THE SABBATH QUESTION IN ENGLAND by John Norton Loughborough

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 27, 1879

THE SABBATH QUESTION IN ENGLAND.

By John Norton Loughborough

In my last communication I referred to the controversy in the Southampton papers on the Sabbath question. Three more articles have since appeared, one of them from the rector of one of the established churches of the borough. It was an attempt to reply to the question concerning the days of the week. There was nothing especially new in it, but he took so many conflicting positions that they seemed to need fastening together. They were in substance as follows:—

1. The fourth commandment still requires obedience. 2. The Sabbath of the Jews was abrogated, but the Sabbath of the decalogue is still binding. 3. The original Sabbath law was given in Gen. 2:2, 3, and each successive generation, without a single exception, has recognized it by keeping one day in seven. 4. One day is just as good as another, so all days are alike. 5. The day given to the Jews was a different day from the creation Sabbath. 6. “The first day of the week, signalized by the event of Christ’s resurrection, was immediately and without question observed by the Christian church as the Sabbath of rest, or the Lord’s day, and that forever after.” 7. “From the day of Christ’s resurrection, the first day has never passed without the gathering of Christians together in his name.” 8. “To sum up, then, our warrant for the change of day may be traced to the authority of the Lord himself; for as the apostles were careful to deliver nothing relating to the worship of God except on express revelation from Christ, so it is not to be supposed that without any direct intimation from him they could have ventured to depart from the observance of the old Sabbath, and to solemnize another day throughout the Christian church.”

The reader will bear in mind that these were the assertions of the rector. Instead of pointing his readers to the texts to show that the day of the Sabbath had been changed, as demanded by “Inquirer,” he said “instances” of first-day observance “would occur abundantly to every one in the reading of the New Testament.”

The other two articles relate more especially to how Sunday should be kept. I have seven of these articles carefully laid away, and it may be we shall yet have an opportunity to say something concerning them to the people of Southampton borough.

Not many days ago, a curate of one of the established churches officiated, owing to the illness of the rector of the said parish. In the course of his remarks he made reference to a sect of pious Jews, and said, “They keep a different day from what we keep; they keep Saturday.” And he added, “I don’t think we are keeping the right day.”

Minds are being agitated on this important question. Our daily prayer is that the Lord will give us heavenly wisdom to so labor that souls may be gathered to his truth and to the heavenly garner.

Two texts come home with special weight to my mind. One, the words of Christ: “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” John 15:4. The other text is the words of David: “Restore unto me the joys of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit; then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” Ps. 51:12, 13. We pray the Lord to make us indeed living branches in the heavenly vine; then our labors will not be in vain.

J. N. Loughborough.