AN INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT WORLD-WIDE PROBLEM.
By H. F. Phelps
The Literary Digest of August 31 has a short article with quotations from various papers on “The Sunday Problem in America,” in which it points out what is well known, that the question is not a matter of interest in New York City alone, but “many other cities, large and small, are confronted with various aspects of the Sunday question.” After referring to some of these local issues, the Digest says:— “In view of these different local controversies, the general question of Sunday observance in this country is receiving consideration in the press, and some interesting reflections have been elicited with regard to the actual and probable changes in our treatment of the day.” The Digest then gives quotations from the Manchester Mirror and American, the Springfield Republican, New York Evening Post, and the Evangelist, the last of which declares:— “The great majority of the people want Sunday as a day of rest.” Whether the above statement is true or not, the politicians are coming to believe its constant reiteration from the religious press and pulpit. But this we will not now discuss. What we wish to point out right here is that the Sunday question, or the Sabbath question, is not a local question in any sense. It is not an American problem exclusively; it is not an English or French or German or Russian or Swiss problem. It is a vital problem of all these countries. Already it is facing Japan, and soon, very soon, it will be world-wide in its agitation, in its decision, in its results. Though purely a religious and church question properly, it has become a political question most emphatically. It has in the last quarter century as never before been pressed upon all the various Legislatures of our states and the Congress of the Federal Government, as well as upon the governments of other nations. The various organizations of laboring men, the religious or semi-religious organizations of the country, the mercantile and trade associations, and, it may be safely said, every organization of political or religious influence, has had the question pressed upon it for decision. Those who have thus put forward the Sunday question for recognition and action are in nearly all cases professed ministers of the Gospel of Christ. Among the ablest champions of this politico-religio regime are the National Reform Association, the W. C. T. U., the Y. P. S. C. E., the general conventions of the great denominations, the Epworth League, the Prohibition conventions, the Law and Order Leagues, and many hypocritical politicians who trim their sails to catch the popular breeze. Why this American-wide, this world-wide agitation? The chief advocates of the Sunday sabbath declare that the nation’s life hangs on the question. It does. They claim that from the Bible and moral standpoint there is no more important question. There is not. And for this reason they clamor in legislative halls or in political assemblies for Sunday laws and demand their enforcement. But the question is a religious question, a Bible question. If the prosperity, the morality, the vitality of the nation depend on the decision of the question, how important to decide aright! America is said to be a “Christian country,” Sunday the “Christian sabbath.” Well, the Bible is the Christian book, the standard of all creeds, the basis of all Christian institutions, or should be, and according to professed Protestants is. Now ought not the Bible to decide the question in the minds of all Christians? If not, why not? And if it does, according to the Christian standard, what day is the Christian Sabbath?—Surely the day which Christ taught, which Christ observed. But this is not the Sunday, the first day of the week; it is the seventh day of the week, “the Sabbath of Jehovah,” “the Lord’s day.” It is God’s time to agitate this side of the question. His message calling men’s attention to this is now going to the world, and its mighty truths are acknowledged by millions who do not observe them, by many thousands who do. Now can the United States, can any government or state, afford to decide against God? That is what they are doing, however, when Sunday is enforced as the sabbath. And this fact is emphasized in a half dozen states of this country, where those who have suffered from the Sunday laws are those who are observing the same Sabbath that Christ observed. That government which sets itself against God is doomed to ruin. The Sunday question is therefore a vital question for the world. But we do not mean by the above that the Sabbath of the Bible, the day kept by our Lord, should be enforced by law; far from it. The Sabbath is a matter between the soul and God. Civil governments have no business with it, any more than they have with the question of baptism or the Lord’s supper. No more than the man on the Tiber has any government, any man, or set of men the right to put themselves in the place of God. It inevitably results in the persecution of the honest and the inevitable ruin of those who set themselves against God by assuming his prerogatives. We might say more, how that God has pointed out the change of the Sabbath and predicted the message of restoration for these days, but that is not our purpose. Let the reader mark this: The Sabbath and Sunday questions, religious and political, are world wide and vital to every soul and nation. Shall we decide by the standard of God’s word and the life of Christ, or by tradition and civil law? the ultimate object of the League is to secure a repeal of Sunday laws. It will give the enemies of the true Sabbath another opportunity to class those who will stand for the principle of obedience to God’s written word and in defense of the inalienable rights of all men, with the saloon element; as stated by a recent writer: “Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst possible construction will be put upon their motives.” Such a crisis is before us. Are we ready for the conflict? H. F. PHELPS.