p. 84 | CONSISTENT, OR INCONSISTENT? by E. Lanphear

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, February 5, 1880

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 6

CONSISTENT, OR INCONSISTENT?

By E. Lanphear

BY E. LANPHEAR.

Dr. Cuyler preached upon the Sabbath question a few weeks ago, from the text, “The Sabbath was made for man.” The sermon was published under the heading, “The Foundation to be Maintained.” He said:—

“If the foundation of an edifice were undermined, its fall would be only a question of time. The Bible is the foundation of our faith, and its enemies most pertinaciously assail it. [Correct.] The enemies of the gospel are, however, still numerous, and their chief point of attack is now the Sabbath. That, however, is another foundation of our religion which we cannot allow to be undermined. [Correct.] There is the same reason for maintaining the binding force of the fourth commandment as that of the seventh or eighth, and the Sabbath of the decalogue is no more a Jewish institution than chastity or honesty. All experience shows that a great blessing follows the observance of the Sabbath law, as is the case with all other divine laws. May God forbid that our Sabbath should ever become a day of sports and drinking, as it is on the continent of Europe.”

This is sensible doctrine thus far, surely. Could a Seventh-day Baptist or a Seventh-day Adventist ask for anything sounder? But does Dr. Cuyler realize his position, and that he is condemning his own consistency by his inconsistency in observing Sunday, the first day of the week, in place of the seventh day, the Sabbath that God made for man? And does he realize that he is joining with the infidel and the idolatrous in treading under foot the law of God,—“Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God”? Has the Creator ever changed his law, or authorized it to be changed? Would Dr. Cuyler make God a changeable being, and allow men to change times and laws? Would that be consistent for the God of the universe? and would it accord with the Doctor’s statements, as quoted above from his discourse? But how strange that men of ability, and ministers at that, should take such a position in relation to the law of God. “If the blind lead the blind,” shall they not both “fall into the ditch”?

The preacher says in his sermon, “I honor the Daily Witness, because it stands up for the fourth commandment, and obeys it in its office arrangements.” This office runs on the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath that God made for man, as on other working days, and observes Sunday, the heathen’s day of the sun, calling that the Sabbath of the Lord; and the Doctor honors it in so doing. Consistent or inconsistent—which? Speaking of the change of the day from the seventh to the first day of the week, the latter, he said, “was more appropriate, as the one commemorated the completion of creation, and the other commemorated the completion of the work of redemption.” We ask for the Doctor’s authority on this point. Are not the Lord’s supper and baptism satisfactory as memorials of the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, without interfering with the Sabbath and the law of God?

Again he says, “The apostles met on the first day of the week, and Jesus met with them.” Did he not meet with them on other days? John 21:1; Luke 24:50. And was it not their custom to meet on the Sabbath? Did they or any one of the sacred writers ever apply the word “Sabbath” to the first day of the week? We have failed to find it. But the preacher said that “St. John, in the book of Revelation, called it the Lord’s day.” Again we ask for Scripture authority for such an application.

He says, “The Son of God is Lord of the Sabbath. The day belongs to him, and he has given it to man as a great boon in this world of toil and care.” Did the Son of God give the Sabbath to man? or did God make it for man, and make his Son Lord of it, as to what should be done upon it? It seems to us that this is a more correct, Scriptural view of the subject. Let the reader carefully study to learn the truth of the gospel on this subject, and learn consistency as touching the law of God.

Plainfield, N. J.