The Vacaville Baptists by James White

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Feb 7, 1878

The Vacaville Baptists.

By James White

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE BAPTIST HYMN BOOK.

In our pamphlet entitled, Christ in the Old Testament and the Sabbath in the New, we stated that one of the beautiful pages of the Baptist Hymn Book was devoted to the ten commandments, word for word as we teach and observe them. We made the statement from what we saw of the book about one year since while selecting several excellent hymns and tunes from that book when we revised our hymn book, and publishd the last edition of it. The statement we made in the pamphlet, we know to be correct.

The statement we made in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES a few weeks since that the Vacaville Baptists had torn the ten commandments from their hymn book was made on the following evidence. We state it here and leave the public to judge.

1. We knew the ten commandments to be in the Baptist hymn book.

2. Our son, J. E. White, of Oakland, when attending the late discussion there, conducted by Elders Healey and Johnson, says that he examined all the books in sight, and saw that a leaf had been removed from every one.

3. Mr. Taft of the Baptist College of Vacaville, does acknowledge that the leaf was out of the book.

Now if Mr. Taft and his Baptist friends say that they did not remove the ten commandment leaf from their hymn book about the time of the discussion of the Sabbath question at Vacaville, their testimony should be received. God knows that their position is heaven daring enough without such an act. In reference to this matter, Elder Healey makes the following candid statement:—

"Brother White : The report that the Baptists of Vacaville have torn the ten commandments out of their hymn books is denied by Prof. Taft, President of their college there. The story was generally believed in Vacaville at the time of the debate. Just before the discussion Prof. Taft preached a sermon in which he said 'The ten commandments were abolished,' and 'I ignore every one of them, and hope my church will have the stamina to do the same.'

"Elder Stephens borrowed of Elder Barnes, Baptist minister of Vacaville, his hymn book, and read from the first page the ten commandments in his review of Prof. Taft's sermon. When the report was started that they had torn the commandments out of the hymn books used in the college, several persons examined the books, and found the first leaf gone. I examined six or eight of them, and saw they were thus mutilated, and knowing that the professor had ignored the commandments, I, with others, supposed his people were trying to show they had the same 'stamina.'

"I do not know who gave you the information, but you can see by the above that there was good circumstantial evidence for it. Prof. Taft explains by saying that the books used in the college never had the commandments in them, and says the leaves that are gone were torn out before he took charge of the school. He does not care so much about the commandments themselves, as he regards them as being of no consequence, but does not want it believed that they would tear their books to get rid of them, or any thing else."

Those who have the truth can afford to be fair. Far from us to be willing to do injustice to any one. We are glad to hear that the cause of Bible truth has gained a victory at Vacaville. J. W.