THE ADDRESS TO THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS by James White; John Nevins Andrews; Ellet Joseph Waggoner; R. F. Cottrell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 10, 1869

THE ADDRESS TO THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS.

By James White; John Nevins Andrews; Ellet Joseph Waggoner; R. F. Cottrell

At the session of our General Conference in May last, a committee was appointed to write a brief address to the Seventh-day Baptist denomination, expressive of our feelings toward them as a people. This committee, having attended to the duty assigned them, forwarded the address to the Sabbath Recorder, the organ of the denomination, published at Westerly, R. I. From a late number of the Recorder, we copy this address for the columns of the REVIEW. We believe it to express the sentiments of our people as a body.

The Seventh-day Adventists, to the Seventh-day Baptists:

DEAR BRETHREN,—We desire briefly to address you on matters pertaining to the cause of Christ. You stand before the world distinguished by the fact that you observe the hallowed rest-day of the great Creator. You sacredly observe, not merely nine precepts of the decalogue, but with them that precept also which, for long ages, the mass of mankind have trampled in the dust. God has honored you by making you in his providence the depositaries of his great memorial, the Sabbath. As a people, you form a part of that grand succession of witnesses, who, from the creation of the world to the present time, have hallowed the day of the Creator's rest; for God has never, in any age of the world, left himself without witnesses to the grand central truth of his moral law. The day hallowed by the Creator in memory of his rest from the six days of creation, you hallow as a day of sacred rest, and solemn commemoration. We honor you for cleaving to this sacred institution, at the expense of convenience, of reputation, and of worldly advantages. The sacrifice, with those of you who were trained up from childhood to observe the Sabbath of the Lord, may not be so great as with the earlier generations of your people, who have suffered much, in behalf of this divine institution. Yet we are persuaded that some measure of this spirit still

remains with you who honor God in the actual observance of the fourth commandment. For your fidelity to the truth in this good work, we honor you. For the valuable works which you have given to the world in vindication of the law of God, and in defense of his ancient Sabbath, we acknowledge our heartfelt gratitude. In all the effort put forth by yourselves to hallow the Sabbath of the Lord, and to lead men to its sacred observance, you have our cordial sympathy, and our earnest prayers for your success. In all this our hearts are as yours.

We have, as a people, been called to the observance of the Bible Sabbath, while deeply interested in the doctrine of the speedy advent of the Son of God. We may even add, that our connection with the Advent movement has led us directly, and almost inevitably, to the observance of the Sabbath of the Lord. We refer to the subject of the heavenly sanctuary with the ark of God's testament, and to the proclamation of the third angel relative to the commandments of God.

To us, the doctrine of the immediate advent of Christ is a theme of most absorbing interest. In view of the swift-approaching Judgment, we are constrained to labor earnestly, that we may lead as many of our fellow-men as possible to observe, in letter and in spirit, every precept of the moral law, that they be able to pass its searching, awful test. The Lord has been pleased to bless our efforts to some extent in the conversion of men to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Yet we are constrained to acknowledge that the circumstances of the case have demanded at our hands far greater zeal and consecration to the work than we have ever manifested therein.

We respectfully invite our Seventh-day Baptist brethren to weigh the evidences of the near approach of the kingdom of God. The subject is in itself one of momentous interest. We think you cannot fail to see that there are weighty reasons for expecting the speedy advent of the Redeemer. We believe, also, that it will quicken your love for him, and your zeal in behalf of his down-trodden Sabbath. We have not found it difficult to convince our fellow-men that the Sabbath of the great Creator is still a part of his moral law, sacredly binding all mankind in its obligation. But we have found the doctrine of the swift-approaching Judgment a powerful means of constraining men to obey their convictions of truth and duty in this important matter. We have found this doctrine a strong incentive to activity in the cause of God. We believe it to be worthy of your candid and prayerful attention.

We are using our best endeavors to induce our fellow-men to turn away their feet from the Sabbath, and to cease trampling it in the dust. This work is, in a peculiar sense, yours also. We are interested in every effort of yours in this direction. In your prosperity in the conversion of men to the keeping of God's commandments, we sincerely rejoice. And in this work we bid you God speed. Perhaps direct co-operation is impracticable; but we believe that friendly and Christian relations may be established and maintained between our respective bodies, as they already exist between many of us as individuals. We extend to you, as a people, our Christian sympathy and our hearty good will.

We deeply regret the fact that errors have been committed, on the part of various individuals, which have been well calculated to produce alienation of feeling between us. We will name, in particular, the course pursued by D. P. Hall and J. M. Stephenson, at Meadville, Pa. These persons were not at that time in sympathy with our people, and, indeed, had only a nominal connection with us, which very soon after gave place to open hostility on their part. They acted solely upon their own responsibility in that whole matter; and their course has been wholly disapproved by us from the time that we first correctly understood it. We have no desire to excuse any fault on our own part. Whatever demands correction at our hands shall receive it promptly when that fact is understood by us.

Having thus expressed to you the feelings of our hearts, we submit the whole subject for your consideration, and subscribe ourselves, with much respect,

Yours in the hope of everlasting life at the appearing of Jesus Christ our Lord.

JAMES WHITE,　　　　　　　　 J. N. ANDREWS, J. H. WAGGONER,　　　　　 R. F. COTTRELL,

In behalf of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, assembled at Battle Creek, Mich., May 18, 1869.