Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Apr 14, 1853
THE WARNING VOICE
By Uriah Smith
OF -
TIME AND PROPHECY.
BY URIAH SMITH.
[Continued.]
"HIGH-ranked, and first, among the nations, who
Have ruled the world sole monarchs, and have swayed
With undisputed scepter all its tribes,
And multitudes and people, small and great,
The golden throne of proud Assyria stands.
From limit unto limit, far away,
Of farthest earth, from bound to distant bound,
Where'er man's dwelling rose, or form was seen,
All owned her power, herself their only queen.
And this was that to whom the Prophet said,
'Thou art this head of gold,'¹ the lion,² this,
Of the prophetic vision—but the words
Of Heaven are firm established ne'er to fail;—
This, therefore, yielded to the next that rose,
The Medo-Persian, which the kingdom took,
And westward pushed, and north, and south, that none
Might stand before it, or resist its power;
In whose fierce conquests clearly we discern
The image silver, the ferocious bear,
And (plain the Angel states) the two-horned ram.³
Thus trebly sure with threefold witness has
Th' Omniscient Ruler well confirmed his truth,
Which man may not presume to overthrow.
The third great empire now begins to rise,
Grecia; slow like some stripling young at first,
But soon, at length, e'en like a strong man armed,
Through fire, and smoke, and blood, and battle dire,
It reached the acme of the world's renown,
And took the throne that ruled the nations all.
Thus speaks the prophecy: 'A kingdom, third,
Of brass shall rise, and o'er the earth bear rule.'
Behold it now! and in its rapid rise,
Mark well the four-winged leopard, and recall,
While yet you gaze, the Angel's words direct,
'The rough goat which thou sawest is the king
Of Grecia, and its one great horn denotes
The first great king, which broken, there shall rise
Four kingdoms in its stead.' And thus it was;
For Macedonia, Thrace, and Syria, sprung,
With Egypt, into life, each by itself,
When Alexander died. But they, too, passed,
And, thus, with them the world's third ruler fell.
But in the image, iron succeeds the brass
The leopard yields but to a fourth great beast
More terrible and fierce than all the rest,
A fourth great kingdom yet on earth must rise,
From all diverse; which, where do we behold?
Far westward lo! another dawn of power,
Another nation into being comes,
And plants on seven firm hills, its pillars firm,
The fountain of its strength; then onward moves,
Encircling nation after nation in
Its rising course, increasing as it goes,
Till like a mighty avalanche, at last,
It sweeps, resistless, to the ends of earth,
And high in every clime, victorious, waves
The soaring standard of imperial Rome.
Of this fourth beast, each land had sorely felt
The crushing might of its great iron teeth,
And heavy imprint of its brazen nails.
Ten toes the image had, ten horns the beast,
Fulfilling which, forsooth, ten kingdoms rose
From Rome's vast empire, three, indeed, of whom,
Uprooted were by that one little horn.
Yea, even that 'man of sin,' none other than¹
The bold blasphemous rule of Papacy.
Thus does it correspond in nicest deed
To its prophetic symbol; this is he
Who fain himself would magnify above
All that is known of God in Heaven or earth,
Celestial honors does the Pope usurp,
And clothes himself with robes of deity.
And he has thought e'en 'times and laws' to change,
And 'gainst the saints relentless war has waged.
And now, where'er Catholicism lives
Among the kings of earth, his power is felt,—
The iron amid the clay.—
Thus far I've gone;
Four universal kingdoms have I seen
Arise and fall, and of the last, behold
The crumbling fragments, only, now remain;
And but for one more kingdom can we look,
The endless kingdom of the God of Heaven.
The image have I followed, till we stand,
Even now upon the ends of its ten toes,
Full well matured and ready to receive
The fatal blow of that great 'Stone,' which, as
It grinds the whole to powder, fills the earth—
And next in order comes.
And I have seen
The lion, bear, and leopard all expire;
And now the body of that fourth great beast,
Waits but to perish in the burning flame.
The 'little horn' has risen, and in the face
Of Heaven has flung defiance; but his time
Is almost o'er, yea, his dread doom draws near.
Then to your chart, and search the future well;
For that which is to come is no less sure
Than that which has transpired; I only speak
Unvarnished facts, and they can never lie."
Such is the voice of Time; and thus does he
And Prophecy e'er to each other call:
What this predicts, he hastens to fulfill.
Such was the triple staff with which they bore—
Who took the message as it sounded forth—
Aloft the Advent banner, and unfurled,
To catch the passing breeze, its ample folds,
From which, in glittering characters, far shone
These thrilling statements brightly gilded there;
"The Lord is coming! Soon will he appear,
In flaming fire revealed from Heaven above,
The well-ripe harvest of the earth to reap—
His ransomed children all to gather home—
Who his appearing love and joyous hail—
But vengeance take on them that know not God.
That fearful day is near, and hasteth on,
That like an oven shall burn, when all the proud,
Yea, all that wicked live, shall be as stubble—
When earth and all the works that are therein,
Burned up shall be, and e'en the elements,
Themselves, shall melt with fervent, glowing heat."186
Which to sustain, full many a proof had they
Decisive drawn straight from the word of God;
And hist'ry all combined to prove it truth;
But high o'er all, illustrious, brilliant blazed,
These doubt-dispelling words, "Thus saith the Lord."
Around this standard there were gath'ring fast
A fearless, faithful band, to bear it on.
Men paused and listened, and forgot awhile,
In mute suspense—while on their ears the loud
Alarm-notes fell—their fav'rite phantoms each;
And ceased awhile to dream their darling dream,
Of happy ages yet on earth to dawn.
Satan's whole fabric of deception, vast,
From base to summit shook, and promised well
To crash in ruin down; the Fiend saw this,
Alarmed, and trembled lest the world should all,
His foul, deceptive plots detect at length,
And flee his clutches safe; and fearful saw
Mankind awake around, and one by one
Break from his meshes, and themselves unite
With that devoted band, who Truth, alone,
Now sought to follow, and who, though they came
From sects diverse, all differences forgot,
And 'round their hearts drew firm the cords of love
And unity, and in one common cause,
To serve their coming Lord, united all,
The more to swell the warning o'er the world.
All this the Devil saw, from his high stand,
Where he o'er looked the field, and gnashed his teeth,
And to himself, in quivering rage, thus howled:
"O, hateful band! O, most enraging foe!
Who thus should rise to thwart my prospering plans!
And intercept my best laid schemes! and wake
The world to their condition, and expose
My deep designs, and rob me of my prey!
Who thus should thrust their miscreated forms
Among mankind, and warn them of their state!
And so the fervent strenuous efforts all
Of my most faithful emissaries balk!
And cheat me of revenge—ay! but revenge
I'll have; even on this odious band itself,
I'll wreak my direst vengeance; and will blow
My fiercest blast;—but not too openly
Must I the storm begin; else, all my plans
Will but themselves defeat, and only prove
A trap to take myself in; but I'll move
Beneath disguise most deep, that surest is.
Full well the way I know in which they have
Begun their journey, and it leads to those
Bright seats of bliss, from which 'tis my sole aim
To keep all beings—but the path is steep,
The mark high-laid, and narrow, which remains
For them to travel, better, thus designed,
To suit my purpose; since they only make
True progress while on that, alone, they move;
Hence, with all arts unceasing, will I strive
To keep them down below; or, if they still
Will rise, a helping hand I'll lend
And push beyond; if they're but off the mark,
It matters not which side, my end is gained:
Of their condition then, in just such ways
Will I advantage take, as only I
Know how, and drag them down.
Now, then, has come
The crisis. Where my batteries now to aim,
I well perceive, with this unwelcome crew,
Henceforth, is all my battle, all my wrath.
This truth I then must haste t' oppose—but how?
For well-laid plans alone can claim success;
First, 'neath the guise of reason, I will brand
'Delusion' on it; then will I incite
Earth's mighty ones and great, against it firm
Themselves to place, and when they arguments
Have all exhausted, (and, indeed, they'll find
A small supply;) heap ridicule upon,
And, thus, the people prejudice and blind.
These causes well established, what effects
Can come, but that unpopularity
Should gather thick around, then scorn arise,
Contempt and mockery, and finally,
Uncovered persecution, unrestrained,
And make men deaf to every warning given.
But more than this—I e'en will dupe the Church
Into my service; yea, the Church; to me
Offenceless now; for though of godliness
The form they have, 'tis all, and what care I
For that? Nay, rather that delights me most;
For 'tis a mockery of the Great Supreme—
But 'tis the power I hate, 'tis that torments
Me.—I around them strong the bands have knit
Of worldliness; in that I well have done.
That is the cord by which I'll hold them down;
For I will strengthen now their love of earth,
Its pleasures and its forms, its pride and show,
Its luxury and wealth, and vain esteem—
And who but knows, if they this truth receive,
All these forgot must be? By stratagem,
I thus will take them, and they in my power,
A firm support will prove to all my plans;
For I will join professors and divines,
Church-men and worldly-men, drunkards and thieves,
And every being, vile, both heart and hand,
In one grand mass, to crush this rising truth.
Now will I go, and give instructions clear,
To all my legions; for my time is short.
And what I would, I quickly must perform."
This said, he straightway started to fulfill.
Meanwhile, their march the pilgrim band took up,
And higher raised their warning banner, bright,
And in a louder tone the message gave:
The earthquake rockings ran more violent
Through all the public mind, increasing still.
But now began t' appear alarming signs,
And unmistakable, that Satan his
Design was fast effecting, and among
The multitude was kindling fast the fires,
The baleful fires, of opposition 'round.
And now appeared great men, and high, far famed,
For wisdom excellent, and judgment deep,
Who thought this growing move to quell at once,
With reason—nay, with common sense alone;
In this deceived they soon ran high ashore,
And as they floundered there, sang ridicule,
Themselves the most ridiculous of all.
And, ever and anon, the gath'ring frowns
Of that strange idol, Popularity,
Betokened coming storms, nor far away;
But nearer as they came, more firmly bound,
This body-guard of Truth, their armor on,
And with a firmer step their way pursued,
And with their broad two-edged sword, dealt off
Full many a blow mid error's advocates;
But still the shadows thicken; all around,
Commotion reigns, and views conflicting rise,
And mingling cries upon the air swell forth,
Delusion and fanaticism, all:
Some fight the truth, but yet a few defend,
And file away to join that company,
Who, heedless of the swelling waves around,
Proclaim, "Prepare! for the great day of God,
The day of wrath and vengeance is at hand."
But why, O Church, art thou indifferent?
Why, silent, gaze on movements such as these?
Does now the thought of that bright Coming One,
Professedly thy King, thy Lord, no joy
Or gladness to thy bosom bring? Is now
The message that he will so soon appear,
And recompense his faithful followers, all,
To you a joyless message? You, who are
Professedly his followers and his friends?
Is such the proof of all your love to Him,
Whom ye, with all your hearts, profess to love?
Or does the shadow of the gath'ring storm
Too dark appear, and ominous, to brave
Its rising fury; but bethink thee now,
Back to your predecessors look; and see
How fared they on their journey ages gone!
Mark! how the rack, the scaffold and the stake,
Stood thick along the thorny path they trod!
And think'st thou, then, on "flowery beds of ease,"
To reach the goal? Or has the world, at once,
So good become, that it will bear thee on,
Upon its shoulders, safe, to realms of bliss?
Or hop'st thou, thus, by mingling with the world,
It to convert? Be not deceived! The world
With truth and holiness wars ever, and
Against the power of God will ever rise!
And if ye, to convert it, would presume,
Convert at first its Prince, the Devil, then
There may be hope to bring the subjects in.
But know, O Church! thou now art Babylon!
Thy many sects, unlike, parties diverse,
Denominations strange and multiform,
Creeds opposite, conflicting theories,
And party zeal, and party spirit strong,
But ill comport with His plain words, who taught,
All his disciples one to be in him;¹
Or with that spirit, pure, of unity,
Which, in the heart of every Christian true,
Dwells paramount, and every action rules.
No such confusion reigns, no Babel, such,
'Mong those who follow Christ, and him alone.
"He that hath ears to hear, so let him hear,"²
What to the Churches saith the Spirit now.
Unto the Angel of the Sardis Church,
Thus write: These things, who hath the seven stars,
And who, of God, the seven Spirits, saith;
Thy works I know, and know that still thou hast,
E'en while thou yet art dead, a name to live;
Nor perfect are thy works before thy God;
How, therefore, thou hast heard, and how received,
Remember and repent; and strengthen yet
What things remain, lest they shall also die;
For if thou wilt not watch, thief-like I'll come,
And take thee in an hour thou knowest not."
Such is thy state, O Church of Sardis! Now
Wake! therefore, and prepare to meet thy God.
This truth, alone, will thy dissensions heal,
This, to the unity of faith will bring,
This, only, lop the branches of thy pride,
And break the bands that bind thee down to earth;
Which severed must be now, or never be.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
THE HISTORY OF THE SABBATH.
The observance of a different day of the week from that enjoined in the fourth commandment, and for a different reason from that which is there assigned, is by many, supposed to be the apostolic mode of rendering obedience to that precept. That such an idea has no foundation in the New Testament, we have already seen. For the benefit of such as wish to learn the manner in which the first day of the week obtained the place of the Lord's Sabbath, we present the following important testimony. It is taken from the "History of the Sabbath," published by the American Sabbath Tract Society, New York. We think that those who will read the testimony on this subject with care, will acquiesce in the frank testimony of Dr. Neander, the distinguished historian of the church. In his "History of the Christian Religion and Church," page 168, he thus remarks:
"Opposition to Judaism introduced the particular festival of Sunday, very early, indeed, into the place of the Sabbath. . . . The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance; and it was far from the intention of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect—far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century, a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin."
The apostle Paul informed the Thessalonian church that the mystery of iniquity had already begun to work, and that in the predicted period, the man of sin would be revealed. As the great apostasy had begun to develop itself in the days of the apostles, it follows that the early observance of any precept, or belief of any doctrine does not stamp it as apostolic or divine, if it have no foundation in the word of God. To us, therefore, it is a matter of peculiar interest to trace the gradual corruption of the truths of the Bible, even from the days of the apostles, down to the complete development of the man of sin.
"The History of the Sabbath," after proving from the New Testament that the Lord Jesus and his inspired followers observed the Sabbath according to the commandment, narrates the circumstances connected with its observance in the early church. It speaks as follows:
OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH FROM THE TIME OF THE APOSTLES TO CONSTANTINE.
After the period described in the Acts of the apostles, Christianity soon became widely spread in the Roman empire, which, at that time, extended over most of the civilized world. But as it receded from the time of the apostles, and the number of its professors increased, the church became gradually less spiritual, and more disposed to deck the simple religion of Jesus with mysteries and superstitious formalities; and the bishops or pastors became ambitious of their authority over the churches. Those churches, even in Gentile cities, appear to have been composed, at first, principally of converted Jews, who not only observed the weekly Sabbath, but also the feast of the Passover, adapted particularly to Christian worship; respecting which, there was much contention. In the mean time, converts were greatly multiplied from among the Gentiles, and were united with those from the Jews, who, not without reason, considered themselves entitled to some distinction as the original founders of the gospel church, and as being better informed in the writings of Moses and the prophets, having been in the habit of reading them every Sabbath in the synagogues.
About three years after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, according to the common account, Judea was invaded by the Roman armies, and Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed, as our Lord had predicted. By this awful calamity it is supposed that most of the churches in Judea were scattered; for they fled their country at the approach of their enemies, as they were taught by Jesus Christ to do. Matt. xxiv, 16. This war resulted not only in the breaking up of the nation, and the destruction of a great portion of the people, but also in bringing a general odium upon the Jews wherever they were found; so that even the Christians of Judea suffered what our Saviour taught them to expect, Matt. xxiv, 9.—"And ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." These circumstances, added to the enmity which formerly existed between the Gentiles and the Jews, produced a prejudice which had its influence in the church, in bringing into disrepute, and in fixing a stigma upon, whatever was regarded as Judaism. "The doctrines of our Saviour and the church flourishing from day to day, continued to receive constant accessions," says Eusebius, "but the calamities of the Jews also187continued to grow with one accumulation of evil upon another." The insurrectionary disposition of the conquered Jews in the reign of Trajan, in the early part of the second century, and the calamities that followed them, seemed to confirm the opinion, that the Jews were given over by the Almighty to entire destruction. But their calamities increased in the reign of Adrian, who succeeded Trajan, in whose reign the revolt of the Jews again proceeded to many and great excesses, "and Rufus, the lieutenant governor of Judea, using their madness as a pretext, destroyed myriads of men, women and children, in crowds; and by the laws of war, he reduced their country to a state of absolute subjection, and the degraded race to the condition of slaves." The transformation of the church in Jerusalem is thus described by Eusebius: "The city of the Jews being thus reduced to a state of abandonment for them, and totally stripped of its ancient inhabitants, and also inhabited by strangers; the Roman city which subsequently arose changing its name, was called Ælia, in honor of the emperor Ælias Adrian; and when the church was collected there of the Gentiles, the first bishop after those of the circumcision was Marcus." Thus was extinguished the Hebrew church in Jerusalem, having had a succession of fifteen pastors; "all which," says Eusebius, "they say, were Hebrews from the first. At that time the whole church under them," he adds, "consisted of faithful Hebrews, who continued from the time of the apostles to the siege that then took place."
This church, which heretofore held the first rank in regard to its influence, being now composed entirely of Gentiles, and stripped of its apostolic character and influence, could no longer successfully oppose the growing ambition and influence of the bishops of the church in the metropolis of the empire.
Up to this period, and for some time after, there does not appear to have been any change in the sentiments or practice of the church, in any place, relative to the Sabbath; but from what is related by subsequent writers, which will be noticed in its place, it is certain that it was observed by the churches universally.
This fact is so generally acknowledged by those acquainted with the history of the matter, that we need refer to only a few passages in proof:
The learned Grotius says, in his Explication of the Decalogue, "Therefore the Christians also, who believed Christ would restore all things to their primitive practice, as Tertullian teacheth in Monogamia, kept holy the Sabbath, and had their assemblies on that day, in which the law was read to them, as appears in Acts xv, 21, which custom remained till the time of the council of Laodicea, about A. D. 365, who then thought meet that the gospels also should be read on that day."
Edward Brerewood, Professor in Gresham College, London, in a treatise on the Sabbath, 1630, says, "It is commonly believed that the Jewish Sabbath was changed into the Lord’s Day by Christian emperors, and they know little who do not know, that the ancient Sabbath did remain and was observed by the eastern churches three hundred years after our Saviour’s passion."
TESTIMONY FOR THE FIRST DAY EXAMINED.
At what time the first day of the week came into notice as a festival in the church, it is not easy to determine. The first intimation we have of this, in any ancient writer of acknowledged integrity, is from Justin Martyr’s Apology for the Christians, about A. D. 140. He is cited as saying, "that the Christians in the city and in the country assembled on the day called Sunday; and after certain religious devotions, all returned home to their labors;" and he assigns as reasons for this, that God made the world on the first day; and, that Christ first showed himself to his disciples on that day, after his resurrection. These were the best, and probably all the reasons that could then be offered for the practice. He also speaks of Sunday only as a festival, on which they performed labor, when not engaged in devotions; and not as a substitute for the Sabbath. From this author we can learn nothing as to the extent of the practice; for though he says this was done by those "in the city and in the country," he may have intended only the city of Rome and its suburbs, since Justin, although a native of Palestine, in Syria, is stated by Eusebius to have made his residence in Rome. Nor can we determine from this, that he intended any thing more, than that they did thus on the Sunday in which the church of Rome, a short time after this, is known to have closed the paschal feast, which was observed annually.
It is contended, however, that mention is made of keeping the first day previous to Justin. The first intimation of this kind, it is believed, is from an apocryphal writing, styled the Epistle of Barnabas. But to this epistle it is objected, that there is no evidence of its genuineness. Eusebius, who lived near the time when it was written, mentions it as a spurious writing, entitled to no credit. Dr. Milnor says it is an injury to St. Barnabas, to ascribe this epistle to him. Mosheim says it is the work of some superstitious Jew of mean abilities. And we think it has but little to recommend it besides its antiquity.—"Barnabas’ theory for observing the first day, rests upon the tradition that the seventh day was typical of the seventh millennium of the age of the world, which would be purely a holy age; and that the Sabbath was not to be kept until that time arrived; and he says, "We keep the eighth day with gladness, in which Jesus arose from the dead."
The citations from Ignatius, are as little to the purpose. In the passage of which most use has been made, he did not say that himself or any one else kept the Lord’s day, as is often asserted. His own words are, that "the prophets who lived before Christ, came to a newness of hope, not by keeping Sabbaths, but by living according to a lordly or most excellent life." In this passage, Ignatius was speaking of altogether a different thing from Sabbath-keeping. There is another quotation from him, however, in which he brings out more clearly his view of the relation existing between the Sabbath and Lord’s day. It is as follows: "Let us not keep the Sabbath in a Jewish manner, in sloth and idleness. But let us keep it after a spiritual manner, not in bodily ease, but in the study of the law, and in the contemplation of the works of God."—"And after we have kept the Sabbath, let every one that loveth Christ keep the Lord’s day festival." From this it seems that he would have the Sabbath kept as such, and in a manner satisfactory to the strictest Sabbatarian, after which the Lord’s day, not as a Sabbath, but as a festival. Indeed with this distinction between the Sabbath and a festival before us, it is easy to explain all those passages from early historians which refer to the first day. We shall find them to be either immediately connected with instructions about such seasons as Good Friday and Holy Thursday, or in the writings of those who have recommended the observance of these festival days.
It is also said that Pliny, Governor of Bithynia, in A. D. 102, in a letter to Trajan, states that the Christians met on the first day of the week for worship; but by no fair interpretation of his words can he be so understood. He says, in writing about those of his own province, "that they were accustomed to assemble on a stated day." This might be referred to the first day, if there were credible testimony that this day was alone regarded by Christians at that time; but as there is no evidence of this, and as the Sabbath is known to have been the stated day of religious assembling a long time after this, it seems more proper to refer it to the Sabbath than to the first day.
We will mention but one more of these misinterpreted citations, and this is from Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, who lived a little after Justin. His letter to Soter, bishop of Rome, is cited as saying, "This day we celebrated the holy Dominical day, in which we have read your epistle." As given by Eusebius, it is thus: "To-day we have passed the Lord’s holy day," &c. The only ground upon which this phrase can be referred to the first day, is, that this day was at that time known by the same title that God has given to the Sabbath, [see Isa. lviii, 13,] of which there is no proof. Therefore it is not just to cite this passage as evidence of the observance of the first day at that time.
It is indeed, a well known fact, that the first day has come into very extensive use among the great body of Christians, as the only day of weekly rest and worship. The origin of this practice does not appear, however, to be as ancient by some centuries, as many suppose; nor was its adoption secured at once, but by slow and gradual advances it obtained general notice in Christian countries. This is frankly admitted by Morer, an English Episcopalian, in his Dialogues on the Lord’s Day, page 236. He says, "In St. Jerome’s time, (that is, in the fifth century,) Christianity had got into the throne as well as into the empire. Yet for all this, the entire sanctification of the Lord’s day proceeded slowly, and that it was the work of time to bring it to perfection, appears from the several steps the church made in her constitution, and from the decrees of emperors and other princes, wherein the prohibitions from servile and civil business advanced by degrees from one species to another, till the day got a considerable figure in the world." The same author says on the same page: "If the Christians in St. Jerome’s time, after divine service on the Lord’s day, followed their daily employments, it should be remembered, that this was not done till the worship was quite over, when they might with innocency enough resume them, because the length of time and the number of hours assigned for piety were not then so well explained as in after ages."
It is probable that no other day could have obtained the same notice in ancient times as the first day of the week did; for there were circumstances, aside from the resurrection, that had an influence in promoting its observance. It was at first a celebration of the same character as the fourth and sixth days of the week, and the annual festivals of saints and martyrs. These celebrations were comparatively unobjectionable, when not permitted to interfere with a divine appointment; but when they were made to supersede or cause a neglect of the Sabbath, they were criminal. In respect to these days of weekly celebration, Mosheim, when remarking upon this early period, and the regard then paid to the seventh and first days, says: "Many also observed the fourth day, in which Christ was betrayed, and the sixth day, in which he was crucified." He adds, "the time of assembling was generally in the evening after sunset, or in the morning before the dawn."
SUNDAY KEEPING OF HEATHEN ORIGIN.
The respect which the Gentiles had for the first day, or Sunday, while they were Pagans, contributed much to render its introduction easy, and its weekly celebration popular, among such materials as composed the body of the church of Rome in the second, third and fourth centuries. The observance of the first day of the week, as a festival of the Sun, was very general in those nations from which the Gentile church received her converts. That an idolatrous worship was paid to the Sun and other heavenly bodies by the Gentiles, the Old Testament abundantly testifies; and this kind of adoration paid to the Sun in later times, is as plainly a matter of historical record. Thomas Bampfield, an English writer of the seventeenth century, quoting Verstegan’s Antiquities, page 68, says: "Our ancestors in England, before the light of the Gospel came among them, went very far in this idolatry, and dedicated the first day of the week to the adoration of the idol of the Sun, and gave it the name of Sunday. This idol they placed in a temple, and there sacrificed to it." He further states, that from his historical reading, he finds that a great part of the world, and particularly those parts of it which have since embraced Christianity, did anciently adore the Sun upon Sunday. It is also stated by Dr. Chambers, in his Cyclopedia, "that Sunday was so called by our idolatrous ancestors, because set apart for the worship of the Sun." The Greeks and Latins also gave the same name to the first day of the week. Dr. Brownlee, as quoted by Kingsbury, on the Sabbath, page 223, also says: "When the descendants of Adam apostatized from the worship of the true God, they substituted in his place the Sun, that luminary, which, more than all others, strikes188the minds of savage people with religious awe; and which, therefore, all heathens worship." Attachment to particular days of religious celebration, from habit merely, is well known, even in our day, to be very strong, and powerful convictions of duty are often required to produce a change.—This was no doubt well understood by the teachers of Christianity in those times. Dr. Mosheim, when treating on that age, says: "That the leaders imagined that the nations would be more readily receive Christianity when they saw the rites and ceremonies to which they had been accustomed, established in the churches, and the same worship paid to Jesus Christ and his martyrs which they had formerly offered to their idol deities. Hence it happened, that in those times, the religion of the Greeks and Romans differed but little in its external appearance from that of Christians."
Prejudice against the Jews was another influence against the Sabbath, and in favor of the first day. This was very strong, and directly calculated to lead the Gentile Christians to fix a stigma upon every religious custom of the Jews, and to brand with Judaism whatever they supposed had any connection with the Mosaic religion. Hence it was that in those times, as often occurs in our own, to produce disaffection and disgust to the seventh day as the Sabbath, they spoke of it and reproached its observance as Judaizing. This feeling in relation to Judaism led Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, in Egypt, in the fourth century, who with his people then observed the Sabbath, to say, in his Interpretation of the Psalms, "We assemble on Saturday, not that we are infected with Judaism, but to worship Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath." In a community of Christians whose religion was formal, and whose celebrations were designed more to act upon their passions and senses than to improve their hearts or to conform them to divine requirements, a more powerful argument could scarcely be used against the Sabbath day, or one that would more effectually promote the observance of the first day, which was raised up as its rival. Dr. Neander says distinctly, "Opposition to Judaism introduced the particular festival of Sunday very early."
The observance of the Passover, or Easter, by the early Christians, aided the introduction of the first day as a religious festival in the church, if it was not indeed the direct cause of it. This feast was held by the Asiatic Christians, who began it at the same time the Jews began their Passover, and ended it in like manner, without regard to the particular day of the week. The church of Rome does not appear to have observed it until the latter part of the second century, when in the time of Victor, bishop of Rome, it seems that it was observed by the Roman and western churches. Victor insisted upon the fast being closed on the first day of the week, on whatever day it might commence; and he claimed the right, as bishop of Rome, to control all the churches in this matter. "Hence," says Eusebius, "there were synods and convocations of the bishops on this question, and all (i. e. the western bishops) unanimously drew up an ecclesiastical decree, which they communicated to all the churches in all places, that the mystery of our Lord’s resurrection should be celebrated on no other day than the Lord’s day; and that on this day alone we should observe the close of the paschal feasts." The bishops of Asia, however, persisted for a considerable time in observing the custom handed down to them by apostolic tradition, until, either by the threats of excommunication which were made, or by a desire for peace, they were induced partially to adopt the custom of the western churches. This change was made, as we are told, "partly in honor of the day, and partly to express some difference between Jews and Christians."
But the question does not appear to have been fully settled, for we find Constantine, in an epistle to the churches, urging them to uniformity in the day of the celebration, wherein, after a strong invective against the practice of the Jews, he says, "For we have learned another way from our Saviour, which we may follow. It is indeed most absurd that they should have occasion of insolent boasting on account of our not being able to observe these things in any manner unless by the aid of their instruction." "Wherefore, let us have nothing in common with that most odious brood of the Jews."
By this contest an important point was gained for the first day, although it was but an annual celebration. The Sabbath, however, does not appear to have been laid aside in any place, but continued to be the principal day of religious worship throughout the whole Christian church.
At what time the first day began to be observed weekly, we have no particular account; but from the favor it received from the bishops of Rome and some of the Christian fathers at the close of the third and beginning of the fourth century, we suppose it had then become a practice in Rome and some of the western churches.
This brings us near to the close of the third century. And here it ought to be noted, that Lord’s day, or Sunday, was not the only holy-day of the Church during these three centuries. Origen, (as quoted by Dr. Peter Heylyn in his History of the Sabbath,) names the Good Friday as we call it now, the Parasceve as he calls it there; the feasts of Easter and of Pentecost. And anciently, not only the day which is now called Whitsunday or Pentecost, but all the fifty days from Easter forward, were accounted holy, and solemnized with no less observance than the Sundays were. Of the day of the Ascension or Holy Thursday, it may likewise be said, that soon after, it came to be more highly esteemed than all the rest. Such was the estimation in which the Lord’s day was held. It was on a level with those other holy days which are now disregarded by the body of the Protestant Church. It is to be remembered, farther, that the term Sabbath was applied exclusively to the seventh day of the week, or Saturday. Indeed, wherever, for a thousand years and upwards, we meet the word Sabbattum in any writer, of what name soever, it must be understood of no day but Saturday.