It was a heathen emperor who first promulgated a Sunday law—a law requiring the cessation of labor on that day. Now, whatever custom may have been in vogue prior to that time, A. D. 321, or by whom or to what extent Sunday was observed, the first law on the subject was of heathen origin, and that law was a heathen government law in support of a pagan holiday, as such, and not at all as a Christian institution. It was the influence of this same heathen emperor's politics in the church—for he became a professed Christian, tho continuing to be a cold-blooded murderer, even of his own kinsfolk—that led to persecution of men, for conscience' sake, by authority of the church. And this persecution by the church grew out of this enforced Sunday observance. About forty-three years after Constantine's heathen Sunday law was promulgated, a general church council held at Laodicea, formally decreed the transference of the observance and church services of the Sabbath day to Sunday. And to enforce this decree, excommunication was pronounced upon all church members who should continue to observe the seventh day. Thus open persecution by the church was the direct outgrowth of enforced Sunday observance. And persecution has been its logical sequence ever since; and ever must.
The Commercial Spirit and Religion
By Editor
The Commercial Spirit and Religion.—The address given by Rabbi Hirsch of Chicago at Temple Emmanuel, San Francisco, recently, was designed for Jews; but it contained some statements that are as applicable to those who are not Jews as to those who are. He said: "Israel is thinking too much of stock exchange, money-getting, and trades unions. Israel is putting forth her strength to lay up money for the children, robbing the children of the opportunity of making their own way, handing down to them not only the wealth they did not earn, but the stingy spirit they ought not to inherit."
The truth of these words is seen exemplified on every hand to-day. That inherited stinginess of spirit is nothing but "covetousness, which is idolatry." It has bred a race of wealth-worshipers; and the pyramids of dollars it is building are as truly tombs of the builders as were ever the pyramids of old.
The Cost of Millionaire Illness
The "Medical Sentinel" tells us that Dr. Francis Delafield, of New York, charged millionaire Brokaw $1,000 a day to attend him ten days in Florida. The patient survived, and paid the fee cheerfully. A millionaire's sickness is sometimes an expensive luxury.
