TO CORRESPONDENTS by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 18, 1877

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

By Uriah Smith

1. Who is meant by Lucifer in Isa. 14:12; and 2. Why is Peter mentioned especially in Mark 16:7? J. F. T.

Ans. 1. It is generally supposed that Lucifer, in Isa. 14:12, is a term used to designate Satan. 2. Peter is doubtless specially mentioned on account of his pre-eminent zeal in the cause of his Master. He first ventured into the sepulcher. John 20:6.

Where do our ministers get authority for saying that the time Jesus met with the disciples on the fishing occasion, after the resurrection, John 21:1, &c., was on Sunday? A. B.

Ans. Our correspondent, we think, is laboring under a misapprehension here; as we do not think any S. D. A. preacher makes such a statement. The matter, as we apprehend it, stands thus: The advocates of Sunday sacredness say that Christ met with his disciples after his resurrection only on the first day of the week, designing thereby to elevate and honor that day. Then, we reply, if that is so, the day he met them when they were fishing, was the first day of the week; and granting this, it follows that the disciples did not know but that it was perfectly right to go a fishing on that day; and Christ by not reprimanding them, virtually sanctioned that occupation. All this, it will be seen, is simply arguing on the ground of our opponents. It is they, not we, who make out that fishing day to be the first day of the week.

Do Acts 2:46, and 20:7, 11, refer to the Lord’s supper, or simply to partaking of ordinary meals? H. M. O.

Ans. The phrase “breaking of bread” seems to refer to the ordinance of the Lord’s supper, while the word “eating” in its various forms points as clearly to the partaking of food in ordinary meals. The two forms of expression are associated together in the case of Christ with his disciples, Luke 24:30, 35, and in the passages under notice: Acts 2:46; 20:7, 11. From this fact the conclusion is drawn in Smith’s unabridged dictionary, that in the apostolic age the solemn act of breaking bread by those qualified to administer the rite, in memory of Christ’s death, was more or less commonly connected with the ordinary meal, either preceding or following the partaking of food to satisfy hunger. If this supposition is correct, it may be concluded that at Troas they partook of the Lord’s supper, and then that the apostle partook of food to supply the wants of his physical nature in his loss of sleep and rest, and in his arduous and taxing labors.

In the title of the pope, “Vicarius Filii Dei,” from which the number 666 is made out, what authority is there for calling the letter u the same as v, and counting it five? H. A. W.

Ans. The old Roman u was written in the form now adopted for the English letter v. In the Bible Dictionary issued by the American Tract Society, under the word “Penny” is shown a facsimile of a Roman coin used in the time of Cæsar Augustus; and the name is spelled as follows: “Cæsar Avgvstvs.” Again under the word “Captivity” is shown a coin struck to commemorate the capture of Judea by the Romans, and the inscription is “Ivdea capta,” the i being the same as j, and the v the same as u, so that they read it, “Judea capta.” See also Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.

What is the definition of the word, spirit, given in full? R. V.

Ans. In the volume entitled “Man’s Nature and Destiny,” there is a chapter devoted to the use and definition of the terms, soul and spirit. See pp. 46–56.

When does the new birth spoken of in John 3:3, take place? D. W.

Ans. The resurrection of the righteous to a new and immortal life, is illustrated by the figure of a birth. Conversion, or the change from a state of sin to a new spiritual life, is also illustrated by the figure of a birth. The principal question would therefore seem to be to determine which expressions, where this figure is used, refer to conversion, and which to the resurrection. John 3:3 probably refers to conversion. See the article by Eld. G. I. Butler, in REVIEW, Vol. 49, No. 8.

Which law was our school-master to bring us to Christ? J. O. F.

Ans. The whole typical or ceremonial system, the body of which is of Christ. Col. 2:17.

The tract, “Which day do you keep,” &c., says, “Find a text which says, ‘Thou shalt do no work on the first day of the week.’ How do you reconcile this with Lev. 23:35, 36?” M. H. F.

Ans. The “first day,” and the “eighth day” spoken of in those verses refer only to the first and eighth days of that feast of tabernacles, and have no reference to the first day of the week, nor to any day as a weekly sabbath, as this was only a yearly observance.

What “power” is referred to in the first part of the 13th of Romans? C. C. D.

Ans. The authority of God to which all men should be subject. The apostle goes on to show that it is by the ordinance of God, that in the present condition of our world, governments and rulers are established, and all should respect and obey them, when their requirements do not conflict with the “higher powers,” or the requirements which are binding upon us directly from God, without regard to the enactments of men.

R. Foster: See exposition of 1 Kings 17:21, 22, in Man’s Nature and Destiny, pp. 100–104.

1. Which is the greater work, creation or redemption? 2. Is it in harmony with S. D. Adventist faith or rules to play croquet? E. W.

Ans. 1. We would like to see the man who is able to comprehend the magnitude of the work of creation, and who is able also to fathom the workings of God’s mind in providing for us redemption, so as to be able to compare, and decide which is the greater work. We imagine such a person would be not much inferior to God himself. See this subject discussed in our Sabbath tracts. 2. There are some subjects upon which it does not seem necessary to legislate or make rules. We have no rules against a man’s spending his time in gathering a store of thistles for his winter’s provision, or planting for his summer crops in the fall when the winter is coming, or spending his time and means to ornament one portion of his buildings while the flames are consuming the other. But all this would not look very rational or consistent. Neither could we consider it any more consistent

for a person who professes to believe that the last message of mercy is now going to dying men, and that but a short time is left to prepare ourselves, and to work for others, to spend any portion of this precious time, in such a frivolous occupation as knocking a set of wooden balls around the yard, accompanied always with more or less empty and foolish talk, and too often with a spirit of strife and altercation. It looks to us like insanity. How a person can consent to spend any one of the few remaining invaluable moments which should be all crowded full of the most earnest and heroic work for eternity, in such a manner, is past our comprehension.

ANSWERED BY LETTER: Wm. H. Mills, W. Crittenden, M. P. Cody, H. H. Bramhall, J. S. Shrock, T. C. Howell, H. Grant, G. W. Barker, W. H. Littlejohn, Anderson Johnston, Geo. I. Butler. U. S.