Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 8, 1908

Christian or Pagan?

A METHODIST clergyman recently wrote a letter to a New England paper (The Day, New London, Conn.), in which he discussed the question of Sunday observance, and among other things said:—

The Christian civilization differs from the pagan and all others in its legislation. The civil law separates the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship.

One essential difference between Christian and pagan civilization is the separation between church and state, a principle clearly enunciated by Christ. When an appeal is made to civil authority for the enforcement of a religious observance, the Christian idea of civil government is set aside, and the pagan principle is adopted. The observance of the true Christian Sabbath of the fourth commandment is based upon the divine law, and does not ask the support of the civil law.