Seeking to Find an Accusation by W. W. P.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 10, 1910

Seeking to Find an Accusation

By W. W. P.

One of the latest efforts to spread confusion among the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists has found expression in a leaflet entitled “The Ten Commandments for Sunday Observance.” In this production an attempt is made to show that some recent utterances through the spirit of prophecy on the subject of religious liberty are misleading and in plain contradiction of earlier utterances through the same agency.

One of the Scripture texts prefixed to this leaflet seems strikingly appropriate to its spirit and purpose, and it is entirely fitting to quote it here:—

“And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.”

The enemies of Christ followed him, and watched his teaching closely, not for the purpose of being benefited by his ministry, but with the hope that they might be able to lay hold upon some statement and make it the basis of an accusation against him whose downfall they were plotting. With this object in view, their minds were closed against any light which would discover to them their own wrong course, but they were quick to observe any word or action which seemed to them out of harmony with their interpretation of the Scriptures, or their own traditions.

As the scribes and Pharisees had publicly committed themselves in opposition to the mission and work of Christ, they unavoidably judged his work from that standpoint, and being out of harmony with his spirit, it was easy enough for them to discover in the words and works of Christ what was to them a square contradiction of the teachings of Moses and the prophets as interpreted by themselves.

In the particular case to which reference is made in this quotation, the question of Sabbath observance was the issue, and the charge brought against Jesus was that he broke the Sabbath commandment. As a matter of fact he was seeking to relieve the Sabbath commandment of the burden of tradition imposed upon it by the scribes and Pharisees, and they now became his accusers, charging him with a violation of the fourth commandment, when he was simply indicating the true character of genuine Sabbath observance, and was showing that the interpretation placed upon the commandment by the self-sufficient and self-exalting leaders of the people was both illegitimate and burdensome. Jesus did not hesitate to teach this lesson, although he was evidently certain that his enemies would take advantage of what he said and did, and make it the basis of an accusation against him.

This experience seems very much to the point in dealing with this latest leaflet, although the writer of it probably did not have any such application of it in mind. The question at issue again is that of Sabbath observance. The writer of this leaflet long ago contended that the proper attitude toward the fourth commandment made it obligatory upon every one to show an utter disregard of all laws forbidding ordinary work on Sunday, and as a result of this teaching a goodly number of persons were imprisoned in the South, and it seemed evident that a crisis was to be precipitated at once—a crisis which would, humanly speaking, render it impossible for Seventh-day Adventists to carry on the work of preaching the truth in that section of the country. This was about fifteen years ago. At that time the matter was brought to the attention of Mrs. E. G. White, who was then laboring in Australia, and she immediately

gave instruction to the same general effect as is now found in Volume IX of the “Testimonies for the Church,” to which such strong exception is taken in this leaflet. At that time, however, the writer of this leaflet was in harmony with his fellow workers in this message, and accepted the counsel given; and as a result, the crisis was averted for a time, and the work of giving the message has since gone forward rapidly in the South.

Now the circumstances are somewhat changed. He who then accepted and acted upon this counsel is now in an attitude of opposition, and has publicly committed himself to the position that the writings of Mrs. E. G. White are not reliable. He, therefore, like the scribes and Pharisees, is now watching to see if he can find an accusation, and as they found what they sought for, so does he, and the explanation for such finding is the same in both cases.

We regret very much the necessity of making these statements, but it seems necessary to do so in order that our people may understand the true situation, and may be able to deal intelligently with the case in hand.

By selecting suitable phrases and sentences from the article in Volume IX of the “Testimonies” relating to Sunday labor, by taking them out of their connection and combining them in a way suited to the purpose, and by employing the logic of phrase and word rather than of thought and meaning, the writer is able to make appear plausible the conclusion which he was determined to establish from the start. This method of discrediting utterances which one does not accept is by no means new. It has been employed for many years by atheists and infidels in attacking the Scriptures, but it has long since ceased to carry conviction to the minds of those who think that it is better to read what an author says upon any given subject and to weigh his utterances as a whole, rather than to read piecemeal quotations made by an unfriendly critic who has already committed himself to the purpose of discrediting the work of the author with whom he deals.

The extent to which the writer of this leaflet carries himself by his own logic, and the extent to which he attempts to carry others, is shown by the following quotation:—

No living soul can find in the Bible, nor can he teach from the Bible alone what that “Testimony” says as to Sunday and Sunday observance. Indeed, have not the Seventh-day Adventists themselves for many years been offering, and publishing the offers of others, of large rewards to anybody who will produce from the Bible “just one text” that commands or teaches Sunday observance? “Just one text:” far, far less than is plainly given in that “Testimony,” in behalf of Sunday observance. If less than half of what is said in that “Testimony” in behalf of Sunday observance was said in the Bible, the Seventh-day Adventist opposition to Sunday observance would have been effectually estopped before ever it began.

It might be a sufficient reply to such a conclusion as this, based upon a perverted interpretation developed by formal logic, to say that “no living soul can find in the Bible, nor can he teach from the Bible alone,” what this leaflet teaches, unless possibly it might be deduced from some of the assertions of the scribes and Pharisees. It would, perhaps, however, be more to the point to say that when the instruction found in this Testimony is taken as a whole and is given a fair interpretation, it will be found in perfect harmony with the instruction given by Christ to his disciples, and with the principles which he himself followed. To his disciples he said: “When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another.” Until his work was accomplished, and the time for the crisis had fully come, he avoided any acts that would bring him into direct conflict with the authorities, or that would give his enemies a ground of accusation against him, that he was a lawbreaker, and was inciting disloyalty among the people. He did all this, however, without sacrificing any principle of right, and without neutralizing the effect of his own teaching. He knew how to be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove, and he inculcated the same principle to be followed by his disciples.

If the writer of this leaflet had been so disposed, he could have selected from the same Testimony such expressions concerning the true Sabbath, and such statements concerning the refusal to observe Sunday as a Sabbath, as would have made it possible to prepare a leaflet with the title, “The Ten Commandments Against Sunday Observance,” and such a leaflet would have been in harmony with the general tenor of the Testimonies. Just as we find in the Bible clear testimony in favor of the observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, although Sunday-keepers claim to draw from the same source proof-texts for the observance of Sunday. In both cases it is simply a matter of selecting and interpreting what can be made to appear to establish a conclusion previously adopted.

To those who have never seen this leaflet, we simply say that they have not missed that which would be helpful to them in any way. To those who have seen the leaflet, we suggest that they read the instruction published in the Testimony, weigh it as a whole, and decide whether it has been fairly handled in this publication.

While it was assumed some time ago that the whole Seventh-day Adventist denomination had repudiated the position and work for which it was brought into existence, and that there was only one Elijah now left to vindicate the truth, yet this movement still goes forward, witnessing for the truth, unaffected by the efforts of its former friends to overthrow and to destroy it. What it is, and what it is doing, best justify this third angel’s message. It refuses to be discredited by the art of the logician. W. W. P.