WHAT ERROR DRIVES MEN TO.
By Editor
It is a trite saying that "murder will out." And so it is. Sooner or later error will betray itself. In its defense its deformity appears. Since the Sabbath question has come up, and begun to attract the attention of the people, a class of religionists has arisen, advocating the abolition of the law of God. Sabbatarians, from the first, have claimed that this position has been taken, not from a sincere belief that the law itself is bad, but simply to avoid a plain duty enjoined in the law,—that of keeping the only day God has owned and blessed,—and that because they can find no place in the Scriptures where the Sabbath law by itself has been annulled. Like Herod in destroying all the children of Bethlehem to destroy Christ, they have sought to dispose of all the law that is in any way connected with the Sabbath in order to get rid of that institution. But we firmly believe that the Sabbath will escape, as did the Saviour, any such wholesale slaughter. Our attempted Sabbath-destroyers will have to employ weapons upon which finer sight can be taken, or they may rest assured that they will "miss the mark." Recently two of the international Sunday-school lessons have been directly upon the ten commandments. To follow in the wake, our antinomian friends have taken up the same subject in their Sunday-school Quarterlies, two lessons appearing upon the commandments. They are thus given an excellent opportunity to freely express themselves, and show to the world their honest convictions and real attitude toward God's ten words. Of course, we would expect their Quarterlies to teach just what they, as a people, really believe in regard to the commandments, as the instructions given in them are intended for their own children and people. Were we to anticipate what their teachings would be, we should expect, to be consistent with their positions taken in debate, that the instructions would start out by relegating the decalogue to the past under such appellations as "yoke of bondage," "abolished," "taken out of the way," and "nailed to the cross." But imagine our surprise, upon looking over the June number of the Christian Sunday-school Teacher, to find such expressions as these: "The law of God;" "I must fear God and obey his words;" "The first table of the law, which came before us last Sunday, defines our duties to God; the second table defines our duties to each other. Both must be kept. The divine law has never been repealed;" "the keeping of these will make all society pure and good." Think of antinomians teaching the rising generation that the ten commandments are "the law of God"! Think of their making the astonishing statement that these commandments have "never been repealed;" and of the still more astonishing statements that they "define our duties," and they "must be kept"! What can all this mean? Have they changed their position? This is just what Seventh-day Adventists teach, and yet this people assert that they have the only theory that can successfully overthrow Seventh-day Adventism. How can they overthrow it, and take the same position? Belligerent armies usually draw up their forces and point their guns in opposite directions. It must be that our Disciple friends wheel around and take another position when they attempt to overthrow the aforesaid ism. And this we find to be the case. A very different story do we hear about the law when the Sabbath question is up. Perhaps we can better appreciate the wide disparity between the teachings of their Sunday-school works and the arguments resorted to in their anti-Sabbath works, by comparing a few statements from each touching the same points. They [S. D. Adventists] affirm that there are two laws—one the ceremonial, and the other the moral law. This is bald assumption. Where can we find this distinction of moral and ceremonial laws?—F. Walden, in the Sabbath Question, p. 22. Neither of these (the two great commandments. Matt. 22:37, 39) is to be found in the decalogue, and yet they were chief. That is not all; a man might observe every one of the ten, and not keep either one of these.—D. R. Dungan, in Sabbath or Lord's Day, p. 34. The decalogue was written on tables of stone, by the finger of God. But what has that to do with its perpetuity?—D. R. Dungan, in Sabbath or Lord's Day, p. 33. The law of which the Sabbath was a part was done away in Christ.—D. R. Dungan, in Sabbath or Lord's Day, p. 38. Now to my mind, the question resolves itself into this: Are we now under the law of which the Sabbath was a part, or is the Sabbath now binding on Christians? For certain it is, if we are to keep the Sabbath, then we are bound to observe the seventh day of the week.—D. R. Dungan, in Sabbath or Lord's Day, p. 7. The Sabbath reminded the Jews of their bondage in Egypt.—F. Walden, in the Sabbath Question, p. 38. No reader of the Pentateuch can fail to mark the fact that a special importance belonged to the commandments. They were spoken directly by the voice of God, . . . while the other precepts bearing on things civil or ceremonial were communicated through Moses.—Standard Bible Lesson Quarterly, p. 129. The first four are summed up in the golden text of that lesson; the second table of six, in the golden text of this lesson. (Golden texts: Matt. 22:37, 39.)—The Bible Student, p. 176. They were written on two tables of stone by the finger of God, thus indicating that they were designed for permanence.—Standard Bible Lesson Quarterly, p. 129. The divine law has never been repealed. The decalogue is the basis of human law,—"the common law," the world over.—Christian Sunday-school Teacher, p. 183. The first table of the law, which came before us last Sunday, defines our duties to God; the second table defines our duties to each other. Both must be kept.—Christian Sunday-school Teacher, p. 183. God speaks, and I must hear;
God calls, I must obey;
Him I serve, and him alone,
All idols put away.
His name I must revere,
And never lightly speak;
His holy day I must observe,
The best of all the week.
—Primary Quarterly, p. 67. Our God is a royal God, requiring of men the tribute of one day in seven for his service. With a proper keeping of this day are linked the best interests of both society and individuals.—Christian Sunday-school Teacher, p. 178. To the Jews, the seventh day was a Sabbath—or rest, reminding them of God's rest from the work of creation.—Standard Bible Lesson Quarterly, p. 133.