SABBATICAL MONUMENT

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 13, 1857

SABBATICAL MONUMENT.

Under the above heading, we find in the Illinois Baptist, an article by Rev. L. Parmely, which ought to receive a little attention perhaps. There is nothing new in this production, unless it be, a new attainment, in looseness in reasoning, or, to speak more accurately, looseness instead of reasoning. Here are his first two paragraphs—see if they do not read well; we are in earnest.

“If all record of the American Revolution were blotted from history, there would still remain one witness of that struggle and victory, which no skeptic could gainsay or impeach. For, let any one awake on the morning of the Fourth of July, amid the ringing of bells, the thunder of cannon, the scene of triumphant joy, spreading in a sea of excitement over the whole face of the land—this day alone would establish the fact, that our country had once been the field of bloody battle, crowned with glorious conquest. Every Independence Day is a new resurrection of '76—continued vibrations of the sore and mighty struggle—echo-guns of the old war, celebrating and confirming that great event; even as the distant and far-heard roar of Niagara proclaims and establishes the existence of the Falls.

“The Sabbath is the Jubilee of creation. When God had finished his six days' work, he sanctified the seventh, as a perpetual memorial of his name and power. Amid all the changes, and downfall of human customs and institutions, and the mad aim of man to blot out the day, the Sabbath still survives—a witnessing pillar, starting from the dawn of time, and moving on to the night of earth, God's monument as Maker of the worlds. Though the light of the holy day has at times been obscured, as under the task-masters of Egypt, or the infidelity of France, yet the Sabbath has never been lost. These hidings of its glory, like a cloud over the sun, have passed away before the breath of the Almighty, and the blessed day has shone out again, turning the shadow of death into the morning. God has not been left without this witness, like an everlasting angel coming from the gates of creation, declaring to every age that the rolling and shining worlds are the work of his Almighty hand.”

But now we come to his third—hear him:

“The Sabbath is the noblest and most expressive monument of redemption. It is here that we see the day in its sweetest light, and most glorious import. In its original character, celebrating Almighty power, by which the worlds were made, it now commemorates that power in far richer and brighter displays—amazing mercy and unspeakable love in the salvation of fallen man—sovereign might clothed in sovereign grace.”

Yes, Mr. Parmely, that sounds very pleasantly—“the Sabbath the noblest and most expressive monument of redemption.” But, sir, where do you learn that doctrine? Is it taught in the account given of the institution, as set up at creation?—or do you learn that from the fourth commandment?

You say, “It is here that we see the day in its sweetest light, and most glorious import.” But, Mr. Parmely, what day are you talking about? You say, “In its original character.” Sir, how has the Sabbath obtained any other than its original character? You say, “celebrating Almighty power, by which the worlds were made, it now commemorates that power in far richer and brighter displays—amazing mercy and unspeakable love in the salvation of fallen man—sovereign might clothed in sovereign grace.” What day, Mr. P., are you now speaking of? O! I know, you are speaking of the Sabbath, for you thus proceed:

“The Sabbath is the resurrection day of Christ—the crowning glory of redemption.”

“The Sabbath is the resurrection day of Christ!” We suppose you know that the day you have been talking about, as celebrating the creation of the worlds, was the last day of the week. And do you not know, Mr. P., that it is generally believed that Christ rose on the first day of the week? Or do you mean to teach that he rose on the seventh day of the week? Please to explain.

Our author moves on:

“Having finished his work on the cross, he rested the seventh day in the grave—baptized the old Sabbath in his death; then on the morning of the first day, he rose and stood up in the gates of triumph—the Mighty Creator glorified into the Mighty Redeemer—the Sabbath of creation re-sanctified and hallowed, as the Sabbath of redemption.”

“Having finished his work on the cross, he rested the seventh day in the grave.” Then that was Christ's Sabbath, wasn't it, Mr. P.? “Then on the morning of the first day, he rose and stood up in the gates of triumph—the Mighty Creator glorified into the Mighty Redeemer.” Then we are to understand that Christ rose on the first day—that he “rose and stood up in the gates of triumph.” That must then, have been a day of great activity we suppose—not of rest. And Mr. P. adds: “the Sabbath of creation [the seventh day was the Sabbath of creation] re-sanctified and hallowed, as the Sabbath of redemption.” This language naturally imports that the Father and Son sabbatized on one and the same day; but if so, how shall we understand the following:

“The day which sings of creation rising from chaos, and the day which sings of Christ rising from death, both meet and mingle in sweet and glorious union.”

How do we come by two days all at once? How can two days “meet and mingle? declaring the God of nature and the God of grace to be one God, and his Sabbath one?” How can two days be “one?”

But we must give our readers an opportunity to hear a full strain of this beautiful jargon, without being interrupted by our questions; and here it begins:

“The morning stars, from the old orchestra of creation, blend their song with the chiming Sabbath-bells of salvation. The Sabbath comes to us, as a shining angel from the holy sepulchre, saying, ‘He is risen! He is risen!’ Often as this day returns it brings before our eye of faith the open tomb, and the living Jesus—it whispers in the ear of every weeping Mary, and doubting Peter, ‘Fear not—the Lord is alive!’ Behold he goeth before you into heaven—there shall ye see him.”

“The Sabbath confirms the truth of the Bible. It is like a messenger bringing us a letter from a friend—he stands by while we read and bears testimony to the facts which it contains, saying of each particular, ‘yes, that is true; for I saw it with mine own eyes.’ Do we read in the holy Word, ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’—the Sabbath responds, ‘that is truth; for I celebrated the first Jubilee of creation, when morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy!’ Or do we read in the gospel of the resurrection of Christ—the Lord's day confirms the fact, saying, ‘I saw the angel descend and roll away the stone from the sepulchre—and I heard the risen Jesus say unto Mary, ‘Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?’ How can any one disbelieve the Bible, while the Sabbath rises up before him, like the angel before Balaam, forbidding the madness of his infidelity.”

And we ask, how can any one believe the Bible, if it authorizes such shameful contradictions and merciless murderings of logic as this article of Mr. P.'s is made up of?

But we have not yet come to the final cadence of this opera, with its wonderful conception, of treating the first and seventh of the scale as identical. Surely this is an age of wonders. But our readers want to hear and we wish them to:

“Hail, holy Sabbath! monument of my creation, ‘fearfully and wonderfully made!’ pillar of my redemption, more wonderfully loved and redeemed! And shall I, a sinner, poor and weak, any longer fear to trust my soul, my all, in the arms of a power so great, as made that diadem of shining worlds—arms stretched out to me by a love so great, as died on the bloody cross to save! Sabbath! brightest day of earth, melting into the brighter dawn of heaven—sweetest rest of time, rising into the sweetest rest of eternity! Sabbath! standard bearer of Deity's triumphant march from the outgoings of time to the end of the world. Sabbath! immortal arch, its foundation God, its keystone the cross, spanning the dark waters of the curse, and leading man over from the lost Eden of earth to the Paradise of heaven.”

This is the end—the end! Would that it might be the end of such a parrot-like succession of senseless sounds, dishonorable both to Christianity, and those of her professed ministers who are guilty of it. But no, this thing must go on, and pulpits, from which sense, reason, scripture and truth ought to be heard in harmonious combinations must yield their sanction to these incantations of reasonless rhetoric, which does more to confirm discerning unbelievers, and arm the artful enemies of Christianity than all the inventions of their genius, and the activity of their malice will ever do. For it is certain that the system of Mr. P. makes Christianity chargeable as a scheme of falsities and self-contradictions. The professed ministers of Christ representing their religion thus, its enemies will, of course, say, “Such that religion then, must be—for so its friends teach, and they must be allowed to understand it, and to be interested in making the fairest representation of it that it is capable of.” All the success which Infidelity has ever met with in its attacks on Christianity has been obtained by assuming the errors of its professed friends, to be part and parcel of it, and then demolishing said errors by an easy effort, and raising the shout of victory as though the facts and principles, and revelations of the gospel of Christ, had been exploded.

It is time the friends of God as revealed in Christ, looked at this matter closely. It will not do for them to tell anything that comes into their hands, and suppose that all the world will say amen to it. They should remember that unless the Sabbath can be defended by the most impregnable arguments, it cannot be sustained at all against the tremendous forces of worldly interest and pleasure which continually bear and beat against it.

But why do we talk of the Sabbath as an institution which may be endangered by a fallacious system of defense? It has already been practically abolished by that cause. It is customary, we know, with many, to talk as Mr. P. does, as though men, as a mass, kept the Sabbath. But such is not the case even were we to allow that Sunday is the Sabbath. There is but a small portion of the nominal Christian world who pretend to regard it to be the Sabbath in any proper sense of that word, and a still smaller portion of them keep it suitably to that

idea. It is manifest also that that minority is rapidly decreasing. And why will intelligent men deceive themselves or others with the baseless illusion that the world enjoys, or ever can enjoy the benefits of the Sabbath upon such a basis. They most certainly will be obliged to yield the so-called Sabbath to those who clamor for pleasure or the profits of business on that day, or they must bring stronger evidence of the obligation to keep it. But that they cannot do for Sunday. They have done the best, and all that can be done; and this article of Mr. Parmely's is a fair sample of the whole argument.

The truth is, either the seventh day is the Sabbath or there is none. And it would be better for religion and the morals of society to own that there is no Sabbath, if such is the fact, than to torture the Bible and insult the common sense of men in order to make them think there is one, and by that means provoke them to disbelieve in religion altogether.

And then, where Scripture and reason fail, to bring in civil law and coerce men to suspend business, is only as it were to rub their ears, and point them the way to mischief. It would be better in such circumstances to take off all such restraints and let business be done; for men know that if God has abolished the Sabbath, the State has no right to reenact it.