We will now consider the objections which are urged to show that the Sabbath is not a moral precept. We are willing to give them their full weight, confident that they can all be fairly answered.
I. All moral principles are discoverable by the light of nature, but the keeping of the seventh day holy is not discoverable by the light of nature or reason without a direct revelation from God; therefore it is not moral.
The answer to this objection is two-fold. First, it assumes what is not true in the case of the other moral commandments; and, secondly, it denies what is true concerning the principle of Sabbatic observance.
1. The first commandment says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” The great principle here taught is that men shall worship God. This principle has been universally recognized by all nations as we see in the fact that all do have some god or gods which they worship. Phrenology shows that man is organized to worship a supreme being. He has the organ of veneration, the only legitimate use of which is to worship the Supreme Being. Hence all nations have manifested the same inclination to worship some god. Thus far all is easy and plain. But the commandment demands more than this. It requires that men shall worship the true God and no other. Now, have men by reason and the light of nature alone been able to find the true God without a revelation? No, indeed. The history of the world shows just the opposite. Only a few of the human race have ever known the true God, and these only by a direct revelation as given in the Bible. The language of Paul is directly to the point: “For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” 1 Cor. 1:21. Of the heathen he says: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” Rom. 1:22, 23. This is what men have done who had only the light of nature. None of them have ever been able to find the true God.
Facts bear out this statement to the letter. The learned Dr. Horne says, “In fact, without such revelation, the history of past ages has shown that mere reason cannot attain to a certain knowledge of the will or law of God.” “While some philosophers asserted the being of a God, others openly denied it; others, again, embraced, or pretended to embrace the notion of a multiplicity of gods.” “Thus, in Tartary, the Philippine islands, and among the savage nations of Africa, the objects of worship are the sun, moon, and stars, the four elements, and serpents; at Tonquin, the several quarters of the earth; in Guinea, birds, fishes, and even mountains; and almost everywhere, evil spirits, together with idolatrous worship, sorcery, divination, and magic, almost universally prevail. In Hindostan, indeed, the polytheism is of the grossest kind, not fewer than three hundred and thirty millions of deities claiming the adoration of their worshipers.”—Horne’s Introduction, vol. i., pp. 16, 21.
The truth, then, is just this: “Quite generally all men have felt that they should worship some god; but in selecting which it should be, the light of nature has failed them entirely, so that upon this point there has been the greatest confusion and most have failed to find the true God. None have done it without a revelation.”
Just the same thing exactly is true of the Sabbath. That precept is based upon the principle that men should devote a portion of their time as holy to the service of God. As we have proved, man’s physical and mental organization shows that he ought to have a regular rest-day. All nations with scarcely an exception, have recognized this principle by setting apart certain days as holy to the Deity. By tradition from creation most of these have selected a seventh day, while all have had some holy days more or less during the year. Says a recent author, “Traces of sacred days of some sort, though varying in frequency in different countries, may be discovered in many pagan nations, the exceptions being limited to certain tribes sunk, like the aborigines of New Holland, to a very low point in the social scale.”
“The Phoenicians, according to Porphyry, ‘consecrated the seventh day as holy.’ Before Mohammed’s time, the Saracens kept their Sabbath on Friday, and from them he and his followers adopted the custom. It is stated by Purchas, that the natives of Pegu had a weekly day on which they assembled to receive instruction from a class of men appointed for that purpose. The pagan Slavonians held a weekly festival. In the greater part of Guinea, a seventh day—Tuesday—is set apart to religious worship. . . . The Burman feasts are held at the full and change of the moon. According to another authority, the quarters are also observed as festivals. A sacrifice was celebrated by the Mexicans every month. . . . The inhabitants of Madagascar and of Senegambia, on the other hand, preferred the time of new moon for their devotions. One of the principal stated festivals in the South Sea Islands—the pae atna—was held every three months. The Babylonians celebrate, with great magnificence, five days of the year. . . .
“The people of Calabar were wont, on their Sabbath to approach the Supreme Being (Awasi) in prayer. . . . The Ashantees on their sacred day worship their fetiches, and circumcise their children. . . . The Greeks and Romans, according to Aretius, consecrated Saturday to rest, conceiving it unfit for civil actions and warlike affairs, but suited for contemplation.
“The necessity of a weekly day of rest to the prosperity and even preservation of religion in the world has been proclaimed by the almost universal voice of mankind. Jews and Christians have ever elevated a seventh day to holy uses. Mohammedanism has always appropriated Friday to public devotion and instruction. Paganism, holding sacred in many instances the same proportion of time, has in no instance dropped all periodical festivals, till its people have well-nigh lost the conception of an object of worship. That so many, in regions and periods widely remote from each other, have observed a Sabbath, or some analogous arrangement, is a strong testimony to its religious necessity.”—The Sabbath Viewed in the Light of Reason, Revelation, and History, by James Gilfillan, pp. 359, 363, 200.
Mr. Cox remarks: “The hebdomadal revolution of time, generally admitted in the world, is also a great testimony to the original institution of the Sabbath. Of old it was catholic (universal) and is at present received among those nations whose converse was not begun until of late with any of those parts of the world where there is a light gone forth in these things from the Scriptures. All nations, I say, in all ages, have from time immemorial, made the revolution of seven days to be the first stated period of time. And this observance is still continued throughout the world, unless amongst them who in other things are openly degenerated from the law of nature, as those barbarous Indians, who have no computation of times, but by sleeps, moons and winters. The measure of time by a day and night, is pointed out to the sense by the diurnal course of the sun; lunar months, and solar years, are of an unavoidable observation unto all rational creatures. Whence, therefore, all men have reckoned time by days, months, and years, is obvious unto all. But whence the hebdomadal revolution, or weekly period of time, should make its entrance, and obtain a catholic admittance, no man can give an account but with respect to some impressions on the minds of men from the constitution and law of our natures, with the tradition of a Sabbatical rest instituted from the foundation of the world.”—Works, p. 278.
Calmet says: “Manasseh Ben Israel assures us that according to the tradition of the ancients, Abraham and his posterity, having preserved the memory of creation, observed the Sabbath also in consequence of natural law to that purpose. It is also believed that the religion of the seventh day is preserved among the pagans; and that the observance of this day is as old as the world itself. Almost all the philosophers and poets acknowledge the seventh day holy.”
The Asiatic Journal says: “The prime minister of the Empire affirms that the Sabbath was anciently observed by the Chinese in conformity to the directions of the king.”
Archbishop Usher says: “The very Gentiles, both civil and barbarous, both ancient and of later days, as it were by a universal kind of tradition, retained the distinction of the seventh days of the week.”—Works, Part 1, chap. iv.
“The seventh day is sacred.”—Hesiod. (B. C. 870.)
“Then came the seventh day that is sacred.”—Homer (B. C. 907.)
“It was the seventh day wherein all things were finished.” Homer Linus says the same.
“Bad omens detained me on the sacred day of Saturn.”—Tibullus.
“The sacredness of one of the seven days was generally admitted by all.”
“Let it suffice, however, in a matter on which there is so general an agreement, to present the words of four eminent authors: ‘The septenary arrangement of days,’ says Scaliger, ‘was in use among the Orientals from the remotest antiquity.’ ‘We have reason to believe,’ observes president de Goguet, ‘that the institution of that period of seven days, called a week, was the first step taken by mankind in dividing and measuring their time. We find from time immemorial the use of this period among all nations, without any variation in the form of it. The Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, and, in a word, all the nations of the East, have in all ages made use of a week, consisting of seven days. We find the same custom among the ancient Romans, Gauls, Britons, Germans, the nations of the North, and of America. According to Laplace, “the week is perhaps the most ancient and incontestable monument of human knowledge.”’ ‘It would appear that the Chinese, who now have no Sabbath, at one time honored the seventh day of the week.’”—The Sabbath by Gilfillan, pp. 364, 365, 360.
By these testimonies, which might be extended to almost any length, we see that all nations in all ages have recognized and honored certain days, and most of them one day in seven, as sacred time. If any have not held a weekly sacred day, they have still had some holy days during the year which were sacred to their gods. All have their holidays, festival days, &c. How shall we account for this remarkable fact? It must have come either from a revelation or from nature. If from a revelation, it must have been given by God to the father of the race from whom all have received it. This would admit all that we claim for the early origin of the Sabbath institution. Even then there must have been something in man’s nature requiring such an institution in order to have perpetuated the memory and practice of it so long and so universally. But if this has sprung from the natural promptings of man’s own nature, then it shows that the Sabbath, like all moral precepts, is founded upon a universal want of our race, and hence it is moral.
But it is further objected that the Sabbath is partly moral and partly ceremonial. It is moral so far as it relates to giving a certain day to God. Thus far there is a universal agreement of all nations. But it is ceremonial so far as it defines just what particular day or portion of time shall be kept holy. This is claimed to be proved by the fact that, by the light of nature alone, no man could possibly determine which day of the seven was the true Sabbath. It is asked, ‘What is there in nature to distinguish the seventh day from the other days of the week?’ Nothing. Hence it is not so important just which day we keep, provided that we keep one in seven. But the same reasoning would prove that the first commandment was also partly moral and partly ceremonial. That men should worship some God is readily discerned by nature itself and in this all have ever agreed. But as to just who is the true God, none can decide without a revelation. On this point there has been the greatest diversity. Some have chosen one as the true God and some another, till there are millions of different gods worshipped by men. This proves that it is immaterial which god you worship provided you worship some one god! But who dare admit such a conclusion? Yet it is founded upon exactly the same mode of reasoning that is followed in arguing against a definite Sabbath day.
It is founded upon the false assumption that all moral principles are discoverable by the light of nature. We have already shown that this is not true in the case of the first commandment. Look at the second. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.” All claim that this precept is moral in the highest sense. It forbids us to make anything to represent God, and so worship him through his image. But this is just the thing that all nations, who have had only the light of nature and reason to teach them, have always thought was the most acceptable way to worship the Deity. Hence, with scarcely an exception, all men in all ages and nations have made and used images in worshiping their gods. Probably no one religious practice has been so universal as this. Indeed, notwithstanding all that God has said against this in the Bible, many of those who believe and reverence that book have been constantly inclined to do just what is here forbidden. Witness the Jews in the Old Testament, the Catholics, Greeks, &c., in the gospel age. And this is done, too, with a religious sense of duty to God.
Here is a moral precept, then, which never has been discovered by the light of nature or reason. The best judgment of mankind, unaided by a revelation, has been directly opposed to this commandment. All heathen nations have used images, built magnificent temples to them, made rich offerings to them, made laws to protect them, and have considered it the highest sacrilege to molest them. If we had no better evidence from the light of nature and the general consent of mankind in favor of the fourth commandment, our opponents might well triumph over us from this standpoint.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
(To be Continued.)
THE BIBLE.
By Montgomery
What is the world? A wildering maze,
Where sin hath tracked ten thousand ways
Her victims to ensnare;
All broad, and winding, and aslope,
All tempting with perfidious hope
All ending in despair.
Millions of pilgrims throng those roads,
Bearing their baubles, or their loads,
Down to eternal night;
One humble path, that never bends,
Narrow, and rough, and steep, ascends
From darkness into light.
Is there a guide to show that path?
The Bible. He alone, who hath
The Bible, need not stray:
Yet he who hath, and will not give
That heavenly guide to all that live,
Himself shall lose the way.
—Montgomery.
Prayer Answered.
By E. W. Boynton
I WOULD like to acknowledge through the REVIEW what the Lord has done for me, in answer to prayer. For seven years past, I have been almost a constant sufferer, and months at a time have been unable to read even a few passages of Scripture. I have used every means that human aid could afford, and although somewhat relieved, was given up by physicians, they thinking that I could never be well. I did not always let this teach me lessons of submission to the divine will. But He that doeth all things well knew what was best. When I became willing to endure patiently all that was laid upon me, I could exercise faith to ask for the blessing of health.
January 4, while in Battle Creek, we followed the directions of the Lord according to James 5:14. We felt the presence of good angels, and the sweet Spirit of the Lord was there with healing power. To his name be all the praise. Since that time I have been growing strong, and can now read and work all day without suffering. I trust I shall appreciate this great blessing enough to use it aright.
I know that I have tasted of the goodness of God, and I want to be a true branch of the living Vine. I want to live near to God, and not forget “his benefits.” I would spend the best of my strength for the advancement of his truth, and finally share in the overcomers’ reward.
E. W. BOYNTON.
March 6, 1875.
The Wonders of Seed.
Is there upon earth a machine, is there a palace, is there even a city, which contains so much that is wonderful as is inclosed in a single little seed—one grain of corn, one grain of wheat, one little brown apple seed, one small seed of a tree, picked up, perhaps by a sparrow for her little ones, the smallest of a poppy or blue-bell, or even one of the seeds, that are so small that they float about in the air invisible to our eyes? Ah! there is a world of marvel and brilliant beauties hidden in each of these tiny seeds. Botanists suppose that there are some 100,000 kinds of plants. But has the seed of any one of them ever failed to produce its kind? Has any one ever deceived us? Has a seed of wheat ever yielded barley, or the seed of a poppy grown up into a sunflower? Has a sycamore tree ever sprung from an acorn, or a beech-tree from a chestnut?
Statistics on Speakers of Major European Languages
ACCORDING to the latest statistics gathered by European linguists, there are 90,000,000 of people who speak the English language; 45,000,000 speak German; 55,000,000 Spanish, and 45,000,000 French.
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Appointments and Quarterly Meeting Notices
Appointments.
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
** Services in Chicago, every Sabbath (seventh day), at 209 West Erie St. All Sabbath-keepers spending a Sabbath in Chicago are invited to attend.
Quarterly meeting of Dist. No. 3, Iowa and Nebraska T. & M. Society, at Pilot-Grove, Washington Co., Iowa, April 3, 4. Hope all those concerned will be present with their reports. Will Bro. Nicola meet with us? Meeting to commence with the Sabbath. J. W. Adams, Director.
Providence permitting, I will meet with the church in Convis, March 27, 28. The friends of Marshall and vicinity are also invited to meet with us. J. B. Frisbie.
Quarterly meeting of the T. and M. Society of Dist. No. 1, Mich., in connection with the quarterly meeting of the churches of Hillsdale and Ransom, at Hillsdale, April 10, 11, 1875. Come to the meeting, brethren, if possible; if not, please send in your reports in season. Will Bro. E. H. Root meet with us? S. D. Salisbury, Director.
Quarterly meeting of the S. D. A. church near Martinsville, first Sabbath and Sunday in April. Preaching may be expected; also preaching at the school-house in Greenup the last Sabbath and Sunday in March. G. H. Bliss.
Monthly meeting of the Jackson church at Tompkins, April 3, 1875. E. P. Giles.
Monthly meeting for Dist. No. 10, N. Y. T. & M. Society with the Ulysses Church, Pa., in connection with their quarterly meeting, March 27, 28, 1875. Wm. Coats, Director.
Quarterly meeting of church in Chicago April 10, 11; meetings to commence Thursday evening, the 8th. At Racine, April 13, evening. Meetings to continue over Sabbath and first-day. At Raymond, April 24, 25. O. A. Olsen.
Quarterly meeting of the S. D. A. church of South Norridgewock, Maine, April 3, 1875. Those belonging to the church that cannot attend are requested to report by letter, especially those that have been delinquent. F. J. Kilgore, Clerk.
General quarterly meeting of the Iowa and Nebraska T. & M. Society, at Marion, Iowa, April 10 and 11, 1875. Let each director see that his district is properly represented in this meeting. Meeting to commence Friday evening. H. Nicola, Pres.
The general quarterly meeting for the T. and M. Society of Wisconsin will be held at Sand Prairie, Richland Co., March 27, 28. Let all the directors see that their district quarterly meetings are held in time for the general meeting. O. A. Olsen, Pres.
Quarterly meeting for Dist. No. 4, with the church at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, April 3 and 4. We hope all the members and officers will see that reports are in time from all the Societies in the district. W. G. Bralliar, Director.
Quarterly meeting of the Patricksburg church, Owen Co., Ind., at Patricksburg, April 3, 4. The T. & M. Society will hold their next meeting in connection. N. Carahoof.
Quarterly meeting of the Clark Center church will be held at their meeting house on the national road, one mile east of Martinsville, Ill., the first Sabbath and first-day, of April next. A cordial invitation is extended to all who can, to meet with us and have a holy convocation unto the Lord. Bro. G. W. Colcord or Bro. C. H. Bliss is expected and perhaps both. H. James Kittle, Clerk.
Quarterly meeting of the Danish and English churches of Poy Sippi, Wis., the first Sabbath and first-day in April. Brethren and sisters from abroad are invited to attend, also Eld. O. A. Olsen. P. H. Cady, Elder.
Quarterly meeting at Kickapoo Center, Wis., first Sabbath and first-day in April. All the friends are cordially invited, also Bro. Atkins and Olsen. Lorenzo Hill, Clerk.
Quarterly meeting of the S. D. A. church at Hundred Mile Grove, Wis., April 3 and 4, 1875. Bro. O. A. Olsen is expected. All who can come from other churches are invited. N. M. Jordon.
No providence preventing, I will hold meetings with churches as follows:—
Curtis' Corners, R. I., Apr. 3, 4, 1875.
Green Hill, “ “ 10, 11, “ “
Lafayette, “ “ 17, 18, “ “
The above meetings will commence on Friday evening. We hope to meet all the friends of truth in each vicinity. Let all make an effort to be there through the meeting. P. C. Rodman.
Quarterly meeting of the churches of Little Prairie, Johnstown, and Oakland, at Oakland, Wis., April 3, 4, 1875. Hope for a good attendance. A. Olsen.
There will be meetings of the Indiana T. & M. Society as follows:—
Mechanicsburgh, Henry Co., April 3, 4.
Bunkerhill, Miami Co., “ 10, 11.
North Liberty, St. Joseph Co., “ 17, 18.
We hope to see all the members at these meetings in their several districts, that a full report may be given at North Liberty. Dear brethren and sisters, let us do the Lord's work promptly. James Harvey, Pres.
Second quarterly meeting of the La Bette Co., Kansas, church, and also the T. & M. Society of Dist. No. 10, April 10 and 11, 1875, at the Stover school-house. Bro. J. H. Rogers is expected. The brethren and friends at or near Sherman City are especially invited. Andrew J. Stover, Director.
Quarterly meeting of the Iowa and Nebraska T. & M. Society, Dist. No. 2, in connection with the general quarterly meeting of the Iowa and Nebraska T. & M. Society at Marion, Iowa, April 11, 1875. Send your reports to D. D. Stevens, Marion, Iowa. J. T. Mitchell, Director.
The Musical Million: A Commended Music Periodical
By Editor
A good many specimen numbers of musical publications have come to this Office first and last; but none ever commended themselves so strongly to our favor as The Musical Million, published monthly by Ruebush, Kieffer & Co., at Singer’s Glen, Va., two copies of which we have just received. It is a lively, readable sheet, evangelical in spirit, believes in congregational singing; and the music it gives is of a practicable nature. Terms 60 cents per year.
The Time Appointed Sets April 19 for Christ's Return
The Time Appointed, edited by Wm. C. Thurman, Boston, Mass., is laying the foundation for another disappointment, and then further disgraceful trifling with the prophetic word, by setting the 19th of this coming April, as the day for the Lord to come. This fanatical faction is already torn asunder by a still wilder spirit of fanaticism, as the last paper acknowledges and deplores.
The Moral Law.
By Uriah Smith
A LATE exchange says:— “Henry Ward Beecher, at a late meeting in Plymouth Church, took the ground that the patriarchs of the Old Testament, and the apostles of the New, were far behind the people of the present age, in their understanding and appreciation of the moral law. And yet the house, misnamed a church, was filled to overflowing, and the people calling themselves Christians applauded the sacrilege.”
Yes; the patriarchs and apostles believed that the moral law was binding and acted accordingly; but many in the present age, ministers as well as laymen, don’t believe it is binding; and they act accordingly. That’s the difference.
U. S.
Trine Immersion.
By Uriah Smith
R. D. BENHAM: The historical view of the subject of trine immersion is of no particular consequence, as related to the doctrine, since the Bible speaks so plainly on the subject. For a person to kneel down in the water, and then be plunged beneath it three times face foremost, is doing wicked violence to every figure which the Bible uses to illustrate the proper mode of that ordinance. All that need be said on the subject was said by Bro. Waggoner in a short article headed “One Baptism,” published in No. 1, present volume of the REVIEW. U. S.
To Correspondents.
By Uriah Smith
A CORRESPONDENT asks if the word lightning, as found in Matt. 24:27, is a correct translation from the original. It is.
Please give an explanation of Luke. 17:37.
J. H. MOSER.
Christ had just been speaking of some being seized and others escaping. There is a time coming when God’s judgments are to draw a line between the righteous and the wicked. “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee,” is the promise of God through David to his people. The plagues will seize on the wicked, but the righteous shall escape. The disciples ask where this shall take place. And the Lord answers that wherever the body [carcass, Matt. 24:28, that is, the wicked] is, thither will the eagles [the plagues] be gathered together [to prey upon them].
When were the days shortened spoken of in Matt. 24:22? H. H.
We understand the days to be the days of tribulation brought to view in the preceding verse, which doubtless refer to the period of papal supremacy for 1260 years. The days were not shortened in the sense of reducing the number of years in that prophetic period, but their character as days of tribulation was changed when the power of persecution was restrained by the Reformation. They were shortened as days of tribulation; not that the persecution was entirely arrested; for others were afterward put to death, Rev. 6:11; but the storm had spent its force. Mark says, “In those days, after that tribulation.”
U. S.
Farm for Sale near Monterey Meeting-House
FOR SALE:—A farm of fifty acres in Monterey, about one mile from the S. D. A. meeting-house; good location. For particulars, address, J. S. Day, Allegan, Mich.
This notice is inserted for the benefit of the widow of Bro. J. Russ, deceased, who needs the proceeds that would arise from the sale.