the church immediate- ly after the apostles—The great Romish apostasy had be- gun before the death of Paul—An evil thing not rendered good by beginning in the apostolic age—How to decide be- tween truth and error—Age cannot change the fables of men into the truth of God—Historical testimony concern- ing the early development of the great apostasy—Such an age no standard by which to correct the Bible—Testi- mony of Bower relative to the traditions of this age—Tes- timony of Dowling—Dr. Cumming's opinion of the author- ity of the fathers—Testimony of Adam Clarke—The church of Rome has corrupted the writings of the fathers—Nature of tradition illustrated—The two rules of faith which di- vide christendom—the first-day Sabbath can only be sus- tained by adopting the rule of the Romanists. The book of Acts is an inspired history of the church. During the period which is embraced in its record, the apostles and their fellow-labor- ers were upon the stage of action, and under their watchcare the churches of Christ preserved, to a great extent, their purity of life and doctrine. These apostolic churches are thus set forth as the proper examples for all coming time. This book fitly connects the narratives of the four evange- lists with the apostolic epistles, and thus joins to- gether the whole New Testament. But when we leave the period embraced in this inspired history, HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 194 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. and the Churches which were founded and governed by inspired men, we enter upon altogether differ- ent times. There is, unfortunately, great truth in the severe language of Gibbon : " The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describ- ing religion as she descended from heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of er- ror and corruption, which she contracted in a long residence upon earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beings."* What says the book of Acts respecting the time immediately following the labors of Paul ? In ad- dressing the elders of the Ephesian church Paul said : " For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them."t It follows from this testimony that we are not authorized to receive the teaching of any man simply because he lived immediately after the apostolic age, or even in the days of the apostles themselves. Grievous wolves were to enter the midst of the people of God, and of their own selves were men to arise, speaking perverse things. If it be asked how these are to be distinguished from the true servants of God, this is the proper an- swer : Those who spoke and acted in accordance with the teachings of the apostles were men of God; those who taught otherwise were of that class who should speak perverse things to draw away disciples after them. What say the apostolic epistles relative to this apostasy ? To the Thessalonians it is written : *Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. xv. Acts xx, 29, 30. EARLY APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH. � 195 Let no man deceive you by any means ; for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition ; who op- poseth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God � For the mystery of iniquity doth already work ; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."* To Timothy in like manner it is said : "Preach the word ; be instant in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine For the time will come when they will not endure sound doc- trine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to them- selves teachers having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."t These texts are most explicit in predicting a great apostasy in the church, and in stating the fact that that apostasy. had 0,1ready commenced. The Romish church, the eldest in apostasy, prides itself upon its apostolic character. In the lan- guage of Paul to the Thessalonians, already quot- ed, that great anti-Christian body may indeed find its claim to an origin in apostolic times vindi- cated, but its apostolic character most emphatic- ally denied. And herein is found a striking illus- tration of the fact that an evil thing is not ren- dered good by the accidental circumstance of originating in the days of the apostles. At its commencement everything is either right or wrong. If right, it may be knownby its agreement with *2 Thess. ii, 3, 4, 7, 8. t2 Tim. iv, 2-4 ; 2 Pet. ii ; Jude 4; 1 John ii, 18. 196 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. the divine standard. If wrong at its origin, it can never cease to be such. Satan's great falsehood which involve'd our race in ruin has not yet be- come the truth, although six thousand years have elapsed since it was uttered. Think of this, ye who worship at the shrine of venerable error. When the fables of men obtained the place of the truth_ of God, he was thereby dishonored. How then can he accept them as a part of that pure devotion which he requires at our hands ? They that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth. How many ages must pass over the fables of men before they become changed into divine truth ? That these predictions of the new Testament respecting the great apostasy in the church were fully realized, the pages of ecclesias- tical-history present ample proof. Mr. Dowling in his History of Romanism thus remarks : " There is scarcely anything which strikes the mind of the careful student of ancient ecclesiastical history with greater surprise, than the comparatively early period at which many of the corruptions of Christianity, which are embodied in the Romish system, took their rise; yet it is not to be supposed that when the first originators of many of these an- scriptural notions and practices planted those germs of cor- ruption, they anticipated or even imagined they would ever grow into such a vast and hideous system of superstition and error, as is that of popery � Each of the great corrup- tions of the latter ages took its rise in a manner which it would be harsh to say was deserving of strong reprehension. � The worship of images, the invocation of saints, and the superstition of relics, were but expansions of the natural feelings of veneration and affection cherished to- ward the memory of those who had suffered and died for the truth."* *Book ii, chap. 2, sec. 1. EARLY APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH. � 197 Robinson, author of the "History of Baptism," bears the following testimony : " Toward the latter end of the second century, most of the churches assumed a new form, the first simplicity disap- peared; and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children along with new converts, both Jews and Gentiles, came forward and new modeled the cause."* The working of the mystery of iniquity in the first centuries of the Christian church, is thus de- scribed by a recent writer : " During these centuries the chief corruptions of popery were either introduced in principle, or the seeds of them so effectually sown, as naturally to produce those banefulfruits which appeared so plentifully at a later period. In Justin Martyr's time, within fifty years of the apostolic age, the cup was mixed with water, and a portion of the elements sent to the absent. The bread which at first was sent only to the sick, was in the time of Tertullian and Cyprian, car- ried home by the people, and locked up as a divine treasure for their private use. At this time too, the ordinance of the supper was given to infants of the tenderest age, and was styled the sacrifice of the body of Christ. The custom of praying for the dead, Tertullian states, was common in the second century, and became the universal practice of the following ages ; so that it came in the fourth century to be reckoned a kind of heresy to deny the efficacy of it. By this time the invocation of saints, the superstitious use of images, of the sign of the cross, and of consecrated oil, were become established practices, and pretended miracles were confident- ly adduced in proof of their supposed efficacy. Thus did that mystery of iniquity which was already working in the time of the apostles, speedily after their departure, spread its corruptions among the professors of Christianity."f Neander speaks thus of the early introduction of image worship : *Eccl. Researches, chap. vi. - i-The Modern Sabbath Examined, pp. 123, 124. EARLY APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH. � 199 not found in the Bible. He learns from the New Testament itself, that there were errors in the time of the apostles, and that their pens were frequently employed in combatting those errors. Hence if a doctrine be propounded for his acceptance, he asks, Is it to be found in the inspired word? Was it taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles 9 � More than this, we will add, that though Cyprian, or Jerome, or Augustine, or even the fathers of an earlier age, Tertullian, Ignatius, or Irenatus, could be plainly shown to teach the unscriptural doctrines and dogmas of popery, which, howev- er, is by no means admitted, still the consistent Protestant would simply ask, Is the doctrine to be found in the Bible ? Was it taught by Christ and his apostles 9 � He who receives a single doctrine upon the mere authority of tradi- tion, let him be called by what name he will, by so doing steps down from the Protestant rock, passes over the line which separates Protestantism from popery, and can give no valid reason why he should not receive all the earlier doc- trines and ceremonies of Romanism, upon the same au- thority."* Dr. Cumming of London thus speaks of the au- thority of the fathers of the early church : " Some of these were distinguished for their genius, some for their eloquence, a few for their piety, and too many for their fanaticism and superstition. It is recorded by Dr. Delahogue (who was professor in the Roman Catholic col- lege of Maynooth), on the authority of Eusebius, that the fathers who were really most fitted to be the luminaries of the age in which they lived, were too busy in preparing their flocks for martyrdom, to commit anything to writing; and, therefore by the admission of this Roman Catholic divine, we have not the full and fair exponent of the views of all the fathers of the earlier centuries, but only of those who were most ambitious of literary distinction, and least attentive to their charges � The most devoted and pious of the fathers were busy teaching their flocks; the more vain and *History of Romanism, book ii, chap. 1, secs. 8, 4. 198 � HISTORY OP THE SABBATH. "And yet, perhaps, religious images made their way from domestic life into the churches, as early as the end of the third century, and the walls of the churches were painted in the same way."* The early apostasy of the professed church is a fact which rests upon the authority of inspiration, not less than upon that of ecclesiastical history. " The mystery of iniquity," said Paul, " cloth al- ready work." We are constrained to marvel that so large a portion of the people of God were so soon removed from the grace of God unto another gospel. What shall be said of those who go to this pe- riod of church history, and even to later times, to correct their Bibles ? Paul said that men would rise in the very midst of the elders of the apostol- ic church, who should speak perverse things, and that men should turn away their ears from the truth, and should be turned unto fables. Are the traditions of this period of sufficient importance to make void God's word ? The learned historian of the popes, Archibald Bower, uses the following emphatic language : " 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 be says is confirmed to us by some per- son of undoubted veracity � False and lying tradi- tions are of an early date, and the greatest men have, out of a pious credulity, suffered themselves to bt imposed upon by them."-t Mr. Dowling bears a similar testimony : " The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the religion of Prot- estants !' Nor is it of any account in the estimation of the genuine Protestant how early a doctrine originated, if it is - � *Rose's Neander, p. 184. tHist. of the Popes, Vol. I, p. 1, Phila. ed., 1847. 200 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ambitious occupied their time in preparing treatises. If all the fathers who signalized the age had committed their senti- ments to writing, we might have had a fair representation of the theology of the church of the fathers; but as only a few have done so (many even of their writings being mutilated or lost), and these not the most devoted and spiritually mind- ed, I contend that it is as unjust to judge of the theology of the early centuries by the writings of the few fathers who are its only surviving representatives, as it would be to judge of the theology of the nineteenth century by the sermons of Mr. Newman, the speeches of Dr. Candlish, or the various productions of the late Edward Irving."* Dr. Adam Clarke bears the following decisive testimony : " But of these we may safely state that there is not a truth in 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 its abettors. In points 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 re- spective communions believed: but after all this, I must return to God's word to know what he would have me to be- lieve."t In his life he uses the following strong language : " 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."1 The following testimonies will in part explain the unreliable nature of the fathers. Thus Ephraim Pagitt testifies : *Lectures on Romanism, p. 203. t Commentary on Prov. viii. Autobiography of Adam Clarke, LL. D., p. 134. EARLY APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH. " The church of Rome having been conscious of their er- rors and corruptions, both in faith and manners, have sun- dry times pretenthd reformations; yet their great pride and infinite profit, arising from purgatory, pardons, and such like, Lath hindered all such reformations. Therefore, to maintain their greatness, errors and new articles of faith, They have corrupted many of the ancient fathers, and re- printing them, make them speak as they would have them. They have written many books in the names of these an- cient writers, and forged many decrees, canons and councils, to bear false witness to them."* And Wm. Reeves testifies to the same fact : " The church of Rome has had all the opportunities of time, place and power, to establish the kingdom of darkness ; and that in coining, clipping and washing the primitive rec- ords to their own good liking, they have not been wanting to themselves, is notoriously evident."f The traditions of the early church are considered by many quite as reliable as the language of the holy Scriptures. A single instance taken from the Bible will illustrate the character of tradition, and show the amount of reliance that can be placed upon it : " Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Je- sus loved, following; (which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee ?) Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do ? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die ; yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"1 Here is the account of a tradition which actual- ly originated in the very bosom of the apostolic *Christianography, part 2, p. 59, London, 1636. ffranslation of the Apologies of Justin Martyr, Tertullian and others, Vol. ii, p. 375. � xxi, 20-23. 14 201 rd 202 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. church, which nevertheless handed down to the following generations an entire mistake. Observe how carefully the word of God corrects this error. Two rules of faith really embrace the whole Christian world. One of these is the word of God alone ; the other is the word of God and the tra- ditions of the church. Here they are : RULE OF THE MAN OF GOD. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is prof- itable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- tion in righteousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."* RULE OF THE ROMANIST, "If we would have the whole rule of Christian faith and practice, we must not be content with those scriptures which Timothy knew from his infancy, that is, with the Old Testa- ment alone; nor yet with the New Testament, without tak- ing along with it the traditions of the apostles, and the in- terpretation of the church, to which the apostles delivered both the book and the true meaning of it."-1- It is certain that the first-day Sabbath cannot be sustained by the first of these rules ; for the word of God says nothing respecting such an in- stitution. The second of these rules is necessarily adopted by all those who advocate the sacredness of the first day of the week. For the writings of the fathers and the traditions of the church furnish all the testimony which can be adduced in sup- port of that day. To adopt the first rule is to ac- knowledge that the first-day Sabbath is a human institution. To adopt the second is virtually to acknowledge that the Romanists are right ; for it is by this rule that they are able to sustain their *2 Tim. iii, 16, 17. -Note of the Douay Bible on 2 Tim. iii, 16, 17. EARLY APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH. � 203 unscriptural dogmas. Mr. W. B. Taylor, an able anti-Sabbatarian writer, states this point with great clearness : " The triumph of the consistent Roman Catholic over all observers of Sunday, calling themselves Protestants, is in- deed complete and unanswerable � It should present a subject of very grave reflection to Christians of the re- formed and evangelical denominations, to find that no single argument or suggestion can be offered in favor of Sunday observance, that will not apply with equal force and to its fullest extent in sustaining the various other holy days' ap- pointed by the church.'"* Listen to the argument of a Roman Catholic : "The word of God commandeth the seventh day to be the Sabbath of our Lord, and to be kept holy : you [Protestants] without any precept of scripture, change it to the first day of the week, only authorized by our traditions. Divers Eng- lish Puritans oppose against this point, that the observation of the first. day is proved out of scripture, where it is said the first day of the week.t Have they not. spun a fair thread in quoting these places? If we should produce no better for purgatory and prayers for the dead, invocation of the saints, and the like, they might have good cause indeed to laugh us to scorn ; for where is it writt. n that these were Sabbath-days in which those meetings were kept? Or where is it ordained they should be always observe 1? Or, which is the sum of all, where is it decreed that i !le observation of the first day should abrogate or abolish tha sanctifying of the seventh day, which God commanded everlastingly to be kept holy ? Not one of those is expressed in the written word of God."T Whoever therefore enters the lists in behalf of the first-day Sabbath, must of necessity do this— though perhaps not aware of the fact—under the banner of the church of Rome. *Obligation of the Sabbath, pp. 254, 255. tActs xx, 7 ; 1 Cor. xvi, 2 ; Rev. i, 10. .A Treatise of Thirty Controversies. 204 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. � FIRST WITNESSES FOR SUNDAY. � 205 r CHAPTER XIII. THE FIRST WITNESSES FOR SUNDAY. Origin of Sunday observance the subject of present inquiry —Contradictory statements of Mosheim and Neander—The question between them stated, and the true data for decid- ing that question—The New Testament furnishes no sup- port for Mosheim's statement—Epistle of Barnabas forgery—The testimony of Pliny determines nothing in the case—The epistle of Ignatius probably spurious, and certainly interpolated so far as it is made to sustain Sun- day—Decision of the question. The first day of the week is now almost univer- sally observed as the Christian Sabbath. The or- igin of this institution is still before us as the sub- ject of inquiry. This is presented by two eminent church historians ; but so directly do they contra- dict each other, that it is a question of curious in- terest to determine which of them states the truth. Thus Mosheim writes respecting the first century : "All Christians were unanimous in setting apart the first day of the week on which the triumphant Saviour arose from the dead, for the solemn celebration of public worship. This pious custom, which was derived from the example of the church of Jerusalem, was founded upon the express appoint- ment of the apostles, who consecrated that day to the same sacred purpose, and was observed universally throughout all the Christian churches, as appears from the united testimo- nies of the most credible writers."* Now let us read what Neander, the most dis- tinguished of church historians, says of this apos- tolic authority for Sunday observance : " The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was al- ways only a human ordinance, and it was far from the inten- *Maclaine's Mosheim, cent. 1, part ii, chap. 4, sec. 4. tions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this re- spect, 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."* How shall we determine which of these histori- ans is in the right ? Neither of them lived in the apostolic age of the church. Mosheim was a writer of the eighteenth century, and Neander of the nineteenth. Of necessity therefore they must learn the facts in the case from the writings of that period which have come down to us. These contain all the testimony which can have any claim to be admitted in deciding this case. These are, first, the inspired writings of the New Testament ; second, the reputed productions of such writers of that age as are supposed to mention the first day ; viz., the epistle of Barnabas ; the letter of Pliny, governor of Bithynia, to the emperor Traj an ; and the epistle of Ignatius. These are all the writings prior to the middle of the second century —and this is late enough to amply cover the ground of Mosheim's statement—which can be in- troduced as even referring to the first day of the week. The questions to be decided by this testimony are these : Did the apostles set apart Sunday for divine worship ? (as Mosheim affirms,) or does the evidence in the case show that the festival of Sun- day, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance ? (as is affirmed by Neander.) It is certain that the New Testament contains no appointment of Sunday for the solemn celebra- *Rose's Neander, p. 186. it 206 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. FIRST WITNESSES FOR SUNDAY. � 207 tion of public worship. And it is equally true that there is no example of the church of Jerusa- lem on which to found such observance. The New Testament therefore furnishes no support* for the statement of Mosheim. The three epistles which have come down to us as written in the apostolic age, or immediately subsequent to that age, next come under examina- tion. These are all that remain to us of a period more extended than that embraced in the state- ment of Mosheim. He speaks of the first centu- ry only ; but we summon all the writers of that century and of the following one prior to the time of Justin Martyr, A. D. 140, who are even sup- posed to mention the first day of the week. Thus the reader is furnished with all the data in the case. The epistle of Barnabas speaks as follows in behalf of first-day observance: "Lastly, he saith unto them, Your new-moons and your sabbaths I cannot bear them. Consider what he means by it; the sabbaths, says he, which ye now keep, are not ac- ceptable unto me, but those which I have made ; when rest- ing from all things, I shall begin the eighth day, that is, the beginning of the other world; for which cause we observe the eighth day with gladness, in which Jesus arose from the dead, and having manifested himself to his disciples, as- cended into heaven."t It might be reasonably concluded that Mos- heim would place great reliance upon this testimo- ny as coming from an apostle, and as being some- what better suited to sustain the sacredness of Sunday than anything previously examined by us. *See chapters x and xi, in which the New Testament has been carefully examined on this point. tEpistle of Barnabas, xiv, 9, 10. Yet he frankly acknowledges that this epistle is spurious. Thus he says : " The epistle of Barnabas was the production of some Jew, who, most probably lived in this century, and whose mean abilities and superstitious attachment to Jewish fables, show, notwithstanding the uprightness of his intentions, that he must have been a very different person from the true Barnabas, who was St. Paul's companion."* In another work Mosheim says of this epistle : " As to what is suggested by some, of its having been written by that Barnabas who was the friend and compan- ion of St. Paul, the futility of such a notion is easily to be made apparent from the letter itself ; several of the opin- ions and interpretations of Scripture which it contains, hav- ing in them so little of either truth, dignity or force, as to render it impossible that they could ever have proceeded from the pen of a man divinely instructed."t Neander speaks thus of this epistle : "It is impossible that we should acknowledge this epistle to belong to that Barnabas who was worthy to be the com- panion of the apostolic labors of St. Paul."1 Prof. Stuart bears a similar testimony : " That a man by the name of Barnabas wrote this epistle I doubt not; that the chosen associate of Paul wrote it, I with many others must doubt.1 Dr. Killen, Professor of Ecclesiastical History to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church of Ireland, uses the following language : " The tract known as the Epistle of Barnabas was proba- bly composed in A. D. 135. It is the production apparently *Eccl. Hist., cent. 1, part ii, chap. ii, sec 21. j• Historical Commentaries, cent. 1, sec. 53. 1:Roses' Neander, p. 407. lNote appended to Gurney's History, Authority, and Use of the Sabbath, p. 86. 208 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. FIRST WITNESSES FOR SUNDAY. � 209 of a convert from Judaism who took special pleasure in alle- gorical interpretation of Scripture."* Prof. Hackett bears the following testimony : " The letter still extant, which was known as that of Bar- nabas even in the second century, cannot be defended as genuine."t Mr. Milner speaks of the reputed epistle of Bar- nabas as follows : "It is a great injury to him to apprehend the epistle, which goes by his name, to be his."1 Kitto speaks of this production as, " The so-called epistle of Barnabas, probably a forgery of the second century."11 Says the Religious Encyclopedia, speaking of the Barnabas of the New Testament : " He could not be the author of a work so full of forced allegories, extravagant and unwarrantable explications of Scripture, together with stories concerning beasts, and such like conceits, as make up the first part of this epistle.1 Eusebius, the earliest of church historians, places this epistle in the catalogue of spurious books. Thus he says : " Among the spurious must be numbered both the books called, The Acts of Paul,' and that called, 'Pastor,' and The Revelation of Peter.' Besides these the bcoks called The Epistle of Barnabas,' and what are called ' The Institu- tions of the Apostles.'"1- Sir Wm. Domville speaks as follows : "But the epistle was not written by Barnabas; it was not *Ancient Church, p. 368. tCommentary on Acts, p. 251. /History of the Church, cent. 1, chap. xv. Wye. Bib. Lit., art. Lord's day. Encyc., art. Barnabas' Epistle. ¶Eccl. Hist., Book III. chap. xxv. merely unworthy of him,—it would be a disgrace to him, and what is of much more consequence, it would be a dis- grace to the Christian religion, as being the production of one of the authorized teachers of that religion in the times of the apostles, which circumstance would seriously damage the evidence of its divine origin. Not being the epistle of Barnabas, the document is, as regards the Sabbath question, nothing more than the testimony of some unknown writer to the practice of Sunday observance by some Christians of some unknown community, at some uncertain period of the Christian era, with no sufficient ground for believing that period to have been the first century."* Coleman bears the following testimony : " The epistle of Barnabas, bearing the honored name of the companion of Paul in his missionary labors, is evidently spurious. It abounds in fabulous narratives, mystic, al- legorical interpretations of the Old Testaments, and fanciful conceits, and is generally agreed by the learned to be of no autherity."t As a specimen of the unreasonable and absurd things contained in this epistle, the following pas- sage is quoted : "Neither shalt thou eat of the hyena : that is, again, be not an adulterer ; nor a corrupter of others ; neither be like to such. And wherefore so ? Because that creature ev- ery year changes its kind, and is sometimes male, and some- times female."/ Thus first-day historians being allowed to decide the case, we are authorized to treat this epistle as a forgery. And whoever will read its ninth chap- ter—for it will not bear quoting—will acknowl- *The Sabbath, or an Examination of the Six Texts com- monly adduced from the New Testament in proof of a Chris- tian Sabbath, p. 233. tAncient Christianity, chap. i, sec. 2. /Epistle of Barnabas, ix, 8. 210 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. edge the justice of this conclusion. � This epistle is the only writing purporting to come from the first century, except the New Testament, in which the first day is even referred to. That this fur- nishes no support for Sunday observance, even Mosheim acknowledges. The next document that claims our attention is the letter of Pliny, the Roman governor of Bith- ynia, to the emperor Trajan. He says of the Christians of his province : " They were accustomed on a stated day to assemble be- fore sunrise, and to join together in singing hymns to Christ, as to a deity; binding themselves as with a solemn oath not to commit any kind of wickedness; to be guilty neither of theft, robbery nor adultery ; never to break a promise, or to keep back a deposit when called upon."* This epistle of Pliny certainly furnishes no sup- port for Sunday observance. The case is present- ed in a candid manner by Coleman. He says of this extract : " This statement is evidence that these Christians kept a day as holy time, but whether it was the last or the first day of the week, does not appear."t Charles Buck, an eminent first-day writer saw no evidence in this epistle, of first-day observance, as is manifest from the indefinite translation which he gives it. Thus he cites the epistle : " These persons declare that their whole crime, if they are guilty, consists in this : that on certain days they assem- ble before sunrise to sing alternately the praises of Christ as of God."t. *Milner's Hist. Church, cent. 2, chap. 1. tAncient Christianity Exemplified, chap. xxvi, sec. 2. IBuck's Theological Dictionary, art. Christians. FIRST WITNESSES FOR SUNDAY. � 211 Mr. W. B. Taylor speaks of this stated day as follows : "As the Sabbath day appears to have been quite as com- monly observed at this date as the sun's day (if not even more so), it is just as probable that this 'stated day' refer- red to by Pliny was the seventh day, as that it was the first day; though the latter is generally taken for granted."* Taking for granted the very point that should be proved, is no new feature in the evidence thus far examined in support of first-day observance. Although Mosheim relies on this expression of Pliny's as a chief support of Sunday, yet he speaks thus of the opinion of another learned man : " B. Just. Hen. Boehmer, would indeed have us to under- stand this day to have been the same with the Jewish Sab- bath."1- This testimony of Pliny was written a few years subsequent to the time of the apostles. It relates to a church which probably had been founded by the apostle Peter4 It is certainly far more probable that this church, only forty years after the death of Peter, were keeping the fourth commandment, than that they were observing a day never enjoined by divine authority. It must be conceded that this testimony from Pliny proves nothing in sup- port of Sunday observance. The epistles of Ignatius of Antioch so often quoted in behalf of first-day observance, next claim our attention. He is represented as saying: " Wherefore if they who were brought up in these ancient laws came nevertheless to the newness of hope; no longer *Obligation of the Sabbath, p. 300. 1-Historical Commentaries, cent. 1, sec. 47. 1 Pet. i, 1. See Clarke's Commentary, preface to the the epistles of Peter. 212 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. � FIRST WITNESSES FOR SUNDAY. � 213 observing sabbaths, but keeping the Lord's day, in which al- o our life is sprung up by hm, and through his death, whom yet some deny : (by wMch naystery we have been brought to believe, and therefore wait that we may be found the d pes of Jesus Chrst, our only master :) how shall we be able to live different from hira ; whose disciples the very prop ets themselves beng, did by the Spirit expect him as their mast Two important facts relative to this quotation are worthy of particular notice : 1. That the epistles of Ignatius are acknowledged to be sp ous by first-day writers of high authority ; and those epistles which some of 1' 11 xcept as po by genuine do not include in their number the epistle to the � 11' 1' from which the above quotation is made nor do they say anything rela- tive to first-day observance. 2. That the epistle to the Magnesians would say nothing of any day, were it not that 1" 1 1 1 � 1 1en fraudulen ly inserted by the translator � suliport of the first of these propositions the following testimony is it � r. Killen speaks as follows "In the sixteenth century fifteen letters were brought Out from beneath the mantle of hoary antiquity and offered to the world as the productions of the pastor of Antioch. Scho ars refused to recive them on the terms required and forth- with eight of them were admitted to be forgeries In the seventeenth century the seven remaining letters in a some what altered form again came forth from obscurity and claimed to be the works of Ignatius Again discerning crit- ics refused to acknowledge their pretentions; but curiosity was roused by this second appartion and many expressed an earnest desire to obtain a sight of the real epistles. Greece, Syria Palestine and Egypt were ransacked in search of hem and at length three letters are ound The discovery *Ignatus to the Magnesians, creates general gratulation ; it is confessed that four of the epistles so lately asserted to be genuine are apocryphal; and it is boldly said that the three now forthcoming are above challenge. But truth still refuses to be compromised and sternly disowns these claimants for her approbation. The internal evidence of these epistles abundantly attests that, like the last three books of the Sibyl they are only the last shifts of a grave mposture."* The same writer thus states the opinion of Calvin it is no mean proof of the sagacity of the great Calvin that upwards of three hundred years ago, he passed a sweep ng sentence of condemnation on these Ignatian epistles."t Of the three epistles of Ignatius still claimed as gnuine Prof. . . Hudson speaks as follows Ignatius of Antioch was martyred probably A. D. 115. Of the eight epistles ascribed to hm, three are genuine those addressed to Polycarp, the Ephesians and the Romans."/ it will be observed that the three epistles which are here mentioned as genuine do not include that epistle from which the quotation in behalf of Sun- da � is taken and it is a fact also that they contain no allusion to unday. Sir Wm. Domville, an ./ � 11 � writer, uses the following lan- guage Every one at all conversant with such matters is aware that the works of Ignatius have been more interpolated and corrupted than those of any other of the ancient fathers ; and also that some writings have been attributed to him which wholly s1ur1us.1 obinson an eminent English Baptist writer of ncent Church pp. 413, 414.. tId p. 427. /Future Life, p. 291. pxamination of the Six exts, . 37. 214 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. the last century, expresses the following opinion of the epistles ascribed to Ignatius, Barnabas and others : "If any of the writings attributed to those who are called apostolical fathers, as Ignatius, teacher at Antioch, Polycarp at Smyrna, Barnabas, who was half a Jew, and Hermas, who was brother to Pius, teacher at Rome, if any of these be gen- uine, of which there is great reason to doubt, they only prove the piety and illiteracy of the good men. Some are worse, and the best not better, than the godly epistles of the lower sort of Baptists and Quakers in the time of the civil war in England. Barnabas and Hermas both mention bap- tism ; but both of these books are contemptible reveries of wild and irregular geniuses."* The doubtful character of these Ignatian epis- tles is thus sufficiently attested. The quotation in behalf of Sunday is not taken from one of the three epistles that are still claimed as genuine ; and what is still further to be observed, it would say nothing in behalf of any day were it not for an extraordinary license, not to say fraud, which the translator has used in inserting the word day. This fact is shown with critical accuracy by Kitto, whose Cyclopedia is in high repute among first- day scholars. Thus he presents the original of Ignatius with comments and a translation as fol- lows : " We must notice one other passage as bearing on the subject of the Lord's day, though it certainly contains no mention of it. It occurs in the epistle of Ignatius to the Magne- sians (about A. D. 100.) The whole passage is confessedly ob- scure, and the text may be corrupt. The passage is as fol- lows : Ei odv dt iv Irlt2.atoic reantaato civacr9cupivrec, eic KatvOrra *Ecclesiastical Researches, chap. vi, ed. 1792, FIRST WITNESSES FOR SUNDAY. � 215 airiooc 7.12t7`}o - piKirt 6agi3aricovric, ax2.a Kara KtraKilo c6vrec - � Kai 11 c(.4 � avireaev di' atTOF, &C.)* " Now many commentators assume (on what ground does not appear), that after KvetaKliv [Lord's] the word iiitticav [day] is to be understood. � Let us now look at the passage simply as it stands. The defect of the sentence is the want of a substantive to which avrob can refer. This defect, so far from being remedied, is rendered still more glaring by the introduction of Lip*. Now if we take KtV101,31 ;4)7) as simply 'the life of the Lord,' having a more personal meaning, it certainly goes nearer to supplying the substan- tive to arroi% Thus upon the whole the meaning might be given thus : "If those who lived under the old dispensation have come to the newness of hope, no longer keeping sabbaths, but liv- ing according to our Lord's life (in which, as it were, our life has risen again through him, &c.) � "On this view the passage does not refer at all to the Lord's day ; but even on the opposite supposition it cannot be regarded as affording any positive evidence to the early use of the term ' Lord's day,' (for which it is often cited) since the material word hui9a [day] is purely conjectural."t The learned Morer, a clergyman of the church of England, confirms this statement of Kitto's. He renders Ignatius thus : " If therefore they who were well versed in the works of ancient days came to newness of hope, not sabbatizing, but living according to the dominical life, &c. � The Medicean copy, the best and most like that of Eusebius, leaves no scruple, because ccd0 is expressed and determines the word dominical to the person of Christ, and not to the day of his resurrection."T Sir Wm. Doraville speaks on this point as fol- lows : "Judging therefore by the tenor of the epistle itself, the *Ignatius ad Magnesios, sec. 9. j-Cyc. Bib. Lit., art. Loors day. Dialogues on the Lord's day, pp. 206, 207. 216 � HISTORY OF THE, SABBATH. literal translation of the passage in discussion, ' no longer observing sabbaths, but living according to the Lord's life,' appears to give its true and proper meaning; and if this be so, Ignatius, whom Mr. Gurney *puts forward as a material witness to prove the observance of the Lord's day in the be- ginning of the second century, fails to prove any such fact, it appearing on a thorough examination of his testimony that he does not even mention the Lord's day, nor in any way al- lude to the religious observance of it, whether by that name or by any other."+ It is manifest therefore that this famous quo- tation has no reference whatever to the first day of the week, and that it furnishes no evidence that that day was known in the time of Ignatius by the title of Lord's day. The evidence is now before the reader which must determine whether Mosheim or Neander spoke in accordance with the facts in the case. And thus it appears that in the New Testament and in the uninspired writers of the period referred to, there is absolutely nothing to sustain the strong Sunday statement of Mosheim. Of the epistles ascribed to Barnabas, Pliny and Ignatius, we have found that the first is a forgery that the second speaks of a stated day without defin- ing what one ; and that the third, which is probably a spurious document, would say nothing of any day, if the advocates of Sunday had not interpolat- ed the word day into the document ! We can hardly avoid the conclusion that Mosheim spoke on this subject as a doctor of divinity, and not as a historian ; and with the firmest conviction that we speak the truth, we say with Neander, " The fes- tival of Sunday was always only a human ordi- nance." *A first-day writer, author of the " History, Authority and Use of the Sabbath." +Examination of the Six Texts, pp. 250, 251. EXAMINATION OF A FAMOUS FALSEHOOD. 217 CHAPTER XIV. EXAMINATION OF A FAMOUS FALSEHOOD. Were the martyrs in Pliny's time and afterward tested by the question whether they had kept Sunday or not?—Ar- gument in the affirmative quoted from Edwards—Its origin —No facts to sustain such an argument prior to the fourth century—A single instance at the opening of that century all that can be claimed in support of the assertion—Sun- day not even alluded to in that instance—Testimony of Mosheim relative to the work in which this is found. Certain doctors of divinity have made a special effort to show that the " stated day" of Pliny's epistle is the first day of the week. For this pur- pose they adduce a fabulous narrative which the historians of the church have not deemed worthy of record. The argument is this : That in Pliny's time and afterward, that is, from the close of the first century and onward, whenever the Christians were brought before their persecutors for examin- ation, they were asked whether they had kept the Lord's day, meaning thereby the first day of the week. And hence two facts are asserted to be es- tablished : 1. That when Pliny says that the Christians who were examined by him were accus- tomed to meet on a stated day, that day was un- doubtedly the first day of the week. 2. That the observance of the first day of the week was the grand test by which Christians were known to their heathen persecutors. To prove these points Dr. Edwards makes the following statement : " Hence the fact that their persecutors, when they wished to know whether men were Christians, were accustomed to put to them this question, viz., • Dominicum 8ervastir—' Hast thou kept the Lord's day ?' If they had they were Christ- 15 1 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ians. This was the badge of their Christianity, in distinc- tion from Jews and pagans. And if they said they had, and would not recant, they must be put to death. And what, when they continued steadfast, was their answer ? � Chris- tianus sum; intermittere non possum ;'—‘ I am a Christian ; I cannot omit it.' It is a badge of my religion, and the man who assumes it must of course keep the Lord's day, because it is the will of his Lord ; and should he abandon it, he would be an apostate from his religion."* Mr. Gurney, an English first-day writer of some note, uses the same argument and for the same purpose.j- The importance attached to this statement, and the prominence given to it by the advocates of first-day sacredness, render it proper that its merits should be examined. Dr. Edwards gives no authority for his statement ; but Mr. Gurney traces the story to Dr. Andrews, bishop of Winchester, who claimed to have taken it from the Acta Martyrunt, an ancient collection of the acts of the martyrs. It was in the early part of the seventeenth century that bishop Andrews first brought this forward in his speech in the court of Star Chamber, against Thraske, who was accused before that arbitrary tribunal of maintaining the heretical opinion that Christians are bound to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord. The story was first produced therefore for the purpose of confounding an observer of the Sabbath when being tried by his enemies for keeping that day. Sir Wm. Doraville, an able anti-Sabbatarian writ- er, thus traces out the matter : "The bishop, as we have seen, refers to the Acta of the martyrs as justifying his assertion respecting the question, Dominicum servasti? but he does not cite a single instance *Sabbath Manual, p. 120. j-See his History, Authority, and Use, of the Sabbath. EXAMINATION OF A FAMOUS FALSEHOOD. 219 from them in which that question was put. We are left therefore to hunt out the instances for ourselves, wherever, if anywhere, they are to be found. The most complete collec- tion of the memoirs and legends still extant, relative to the lives and sufferings of the Christian martyrs, is that by Ruinart, entitled, � Acta primorum Martyruni sincere et selecta.' I have carefully consulted that work, and I take up- on myself to affirm that among the questions there stated to have been put to the martyrs in and before the time of Pliny, and for nearly two hundred years afterwards, the question, Dominicum servasti 2 does not once occur ; nor any equiv- alent question."* This shows at once that no proof can be obtained from this quarter, either that the " stated day" of Pliny was the first day of the week, or that the martyrs of the early church were tested by the question whether they had observed it or not. After quoting all the questions put to martyrs in and before Pliny's time, and thus proving that no such question as is alleged, was put to them, Domville says " This much may suffice to show that Dominicum servos- ti? was no question in Pliny's time, as Mr. Gurney intends us to believe it was. I have, however, still other proof of Mr. Gurney's unfair dealing with the subject, but I defer stating it for the present, that I may proceed in the inquiry what may have been the authority on which bishop Andrews relied when stating that Dominicum servasti? was ever a usual question put by the heathen persecutors. I shall with this view pass over the martyrdoms which intervened between Pliny's time and the fourth century, as they contain nothing to the purpose, and shall come at once to that martyrdom the narrative of which was, I have no doubt, the source from which bishop Andrews derived his question, Domini- cum servasti? 'Hold you the Lord's day ?' This martyr- dom happened A. D. 304. The sufferers were Saturninus and *Examination of the Six Texts, pp. 258-201. 218 EXAMINATION OF A FAMOUS FALSEHOOD. 221 220 � IIISTOR7 OF THE SABBATH. his four sons, and several other persons. They were taken to Carthage, and brought before the proconsul Amulinus. In the account given of their examinations by him, the phrases, ceLEBRARE Dominicum,' and AOERE Dominicum,' frequently occur, but in no instance is the verb servare' used in reference to Dominicum. I mention this chiefly to show that when bishop Andrews, alluding, as no doubt he does, to the narrative of this martyrdom, says the question was, Dominicum servasti, it is very clear he had not his author at hand, and that in trusting to his memory, he coined a phrase of his Own."* Doraville quotes at length the conversation be- tween the proconsul and the martyrs, which is quite similar in most respects to Gurney's and Edward's quotation from Andrews. He then adds: " The narrative of the martyrdom of Saturninus being the only one which has the appearance of supporting the asser- tion of bishop Andrews that, Hold you the Lord's day ?' was the usual question to the martyrs, what if I should prove that even this narrative affords no support to that as- sertion; yet nothing is more easy than this proof; for bishop Andrews has quite mistaken the meaning of the word Dominicum in translating it the Lord's day.' It had no such meaning. It was a barbarous word in use among some of the ecclesiastical writers in, and subsequent to, the fourth century, to express sometimes a church, and at other times the Lord's supper, but NEVER. the Lord's day. j• My authorities on this point are— *Examination of the Six Texts, pp. 263-265. Note by Domville. "Dominicum is not, as may at first be supposed, an adjective, of which diem [day] is the understood substantive. It is itself a substantive, neuter as appears from the passage, Quia non potest intermitti Dominicum,' in the narrative respecting Saturninus. The Latin adjective Dominicus, when intended to refer to the Lord's day, is nev- er, I believe, used without its substantive dies [day] being expressed. In all the narratives contained in Ruinart's Acta Martyrum, I find but two instances of mention being made " 1. Ruinart, who upon the word Dominicum, in the nar- rative of the martyrdom of Saturninus, has a note, in which he says it is acword signifying the Lord's supper* (' Domini- cum vero desiynat sacra mysteria'), and he quotes Tertullian and Cyprian in support of this interpretation. "2. The editors of the Benedictine edition of St. Augus- tine's works. They state that the word Dominicum has the two meanings of a church and the Lord's supper. For the former they quote, among other authorities, a canon of the council of Neo Cesarea. For the latter meaning they quote Cyprian, and refer also to St. Augustine's account of his con- ference with the Donatists, in which allusion is made to the narrative of the martyrdom of Saturninus. j- " 3. Gesner, who in his Latin Thesaurus published in 1749, gives both meanings to the word Dominicum. For that of the Lord's supper he quotes Cyprian ; for that of a church he quotes Cyprian and also Hillary.% Domville states other facts of interest bearing on this point, and then pays his respects to Mr. Gurney as follows : " It thus appearing that the reference made by bishop of the Lord's day, and in both these instances the substan- tive dies [day] is expressed." *This testimony is certainly decisive. It is the interpre- tation of the compiler of the Acta Martyrum, himself, and is given with direct reference to the particular instance un- der discussion. An independent confirmation of Domville's authorities, may be found in Lucius' Eccl. Hist., cent. iv, cap. vi : "Fit mentio aliquoties locorum istorum in quibus convenerint Christiani, in historia persecutionis sub Diocle- tiano & Maximino. Et apparet, ante Constantinum etiam, locos eos fuisse mediocriter exstructos atque exornatos quos seu Templa appellarunt seu Dominica ; ut apud Eusebi- um (li. 9, c. 10) & Ruffinum (li. 1, c. 3. )" It is certain that Dominicum is here used as designating a place of divine worship. (Domville cites St. Augustine's Works, Vol. v, pp. 11G, 117, Antwerp ed., 1700. IExamination of the Six Texts, pp. 267, 268. lr 222 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Andrews to the Acts of Martyrs' completely fails to es- tablish his dictum respecting the question alleged to have been put to the martyrs, and it also appearing that there ex- isted strong and obvious reasons for not placing implicit re- liance upon that dictum, what are we to think of Mr. Gur- ney's regard for truth, when we find he does not scruple to tell his readers that the 'stated day' mentioned in Pliny's letter as that on which the Christians held their religious as- semblies, was clearly the first day of the week,' is proved by the very question which it was customary for the Roman persecutors to address to the martyrs, Dominicuna servasti? 'Hut thou kept the Lord's day ?' For this unqualified as- sertion, prefixed as it is by the word clearly,' in order to make it the more impressive, Mr. Gurney is without any ex- cuse."* The justice of Domville's language cannot be questioned when he characterizes this favorite first-day argument as— " One of those daring misstatements of facts so frequent in theological writings, and which, from the confident tone so generIlly assumed by the writers on such occasions, are usually received without examination, and allowed in conse- quence, to pass current for truth." 1. The investigation to which this statement has been subjected shows, 1. That no such question is upon record as proposed to the martyrs in the time of Pliny. 2. That no such question was asked to any martyr prior to the commencement of the fourth century. 3. That a single instance of martyrdom in which any question of the kind was asked, is all that can be claimed. 4. That in this one case, which is all that has even the slight- est appearance of sustaining the story under ex- amination, a correct translation of the original *Examination of the Six Texts, pp. 270, 271. tId. pp. 272, 273. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. � 223 Latin shows that the question had no relation whatever to the observance of Sunday ! All this has been upon the assumption that the Acta Mar- trum, in which this story is found, is an authen- tic work. Let Mosheim testify relative to the character of this work for veracity : "As to those accounts which have come down to us under the title of Acta iliartyrum, or, the Acts of the Martyrs, their authority is certainly for the most part of a very questiona- ble nature; indeed, speaking generally, it might be coming nearer to the truth, perhaps, were we to say that they are entitled to no sort of credit whatever."* Such is the authority of the work from which this story is taken. It is not strange that first- day historians should leave the repetition of it to theologians. CHAPTER XV. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. Sunday a heathen festival from remote antiquity—Origin of the name—Reasons which induced the leaders of the church to adopt this festival—It was the day generally ob- served by the Gentiles in the first centuries of the Christ- ian era—To have taken a different day would have been exceedingly inconvenient—They hoped to facilitate the conversion of the Gentiles by keeping the same day that they observed—Three voluntary festivals in the church in memory of the Redeemer—Sunday soon elevated above the other two—Justin Martyr—Sunday observance first found in the church of Rome—Irenteus—First act of papal usurpation was in behalf of Sunday—Tertullian—Lord's day first applied to Sunday—Earliest trace of abstinence from labor on that day—General statement of facts—The Roman church made its first great attack upon the Sab- bath by turning it into a fast. *Historical Commentaries, cent. I, sec. 32. � 224 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. The festival of Sunday is more ancient than the Christian religion : its origin being lost in remote antiquity. It did not originate however from any divine command or from piety toward God : on the contrary, it was set apart as a sacred day by the hea- then world in honor of their chief god, the sun. It is from this fact that the first day of the week has obtained the name of Sunday. Webster thus defines the word : "Sunday; so called because this day was anciently ded- icated to the sun or to its worship. The Christan Sabbath ; the first day of the week." And Worcester in his large dictionary uses simi- lar language : " Sunday ; so named because anciently dedicated to the sun or to its worship. The first day of the week" The North British Review in a labored attempt to justify the observance of Sunday by the Christ- ian world styles that day, " THE WILD SOLAR HOL- LIDAY OF ALL PAGAN TIMES."* Verstegan says : " The most ancient Germans being pagans, appropriated their first day of the week to the peculiar adoration of the sun, whereof that day doth yet in our English tongue retain the name of Sunday."f The same author speaks thus concerning the idols of our Saxon ancestors. "Of these, though they had many, yet seven among t ha rest they especially appropriated unto the seven days of the � week. � Unto the day dedicated unto the espe- cial adoration of the idol of the sun, they gave the name of Sunday, as much as to say the sun's day or the day of the sun. This idol was placed in a temple, and there adored and sacrificed unto, for that they believed that the sun in the fir- *Vol. xviii, p. 409. -Antiquities, p. 10, _London, 1628. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. 225 raiment did with or in this idol correspond and co-operate."* Jennings makes this adoration of the sun more ancient than the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. For in speaking of the time of that deliverance he says : " The idolatrous nations in honor to their chief god, the sun, began the day at his rising."f He represents them also as setting apart Sun- day in honor of the same object of adoration : " The day which the heathens in general consecrated to the worship and honor of their chief god, the sun, which ac- cording to our computation was the first day of the week."3: The North British Review thus defends the in- troduction of this ancient heathen festival into the christian church : That very day was the Sunday of their heathen neigh- bors and respective countrymen ; and patriotism gladly unit- ed with expediency in making it at once their Lord's day and their Sabbath. � If the authority of the church is to be ignored altogether by Protestants, then it is no matter; because, opportunity and common expediency are surely argument enough for so ceremonial a change as the mere day of the week for the observance of the rest and holy convocation of the Jewish Sabbath. That primitive church in fact was shut up to the adoption of the Sunday, until it became established and supreme, when it was too late to make another alteration ; and it was no irreverent nor unde- lightful thing to adopt it, inasmuch as the first day of the week was their own high day at any rate ; so that their com- pliance and civility were rewarded by the redoubled sancti- ty of their quiet festival."* It would seem that something more potent than patriotism and expediency would be requisite to *Verstegan's Antiquities, p. 68. (Jewish Antiquities, book 3, chap. 1. Vd., book 3, chap. 3. �%Till, p. 409. 226 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. transform this heathen festival into the Christian Sabbath, or even to justify its introduction into the Christian church. A further statement of the reasons which prompted its introduction, and a brief notice of the earlier steps toward transform- ing it into a Christian institution, will occupy the remainder of this chapter. Chasie, a clergyman of the English Church, in 1652 published a work in vindication of first-day observance, entitled " The Seventh-day Sabbath." After showing the general observance of Sunday by the heathen world in the early ages of the church, Chasie thus states the reasons which forbid the Christians attempt- ing to keep any other day : "1. Because of the contempt, scorn and derision they thereby should be had in, among all the Gentiles with whom they lived. How grievous would be their taunts and re- proaches against the poor Christians living with them and under their power for their new set sacred day, had they chosen any other than Sunday. 2. Most Christians then were either servants or of the poorer sort of people; and the Gentiles, most probably, would not give their servants liberty to cease from working on any other set day constant- ly, except on their Sunday. 3. Because had they assayed such a change it would have been labor in vain; they could never have brought it to pass."* Thus it is seen that at the time when the early church began to apostatize from God and to foster in its bosom human ordinances, the heathen world—as they had long done—very generally ob- served the first day of the week in honor of the sun. Many of the early fathers of the church had been heathen philosophers. Unfortunately they brought with them into the church many of their old notions and principles. Particularly did it oc- *Pp.60-62. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. � 227 cur to them that by uniting with the heathen in the day of weekly celebration they should greatly facilitate their conversion. The reasons which in- duced the church to adopt the ancient festival of the heathen as something made ready to hand, are thus stated by Morer : "It is not to be denied but we borrow the name of this day from the ancient. Greeks and Romans, and we allow that the old Egyptians worshiped the sun, and as a standing memorial of their veneration, dedicated this day to him. And we find by the influence of their examples, other nations, and among them the Jews themselves, doing him homage ;* yet these abuses did not hinder the fathers of the Christian church simply to repeal, or altogether lay by, the day or its name, but only to sanctify and improve both, as they did also the pagan temples polluted before with idolatrous services, and other instances wherein those good men were always tender to work any other change than what was necessary, and in such things as were plainly inconsistent with the Christian religion; so that Sunday being the day on which the Gen- tiles solemnly adored that planet, and called it Sunday, part- ly from its influence on that day especially, and partly in respect to its divine body (as they conceived it) the Chris- tians thought fit to keep the same day and the same name of it, that they might not appear causelessly peevish, and by that means hinder the conversion of the Gentiles, and bring a greater prejudice than might be otherwise taken against the gospel."t That this heathen festival was upon the day of Christ's resurrection doubtless powerfully con- tributed to aid " patriotism and expediency" in transforming it into the Lord's day or Christian Sabbath. For, with pious motives, as we may reasonably conclude, the professed people of God *2 Kings xxiii, 5 ; Jer. xliii, 13, margin. pialogues on the Lord's day, pp. 22, 23. 228 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. early paid a voluntary regard to several days, memorable in the history of the Redeemer. Mos- heim, whose testimony in behalf of Sunday has been presented already, uses the following language relative to the crucifixion day : "It is also probable that Friday, the day of Christ's cru- cifixion, was early distinguished by particular honors from the other days of the week."* And of the second century he says : " Many also observed the fourth day of the week, on which Christ was betrayed; and the sixth, which was the day of his crucifixion."t Dr. Peter Heylyn says of those who chose Sun- day: " Because our Saviour rose that day from amongst the dead, so chose they Friday for another, by reason of our Saviour's passion; and Wednesday on the which he had been betrayed; the Saturday or ancient Sabbath being meanwhile retained in the eastern churches."/ Of the comparative sacredness of these three voluntary festivals the same writer testifies : " If we consider either the preaching of the word, the min- istration of the sacraments, or the public prayers, the Sun- day in the eastern churches had no great prerogative above other days, especially above the Wednesday and the Friday, save that the meetings were more solemn, and the concourse of people greater than at other times, as is most likely." Among these festivals, considered simply as voluntary memorials of the Redeemer, Sunday had very little pre-eminence. For it is well stated by Heylyn : *Eccl. Hist., cent. 1, part ii, chap. iv, note / fId., cent. 2, part ii, chap. iv, sec. 8. History of the Sabbath, part 2, chap. i, sec. 12. part 2, chap. 3, sec. 4. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. � 229 " Take which you will, either the fathers or the moderns, and we shall find no Lord's day instituted by any apostolical mandate; no Sabbath set on foot by them upon the first day of the week."* Domville bears the following testimony, which is worthy of lasting remembrance : " Not any ecclesiastical writer of the first three centuries attributed the origin of Sunday observance either to Christ or to his apostles."t " Patriotism and expediency" however erelong elevated immeasurably above its fellows that one of these voluntary festivals which corresponded with " the wild solar holliday" of the heathen world, making that day at last " the Lord's day" of the Christian church. The earliest testimony in behalf of first-day observance that has any claim to be regarded as genuine is that of Justin Martyr, written about A. D. 140. Before his con- version he was a heathen philosopher. The time, place and occasion of his first Apology or Defense of the Christians, addressed to the Roman emper- or, is thus stated by an eminent Roman Catholic historian. He says that Justin Martyr " Was at Rome when the persecution that was raised un- der the reign of Antoninus Pius began to break forth, where he composed an excellent apology in behalf of the Christ- ians."/ Of the works ascribed to Justin Martyr Milner says: " Like many of the ancient fathers he appears to us under the greatest disadvantage. Works really his have ben lost; and others have been ascribed to him , part of which are not his ; and the rest, at least, of ambiguous authority."11 *Hist. of the Sab., part 2, chap. i, sec. 10. tExamination of the Six Texts, Supplement, pp. 0, 7. /Du Pin, Vol. i, p. 53. 'Mist. Church, cent. 2, chap. iii. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. � 231 This passage, if genuine, furnishes the earliest reference to the observance of Sunday as a relig- ious festival in the Christian church. It should be remembered that this language was written at Rome, and addressed directly to the emperor. It shows therefore what was the practice of the church in that city and vicinity, but does not de- termine how extensive this observance was. It contains strong incidental proof that apostasy had made progress at Rome : the ordinance of the Lord's supper being changed in part already to a human ordinance ; water being now as essential to the Lord's supper as the wine or the bread. And what is still more dangerous as perverting the institution of Christ, the consecrated elements were sent to the absent, a step which speedily re- sulted in their becoming objects of superstitious veneration, and finally of worship. Justin tells the emperor that Christ thus ordained ; but such a statement is a grave departure from the truth of the New Testament. This statement of reasons for Sunday observ- ance is particularly worthy of attention. He tells the emperor that they assembled upon the day called Sunday. This was equivalent to say- ing to him, We observe the day on which our fel- low citizens offer their adoration to the sun. Here both " patriotism and expediency" discover them- selves in the words of Justin, which were ad- dressed to a persecuting emperor in behalf of the Christians. But as if conscious that the observ- ance of a heathen festival as the day of Christian worship was not consistent with their profession as worshipers of the Most High, Justin bethinks himself for reasons in defense of this observance. 230 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. If the writings ascribed to him are genuine, there is little propriety in the use made of his name by the advocates of the first-day Sabbath. He taught the abrogation of the Sabbatic institu- tion ; and there is no intimation in his words that the Sunday festival which he mentions was other than a voluntary observance. Thus he addresses the emperor of Rome : And upon the day called Sunday, all that live either in city or country meet together at the same place, where the writings of the apostles and prophets are read, as much as time will give leave ; when the reader has done, the bishop makes a sermon, wherein he instructs the people, and ani- mates them to the practice of such lovely precepts: at the conclusion of this discourse, we all rise up together and pray ; and prayers being over, as I now said, there is bread and wine and water offered, and the bishop, as before, sends up prayers and thanksgivings, with all the fervency he is able, and the people conclude with the joyful acclama- tion of Amen. Then the consecrated elements are distribu- ted to, and partaken of by, all that are present, and sent to the absent by the hands of the deacons. But the wealthy and the willing, for every one is at liberty, contribute as they think fitting; and this collection is deposited with the bishop, and out of this lie relieves the orphans and the wid- ows, and such as are reduced to want by sickness or any other cause, and such as are in bonds, and strangers that come from far; and in a word, he is the guardian and al- moner to all the indigent. Upon Sunday we all assemble, that being the first day in which God set himself to work upon the dark void, in order to make the world, and in which Jesus Christ our Saviour rose again from the dead ; for the day before Saturday he was crucified, and the day after, which is Sunday, he appeared unto his apostles and disciples, and taught them what I have now proposed to your consideration."* *Justin Martyr's First Apology, translated by Wm. Reeves p. 127. L_ 232 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. He assigns no divine precept nor apostolic exam- ple for this festival. For his reference to what Christ taught his disciples, as appears from the connection, was to the general system of the Christian religion, and not to the observance of Sunday. If it be said that Justin might have learned from tradition what is not to be found in the New Testament relative to Sunday observ- ance, and that after all Sunday may be a divinely appointed festival, it is sufficient to answer, 1. That this plea would show that the Sunday festi- val is nothing but a tradition. 2. That Justin Martyr is a very unsafe guide ; his testimony rel- ative to the Lord's supper differing essentially from the New Testament. 3. The American Tract Society, in a work which it publishes against Romanism, bears the following testimony relative to the point before us : "Justin Martyr appears indeed peculiarly unfitted to lay claim to authority. It is notorious that he supposed a pil- lar erected on the island of the Tiber to Semo Sanchus, an old Sabine deity, to be a monument erected by the Roman people in honor of the impostor Simon Magus. Were so gross a mistake to be made by a modern writer in relating a historical fact, exposure would immediately take place, and his testimony would thenceforward be suspected. And assuredly the same measure should be meted to Justin Mar- tyr, who so egregiously errs in reference to a fact alluded to by Livy the historian."* Justin assigns the following reasons in support of Sunday observance : " That being the first day in which God set himself to work upon the dark void in order to make the world, and in which Je- sus Christ our Saviour rose again from the dead." *The Spirit of Popery, pp. 44, 45. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. 233 Bishop Jeremy Taylor most fittingly replies to this : " The first of these looks more like an excuse than a just reason ; for if any thing of the creation were made the cause of a Sabbath, it ought to be the end, not the beginning; it ought to be the rest, not the first part of the work ; it ought to be that which God assigned, not that which man should take by way of after justification."* It is to be observed, therefore, that the first trace of Sunday as a Christian festival is found in the church of Rome. Soon after this time and thenceforward we shall find " the bishop" of that church making vigorous efforts to suppress the Sabbath of the Lord, and to elevate in its stead the festival of Sunday. � . It is proper to note the fact also that Justin was a decided opponent of the ancient Sabbath. In his " Dialogue with Trypho the Jew" he thus addressed him : " This new law teaches you to observe a perpetual Sab- bath ; and you, when you have spent one day in idleness, think you have discharged the duties of religion. � If any one is guilty of adultery, let him repent, then he hath kept the true and delightful Sabbath unto God. . . . . For we really should observe that circumcision which is in the flesh, and the Sabbath, and all the feasts, if we had not known the reason why they were imposed upon you, namely, upon the account of your iniquities. ..... . . . It was because of your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers, that God appointed you to observe the Sabbath. � You see that the heavens arc not idle, nor do they observe the Sabbath. Continue as ye were born. For if before Abraham there was no need of circumcision, nor of the Sabbaths, nor of feasts, nor of offerings before Moses ; so now in like manner there is no need of them, since Jesus Christ, the Son of God, *Ductor Dubitantium, part 1, book 2, chap. ii, sec. 45. 234 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. was by the determinate counsel of God, born of a virgin of the seed of Abraham without sin."* This reasoning of Justin's deserves no reply. It shows however the unfairness of Dr. Edwards who quotes Justin Martyr as a witness for the change of the Sabbath ;1- whereas Justin held that God made the Sabbath on account of the wicked- ness of the Jews, and that he totally abrogated it at the death of Christ ; the Sunday festival of the heathen being evidently adopted by the church at Rome from motives of " expediency" and per- haps of " patriotism." The testimony of Justin, if genuine, is peculiarly valuable in one respect. It shows that as late as the year A. D. 140 the first day of the week had acquired no title of sacred- ness ; for Justin thrice mentions the day : twice as " the day called Sunday," and once as the eighth day."X The next important witness in behalf of first day sacredness is thus presented by Dr. Ed- wards : "Hence Tremens, bishop of Lyons, a disciple of Polycarp, who had been the companion of the apostles, A. D. 167, says that the Lord's day was the Christian Sabbath. His words are, On the Lord's day every one of us Christians keeps the Sabbath, meditating on the law and rejoicing in the works of God."11 This testimony is highly valued by first-day writers, and is often and prominently set forth in their publications. Sir Wm. Domville, whose elaborate treatise on the Sabbath has been several times quoted, states the following important fact relative to this quotation : *Brown's Translation, pp. 43, 44, 52, 59, 63, 64. tSabbath Manual, p. 121. tDialogue with Trypho, p. 65. IlSabbath Manual, p. 114. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. "I have carefully searched through all the extant works of Irenwus and can with certainty state that no such passage, or any one at all resembling it, is there to be found. The edition I consulted was that by Massuet (Paris, 1710) ; but to assure myself still further, I have since looked to the edi- tions by Erasmus (Paris, 1536), and Grabe (Oxford, 1702), and in neither do I find the passage in question."* It is a remarkable fact that those who quote this as the language of Ireireus, if they give any reference, cite their readers to Dwight's Theology instead of referring them to the place in the works of Irenmus where it is to be found. It was Dr. Dwight who first enriched the theological world with this invaluable quotation. On this point Domville remarks : " Where then did Dwight obtain this testimony, which has so many times been given as that of Irenteus ? It is record- ed in a biographical memoir, prefixed to his Theology, that by some disease in his eyes he was deprived of his ca- pacity for reading and study from the early age of twenty- three. The knowledge which he gained from books after the period above mentioned was almost exclusively at second hand by the aid of others." Doraville states another fact which gives us un- questionably the origin of this quotation : " But although not to be fon td in Tremens, there are in the writings ascribed to another father, namely, in the in- terpolated epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, and in one of its interpolated passages, expressions so clearly resem- bling those of Dr. Dwight's quotation as to leave no doubt of the source from which he quoted." t Such, then, is the end of this famous testimony of Irenteus, who had it from Polycarp, who had it from the apostles ! It was furnished the world by *Examination of the Six Texts, pp. 131, 132. � 1-Id. p. 128. 235 236 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. a man whose eyesight was impaired ; who in con- sequence of this infirmity took at second hand an interpolated passage from an epistle falsely as- cribed to Ignatius, and published it to the world as the genuine testimony of Irenveus. Loss of eye sight, as we may charitably believe, led Dr. Dwight into the serious error which he has committed ; but by the publication of this spurious testimony, which seemed to come in a direct line from the apostles, he has rendered multitudes as incapable of reading aright the fourth commandment, as he, by loss of natural eye sight, was of reading Ire- nieus for himself. This case admirably illustrates tradition as a religious guide ; it is the blind lead- ing the blind until both fall into the ditch. It is a remarkable fact that the first instance upon record in which the bishop of Rome attemp- ted to rule the Christian church was by AN EDICT IN BEHALF OF SUNDAY. It had been the custom of all the churches to celebrate the passover, but with this difference ; that while the eastern church- es observed it upon the fourteenth day of the first month, the western churches kept it upon the Sun- day following that day. Victor, bishop of Rome, in the year 196,* took upon him to impose the Roman custom upon all the churches ; that is, to compel them to observe the passover upon Sun- day. "This bold attempt," says Bower, "we may call the first essay of papal usurpation."1- And Dowling terms it the " earliest instance of Romish assumption."I The churches of Asia *Bower's History of the Popes, Vol. 1, pp. 18, 19; Rose's Neander, pp. 188-190; Dowling's History of Romanism, book 1, chap. ii, sec. 9. -1-History of the Popes, Vol. 1, p. 18. t History of Romanism, heading of page 32. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. 237 Minor informed Victor that they could not com- ply with his lordly mandate. Then says Bower : " Upon the receipt of this letter, Victor, giving the reins to an ungovernable passion, published bitter invectives against all the churches of Asia, declared them cut off from his communion, sent letters of excommunication to their res- pective bishops ; and, at the same time, in order to have them cut off from the communion of the whole church, wrote to the other bishops, exhorting them to follow his example, and forbear communicating with their refractory brethren of Asia." * The historian informs us that " not one followed his example, or advice ; not one paid any sort of regard to his letters, or showed the least inclina- tion to second him in such a rash and uncharitable attempt." He further says : " Victor being thus baffled in his attempt, his successors took care not to revive the controversy; so that the Asiatics peaceably followed their ancient practice till the council of Nice, which out of complaisance to Constantine the great, ordered the solemnity of Easter to be kept everywhere on the same day, after the custom of Rome."]" The victory was not obtained for Sunday in this struggle, as Heylyn. testifies, " Till the great council of Nice [A. D. 325] backed by the authority of as great an emperor [Constantine] settled it better than before; none but some scattered schismatics, now and then appearing, that durst oppose the resolution of that great synod."I Constantine, by whose powerful influence the council of Nice was induced to decide this ques- tion in favor of the Roman bishop, that is, to fix the passover upon Sunday, urged the following strong reason for the measure : *Hist. Popes, Vol i, p. 18. � f Id. pp. 18,19. t History of the Sabbath, part ii, chap. ii, secs. 4, 6. 238 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. " Let us then have nothing in common with that most hos- tile rabble of the Jews."* This festival was not weekly, but annual ; but the removal of it from the fourteenth of the first month, to the first Sunday following that day was the first thing attempted in honor of Sunday as a Christian festival; and as Heylyn quaintly ex- presses it, " The Lord's day found it no small matter to obtain the victory."t In a brief period after the council of Nice, by the laws of Theodo- sius, capital punishment was inflicted upon those who should celebrate the feast of the passover upon any other day than Sunday.t The Britons of Wales were long able to maintain their ground against this favorite project of the Roman church, and as late as the sixth century "obstinately re- sisted the imperious mandates of the Roman pon- tiffs. "11 Four years after the commencement of the • struggle just narrated, brings us to the testimony of Tertullian, the oldest of the Latin fathers, who wrote about A. D. 200. He excuses the Christians of his time for their Sunday observance, affirming that they were not worshipers of the sun, however strongly their observance of Sunday might indi- cate it. His language clearly shows that there were in his time Sabbath-keepers in the Christian church, of whom, however, he speaks most con- temptuously. He says : " Others with a greater show of reason, take us for wor- shipers of the sun. These send us to the religion of Persia, though we are far from adoring a painted sun, like them *Boyle's Historical View of the Council of Nice, p. 52. fHist. Sab., part ii, chap. 2, sec. 5. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. xxvii. chap. xxxviii. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. � 239 who carry about his image everywhere upon their bucklers. This suspicion took its rise from hence, because it was ob- served that Christians prayed with their faces toward the east. But some of you likewise out of an affectation of ador- ing some of the celestial bodies, wag your lips toward the rising sun ; but if we, like them, celebrate Sunday as a fes- tival and day of rejoicing, it is for a reason vastly distant from that of worshiping the sun ; for we solemnize the day after Saturday in contradistinction to those who call this day their Sabbath, and devote it to ease and eating, deviat- ing from the old Jewish customs, which they are now very ignorant of."* Milman, author of the " History of Christiani- ty," in his notes on Gibbon, speaks thus of Ter- tullian : " It would be wiser for Christianity, retreating upon its genuine records in the New Testament, to disclaim this fierce African, than identify itself with his furious invectives, by unsatisfactory apologies for their unchristian fanati- cism."f The testimony of Tertullian is valuable as an acknowledgment that the Sunday festival was identical with the day on which the ancient Per- sians worshiped the sun ; and also as showing the reason on which he grounded that observance. It was not the command of God, nor the act of Christ in changing the Sabbath, nor the example of the apostles, nor because it was in any respect a Christian institution ; but, to use his own state- ment of reasons, " We solemnize the day after Saturday in contradistinction to those who call this their Sabbath." Opposition to those Chris- *Wm. Reeves' Translation of the Apologies of Justin Mar- tyr, Tertullian and others, Vol. i, pp. 238, 239. j- Dec. and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. xv, remarks appended to note 72. 240 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. tians who kept the Sabbath—for he distinguishes them from the Jews—is the grand reason assigned by Tertullian for observing the ancient festival- day of the heathen. Kitto states the important fact that Tertullian is the earliest writer who uses the term Lord's day as a designation for the first day of the week. Thus he says : " The earliest authentic instance in which the name of the Lord's clay is applied, � is not till A. D. 200, when Ter- tullian speaks of it as "die Dominico resurrezionis ;" [De Orat., sec. 23;] again, "Dominicum Diem;" [Do Idol., 14;] and Dyonysius of Corinth (probably somewhat later) as Kt' tarciiv [Lord's day.]"* Kitto speaks further of Tertullian and Diony- sius as presenting the first traces of resting from labor on Sunday. Thus he says : " But in these last cited writers we trace the commence- ment of a more formal observance. Thus the whole passage in Tertullian is :--‘ Solo die Dominico resurrexionis non ab isto tantum (genuflexione) sed enim anxietatis habitu et offi- cio cavere debemus, differentes etiam negotio ne quem diabo- lo locum demur ;' [i. e.] on the day of the Lord's resurrec- tion alone we ought to abstain not only from kneeling, but from all devotion, to care and anxiety, putting off even busi- ness, lest we should give place to the Devil." t It is this language of Tertullian that Neander cites in the margin, I to sustain his modest state- ment already quoted in connection with the lan- guage of Mosheim that " perhaps at the end of the second century a false application of this kind [that is of the Sabbath law to Sunday] had begun to take place : for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin." *Cycl. Bib. Lit. art. Lord's day. � tId., ib. Roses' Neander, p. 186, and marginal note. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. 241 Yet Dr. Heylyn somewhat modifies the shade or sacredness that Tertullian gives the festival of the sun. He says : " Tertullian tells us that they did devote the Sunday part- ly unto mirth and recreation, not to devotion altogether ; when in a hundred years after Tertullian's time there was no law or constitution to restrain men from labor on this day in the Christian church."* The origin of first-day observance has been the subject of inquiry in this chapter. We have found that Sunday from remote antiquity was a heathen festival in honor of the sun, and that in the first centuries of the Christian era this ancient festival was in general veneration in the heathen world. We have learned that patriotism and expediency, and a tender regard for the conversion of the Gen- tile world, caused the leaders of the church to adopt as their religious festival the day observed by the heathen, and to retain the same name which the heathen had given it. We have seen that the earliest instance upon record of the actual observ- ance of Sunday in the Christian church, is found in the church of Rome about A. D. 140. The first great effort in its behalf, A. D. 196, is by a singu- lar coincidence the first act of papal usurpation. The first instance of a sacred title being applied to this festival, and the earliest trace of abstinence from labor on that day, is found in the writings of Tertullian at the close of the second century, and even he assigns as the grand reason for observing that day a wish to be distinguished from those who kept the ancient Sabbath. The origin of the festival of Sunday is now before the reader the steps by which it has ascended to supreme power will be pointed out in their proper order and place. *History of the Sabbath, part 2, chap. 8, sec. 13. L._ 242 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ORIGIN OF FIRST-DAY OBSERVANCE. � 243 One fact of deep interest will conclude this chapter. The first great effort made to put down the Sabbath was the act of the church of Rome in turning it into a fast while Sunday was made a joyful festival. While the eastern churches re- tained the Sabbath, a portion of the western churches, with the church of Rcme at their head, turned it into a fast. As a part of the wes- tern churches refused to comply with this ordi- nance, a long struggle ensued, the result of which is thus stated by Heylyn "In this difference it stood a long time together, till in the end the Roman church obtained the cause, and Saturday became a fast almost through all parts of the western world. I say the western world, and of that alone : the eastern churches being so far from altering their ancient custom that in the sixth council of Constantinople, A. D. 691, they did admonish those of Rome to forbare fasting on that day on pain of censure." * Wm. James in a sermon before the University of Oxford, thus states the time when this fast originated : " The western church began to fast on Saturday at the be- ginning of the third century."t Thus it is seen that this struggle began with the third century, that is, immediately after the year 200. It is probable therefore that Tertullian's reference to Sabbath-keepers as eating on that day, was occasioned by the fact that the adversa- ries of the Sabbath had turned it into a fast. Ne- ander thus states the motive of the Roman church : "In the western churches, particularly the Roman, where opposition to Judaism was the prevailing tendency, this very *History of the Sabbath, part 2, chap. 2, sec. 3. (Sermons on the Sacraments an d Sabbath, p. 166. opposition produced the custom of celebrating the Saturday in particular as a fast day."* By Judaism, Neander meant the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. Dr. Charles Rase of Germany states the object of the Roman church in very explicit language : " The Roman church regarded Saturday as a fast day in direct opposition to those who regarded it as a Sabbath. Sun- day remained a joyful festival in which all fasting and world- ly business was avoided as much as possible, but the origin- al commandment of the decalogue respecting the Sabbath was not then applied to that day,"t Lord King attests this fact in the following words : " Some of the western churches, that they might not seem to judaize, fasted on Saturday, as Victorinus writes: We used to fast on the seventh day. And it is our custom then to fast, that we may not seem, with the Jews, to observe the Sabbath." Thus the Sabbath of the Lord was turned into a fast in order to render it despicable before men. Such was the first great effort of the Roman church toward the suppression of the ancient Sab- bath of the Bible. *Neander, p. 186. tAncient Church History, part 1, div. 2, A. D. 100-312, sec. 69. Enquiry into the Constitution of the Primitive Church, chap. vii, sec. 11. 244 � HISTORY OF THE •SABBATH. CHAPTER XVI. THE SABBATH AND FIRST-DAY DURING THE FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. Origin of the Sabbath and of the festival of the sun contrasted —Entrance of that festival into the church—The Sabbath observed by the early Christians—Testimony of Morer— Of Giesler—Of Mosheim—Of Coleman—Of bishop Taylor —The Sabbath loses ground before the Sunday festival— Several bodies of decided Sabbatarians—Testimony of Brerewood—Constantine's Sunday law—Sunday a day of labor with the primitive church—Constantine's edict a hea- then law and himself at that time a heathen—The bishop of Rome confers the name of Lord's day upon Sunday—Heylyn narrates the steps by which Sunday arose to power—A mark- ed change in the history of that institution—Paganism brought into the church—The Sabbath weakened by Con- stantine's influence—It recovers strength again—The coun- cil of Laodicea pronounces a curse upon the Sabbath-keep- ers—Authority of such councils considered—Chrysostom— Jerome—Augustine--Sunday edicts--Testimony of Socrates relative to the Sabbath about the middle of the fifth century —Of Sozomen—Effectual suppression of the Sabbath at the close of the fifth century. The origin of the Sabbath and of the festival of Sunday is now distinctly understood. When God made the world, he gave to man the Sabbath that he might not forget the Creator of all things. When men apostatized from God, Satan turned them to the worship of the sun, and as a standing memorial of their veneration for that luminary, caused them to dedicate to his honor the first day of the week. When the elements of apostasy had sufficiently matured in the Christian church, this ancient festival presented itself as a rival to the Sabbath of the Lord. The manner in which it ob- tained a foothold in the Christian church has been already shown ; and several facts which have an FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �245 important bearing upon the struggle between these rival institutions have also been given. The gen- eral history of both during the first five centuries of the Christian era will now engage our attention. Of the observance of the Sabbath in the early church, Morer speaks thus : " The primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Sabbath, and spent the day in devotion and sermons. And it is not to be doubted but they derived this practice from the apostles themselves." That the observance of the Sabbath was not confined to Jewish converts the learned Giesler explicitly testifies : " While the Jewish Christians of Palestine retained the entire Mosaic law, and consequently the Jewish festivals, the Gentile Christians observed also the Sabbath and the passo- ver,t with reference to the last scenes of Jesus' life, but with- out Jewish superstition. In addition to these, Sunday, as the day of Christ's resurrection, was devoted to religious services."$ The statement of Mosheim may be thought to contradict that of Giesler. Thus he says : "The seventh day of the week was also observed as a fes- tival, not by the Christians in general, but by such churches only as were principally camposed of Jewish converts, nor did the other Christians censure this custom as criminal and unlawful."11 It will be observed that Mosbeim does not de- ny that the Jewish converts observed the Sabbath. He denies that this was done by the Gentile Christians. The proof on which he rests this de- nial is thus stated by him : *Dialogues on the Lord's day, p. 180. fl Cor. v, 8-8. TEccl. Hist., vol. 1, chap. ii, sec. 30. IlEcel. Hist., cent. 1, part ii, chap. iv, sec. 4. I it FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. 247 language, in which the historian admits Sunday to be nothing but a human ordinance : "No law or precept appears to have been given by Christ or the apostles, either for the abrogation of the Jewish Sab- bath, or the institution of the Lord's day, or the substitu- tion of the first for the seventh day of the week."* The historian does not seem to realize that in making this truthful statement he has directly ac- knowledged that the ancient Sabbath is still in full force as a divine institution, and that first-day observance is only authorized by the traditions of men. Coleman next relates the manner in which this Sunday festival which had been nourished in the bosom of the church, usurped the place of the Lord's Sabbath ; a warning to all Christians of the tendency of human institutions, if cherished by the people of God, to destroy those which are divine. Let this important language be carefully pondered. He speaks thus : " The observance of the Lord's day was ordered while yet the Sabbath of the Jews was continued; nor was the latter superseded until the former had acquired the same solemni- ty and importance, which belonged, at first, to that great day which God originally ordained and blessed. � But in time, after the Lord's day was fully established, the ob- servance of the Sabbath of the Jews was gradually discon- tinued, and was finally denounced as heretical."t Thus is seen the result of cherishing this harm- less Sunday festival in the church. It only ask- ed toleration at first ; but gaining strength by de- grees, it gradually undermined the Sabbath of the Lord, and finally denounced its observance as he- retical. *Ancient Christ. Exem., chap. xxvi, sec. 2. Id. ib. 246 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. " The churches of Bithynia, of which Pliny speaks, in his letter to Trajan, had only one stated day for the celebration of public worship; and that was undoubtedly the first day of the week, or what we call the Lord's day."* The proposition to be proved is this : The Gen- tile Christians did not observe the Sabbath. The proof is found in the following fact : The church- es of Bithynia assembled on a stated day for the celebration of divine worship. It is seen there- fore that the conclusion is gratuitous, and wholly unauthorized by the testimony.t Of the Sabbath and first day in the early ages of the church, Coleman speaks as follows : " The last day of the week was strictly kept in connection with that of the first day, for a long time after the over- throw of the temple and its worship. Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity gradually diminishing until it was wholly discontinued."X This is a most explicit acknowledgment that the Bible Sabbath was long observed by the body of the Christian church. It is true that Coleman speaks also of the first day of the week, yet his subsequent language shows that it was a long while before this became a sacred day. Thus he says : " During the early ages of the church it was never entitled 'the Sabbath,' this word being confined to the seventh day of the week, the Jewish Sabbath, which, as we have already said, continued to be observed for several centuries by the converts to Christianity."11 This fact is made still clearer by the following *Id., margin. � j-See chapter xiii of this history. Ancient Christianity Exemplified, chap. xxvi, sec. 2. ib. 1 248 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Bishop Jeremy Taylor, a decided opponent of Sabbatic obligation, while admitting the general observance of the abbath by the Christians dur- ing the first three hundred years, asserts that they did not regard it as obligatory in the highest sense of that word. Thus he says : " The Lord's day did not succeed in the place of the Sab- bath, but the Sabbath was wholly abrogated, and the Lord's day was merely an ecclesiastical institution. It was not in- troduced by virtue of the fourth commandment, because they for almost three hundred years together kept that day which was in that commandment ; but they did it also without any opinion of prime oblidation, and therefore they did not sup- pose it moral."* That such an opinion relative to the obligation of the Sabbath had gained ground extensively among the leaders of the church, as early at least as the fourth century, and probably in the third, is sufficiently attested by the action of the council of Laodicea, A. D. 364, which anathematized those who should observe the Sabbath, as will be no- ticed in its place. That this loose view of the morality of the fouith commandment was resisted by many, is shown by the existence of various bodies of steadfast Sabbatarians in that age, whose memory has come down to us ; and also by the fact that that council made such a vigorous effort to put down the Sabbath. Coleman has clearly portrayed the gradual depression of the Sabbath, as the first-day festival arose in strength, until Sabbath-keeping became heretical, when by eccle- siastical authority the Sabbath was suppressed and the festival of Sunday established as a new and different institution. The testimony of Jeremy *Dilator Dubitantium, part 1, book 2, chap. 2, sec. 51. FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �249 Taylor, a distinguished bishop of the English church, which in important particulars confirms that of Coleman, is of much value. The first of these ancient Sabbatarian bodies was the Naz- arenes. Of these Morer testifies that, They "retained the Sabbath ; and though they pretended to believe as Christians, yet they practiced as Jews, and so were in reality neither one nor the other."* And Dr. Francis White, lord bishop of Ely, mentions the Nazarenes as one of the ancient bod- ies of Sabbath-keepers who were condemned by the church leaders for that heresy ; and he class- es them with heretics as Morer has done.t Yet the Nazarenes have a peculiar claim to our regard, as being in reality the apostolic church of Jerusa- lem, and its direct successors. Thus Gibbon tes- tifies : " The Jewish converts, or, as they were afterwards called, the Nazarenes, who had laid the foundations of the church, soon found themselves overwhelmed by the increasing mul- titudes, that from all the various religions of polytheism en- listed under the banner of Christ. . . . The Nazarenes retired from the ruins of Jerusalem to the little town of Pel- la beyond the Jordan, where that ancient church languished above sixty years in solitude and obscurity.1 It is not strange that that church which fled out of Judea at the word of Christi! should long *Dialogues on the Lord's Day, p. 66. Treatise of the Sabbath day, containing a Defense of the Orthodoxal Doctrine of the Church of England against Sab- batarian Novelty, p. 8. It was written in 1635 at the com- mand of the king in reply to Brabourne, a minister of the established church, whose work, entitled "A Defense of that most ancient and sacred Ordinance of God's, the Sabbath," was dedicated to the king with a request that he would re- store the Bible Sabbath ! /Dec. and Fall, chap. xv. � 11See chapter x. 17 250 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �251 retain the Sabbath, as it appears that they did as late as the fourth century. Morer mentions an- other class of Sabbath-keepers in the following language : "About the same time were the Hypsistarii who closed with these as to what concerned the Sabbath, yet would by no means accept of circumcision as too plain a testimony of ancient bondage. All these were heretics, and so adjudged to be by the Catholic church. Yet their hypocrisy and in- dustry was such as gained them a considerable footing in the Christian world."* The bishop of Ely names these also as a body of Sabbath-keepers whose heresy was condemned by the church.t The learned Joseph Bingham, M. A., gives the following account of them : " There was another sect which called themselves Hypsis- tarians, that is, worshipers of the most high God, whom they worshiped as the Jews only in one person. And they observed their sabbaths and used distinction of meats, clean and unclean, though they did not regard circumcision, as Gregory Nazianzen, whose father was once one of this sect, gives the account of them."T It must ever be remembered that these people, whom the Catholic church adjudged to be heretics, are not speaking for themselves ; their enemies who condemned them have transmitted to posteri- ty all that is known of their history. It would be well if heretics, who meet with little mercy at the hand of ecclesiastical writers could at least secure the impartial justice of a truthful record. Another class are thus described by Cox in his elaborate work entitled " Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties :" *Dialogues on the Lord's day, p. 67. tTreatise of the Sabbath day, p. 8. Antiquities of the Christian Church, book xvi, chap. vi, sec. 2. "In this way (that is, by presenting the testimony of the Bible on the subject) arose the ancient Sabbatarians, a body it is well known of very considerable importance in respect both to numbers and influence, during the greater part of the third and the early part of the next century."* The close of the third century witnessed the Sabbath much weakened in its hold upon the church in general, and the festival of Sunday, al- though possessed of no divine authority, steadily gaining in strength and in sacredness. The fol- lowing historical testimony from a member of the English church, Edward Brerewood, professor in Gresham college, London, gives a good general view of the matter, though the author's anti-Sab- batarian views are mixed with it. He says : " The ancient Sabbath did remain and was observed to- gether with the celebration of the Lord's day by the Chris- tians of the east church above three hundred years after our Saviour's death; and besides that, no other day for more hundred years than I spoke of before, was known in the church by the name of Sabbath but that: let the collection thereof and conclusion of all be this ; the Sabbath of the seventh day as touching the obligation of God's solemn wor- ship to it was ceremonial; that Sabbath was religiously ob- served in the east church three hundred years after our Sav- iour's passion. That church being a great part of Christen- dom, and having the apostle's doctrine and example to in- struct them would have restrained it if it had been deadly."t Such was the case in the eastern churches at the end of the third century ; but in such of the western churches as sympathized with the church of Rome, the Sabbath had been treated as a fast from the beginning of that century, to express their opposition toward those who observed it ac- cording to the commandment. *Page 280. tLearned treatise of the Sabbath, p. 77, ed. 1631. � ...111111611111.11111 FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �253 252 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. In the early part of the fourth century occur- red an event which could not have been foreseen, but which threw an immense weight in favor of Sunday into the balances already trembling be- tween the rival institutions, the Sabbath of the Lord and the festival of the sun. This was noth- ing less than an edict from the throne of the Ro- man empire in behalf of " the venerable day of the sun." It was issued by the emperor Constantine in A. D. 321, and is thus expressed : "Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the BIM ; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full lib- erty attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest, the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven."* Of this law a high authority thus speaks : "It was Constantine the great who first made a law for the proper observance of Sunday. . . . By Constantine's law, promulgated in 321, it was decreed that for the future the Sunday should be kept as a day of rest in all cities and towns; but he allowed the country people to follow their work."-j- *This edict is the original fountain of first day authority and in many respects answers to the festival of Sunday, what the fourth commanment is to the Sabbath of the Lord. The original of this edict may be seen in the library of Harvard College, and is as follows : IMP. CONSTANT. A. ELPIDIO. Omnes Judices, urbanteque plebes, et cunctarum artium offi- cia venerabili die solis quiescant. It,uri tamen positi agrorum culturre libere licenterque inserviant : quoniam frequenter evenit, ut non aptius alio die fr. menta sulcis, aut vinew scro- bibus mandentur, ne occasions momenti pereat commoditus coelesti provisione concessa. Dat. Nonis Mart. Crisp. 2 & Constantino 2. Coss. 321. Corp. Jur. Civ. Codicis lib. iii tit. 12. 3. � t Ency. Brit., article Sunday. Another eminent authority thus states the pur- port of this law : " Constantine the Great made a law for the whole empire (A. D. 321) that Sunday should be kept as a day of rest in all cities and towns ; but he allowed the country people to follow their work on that day." Thus the the fact is placed beyond all dispute that this decree gave full permission to all kinds of ag- ricultural labor. The following testimony of Mos- heim is therefore worthy of strict attention : " The first day of the week, which was the ordinary and stated time for the public assemblies of the Christians, was in consequence of a peculiar law enacted by Constantine, observed with greater solemnity than it had formerly been." -j What will the advocates of first-day sacredness say to this ? They quote Mosheim respecting Sunday observance in the first century — which testimony has been carefully examined in this workI—and they seem to think that his language in support of first-day sacredness is nearly equal in authority to the language of the New Testa- ment in fact as supplying an important omis- sion in that book. Yet Mosheim states respecting Constantine's Sunday law, promulgated in the fourth century, which allowed all kinds of agricul- tural labor on that day, that it caused the day to be " observed with greater solemnity than it had formerly been." It follows therefore, on Mos- heim's own showing, that Sunday during the first three centuries was not a day of abstinence from labor in the Christian church. On this point bishop Taylor thus testifies : *Encyc. Am., art. Sabbath. l'Eccl. Hist., cent. iv, part ii, chap. iv, sec. 5. tChapter xiii. 254 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. " The primitive Christians did all manner of works upon the Lord's day, even in the times of persecution, when they are the strictest observers of all divine commandments; but in this they knew there was none ; and therefore when Constantine the emperor had made an edict against working upon the Lord's day, yet lie excepts and still permitted all agriculture or labors of the husbandman whatsoever."* Morer tells us respecting the first three centu- ries, that is, respecting the period before Con- stantine : "The Lord's day had no command that it should be sancti- fied, but it was left to God's people to pitch on this or that day for the public worship. And being taken up and made a day of meeting for religious exercises, yet for three hun- dred years there was no law to bind them to it, and for want of such a law, the day was not wholly kept in abstaining from common business ; nor did they any longer rest from their ordinary affairs (such was the necessity of those times) than during the divine service."f And Sir Wm. Doraville says : "Centuries of the Christian era passed away before the Sunday was observed as a Sabbath. History does not fur- nish us with a single proof or indication that it was at any time so observed previous to the Sabbatical edict of Constan- tine in A. D. 321,"/ That such an edict could not fail to strengthen the current already strongly set in favor of Sun- day, and greatly to weaken the influence of the Sabbath, cannot be doubted. Of this fact an able writer bears witness : "Very shortly after the period when Constantine issued his edict enjoining the general observance of Sunday through- out the Roman empire, the party that had contended for the *Duct. Dubitant., part 1, book 2, chap. 2, sec. 59. -Dialogues on the Lord's Day, p. 233. iExamination of the Six Texts, p. 291. FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �255 observance of the seventh day dwindled into insignificance. The observance of Sunday as a public festival, during which all business, with the exception of rural employments, was intermitted, came to be more and more generally established ever after this time, throughout both the Greek and the Lat- in churches. There is no evidence however that either at this, or at a period much later, the observance was viewed as deriving any obligation from the fourth commandment; it seems to have been regarded as an institution corresponding in nature with Christmas, good Friday and other festivals of the church ; and as resting with them on the ground of ec- clesiastical authority and tradition."* This extraordinary edict of Constantine caused Sunday to be observed with greater solemnity than it had formerly been. Yet we have the most indubitable proof that this law was a heathen en- actment; that it was put forth in favor of Sun- day as a heathen institution and not as a Chris- tian festival ; and that Constantine himself not only did not possess the character of a Christian, but was at that time in truth a heathen. It is to be observed that Constantine did not designate the day which he commanded men to keep, as Lord's day, Christian Sabbath, or the day of Christ's resurrection ; nor does he assign any reason for its observance which would indicate it as a Chris- tian festival. On the contrary, he designates the ancient heathen festival of the sun in language that cannot be mistaken. On this important point Milman, the learned editor of Gibbon, thus testifies : " The rescript commanding the celebration of the Chris- tian Sabbath, bears no allusion to its peculiar sanctity as a Christian institution. It is the day of the sun which is to be observed by the general veneration ; the courts were to *Cox's Sabbath Laws, &c., pp. 280, 281. 256 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �257 be closed, and the noise and tumult of public business and legal litigation were no longer to violate the repose of the sacred day. But the believer in the new paganism, of which the solar worship was the characteristic, might acquiesce without scruple in the sanctity of the first day of the week."* And he adds : "In fact, as we have before observed, the day of the sun would be willingly hallowed by almost all the pagan world."t On the seventh day of March, Constantine pub- lished his edict commanding the observance of that ancient festival of the heathen, the venerable day of the sun. On the following day, March eighth,I he issued a second decree in every re- spect worthy of its heathen predecessordi The purport of it was this : That if any royal edifice should be struck by lightning, the ancient ceremo- nies of propitiating the deity should be practiced, and the haruspices were to be consulted to learn *History of Christianity, book 3, chap. 1. f Id., book 3, chap. 4. these dates are worthy of marked attention. See Blair's Chronological Tables, p. 196 ; Rosse's Index of Dates, p. 830. IIIMP. CONSTANTINUS A. AD MAXIMUM. Si quid de Palatio Nostro, aut ceteris operibus publicis, degustatum fulgore esse constiterit, retento more veteris ob- servantiae. Quid portendat ob Haruspicibus requiratur, et diligentissime scriptura collects ad Nostram Scientiam refer- atur. Ceteris etiam usurpandae huius consuetudinis licen- tia tribuenda : dummodo sacrificiis domesticis abstineant, quae specialiter prohibita sunt. Earn autem denunciationem adque interpretationem quae de tactu Amphitheatri scribe est, de qua ad Heraclianum Tribunum, et Magistrum Officio- rum scripseras, ad nos scias esse perlaturn. Dat. xvi, Kal. Jan. Serdicae Ace. viii, Id. Mart. Crispo ii. & Constantino ii. CC. Coss. 321, Cod. Theodos. xvi, 10, 1.—Library of Har- vard College. the meaning of the awful portent.* The harus- pices were soothsayers who foretold future events by examining the entrails of beasts slaughtered in sacrifice to the gods !t The statute of the seventh of March enjoining the observance of the venerable day of the sun, and that of the eighth of the same month commanding the consultation of the haruspices, constitute a noble pair of well matched heathen edicts. That Constantine himself was a heathen at the time these edicts were issued, is shown not only by the nature of the edicts themselves, but by the fact that his nominal conversion to Chris- tianity is placed by Mosheim two years after his Sunday law. Thus he says : " After well considering the subject, I have come to the conclusion, that susbequently to the death of Licinius in the year 323 when Constantine found himself sole emperor, he be- came an absolute Christian, or one who believes no religion but the Christian to be acceptable to God. He had previous- ly considered the religion of one God as more excellent than the other religions, and believed that Christ ought es- pecially to be worshiped: yet he supposed there were also inferior deities, and that to these some worship might be paid, in the manner of the fathers, without fault or sin. And who does not know, that in those times, many others also combined the worship of Christ with that of the ancient gods, whom they regarded as the ministers of the supreme God in the government of human and earthly affairs."I As a heathen, Constantine was the worshiper of Apollo or the sun, a fact that sheds much light upon his edict enjoining men to observe the ven- erable day of the sun. Thus Gibbon testifies : *See Jortin's Keel. Hist., Vol. 1, sec. xxxi ; Milman's Hist. Christianity, book iii, chap. 1. j-See Webster; for an ancient record of the act, see Eze. xxi, 19-22. � Historical Commentaries, cent. iv, sec. 7. 258 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. "The devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly di- rected to the genius of the sun, the Apollo of Greek and Ro- man mythology; and he was pleased to be represented with the symbols of the god of light *and poetry � The altars of Apollo were crowned with the votive offerings of Constan- tine ; and the credulous multitude were taught to believe, that the emperor was permitted to behold with mortal eyes the visible majesty of their tutelar deity. � The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and pro- tector of Constantine."* His character as a professor of Christianity is thus described : "The religious sincerity of the man, who in a short peri- od effected such amazing changes in the religious world, is best known to Him who searches the heart. Certain it is that his subsequent life furnished no evidence of conversion to God. He waded without remorse through seas of blood, and was a most tyrannical prince."t A few words relative to his character as a man will complete our view of his fitness to legislate for the church. This man when elevated to the highest place of earthly power caused his eldest son Crispus to be privately murdered, lest the fame of the son should eclipse that of the father. In the same ruin was involved his nephew Licini- us, " whose rank was his only crime, and this was followed by the execution perhaps of a guilty wife."X Such was the man who elevated Sunday to the throne of the Roman empire ; and such the nature of the institution which he thus elevated. A re- cent English writer says of Constantine's Sunday law that it " would seem to have been rather to *Dec. and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. xx. (Marsh's Eccl. Hist., period 3, chap. v. tDec. and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. xviii. FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �259 promote heathen than Christian worship." And he shows how this heathen emperor became a Christian, and how this heathen statute became a Christian law. Thus he says : "At a LATER PERIOD, carried away by the current of opin- ion, he declared himself a convert to the church. Chris- tianity, then, or what he was pleased to call by that name, became the law of the land, and the edict of A. D. 321, being unrevoked was enforced as a Christen ordinance."* Thus it is seen that a law enacted in support of a heathen institution after a few years came to be considered a Christian ordinance; and Con- stantine himself, four years after his Sunday edict, was able to control the church, as represented in the general council of Nice, so as to cause the members of that council to establish their annual festival of the passover upon Sunday.t Pagan- ism had prepared the institution from ancient days, and had now elevated it to supreme power ; its work was accomplished. It was now the part of popery to effect its transformation into a Christian institution ; a work which it was not slow to perform. Sylvester was the bishop of Rome while Constantine was emperor. How faithfully he acted his part in transforming the festival of the sun into a Christian institution is seen in that he changed the name of the day, giv- ing it the imposing title of LORD'S DAY.I To *Sunday and the Mosaic Sabbath, p. 4. � j-See chap. xv. tOmnium vero dierum per septimanam appellationes, (ut Solis, Lunae, Martis, etc.,) mutasse in ferias: ut Polydorus (li. 6, c. 5) indicat. Mataphrastes vero, nomina dierum Hebraeis usitata, retinuisse eum, tradit; SOLIDS PRIM DIET APPELLATIONE MIITATA, QUEM DOMINICUM DIXIT. Historia Ecclesiastica per M. Ludovicum Lucium, cent. iv, chap. x, pp. 739, 740., Ed. Basilea 1624. Library of Andover Theo- logical Seminary. FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �261 managing of ecclesiastical affairs was committed to them. I hope it was not so with the former Sabbath, which neither took original from custom, that people being not so forward to give God a day ; nor required any command from the kings of Israel to confirm and ratify it. The Lord had spoke the word that he would have the seventh day from the world's creation to be a day of rest unto all his people; which said, there was no more to do but gladly to submit and obey his pleasure. But this was not done in our present busi- ness. The Lord's day had no such command that it should be sanctified, but was left plainly for God's people to pitch on this or any other for the public use. And being tak- en up amongst them and made a day of meeting in the con- gregation for religious exercises, yet for three hundred years there was neither law to bind them to it, nor any rest from labor or from worldly business required upon it. And when it seemed good unto Christian princes, the nursing fathers of God's church, to lay restraint upon their people, yet at the first they were not general, but only thus that certain men, in certain places, should lay aside their ordinary and daily works, to attend God's service in the church ; those whose em- ployments were most toilsome and most repugnant to the true nature of a Sabbath being allowed to follow and pursue their labors because most necessary to the commonwealth. And in the following times when as the prince and prelate in their several places endeavored to restrain them from that, also which formerly they had permitted, and interdicted al- most all kinds of bodily labor upon that day ; it was not brought about without much struggling and an opposition of the people ; more than a thousand years being past after Christ's ascension, before the Lord's day had attained that state in which now it standeth. And being brought into that state, wherein now it stands, it doth not stand so firm- ly and on such sure grounds but that those powers which raised it up may take it lower if they please, yea, take it quite away as unto the time, and settle it on any other day as to them seems best."' *Hist. Sab., part 2, chap. 3, sec. 12. 260 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Constantine and to Sylvester, therefore, the advo- cates of first-day observance are greatly indebted. The one elevated it as a heathen festival to the throne of the empire, making it a day of rest from most kinds of business: the other changed it into a Christian institution, giving it the dignified ap- pellation of Lord's day. It is true that traces of resting from labor on that day, and individual in- stances of designating Sunday as Lord's day are found as early as Tertullian's time, at the opening of the third century ; but it was the work of Con- stantine and of Sylvester in the early part of the fourth century to establish the festival of the sun, by the authority of the empire, and to render it a Christian institution by the authority of St. Peter. The following from Dr. Heylyn, a distinguished member of the church of England, is worthy of particular attention. In most forcible language he traces the steps by which the Sunday festival arose to power, contrasting it in this respect with the ancient Sabbath of the Lord ; and then with equal truth and candor he acknowledges that as the festival of Sunday was set up by the emperor and the church, the same power can take it down whenever it sees fit. Thus he says : " Thus do we see upon what grounds the Lord's day stands; ON CUSTOM FIRST, and VOLUNTARY consecration of it to religious meetings; that custom countenanced by the au- thority of the church of God, which TACITLY approved the same ; and FINALLY CONFIRMED and RATIFIED BY CHRISTIAN PRINCES throughout their empires. And as the day for rest from labors and restraint from business upon that day, [it] received its greatest strength from the supreme magistrate as long as he retained that power which to him belongs: as after from the canons and decrees of councils, the decretals of popes and orders of particular prelates, when the sole 262 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Constantine's edict marks a signal change in the history of the Sunday festival. Dr. Heylyn thus testifies : " Hitherto have we spoken of the Lord's day as taken up by the common consent of the church ; not instituted or es- tablished by any text of scripture, or edict of emperor, or de- cree of council. In that which followeth we shall find both emperors and councils very frequent in ordaining things about this day and the service of it."* After his professed conversion to Christianity, Constantine still further exerted his power in be- half of the venerable day of the sun, now happily transformed into the Lord's day, by the apostolic authority of the Roman bishop. Heylyn thus tes- tifies : "So natural a power it is in a Christian prince to order things about religion, that he not only took upon him to command the day, but also to prescribe the service."t The influence of Constantine powerfully con- tributed to the aid of those church leaders who were intent upon bringing the forms of pagan worship into the Christian church. Gibbon thus places upon record the motives of these men, and the result of their action : "The most respectable bishops had persuaded themselves, that the ignorant rustics would more cheerfully renounce the superstition of paganism, if they found some resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity. The re- ligion of Constantine achieved in less than a century, the final conquest of the Roman empire : but the victors them- selves were insensibly subdued by the arts of their vanquish- ed rivals."1: The body of nominal -Christians which result- *Hist. Sab., part 2, chap. 3, sec. 1. tHist. Sab., part 2, chap. 3, sec. 1. IDec. and Fall, chap. xxviii. FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �263 ed from this strange union of pagan rites with Christian worship, arrogated to itself the title of Catholic church, while the true people of God who resisted these dangerous innovations were branded as heretics and cast out of the church. It is not strange that the Sabbath should lose ground in such a body, in its struggle with its rival, the festival of the sun. Indeed after a brief period the history of the Sabbath will be found only in the almost obliterated records of those whom the Catholic church cast out and stigmatized us here- tics. Of the Sabbath in Constantine's time, Hey- lyn says : "As for the Saturday, that retained its wonted credit in the eastern churches, little inferior to the Lord's day, if not plainly equal; not as a Sabbath, think not so; but as a day designed unto sacred meetings."* And Eusebius, who was cotemporary with Con- stantine, and devoted exclusively to his party and his interests, says : " They [the patriarchs] did not, therefore, regard circum- cision, nor observe the Sabbath, neither do we ; neither do we abstain from certain foods, nor regard other injunctions, which Moses subsequently delivered to be observed in types and symbols, because such things as these do not belong to Christians."t This testimony shows precisely the view of Constantine and the imperial party relative to the Sabbath. He exerted a controlling influence in the church, and was determined to " have nothing in common with that most hostile rabble of the Jews." Happy would it have been had his aver- sion been directed against the festivals of the *Hist. Sabbath, part 2, chap. 3, sec. 5. tEccl. Hist., book 1, chap. iv. .00 ,41 264 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. heathen rather than against the Sabbath of the Lord. But after Constantine the Sabbath began to recover strength at least in the eastern church- es. � Prof. Stuart, in speaking of the period from Constantine to the council of Laodicea, A. D. 364, says: " The practice of it [the keeping of the Sabbath] was con- tinued by Christians who were jealous for the honor of the Mosaic law, and finally became, as we have seen, predomi- nant throughout christendom. It was supposed at length that the fourth commandment did require the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, (not merely a seventh part of time) and reasoning as Christians of the present day are wont to do, viz., that all which belongs to the ten commandments was immutable and perpetual, the churches in general came gradually to regard the seventh-day Sabbath as altogether sacred."* But the council of Laodicea struck a heavy blow at this Sabbath-keeping in the eastern church. Thus James in addressing the University of Ox- ford bears witness : " When the practice of keeping Saturday Sabbaths . . . . was evidently gaining ground in the eastern church, a de- cree was passed in the council held at Laodicea A. D. 364, that members of the church should not rest from work on the Sabbath like Jews, but should labor on that day, and preferring in honor the Lord's day, then if it be in their power should rest from work as Christians."t This shows conclusively that at that period the observance of the Sabbath according to the com- mandment was extensive in the eastern churches. But the Laodicean council not only forbade the ob- servance of the Sabbath, they even pronounced a *Appendix to Gurney's History, &c., of the Sabbath, pp. 115, 116. tSermons on the Sacraments and Sabbath, p. 123. curse on those who should obey the fourth com- mandment ! Prynne thus testifies : " It is certain that Christ himself, his apostles, and the primitive Christians for some good space of time did con- stantly observe the seventh-day Sabbath; the evangelists and St. Luke in the Acts ever styling it the Sabbath-day, and making mention of its solemnization by the apostles and other Christians ; it being still solemnized by many Chris- tians after the apostles' times, even till the council of Lao- dicea, A. D. 364, as ecclesiastical writers and the twenty-ninth canon of that council testify, which runs thus :* ' Because Christians ought not to Judaize, and to rest in the Sabbath, but to work in that day (which many did at that time refuse to do). But preferring in honor the Lord's day (there being then a great controversy among Christians which of these two days should have precedency) if they desired to rest they should do this as Christians. Because if they shall be found to Judaize, let them be accursed by Christ.'—The seventh day Sabbath was solemnized by Christ, the apos- tles and primitive Christians, till the Laodicean council did in a manner quite abolish the observation of it � The council of Laodicea, A. D. 364, first settled the observation of the Lord's day, and prohibited the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath under an anathema."-1- The action of this council did not extirpate the Sabbath from the eastern churches, though it did effectually weaken its influence, and cause its ob- servance to become with many only a nominal thing, while it did most effectually enhance the sacredness and the authority of the Sunday festi- 16:3 Q.uod non oportet Christianos Judaizare et otiare in Sab- bato, lk t � sed operari in eodem die. Preferentes autem in ven- eratione Dominicum diem .si vacare voluerint ut Christiani hoc faciant ; quod si reperti fuerint Judaizare Anathema sint a Christo. -Dissertation on the Lord's-day Sabbath, pp. 33, 34, 44. 1S FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �265 FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �267 a sort of consecration of the day, it does not seem at any peri- od of the ancient church to have assumed the form of such an observance as some modern religious communities have contended for. Nor do these writers in any instance pretend to allege any divine command, or even apostolic practice, in sup- port of it. Chrysostom (A. D. 360) concludes one of his Homilies by dismissing his audience to their respective ordi- nary occupations."* It was reserved for modern theologians to dis- cover the divine or apostolic authority for Sunday observance. The ancient doctors of the church were unaware that any such authority existed ; and hence they deemed it lawful and proper to engage in usual worldly business on that day when their religious worship was concluded. � Thus Ileylyn bears witness : "St. Chrysostom confessed it to be lawful for a man to look to his worldly business on the Lord's day, after the con- gregation was dismissed."t St. Jerome, a few years after this, at the open- ing of the fifth century, in his commendation of the lady Paula, shows his own opinion of Sunday labor. Thus he says : "Paula, with the women, ns soon as they returned home on the Lord's clay, sat down severally to their work, and made clothes severally for the uselves and others "t Morer justifies this Sunday labor in the follow- ing terms: "If we read that they did any work on the Lord's day, it is to be remembered that this application to their daily tasks was not till their worship was quite over, when they might *Cyc. Bib. Lit. art. Lord's Day; Heylyn's Hist. Sab., part 2, chap. 3, sec. 7. tHist. Sab. part 2, chap. 3, sec. 9, (Dialogues on the Lord's Day, p. 234; Hist. Sah. part 2, chap. 3, sec. 7. 266 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. val. That it did not wholly extinguish Sabbath- keeping is thus certified by an old English writer, John Ley : "From the apostles' time until the council of Laodicea, which was about the year 364, the holy observation of the Jews' Sabbath continued, as may be proved out of many au- thors ; yea, notwithstanding the decree of that council against it "* The following testimonies exhibit the authority of church councils in its true light. � Jortin is quoted by Cox as saying : "In such assemblies the best and most moderate men sel- dom have the ascendant, and they are often led or driven by others who are far inferior to them in good qualities."1- The same writer gives us Baxter's opinion of the famous Westminster Assembly. Baxter says : "I have lived to see an assembly of ministers, where three or four leading men were so prevalent as to form a confession in the name of the whole party, which had that in it which particular members did disown. And when about a contro- verted article, one man hath charged me deeply with ques- tioning the words of the church, others, who were at the forming of that article have laid it all on that man, the rest being loth to strive much against him ; and so it was he him- self was the church whose authority he so much urged."1 Such has been the nature of councils in all ages ; yet they have ever claimed infallibility, and have largely used that infallibility in the suppression of the Sabbath and the establishment of the festival of Sunday. Of first-day sacredness prior to, and as late as, the time of Chrysostom, Kitto thus tes- tifies : " Though in later times we find considerable reference to *Sunday a Sabbath, p. 163. 1640. fSabbath Laws &c., p. 138. �tId. p. 138. FIRST FIVE CENTURIES. �269 208 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. with innocency enough resume them, because the length of time or the number of hours assigned for piety was not then so well explained as in after ages � Christianity had got into the throne, as well as into the empire. Yet for all this, the entire sanctification of the Lord's day proceeded slowly : and that it was the work of time to bring it to per- fection, appears from the several steps the church made in her constitutions, and from the decrees of emperors and oth- er princes, wherein the prohibitions from servile and civil business, advanced by degrees from one species to another till Plc day got a considerable figure in the world."* The bishop of Ely thus testifies : "In St. Jerome's days, and in the very place where he was residing, the devoted Christians did ordinarily work upon the Lord's day, when the service of the church was ended."t St. Augustine, the cotemporary of Jerome, gives a synopsis of the argument in that age for Sunday observance, in the following words : "It appears from the sacred Scriptures, that this day was a solemn one ; it was the first day of the age, that is of the existence of our world; in it the elements of the world were formed; on it the angels were created; on it Christ rose also from the dead; on it the Holy Spirit descended from heaven upon the apostles as manna had done in the wilder- ness. For these and other such circumstances the Lord's day is distinguished; and therefore the holy doctors of the church have decreed that all the glory of the Jewish Sab- bath is transferred to it. Let us therefore keep the Lord's day as the ancients were commanded to do the Sabbath."1 It is to be observed that Augustine does not as- sign among his reasons for first-day observance, the change of the Sabbath by Christ or his apos- tles, or that the apostles observed that day, or that John had given it the name of Lord's day. These *Dialogues on the Lord's Day, pp. 236, 237. Treatise of the Sabbath, p. 219. Sabbath Laws, &c., p. 284. modern first-day arguments were unknown to Au- gustine. He gave the credit of the work, not to Christ or his inspired apostles, but to the holy doctors of the church, who of their own accord had transferred the glory of the ancient Sabbath to the venerable day of the sun. The first day of the week was considered in the fifth century the most proper day for giving holy orders, that is, for ordinations, and about the middle of this cen- tury, says Heylyn, " A law [was] made by Leo then Pope of Rome, and gen- erally since taken up in the western church, that they should be conferred upon no day else."* Soon after this edict of the pope, the emperor Leo, A. D. 469, put forth the following decree : " The Lord's day we decree to be a venerable day, and therefore free it of all citations, executions, pleadings, and the like avocations. Let not the circus or theatre be open- ed, nor combating with wild beasts be seen on it. � If any will presume to offend in the premises, if he be a mili- tary man, let him lose his commission; or if other, let his estate or goods be confiscated." And this emperor determined to mend the breach in Constantine's law, and thus prohibit ag- riculture on Sunday. So he adds : " We command therefore all, as well husbandmen as oth- ers, to forbear work on this day of our restoration."f The holy doctors of the church had by this time very effectually despoiled the Sabbath of its glo- ry, transferring it to the Lord's day of pope Syl- vester; as Augustine testifies; yet was not Sab- batical observance wholly extinguished even in the Catholic church. The historian Socrates, who *Hist. Sab., part 2, chap. 4, sec. 8. pialogues on the Lord's day, pp. 259, 260, 270 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. wrote about the middle of the fifth century, thus testifies : " For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on ac- count of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this. The Egyptians in the neighborhood of Alexandria, and the in- habitants of Thebais, hold their religious meetings on the Sabbath, but do not participate of the mysteries in the man- ner usual among Christians in general."* As the church of Rome had turned the Sabbath into a fast some two hundred years before this, in order to oppose its observance, it is probable that this was the ancient tradition referred to by Soc- rates. Lardner quotes this testimony of Socra- tes, and then gives that of another historian a few years later than Socrates, to the same purport : " Sozomon, about the same time, says likewise, that at Constantinople, and almost everywhere, except Rome and Alexandria, Christians assembled on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the -week."-i- On the statement of these historians Cox re- marks : "It was their practice to Sabbatize on Saturday, and to celebrate Sunday as a day of rejoicing and festivity, while, however, in some places a respect was thus generally paid to both of these days, the Judaizing practice of observing Saturday was by the leading churches expressly condemned, and all the doctrines connected with it steadfastly re- sisted." The time had now come, when, as stated by Coleman, the observance of the Sabbath was deem- ed heretical ; and the close of the fifth century witnessed its effectual suppression in the great body of the Catholic church. 'x-Eccl. Hist., book 5, chap. 22. fCrodibility of the Gospel History, Vol. x, chap. 85. $8abbatIt Laws, Sw., p. 280. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 271 CHAPTER XVII. THE FESTIVAL OF SUNDAY FROM THE SIXTH CENTURY TO THE REFORMATION. The pope becomes head of all the churches—The people of God retire into the wilderness—Sunday to be traced through the dark ages in the history of the Catholic church—State of that festival in the sixth century—It did not acquire the title of Sabbath for many ages—Time when it became a day of abstinence from labor in the east—When in the west —Sunday canon of the first council of Orleans—Of the council of Arrk,on--Of the third council of Orleans—Of a council at Mascon—At Narbon—At Auxerre—Miracles es- tablishing the sacredness of Sunday—The pope advises men to atone, by the pious observance of Sunday, for the sins of the previous week—The Sabbath and Sunday both strictly kept by a class at Rome who were put down by the pope—The Sabbath, like its Lord, crucified between two thieves—Council of Chalons—At Toledo, in which the Jews were forbidden to keep the Sabbath and commanded to keep Sunday—First English law for Sunday—Council at Constantinople—In England—In Bavaria—Canon of the archbishop of York—Statutes of Charlemagne and canons of councils which he called—The pope aids in the work— Council at Paris originates a famous first-day argument— The councils fail to establish Sunday sacredness—The em- perors besought to send out some more terrible edict in order to compel the observance of that day—The pope takes the matter in hand in earnest and gives Sunday an effectual establishment—Other statutes and canons—Sun- day piety of a Norwegian king—Sunday consecrated to the mass—Curious but obsolete first-day arguments—The eat- ing of meat forbidden upon the Sabbath by the pope— Pope Urban II, ordains the Sabbath of the Lord to be a festival for the worship of " Mary the mother of God !"— Apparition from St. Peter—The pope sends Eustachius in- to England with a roll that fell from heaven commanding Sunday observance under direful penalties—Miracles which followed—Sunday established in Scotland—Other Sunday laws down to the reformation—Sunday always on- ly a human ordinance. The opening of the sixth century witnessed the development of the great apostasy to such an ex- Ali 273 272 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. tent that the man of sin might be plainly seen sit- ting in the temple of God.* The western Roman empire had been broken up into ten kingdoms, and the way was now prepared for the work of the little horn.- In the early part of this century, the bishop of Rome was made head over the entire church by the emperor of the east, Justinian./ The dragon gave unto the beast his power, and his seat, and great authority. From this accession to supremacy by the Roman pontiff, date the " time, times and dividing of time," or twelve hundred and sixty years of the prophecies of Daniel and John.§ The true people of God now retired for safety in- to places of obscurity and seclusion, as represent- ed by the prophecy : " The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days."11 Leaving their history for the present, let us follow that of the Catholic church, and trace in its record the history of the Sunday festival through the period of the dark ages. Of the fifth and sixth centuries Heylyn bears the following testimony : " The faithful being united better than before, became more uniform in matters of devotion ; and in that uniformity did agree together to give the Lord's day all the honors of an holy festival. Yet was not this done all at once, but by de- grees : the fifth and sixth centuries being fully spent before it came unto that height which hath since continued. The emperors and the prelates in these times had the same affec- tions ; both [being] earnest to advance this day above all *2 Thess. ii. �1-Dan. vii. /Shimeall's Bible Chronology, part ii, chap. ix, sec. v, pp. 175, 176. Dan. vii, 7, 25; Rev. xiii, 2, 5. � IIRev. xii. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. other ; and to the edicts of the one and to the ecclesiastical constitutions of the other, it stands indebted for many of of those privileges and exemptions which it still enjoyeth."* But Sunday had not yet acquired the title of Sabbath. Thus Brerewood bears testimony : "The name of the Sabbath remained appropriated to the old Sabbath; and was never attributed to the Lord's day, not of many hundred years after our Saviour's timet And Heylyn says of the term Sabbath in the ancient church : " The Saturday is called amongst them by no other name than that which formerly it had, the Sabbath. So that when- ever for a thousand years and upwards, we meet with Sab- batum in any writer of what name soever, it must be under- stood of no day but Saturday ."1 Dr. Francis White, bishop of Ely, also testifies : "When the ancient fathers distinguish and give proper names to the particular days of the week, they always style the Saturday, Subbatum, the Sabbath, and the Sunday, or first day of the week, Dominicum, the Lord's day.1 It should be observed, however, that the earli- est mention of Sunday as Dominicum diem, is in the writings of Tertullian ; Justin Martyr some sixty years before, styling it " the day called Sun- day ;" while the authoritative application of that term to Sunday was by Sylvester, bishop of Rome, more than one hundred years after the time of Tertullian. The earliest mention of Sunday as Christian Sabbath is thus noted by Heylyn : " The first wh6 ever used it to denote the Lord's day—the first that I have met with in all this search—is one Petrus Alfonsus—he lived about the time that Rupertus did— *Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 4, sec. 1. 1-Learned Treatise of the Sabbath, ed. ion. /Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 2, sec. 12. Treatise of the Sabbath Day p. 202. 274 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. [which was the beginning of the twelfth century] who calls the Lord's day by the name of Christian Sabbath."* Of Sunday labor in the eastern church, Hey- lyn says : "It was near nine hundred years from our Saviour's birth before restraint of husbandry on this day had been first thought of in the east; and probably being thus restrained did find no more obedience then, than it had done before in the western parts.''t Of Sunday labor in the western church, Dr. Francis White thus testifies : "The Catholic church for more than six hundred years after Christ, permitted labor, and gave license to many Christian people to work upon the Lord's day, at such hours as they were not commanded to be present at the public worship by the precept of the church."/ But let us trace the several steps by which the festival of Sunday increased in strength until it attained its complete development. These will be found at present mostly in the edicts of emper- ors, and the decrees of councils. Morer tells us that, " Under Clodoveus king of France, met the bishops in the first council of Orleans [A. D. 507], where they obliged themselves and their successors, to be always at church on the Lord's day, except in ease of sickness or some great in- firmity. And because they, with some other of the clergy in those days, took cognizance of judicial matters, therefore by a council at Arragon about the year 518 in the reign of Theodorick, king of the Goths, it was decreed that 'No bishop or other person in holy orders should examine or pass judgment in any civil controversy on the Lord's day.' 1 *Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 5, sec. 13. fld., part 2, chap. v, sec. 6. /Treatise of the Sabbath-day, pp. 217, 218. Dialogues on the Lord's Day, pp. 263, 264. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 275 This shows that civil courts were sometimes held on Sunday by the bishops in those days ; otherwise such a prohibition would not have been put forth. � Hengstenberg, in his notice of the third council of Orleans gives us an insight into the then existing state of the Sunday festival : "The third council of Orleans A. D. 538, says in its twen- ty-ninth canon: The opinion is spreading amongst the people, that it is wrong to ride, or drive, or cook food, or do anything to the house, or the person on the Sunday. But since such opinions are more Jewish than Christian, that shall be lawful in future, which has been so to the present time. On the other hand agricultural labor ought to be laid aside, in order that the people may not be prevented from attending church.' "* In A. D. 588 another council was holden, the occasion of which is thus stated : "And because, notwithstanding all this care, the day was not duly observed, the bishops were again summoned to Mascon in Burgundy by king Gunthrum, and there they framed this canon : 'Notice is taken that Christian peo- ple, very much neglect the Lord's day, giving themselves as on other days to common work, to redress which irreverence, we warn every Christian who bears not that name in vain, to give ear to our advice, knowing we have a concern on us for your good, and a power to hinder you to do evil. Keep then the Lord's day, the day of our new birth."f Further legislation being necessary we are told: "About a year forward, there was a council at Narbon, which forbid all persons of what country or quality soever to do any servile work on the Lord's day. But if any man presumed to disobey this canon he was to be fined if a free- man, and if a servant, severely lashed. Or as Surius rep- resents the penalty in the edict of king Recaredus, which he put out, near the same time to strengthen the decrees of the *The Lord's day, p. 58. -I-Dialogues on the Lord's Day, p. 265. iti PM' 276 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. council, 'Rich men were to be punished with the loss of a moiety of their estates, and the poorer sort with perpetual banishment.' In the year 590 another synod was held at Auxerre a city in Champain, in the reign of Clotair king of France, where it was decreed � ' that no man should be allowed to plow, nor cart, or do any such thing on the Lord's day."* Such were some of the efforts made in the sixth century to advance the sacredness of the Sunday festival. And Morer tells us that, "For fear the doctrine should not take without miracles to support it, Gregory of Tours [about. A. D. 590] furnishes us with several to that purpose." -t Mr. Francis West, an old English first-day writer gravely adduces one of these miracles in support of first-day sacredness : " Gregory of Tours reporteth, 'that a husbandman, who, upon the Lord's day went to plough his field, as he cleaned his plough with an iron, the iron stuck so fast in his hand that for two years he could not be delivered from it, but car- ried it about continually, to his exceeding great pain and shame." In the conclusion of the sixth century, pope Gregory exhorted the people of Rome to " expiate on the day of our Lord's resurrection what was remissly done for the six days before."§ In the same epistle this pope condemned a class of men at Rome who advocated the strict observance of both the Sabbath and the Sunday, styling them the preachers of antichrist. II This shows the in- *Id., pp. 265, 266; � 8. Hi I t. S pab6. part 2, chap. 4, sec. 7. td. . t Historical and Practical Discourse on the Lord's Day. Dialogues on the Lord's Day. p. 282. Fleury, Hist. Eccl. Tome viii, Livre xxxvi, sec. xxii; Heylyn's Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 5, sec. 1. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 277 tolerant feeling of the papacy toward the Sabbath, even when joined with the strict observance of Sunday. It also shows that there were Sabbath- keepers even in Rome itself as late as the seventh century ; although so far bewildered by the pre- vailing darkness that they joined with its observ- ance a strict abstinence from labor on Sunday. In the early part of the seventh century arose an- other foe to the Bible Sabbath in the person of Mahomet. To distinguish his followers alike from those who observed the Sabbath and those who observed the festival of Sunday, he selected Fri- day, the sixth day of the week, as their religious festival. And thus " the Mahometans and the Romanists crucified the Sabbath, as the Jews and the Romans did the Lord of the Sabbath, between two thieves, the sixth and first day of the week."* For Mahometanism and Romanism each suppress- ed the Sabbath over a wide extent of territory. About the middle of the seventh century we have further canons of the church in behalf of Sunday : " At Chalons in Burgundy, about the year 654, there was a provincial synod which decreed that 'none shall plow or reap on the Lord's day, or do any other thing belonging to husbandry, on pain of the censures of the church ; which was the more minded, because backed with the secular pow- er, and by an edict menacing such as offended herein; who if bondmen, were to be soundly beaten, but if free, had three admonitions, and then if faulty, lost the third part of their patrimony, and if still obstinate were made slaves for the fu- ture � The twelfth council of Toledo in Spain, A. P. 681, forbid the Jews to keep their own festivals, but so far *The idea is suggested by the language of an anonymous first-day writer of the seventeenth century, Iremnus Phila- lethes, in a work entitled Sabbato-Dominica, pref., p. 11, London, 1643. 273 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. at least observe the Lord's day as to do no manner of work on it whereby they might express their contempt of Christ or his worship."* These were weighty reasons indeed for Sunday observance. Nor can it be thought strange that in the dark ages a constant succession of such things should eventuate in the universal observ- ance of that day. Even the Jews were to be com- pelled to desist from Sabbath observance, and to honor Sunday by resting on that day from their labor. The earliest mention of Sunday in English statutes appears to be the following : A. D. 692. "Ina, king of the west Saxons, by the advice of Cenred his father, and IIeddes and Erkenwald his bishops, with all his aldermen and sages, in a great assembly of the servants of God, for the health of their souls, and common preservation of the kingdom, made several constitutions, of which this was the third: 'If a servant do any work on Sun- day by his master's order, he shall be free, and the master pay thirty shillings; but if he went to work on his own head, he shall be either beaten with stripes, or ransom him- self with a price. A freeman, if he works on this day, shall lose his freedom or pay sixty shillings ; if he be a priest, double.' "-f. The same year that this law was enacted in England, the sixth general council convened at Constantinople, which decreed that, "If any bishop or other clergyman, or any of the laity, absented himself from the church three Sundays together, if a clergyman, he was to be deposed; if a layman, debarred the holy communion."* In the year 747, a council of the English cler- gy was called under Cuthbert, archbishop of Can- *Dialogues on the Lord's Day, p. 267. tId. p. 283. � $Id. p. 268. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 279 terbury, in the reign of Egbert, king of Kent, and this constitution made : "It is ordered that the Lord's day be celebrated with due veneration, and wholly devoted to the worship of God. And that all abbots and priests, on this most holy day, remain in their respective monasteries and churches, and there do their duty according to their places.* Another ecclesiastical statute of the eighth cen- tury is thus given : " At Dingosolinum [in Bavaria] a synod met about 772, which decreed that if any man shall work his cart on this day, Or do any such common business, his team shall be presently forfeited to the public use, and if the party per- sists in his folly, let him be sold for a bondman."t The English were not behind their neighbors in the good work of establishing the sacredness of Sunday. Thus we read : A. D. 784. "Egbert, archbishop of York, to show posi- tively what was to be done on Sundays, and what the laws designed by prohibiting ordinary work to be done on such days, made this canon : 'Let nothing else, saith he, be done on the Lord's day, but to attend on God in hymns and psalms and spiritual songs. Whoever marries on Sunday, let him do penance for seven days.' "1,- In the conclusion of the eighth century further efforts were made in behalf of this favored day.: " Charlemagne summoned the bishops to Friuli, in Italy, where they decreed A. D. 791 that all people should with due reverence and devotion honor the Lord's day � Under the same prince another council was called three years later at Frankton' in Germany, and there the limits of the Lord's day were determined from Saturday evening to Sunday evening."* *Id. pp. 283, 284. � pl. p. 268. � .tId. p. 284. *Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 5, secs. 2, 5 ; Morer, p. 269. 280 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. The five councils of Mentz, Rheims, Tours, Chalons, and Arles, were all called in the year 813 by Charlemagne. It would be too irksome to the reader to dwell upon the several acts of these councils in behalf of Sunday. They are of the same character as those already quoted. The council of Chalons however is worthy of being noticed in that, according to Morer, "They entreated the help of the secular power, and de- sired the emperor [Charlemagne] to provide for the strict- er observation of it. Which he accordingly did and left no stone unturned, to secure the honor of the day. His care succeeded; and during his reign the Lord's day bore a con- siderable figure. But after his day it put on another face."* The pope lent a helping hand in checking the profanation of Sunday : " And thereupon pope Eugenius in a synod held at Rome about 826, gave directions that the parish priest should ad- monish such offenders and wish them to go to church and say their prayers, lest otherwise they might bring some great calamity on themselves and neighbors."f All this however was not sufficient, and so an- other council was summoned. At this council was brought forward—perhaps for the first time—the famous first-day argument now so familiar to all, that Sunday is proved to be the true Sabbath by the fact that men are struck by lightning who la- bor on that day. Thus we read : "But these paternal admonitions turning to little account, a provincial council was held at Paris three years after, in 829, wherein the prelates complain that 'the Lord's day was not kept with reverence as became religion, which was the reason that God had sent several judgments on them, and in a very remarkable manner punished some people for slight- *Dialogues, &c., p. 270. � j- Id., p. 271. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 281 ing and abusing it. For, say they, many of us by our own knowledge, and some by hearsay know, that several country- men following their husbandry on this day have been killed with lightning, others being slued with convulsions in their joints have miserably perished. Whereby it is apparent how high the displeasure of God was upon their neglect of this day.' And they conSlude that in the first place the priests and ministers, then kings and princes, and all faith- ful people be beseeched to use their utmost endeavors and care that the day be restored to its honor, and for the credit of christianity more devoutly observed for the time to come.' "* Further legislation being necessary, "It-was decreed about seven years after in a council un- der Lewis the godly, that neither pleadings nor marriages should be allowed on the Lord's day."f But the law of Charlemagne though backed with the authority of the church, as expressed in the canons of the councils already quoted, by the remissness of Lewis, his successor became very feeble. It is evident that canons and decrees of councils, though fortified with the mention of ter- rible judgments that had befallen transgressors, were not yet sufficient to enforce the sacred day. Another and more terrific statute than any yet is- sued was sought at the hands of the emperor. Thus we read : "Thereupon an address was made to the emperors, Lewis and Lotharius, that they would send out some precept more severe than what was hitherto extant, to strike terror into their subjects, and force them to forbear their ploughing, pleading, and marketing, then grown again into use; which was done about the year 853; and to that end a synod was called at Rome under the popedom of Leo IV."I *Id., p. 271 ; Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 5, sec. 7. f Id., p. 272. �IDialogues, � p. 261. 19 282 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. At this synod the pope took the matter in hand in good earnest. Thus Heylyn testifies : "Under the emperors, Lewis and Lotharius, a synod was held at Rome A. D. 853, under pope Leo IV where it was or- dered more precisely than in former times that no man should thenceforth dare to make any markets on the Lord's day, no not for things to eat : neither to do any kind of work that belonged to husbandry. Which canon being made at Rome, confirmed at Compeigne, and afterwards incorpor- ated as it was into the body of the canon law, became to be admitted without further question in most parts of Christen- dom ; especially when the popes had attained their height, and brought all Christian princes to be at their devotion. For then the people who before had most opposed it might have justly said, 'Behold two kings stood not before him, how then shall we stand ?' Out of which consternation all men presently obeyed, tradesmen of all sorts being brought to lay by their labors, and amongst those the miller, though his work was easiest, and least of all required his presence."* This was a most effectual establishment of first- day sacredness. Five years after this we read as follows : A. D. 858. " The Bulgarians sent some questions to pope Nicholas, to which they desired answers. And that [an- swer] which concerned the Lord's day was that they should desist from all secular work."t Morer informs us respecting the civil power, that, " In this century the emperor [of Constantinople] Leo, surnamed the philosopher, restrained the works of husband- ry, which, according to Constantine's toleration, were per- mitted in the east. This same care was taken in the west, by Theodorus, king of the Bavarians, who made this order, that '11 any person on the Lord's day yoked his oxen, or drove his wain, his right-side ox should be forthwith forfeit- *Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 5, sec. 7; Morer, p. 272. p. 273. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 283 ed; or if he made hay and carried it in, he was to be twice admonished to desist, which if he did not, he was to receive no less than fifty stripes.' "* Of Sunday laws in England in this century we read : A. D. 876. " Alfred the great, was the first who united the Saxon Heptarchy, and it was not the least part of his care to make a law that among other festivals this day more es- pecially might be solemnly kept. � And whereas the single punishment for sacrilege committed on any other day, was to restore the value of the thing stolen, and withal lose one hand, he added that if any person was found guilty of this crime done on the Lord's day, he should be doubly pun- ished."t Nineteen years later, the pope and his council still further strengthen the sacred day. The council of Friburgh in Germany, A. D. 895, under pope Formosus, decreed that the Lord's day, men " were to spend in prayers, and devote whol- ly to the service of God, who otherwise might be provoked to anger." The work of establishing Sunday sacredness in England was carried steadi- ly forward : King Athelston, in the year 928, made a law that there should be no marketing or civil pleadings on the Lord's day, under the penalty of forfeiting the commodity, besides a fine of thirty shillings for each offense.1 In a convocation of the English clergy about this time, it was decreed that all sorts of traffic and the holding of courts, &c., on Sunday should cease. " And whoever transgressed in any of these instances, if a freeman, he was to pay twelve orx, if a servant, be severely whipt." We are further informed that, *Dialogues, &c., pp. 261, 262. fId. pp. 284, 285. � tId. p. 274. � pp. 285-287. it 284 � HISTORY OP THE SABBATH. "About the year 943, Otho, archbishop of Canterbury, had it decreed that above all things the Lord's day should be kept with all imaginable caution, according to the canon and ancient practice." A. D. 967. " King Edgar commanded that the festival should be kept from three of the clock in the afternoon on Sat- urday, till day-break on Monday. " King Ethelred the younger, son of Edgar, about the year 1009, called a general council of all the English clergy, under Elfeagus, archbishop of Canterbury, and Wolston, archbishop of York. And there it was required that all per- sons in a more zealous manner should observe the Sunday, and what belonged to it."* Nor did the Sunday festival fail to gain a foot- ting in Norway. Heylyn tells us of the piety of a Norwegian king : Olaus, king of Norway, A. D. 1028, being taken up one Sunday in some serious thoughts, and having in his hand a small walking stick, he took his knife and whittled it, as men do sometimes, when their minds are troubled or intent on business. And when it had been told him as by way of jest how he had trespassed therein against the Sabbath, he gathered the small chips together, put them upon his hand, and set fire unto them, that so he might revenge on himself what unawares he had committed against God's command- ment."t In Spain also the work went forward. A coun- cil was held at Coy in Spain, A. D. 1050, under Ferdinand, king of Castile, in the days of pope Leo IX, where it was decreed that the Lord's day " was to be entirely consecrated to hearing of mass."T To strengthen the sacredness of this venerable day in the minds of the people, the doctors of the *Id. pp. 285-287. � tHist. Sab. part 2, chap. 5, sec. 2. *Dialogues, &c. p. 274. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 285 church were not wanting. Heylyn makes the fol- lowing statement : It was delivered of the souls in purgatory by Petrus Da- miani, who lived A. D. 1056, that every Lord's day they were manumitted from their pains and fluttered up and down the ake Avernus, in the shape of birds."* At the same time another argument of a similar kind was brought forward to render the observ- ance still more strict. Morer informs us respect- infr t' that class who in this age were most zealous advocates of Sunday observance : "Yet still the others went on their way; and to induce their proselytes to spend the day with greater exactness and care, they brought in the old argument of compassion and charity to the damned in hell, who during the day, have some respite from their torments, and the ease and liberty they have is more or less according to the zeal and degrees of keeping it well."t If therefore they would strictly observe this sa- cred festival, their friends in hell would reap the benefit, in a respite from their torments on that day ! In a council at Rome, A. D. 1078, pope Gregory VII, decreed that as long as the Sabbath had been long regarded as a fast day, those who desired to be Christians should on that day abstain from eating meat. t In the eastern division of the Catholic church in the eleventh century the Sabbath was still regarded as a festival, equal in sacredness with Sunday. Heylyn contrasts with this the action of the western division of that church : " But it was otherwise of old in the church of Rome, where they did labor and fast. And this, with little opposition or *Hist, Sab. part 2, chap. 5, sec. 2. tDialogues, &o., p. 68. $Binius, Vol. 3, p. 1285, ed. 1606. ti 1 7 286 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. interruption, save that which had been made in the city of Rome in the beginning of the seventh century, and was soon crushed by Gregory then bishop there, as before noted. And howsoever Urban II, did consecrate it to the weekly service of the blessed virgin, and instituted in the council held at Clermont, A. D. 1095, that our lady's office should be said upon it, and that upon that day all Christian folks should worship her with their best devotion."* It would seem that this was a crowning indigni- ty to the Most High. The memorial of the great Creator set apart as a festival on which to worship Mary as the mother of God ! In the middle of the twelfth century the king of England was ad- monished not to suffer men to work upon Sunday. "Henry II entered on the government about the year 1155. Of him it is reported that he had an apparition at Cardiff (in South Wales) which from St. Peter charged him, that upon Sundays throughout his dominions, there should be no buy- ing or selling, and no servile work done." 1- It seems that the sacredness of Sunday was not yet sufficiently established, a divine warrant being still unprovided. The manner in which this ur- gent necessity was met is related by Heylyn in language somewhat severe : " In the very entrance of the thirteenth age, Fulco, a French priest and a notable hypocrite, lighted upon a new Sabbatarian fancy, which one of his associates, Eustachius, abbot of Flay in Normandy, was sent to scatter here in Eng- land ; but finding opposition to his doctrines, he went back again. The next year after, being 1202, he comes better for- tified, preaching from town to town and from place to place, that no man should market on the Lord's day. Now for the easier bringing of the people to obey their dictates, they had to show a warrant sent from God himself, as they gave it out. The title was this : *Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. v, sec. 13. piorer, p. 288; Heylp; part 2, chap. 7, sec. 6. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 287 A HOLY MANDATE, touching the Lord's day, which came down from heaven unto Jerusalem, found on St. Simeon's altar in Golgotha, where Christ was crucified for the sins of all the world, which lying there three days and three nights, struck with such terror all that saw it, that falling on the ground they besought God's mercy. At last the patriarch and Aka- rias the archbishop (of I know not whence) ventured to take into their hands that• dreadful letter which was written thus. Now wipe your eyes and look awhile on the contents: " I am the Lord who commanded you to keep the Lord's day, and you have not kept it, neither repented of your sins; I caused repentance to be preached unto you and you believed not; then I sent the pagans among you, who spill your blood on the earth, and yet you believed not; and because you did not observe the Lord's holy day, I punished you a while with famine, but in a short time I gave you fullness of bread, and then you behaved yourselves worse than before. I again charge you that from the ninth hour [i. e., three o'clock, P. na.,] on Saturday, until sunrising on the Monday, no man presume to do any work, but what is good, or if he do, let him repent for the same. Verily I say unto you, and swear by my seat and throne, and by the cherubim which surround it, that if you do not hearken to this my mandate, I will send no other letter unto you but will open the heavens and rain upon you stones, wood and scalding water by night, so that none shall be able to provide against them. I say ye shall die the death for the Lord's day ; and other festivals of my saints which ye have not kept; and I will send among you beasts with the heads of lions, and the hair of women, and the tails of camels, which being very hungry shall devour your flesh. And you shall desire to flee to the sepulchres of the dead, and hide you for fear of those beasts. And I will take the light of the sun from your eyes, and send such darkness that not being able to see, you shall destroy each other. And I will turn my face away and not in the least pity you. I will burn Your bodies and hearts of all them who do not keep the Lord's day. Hear then my words, and do not perish for 288 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. neglecting this day. I swear to you by my right hand, that if you do not observe the Lord's day, and festivals of my saints, I will send pagan nations to destroy you.* That such an epistle as the above was actually brought into England at the time and in the man- ner specified, is so amply attested as to leave no doubt.t Matthew Paris was a historian of the same century in which this roll was produced. In speaking of the writers of that century, Mosheim bears the following testimony respecting his cred- ibility : "Among the historians, the first place is due to Matthew Paris, a writer of the highest merit both in point of knowl- edge and prudence.% Matthew Paris, after relating the story of the fall of this epistle from the throne of God to the altar of St. Simeon in Golgotha, and the terrible consternation which possessed those who took it up, thus continues : "But when the patriarch and clergy of all the holy land had diligently examined the tenor of this epistle, it was 'de- creed in a general deliberation that the epistle should be sent to the judgment of the Roman pontiff, so that whatever he decreed to be done, it would please all. And when at length the epistle had come to the knowledge of the lord pope, immediately he ordained heralds, who being sent through different parts of the world, preached every where the doctrine of this epistle, the Lord working with them and *Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 7, sec. 6 ; Morer, pp. 288-290. fit may be found in Wilkin's Concilia Magnte Britanite et Hibernie, Vol. 1, p. 610, London, 1737. Also in Sir Da- vid Dalrymple's Historical Memorials concerning the pro- vincial Councils of the Scottish Clergy, pp. 7, 8, ed. 1769, who cites as his authorities Binii Coneil. ad ann. 1201 ; Roger Hoveden, p. 821, ed. 1601; Matthew Paris, p. 141, ed. 1644; and Baluz. Capit. Vol. 2, p. 1396. $Ecol. Hist. cent. xiii, part 2, chap. 1, sec. v. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 289 confirming their words by signs following. Among whom the abbot of Flay, Eustachius by name, a devout and learned man having entered the kingdom of England did there shine with many miracles."* This testimony shows that Eustachius was com- missioned by the pope to set forth this precious document in England. And thus the shameless fraud is traced directly to the head of the Romish church. When we are further informed that the pope received this epistle from the hands of those who saw it fall from heaven, we have simply the story which he caused to be circulated in order to give divine authority to the Christian Sabbath. It was Innocent III, who filled the office of pope at this time, of whom Bower speaks thus : " Innocent was perfectly well qualified to raise the papal power and authority to the highest pitch, and we shall see him improving, with great address, every opportunity that offered to compass that end." 1- It was now the midnight of the dark ages, and that pontiff filled the papal throne who raised the papacy to its highest elevation. It is an instruc- tive fact that as the first act of papal aggression *Matthew Paris, page 200, ed. 1640. His words are these : "Cum autem Patriarchs et °terns omnis Term sanctse hunt epistolic tenorem diligenter examinassent ; communi omnium deliberatione deoretum est, ut epistola ad judicium Romani Pontificis transmitteretur ; quatenus, quicquid ipse agendurirdecrevit, placiet universis. Cumque tandem epis- tola ad domini Pap notitiam pervenisset, continuo priedic- atores ordinavit; -qui per diversas mundi partes profecti, prsedicaverunt ubique epistolse tenorem; Domino coope- rante et sermonem eorum confirmante, sequentibus signis. Inter quos Abbos de Flai nomine Eustachius, vir religiosus et literati scientia eruditis, regnum Anglite aggressus : mul- tis ibidem miraculis corruscavit."—Library of Harvard Col- lege. fllist. Popes, Vol. 2, p. 685. 290 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. was in behalf of Sunday, so also when the papacy had reached its utmost height of power, the pope determined to furnish the world with divine au- thority for the observance of that day, and so pub- lished " A Holy Mandate" in behalf of Sunday which he assured all men fell from heaven, being written by God himself. The mission of Eusta- chius was attested by miracles, which may be read at length in Matthew Paris, Binius, Heylyn, and others. Those who cherish the first day Sabbath on the authority of the traditions of their fathers may be interested to read some of the miracles which were wrought in order to establish the sac- redness of the day : " A carpenter making a wooden pin and a woman making up her web, both after three on Saturday in the afternoon [for the pope in this letter had fixed the Lord's day' from three o'clock on Saturday afternoon until sunrise on Mon- day] are suddenly smitten with the palsy. A certain man of Nasserton baking a cake on Saturday night and keeping part until the morrow, no sooner brake it for his breakfast but it gushed out blood. A miller of Wakefield, grinding corn on Saturday after three of the clock, instead of meal found his binn full of blood: his mill-wheel standing still of its own accord."* As the king of England did not favor this mis- sion of Eustachius, the historian adds : "Notwithstanding all these miracles whereby God did invite the people to observe this day, the people fearing more the king's power than God's, returned unto their marketings as before they did."f Such was the first attempt in England, after the apparition from St. Peter, A. D. 1155, to sup- ply divine authority for Sunday observance. " It *Hist. Sab., part 2, chap. 7, see. 6, � tId. ib. SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 291 shows," as Morer quaintly observes, " how indus- trious men were in those times to have this great day solemnly observed."* The next year after the arrival of Eustachius in England with his roll, A. D. 1203 a council was held in Scotland concerning the introduction and establishment of the Lord's day in that kingdom.t The roll that had fallen from heaven to supply the lack of Scriptural testimony in behalf of this day was admirably adapted to the business of this council, through Dr. Heylyn informs us that the Scotch were so ready to comply with the pope's wishes that the packet from the court of heaven and the accompanying minks were not needed.t Yet Morer informs us that the packet was actual- ly produced on this occasion: " To that end it was again produced and read in a coun- cil of Scotland, held under pope Innocent, A. D. 1203, in the reign of king William, who passed it into a law that Satur- day from twelve at noon ought to be accounted holy, and that no man shall deal in such worldly business as of feast days were forbidden. As also that at the tolling of a bell, the people were to be employed in holy actions, going to ser- mons and the like, and to continue thus until Monday morn- ing, a penalty being laid on those who did the contrary. About the year 1214, which was eleven years after, it was again enacted, in a parliament at Scone, by Alexander III, king of the Scots, that none should fish in any waters, from Saturday afterevening prayer, till sunrising on Monday, which was afterward confirmed by king James I. Such was the manner of introduing the Chris- tian Sabbath into Scotland. The sacredness of *Dialogues, &c., p. 290. fBinius, Vol. 3, pp. 1448, 1449 ; Heylyn, part 2, chap. 7, sec. 7. Id. ib. � Morel., pp. 290, 291. 292 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. this papal Lord's day seems to have been more easily established by taking in with it a part of the ancient Sabbath. The work of establishing this institution was everywhere carried steadily forward. Of England we read : "In the year 1237, Henry III being king, and Edmund de Abendon archbishop of Canterbury, a constitution was made requiring every minister to forbid his parishioners the fre- quenting of markets on the Lord's day, and leaving the church, where they ought to meet and spend the day in prayer and hearing the word of God. And this on pain of excommunication."* Of France we are informed : " The council of Lyons sat about the year 1244, and it re- strained the people from their ordinary work on the Lord's day, and other festivals on pain of ecclesiastical censures." A. D. 1282. " The council of Angeirs in France forbid millers by water or otherwise to grind their corn from Sat- urday evening till Sunday evening." 1- Nor were the Spaniards backward in this work : A. D. 1322. " This year a synod was called at Valladolid in Castile, and then was ratified what was formerly required, that none should follow husbandry, or exercise himself in any mechanical employment on the Lord's day, or other holy days, but where it was a work of necessity or charity, of which the minister of the parish was to be judge."I The rulers of the church and realm of England were diligent in establishing the sacredness of this day. Yet the following statutes show that they were not aware of any Bible authority for enforc- ing its observance : A. D. 1358. " Istippe, archbishop of Canterbury, with very great concern and zeal, expresses himself thus : We have it from the relation of very credible persons, that in *Id. 291. � tId. p. 275. � ib. � SIXTH CENT. TO THE REFORMATION. � 298 divers places within our province, a very naughty, nay, damnable custom has prevailed, to hold fairs and markets on the Lord's day.' . . . Wherefore by virtue of canon- ical obedience, we strictly charge and command your broth- erhood, that if you find your people faulty in the premises, you forthwith admonish or cause them to be admonished to � refrain going to markets or fairs on the Lord's day � And as for such who are obstinate and speak or act against you in this particular, you must endeavor to restrain them by ecclesiastical censures and by all lawful means put a stop to these extravagances. "Nor was the civil power silent; for about that time king Edward made an act that wool should not be shown at the staple on Sundays and other solemn feasts in the year. In the reign of king Henry VI, Dr. Stafford being archbish- op of 'Canterbury, A. D. 1444, it was decreed that fairs and markets should no more be kept in churches and church- yards on the Lord's day, or other festivals, except in time of harvest."* On the European continent the sacredness of Sunday was persistently urged. The council of Bourges urges its observance as follows : A. D. 1532. " The Lord's day and other festivals were in- stituted for this purpose, that faithful christians abstaining from external work, might more freely, and with greater pi- ety devote themselves to God's worship."t They did not seem to be aware of the fact how- ever that when the fear of God is taught by the precepts of men such worship is vain.t The council of Rheims which sat the next year, made this decree A. D. 1533. "Let the people assemble at their parish churches, on the Lord's day, and other holidays, and be present at mass, sermons and vespers. Let no man on these days give himself to plays or dances, especially during ser- *Id. pp. 293, 294. fld. p. 279. TIsa. xxix, 13 ;Matt. xv, 9. 294 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. vice." And the historian adds: " In the same year another synod at Tours, ordered the Lord's day and other holidays to be reverently observed under pain of excommunication."* A council which assembled the following year thus frankly confessed the divine origin of the Sabbath, and the human origin of that festival which has supplanted it : A. D. 1534. " Let all christians remember that the sev- enth day was consecrated by God, and hath been received and observed, not only by the Jews, but by all others who pretend to worship God; though we christians have changed their Sabbath into the Lord's day. A day therefore to be kept, by forbearing all worldly business, suits, contracts, carriages, &c., and by sanctifying the rest of mind and body, in the contemplation of God and things divine, we are to do nothing but works of charity, say prayers and sing psalms."-t We have thus traced Sunday observance in the Catholic church down to a period subsequent to the reformation. That it is an ordinance of man which has usurped the place of the Bible Sabbath is most distinctly confessed by the council last quoted. Yet they endeavor to make amends for their violation of the Sabbath by spending Sun- day in charity, prayers and psalms : a course too often adopted at the present time to excuse the violation of the fourth commandment. Who can read this long list of Sunday laws, not from the " one law-giver who is able to save and to destroy," but from popes, emperors and councils, without adopting the sentiment of Neander : " The festi- val of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance." *Moyer p. 280. �tId. p. 282. SABBATH DURING THE DARR AGES. � 295 CHAPTER XVIII. TRACES OF THE SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. The dark ages defined—Difficulty of tracing the people of God during this period—The Waldenses—Their antiquity —Their wide extent — Their peculiarities —Sabbatarian character of a part of this people—Other bodies of Sabba- tarians—The Cathari—The Arnoldistx—The Passagini- ans—The Petrobruysians—A portion of the Anabaptists—. Sabbatarians in Abyssinia and Ethiopia—The Armenians of the East Indies—The Sabbath retained through the dark ages by those who were not in the communion of the Romish church. With the accession of the Roman bishop to su- premacy began the dark ages ; and as he increas- ed in strength, the gloom of darkness settled with increasing intensity upon the world. The highest elevation of the papal power marks the midnight of the dark ages. That power was providentially weakened preparatory to the refor- mation of the sixteenth century, when the light of advancing day began to manifestly dissipate the gross darkness which covered the earth. The dif- ficulty of tracing b the true people of God through this period is well set forth in the following language of Benedict : " As scarcely any fragment of their history remains, all we know of them is from accounts of their enemies, which were always uttered in a style of censure and complaint; and without which we should not have known that millions of them ever existed:- It was the settled policy of Rome to ob- literate every vestige of opposition to her doctrines and de- crees; everything heretical, whether persons or writings, by which the faithful would be liable to be contaminated and led astray. In conformity to this their fixed determination all books and records of their opposers were hunted up and committed to the flames. Before the art of printing was dis- 296 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. covered in the fifteenth century, all books were made with the pen ; the copies, of course, were so few that their con- cealment was much more difficult than it would be now ; and if a few of them escaped the vigilance of the inquisitors, they would soon be worn out and gone. None of them could be admitted and preserved in the public libraries of the Catholics, from the ravages of time and of the hordes of bar- barians with which all parts of Europe were at different periods overwhelmed."* Among the dissenters from the Romish church in the period of the dark ages, the first place per- haps is due to the Waldenses, both for their an- tiquity and the wide extent of their influence and doctrine. Benedict quotes from their enemies re- specting the antiquity of their origin : " We have already observed from Claudius Seyssel, the popish archbishop, that one Leo was charged with originat- ing the Waldensian heresy in the valleys, in the days of Con- stantine the great. When those severe measures emanated from the emperor Honorious against re-baptizers, the Bap- tists left the seat of opulence and power, and sought retreats in the country, and in the valleys of Piedmont; which last place in particular became their retreat from imperial op- pression."-[ Dean Waddington quotes the following from a popish writer who had the best means of informa- tion respecting them : "Rainer Sacho, a Dominican, says of the Waldenses : There is no sect so dangerous as the Leonists, for three reasons : first, it is the most ancient—some say it is as old as Sylvester [pope in Constantine's time] others as the apos- tles themselves. Secondly, it is very generally disseminat- ed: there is no country where it has not gained some foot- ting. Thirdly, while other sects are profane and blasphe- mous, this retains the utmost show of piety ; they live just- � * History of the Baptist Denomination, p. 50. � -[Id. p. 38. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 297 ly before men, and believe nothing respecting God which is not good."* Benedict gives Saccho's own opinion as follows : "Their enemies confirm their great antiquity. Reinerius Saccho, an inquisitor, and one of their most implacable ene- mies, who lived only eighty years after Waldo [A. D. 1160] admits that the Waldenses flourished five hundred years be- fore that preacher. Gretzer, the Jesuit, who also wrote against the Waldenses, and had examined the subject fully, not only admits their great antiquity, but declares his firm belief that the Toulousians and Albigenses condemned in the years 1177, 1178, were no other than the Waldenses."f Jortin places their withdrawal into the wilder- ness of the Alps about the same time : "A. D. 601. In the seventh century, Christianity was propagated in China by the Nestorians ; and the Valdenses, who abhorred the papal usurpations, are supposed to have settled themselves in the valleys of Piedmont. Monkery flourished prodigiously, and the monks and popes were in the firmest union. "1 Benedict quotes president Edwards as follows : " Some of the popish writers themselves own that that peo- ple never submitted to the church of Rome. One of the popish writers, speaking of the Waldenses, says the heresy of the Waldenses is the oldest heresy in the world. It is supposed that this people first betook themselves to this des- ert, secret place among the mountains to hide themselves from the severity of the heathen persecutions which were before Constantine the great, and thus the woman fled into the wilderness from the face of the serpent. Rev. xii, 6, 14. And the people being settled there, their posterity contin- ued there from age to age afterward ; and being, as it were, by natural walls as well as God's grace, separated from the rest o fthe world, never partook of the overflowing corrup- tion." *Hist. Church, chap. xxii, sec. 1. j-Hist. Bapt. Den. pp. 21, 22. Eccl. Hist. Vol. ii, sec. xxxviii. �Bapt. Den. 20 lr 298 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Benedict makes other quotations relative to their origin : " Theodore Belvedre, a popish monk, says that the heresy had always been in the valleys. In the preface to the French Bible the translators say that they [the Valdenses] have al- ways had the full enjoyment of the heavenly truth contained in the holy Scriptures ever since they were enriched with the same by the apostles ; having in fair MSS. preserved the entire Bible in their native tongue from generation to gen- eration."* Of the extent to which they spread in the coun- tries of Europe, Benedict thus speaks : "In the thirteenth century, from the accounts of Catholic historians, all of whom speak of the Waldenses in terms of complaint and reproach, they had founded individual church- es, or were spread out in colonies in Italy, Spain, Germa- ny, the Netherlands, Bohemia, Poland, Lithuania, Albania, Lombardy, Milan, Romagna, Vicenza, Florence, Velepene- tine, Constantinople, Philadelphia, Sclavonia, Bulgaria, Di- ognitia, Livonia, Sarmatia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Briton and Piedmont."-l. And Dr. Edgar says : "The Waldensians, says Popliner, spread, not only through France, but also through nearly all the European coasts, and appeared in Gaul, Spain, England, Scotland, Ita- ly, Germany, Bohemia, Saxony, Poland, and Lithuania."I According to the testimony of their enemies they were to some extent divided among them- selves. Dr. Allix quotes an old Romish writer who says : " They are also divided amongst themselves ; so what some of them say is again denied by others."l *Hist. Bapt. Den. p. 33. p. 31. l'Variations of Popery, p. 52. Hist. of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 299 And Crosby makes a similar statement : " There were several sects of Waldenses or Albigenses, like as there are of Dissenters in England. Some of these did deny all baptism, others only the baptism of infants. That many of them were of this latter opinion, is affirmed in several histories of this people, as well ancient as modern." Some of their enemies affirm that they reject the Old Testament ; but others with much greater truthfulness bear a very different testimony. Thus a Romish inquisitor, as quoted by Allix, bears tes- timony concerning those in Bohemia : " They can say a great part of the Old and New Testa- ment by heart. They despise the decretals, and the sayings and .expositions of holy men, and only cleave to the text of Scripture � [They say] that the doctrine of Christ and the apostles is sufficient to salvation, without any church statutes and ordinances. That the traditions of the church are no better than the traditions of the Pharisees ; and that greater stress is laid on the observation of human traditions than on the keeping of the law of God. Why do you trans- gress the law of God by your traditions ? They contemn all approved ecclesiastical customs which they do not read of in the gospel, as the observation of candlemas, palm Sunday, the reconciliation of penitents, the adoration of the cross on good Friday. They despise the feast of Easter, and all other festivals of Christ and the saints, because of their being mul- tiplied to that vast number, and say that one day is as good as another, and work upon holy days, where they can do it without being taken notice of."-}. Dr. Allix quotes a Waldensian document of A. D. 1100, entitled the" Noble Lesson," and remarks : " The author upon supposal that the world was drawing to an end, exhorts his brethren to prayer, to watchfulness, to a renouncing of all worldly goods � He sets down all the judgments of God in the Old Testament as the effects of *History of the English Baptists, Vol. i, pref. p. 35. Hist. Anc. Ch. Piedmont, pp. 231, 236, 237. 300 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. a just and good God ; and in particular the decalogue as a law given by the Lord of the whole world. He repeats the several articles of the law, not forgetting that which respects idols."*. Their religious views are further stated by Allix : " They declare themselves to be the apostles' successors, to have apostolical authority, and the keys of binding and loosing. They hold the church of Rome to be the whore of Babylon, and that all that obey her are damned, especially the clergy that are subject to her since the time of pope Sylvester � They hold that none of the ordinances of the church that have been introduced since Christ's ascen- sion ought to be observed, being of no worth ; the feasts, fasts, orders, blessings, offices of the church and the like, they utterly reject."t A considerable part of the people called Wal- denses bore the the significant designation of Sab- bati, or Sabbatati, or, Insabbatati. Mr. Jones alludes to this fact in the following words : "Because they would not observe saints' days, they were falsely supposed to neglect the Sabbath also, and called In- sabbatati or Insabbathists."1 Mr. Benedict makes the following statement : " We find that the Waldenses were sometimes called In- sabbathos, that is, regardless of Sabbaths. Mr. Milner supposes this name was given to them because they observed not the Romish festivals, and rested from their ordinary oc- cupations only on Sundays. A Sabbatarian would suppose that it was because they met for worship on the seventh day, and did regard not the first-day Sabbath."i Mr. Robinson states the views of previous writ- ers—though himself of a different opinion—in the following language : *Id. pp. 175-177. �tid. p. 209. Iflist. Church, chap. v, sec. 1. Gen. Hist. Bapt. Den., Vol. 2, pp. 412, 413, ed. 1813. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 301 " Some of these Christians were called Sabbati, Sabbatati Insabbatati, and more frequently Inzabbatati � One says they were so named from the Hebrew word Sabbath, because they kept the Saturday for the Lord's day. Anoth- er says they were so called because they rejected all the fes- tivals or Sabbaths in the low Latin sense of the word, which the Catholic church religiously observed. A third says, and many with various alterations and additions have said after him, they were called so from sabot or zabot, a shoe, because they distinguished themselves from other people by wearing shoes marked on the upper part with some peculiarity. Is it likely that people who could not descend from their moun- tains without hazarding their lives through the furious zeal of the inquisitors, should tempt danger by affixing a visible mark on their shoes ? Besides the shoe of the peasants in that country was called abarca."* Mr. Robinson, by a process of reasoning, en- deavors to show that the Waldenses who bore the name of Sabbatati, were so called because they dwelt in the mountains. Mr. Jones and Mr. Ben- edict agree with Mr. Robinson in rejecting the idea that the Waldenses were called Sabbatati from their shoes, yet do not adopt his opinion that it was derived from their residence in• the moun- tains, but from the Hebrew word Sabbath.t Robinson quotes the Jesuit Gretzer, who states that Goldastus testifies that the Waldenses were called Sabbatati, because they observed the Jew- ish Sabbath.T To which Gretzer replies that this cannot be true, because that the Waldenses exter- minated every festival, and repudiated the whole *Eccl. Researches, chap. x, pp. 803, 804. ib. ; Jones' Hist. Church, chap. v ; Gen. Hist. Bapt. Den., vol. 2. " Insabbatati, non quod circumsiderenter, inquit calvan- isti [Goldastus] sed quod in Sabbato Judaizarent."—Eccl. Researches, chap. x. 302 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Old Testament. That they rejected the Catholic fes- tivals is undoubtedly true ; that they did not reject the Old Testament, as some of their Romish ene- mies have maliciouslyaffirmed, is abundantly proved by other writers of that same church. The Jesuit understood the term Sabbatati, as applied to the Waldenses, to be derived from their shoes, yet he frankly acknowledges that MANY others under- stood it to be applied to them, because they wor- shiped upon the ancient Sabbath.* Mr. Jones gives the following account of a por- tion of the Waldenses in the fifteenth century : " Louis XII, king of France, being informed by the ene- mies of the Waldenses inhabiting a part of the province of Provence, that several heinous crimes were laid to their ac- count, sent the Master of Requests, and a certain doctor of the Sorbonne, who was confessor to his majesty, to make in- quiry into this matter. On their return they reported that they had visited all the parishes where they dwelt, had in- spected their places of worship, but that they had found there no images, nor signs of the ornaments belonging to the mass, nor any of the ceremonies of the Romish church ; much less sonic], they discover any traces of those crimes with which they were charged. On the contrary, they kept the Sabbath-day, observed the ordinance of baptism according to the primitive church, instructed their children in the articles of the Christian faith and the commandments of God, The king having heard the report of his commissioners, said with an oath that they were better men than himself or his peo- ple."f We further read concerning the Vaudois or Waldenses as follows : "The respectable French historian, De Thou, says that the Vaudois keep the commandments of the decalogue, and *" Nec quod in Sabbato colendo Judaizarent, ut MULTI PUTABANT, sed a zapata."—Id. ib. tChurch Hist. chap. v, see. ix. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 303 allow among them of no wickedness, detesting perjuries, im- precations, quarrels, seditions, &c." It may be proper to add that in 1686 the Wal- denses were all driven out of the valleys of Pied- mont, and that those who returned and settled in those valleys three years afterward, and from whom the present race of Waldenses is descended, fought their way back sword in hand, and were guilty of acts of outrage and revolting barbarity, pursuing in all respects a course entirely different from the ancient Waldenses.t Another class of witnesses to the truth during the dark ages, bore the name Cathari, that is, Puritans. Jones speaks of them as follows : "They were a plain, unassuming, harmless and industri- ous race of Christians, patiently bearing the cross after Christ, and both in their doctrines and manners, condemning the whole system of idolatry and superstition which reigned in the church of Rome, placing true religion in the faith, hope and obedience of the gospel, maintaining a supreme regard to the authority of God in his word, and regulating their sentiments and practices by that divine standard. Even in the twelfth century their numbers abounded in the neighbor- hood of Cologne, in Flanders, the south of France, Savoy, and Milan. They were increase l' says Egbert, ' to great multitudes, throughout all countriTs.' "j That the Cathari did retain and observe the an- cient Sabbath, is certified by their Romish adver- saries. Dr. Allix quotes a Roman Catholic au- thor of the twelfth century concerning three sorts of heretics, the Cathari, the Passagii, and the Ar- noldisttn. Allix says : This Romish writer lays it down also as one of their opin- *History of the Vaudois by Bresse, p. 126. tBenedict's Hist. Bapt. p. 41. tHist. Church, chap. iv, sec. iii. 304 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ions, that the law of Moses is to be kept according to the letter, and that the keeping of the Sabbath, circumcision, and other legal observances, ought to take place. They hold also that Christ the Son of God is not equal with the Father, and that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, these three per- sons, are not one God and one substance; and as a surplus to these their errors, they judge and condemn all the doctors of the church, and universally the whole Roman Churah. Now since they endeavor to defend this their error by testi- monies drawn from the New Testament and prophets, I shall with the assistance of the grace of Christ stop their mouths as David did Goliah's, with their own sword.'"* Dr. Allix quotes another Romish author to the same effect : " Alanus attributes to the Cathari almost the very same opinions in his first book against heretics, which he wrote about the year 1192.1 These statements of their views are given in the uncandid language of their enemies. The charge that they observed circumcision will be noticed presently. Mr. Robinson' represents these Passa- gii or Passaginians as a branch of the Waldenses. He says : " It is very credible that the name Passageros or Pasagini was given to such of them as lived in or near the passes of the mountains, and who subsisted in part by guiding travel- ers or traveling themselves for trade. "$ Mosheim gives the following account of them : "In Lombardy, which was the principal residence of the Italian heretics, there sprung up a very singular sect, known *Eccl. Hist. of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont, pp. 168, 169., Boston, Pub. Lib. The author, Rev. Peter Allis, D. D. was a French Presbyterian born in 1641, and was distin- guished for piety and erudition.--Lempriere's Universal Biography. tId. p. 170. IEccl Researches, chap. x, pp. 305, 306. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 305 by the denomination of Passaginians, and also by that of the circumcised. They had the utmost aversion to the do- minion and discipline of the church of Rome ; but they were at the same time distinguished by two religious tenets that were peculiar to themselves. The first was a notion that the observation of the law of Moses, in everything ex- cept the offering of sacrifices, was obligatory upon Chris- tians; in consequence of which they circumcised their fol- lowers, abstained from those meats the use of which was pro- hibited under the Mosaic economy, and celebrated the Jew- ish Sabbath. The second tenet that distinguished this sect was advanced in opposition to the doctrine of three persons in the divine nature."* Mr. Benedict speaks of them as follows : "-The account of their practicing circumcision is undoubt- edly a slanderous story forged by their enemies, and proba- bly arose in this way : because they observed the seventh day they were called by way of derision, Jews, as the Sabba- tarians are frequently at this day; and if they were Jews, it followed of course that they either did, or ought to, circum- cise their followers. This was probably the reasoning of their enemies ; but that they actually practiced the bloody rite is altogether improbable."-t An eminent church historian, Michael Geddes, thus testifies: " This fixing something that is justly abominable to all mankind upon her adversaries, has been the constant prac- tice of the church of Rome.% Of the origin of the Petrobrusians, we have the following account by Mr. Jones : " But the Cathari or Puritans were not the only sect which, during the twelfth century, appeared in opposition to the church of Rome. About the year 1110, in the south of France, in the provinces of Languedoc and Provence, ap- *Eccl. Hist. cent. xii, part 2, chap. v, sec. xiv. -I-General Hist. Bapt. Den. vol. 2, pp. 412-418, ed. 1813. $Acts and Decrees of the Synod of Diamper, p. 158. 306 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. peared Peter de Bruys, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and exerting the most laudable effort to reform the abuses and remove the superstition which disfigured the beautiful simplicity of the gospel worship. His labors were crowned with abundant success. He converted a great num- ber of disciples to the faith of Christ, and after a most inde- fatigable ministry of twenty years' continuance, he was burnt at St. Giles, a city of Languedoc in France, A. D. 1130, by an enraged populace, instigated by the clergy, who ap- prehended their traffic to be in danger from this new ana in- trepid reformer."* That this body of French Christians who in the very midnight of the dark ages witnessed for the truth in opposition to the Romish church were ob- servers of the ancient Sabbath is expressly certified by Dr. Francis White, lord bishop of Ely. He was appointed by the king of England to write against the Sabbath in opposition to Brabourne who had appealed to the king in its behalf. To show that Sabbatic observance is contrary to the doctrine of the Catholic church—a weighty argument with an Episcopalian—he enumerates various classes of heretics who had been condemned by the Catholic church for keeping holy the seventh day. Among these heretics he places the Petrobrusians : " In St. Bernard's days it was condemned in the Petro- bruysans."t The Anabaptists are often referred to in the records of the dark ages. The term signifies re- baptizers, and was applied to them because they denied the validity of infant baptism. The des- ignation is not accurate, however, because those persons whom they baptized, they considered as *Hist. of the Church, chap. iv, sec. iii. (Treatise of the Sabbath-day, p. 8, Lib. Am. Antiq. Soci- ety, Worcester. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 307 never having been baptized before, although they had been sprinkled or even immersed in infancy. This people have been overwhelmed in obloquy in consequence of the fanatical insurrection which broke out in their name in the time of Luther. Of those engaged in this insurrection, Buck says : " The first insurgents groaned under severe oppressions, and took up arms in defence of their civil. liberties; and of these Commotions the Anabaptists seem rather to have availed themselves, than to have been the prime movers. That a great part were Anabaptists seems indisputable.; at the same time it appears from history that a great part also were Roman Catholics, and a still greater part of those who had scarcely any religious principles at all."* This matter is placed in the true light by Steb- bing : " The overthrow of civil society, and fatal injuries to re- ligion were threatened by those who called themselves Ana- baptists. But large numbers appear to have disputed the validity of infant baptism who had nothing else in common with them, yet who for that one circumstance were over- whelmed with the obloquy, and the punishment richly due to a fanaticism equally fraudulent and licentious."t The ancient Sabbath was retained and observed by a portion of the Anabaptists, or to use a more proper term, Baptists. Dr. Francis White thus testifies : " They which maintain the Saturday Sabbath to be in force, comply with some Anabaptists.": Thus it is seen that within the limits of the old Roman empire, and in the midst of those countries that submitted to the rule of the pope, God re- *Theological Dict., art. Anabaptists. fHist. Church. vol. 1, pp. 183, 184. tTreatise of the Sabbath-day, p. 132. He cites Hist. An- abapt. lib. 6, p. 153. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 309 sons than that of a religious duty.* Geddes fur- ther states their views : "Transubstantiation and the adoration of the consecrated bread in the sacrament,were what the Abyssinians abhorred. They deny purgatory, and know nothing of confirmation and extreme unction ; they condemn graven images ; they keep both Saturday and Sun.day."t Their views of the Sabbath are stated by the ambassador of the king of Ethiopia, at the court of Lisbon, in the following words, explaining their abstinence from all labor on that day : "Because God, after he had finished the creation of the world, rested thereon; which day, as God would have it called the holy of holies, so the not celebrating thereof with great honor and devotion, seems to be plainly contrary to God's will and precept, who will suffer heaven and earth to pass away sooner than his word ; and that especially, since Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. It is not therefore in imitation of the Jews, but in obedience to Christ and his holy apostles, that we observe that day."1 The ambassador states their reasons for first-day observance in these words : " We do observe the Lord's day after the manner of other Christians in memory of Christ's resurrection.1 He had no scripture to offer in support of this festival, and evidently rested its observance upon tradition. This account was given by the ambas- sador in 1534. In the early part of the next cen- tury the emperor of'Abyssinia was induced to sub- mit to the pope in these words: " I confess that the pope is the vicar of Christ, the successor of St. Peter, and the sovereign of the world. To *Id. p. 06; Gibbon. chap. xv, note 25; chap. xlvii, note 160. tChurch Hi t. Ethiopia, pp. 34, 35; Purchase's Pilgrim- age, book ii, chap. v. 1Ch. Hist. Eth. pp. 87, 88. � Id. ib. 308 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. served unto himself a people that did not bow the knee to Baal, and among these the Bible Sabbath was observed from age to age. We are now to search for the Sabbath among those who were never subjected to the Roman pontiff. In Central Africa, from the first part of the Christian era— perhaps from the time of the conversion of the Ethiopian officer of great authority*—have existed the churches of Abyssinia and Ethiopia. About time of the accession of the Roman bishop to su- premacy they were lost sight of by the nations of Europe. " Encompassed on all sides," says Gibbon, " by the enemies of their religion, the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten. "t In the early part of the sixteenth century they were again brought to the knowledge of the world by the discovery of Portuguese navigators. Un- doubtedly they had, during this long period, been affected by the dense darkness of pagan and Ma- hometan errors with which they were encompass- ed � and in many respects they had lost the pure and spiritual religion of our divine Redeemer. A modern traveler says of them : " They had divers errors and many ancient truths."t Micha3l Ged- des says of them : "The Abyssinians do hold the Scriptures to be the perfect rule of the Christian faith; insomuch that they deny it to be in the power of a general council to oblige people to believe anything as an article of faith without an express warrant from thence.1 They practice circumcision, but for other rea- *Acts viii, 26-40. fDec. and Fall, chap. xlvii. IMaxon's Hist. Sab. p. 33. lChurch Hist. of Ethiopia, p. 31. 310 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 311 him I swear true obedience, and at his feet I offer my person and kingdom."* No sooner had the Roman bishop thus brought the emperor to submit to him than that potentate was compelled to grat- ify the popish hatred of the Sabbath by an edict forbidding its further observance. In the words of Geddes, he " set forth a proclamation prohibit- ing all his subjects upon severe penalties to ob- serve Saturday any longer. "t Or as Gibbon ex- presses it, " The Abyssinians were enjoined to work and to play upon the Sabbath." But the tyranny of the Romanists after a terrible struggle caused their overthrow and banishment, and the restoration of the ancient faith. The churches re- sounded with a song of triumph, " that the sheep of Ethiopia were now delivered from the hyenas of the West ;" and the gates of that solitary realm were forever shut against the arts, the sci- ence and the fanaticism of Europe.T The Armenians of the East Indies are peculiarly worthy of our attention. J. W. Mossie, M. R. I. A., says of the East Indian Christians : " Remote from the busy haunts of commerce, or the pop- ulous seats of manufacturing industry, they may be regarded as the Eastern Piedmontese, the Vallois of Hindoostan, the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth through revolving centu- ries, though indeed their bodies lay as dead in the streets of the city which they had once peopled.1 Geddes says of them : " The three great doctrines of popery, the pope's supremacy, transubstantiation, the adoration of images, were never be- lieved nor practiced at any time in this ancient apostolical *Gibbon, chap. xlvii. � i-Ch. Hist. Eth. pp. 311, 312. /Gibbon, chap. xlvii. Continental India, vol. ii, p. 120. church. I think one may venture to say that before the time of the late reformation, there was no church that we know of, no, not that of the Vaudois, that had so few er- rors in doctrine as the church of Malabar." He adds con- cerning those churches that were never in the bounds of the Roman empire : " It is in those churches that we are to meet with the least of the leaven of popery."* Mr. Mossie further describes these Christians : " The creed which these representatives of an ancient line of Christians cherished was not in conformity with papal de- crees, and has with difficulty been squared with the thirty- nine articles of the Anglican episcopacy. Separated from the western world for one thousand years they were natural- ly ignorant of many novelties introduced by the councils and decrees of the Lateran; and their conformity with the faith and practice of the first ages, laid them open to the unpar- donable guilt of heresy and schism, as estimated by the church of Rome. � We are Christians and not idolaters,' was their expressive reply when required to do homage to the image of the virgin Mary � La Croze states them at fifteen hundred churches, and as many towns and villages. They re- fused to recognize the pope, and declared they had never heard of him ; they asserted the purity and primitive truth of their faith since they came, and their bishops hadfor thirteen hundred years been sent from the place where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians."t The Sabbatarian character of these Christians is hinted by Mr. Yeates. He says that Saturday " Amongst them is a festival day, agreeable to the ancient practice of the church."I The same fact is further hinted by the same writer in the following language : " The inquisition was set up at Goa in the Indies, at the. instance of Francis Xaverius [a famous Romish saint] who *Acts and Decrees of the Synod of Diamper, preface. tContinental India, vol. ii, pp. 116. 117. /East Indian Church History, p. 134. 312 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. signified by letters to pope John III, Nov., 10, 1545, That the JEWISH WICKEDNESS spread every day more and more in the parts of the East Indies subject to the kingdom of Portu- gal, and therefore he earnestly besought the said king, that to cure so great an evil he would take care to send the office of the inquisition into those countries."* In other words this Jesuit missionary desired the pope and the king of Portugal, to establish the inquisition in that part of the Indies subject to Portugal, in order to root out the Sabbath from those ancient churches. The inquisition was es- tablished in answer to this prayer, and Xavier was subsequently canonized as a saint ! Nothing can more clearly show the malignity of the Roman pontiff toward the Sabbath of the Lord ; and noth- ing more clearly illustrates the kind of men that he canonizes as saints. Since the time of Xavier, the East Indies have fallen under British rule. A distinguished cler- gyman of the church of Fngland some years since visited the British empire in India, for the pur- pose of acquainting himself with these churches. He gave the following deeply interesting sketch of of these ancient Christians, and in it particularly marks their Sabbatarian character : "The history of the Armenian church is very interesting. Of all the Christians in Central Asia, they have preserved themselves most free from Mahometan and papal corrup- tions. The pope assailed them for a time with great vio- lence, but with little effect. The churches in lesser Armenia indeed consented to an union, which did not long continue; , but those in Persian Armenia maintained their independence ; and they retain their ancient Scriptures, doctrines, and wor- ship to this day. ' It is marvelous,' says an intelligent trav- eler who was much among them, how the Armenian Chris- tians have preserved their faith, equally against the vexa, *Id. pp. 139, 140. SABBATH DURING THE DARK AGES. � 313 tious oppression of the Mahometans, their sovereigns, and against the persuasions of the Romish church, which for more than two centuries has endeavored, by missionaries, priests and monks, to attach them to her communion. It is impossible to describe the artifices and expenses of the court of Rome to effect this object, but all in vain.' "The Bible was translated into the Armenian language in the fifth century, under very auspicious circumstances, the history of which has come down to us. It has been allowed by competent judges of the language, to be a most faithful translation. La Croze calls it the Queen of Versions.' This Bible has ever remained in the possession of the Armenian people ; and many illustrious instances of genuine and en- lightened piety occur in their history � " The Armenians in Hindoostan are our own subjects. They acknowledge our government in India, as they do that of Sophi in Persia ; and they are entitled to our regard. They have preserved the Bible in its purity ; and their doc- trines are, as far as the author knows, the doctrines of the Bi- ble. Besides, they maintain the solemn observance of Chris- tian worship throughout our empire, on the seventh day, and they have as many spires pointing to heajven among the Hun- does as'we ourselves. Are such a people then entitled to no acknowledgment on our part, as fellow Christians? Are they forever to be ranked by us with Jews, Mahometans, and Hindoos ?"* These facts clearly attest the continued observ- ance of the Sabbath during the whole period of the dark ages. The church of Rome was indeed able to exterminate the Sabbath from its own com- munion, but it was retained by the true people of God who were measurably hidden from the papa- cy in the wilds of Central Europe ; while those African and East Indian churches that were nev- er within the limits of the pope's dominion, have steadfastly retained the Sabbath to the present day. *Buchanan's Christian Researches in Asia, pp. 159, 160. 21 314 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. CHAPTER XIX. THE SABBATH AND FIRST-DAY SINCE THE REFORMATION. The Reformation arose in the Catholic church—the Sabbath crushed out of that church and innumerable festivals es- tablished in its stead—position taken by the reformers— Calvin proposed to change the Lord's day from Sunday to Thursday—a just estimate of the reformers—one of them a Sabbatarian—the reformation brings Sabbath-keep- ers to light in several countries—in Transylvania—in Germany—in Holland—in France—and in England—the light of the Reformation destroys many famous Sunday arguments—controversy between the Presbyterians and Episcopalians of England brings Sunday sacredness to the test—the former discover the means of enforcing the observance of Sunday by the fourth commandment—ef- fects of this extraordinary discovery—the history of the Sunday festival concluded—brief view of English Sabbata- rians—the Seventh-day Baptists of America—the Seventh- day Adventists—the nations of the saved observe the Sab- bath in the New Earth. The great Reformation of the sixteenth centu- ry arose from the bosom of the Catholic church itself. From that church the Sabbath had long been extirpated and instead of that merciful in- stitution ordained by the divine Lawgiver for the rest and refreshment of mankind, the papacy had ordained innumerable festivals, which, as a terri- ble burden, crushed the people to the earth. These festivals are thus enumerated by Dr. Hey- lyn. : "These holy days as they were named particularly in pope Gregory's decretal, so was a perfect list made of them in the synod of Lyons, A. D. 1244, which being celebrated with a great concourse of people from all parts of Christen- dom, the canons and decrees thereof began forthwith to find SINCE THE REFORMATION. �315 a general admittance. The holy days allowed of there, were these that follow; viz. the feast of Christ's nativity, St. Stephen, St. John the evangelist, the Innocents, St. Syl- vester, the circumcision of our Lord, the Epiphany, Easter, together with the week precedent, and the week succeeding, the three days in rogation week, the day of Christ's ascen- sion, Whitsunday, with the two days after, St. John the Bap- tist, the feasts of all the twelve apostles, all the festivities of our Lady, St. Lawrence, all the Lord's days in the year, St. Michael the Archangel, All Saints, St. Martin's, the wakes, or dedication of particular churches, together with the feasts of such local or topical saints which some particular people had been pleased to honor with a day particular amongst themselves. On these and every one of them, the people were restrained as before was said from many several kinds of work, on pain of ecclesiastical censures to be laid on them which did offend, unless on some emergent causes, either of charity or necessity they were dispensed with so doing. � Peter de Aliaco, cardinal of Cambray, in a dis- course to the council of Constance [A. D. 1416] made public suit unto the fathers there assembled, that there might be a stop in that kind hereafter; as also that excepting Sundays and the greater festivals it might be lawful for the people, after the end of divine service to attend their business ; the poor especially, as having little time enough on the working days to get their living. But• these were only the express- ions of well wishing men. The popes were otherwise re- solved, and did not only keep the holy days which they found established, in the same state in which they found them, but added others daily as they saw occasion. . . . . Thus stood it as before I said, both for the doctrine and the practice, till men began to look into the errors and abuses in the Roman church with a more serious eye than before they did."* Such was the state of things when the reform- ers began their labors. That they should give up these festivals and return to the observance of the *Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 6, secs. 3, 5. 316 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ancient Sabbath, would be expecting too much of men educated in the bosom of the Romish church. Indeed, it ought not to surprise us that while they were constrained to strike down the authority of these festivals, they should nevertheless retain the most important of them in their observance. The reformers spoke on this matter as follows : The confession of the Swiss churches declares that, " The observance of the Lord's day is founded not on any commandment of God, but on the authority of the church. And that the church may alter the day at pleasure."* We further learn that, "In the Augsburg Confession which was drawn up by Me- Iancthon, to the question, 'What ought we to think of the Lord's day ?' it is answered that the Lord's day, Easter, Whitsuntide, and other such holy days, ought to be kept be- cause they are appointed by the church, that all things may be done in order ; but that the observance of them is not to be thought necessary to salvation, nor the violation of them, if it be done without offense to others, to be regarded as a sin."f Zwingle declared "that it was lawful on the Lord's day, after divine service, for any man to pur- sue his labors."T Beza taught that "no cessation of work on the Lord's day is required of Christians."§ Bucer goes further yet, " and doth not only call it a superstition, but an apostasy from Christ to think that working on the Lord's day, in itself considered, is a sinful thing."11 And Cranmer, in his Catechism, published in 1548, says : " We now keep no more the Sabbath on Saturday as the Jews do ; but we observe the Sunday, and certain other days as the magistrates do judge convenient, whom in this thing we ought to obey.1 *Cox's Sabbath Laws, &c., p. 287. � fId. ib. � ib. lid. p. 286. � IlId. ib. �p. 289. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �317 Tyndale said : " As for the Sabbath, we be lords over the Sabbath, and may yet change it into Monday, or into any other day. as we see need, or may make every tenth day holy only if we see cause why."* Calvin regarded the festival called the Lord's day as nothing but a human ordinance, and it is upon record that himself and his friends at Gen- eva " debated whether the reformed, for the pur- pose of estranging themselves more completely from the Romish church, should not adopt Thurs- day as the Christian Sabbath." Another reason assigned by Calvin for this proposed change was " that it would be a proper instance of Christian liberty." It is a singular fact that the Presbyterian church which originated with Calvin, has since dis- covered that the Lord's day—which Calvin pro- posed to change from Sunday to Thursday, that the Reformed might not observe a Romish festi- val,—is a divinely authorized ivemorial of the res- urrection, enforced by the authority of the fourth commandm ent. The date, the occasion and the discoverer himself of this important doctrine in modern theology, will be noticed in their place. That the body of the reformers should have failed to recognize the authority of the fourth command- ment, and that they did not turn men from the Romish festivals to the Sabbath of the Lord, is a matter of regret rather than of surprise. The im- propriety of making them the standard of divine *Id. p. 287. tHeylyn's Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 6, sec. 8; An Inquiry into the Origin of Septenary Institutions, p. 65; The Mod- ern Sabbath Examined, p. 26. 318 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. truth is forcibly set forth in the following lan- guage : "Luther and Calvin reformed many abuses, especially in the discipline of the church, and also some gross corruptions in doctrine; but they left other things of far greater mo- ment just as they found them � It was great merit in them to go as far as they did, and it is not they but we who are to blame if their authority induce us to go no further. We should rather imitate them in the boldness and spirit with which they called in question and rectified so many long established errors ; and availing ourselves of their la- bors, make further progress than they were able to do. Lit- tle reason have we to allege their name, authority and exam- ple, when they did a great deal and we do nothing at all. In this we are not imitating them but those who opposed and counteracted them, willing to keep things as they were."* Yet it is worthy of notice that at least one of the reformers of considerable prominence—Carl- stadt—was a Sabbatarian. It is impossible to read the records of the reformation without the conviction that Carlstadt was desirous of a more thorough work of reformation than was Luther. And that while Luther was disposed to tolerate certain abuses lest the reformation should be en- dangered, Carlstadt was at all hazards for a com- plete return to the holy Scriptures. It is a mat- ter of deep regret that a sharp contention sepa- rated these " illustrious defenders" of the reforma- tion, as D'Aubigne calls them, from each other. For it is evident that if Carlstadt was carried to one extreme, Luther was no less so to the other. D'Aubigne pronounces them both " excellent" men, and says of Carlstadt : "He was a sound Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholar, says *Cox's Sabbath Laws, &o., p. 260. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �319 Dr. Sehoeur ; and Luther acknowledges his supperior er- udition ; endowed with an elevated mind, he sacrificed his reputation, his rank, his home, his very bread, to his convictions."* His Sabbatarian character is attested by Dr. White, lord bishop of Ely : " The same [the observance of the seventh day] likewise being revived in Luther's time by Carolastadius, Sterne- bergius, and by some sectaries among the Anabaptists hath both then and ever since been censured as Jewish and her- etical."t When the reformation had lifted the vail of darkness that covered the nations of Europe, Sabbath-keepers were found in Transylvania, Ger- many, Holland, France and England. It was not the reformation which gave existence to these Sabbatarians, for the leaders of the reformation, as a body, were not friendly to such views. On the contrary these observers of the Sabbath ap- pear to be remnants of the ancient Sabbath-keep- ing churches that had witnessed for the truth dur ing the dark ages. Transylvania, a country which now forms the eastern division of the Austrian empire, was in the sixteenth century, an independent principality. About the middle of that century the country was under the rule of Sigismund. The historian of the Baptists, Robinson, gives the following inter- esting record of events in that age and country : "The prince received his first religious impressions under his chaplain Alexius, who was a Lutheran. On his remov- al he chose Francis Davidis to succeed him, and by him was further informed of the principles of the reformation. Da- vidis was a native of that extremely populous and well for- *History of the Reformation, book x, chap. vii. tTreatise of the Sabbath day, p. 8. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �321 320 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. tified town which is called Coloswar by the natives, and by others Claudiopolis. He was a man of learning, address and piety, and reasoned in this part of his life more justly than many of his cotemporaries. In 1563 his highness invited several learned foreigners to come into Transylvania for the purpose of helping forward reformation. � Several other foreigners, who had been persecuted elsewhere, sought refuge in this country, where persecution for religion was unknown. These refugees were Unitarian Baptists, and through their indefatigable industry and address the prince, the greatest part of the senate, a great number of ministers, and a multitude of the people went heartily into their plan of reformation � In the end the Baptists became by far the most numerous party. While they formed their own churches according to the convictions of their members, they persecuted nobody, but allowed the same liberty to others, and great numbers of Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists resided in perfect freedom � Davidis was an Unitarian Baptist minister, intrusted by his brethren with the super- intendency of the churches in Transylvania � He sup- posed the Jewish Sabbath not abrogated, and he therefore kept holy the seventh day. He believed also the doctrine of the millennium, and like an honest man, what he believ- ed he taught. He was considered by the Transylvanian churches as an apostle, and had grown grey in their service; but the Catholics, the Lutherans and the Calvinists thought him a Turk, a blasphemer and an atheist, and his Polish Baptist brethren said he was half a Jew. Had he been a whole Jew he ought not to have been imprisoned for his speculations � By what means the Supreme Searcher of hearts only knows, but by some methods till then unknown in Transylvania, the old man was arrested, and by the sen- ate condemned to die. He was imprisoned in the castle and providence by putting a period to his life there, saved his persecutors from the disgrace of a public execution. Many have been blamed . � . but perhaps the secret springs of this event may never be known till the Judge of the world maketh inquisition for blood."* *Eccl. Researches, chap. xvi. The same writer enumerates many persons of distinction who were of the same views with Da- vidis. The ambassador Bequessius, general of the army ; the princess, sister of prince John ; the privy counselor Chaquies and the two Quendi ; general Andrassi, and many others of high rank ; Somers, the rector of the academy at Claudiopo- lis ; Matthias Glicius, Adam Neusner, and Chris- tian Franken a professor in the academy at Clau- diopolis. "These," says Robinson, "were all of the same senti- ments as Davidis, as were many more of different ranks who after his death in prison, defended his sentiments against Socinus. Palx,ologus was of the same mind; he had fled into Moravia, but was caught by the emperor, at the re- quest o. pope Gregory XIV, and carried to Rome whe e he was burnt for a heretick. He was an old man, and was ter- rified at first into a recantation, but he recollected himself and submitted to his fate like a Christian."* We have a further record of Sabbatarians in Transylvania to the effect that in the time of Da- vidis, "John Gerendi [was] head of the Sabbatarians, a people who did not keep Sunday but Saturday, and whose disciples took the name of Genoldists."t Mr. Maxon makes the following statement : "We find that Sabbath-keepers appear in Germany late in the fifteenth or early in the sixteenth century according to Ross' Picture of all Religions. By this we understand that their numbers were such as to lead to organization, and at- tract attention. A number of these formed a church, and emigrated to America, in the early settlement of this coun- try."/ *Id. ib., p. 6-10. t Lamy's History of Socinianism, p. 60. plaxon's Mist. Sab. p. 41. 322 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Mr. Utter also makes a similar and further statement : "Early in the sixteenth century there are traces of Sab- bath-keepers in Germany. The Old Dutch Martyrology gives an account of a Baptist minister named Stephen Benedict, somewhat famous for baptizing during a severe persecution in Holland, who is supposed by good authorities to have kept the seventh day as the Sabbath. One of the persons bap- tized by him was Barbary von Thiers, wife of Hans Borzen, who was executed on the 16th of September, 1529. At her trial she declared her rejection cf the idolatrous sacrament of the priest, and also the mass. � Relative to Sunday and the holy days, she said the Lord God had commanded to rest the seventh day ; in this she acquiesced, and it was her desire by the help and grace of God, to remain and die as she was, for it was the true faith and right way in Christ.' 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, Catholic bishop of Meaux."* The origin of the Sabbatarians of England can- not now be ascertained. Their observance of be- lievers' baptism and the keeping of the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord, strongly attest their origin from the persecuted heretics of the dark ages, rather than from the reformers of the sixteenth century, who retained infant baptism and the festival of Sunday. That these heretics had long been numerous in England, is thus certi- fied by Crosby : " For in the time of William the conqueror [A. D. 1070] and his son William Rufus, it appears that the Waldenses and their disciples out of France, Germany and Holland had their frequent recourse, and did abound in England � The Waldensian heresy, as the chronologer calls it, had, *Manual of Seventh-day Baptists, p. 16. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �323 about A. D. 1080, generally corrupted all France, Italy and England."* Mr. Maxon says of the English Sabbatarians : "In England we find Sabbath-keepers very early. Dr. Chambers says : They arose in England in the sixteenth cen- tury,' from which we understand that they then became a distinct denomination in that kingdom."-I- Mr. Benedict speaks thus of the origin of Eng- lish Sabbatarians : "At what time the Seventh-day Baptists began to form churches in this kingdom does not appear; but probably it was at an early period ; and although their churches have never been numerous, yet there have been among them al- most for two hundred years some very eminent men." The light of the reformation necessarily dissi- pated into thin air many of the most substantial arguments by which the Sunday festival had been built up during the dark ages. The roll that fell from heaven—the apparition of St. Peter—the re- lief of souls in purgatory, and even of the damned in hell—and many prodigies of fearful portent— none of these, nor all of them combined were like- ly longer to sustain the sacredness of the venera- ble day. True it was that when these were swept away there remained to sustain the festival of Sunday, the canons of councils, the edicts of kings and emperors, the decrees of the holy doc- tors of the church, and greatest of all, the imperi- ous mandates of the Roman pontiff. Yet all of these could be adduced also in behalf of the innu- merable festivals ordained by the same great apos- tate church. Such authority would answer for the Episcopalian who devoutly accepts of all these *Hist. English Baptists, vol. 2, pref. pp. 43, 44. -I-Maxon's Hist. Sab. p. 42. IG en. Hist. Bapt. Den. vol. 2, p. 412-418, ed. 1813. 324 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. festivals ; but for those who acknowledged the Bi- ble only as the rule of faith, the case was different. In the latter part of the sixteenth century the Presbyterians and Episcopalians of England were involved in such a controversy as brought this mat- ter to a point. The Episcopalians required men to observe all the festivals of the church ; the Pres- byterians observed Sunday, and rejected all the rest. The Episcopalians showed the inconsisten- cy of this discrimination, inasmuch as the same church authority had ordained them all. As the Presbyterian rejected the authority of the church, he would not keep Sunday upon that ground, es- pecially as it would involve the observance also of all the other festivals. They had to choose there- fore between the giving up of Sunday entirely, and the defense of its observance by the Bible. There was indeed another and a nobler choice that they might have made, viz., to adopt the Sabbath of the Lord, but it was too humiliating for them to unite with those who retained that ancient and sa- cred institution. The issue of this struggle is thus related by a distinguished German theologian, Hengstenberg : "The opinion that the Sabbath was transferred to the Sunday was first broached in its perfect form, and with all its consequences, in the controversy which was carried on in England between the Episcopalians and Presbyterians � The Presbyterians were now in a position which compelled them either to give up the observance of the Sunday, or to maintain that a divine appointment from God separated it from the other festivals � They therefore decided upon the latter."* Thus much for the occasion of that wonderful *Iiengstenberg's Lord's Day, p. 66. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �325 discovery by which the Scriptures are made to sustain the divine appointment of Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. The date of the discovery, the name of the discoverer, and the manner in which he contrived to enforce the first day of the week by the authority of the fourth commandment are thus set forth by a candid first-day historian, Lyman Coleman : " The true doctrine of the Christian Sabbath was first pro- mulgated by an English dissenter, the Rev. Nicholas Bound, D. D., of Norton, in the county of Suffolk. About the year 1595, he published a famous book, entitled, ' Sabbathum Veteris et Novi Testamenti,' or the True Doctrine of the Sab- bath. In this book he maintained that the seventh part of our time ought to be devoted to God—that Christians are bound to rest on the Lord's day as much as the Jews were on the Mosaic Sabbath, the commandment about rest being moral and perpetual; and that it was not lawful for persons to follow their studies or worldly business on that day, nor to use such pleasures and recreations as are permitted on other days.' This book spread with wonderful rapidity. The doctrine which it propounded called forth from many hearts a ready response, and the result was a most pleasing reformation in many parts of the kingdom. 'It is almost in- credible,' says Fuller,'how taking this doctrine was, partly be- cause of its own purity, and partly for the eminent piety of such persons as maintained it; so that the Lord's day, espe- cially in corporations, began to be precisely kept ; people becoming a law unto themselves, forbearing such sports as yet by statute permitted; yea, many rejoicing at their own restraint herein.' The law of the Sabbath was indeed a re- ligious principle, after which the Christian church had, for centuries, been darkly groping. Pious men of every age had felt the necessity of divine authority for sanctifying the. day. Their conscience had been in advance of thei; reason. Practically they had kept the Sabbath better than their prin- ciples required. 326 � HISTORY OF TILE SABBATH. " Public sentiment, however, was still unsettled in regard to this new doctrine respecting the Sabbath, though a few at first violently opposed it. Learned men were much divided in their judgments about these Sabbatarian doctrines; some embraced them as ancient truths consonant to Scripture, long disused and neglected, now seasonably revived for the increase of piety. Others conceived them grounded on a wrong bottom ; but because they tended to the manifest ad- vance of religion, it was a pity to oppose them ; seeing none have just reason to complain, being deceived unto their own good. But a third sort flatly fell out with these proposi- tions, as galling men's necks with a Jewish yoke against the liberty of Christians ; that Christ, as Lord of the Sabbath, had removed the rigor thereof, and allowed men lawful rec- reations ; that this doctrine put an unequal lustre on the Sun- day, on set purpose to eclipse all other holy days, to the derogation of the authority of the church; that this strict observance was set up out of faction, to be a character of difference to brand all for libertines who did not entertain it. No open opposition, however, was at first manifested against the sentiments of Dr. Bound. No reply was attempted for several years. "His work was soon followed by several other treatises in defense of the same sentiments. 'All the Puritans fell in with this doctrine, and distinguished themselves by spending that part of sacred time in public, family, and private devotion.' Even Dr. Heylin certified the triumphant spread of those puritanical sentiments respecting the Sabbath � " This doctrine,' he says, ' carrying such a fair show of piety, at least in the opinion of the common people, and such as did not examine the true grounds of it, induced many to embrace and defend it ; and in a very little time it became the most bewitching error and the most popular infatuation that ever was embraced by the people of England.' "* Such was the origin of the seventh-part-of-time *Coleman's Ancient Christianity Exemplified, chap. xxvi, sec. 2 ; Heylyn's Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 8, sec. 7 ; Neal's Hist. Puritans, vol. 1, chap. viii. � SINCE THE REFORMATION. �827 theory, by which the seventh day is dropped out of the fourth commandment, and one day in seven slipped into its place ; a doctrine most opportune- ly framed at the very period when nothing else could save the venerable day of the sun. With the aid of this theory the Sunday of " Pope and Pagan" was able coolly to wrap itself in the fourth commandment, and then in the character of a di- vine institution to challenge obedience from all Bible Christians. It could now cast away the other frauds on which its very existence had de- pended, and support its authority by this one alone. It fastened itself once to the throne of the Roman empire, and during the whole period of the dark ages maintained its supremacy from the chair of St. Peter ; but now it had anchored itself by the throne of the Most High. And thus a day which God " commanded not nor spake it, neither came it, into" his " mind," was enjoined upon makind with all the authority of his holy law. The immedi- ate effect of Dr. Bound's work upon the existing controversy is thus described by an Episcopalian eye witness, Dr. Heylyn "For by inculcating to the people these new Sabbath speculations, [concerning Sunday] teaching that day only was of God's appointment, and all the rest observed in the church of England, a remnant of the will worship in the church of Rome; the other holy days in this church estab- lished, were so shrewdly shaken that till this day they are not well recovered of the blow then given. Nor came this on the by or besides their purpose, but as a thing that spe- cially was intended from the first beginning."* Dr. Bound's theory of the seventh part of time has found general acceptance in all those churches � *Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 8, sec. 8. � t 328 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. which sprung from the church of Rome. Most forcibly did old Cotton Mather observe : " The reforming churches, flying from Rome, carried, some of them more, some of them less, all of them something, of Rome with them."* One sacred treasure which they all drew from the venerable mother of harlots is the ancient fes- tival of the sun. She had crushed out of her com- munion the Sabbath of the Lard, and having adopted the venerable day of the sun, had transformed it into the Lord's day of the Christian church. The reformed, flying from her communion, and carry- ing with them this ancient festival, now found themselves able to justify its observance as being indeed the veritable Sabbath of the Lord ! As the seamless coat of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, was torn from him before he was nailed to the cross, so has the fourth commandment been torn from the rest-day of the Lord around which it was placed by the great Law-giver, and given to this papal Lord's day ; and this Barabbas the robber, thus arrayed in the stolen fourth commandment, has from that time to the present day, and with astonishing success, challenged the obedience of the world as the divinely appointed Sabbath of the Most High God. Here we close the history of the Sunday festival, now fully transformed into the Christian Sabbath. A rapid survey of the history of English and American Sabbath-keepers will conclude this work. In 1607 an English first-day writer, John Sprint, gives the views of the Sabbath-keepers of that time, which in truth have been substantially the same in all ages : f Backus' Hist. of the Baptists in New England, p. 63, ed. 1777. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �329 "They allege reasons drawn, 1. Prom the precedence of the Sabbath before the law, and before the fall; the laws of which nature are immutable. 2. From the perpetuity of the moral law. 3. And from the large extent thereof appertain- ing [to the Sabbath]. 4. And of the cause of this precept which maketh it perpetual, which is the memorial and medi- tation of the works of God; which belong unto the Christians as well as unto the Jews."* John Thraske began to speak and write in fa- vor of the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord about the time that the " Book of Sports" for Sun- day was published under the direction of the arch- bishop of Canterbury and king James I, in 1618. He took high ground as to the sufficiency of the Scriptures to direct in all religious services, and the duty of the State to refrain from imposing anything contrary to the word of God. For this he was brought before the Star Chamber where a long discussion was held. respecting the Sabbath. It was on this occasion that bishop Andrews first brought forward that now famous first-day argu- ment, that the early martyrs were tested by the question, " Hast thou kept the Lord's day ?"t' Mr. Utter states the result of this examination as follows : "Thraske was not turned from his opinion, and was cen- sured in the Star Chamber. Paggitt's Heresiography says that he 'was sentenced, on account of his being a Sabbatari- an, to be set upon the pillory at Westminster, and from thence to be whipt to the Fleet prison, there to remain a pris- oner for three years. Mrs. Thraske, his wife, lay in Maiden Lane, and the Gatehouse prisons fifteen years, where she died, for the same crime.' "$ *Obseivation of the Christian Sabbath, p. 2. fSee chapter xiv. IManual of the S. D. Baptists, pp. 17, 18; Heylyn't Hist. Sab. part 2, chap. 8, sec. 10. 09 330 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. Mr. Utter continues this narrative as follows : " Theophilus Brabourne, a learned minister of the gospel in the established church, wrote a book, which was printed at London in 1628, wherein he argued 'that the Lord's day is not the Sabbath-day by divine institution,' but ' that the seventh-day Sabbath is now in force.' Mr. Brabourne pub- lished another book in 1632, entitled, A defense of that most ancient and sacred Ordinance of God's, the Sabbath- day."* Of Brabourne's books a coternporary first-day writer, John Ley, thus speaks : "If his books were as commonly read as they are cun- ningly penned to this purpose, many more might be taken in that snare at unawares unless they were more soundly an- swered than yet they have been."f As Brabourne appealed to the king to use his authority for the restoration of the ancient Sab- bath, his appeal gave occasion for the king to ap- point Dr. White, the bishop of Ely, to the task of answering Brabourne's book. It also gave occa- sion in part to the preparation of Dr. Heylyn's Sabbath history ; which shows that these works, which Jaave been so often quoted in this, were not written in the interest of the Bible Sabbath. Bra- bourne was brought to trial before the archbishop of Canterbury, and the court of High Commission ; and here the fear of man induced him to consent to the established church, though still partially adhering to his former views. As he is the only person known to the writer as having appealed to the civil power for the establishment of the Sab- bath of the Lord, so is he also the only Sabbata- rian known by him to have recanted when brought *Man. of S. D. Baptists, p. 18. j-Sunday a Sabbath, pp 154, 155, ed. 1640. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �331 to trial. Other advocates of the Sabbath howev- er arose : " About this time Philip Tandy began to promulgate in the northern part of England the same doctrine concerning the Sabbath. He was educated in the established church, of which he became a minister. Having changed his views re- specting the mode of baptism and the day of the Sabbath, he abandoned that church and became a mark for many shots.' He held several public disputes about his peculiar senti- ments, and did much to propagate them. James Ockford was another early advocate in England of the claims of the seventh day as the Sabbath. He appears to have been well acquainted with the discussions in which Thraske and Bra- bourne had been engaged. Being dissatisfied with the pre- tended conviction of Brabourne, he wrote a book in defense of Sabbatarian views, entitled, The Doctrine of the Fourth commandment.' This book, published about the year 1642, was burnt by order of the authorities in the established church."* Mr. Francis Bampfield was a presbyter of the church of England. Crosby says of him : " But being utterly unsatisfied in his conscience with the conditions of conformity he took leave of his sorrowful and weeping congregation in 1662, and was quickly after impris- oned for worshiping God in his own family. So soon was his unshaken loyalty to the king forgotten, that he was more frequently imprisoned and exposed to greater hardships for his nonconformity, than most other dissenters:1 Of his imprisonment Neal says : " After the act of uniformity, he continued preaching as he had opportunity in private, till he was imprisoned for five days and nights, with twenty-five of his hearers in one room, where they spent their time in religious exercises, but after some time he was released. Soon after, he was apprehended *Manual of S. D. Baptists, pp. 19, 20. tHist. English Baptists, vol. 1, p. 363. 332 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �333 again and lay nine years in Dorchester jail, though he was of unshaken loyalty to the king."* During his confinement " he preached," says Crosby, " sometimes every day, and gathered a church under his confinement. And when he was at liberty he ceased not to preach in the name of Jesus." After his release he went to London and preached with much success, where being again apprehended he was shut up in Newgate prison for life, where he died Feb. 16, 1683-4.t " Bamp- field," says Wood, " dying in the said prison of Newgate, � aged seventy years, his body was followed with a very great company of factious and schismatical people to his grave."T This company was made up of the congregation gathered by him in London previous to his last imprisonment. Crosby says of him : "All that knew him will acknowledge that he was a man of great piety. And he would in all probability have pre- served the same character, with respect to his learning and judgment, had it not been for his opinion in two points, viz., that infants ought not to be baptized, and that the Jewish Sabbath ought still to be kept.1 Mr. Bampfield published a small work in behalf of the Sabbath in which he says : " The law of the seventh-day Sabbath was given before the law was proclaimed at Sinai, even from the creation, given to Adam, and in him to all the world.II � The Lord Christ's obedience unto the fourth word in observing in his lifetime the seventh day as a weekly Sabbath-day, and no other day of the week as such, is a part of that perfect right- eousness which every sound believer doth apply to himself *Hist. Puritans, vol. 2. chap. x. fld. ib.; Calamy's Ejected Ministers, vol. 2, pp. 258, 259. tAthenae Oxonienses, vol. 4, p. 128. Crosby, vol. i, p. 367. 1lEx. xvi, 24; Gen. ii, 3. in order to his being justified in the sight of God; and every such person is to conform unto Christ in all the acts of his obedience to the ten words."* His brother, Mr. Thomas Bampfield, who had been speaker in one of Cromwell's parliaments, wrote also in behalf of seventh-day observance, and was imprisoned for his religious principles in Il- chester jail.t About the time of Mr. Bampfield's first imprisonment, severe persecution arose against the Sabbath-keepers in London. Crosby thus bears testimony : "It was about this time, A. D. 1661, that a congregation of Baptists holding the seventh day as a Sabbath, being assem- bled at their meeting-house in Bull-steak alley, the doors being open, about three o'clock P. M., whilst Mr. John James was preaching, one Justice Chard, with Mr. Wood, an head- borough, came into the meeting-place. Wood commanded him in the king's name to be silent and come down, having spoken treason against the king. But Mr. James, taking little or no notice thereof, proceeded in his work. The head- borough came nearer to him in the middle 'of the meeting- place and commanded him again in the king's name to come down or else he would pull him down ; whereupon the dis- turbance grew so great that he could not proceed."t Mr. Utter continues this narrative as follows : "Mr. James was examined and committed to Newgate, on the testimony of several profligate witnesses, who accused him of speaking treasonable words against the king. His trial took place about a month afterward, at which he con- ducted himself in such a manner as to create much sympa- thy � He was, however, sentenced to be hanged, drawn and *Judgment for the observation of the Jewish or seventh- day Sabbath, pp. 6-8, 1672. Lib, Antiq. Society. fCalamy's Ejected Ministers, vol. 2, p. 260. *Crosby, vol. 2, pp. 165-171. quartered.* This awful sentence did not dismay him in the least. He calmly said, Blessed be God ; whom man con- dereneth, God justificth.' While he lay in prison, under sen- tence of death, many persons of distinction visited him, who were greatly affected by his piety and resignation, and of- fered to exert themselves to secure his pardon. But he seems to have had little hope of their success. Mrs. James, by ad- vice of her friends, twice presented petitions to the king, setting forth the innocence of her husband, the character of the witnesses against him, and entreating his majesty to grant a pardon. In both instances she was repulsed with scoffs and ridicule. At the scaffold, on the day of his exe- cution, Mr. James addressed the assembly in a very noble and affecting manner. Having finished his address, and kneeling down he thanked God for covenant mercies, and for conscious innocence ; he prayed for the witnesses against him, for the executioner, for the people of God, for the re- moval of divisions, for the coming of Christ, for the specta- tors, and for himself, that he might enjoy a sense of God's favor and presence, and an entrance into glory. When he had ended, the executioner said, The Lord receive your soul ;' to which Mr. James replied, I thank thee.' A friend observing to him, ' This is 'a happy day,' he answered, I bless God.it is.' Then having thanked the sheriff for his courtesy, he said, 'Father, into thy hands I commit my spir- it.' . . . After he was dead his heart was taken out and burned, his quarters were affixed to the gates of the city, and his head was set up in White chapel on a pole opposite to the alley in which his meeting-house stood."t The famous Stennett family furnished, for four generations, a succession of able Sabbatarian min- isters. Mr. Edward Stennett, the first of these, was born about the beginning of the seventeenth century, and after Mr. Bampfield's imprisonment *When asked what he had to say why sentence should not be pronounced, he said he would leave with them these scrip- tures : Jer. xxvi, 14, 15 ; Ps. cxvi, 15. tManual, &c., pp. 21-23. and death, became the pastor of that church which he had gathered in London. Mr. Joseph Stennett is said to be the author of that choice hymn, " Je- sus, I my cross have taken." Many other able men arose among the Sabbath-keepers in that cen- tury, and others have since arisen down to the present time. The laws of England during that century were very oppressive to all Dissenters from the established church, and bore exceedingly hard upon the Sabbath-keepers. Yet fine, impris- onment, and even capital punishment, would not have proved sufficient to suppress the Sabbath. It was in the house of its own friends that the Sab- bath was wounded. In the seventeenth century eleven churches of Sabbatarians flourished in Eng- land, while many scattered Sabbath-keepers were to be found in various parts of that kingdom. Now but three of those churches are in existence. It -was not the lack of able men among the Sabbath- keepers to defend the truth, nor the fierce assaults of their persecutors, that has thus reduced them to a handful. The fault is their own, not indeed for any disgraceful conduct on their part, but simply because they made the Sabbath of no practical im- portance, and lowered the standard of divine truth in this thing to the dust. The Sabbath-keeping ministers assumed the pastoral care of first-day churches, in some cases as their sole charge, in others they did this in connection with the over- sight of Sabbatarian churches. The result need surprise no one ; as both ministers and people said to all men, in thus acting, that the fourth com- mandment might be broken with impunity, the people took them at their word. Mr. Crosby, a first-day historian, sets this matter in a clear light : SINCE THE REFORMATION. �335 334 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �337 336 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. "If the seventh day ought to be observed as the Christian Sabbath, then all congregations that observe the first day as such must be Sabbath-breakers. . . . I must leave those gentlemen on the contrary side to their own sentiments ; and to vindicate the practice of becoming pastors to a people whom in their conscience they must believe to be breakers of the Sabbath."* Doubtless there have been noble exceptions to this course ; but the body of English Sabbatarians for many years have failed to faithfully discharge the high trust committed to them. The first Sabbatarian church in America was established at Newport, R. I. Forty-four years after the landing of the pilgrim fathers at Ply- mouth, the first Sabbath-keeper arrived at New- port from London, where he had in all probability been a member of the church of John James, who was martyred there three years before. Mr. Isaac Backus makes the following record : "Stephen Mumford came over from London in 1664, and brought the opinion with him that the whole of the ten com- mandments, as they were delivered from mount Sinai, were moral and immutable; and that it was the anti-Christian power which thought to change times and laws, that changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. Several members of the first church in Newport embraced this sentiment, and yet continued with the church for some years, until two men and their wives who had so done, turn- ed back to the keeping of the first day again."-f �, Mr. Utter says that in December, 1671, "Stephen Mumford, William Hiscox, Samuel Hubbard, Roger Baster, and three sisters, entered into church cove- *Crosby's Hist. Eng. Bapt. vol. 3, pp. 138, 139. tChurch Hist. of New England from 1783 to 1796, chapter xi, sec. x. nant together, thus forming the first Seventh-day Baptist church in America."* From that time to the present the Seventh-day Baptists have maintained their position before the world as the observers of the ancient Sabbath of the Bible, and have gradually extended their churches through a considerable portion of the American Union. Among them have arisen men of eminent talent and piety, who have defended the Sabbah in a variety of publications. Among these, one name—J. W. Morton—is particularly worthy of honorable mention. He was sent in 1847 a missionary to the Island of Hayti, by the Reformed Presbyterians. Here he came in con- tact with Sabbatarian publications, and after a serious examination became satisfied that the sev- enth day is the Sabbath of the Lord. As an honest man, what he saw to be truth he immedi- ately obeyed, and returning home to be tried for his heresy, was ignominiously expelled from the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He has given to the world a valuable work, entitled, " Vindica- tion of the True Sabbath," in which his experi- ence is related.—The organ of the Seventh-day Baptists is the Recorder, published in Westerly, R. I.-I- The attention of Adventists was called to the Sabbath question by an essay on the subject from T. M. Preble, dated Feb. 13, 1845. After show- *Manual, &Tx.. pp. 39, 40 ; Backus, chap. xi, sec. 10. fFor the history and statistics of the Seventh-day Baptists of America, see Utter's Manual of S. D. Baptists; Mrs. Ta- mar Davis' Hist. of the Sabbath-keeping Churches; Clarke's Hist. of the S. D. Baptists ; Materials toward a History of the Baptists in New Jersey ; and Benedict's Gen. Hist. Bapt. Den. vol. 2, ed. 1813, 338 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ina 6 the claims of the Bible Sabbath, and the fact that it was changed to Sunday by the great apos- tasy, he remarks : " Thus we see Dan. vii, 25, fulfilled, the little horn chang- ing 'times and laws.' Therefore it appears to me that all who keep the first day for the Sabbath, are Pope's Sunday- keepers, and God's Sabbath-breakers."* Elder Preble was led to embrace the Sabbath from an acquaintance with Sabbath-keepers in N. II., and he faithfully adhered to it for a season, but afterward adopted the view that there is no sacred time in the gospel dispensation. Mr. P. had however called the attention of other Advent believers to this subject ; and their interest in this divine institution was not transient as his had proved. 'Our venerable brother, Joseph Bates, immediately began to preach the Sabbath of the Lord, and also to publish tracts setting forth its claims. His labors have been untiring, and with the blessing of God he has been the means of bringing many to the knowledge and observance of the holy Sabbath. About the same time our esteemed and efficient brother, Elder James White, began to preach the Sabbath, and some three years after began to publish in its behalf. Beginning without resources, and with few friends, with toil, self-sacrifice, and anxious care, he has, with the blessing of God upon his efforts, been the means of establishing an efficient office of publication, fur- nished with a steam power press, now located at Battle Creek, Michigan, and of bringing many to the sacred observance of the Sabbath. The publication of the Advent Review and Sab- bath Herald, the organ of the Seventh-day Ad- *Hope of Israel, Feb. 28, 1845. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �39 ventists, was commenced in the Autumn of 1850, and it has steadily increased in circulation and in- fluence, till its list at the present time, (18620 numbers nearly three thousand subscribers. A monthly paper, designed for the children of Sabbath-keeping Adventists, entitled the Youth's Instructor, began to be issued at the same office in 1852, which has now attained a circulation of two thousand copies. Numerous publications on Prophecy, the Signs of the Times, the Coming of Christ, the Sabbath, the Sanctuary, &c., &c., have been issued within the past ten years, and had an extensive circula- tion, amounting in the aggregate to twenty-five million, and fifty-eight thousand pages. Preachers in the ranks of the Seventh-day Ad- ventists are not located, but 'go forth everywhere heralding the glad tidings of the coming kingdom, and earnestly setting forth as the conditions of an entrance therein, a faithful observance of the com- mandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Du- ring the summer months, operations are carried on principally by means of large tents, capable of seating eight hundred persons, of which there are, the present summer, seven in the field, one each in Vermont, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Ill- inois, Iowa and Minnesota. These enterprises are sustained by what is called, Systematic Be- nevolence, a system very generally adopted by this people, and which carries out the principle in- culcated by the apostle in 1 Cor. xvi, 2, and in its operation is not unlike a system of taxation, ex- cept that the offerings are free-will, and not com- pulsory. The wants of the Cause demanding an enlarge- -11V-7-79 340 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. .went of capital and more extensive operations, to this end an Association was incorporated in the city of Battle Creek, Michigan, May 3, 1861, under the name of the Seventh-day Adventist Pub- lishing Association. This Association has recent- ly erected a commodious publishing house, and is zealously engaged in carrying out the object of its formation; namely, the issuing of "periodicals, books, tracts, documents, and other publications calculated to impart instruction on Bible Truth, especially the fulfillment of prophecy, the com- mandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Christ." The Seventh-day Adventists believe that the proclamation of the ten commandments and of the prophecies relative to the last days, constitutes the Third Angel's Message of the book of Revelation. It has pleased God thus far to signally bless the preaching of these great truths, and at the pres- ent time, the number of those to be found observing the Sabbath of the Lord, and waiting for the ad- vent of his Son from heaven,. may be safely esti- mated at twelve thousand.* The future is given to us in the prophetic Scrip- tures. From them we learn that our earth is re- served unto fire, and that from its ashes shall spring new heavens and earth, and ages of endless date. Over this glorified inheritance, the second Adam, the Lord of the Sabbath, shall bear rule, and under his gracious protection the nations of them which are saved shall inherit the land forev- *For a further knowledge of their views, see their weekly paper, the "Advent Review and Sabbath Herald," published at Battle Creek, Michigan ; and also the list of publications advertised in its columns. SINCE THE REFORMATION. �341 er.* When the glory of the Lord shall thus fill. the earth as the waters cover the sea, the Sabbath of the Most Iligh is again and for the last time brought to view : " For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to an- other, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord."t On this scripture Dr. Peter Akers has this im- portant comment : " The word rendered new moon' in this passage, both in the Hebrew, and the Greek of the Seventy, signifies month only, without respect to any particular day. By rendering it new moon, our translators have assumed, without author- ity, that it means the first day of the month."T The reason for this monthly gathering to the New Jerusalem of all the host of the redeemed from every part of the new earth may be found in the language of the Apocalypse : "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the riv- er was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing [literally, the service]1 of the nations." *2 Pet. iii; Isa. lxv ; Rev. xxi ; xxii. lvi, 22, 23. IBiblical Chronology, pp. 28, 29. The Septuagint renders it /up, month, instead of rovpnwa, new moon. The Douay Bible renders it simply month. Gesenius gives both render- ings, but gives also a considerable number of instances in which it can only have the meaning of month. Oee Liddell and Scott, Schrevelius, and Greenfield. 1111ov. xxii, 1, 2. 342 � HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. The gathering of the nations that are saved to ' the presence of the Creator, from the whole face of the new earth on each successive Sabbath, at- tests the sacredness of the Sabbath even in that holy state, and sets the seal of the Most High to the perpetuity of that ancient institution. • •