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TO CORRESPONDENTS

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 27, 1876

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 48, No. 5.

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TO CORRESPONDENTS.

By Uriah Smith

In No. 17, last volume of the Review is a statement in regard to what Philip Smith in his “History of the World,” says about the Chaldaic origin of the Zodiac. The reference is Vol. i., p. 211. This is a mistake. Please state the volume and page in the Review. M. I. P.
The quotation was correctly given from the edition we have. Our correspondent probably has another edition which would account for his not finding it in the same volume and on the same page. Our edition is that published by Appleton & Co., New York, 1870. But as the arrangement of chapters is undoubtedly the same, we will add that he will find the quotation in chapter 9, which treats of the “Chaldean or Old Babylonian Monarchy.”
  1. Is it right for S. D. Adventists to attend 4th of July celebrations for the sake of recreation and amusement for the children?
  2. Did God observe the Sabbath in taking Jericho? Josh. 6.
  3. How do you reconcile Gen. 32 : 30 with Ex. 33 : 20? S. B., of Iowa.
To the first question we answer, that there are certain general principles laid down in the Bible which should govern our action in this respect. The propriety of attending any particular occasion must be determined by an enlightened conscience in the light of these principles.
2. We suppose the second question to mean, Did the Children of Israel keep the Sabbath? We think they did, as they were doing simply what God commanded. It is no violation of the Sabbath to do his bidding. It is our own work we are commanded to refrain from.
3. Gen. 32 : 30 records the words of Jacob simply. If he thought it was Jehovah he had met, we must attribute it to the excitement of that occasion. But the prophet afterward speaking of the event, says it was an angel. Hos. 12 : 4.
Do Matt. 18 : 3 and John 3 : 3 refer to the same thing? If not, when are we born again? S. B. H. of Iowa.
We think Matt. 18 : 3 is included in John 3 : 3, this latter text being much more comprehensive. We regard the new birth as a process reaching its completion, when, quickened by the Spirit we enter upon a new and immortal life. Conversion is the beginning, a Christian life is the growth, the crowning blessing of immortality is the completion.
My attention has been called to Matt. 25:26; Mark 14:22; 1 Cor. 11:24, on which I would like some information. Do you understand the sentence just as it reads: “This (the bread) is my body?” A. CHRISTIANSEN.
Ans. We take the words to be symbolic. “This is my body;” this is a symbol of my body. The discussion on this passage between Luther and Zwingle, as given in D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation, is instructive. In striking contrast with the obstinacy of Luther, as he hung without reason on the bare words, “This is my body,” Zwingle showed that the word “is,” is frequently used in the sense of “signify”; as “John is Elias,” “the rock was Christ,” “I am the vine,” &c. Moreover Paul quotes these words, “This is my body which is broken for you,” 1 Cor. 11:24; and Christ says of the cup, “This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” But Christ’s body had not then been broken, nor his blood been shed. Therefore his broken body and spilt blood could not have been really present in the sacrament. From which it follows that the Romish doctrine of the real presence, or transubstantiation, unfortunately retained by Luther and the Lutherans, is superstition, not reason nor Scripture.
How prove you that Paul is the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews? H. W. Beecher says the authorship is unknown. O. D. WASHBURN.
Ans. Dr. Lardner enters into an exhaustive examination of this question, and gives conclusive evidence that Paul is the author of this epistle. This is quoted at length by Dr. Clarke in the introduction to his commentary on the book of Hebrews, in reference to which he says: “It is not going too far to say that few readers will be found who will draw conclusions different from those of Dr. Lardner from the same premises.”
ANSWERED BY LETTER. H. A. St. John, J. M. Berry, J. P. Logan, A. Christopherson, J. Lamont, H. C. Goodrich, Wm. Drummond, C. K. Drury, S. A. Gilley, D. C. Hunter, O. K. Drury, H. J. Hunt, J. V. Wible, G. W. Davis. U. S.