Religious Liberty Department by S. B. HORTON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jul 16, 1914

Religious Liberty Department

By S. B. HORTON

C. S. LONGACRE N. Am. Div. Secretary

A Significant Item of News

The local press of June 29 contained the following statement:— “President Wilson today accepted honorary chairmanship of the council of the Lord’s Day Congress, offered him by Dr. Henry C. Minton, of Trenton, N. J., and Rev. W. P. Swartz and Rev. H. L. Bowlby, of New York.”

To those who are students of the Sabbath and Sunday law questions this item of news will be significant, and full of food for thought and reflection. The object of the Lord’s Day Congress, like that of the Lord’s Day Alliance, National Reform Association, and kindred Sunday observance bodies, is in behalf of better Sunday observance, to be sure; but the plan for bringing about this result by the organizations named has been open to serious question for many years. Were these plans conducted along lines of strict gospel work, there could be no objection; but the gospel methods, in the minds of these organizations looking to better Sunday observance, evidently do not fill the requirements. The aid of the state seems to be an essential factor in bringing about the desired results.

The fact is, too much reliance has been placed upon state aid in behalf of better Sunday observance from the original Sunday law by Constantine until the present time. In connection with the matter of Sunday observance by civil law it were well for our people to study anew the Testimonies on the subject of religious liberty, especially Volume V, under the headings “The Coming Crisis” and “The Impending Conflict.” A brief reference to these may not be out of place in this article:—

“To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will yield to the demand for a Sunday law. Those who fear God cannot accept an institution that violates a precept of the decalogue. On this battlefield comes the last great conflict of the controversy between truth and error. And we are not left in doubt as to the issue. Now, as in the days of Mordecai, the Lord will vindicate his truth and his people. By the decree enforcing the institution of the Papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness.”

“A great crisis awaits the people of God. A crisis awaits the world. The most momentous struggle of all the ages is just before us. Events which for more than forty years [now more than fifty years] we have, upon the authority of the prophetic word, declared to be impending, are now taking place before our eyes. . . .”

“We have been looking many years for a Sunday law to be enacted in our land; and now that the movement is right upon us, we ask, Will our people do their duty in the matter? Can we not assist in lifting the standard, and in calling to the front those who have a regard for their religious rights and privileges? The time is fast approaching when those who choose to obey God rather than man, will be made to feel the hand of oppression.Shall we then dishonor God by keeping silent while his holy commandments are trodden underfoot?

“While the Protestant world is by her attitude making concessions to Rome, let us arouse to comprehend the situation, and view the contest before us in its true bearings. Let the watchmen now lift up their voice, and give the message which is present truth for this time. Let us show the people where we are in prophetic history, and seek to arouse the spirit of true Protestantism, awakening the world to a sense of the value of the privileges of religious liberty so long enjoyed.”—“The Impending Conflict,” Vol. V.

Of course, the President of the United States has the undoubted right personally to connect himself with any organization he may choose; but when the great office of the presidency is brought to bear upon the propagation of a purely religious doctrine, the matter becomes one of significant importance. S. B. HORTON.