p. 188 | The Foundations of the Seventh-day and First-day Sabbaths Contrasted

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 15, 1866

The Foundations of the Seventh-day and First-day Sabbaths Contrasted.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

The Seventh-Day Sabbath.—1. God rested on the seventh day. Gen. ii, 3. This fact is undeniable and is admitted by all. Thus it became the rest day or Sabbath day of God. The day on which God rested became unalterably his rest day: the same as the day on which a man is born becomes forever his birth day. In neither case can this day be transferred to another.

2. God blessed the seventh day. Gen. ii, 1–3; Ex. xx, 8–11.

3. He commanded that it should be kept holy. Ex. xx, 8–11.

4. He pronounced the sentence of death against all who should do any work on that day. Ex. xxxi, 15.

5. Jesus rested on that day. John xv, 10; Luke iv, 16.

6. He commanded his disciples to keep it. He said that the law was binding, every jot and tittle, and condemned such as should break any one commandment. Matt. v, 17–19. This would include the Sabbath.

7. The apostles and Christ's followers kept it. Luke xxiii, 56. None will deny that they all kept it till after the resurrection. This is all we care to prove here.

Here are seven undisputed facts concerning the seventh-day Sabbath. Query. Is there much danger in following the example of God himself, of his Son, and of his children for at least 4000 years? We think not; yet we are told that Sabbath-keepers will be damned!

The First-Day Sabbath.—1. Did God rest on the first day? No one even claims that he ever did. Then it cannot be his rest day, or Sabbath day, any more than a day on which a man was not born can be his birth day. Then the first day is not the Sabbath, or rest-day of the Lord, whatever else may be true of it.

2. Did God ever bless the first day? No one claims that he did.

3. Did he ever command us to keep the first day? It is not even claimed that he did.

4. Did he ever pronounce a curse against any one for working on the first day? It is admitted that he did not.

5. Did Jesus rest on that day? No. Some say, Yes. But does the Bible positively say that he did? It is not claimed that it does. It is sometimes assumed that he did. But we are dealing with undeniable facts now.

6. Did Jesus command us to keep the first day? No one claims that he did.

7. Did the apostles ever keep it? No. Sunday-keepers say, Yes. Again we ask, Does the Bible positively say that they did keep it? It is readily admitted that it does not. Then again we say, Mere assumption is not an undisputed fact.

Of these seven facts which we see undisputedly apply to the seventh day, five are not even claimed to be true of the first day. Two are assumed to be true, but no positive proof is claimed even for them. Reader, which house stands on a sandy foundation, and which is founded on a rock? The answer must be evident to all.

D. M. Canright.

Battle Creek, Mich.