Note and Comment by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 21, 1916

Note and Comment

By Editor

Regrettable Inconsistency

How strange it is that intelligent men can argue for a stricter observance of the first day of the week as a holy day, and quote the fourth commandment of the decalogue in support of their claims. We were impressed with this in reading an editorial in the Christian Observer of August 30, under the heading, “Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep It Holy.” Says the editor of this journal:—

“The churches must lay a larger emphasis upon the sacred duty defined in the fourth commandment. As some one has said, ‘The churches must solve the problem of Sabbath desecration, or Sabbath desecration will dissolve many of our churches.’”

“Pastors face a great responsibility in this matter. If the duty of Sabbath observance is rarely mentioned from the pulpit, the people will in time conclude that it is not a vital and urgent duty. Young people especially should be instructed fully as to the origin of the Sabbath, its perpetual obligation, and God’s demands for its right observance. ‘The Sabbath was made for man’—for his spiritual, moral, mental, and physical good. Jesus declared that he is Lord of the Sabbath. His will with regard to the observance of the day must guide us in the performance of this duty.”

It is not evident from this statement that the editor has in mind the first day of the weekly cycle. This, however, is made apparent later in the article by a quotation from the pen of Mr. W. J. Bryan, who testifies to his belief in the fourth commandment, says it is not necessary for him to explain why God put the fourth commandment in the decalogue, and sums up his argument with this statement: “Sunday is our only day to develop the soul. Shall we give it up? —Not if the Christian church does its duty. . . . You must either obey the commandment or reject the Book. If the Bible commands a thing, it must be obeyed. The Bible sets apart this day.”

This argument presents indeed a strange, and we may add, a regrettable, inconsistency. Men may be able to quote the Bible for every occasion, and to illustrate their ideas by incidents and figures drawn from the Sacred Volume, but be utterly incapable of comprehending the significance of its teaching. And yet we cannot charge such men with dishonesty. They believe, doubtless, as they have been taught. They have never stopped to consider the logic of their own arguments. Many are now observing in all good conscience the first day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord who will begin the observance of the true Sabbath when once their attention is called to the real teaching of the Word with reference to this question.