p. 166 | THAT TEXT

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Tuesday, March 17, 1885

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 62, No. 11

THAT TEXT.

BOUND TO HAVE IT IF MONEY WILL BUY IT.

The following articles were published in the Los Angeles (Cal.) Sunday Times, at the dates respectively given, and tell their own story:—

“A RELIGIOUS CHALLENGE.

“To the Editor of the Times—SIR: On last Monday evening, from the pulpit of the Cathedral, an offer was made of a thousand dollars to any one presenting a single text from the Bible calling the first day of the week (Sunday) the Sabbath, or attaching any sacredness whatever to it. I have not heard of any one claiming the prize, and thinking the challenge should have a wider publicity, I ask you to be so good as to give this a place in your columns. The speaker stated that the Bible taught that the seventh day (Saturday) is the Sabbath. He said the Catholic Church changed the Sabbath, and that it is a sign of the power of the Church, even over the law of God. Said he: ‘It is a standing miracle, and Protestants, in keeping Sunday, yield obedience to the authority of the Church.’ Now who will disprove his statements, and obtain the prize offered. When the text is found, please mention the chapter and verse in your columns, and oblige. A SEEKER FOR TRUTH.

“Los Angeles, Cal., Jan. 15, 1885.”

“WHY.

“To the Editor of the Times—SIR: A correspondent in your issue of this morning makes many assertions about the Bible and history sustaining Sunday as the Sabbath, without giving one reference to either. Two thousand dollars has been offered in this city; one thousand last June, at the S. D. A. tent on Sixth Street, and the other lately at the Cathedral, for one text from the Bible calling the first day (Sunday) the Sabbath. Why does he not claim the prize? Then he falls back on the ‘Can’t-keep-the-same-day’ excuse. Now, all astronomical calculations, and scientific, chronological, and legal records regard Sunday as the first and Saturday as the seventh day of the week. Bishop Haven, in a work on the Ten Commandments, says: ‘There is no reason to be given why our seventh day of the week is not the original Sabbath day.’ God appointed the Sabbath as a memorial of creation and a safeguard against idolatry; and had its observance been continued, mankind would not have gone to worshiping the sun instead of its Creator. The consecration of the first day of the week to sun worship is more ancient than the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. (‘Jewish Antiquities,’ book 3, chapters 1 and 3.) In Vol. 18, page 409, of the North British Review, Sunday is called ‘the wild solar holiday of all pagan times.’ And on the same page the attempt is made to justify its adoption into the church, on the grounds of ‘expediency’ and ‘patriotism.’ But Bible teachings are not so accommodating.

“Sir William Domville says: ‘Centuries of the Christian era passed away before the Sunday was observed by the Christian Church as a Sabbath.’—‘Examination of the Six Texts,’ page 291. Andrews, in his ‘History of the Sabbath,’ quotes many authorities who testify to the gradual introduction of Sunday into the Church, and that it met with much opposition; also that no writer of the first three centuries ever attributed the origin of Sunday observance to either Christ or his apostles. Andrews gives the proof that Christian churches in almost all the countries of Europe, and in parts of Asia and Africa, did observe the Bible Sabbath all along through the Dark Ages, and since the Reformation down to the present time. The book referred to may be found in our city library. We may learn from history what has been the practice of others, but to know what is our duty we should consult the Bible. In the New Testament the first day is mentioned eight times, but never called the Sabbath. The seventh day is spoken of fifty-nine times, and always designated as the Sabbath. The first day is recorded as occurring immediately after the Sabbath was past. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 23:56; 24:1. Notice that Luke asserts that the day before the first day was the ‘Sabbath according to the commandment.’

“Thus he speaks of how the day was observed after the death of Christ. If the seventh day was the Sabbath then—‘according to the commandment’—it is now; for no change can lawfully be made in a testament, after it has been confirmed by the death of the testator. Heb. 9:16, 17; Matt. 26:28. Paul uses the words testament and covenant as meaning the same thing. Heb. 8:6; 9:15. In Gal. 3:15, he says: ‘Though it be a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto.’ That is to say, if such a covenant stands fast, how unalterable sure are all the conditions and promises of the testament that was sealed with the blood of Christ. “Surely the good people need an earnest thought on this important subject. TRUTH. “Feb. 12, 1885.”