Rome's Challenge
Why Do Protestants Keep Sunday? - PART 1
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH
The Genuine Offspring Of The Union Of The Holy Spirit And The
Catholic Church His Spouse. The Claims Of Protestantism To Any Part Therein
Proved To Be Groundless, Self-Contradictory, And Suicidal [From the Catholic
Mirror of Sept. 2, 1893]
Our attention has been called to the above subject in the past
week by the receipt of a brochure of twenty-one pages, published by the
International Religious Liberty Association, entitled, "Appeal and
Remonstrance," embodying resolutions adopted by the General Conference of
the Seventh-day Adventists (Feb. 24, 1893). The resolutions criticize and
censure, with much acerbity, the action of the United States Congress, and of
the Supreme Court, for invading the rights of the people by closing the World's
Fair on Sunday.
The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as
their teacher, who can find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from
the seventh to the first. Hence their appellation, "Seventh-day
Adventists." Their cardinal principle consists in setting apart Saturday
for the exclusive worship of God, in conformity with the positive command of God
Himself, repeatedly reiterated in the sacred books of the Old and New
Testaments, literally obeyed by the children of Israel for thousands of years to
this day, and endorsed by the teaching and practice of the Son of God whilst on
earth.
Per contra, the Protestants of the world, the Adventists
excepted, with the same Bible as their cherished and sole infallible
teacher, by their practice, since their appearance in the sixteenth century,
with the time-honored practice of the Jewish people before their eyes, have
rejected the day named for His worship by God, and assumed, in apparent
contradiction of His command, a day for His worship never once referred to for
that purpose, in the pages of that Sacred Volume.
What Protestant pulpit does not ring almost every Sunday with
loud and impassioned invectives against Sabbath violation? Who can forget the
fanatical clamor of the Protestant ministers throughout the length and breadth
of the land, against opening the gates of the World's Fair on Sunday? The
thousands of petitions, signed by millions, to save the Lord's Day from
desecration? Surely, such general and widespread excitement and noisy
remonstrance could not have existed without the strongest grounds for such
animated protests.
And when quarters where assigned at the World's Fair to the
various sects of Protestantism for the exhibition of articles, who can forget
the emphatic expression of virtuous and conscientious indignation exhibited by
our Presbyterian brethren, as soon as they learned of the decision of the
Supreme Court not to interfere in the Sunday opening? The newspapers informed us
that they flatly refused to utilize the space accorded them, or open their
boxes, demanding the right to withdraw the articles, in rigid adherence to their
principles, and thus decline all contact with the sacrilegious and
Sabbath-breaking Exhibition.
Doubtless, our Calvinistic brethren deserved and shared the
sympathy of all the other sects, who, however, lost the opportunity of posing as
martyrs in vindication of the Sabbath observance.
They thus became "a spectacle to the world, to angels, and
to men," although their Protestant brethren, who failed to share the
monopoly, were uncharitably and enviously disposed to attribute their steadfast
adherence to religious principle, to Pharisaical pride and dogged obstinacy.
Our purpose in throwing off this article, is to shed such light
on this all-important question (for were the Sabbath question to be removed from
the Protestant pulpit, the sects would feel lost, and the preachers be deprived
of their "Cheshire cheese") that our readers may be able to comprehend
the question in all its bearings, and thus reach a clear conviction.
The Christian world is, morally speaking united on the question
and practice of worshipping God on the first day of the week.
The Israelites, scattered all over the earth, keep the
last
day of the week sacred to the worship of the Deity. In the particular, the
Seventh-day Adventists have also selected the same day.
The Israelites and Adventists both appeal to the Bible for the
divine command, persistently obliging the strict observance of Saturday.
The Israelite respects the authority of the Old Testament only,
but the Adventist, who is a Christian, accepts the New Testament on the same
ground as the Old; vis., an inspired record also. He finds that the Bible, his
teacher, is consistent in both parts, that the Redeemer, during His mortal life,
never kept any other day than Saturday. The Gospels plainly evince to him this
fact; whilst, in the pages of the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, and the
Apocalypse, not the vestige of an act canceling the Saturday arrangement can be
found.
The Adventists, therefore, in common with the Israelites, derive
their belief from the Old Testament, which position is confirmed by the New
Testament, endorsing fully by the life and practice of the Redeemer and His
apostles the teaching of the Sacred Word for nearly a century of the Christian
era.
Numerically considered, the Seventh-Day Adventists form an
insignificant [at the time of this writing] portion of the Protestant population
of the earth, but, as the question is not one of numbers, but of truth, fact,
and right, a strict sense of justice forbids the condemnation of this little
sect without a calm and unbiased investigation; this is none of our funeral.
The Protestant world has been, from its infancy, in the
sixteenth century, in thorough accord with the Catholic Church, in keeping
"holy," not Saturday, but Sunday. The discussion of the grounds that
led to this unanimity of sentiment and practice for over 300 years, must help
toward placing Protestantism on a solid basis in this particular, should the
arguments in favor if its position overcome those furnished by the Israelites
and Adventists, the Bible, the sole recognized teacher of both litigants, being
the umpire and witness. If, however, on the other hand, the latter furnish
arguments, incontrovertible by the great mass of Protestants, both classes of
litigants, appealing the their common teacher, the Bible, the great body of
Protestants, so far from clamoring, as they do with vigorous pertinacity for the
strict keeping of Sunday, have no other resource left than the admission that
they have been teaching and practicing what is Scripturally false for over
three centuries, by adopting the teaching and practice of what they have
always pretended to believe an apostate church, contrary to every warrant and
teaching of sacred Scripture. To add to the intensity of this Scriptural and
unpardonable blunder, it involves on of the most positive and emphatic commands
of God to His servant, man: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy."
No Protestant living today has ever yet obeyed that command,
preferring to follow the apostate church referred to than his teacher, the
Bible, which, from Genesis to Revelation, teaches no other doctrine,
should the Israelites and the Seventh-day Adventists be correct. Both sides
appeal to the Bible as their "infallible" teacher. Let the Bible
decide whether Saturday or Sunday be the day enjoined by God. One of the two
bodies must be wrong, and, whereas a false position on this all-important
question involves terrible penalties, threatened by God Himself, against the
transgressor of this "perpetual covenant," we shall enter on the
discussion of the merits of the arguments wielded by both sides. Neither is the
discussion of this paramount subject above the capacity of ordinary minds, nor
does it involve extraordinary study. It resolves itself into a few plain
questions easy of solution:
1st. Which day of the week does the Bible enjoin to
be kept holy?
2nd. Had the New Testament modified by precept or
practice the original command?
3rd. Have Protestants, since the sixteenth century,
obeyed the command of God by keeping "holy" the day enjoined by their
infallible guide and teacher, the Bible? And if not, why not?
To the above three questions we pledge ourselves to furnish as
many answers, which cannot fail to vindicate the truth and uphold the deformity
of error.
[From the Catholic Mirror of Sept. 9, 1893.]
"But faith, fanatic faith, once wedded fast To some dear
falsehood, hugs it to the last." -Moore.
Conformably to our promise in our last issue, we proceed to
unmask one of the most flagrant errors and most unpardonable inconsistencies of
the Biblical rule of faith. Lest, however, we be misunderstood, we deem it
necessary to premise that Protestantism recognizes no rule of faith, no teacher,
save the "infallible Bible." As the Catholic yields his judgment in
spiritual matters implicitly, and with unreserved confidence, to the voice of
his church, so, too, the Protestant recognized no teacher but the Bible.
All his spirituality is derived from its teachings. It is to him the voice of
God addressing him through his sole inspired teacher. It embodies his religion,
his faith, and his practice. The language of Chillingworth, "The Bible, the
whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is the religion of Protestants," is
only one form of the same idea multifariously convertible into other forms, such
as "the Book of God," "the Charter of Our Salvation,"
"the Oracle of Our Christian Faith," "God's Text-Book to the race
of Mankind," etc., etc. It is then, an incontrovertible fact that the
Bible alone is the teacher of Protestant Christianity. Assuming this fact,
we will now proceed to discus the merits of the question involved in our last
issue.
Recognizing what is undeniable, the fact of a direct
contradiction between the teaching and practice of Protestant Christianity - the
Seventh-day Adventists excepted - on the one hand, and that of the Jewish people
on the other, both observing different days of the week for the worship of God,
we will proceed to take the testimony of the only available witness in the
premises; vis., the testimony of the teacher common to both claimants, the
Bible. The fist expression which we come in contact in the Sacred Word, is found
in Genesis 2:2 "And on the seventh day He [God] rested from all His work
which He had Made." The next reference to this matter is to be found in
Exodus 20, where God commanded the seventh day to be kept, because He had
Himself rested from the work of creation on that day; and the sacred text
informs us that for that reason He desired it kept, in the following
words "Wherefore, the Lord blessed the seventh day and sanctified
it." [Of course the scriptures quoted throughout this work are from the
Douay, or Catholic Version] Again, we read in chapter 31, verse 15 "Six day
you shall do work; in the seventh day is the Sabbath, the rest holy to the
Lord;" sixteenth verse "It is an everlasting covenant,"
"and a perpetual sign," "for in six days the Lord made heaven and
earth, and in the seventh He ceased from work."
In the old Testament, reference is made one hundred and
twenty-six times to the Sabbath, and all these texts conspire harmoniously in
voicing the will of God commanding the seventh day to be kept, because God
Himself first kept it, making it obligatory on all as "a
perpetual covenant." Nor can we imagine any one foolhardy enough to
question the identity of Saturday with the Sabbath or seventh day, seeing that
the people of Israel have been keeping the Saturday from the giving of the law
A.M. 2514 to A.D. 1893, a period of 3383 years. With the example of the
Israelites before our eyes today, there is no historical fact better established
than that referred to; vix., that the chosen people of God, the guardians of the
Old Testament, the living representatives of the only divine religion hitherto,
had for a period of 1490 years anterior to Christianity, preserved by weekly
practice the living tradition of the correct interpretation of the special day
of the week, Saturday, to be kept "holy to the Lord," which tradition
they have extended by their practice to an additional period of 1893 years more,
thus covering the full extent of the Christian dispensation. We deem it
necessary to be perfectly clear on this point, for reasons that will appear more
fully hereafter. The Bible - the Old Testament - confirmed by the living
tradition of a weekly practice for 3383 years by the chosen people of God,
teaches then, with absolute certainty, that God had, Himself, named the day to
be "kept holy to Him," - that day was Saturday, and that any violation
of that command was punishable with death. "keep you My Sabbath, for it is
holy unto you; he that shall profane it shall be put to death; he that shall do
any work in it, his soul shall perish in the midst of his people." Exodus
31:14.
It is impossible to realize a more severe penalty than that so
solemnly uttered by God Himself in the above text, on all who violate a command
referred to no less that one hundred and twenty-sex times in the old law. The
ten commandments of the Old Testament are formally impressed on the memory of
the child of the Biblical Christian as soon as possible, but there is not one of
the ten made more emphatically familiar, both in Sunday school and pulpit, than
that of keeping "holy" the Sabbath day.
Having secured with absolute certainty the will of God as
regards the day to be kept holy, from His Sacred Word, because He rested
on that day, which day is confirmed to us by the practice of His chosen people
for thousands of years, we are naturally induced to inquire when and where
God changed the day for His worship; for it is patent to the world that a change
of day has taken place, and inasmuch as no indication of such change can be
found within the pages of the Old Testament, nor in the practice of the Jewish
people who continue for nearly nineteen centuries of Christianity obeying the
written command, we must look to the exponent of the Christian dispensation; vis.,
the New Testament, for the command of God canceling the old Sabbath, Saturday.
We now approach a period covering little short of nineteen
centuries, and preceed to investigate whether the supplemental divine teacher -
the New Testament - contains a decree canceling the mandate of the old law, and,
at the same time, substituting a day for the divinely instituted Sabbath of the
old law, vis., Saturday; for, inasmuch as Saturday was the day kept and ordered
to be kept by God, divine authority alone, under the form of a canceling
decree, could abolish the Saturday covenant, and another divine mandate,
appointing by name another day to be kept "holy," other than Saturday,
is equally necessary to satisfy the conscience of the Christian believer. The
Bible being the only teacher recognized by the Biblical Christian, the Old
Testament failing to point out a change of day, and yet another day than
Saturday being kept "holy" by the Biblical world, it is surely
incumbent on the reformed Christian to point out in the pages of the New
Testament the new divine decree repealing that of Saturday and substituting that
of Sunday, kept by Biblicals since the dawn of the Reformation.
Examining the New Testament from cover to cover, critically, we
find the Sabbath referred to sixty-one times. We find, too, that the Saviour
invariably selected the Sabbath (Saturday) to teach in the synagogues and work
miracles. The four Gospels refer to the Sabbath (Saturday) fifty-one times.
In one instance the Redeemer refers to Himself as "the Lord
of the Sabbath," as mentioned by Matthew, Luke, and Mark, but during the
whole record of His life, whilst invariably keeping and utilizing the day
(Saturday), He never once hinted at a desire to change it. His apostles
and personal friends afford to us a striking instance of their scrupulous
observance of it after His death, and, whilst His body was yet in the
tomb, Luke 23:56 informs us "And they returned and prepared spices and
ointments, and rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment."
"But on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came,
bringing the spices they had prepared Good Friday evening, because "the
Sabbath drew near" verse 54. This action on the part of the personal
friends of the Saviour, proves beyond contradiction that after His death
they kept "holy" the Saturday, and regarded Sunday as any other day
of the week. Can anything, therefore, be more conclusive than that the
apostles and the holy women never knew Sabbath but Saturday, up to the very day
of Christ's death?
We now approach the investigation of this interesting question
for the next thirty years, as narrated by the evangelist, St. Luke, in his Acts
of the Apostles. Surely some vestige of the canceling act can be discovered in
the practice of the apostles during that protracted period.
But, alas! We are once more doomed to disappointment. Eight
times do we find the Sabbath referred to in the Acts, but it is the Saturday
(the old Sabbath). Should our readers desire the proof, we refer them to the
chapter and verse in each instance. Acts 13:14,27,42,44 ; Acts 15:21; Acts
16:13; Acts 17:2; Acts 1:4. "And he [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue every
Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Thus the Sabbath
(Saturday) from Genesis to Revelation!!! Thus, it is impossible to find in
the New Testament the slightest interference by the Saviour or His apostles with
the original Sabbath, but on the contrary, an entire acquiescence in the
original arrangement; nay, a plenary endorsement by Him, whilst living;
and an unvaried, active participation in the keeping of that day and no other
by the apostles, for thirty years after His death, as the Acts of the
Apostles has abundantly testified to us.
Hense the conclusion is inevitable; vis., that of those who
follow the Bible as their guide, the Israelites and Seventh-day Adventists have
the exclusive weight of evidence on their side, whilst the Biblical Protestant
has not a word in self-defense for his substitution of Sunday for Saturday. More
anon.
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