A Religious Comedy by T. E. Bowen

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 14, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 27.

A Religious Comedy

By T. E. Bowen

Did a Business in Burglary, Yet Particular to Keep Sunday, and Would Not Pawn a Cross—Other Inconsistencies Quite as Gross

By T. E. BOWEN

The following editorial note appeared in the Independent of April 20:

“Religion has its comedies. One of these made its appearance in a police arrest in this city [New York] last week, when two brothers of the ages of twenty-one and eighteen confessed to one hundred burglaries. Burglary was their business; but they would not pawn a religious emblem, like a cross, but threw it away; and kept the sabbath day holy, and went to a Lutheran church, ‘working’ the other six days of the week. Thus religion has its pick of the commandments; it values the fourth, but gives over the eighth to the higher criticism.”

They Picked Their Commandments

This certainly does present a religious “comedy,” and reveals again that “religion has its pick of the commandments.” While the two burglar boys naturally would not take to the eighth commandment, leaving that open for dissection by “higher criticism,” the comedy part of it is that most of the religionists shy around the fourth, being quite willing that it, too,—the most important of all the ten,—shall be given over to the “higher criticism”; that is, let people interpret it about as they please, and that too in the face of precisely as explicit language as is contained in the eighth commandment.

This latter reads, “Thou shalt not steal”—four simple words any schoolboy can understand if he reads them at all. These four words make it sin in the sight of God to take from another that which does not belong to one. This commandment shows burglars to be sinners, no matter how many churches they may attend or how many golden crosses they throw away; for stealing is sin.

Can Be No Distinction

Now notice that fourth commandment. It says: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.”

There is only one seventh day. That is the last day of the week, now commonly called Saturday. No one therefore can keep God’s Sabbath—and there is no other Sabbath than His—without resting from all his work on this particular day, the seventh day of the week. The same rule holds good regarding the breaking of this commandment as in transgressing the eighth. A person is not a law keeper if he breaks the eighth, neither is he if he breaks the fourth.

Breaking One and Guilty of All

This the apostle James makes very clear when he says: “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point [one commandment], he is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.” James 2:10, 11. He that said, “Thou shalt not steal,” said also, “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.”

Strange Reasoning

Strange reasoning that instead of obeying the Lord Jesus Christ, who on Mount Sinai gave to men all these commandments, and has sworn not to alter the words that have gone from His lips, men go to church, perform various religious acts, and at the same time disregard ruthlessly this sacred command. Yet they persuade themselves into believing that God will accept for service this religious “comedy.” It certainly seems quite out of place for such to regard with very much surprise the course of the two New York boys going on with their religious “comedy” by attending church regularly and casting away gold crosses while making a business of burglary. For who is able to judge which is the more offensive in the sight of God, the breaking of the eighth commandment every week, or the breaking of the fourth?

The Bible defines either and both: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4.

The One Remedy

And there is only one remedy, one way out of all this difficulty. “And ye know that He [Christ Jesus] was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.” Jesus kept all of His Father’s commandments, and hence did no sin. He calls us, in Him, to do likewise.

Then there will be no religious comedies, the profession of one thing and the doing of another. Genuine Christianity sets aside none of God’s holy commandments, nor turns them over for “higher criticism” to make sport of because of inconsistencies seen in the believers; but by a well-ordered life, it gives no occasion to blaspheme that holy name by which the Christian is called. Peace and joy come alone through obedience to God’s revealed will expressed to us in the Ten Commandments. And in the keeping of them is life.