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Any Day? or No Day?

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 7, 1866

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 28, No. 10.

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Any Day? or No Day?

By Dudley Marvin Canright

THE fourth commandment plainly enjoins the keeping of the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord. The majority of professors are keeping the first day instead of the seventh. But God has nowhere said plainly that we need not longer keep the seventh day, but must keep the first. Sunday-keepers therefore are found sadly in want of some scripture by which to justify themselves. In lack of better testimony, they think they find at least a sufficiently plain permission to keep Sunday, in Rom. xiv, 5. ‘One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.’
‘That is, say they, ‘Sabbatarians regard Saturday above the other days of the week; Sunday-keepers esteem Sunday above the other days of the week. Now ‘let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.’ If the seventh-day man thinks he is right, well. If the first-day man honestly thinks the first day is right, it is just as well. No matter what day you keep, if you only keep one day in seven.’
Now supposing this to be true, would it be just as well to keep no day at all, but work all the time? Would they fellowship him as a Christian who would disregard both Sunday, Saturday, and every other day? Oh, no. We must keep some day. But if the text proves anything about the Sabbath, it proves
that you need keep no day at all! Read it again. ‘One man esteemeth one day above another.’ ‘Oh, yes, that is just what I believe,’ says the Sunday-keeper. But again: ‘Another esteemeth EVERY DAY ALIKE.’ Here is a man who works on Sunday, Saturday, and every other day. He esteems every day alike, and works every day. Is that all right? Certainly it must be, for Paul says of them, ‘Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.’ Thus the Sunday-keeper in his endeavors to destroy the seventh-day Sabbath, has unwittingly destroyed Sunday also! Hence, we now have no Sabbath at all. Those who claim that there is any holy day to be kept, should know better than to quote this text as applying to the Sabbath.
D. M. Canright.
Norridgewock, Me.