That "Same Identical Time."
By Editor
ALL our readers must have heard the remark, that because the earth is round, which renders it impossible to keep "the same identical time" in all parts of the world, therefore we cannot keep the seventh-day Sabbath. This has been asserted so many times that some have, no doubt, worked themselves into the belief that it is true—that there is a real difficulty in the way of keeping "the Sabbath day according to the commandment." And, notwithstanding the many times which the fallacy has been exposed, the editor of the California Christian Advocate recently put it forth as if it were a new and unanswerable argument. We are not surprised at this, for reasons which we do not now care to state. For the benefit of him and of others who persist in being troubled over this matter of the "identical seventh day," we will relate the following Taking the train at Oakland, Cal., we were informed by our Gazetteer that "East of Deming trains run on Jefferson City time, which is two hours faster than San Francisco time." Arriving at Deming, New Mexico, we stepped into the Railroad Station and there saw a clock having two hour hands, one of which stood at 10 o'clock, the other at 12 o'clock. Our watch indicated 10 o'clock. Wishing to be on time with the next train we were to take, we set our watch forward to 12 o'clock. We thus passed from 10 to 12 o'clock in our reckoning in the time which it took to change the hands of our watch from the figures 10 to 12. Thus two hours were elided from the day, and we had a day of twenty-two hours. This we call an every-day incident, because it is the daily experience of different individuals who travel across the continent. A day of twenty-two hours! This seems like a sad inroad upon the common reckoning of time. Our no-Sabbath, or anti-Sabbath, or seventh-part-of-time Sabbath friends can now take courage, and talk out their difficulties with great confidence. But our experience was not ended. We were going east of Jefferson City; in fact, "from shore to shore." And we found that, on our arrival in Chicago, we had to throw off eighteen minutes more. And east of Buffalo we dropped fifty-five minutes more, making altogether a loss of three hours and thirteen minutes in going from San Francisco to New York. "Now," says our friend of the Advocate, "how are you going to keep the seventh day after this? Will you give it up?" Not quite ready for that yet, Mr. Editor. There are some other points in this case which we wish to present. 1. Not one of the changes above noticed was made on the seventh day. They are not by any means peculiar to that day. 2. It is a fact that, when we got to New York, we found people there keeping Sunday, just as you do in San Francisco, and for the same reason, too, if it be allowable to call that a reason which has no foundation in reason. 3. And, strange to tell, they were keeping Sunday exactly as the day was marked by our watch after we had made those bewildering (!) changes in our journey. 4. And, passing strange, they did not seem to realize that it was an impossible thing to keep Sunday under such circumstances. In fact, so far were they behind the enlightenment of the age, they did not perceive any difficulty in the case at all. And that is not the end of the muddle. We left California just as the Advocate and its friends had passed through a struggle in which they made a most determined effort to have things so ordered that everybody should be compelled, by the law of the State, to keep the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday. And away off on the Atlantic Coast, in the good State of New York, we find a law in which are used these very words; it is to enforce the observance of "the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday." And, not content with that, many of the people in this country have formed themselves into a National Association, with the object of securing such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will authorize Congress to make a law compelling all the citizens of all the States, even of the whole Nation, to keep that same "first day of the week, commonly called Sunday." We fancy we hear the editor of the Advocate say, "That is good; we hope they will succeed in thus preserving 'the very foundation of our holy religion' from threatened destruction." But hold, Mr. Editor; do you not understand that it is an utter impossibility, that you cannot keep Sunday at all, because the earth is round, and you in San Francisco are not keeping "the same identical time" for Sunday that is kept in New York? In New York, where they have remained at home during all these years of progress in light and knowledge, they cannot be expected to know much better than to keep up their vain efforts to observe a certain "definite day." But you, Mr. Advocate Editor, who have crossed the continent, and have learned so well that "the same identical time" is not and cannot be kept in New York and San Francisco,—you owe a duty to your benighted brethren in the East. Please send the information to them which you have so kindly volunteered to us, that same "first day of the week, commonly called Sunday," cannot be kept at all; that the earth is round; that you have traveled far enough from New York to ascertain that that is a fact; and that to keep "the same identical time" is an utter impossibility. Tell them that you have imparted this valuable information to the Seventh-day Adventists (who do not, however, seem to appreciate the favor), and that you cannot in conscience let them longer remain ignorant of this great and important truth. We might, indeed, tell them ourself, seeing we are now in this State, and we might give the editor of the California Christian Advocate as our authority; but we think it will have a far better effect if you will tell them yourself. You are probably better known here than we are; you are connected with a large and influential denomination, and with one of the largest publishing interests in the country, having its center in the metropolis of this State; and you have "D. D." attached to your name; they will surely listen to you. We hope you will not neglect this. For why should you show so much solicitude to enlighten the Seventh-day Adventists on this important point, and leave your own people in ignorance? Surely you must see and realize the force of our appeal. Do not spoil the effect of your valuable teaching on this subject by replying that this is a difficulty peculiar to the seventh day, and does not affect the other days of the week; for it is to be feared that your brethren, ignorant as they appear to be on the fundamentals of this subject, are not so ignorant but they will see the fallacy and folly of such an answer. No, no; lay the axe at the root of the tree at once. Tell them that "the same identical time," and of course the same identical day, cannot be kept, and that Sunday keeping, to use a worldly expression, has "gone up." We are compelled now to assure the editor of the Advocate that, strange as it may appear to him, we have heard of this difficulty before. In fact, it is known to some people in the East as well as to those in California. We will relate an incident:— Several years ago we were enjoying a social time with a knot of ministers in Boston, of different denominations, among whom were two Methodist ministers; one of them was a well-known Professor, and the other was a Mr. Smith, then located at Lynn. We state only facts—his name was Smith. As the conversation turned on the subject of the Sabbath, Mr. Smith asked us if we did not find a difficulty in observing the seventh-day Sabbath, "because," said he, "when it is Sabbath in Boston it is not Sabbath somewhere else." We replied that we had never yet discovered any difficulty in the case, for, when we kept the Sabbath in Boston we never had found it necessary at the same time to keep it somewhere else. A smile in the company seemed to disconcert him a little; and we fear we were somewhat unmerciful as we turned the question upon him thus: "Have you never realized the difficulty of keeping Sunday, because when it is Sunday in Boston or Lynn it is not Sunday somewhere else?" There was then an "audible smile" in the company, and he did not reply. Now we shall not ask pardon of our readers for this article, for as long as public teachers and religious leaders put forth such puerilities, we shall consider it necessary to notice them.