Sunday Not the True Seventh Day. (Continued.)
By John Nevins Andrews
WE now call the reader's attention to the remarkable changes which each of these writers makes in the reckoning of the week. We present the week of Mr. Fuller at three grand epochs, viz : at the creation, the exodus, and the resurrection of Christ. We also present the week, as reckoned by Dr. Akers, at each of these three points. As Dr. Jennings uses precisely the same week as Dr. Akers, except at the fall of the manna, we simply give Dr. J.'s week at that point.229 FULLER'S WEEKS AT CREATION.
The reader will observe that his first week of time is framed on the theory that the six days of creation belong to eternity, and that God's seventh day is the first day of time, the first day of the week, and the first day of Adam's life—four remarkable falsehoods. Observe that Mr. F. has here one period, we cannot justly call week, which has only six days in it. This feature has to appear once in each of the several theories. Observe next. FULLER'S WEEKS AT THE EXODUS.
Here are two of his weeks at the exodus. The first one has two Sabbaths in it, being that week in which the Sabbath was changed from Sunday back to Saturday. The second week is simply the ordinary week of the Jews, thenceforward having its Sabbath upon the seventh day instead of on the first day as it had had down to that time, according to Mr. F. Next we give FULLER'S WEEKS AT CHRIST'S RESURRECTION.
Observe, two Sabbaths come together! One week ends with a Sabbath, and the following week begins with one! If he says, Not so, for the Jewish Sabbath was abolished at the cross, then we give an illustration of this view :- FULLER'S WEEKS AT CHRIST'S RESURRECTION.
Observe, this time we have a week which has no Sabbath in it. As he had a week in Egypt which had two Sabbaths in it, he has a right to give us one this time with no Sabbath at all! On an average, we hold our own on Sabbaths at Mr. Fuller's hands; so we must try to stand it! Now we illustrate AKERS' WEEKS AT CREATION.
With Dr. Akers' division of time from eternity, we perfectly agree; the only error being the serious falsehood of calling the first day of the week Monday. And Dr. A. does this, although he acknowledges that the New Testament first day of the week is Sunday. How he brings this around will appear in the diagram of AKERS' WEEKS AT THE EXODUS.
The first of these weeks has only six days in it, though its last day is made into the so-called Jewish Sabbath! But this sixth-day period is as essential to Dr. A. as to Mr. F. Observe that at the exodus Dr. Akers changes, not only the Sabbath, but, unlike Mr. F., even the week also. Sunday now, by means of this six-day week, becomes the first day. Next we give Dr. Akers' weeks at Christ's resurrection, though they are precisely identical with those of Mr. F. at that point. But we do it to show that, having changed his reckoning of the week at the exodus in order to change the Sabbath from Sunday to Saturday, now when he changes the Sabbath back from Saturday to Sunday, his week refuses to change. It seems strange that it changed so easily in Egypt! AKERS' WEEKS AT CHRIST'S RESURRECTION.
The reader will observe that the upper line in this diagram shows the days of the New Testament week, as reckoned by Dr. Akers. So that if he is correct in the reckoning, our present week begins with the seventh day of the original week, and ends with its sixth! But if the evangelists are correct in the numbering of the week, then his order of the days in the week is false. These illustrations must suffice for the theories of Mr. Fuller and Dr. Akers. The theory of 'Dr. Jennings is precisely that of Dr. Akers, except with reference to the place where he declares that the day of the Sabbath was changed the first time. Therefore we have simply to illustrate his weeks when this change is said to have occurred. JENNINGS' WEEKS AT THE FALL OF THE MANNA.
Though we give Dr. Jennings only one illustration, he contributes his full share toward interesting and edifying the reader. Here is a period of thirteen days from one Sabbath to another! But the reader will observe the indispensable period of six days neatly hidden under the ample robe of this thirteen-day week! That is to say, here is a week and six days with only one Sabbath for the whole period! And here is a theory, which, to prevent a journey on the Sabbath (which did not occur on that day), has the children of Israel gather manna for the first time on the Paradisaical Sabbath! Dr. J. here robs us of one Sabbath day in the count, and never makes up for it like Mr. F., by giving us a week with two Sabbaths in it! And let it be observed that, whereas Dr. Jennings uses a week from the fall of the manna to this time, which begins with God's seventh day and ends with his sixth, Dr. Akers adopts such a week on the day of the exodus, while Mr. F., by assigning the six days of Gen. 1 to eternity, has such a week as this from the beginning! Thus it is evident that while each one of these able writers is anxious to prove that Israel had another Sabbath besides the Sabbath of the Lord, they do not agree how they came by it, nor when it was given! The truth is, they are all wrong; and the reason why they do not agree as to the time and manner of the change is because no change of the kind was ever made! Each sees the weakness of the arguments used by his predecessors, and each attempts to place a firm foundation under the Sunday-seventh-day, though to do it, he must remove that which those before him have laid. But we have no disposition to dwell upon the peculiarly ridiculous character of the work which these men have wrought. There is another aspect of the case that demands our attention, and in the light of that all other things pertaining to it are, comparatively speaking, of small account. What we now call attention to, is the inherent and palpable wickedness of this work, more especially as exhibited in the effort of Dr. Akers and Mr. Fuller.