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Investigation of the Sabbath Question in Wis

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 24, 1866

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 28, No. 8.

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Investigation of the Sabbath Question in Wis.

By Isaac Sanborn, John Matteson

JUNE 29, we pitched the tent at Utter's Corners, Walworth Co., Wis. This is a beautiful farming country, thickly settled. We commenced meetings Sabbath evening, and continued till July 1. We had six meetings in that time, above one hundred attending, and then suspended till July 6, when we were to begin a discussion with Elder Lang, Methodist. We had agreed to discuss three propositions, viz., the Sabbath, immortality of the soul, and penalty of the wicked. Eld. Lang affirmed that the first day of the week, so called, is the true Christian Sabbath. J. Matteson denied.
He tried to prove that the first-day Sabbath, as he called it, originated with the apostles and with Christ when he was on the earth, from the Greek terms rendered "first-day of the week" in the places where this phrase occurs. He tried to prove this from the fact that a horse does not become a cow when it is turned into another pasture. Therefore, said he, it should read in every instance, "first Sabbath," which would be the same as Christian Sabbath.
We showed from standard dictionaries, that the term σάββατον means rest, seventh day of the week, Jewish or ceremonial Sabbath. Also that the word μία (first) does not agree with σάββατον, for μία is feminine, and the other neuter, gender. "An adjective agrees with its subject in gender, number, and case." Crosby's Greek grammar, Ch. 2, §444; also §447. "The subject of the adjective is often omitted, especially if it is a familiar word." Under this rule we find the word ἡμερα (day).
The Elder first said that he need not go by rules of grammar, but afterward admitted all these facts.
We also showed from John i, that Christ was in the beginning with the Father, and that all things were made by him. He is one with the Father, therefore Christ rested on the seventh day, and he also blessed and sanctified it. Consequently Christ made the Sabbath for man. Mark ii, 27, therefore he also calls himself Lord of the Sabbath. The word "Christian" is defined, "taught by Christ or received from him." Now then, because Christ has rested on the seventh day, and sanctified it for man to keep holy, therefore the seventh day is the true Christian Sabbath.
Here then are four items relative to the Sabbath. The originator, Christ; the time, at creation; the manner, he rested on the seventh day and sanctified it. Gen. ii, 2, 3; to whom given? man, or the human race.
It is also evident that Christ was one with the Father in giving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai.
July 7, second session. Eld. Lang tried to prove that the first-day Sabbath originated with the feast of the passover, the fifteenth day of the month Abib, or first day of unleavened bread. Ex. xii, 16; Lev. xxiii, 7; also asserting that the words μία σάββατον were here used.
We showed that the Old Testament was not written in Greek, and that the word Sabbath did not occur in these verses at all. Further, that these were yearly feasts occurring on a certain day of the month, on different days of the week, as another year would come round; the same as the 4th of July or any annual feast; showing also that the Jewish, or ceremonial feasts, are done away. Eph. ii, 15.
Further, that if his argument proved the first day of the week to be holy, it also proved the sanctity of the seventh day, for we are there told, "in the first day shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day shall be an holy convocation."
Tried to stir up the Elder to meet the argument advanced from the Sabbath or seventh day once blessed but never changed.
On the Sabbath, we had preaching and social meeting, and the Lord blessed us while a goodly number of Sabbath-keepers and some outsiders were convened.
July 8, first-day evening, third session. Eld. Lang brought in a number of texts to prove that a part of the law of God was done away. We had three dispensations, the Patriarchal, Jewish, and Christian. The ten commandments belonged to the patriarchal; Deut. v, to the Jewish; and the New Testament to the Christian.
He tried to show that all ten commandments were brought into the New Testament, except the fourth. "That," said he, "they can never bring in, never!" And yet he was willing to receive a part of it.
We tried to prove the perpetuity of the law from Deut. iv, 13; Psa. cv, 8; cxi, 5-10; and other evidences as far as the time would allow. Showed that the second commandment could not be found in the New Testament any more than the fourth. Thanked the Elder for classifying us with the patriarchs, as we would willingly be the children of Abraham.
Then he said he would not discuss any longer with me, and accused me of being unfair. He wanted to sum up immediately and not come to our tent any more. The committee decided that we should sum up third-day evening.
On first-day A. M., we went to the Methodist meeting-house to listen to an essay on the immortality of the soul, by Eld. Lang. He read our second proposition, and said he was now going to discuss in this way, and would give us enough to do for a whole week, reviewing his first essay. In the afternoon, I reviewed his essay before an attentive congregation, according to the following synopsis:
Lang stated in his prayer, It is thy (God's) law we love.
Lang. My subject is the immortality of the soul. To prove this, I refer you to the following texts: Rom. vii, 22, 25; 2 Cor. iv, 16; Eph. iii, 16; 1 Pet. iii, 4.
Materialists say: Mind is the reflex of matter, and thought the secretion of the brain.
Matteson. The Elder has been beating a man of straw, for Seventh-day Adventists believe no such thing, consequently are not materialists. If you want me to show what mind is, I will do so in the following proposition: The mind of man is an effect, of certain organs of the living soul, or the man. To illustrate: Sight is an effect of the organ called the eye. Sight is not material, it is not a separate entity, it is not immortal, nor continues to exist when the eye is inactive or dead. But when the eye ceases to move, then the sight is also gone.
Likewise the ear is an organ, and hearing the effect of said organ. But what folly to say, when the ear is dead or cannot act any more, his hearing is still alive. Hearing is immaterial, hence immortal, therefore it can never cease. According to such reasoning, a deaf man can still have hearing.
So also the mind or thought is the effect of the brain of a living man, and when the man is dead, and the brain ceases to act, thought must of a necessity cease also. Wherefore also the Psalmist testifies of a man when he dies, "in that very day his thoughts perish." Psa. cxli, 4, and Eccl. ix, 5, "The dead know not anything." But in the resurrection, God will call forth the slumbering dead, and once more restore life and thought. John v, 28, 29.
How can the immortal (!) soul after it goes out of the body, and breaks loose from its clay prison-house, see without eyes, hear without ears, walk without feet, talk without a mouth, and think without brains? But if you say that the soul entity has all these organs in itself, will you please prove, that God when he made man, created two pair of eyes, ears, feet, hands, two set of brains, and two mouths. Again, if the immortal (!) soul has a mouth and voice, and can praise God in Heaven, why can it not just as well use that voice when it is two feet above the head of the dead body? Did you ever hear it say "good bye" to you when your friend or child died? Very likely then, after all, the Bible is true, which teaches that there is no life after this, except in the resurrection.
A looking-glass reflects images. Here we find reflex of matter. Rolling water secretes steam. What slander then to assert of us that we believe that "mind is the reflex of matter, and thought the secretion of the brain." We believe no such thing.
L. The materialists, according to their own premises, must come to the following conclusion: All brain is matter. Mind is a quality of the brain. Therefore mind is matter.
M. The following parallel syllogism shows the fallacy of this argument.A horse is matter. Swiftness is a quality of the horse. Therefore swiftness is matter. Such is the bright, flashing logic of the spiritually cultivated, towering, noetic mind, of that microcosm or spheroid external, that measures six feet two inches in height, and two feet ten inches around the waist. This is a sample of the Elder's technical language, and a description of himself.
L. Man is not an organism, he is an intelligence.
M. Organism, organical structure, as of bodies. Webster. This needs no comment.
L. In Rom. vii, 22, 25, Paul calls the law of his organism, his flesh. But the mind he calls myself, the real I or the soul.
M. If myself means the immortal soul, then Adam hid his immortal soul in the Garden when he had sinned. Gen. iii, 10; see also John vii, 17.
L. Rom. xiii, 5. The flesh or body is earth and desires earthly things, but the inner man, spiritual or immortal soul longs after heavenly things.
M. If one man has an immortal soul, then all men have it. And so they claim and argue that Adam had one.
Why then does not the immortal soul of the thief, murderer, and adulterer, seek after heavenly things as well as that of a Christian? Why will even many nominal Christians hear nothing about heavenly things, but object even to the reading of the word of God? According to his reasoning, such do not have an immortal soul.
L. I might ask, Who is this material man? Echo answers, Nobody!
M. We should like to have the Elder try the experiment, and see how long it would take him, even with his wild gestures, fierce look, and loud voice, to make echo answer "nobody," to the above question.
L. Intelligence is my subject to-day. Each person is his own revelator, and dictionary. He has in himself a little world of mind.
Intelligence is not bounded by the sensible horizon. It claims God as its Father.
M. This sounds very much like Spiritualism. What need then of the Bible or dictionaries? What does man know about that which he has never seen or heard of, except what has been revealed? How many people there are who have intellect, yet they despise or forsake God. And Christ testifies of certain Jews that the Devil was their father. John viii, 44.
L. Materialists say there is no intelligence. They deny the principal law of St. Paul, and are ignorant of true Christianity. My opponents are rank atheists.
M. Such slander coming from a soul, shows at least that it is corrupted. How can corruption and immortality be harmonized together? This is certainly not striving toward Heaven.
L. Referred to Col. iii, 10, asserting that the "new man" here spoken of, is evidently the immortal soul, but the old man the body.
M. "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."
According to his theory, they had already put off the body and there was nothing left but the immortal soul. We are told that they put on the new man; but if the new man is the immortal soul, when did they put it on? How could an immortal soul be renewed? Then he has given up the position that man had an immortal soul at creation, for the new man is something that is received at conversion.
Please read verses 8 and 9. The apostle speaks of laying aside anger, malice, lying. If we have heretofore been easily excited or spoken things which were untrue, we should do so no more. We should turn away from these evil habits. But in the place of them, we should put on, or begin to exercise kindness, meekness, charity, &c. Verse 12-14. Oh how much better if we would repent of our evil ways, and imitate the holy example of our blessed Saviour, instead of boasting of an immortal soul which we do not possess. This heathen bible is so well adapted to feed the pride of the depraved human heart, while the Bible doctrine of immortality through Christ alone, on the condition of patient continuance in well doing, (Rom. ii, 7) is adapted to make us humble and lowly.
On the rest of the texts referred to, we would finally say, The inner man spoken of in Eph. iv, 16, is evidently the same as the new man. "But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." 2 Cor. iv, 16, is explained by Col. i, 27, "Christ in you, the hope of glory," and can have no reference whatever to an immortal soul. It is only spoken of those who believe in Christ, who are begotten again unto a lively hope. 1 Pet. i, 3.
On 1 Pet. iii, 4, he said that that which is not corruptible must be the soul.
The apostle speaks about the adorning and says, let it not be that outward adorning; but let it be the adorning of the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. Now we have the promise that those who are of a meek and quiet spirit, shall put on immortality or incorruption at the coming of Christ in the first resurrection. 1 Cor. xv, 51-55. Oh, that the residue of men would seek after God, and earnestly lay hold of the conditions of eternal life, while mercy still lingers, before the slumbering judgments of God burst like mighty thunders upon a thoughtless, reveling world. Then they will realize too late that "the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi, 23.
July 9, eve. Bro. Sanborn preached to a large and attentive congregation, and next evening we entered on the summing up of the discussion. At the previous discussion, the young people encouraged us with three cheers, but gave our opponent three hisses. Nevertheless he appeared on the stand as proud as ever, assuring the people every once in a while that he had gained a perfect victory, which he based with great satisfaction upon the fact, as he styled it, that he was a shrewd Yankee. He dragged out as lengthily as possible, consuming about one hour and a half, in order to make the people tired. Then the committee wanted to dismiss the congregation because it was so late; but the people said they would hear the negative if they stayed till midnight.
We then began our summing up by calling upon a Bible reading class, consisting of Bro. Sanborn, Miller, and myself. The Elder had that night omitted to read a chapter in the Bible as usual. We read in consecutive order the following twenty-five texts on false prophets, and the perpetuity of the law and Sabbath: Mal. ii, 1-9; Eze. xxii, 8, 25, 26; Matt. xv, 8, 9; Eze. xiii, 4-11; Zeph. iii, 4, 5; Prov. xxviii, 9, 10; James ii, 10, 11; Isa. xxiv, 1, 2, 5; Acts vii, 38 with 1 Pet. iv, 1; Rom. iii, 31, with vii, 12; Deut. iv, 13, with Psa. cv, 8, and cxi, 5-9; Matt. v, 17, 18; 1 John ii, 3, 4; v, 2, 3; Prov. xxii, 14; Ex. xx, 8-11; Acts xxiv, 14; Luke xxiii, 54-56; Isa. lvi, 1-7; lviii, 13, 14; lxvi, 22, 23.
This was too much for the Elder, and he protested against such proceeding; but no one sustained him, and he was called to order.
Next we presented a brief summary. It would be useless to take up all the contradictions of our opponent; for we never yet met with a man who equalled this one in making his every sentence a lie or a step to a lie. We therefore selected the most evident contradictions, of which we had, 2 Lang versus Lang, 2 Lang versus facts, 1 Lang versus Bible.
We then closed with an appeal on the perpetuity of the Sabbath of the Lord, and immutability of the law of God. Above four hundred attentive hearers listened, remaining quiet and interested for one hour and a quarter; but our opponent turned his back to them, and covered his face with both hands.
He had previously boasted how he would whip us, and when he was done with that, he would take up both the History of the Sabbath, and Hope of the Gospel, and review them. Yet he had no doubt but we would drive him out of the tent before long. We told him and the people, that we would stay here till next October, if he would come into the tent and preach every other night. But he had enough already. He would not discuss the second proposition.
The chairman then got up before the congregation, holding in his hand a written agreement on the propositions, time, and rules for discussion, signed by both disputants, saying, "Elder, are you a minister of the Gospel?" Elder. "Yes, sir!" Chairman. "Will you not acknowledge your own signature and do as you have agreed?" Elder. "I will not discuss any more in this manner; but will read essays on the subject in my own church." Bro. Sanborn again extended an earnest invitation for the Elder to come to our tent. He never said a word, but the people expressed their feelings by exclaiming, "That is fair."
We went to this place chiefly to save the cause from reproach, which said Elder has for more than a year tried to bring upon us. Yet we trust the Lord may also here find some honest souls, and pray that his blessing may continue to rest on our feeble efforts, that a good work may be done for the glory of his name.
Yours in hope.
ISAAC SANBORN, JOHN MATTESON.