CHURCH FEDERATION IN JAPAN
By B. O. Wade
The third session of the General Conference of Protestant Missions in Japan met in Tokio, Oct. 24-31, 1900. About four hundred and fifty or nearly two thirds of the whole number of Protestant missionaries in Japan, were in attendance. The first conference, which met in Yokohama in 1872, had a membership of twenty; and at the second, or Osaka Conference, about two hundred were present. In many respects this was one of the most remarkable religious meetings that has ever convened. But the majority in attendance failed to recognize its remarkable features. The “large number in attendance, the remarkable spirit of unity prevailing, the high grade of the papers and addresses presented, the serious tone of the ensuing discussions, the earnest purpose manifest in the various resolutions passed,” etc., have all received praise. But it was not the prominence of these features that most characterized this as a truly remarkable gathering. There were other momentous and weighty matters seriously discussed, which gave to this conference a distinction that will cause it to stand out as a prominent and important factor not only in the religious world of the East, but also as one whose influence upon the home boards will be no less marked. From David’s summary of God’s dealing with His people, we learn that God’s word is everlasting righteousness; “the rule of His judgment is consonant to His counsels from eternity, and will direct His sentence for eternity;” and that His word is a law, and that law is the truth. From this I apprehend that were David able to listen to the deliberations of a conference that would presume to modify that which God in His wisdom had established forever and ever, we would have a testimony to the remarkableness of this assembly. That this conference has placed itself on record as having deliberately meddled with that eternal code is evident from the result of an interesting discussion of a paper on “Family Religion and the Practical Observance of the Lord’s Day,” presented by the Rev. C. B. Mosley, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Abundance of evidence was introduced into this discussion, showing that the Sabbath (Sunday) is sadly neglected, as well as “openly and flagrantly desecrated, by church-members;” also that the time has come when the safety of society and the success of missions necessitates, and the home boards would demand, that the church in Japan take a definite stand upon the Sabbath question. All this, of course, was true, and much of it in a sense in which the majority in that conference were unable to discern. As a natural consequence, steps were taken looking toward the organization of a Japan Sabbath union, to thus “tone up the Sabbath.” The president and the secretary of the conference were appointed to bring the churches and missions in touch with the establishing of this union, and seven vice-presidents were appointed to act with seven others appointed by the Evangelical Alliance of Japan, to constitute the board of managers for this Sabbath union. The men selected, the missions represented, and the order of appointment are as follows: Rev. W. B. Buncombe, Church of England;27Rev. A. T. Howard, United Brethren; Rev. A. A. Bennett, D. D., American Baptist Union; Rev. Julius Soper, D. D., Methodist Episcopal; Prof. M. N. Wyckoff, Reformed Church Mission of U. S. A.; Rev. A. C. Borden, Methodist Church of Canada; Rev. H. H. Guy, Christian Church. As this body, representing nearly every church in Japan, has taken this action, and thus committed itself to the consideration of the Sabbath observance and Sabbath “tonics,” it becomes the duty of such as keep the Sabbath to assist them in this work by giving them a reason for the hope which is in them. Now that no one may for a moment believe that this conference showed a zeal for the law and the Sabbath of the Lord, we will reproduce some of the “guarded” statements, that all may see the intention of the conference; for this will be the “Japan Sabbath Union.” A certain Presbyterian missionary from China pointed out the necessity of “being guarded as to what is meant by the term ‘Sabbath day,’” whether it is “Saturday,” “the seventh-day Sabbath,” or “Sunday,” the “Christian Sabbath,” or “Lord’s day.” An attempt was then made by Mr. Snodgrass to substitute the words “Lord’s day” for the word “Sabbath.” This lacking a second, the difficulty was settled by the Rev. E. H. Jones, of the American Baptist Union, who stated quite emphatically that “we will not give the Sabbath up to Seventh-day Adventists by any substitution of ‘Lord’s day’ or ‘Sunday.’” Every vestige of doubt as to whether the “Sabbath” meant the seventh day according to the commandment, or the first day, was swept away, and that without the “command” for it. It was repeatedly admitted that there is no “Scriptural authority for the observance of Sunday, it having come about naturally; therefore no command was needed.” The reasons for, and methods of, Sabbath observance were then considered. It was stated that “the Sabbath is wholly religious,” and “must be observed by holy rest and spending the time in worship.” Further, in this lay “the purity and power of the Church; and departure from it robbed her of the same.” All this was affirmed, but the only real evidence of the benefits to be derived from the observance of Sunday was the fact that a few non-Christian business men claimed that they received better returns by closing their shops on Sunday than by keeping open the entire week. One of these places is known as the Sunday-closing shop. Now if the Scriptures did not speak expressly concerning such departures from the faith, and if it was impossible to discover a parallel movement in past ages, we would assuredly be left to conjecture as to the real object of the proposed Japan Sabbath Union, which, when it is fully understood and shall have received life, will be revealed as nothing less than a dress parade of the Image of the Beast. Thus it is evident that he who fails to secure a view of the Beast has everlastingly exposed himself to the deceptive power manifested in this review of the Image of the Beast. In the fourth century, when the Church had, by departing from the simplicity and purity of the gospel, “lost the power of God and godliness, she greedily grasped for the power of the State and ungodliness” to force from those within her ranks a recognition of her discipline. In that we find the original of the present movement. That had, as this has, for its chief end the exaltation of Sunday in opposition to the Sabbath. Of the work in Constantine’s time we read: “All things whatsoever it was duty to do on the Sabbath we have transferred to the Lord’s day.” “He also mentioned the observance of the Lord’s day, which the Jews called the first day of the week, in which God should be served with prayer and supplication;” “that one day should be regarded as a special occasion for religious worship,” without any “reference to the fourth commandment or the resurrection of Christ.” When the Church had secured all this, it was discovered that those whose religion was not an affair of the heart and the life still remained in the office, work-shop, or theater on the first day of the week, instead of congregating to the church. The better way of instruction having failed, the clergy secured the permission to accomplish their purpose by “fear of punishment or by pain,” and in “this way the Church received help from the State for the furtherance of her ends.” The reason for this was “that the faithful might be free from all disturbances.” Briefly, the present condition in Japan is this: The first day of the week is the sabbath, without reference to the commandment. The Church confesses that she can not, with the present condition, command a proper respect for the Sabbath, the desecration of which has robbed her of her power. The observance of the day must consist in rest from labor, and in spending the time in worship, the sacredness of which “if men will violate they must go outside the habitation of other men” (The Voice, Tokio). This, when followed to its logical conclusion, will “give life unto the Image of the Beast, that the Image of the Beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed.” Nor in this have they left themselves without witness as to their intention; for the American Sabbath Union was held up as a model, and the conference was repeatedly cautioned against accepting any resolution that would not be approved by the home board, lest they cut down the appropriations. This American Sabbath Union has as its basis the divine obligation of the Sabbath formulated in the fourth commandment, interpreted and applied by Christ to the Christian sabbath; and its object the preservation of that sabbath. To this end the American Sabbath Union has adopted the principle that “it is better for a few to suffer than that the whole nation should lose its sabbath,” which is the same argument that is going forth from pulpit and press in Japan; and is simply the repetition of Augustine’s idea, the germ of the papacy. The dragon is wroth with the woman, and has gone forth to “make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Wherefore let sin be broken off by righteousness, and iniquity by showing mercy to the poor; receive the counsel of Eph. 6: 13-19, and pray that utterance may be given unto us, that we may speak as we ought to speak, in order that this dear people whom the Lord is turning to Him may hear the saving truth of the Third Angel’s Message.