DOES ANYBODY KEEP SUNDAY?
By Frank P. Hall
It is the custom of those who keep Sunday to commence the day Saturday at midnight, and close it Sunday night at midnight. It is our purpose, in this article, to show that those who do this observe a part of two days, and no day in full; for in a scriptural sense, every day begins with the evening. Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Lev. 23:32; Neh. 13:19. The query now arises, When does the “evening” commence? It commences at sunset. There is abundant Scripture evidence on this point. See Lev. 22:6, 7; Deut. 23:11; Josh. 8:29; 10:26, 27; compare these with Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:40; Mark 1:32. There is nothing plainer than that a day, according to the Bible method of reckoning time, commences at sunset and closes at sunset. This being true, all those who observe Sunday according to custom, that is, commence the day at midnight and close it at midnight, fondly contradict their own teaching. (However, if this was the only instance of the kind, they might be excusable.) They keep three-fourths of Sunday, the first day, and one-fourth of Monday, the second day. Consequently, they profane one-fourth of Sunday. Strange as it may seem, our opponents cannot take a single position against the Sabbath which will fit, harmonize, and hold together in all its parts. In connection with this subject, we will notice one text that is relied upon by our opponents as giving strength to first-day doctrine. It is Acts 20:7, which records Paul’s meeting at Troas. There are only two views that can be taken in regard to this passage, either of which destroys all Sunday argument. 1. The meeting was held on Saturday night, lasting until midnight, and the next morning Paul started off on his journey of six-hundred miles, breaking the Sunday Sabbath. Or, 2. The meeting was held on Sunday, after sunset, which, in a strictly Bible sense, is the second day of the week. The latter view cannot be correct, because the very language is different. “And upon the first day of the week,” etc. But see what a predicament Paul gets into, when we place the condition of things according to the former view in a syllogism. Sunday is the Sabbath day, Paul started on a journey of six hundred miles on Sunday. Therefore, Paul was a Sabbath-breaker. This event occurred A. D. 59, long after the Sunday Sabbath was instituted, if it was ever instituted at all. It does not take a logician or a philosopher to see that the second view is incorrect; hence it necessarily follows that the first position is the right one. The meeting was held on Saturday after sunset, and continued late. Paul traveled next day, Sunday, and did not violate any Sabbath law in doing so. The truth is, our present system of reckoning time is of Roman origin. The Sabbath and its laws, together with many other gospel doctrines, have been corrupted by Romish popes. Pope Gregory, and other high potentates of old Rome, have had their fingers in it.