p. 3 | Amending the Law of God

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 11, 1909

Amending the Law of God

In two articles in recent issues of the Waterloo (Iowa) Daily Courier, Dr. J. O. Stevenson (Congregationalist) openly takes the position that the law of God needs revising. He states his views thus:—

Since our modes of thinking and our constitution of society have radically changed from anything that existed in Bible days, we believe that the ten commandments need to be revised.

The letter of the Old Testament legislation on the observance of the Sabbath is very much in need of revision and adjustment to the needs and practises of to-day. . . . The primitive moon worship gave us our idea and practise of one day in seven as being the proper measure of work and worship.

In order to get rid of idolatrous connections, the Israelites changed it [the Sabbath], from shifting with the moon's phases, to a fixed day, the seventh, or Saturday. To get rid of Jewish ritualism, the Christian church changed it from the seventh, or Saturday, to the first day of the week, which is Sunday, and thus we have our day of rest on Sunday.

The fourth [commandment] should be, Remember Sunday as a day of sacred rest.

These are certainly remarkable utterances for a professed minister of the gospel to make. That law concerning:

which the apostle Paul declared, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good,” according to this modern teacher is in need of being revised. Instead of allowing the law of God to be the standard of righteousness, and requiring all men to conform their lives thereto, this modern teacher would change the law to meet the practises of men.

Passing by the ridiculous claims, which contradict the plain statements of the Scriptures, that the weekly cycle is due to primitive moon worship and that the Israelites themselves established the seventh-day Sabbath, we direct attention to the fact that it is very late in the day for a professed Protestant to suggest a revision of the ten commandments, and that the change which he suggests, in the fourth commandment was made centuries ago by that power which, according to the prophecy, would “think to change the times and the law.” A revised form of the ten commandments is given in the various Roman Catholic catechisms, the second commandment being omitted, and the tenth commandment divided so as to preserve the original number. The Sabbath question is thus treated in one of these catechisms:—

Q.—Say the third [fourth] commandment. A.—Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Q.—What is commanded by the third commandment? A.—To sanctify the Sunday.

Instead of attempting to bring out another revision of the ten commandments, it would be better for this professed Protestant teacher to accept the revision already made by the Roman Catholic Church, especially since it harmonizes exactly with his own recommendation concerning the needed change in the fourth commandment.

Such teaching as that already quoted from Dr. Stevenson's articles is most convincing proof of the apostasy of Protestantism. In the days of the Reformation, and for about three centuries later, the motto of Protestantism was, “The Bible, and the Bible alone, a sufficient rule of faith and practise.” This was the answer of Protestantism to the claim of the papacy that tradition is “more clear and safe” than the written Word of God.

During the last quarter of a century, however, the original Protestant position has been practically abandoned by a very large proportion of the Protestant leaders, who have to all intents and purposes gone over to the Roman Catholic ground, and have substituted human authority for the Word of God.

In view of the message now going to the world urging the claims of God's law, only those who teach the ten commandments as originally proclaimed at Sinai, and who therefore in their practise observe the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, can consistently maintain the original Protestant position, and oppose the demand of an apostate church, whether nominally Roman Catholic or Protestant, for a revision of the law of God.