"I am in favor of a civil Sunday law. It should be both state and national. . . .
"When God gave a law for the government of a nation—the Israelites—he enacted such a law, a good precedent surely. I would not ask for a Sunday law upon religious grounds. I would demand it upon the rights of the people. Neither Jesus nor Paul asked for legislation in behalf of the church. She needs no human legislation. Leaving Christianity out of the question, it still remains true that the highest good of the people demands one day out of seven for rest and home."
It is remarkable how people are "deceiving and being deceived" by that threadbare paradox, a "civil Sunday law," when the arguments in support of the idea invariably fall back upon a religious premise. When and where did God ever give a law for a civil rest day? He never gave but the one law for a weekly rest day, and he made that a holy day, to be observed religiously. He never ordained a Sabbath day for any other purpose, and he never ordained any other weekly Sabbath than the seventh day. If man needed a civil rest day every week, it is strange that it took the Lord so long to find it out.
"Neither Jesus nor Paul asked for legislation in behalf of the church." Nor did they ask for any other sort of legislation. They never asked for a "civil Sunday law," or any other kind of Sunday law. They never asked for a civil rest day, yet it is reasonable to suppose that man's physical requirements were the same then as to-day, and the "rights of the people" were the same then as to-day. Moreover it is reasonable to infer that Jesus and Paul were as wise with reference to the "highest good of the people" as any one in our day, and were as true to the best interests of the people. In the examples and teaching of Jesus and Paul we have "a good precedent surely."
W. N. G.
The Mightiest Argument.
By Editor
Among the trite sayings of the L. A. W. Bulletin is, "The man who knows he is right doesn't have to get mad." And another old saying is to the effect that he can afford to be fair. The disposition one manifests is generally, tho not always, an indication of the righteousness of the cause which he is arguing or pleading. Sometimes a Christian will get out of patience with an infidel, the very worst possible thing he could do; but this does not prove Christianity to be false; rather it proves that the professed Christian does not know how to use its strongest weapon, the Christlike spirit and character manifest even toward the enemies of Christ. The theory of Christianity is mighty and powerful as compared with all its opposers, but its life, the power to change men's characters and dispositions, is more than all else.
God's Law in Christ
By Editor
The paper in this issue entitled "God's Law in Christ" was written for a symposium on the Law of God, but all our other writers, except one, from whom we expected articles, have for some reason best known to themselves disappointed us. But the articles we have on hand will do as much good alone, we trust, as in connection with others on the same subject.
The Source of Strength
By Editor
READ the article, "The Source of Strength," on page 5. Its worth to every troubled soul who will heed it is inestimable. It will help the strong to regard of more worth the weak and tempted, and it will help the tempted to realize how precious is his character and life in the sight of God.
Catholicism versus Christianity
By Editor
THE articles by A. T. Jones, "Catholicism versus Christianity," will be followed by two articles on the "Immaculate Conception." These will be of great interest to our readers, and full of instruction on a subject but little understood.