The Sabbath by James White

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 2, 1863

The Sabbath.

By James White

A GENTLEMAN thus reasons on the Sabbath in the Cincinnati Presbyterian:

"All men need rest for their bodies; and it would be a difficult matter to prove that a seventh portion of our time is too much to restore, by its repose, the exhausted energies of the animal system. But were there no day of rest set apart for cessation from labor, many would be deprived of that periodical relaxation from their regular routine of duty, which is so necessary to health. The same thing may be affirmed of those beasts of draught and burden, by whose labor the toil of man is so much relieved.

Man is an intellectual being, and needs knowledge, especially a knowledge of himself, of God, and of his relations to God. To acquire this knowledge, some portion of time is necessary; but without a Sabbath many would be deprived of the opportunity of acquiring it, and consequently would remain in ignorance of their highest duties. By affording this opportunity to every one who chooses to embrace it, the Sabbath meets man's highest intellectual wants.

Man possesses also conscience and will, and is influenced by motives. He is placed in this world to prepare for a higher and better state of existence. To apply spiritual truths to his conscience and make them motives to influence his will, he must have time to withdraw his mind from secular employments, to fix it upon those truths, and place himself under the influence of things that are unseen and eternal. Nothing is so favorable to this, as the quiet of a well-spent Sabbath, when the serenity, peace and solemnity of the heavenly world seem to invest all things around. The very air seems to breathe of heaven: the eye seems to pierce deeper into the blue expanse above us: the sun seems clothed with fresh glory; and when the stars of evening rise, they seem to shine with additional lustre. This may be all imagination: doubtless it is: but it is the imagination of one who has been conversing with God. It is not the air, the heavens, the sun and the stars, that are changed; the change is in the mind, and it sees all things beautiful. A day so well adapted to those elevated contemplations, that makes all things glorious, must be admirably fitted for the culture of man's spiritual nature.

We may conclude from these observations that the law of the Sabbath has its foundation in our physical, intellectual and moral constitution; and consequently that its proper observance is productive of our highest benefit. When we keep the Sabbath as it ought to be kept, we are merely acting in obedience to a law, the final end of which is to promote our physical, intellectual and moral well-being; and a violation of which is a violation of that well-being."

We cut this out, because it coincides precisely with what we said on the subject. The following statement of Dr. Farre, of England, made before a committee of the British Parliament, is new to us, not in substance, but as a fact:

"As a day of rest, said Dr. Farre, I view it, (the Sabbath) as a day compensation for the restorative power of the body under continued labor and excitement. A physician always has respect to the preservation of the restorative power; because, if once this is lost, his healing office is at an end. A physician is anxious to preserve the balance of circulation, as necessary to the restorative power of the body. The ordinary exertions of man run down* the circulation every day of his life; and the first general law of nature, by which God prevents man from destroying himself, is the alternating of day and night, that repose may succeed action. But, although the night apparently equalizes the circulation, yet it does not sufficiently restore its balance for the attainment of a long life. Hence, one day in seven, by the bounty of Providence, is thrown in as a day of compensation, to perfect by its repose, the animal system. * * *

I consider, therefore, that in the beautiful provision of Providence for the preservation of human life, the Sabbatical appointment is not, as has sometimes been theologically viewed, simply a precept partaking of the nature of a political institution, but that it is to be numbered among the natural duties, and the premature destruction of it is a suicidal act. This is said simply as a physician, and without reference at all to the theological question; but if you consider further the proper effect of real religion, namely, peace of mind, confiding trust in God, and good will to men, you will perceive, in this source of renewed vigor to the mind, and through the mind to the body, an additional spring of life imparted from this higher use of the Sabbath as a holy rest. Were I to pursue this part of the question, I should be touching on the duties committed to the clergy: but this I will say—that researches in physiology, by the analogy of the working of Providence in nature, will show that the Divine commandment is not to be considered as an arbitrary enactment, but as an appointment necessary to men."