Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 19
March 18, 1862
RH VOL. XIX. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, - NO. 16
James White
ADVENT REVIEW,
AND SABBATH HERALD
[Graphic of the Ark of the Covenant with the inscription beneath,]
“And there was Seen in His Temple
the Ark of His Testament.”
“Here is the Patience of the Saints; Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.”
VOL. XIX. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, MARCH 18, 1862. - NO. 16.
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY
The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association
TERMS.-Two Dollars a year, in advance. One Dollar to the poor and to those who subscribe one year on trial. Free to those unable to pay half price. Address ELDER JAMES WHITE, Battle Creek, Michigan. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.1
GOING HOME
GOOD bye, proud world, I’m going home;
Thou art not my friend, I am not thine.
Long through thy weary crowds I roam -
A river ark on the ocean brine.
Long I’ve been tossed like the driven foam,
But now, proud world, I’m going home.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.2
Good bye to flattery’s fawning face,
To grandeur, with his wise grimace,
To upstart wealth’s averted eye,
To supple office, low and high,
To crowded halls, to court and street,
To frozen hearts and hasting feet,
To those who go, and those who come;
Good bye, proud world, I’m going home.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.3
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH (Continued.) EARLY APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH
THE book of Acts is an inspired history of the church. During the period which is embraced in its record, the apostles and their fellow-laborers were upon the stage of action, and under their watchcare the churches of Christ preserved, to a great extent, their purity of life and doctrine. These apostolic churches are thus set forth as the proper examples for all coming time. This book fitly connects the narratives of the four evangelists with the apostolic epistles, and thus joins together the whole New Testament. But when we leave the period embraced in this inspired history, and the churches which were founded and governed by inspired men, we enter upon altogether different times. There is, unfortunately, great truth in the severe language of Gibbon: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.4
“The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing religion as she descended from heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption which she contracted in a long residence upon earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beings.” - Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap 15. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.5
What says the book of Acts respecting the time immediately following the labors of Paul? In addressing the elders of the Ephesian church, Paul said: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.6
“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:29, 30. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.7
It follows from this testimony that we are not authorized to receive the teaching of any man simply because he lived immediately after the apostolic age, or even in the days of the apostles themselves. Grievous wolves were to enter the midst of the people of God, and of their own selves were men to arise, speaking perverse things. If it be asked how these are to be distinguished from the true servants of God, this is the proper answer: Those who spoke and acted in accordance with the teachings of the apostles were men of God; those who taught otherwise were of that class who should speak perverse things to draw away disciples after them. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.8
What say the apostolic epistles relative to this apostasy? To the Thessalonians it is written: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.9
“Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God...... For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 7, 8. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.10
To Timothy in like manner it is said: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.11
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:2-4; 2 Peter 2; Jude 4; 1 John 2:18. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.12
These texts are most explicit in predicting a great apostasy in the church, and in stating the fact that that apostasy had already commenced. The Romish church, the eldest in apostasy, prides itself upon its apostolic character. In the language of Paul to the Thessalonians, already quoted, that great anti-Christian body may indeed find its claim to an origin in apostolic times vindicated, but its apostolic character most emphatically denied. And herein is found a striking illustration of the fact that an evil thing is not rendered good by the accidental circumstance of originating in the days of the apostles. At its commencement everything is either right or wrong. If right, it may be known by its agreement with the divine standard. If wrong at its origin, it can never cease to be such. Satan’s great falsehood which involved our race in ruin has not yet become the truth, although six thousand years have elapsed since it was uttered. Think of this, ye who worship at the shrine of venerable error. When the fables of men obtained the place of the truth of God, he was thereby dishonored. How then can he accept them as a part of that pure devotion which he requires at our hands? They that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth. How many ages must pass over the fables of men before they become changed into divine truth? That these predictions of the New Testament respecting the great apostasy in the church were fully realized, the pages of ecclesiastical history present ample proof. Mr. Dowling in his “History of Romanism,” thus remarks: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.13
“There is scarcely anything that strikes the mind of the careful student of ancient ecclesiastical history with greater surprise, than the comparatively early period at which many of the corruptions of Christianity, which are embodied in the Romish system, took their rise; yet it is not to be supposed that when the first originators of many of these unscriptural notions and practices planted those germs of corruption, they anticipated or even imagined they would ever grow into such a vast and hideous system of superstition and error, as is that of popery...... Each of the great corruptions of the latter ages took its rise in a manner which it would be harsh to say was deserving of strong reprehension...... The worship of images, the invocation of saints, and the superstition of relics, were but expansions of the natural feelings of veneration and affection cherished toward the memory of those who had suffered and died for the truth.” - Book ii, chap. 2, sec. 1. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.14
Robinson, author of the “History of Baptism,” bears the following testimony: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.15
“Toward the latter end of the second century, most of the churches assumed a new form, the first simplicity disappeared; and insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts, both Jews and Gentiles, came forward and new modeled the cause.” - Eccl. Researches, chap 6. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.16
The working of the mystery of iniquity in the first centuries of the Christian church, is thus described by a recent writer: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.17
“During these centuries the chief corruptions of popery were either introduced in principle, or the seeds of them so effectually sown, as naturally to produce those baneful fruits which appeared so plentifully at a later period. In Justin Martyr’s time, within fifty years of the apostolic age, the cup was mixed with water, and a portion of the element sent to the absent. The bread which at first was sent only to the sick, was, in the time of Tertullian and Cyprian, carried home by the people, and locked up as a divine treasure for their private use. At this time too, the ordinance of the supper was given to infants of the tenderest age, and was styled the sacrifice of the body of Christ. The custom of praying for the dead, Tertullian states, was common in the second century, and became the universal practice of the following ages; so that it came in the fourth century to be reckoned a kind of heresy to deny the efficacy of it. By this time the invocation of saints, the superstitious use of images, of the sign of the cross, and of consecrated oil, were become established practices, and pretended miracles were confidently adduced in proof of their supposed efficacy. Thus did that mystery of iniquity which was already working in the time of the apostles, speedily after their departure, spread its corruptions among the professors of Christianity.” - The Modern Sabbath Examined, pp.123,124. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.18
Neander speaks thus of the early introduction of image worship: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.19
“And yet perhaps religious images made their way from domestic life into the churches, as early as the end of the third century, and the walls of the church were painted in the same way.” - Rose’s Neander, p.184. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.20
The early apostasy of the professed church is a fact which rests upon the authority of inspiration, not less than upon that of ecclesiastical history. “The mystery of iniquity,” said Paul, “doth already work.” We are constrained to marvel that so large a portion of the people of God were so soon removed from the grace of God unto another gospel. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.21
What shall be said of those who go to this period of church history, and even to later times, to correct their Bibles? Paul said that men would arise in the very midst of the elders of the apostolic church, who should speak perverse things, and that men should turn away their ears from the truth, and should be turned unto fables. Are the traditions of this period of sufficient importance to make void God’s word? The learned historian of the popes, Archibald Bower, uses the following emphatic language: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.22
“To avoid being imposed upon we ought to treat tradition as we do a notorious and known liar, to whom we give no credit, unless what he says is confirmed to us by some person of undoubted veracity...... False and lying traditions are of an early date, and the greatest men have, out of a pious credulity, suffered themselves to be imposed upon by them.” - Hist. of the Popes, Vol. i, p.1, Phila. ed., 1847. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.23
Mr. Dowling bears a similar testimony: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.24
“The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the religion of ‘Protestants!’ Nor is it of any account in the estimation of the genuine Protestant how early a doctrine originated, if it is not found in the Bible. He learns from the New Testament itself that there were errors in the time of the apostles, and that their pens were frequently employed in combatting those errors. Hence, if a doctrine be propounded for his acceptance, he asks, Is it to be found in the inspired word? Was it taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles? More than this, we will add, that though Cyprian, or Jerome, or Augustine, or even the fathers of an earlier age, Tertullian, Ignatius, or Irenaeus, could be plainly shown to teach the unscriptural doctrines and dogmas of popery, which, however, is by no means admitted, still the consistent Protestant would simply ask, Is the doctrine to be found in the Bible? Was it taught by Christ and his apostles? ..... He who receives a single doctrine upon the mere authority of tradition, let him be called by what name he will, by so doing steps down from the Protestant rock, passes over the line which separates Protestantism from popery, and can give no valid reason why he should not receive all the earlier doctrines and ceremonies of Romanism, upon the same authority.” - History of Romanism, book ii, chap. 1, secs. 3,4. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 121.25
Dr. Cumming of London thus speaks of the authority of the fathers of the early church: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.1
“Some of these were distinguished for their genius, some for their eloquence, a few for their piety, and too many for their fanaticism and superstition. It is recorded by Dr. Delahogue (who was professor in the Roman Catholic college of Maynooth), on the authority of Eusebius, that the fathers who were really most fitted to be the luminaries of the age in which they lived, were too busy in preparing their flocks for martyrdom, to commit anything to writing; and therefore by the admission of this Roman Catholic divine, we have not the full and fair exponent of the views of all the fathers of the earlier centuries, but only of those who were most ambitious of literary distinction, and least attentive to their charges...... The most devoted and pious of the fathers were busy teaching their flocks; the more vain and ambitious occupied their time in preparing treatises. If all the fathers who signalized the age had committed their sentiments to writing, we might have had a fair representation of the theology of the church of the fathers; but as only a few have done so (many even of their writings being mutilated or lost), and these not the most devoted and spiritually minded, I contend that it is as unjust to judge of the theology of the early centuries by the writings of the few fathers who are its only surviving representatives, as it would be to judge of the theology of the nineteenth century by the sermons of Mr. Newman, the speeches of Dr. Candlish, or the various productions of the late Edward Irving.” - Lectures on Romanism, p.203. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.2
Dr. Adam Clarke bears the following decisive testimony: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.3
“But of these we may safely state that there is not a truth in the most orthodox creed that cannot be proved by their authority; nor a heresy that has disgraced the Romish church, that may not challenge them as its abettors. In points of doctrine, their authority is, with me, nothing. The WORD of God alone contains my creed. On a number of points I can go to the Greek and Latin fathers of the church to know what they believed, and what the people of their respective communions believed; but after all this, I must return to God’s word to know what he would have me to believe.” - Commentary on Proverbs 8. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.4
In his “Life,” he uses the following strong language: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.5
“We should take heed how we quote the fathers in proof of the doctrines of the gospel; because he who knows them best, knows that on many of those subjects, they blow hot and cold.” - Autobiography of Adam Clarke, LL. D., p.134. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.6
The following testimonies will in part explain the unreliable nature of the fathers. Thus Ephraim Pagitt testifies: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.7
“The church of Rome having been conscious of their error and corruption, both in faith and manners, have sundry times pretended reformations; yet their great pride and infinite profit, arising from purgatory, pardons, and such like, hath hindered all such reformations. Therefore, to maintain their greatness, errors, and new articles of faith, 1. They have corrupted many of the ancient fathers, and, reprinting them, make them speak as they would have them. 2. They have written many books in the names of these ancient writers, and forged many decrees, canons, and councils, to bear false witness to them.” - Christianography, part 2, p.59, London, 1636. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.8
And Wm. Reeves testifies to the same fact: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.9
“The church of Rome has had all the opportunities of time, place, and power, to establish the kingdom of darkness; and that in coining, clipping, and washing the primitive records to their own good liking, they have not been wanting to themselves, is notoriously evident.” - Translation of the Apologies of Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and others, Vol. ii, p.375. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.10
The traditions of the early church are considered by many quite as reliable as the language of the holy Scriptures. A single instance taken from the Bible will illustrate the character of tradition, and show the amount of reliance that can be placed upon it: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.11
“Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved, following; (which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?) Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should not die; yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” John 21:20-23. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.12
Here is the account of a tradition which actually originated in the very bosom of the apostolic church, which nevertheless handed down to the following generations an entire mistake. Observe how carefully the word of God corrects this error. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.13
Two rules of faith really embrace the whole Christian world. One of these is the word of God alone; the other is the word of God and the traditions of the church. Here they are: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.14
RULE OF THE MAN OF GOD
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.15
RULE OF THE ROMANIST
“If we would have the whole rule of Christian faith and practice, we must not be content with those Scriptures which Timothy knew from his infancy, that is, with the Old Testament alone; nor yet with the New Testament, without taking along with it the traditions of the apostles, and the interpretation of the church, to which the apostles delivered both the book and the true meaning of it.” - Note of the Douay Bible on 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.16
It is certain that the first-day Sabbath cannot be sustained by the first of these rules; for the word of God says nothing respecting such an institution. The second of these rules is necessarily adopted by all those who advocate the sacredness of the first day of the week. For the writings of the fathers and the traditions of the church furnish all the testimony which can be adduced in support of that day. To adopt the first rule is to acknowledge that the first-day Sabbath is a human institution. To adopt the second is virtually to acknowledge that the Romanists are right; for it is by this rule that they are able to sustain their unscriptural dogmas. Mr. W. B. Taylor, an able anti-Sabbatarian writer, states this point with great clearness: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.17
“The triumph of the consistent Roman Catholic over all observers of Sunday, calling themselves Protestants, is indeed complete and unanswerable...... It should present a subject of very grave reflection to Christians of the reformed and evangelical denominations, to find that no single argument or suggestion can be offered in favor of Sunday observance, that will not apply with equal force and to its fullest extent in sustaining the various other ‘holy days’ appointed by ‘the church.’” - Obligation of the Sabbath, pp.254,255. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.18
Listen to the argument of a Roman Catholic: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.19
“The word of God commandeth the seventh day to be the Sabbath of the Lord, and to keep it holy: you [Protestants] without any precept of Scripture, change it to the first day of the week, only authorized by our traditions. Divers English Puritans oppose against this point, that the observation of the first day is proved out of Scripture, where it is said the first day of the week. [Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10.] Have they not spun a fair thread in quoting these places? If we should produce no better for purgatory and prayers for the dead, invocation of the saints, and the like, they might have good cause indeed to laugh us to scorn; for where is it written that these were Sabbath-days in which these meetings were kept? Or where is it ordained that they should be always observed? Or, which is the sum of all, where is it decreed that the observation of the first day should abrogate or abolish the sanctifying of the seventh day, which God commanded everlastingly to be kept holy? Not one of those is expressed in the written word of God.” - A Treatise of Thirty Controversies. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.20
Whoever therefore enters the lists in behalf of the first-day Sabbath, must of necessity do this - though perhaps not aware of the fact - under the banner of the church of Rome. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.21
THE FIRST WITNESSES FOR SUNDAY
The first day of the week is now almost universally observed as the Christian Sabbath. The origin of this institution is still before us as the subject of inquiry. This is presented by two eminent church historians; but so directly do they contradict each other, that it is a question of curious interest to determine which of them states the truth. Thus Mosheim writes respecting the first century: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.22
“All Christians were unanimous in setting apart the first day of the week on which the triumphant Saviour arose from the dead, for the solemn celebration of public worship. This pious custom, which was derived from the example of the church of Jerusalem, was founded upon the express appointment of the apostles, who consecrated that day to the same sacred purpose, and was observed universally throughout all the Christian churches, as appears from the united testimonies of the most credible writers.” - Maclaine’s Mosheim, cent. 1, part ii, chap. 4, sec. 4. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.23
Now let us read what Neander, the most distinguished of church historians, says of this apostolic authority for Sunday observance: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.24
“The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions 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.” - Rose’s Neander, p.186. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 122.25
How shall we determine which of these historians is in the right? Neither of them lived in the apostolic age of the church. Mosheim was a writer of the eighteenth century, and Neander of the nineteenth. Of necessity therefore they must learn the facts in the case from the writings of that period which have come down to us. These contain all the testimony which can have any claim to be admitted in deciding this case. These are, first, the inspired writings of the New Testament; second, the reputed productions of such writers of that age as are supposed to mention the first day; viz., the epistle of Barnabas, the letter of Pliny, governor of Bithynia, to the emperor Trajan, and the epistle of Ignatius. These are all the writings prior to the middle of the second century - and this is late enough to amply cover the ground of Mosheim’s statement - which can be introduced as even referring to the first day of the week. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.1
The questions to be decided by this testimony are these: Did the apostles set apart Sunday for divine worship? (as Mosheim affirms,) or does the evidence in the case show that the festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance? (as is affirmed by Neander.) ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.2
It is certain that the New Testament contains no appointment of Sunday for the solemn celebration of public worship. And it is equally true that there is no example of the church of Jerusalem on which to found such observance. The New Testament therefore furnishes no support for the statement of Mosheim. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.3
The three epistles which have come down to us as written in the apostolic age, or immediately subsequent to that age next come under examination. These are all that remain to us of a period more extended than that embraced in the statement of Mosheim. He speaks of the first century only; but we summon all the writers of that century and of the following one prior to the time of Justin Martyr, A. D. 140, who are even supposed to mention the first day of the week. Thus the reader is furnished with all the data in the case. The epistle of Barnabas speaks as follows in behalf of first-day observance: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.4
“Lastly he saith unto them, Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot bear them. Consider what he means by it; the sabbaths, says he, which ye now keep, are not acceptable unto me, but those which I have made; when resting from all things, I shall begin the eighth day, that is, the beginning of the other world; for which cause we observe the eighth day with gladness, in which Jesus arose from the dead, and having manifested himself to his disciples, ascended into heaven.” - Epistle of Barnabas, xiv,9,10. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.5
It might be reasonably concluded that Mosheim would place great reliance upon this testimony as coming from an apostle, and as being somewhat better suited to sustain the sacredness of Sunday than anything previously examined by us. Yet he frankly acknowledges that this epistle is spurious. Thus he says: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.6
“The epistle of Barnabas was the production of some Jew, who, most probably, lived in this century, and whose mean abilities and superstitious attachment to Jewish fables, show, notwithstanding the uprightness of his intentions, that he must have been a very different person from the true Barnabas, who was St. Paul’s companion.” - Eccl. Hist., cent. 1, part ii, chap 2, sec. 21. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.7
In another work Mosheim says of this epistle: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.8
“As to what is suggested by some, of its having been written by that Barnabas who was the friend and companion of St. Paul, the futility of such a notion is easily to be made apparent from the letter itself; several of the opinions and interpretations of Scripture which it contains, having in them so little of either truth, dignity, or force, as to render it impossible that they could ever have proceeded from the pen of a man divinely instructed.” - Historical Commentaries, cent. 1, sec. 53. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.9
Neander speaks thus of this epistle: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.10
“It is impossible that we should acknowledge this epistle to belong to that Barnabas who was worthy to be the companion of the apostolic labors of St. Paul.” - Rose’s Neander, p.407. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.11
Prof. Stuart bears a similar testimony: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.12
“That a man by the name of Barnabas wrote this epistle I doubt not; that the chosen associate of Paul wrote it, I with many others must doubt.” - Note appended to Gurney’s History, Authority, and Use, of the Sabbath, p.186. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.13
Dr. Killen, Professor of Ecclesiastical History to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church of Ireland, uses the following language: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.14
“The tract known as the Epistle of Barnabas was probably composed in A. D. 135. It is the production apparently of a convert from Judaism who took special pleasure in allegorical interpretations of Scripture.” - Ancient Church, p.368. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.15
Prof. Hackett bears the following testimony: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.16
“The letter still extant which was known as that of Barnabas even in the second century, cannot be defended as genuine.” - Commentary on Acts, p.251. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.17
Mr. Milner speaks of the reputed epistle of Barnabas as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.18
“It is a great injury to him to apprehend the epistle, which goes by his name, to be his.” - History of the Church, cent. 1, chap 15. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.19
Kitto speaks of this production as, ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.20
“The so-called epistle of Barnabas, probably a forgery of the second century” - Cyc. Bibl. Lit., art. Lord’s Day. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.21
Says the Religious Encyclopedia, speaking of the Barnabas of the New Testament: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.22
“He could not be the author of a work so full of forced allegories, extravagant and unwarrantable explications of Scripture, together with stories concerning beasts, and such like conceits, as make up the first part of this epistle.” - Rel. Encyc., art., Barnabas’ Epistle. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.23
Eusebius, the earliest of church historians, places this epistle in the catalogue of spurious books. Thus he says: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.24
“Among the spurious must be numbered both the book called, ‘The acts of Paul,’ and that called, ‘Pastor,’ and ‘The Revelation of Peter.’ Besides these the books called, ‘The epistle of Barnabas,’ and what are called ‘The Institutions of the Apostles.’” - Eccl. Hist., Book iii, chap 25. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.25
Sir Wm. Domville speaks as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.26
“But the epistle was not written by Barnabas; it was not merely unworthy of him, it would be a disgrace to him, and what is of much more consequence, it would be a disgrace to the Christian religion, as being the production of one of the authorized teachers of that religion in the times of the apostles, which circumstance would seriously damage the evidence of its divine origin. Not being the epistle of Barnabas, the document is, as regards the Sabbath question, nothing more than the testimony of some unknown writer to the practice of Sunday observance by some Christians of some unknown community, at some uncertain period of the Christian era, with no sufficient ground for believing that period to have been the first century.” - The Sabbath, or an Examination of the Six Texts commonly adduced from the New Testament in proof of a Christian Sabbath, p.233. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.27
Coleman bears the following testimony: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.28
“The epistle of Barnabas, bearing the honored name of the companion of Paul in his missionary labors, is evidently spurious. It abounds in fabulous narratives, mystical, allegorical interpretations of the Old Testament, and fanciful conceits, and is generally agreed by the learned to be of no authority.” - Ancient Christianity, chap 1, sec. 2. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.29
As a specimen of the unreasonable and absurd things contained in this epistle, the following passage is quoted: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.30
“Neither shalt thou eat of the hyena; that is, again be not an adulterer; nor a corrupter of others; neither be like to such. And wherefore so? Because that creature every year changes its kind, and is sometimes male and sometimes female.” - Epistle of Barnabas, ix,8. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.31
Thus first-day historians being allowed to decide the case, we are authorized to treat this epistle as a forgery. And whoever will read its ninth chapter - for it will not bear quoting - will acknowledge the justice of this conclusion. This epistle is the only writing purporting to come from the first century, except the New Testament, in which the first day is even referred to. That this furnishes no support for Sunday observance, even Mosheim acknowledges. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.32
The next document that claims our attention is the letter of Pliny, the Roman governor of Bithynia, to the emperor Trajan. He says of the Christians of his province: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.33
“They were accustomed on a stated day to assemble before sunrise, and to join in singing hymns to Christ, as to a deity; binding themselves as with a solemn oath not to commit any kind of wickedness; to be guilty neither of theft, robbery, nor adultery; never to break a promise, or to keep back a deposit when called upon.” - Milner’s Hist. Church, cent. 2, chap. 1. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.34
This epistle of Pliny certainly furnishes no support for Sunday observance. The case is presented in a candid manner by Coleman. He says of this extract: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.35
“This statement is evidence that these Christians kept a day as holy time, but whether it was the last or the first day of the week does not appear.” - Ancient Christianity Exemplified, chap 26, sec. 2. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.36
Charles Buck, an eminent first-day writer, saw no evidence in this epistle of first-day observance, as is manifest from the indefinite translation which he gives it. Thus he cites the epistle: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.37
“These persons declare that their whole crime, if they are guilty, consists in this: that on certain days they assemble before sunrise to sing alternately the praises of Christ as of God.” - Buck’s Theological Dictionary, art., Christians. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.38
Mr. W. B. Taylor speaks of this stated day as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.39
“As the Sabbath day appears to have been quite as commonly observed at this date as the sun’s day (if not even more so), it is just as probable that this ‘stated day’ referred to by Pliny, was the seventh day, as that it was the first day; though the latter is generally taken for granted.” - Obligation of the Sabbath, p.300. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.40
Taking for granted the very point that should be proved, is no new feature in the evidence thus far examined in support of first-day observance. Although Mosheim relies on this expression of Pliny’s as a chief support of Sunday, yet he speaks thus of the opinion of another learned man: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.41
“B. Just. Hen. Boehmer, would indeed have us to understand this day to have been the same with the Jewish Sabbath.” - Historical Commentaries, cent. 1, sec. 47. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.42
This testimony of Pliny was written a few years subsequent to the time of the apostles. It relates to a church which probably had been founded by the apostle Peter. It is certainly far more probable that this church, only forty years after the death of Peter, were keeping the fourth commandment, than that they were observing a day never enjoined by divine authority. It must be conceded that this testimony from Pliny proves nothing in support of Sunday observance. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.43
The epistles of Ignatius of Antioch so often quoted in behalf of first-day observance, next claim our attention. He is represented as saying: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.44
“Wherefore if they who were brought up in these ancient laws came nevertheless to the newness of hope; no longer observing sabbaths, but keeping the Lord’s day, in which also our life is sprung up by him, and through his death, whom yet some deny: (by which mystery we have been brought to believe, and therefore wait that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only master:) how shall we be able to live different from him; whose disciples, the very prophets themselves being, did by the Spirit expect him as their master.” - Ignatius to the Magnesians, iii,3-5. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.45
Two important facts relative to this quotation are worthy of particular notice: 1. That the epistles of Ignatius are acknowledged to be spurious by first-day writers of high authority; and those epistles which some of them except as possibly genuine, do not include in their number the epistle to the Magnesians from which the above quotation is made, nor do they say anything relative to first-day observance. 2. That the epistle to the Magnesians would say nothing of any day, were it not that the word day had been fraudulently inserted by the translator! In support of the first of these propositions the following testimony is adduced. Dr. Killen speaks as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.46
“In the sixteenth century fifteen letters were brought out from beneath the mantle of hoary antiquity, and offered to the world as the productions of the pastor of Antioch. Scholars refused to receive them on the terms required, and forthwith eight of them were admitted to be forgeries. In the seventeenth century the seven remaining letters, in a somewhat altered form, again came forth from obscurity, and claimed to be the works of Ignatius. Again discerning critics refused to acknowledge their pretentions; but curiosity was aroused by this second apparition, and many expressed an earnest desire to obtain a sight of the real epistles. Greece, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt were ransacked in search of them, and at length three letters are found. The discovery creates general gratulation; it is confessed that four of the epistles so lately asserted to be genuine, are apocryphal; and it is boldly said that the three now forthcoming are above challenge. But truth still refuses to be compromised, and sternly disowns these claimants for her approbation. The internal evidence of these epistles abundantly attests that, like the last three books of the Sibyl, they are only the last shifts of a grave imposture.” - Ancient Church, pp.413,414. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.47
The same writer thus states the opinion of Calvin: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.48
“It is no mean proof of the sagacity of the great Calvin that upwards of three hundred years ago, he passed a sweeping sentence of condemnation on these Ignatian epistles.” - Id, p.427. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.49
Of the three epistles of Ignatius still claimed as genuine, Prof. C. F. Hudson speaks as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.50
“Ignatius of Antioch was martyred probably A. D. 115. Of the eight epistles ascribed to him, three are genuine; viz., those addressed to Polycarp, the Ephesians, and the Romans.” - Future Life, p.290. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.51
It will be observed that the three epistles which are here mentioned as genuine do not include that epistle from which the quotation in behalf of Sunday is taken, and it is a fact also that they contain no allusion to Sunday. Sir Wm. Domville, an anti-Sabbatarian writer uses the following language: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.52
“Every one at all conversant with such matters is aware that the works of Ignatius have been more interpolated and corrupted than those of any other of the ancient fathers; and also that some writings have been attributed to him which are wholly spurious.” - Examination of the Six Texts, p.237. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.53
Robinson, an eminent English Baptist writer of the last century, expresses the following opinion of the epistles ascribed to Ignatius, Barnabas, and others: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.54
“If any of the writings attributed to those who are called apostolical fathers, as Ignatius, teacher at Antioch, Polycarp at Smyrna, Barnabas, who was half a Jew, and Hermas, who was brother to Pius, teacher at Rome, if any of these be genuine, of which there is great reason to doubt, they only prove the piety and illiteracy of the good men. Some are worse, and the best not better, than the godly epistles of the lower sort of Baptists and Quakers in the time of the civil war in England. Barnabas and Hermas both mention baptism; but both of these books are contemptible reveries of wild and irregular geniuses.” - Ecclesiastical Researches, chap 6, ed. 1792. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.55
The doubtful character of these Ignatius epistles is thus sufficiently attested. The quotation in behalf of Sunday is not taken from one of the three epistles that are still claimed as genuine; and what is still further to be observed, it would say nothing in behalf of any day, were it not for an extraordinary license, not to say fraud, which the translator has used in inserting the word day. This fact is shown with critical accuracy by Kitto, whose Cyclopedia is in high repute among first-day scholars. Thus he presents the original of Ignatius with comments and a translation as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.56
“We must notice on other passage as bearing on the subject of the Lord’s day, though it certainly contains no mention of it. It occurs in the epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians (about A. D. 100.) The whole passage is confessedly obscure, and the text may be corrupt. The passage is as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.57
Ei oun oi palaiois pragmasin anastraphentes, eis kainoreta elpidos eluon—meketi sabbatizoutes, alla kata kurtaken zoen zontes—(en e kai e zoe emon auetilen oi autou, etc.) ARSH March 18, 1862, page 123.58
“Now many commentators assume (on what ground does not appear), that after kuriaken [Lord’s] the word emeran [day] is to be understood...... Let us now look at the passage simply as it stands. The defect of the sentence is the want of a substantive to which autou can refer. This defect, so far from being remedied, is rendered still more glaring by the introduction of emera. Now if we take kuriake zoe as simply ‘the life of the Lord,’ having a more personal meaning, it certainly goes nearer to supplying the substantive to autou. Thus upon the whole the meaning might be given thus: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.1
“If those who lived under the old dispensation have come to the newness of hope, no longer keeping sabbaths, but living according to our Lord’s life (in which, as it were, our life has risen again through him, etc.) ..... ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.2
“On this view the passage does not refer at all to the Lord’s day; but even on the opposite supposition it cannot be regarded as affording any positive evidence to the early use of the term ‘Lord’s day,’ (for which it is often cited), since the material word, emera [day] is purely conjectural.” - Cyc. Bib. Lit., art. Lord’s Day. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.3
The learned Morer, a clergyman of the church of England, confirms this statement of Kitto’s. He renders Ignatius thus: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.4
“If therefore they who were well versed in the works of ancient days came to newness of hope, not sabbatizing, but living according to the dominical life, etc...... The Medicean copy, the best and most like that of Eusebius, leaves no scruple, because zoen is expressed and determines the word dominical to the person of Christ, and not to the day of his resurrection.” - Dialogues on the Lord’s Day, pp.206,207. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.5
“Sir Wm. Domville speaks on this point as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.6
“Judging therefore by the tenor of the epistle itself, the literal translation of the passage in discussion, ‘no longer observing sabbaths, but living according to the Lord’s life,’ appears to give its true and proper meaning; and if this be so, Ignatius, whom Mr. Gurney [a first-day writer, author of the ‘History, Authority, and Use of the Sabbath’] puts forward as a material witness to prove the observance of the Lord’s day in the beginning of the second century, fails to prove any such fact, it appearing on a thorough examination of his testimony that he does not even mention the Lord’s day, nor in any way allude to the religious observance of it, whether by that name or any other.” - Examination of the Six Texts, pp.250,251. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.7
It is manifest therefore that this famous quotation has no reference whatever to the first day of the week, and that it furnishes no evidence that that day was known in the time of Ignatius by the title of Lord’s day. The evidence is now before the reader which must determine whether Mosheim or Neander spoke in accordance with the facts in the case. And thus it appears that in the New Testament and in the uninspired writers of the period referred to, there is absolutely nothing to sustain the strong Sunday statement of Mosheim. Of the epistles ascribed to Barnabas, Pliny and Ignatius, we have found that the first is a forgery; that the second speaks of a stated day without defining what one; and that the third, which is probably a spurious document, would say nothing of any day, if the advocates of Sunday had not interpolated the word day into the document! We can hardly avoid the conclusion that Mosheim spoke on this subject as a doctor of divinity, and not as a historian; and with the firmest conviction that we speak the truth, we say with Neander, “The festival of Sunday was always only a human ordinance.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.8
J. N. A.
(To be Continued.)
Bro. and sister P. Robinson write from Catlin, N. Y.: “We feel to thank the Lord that we have ever been numbered with the sect everywhere spoken against, and we want to be an honor to the cause we so much love. We want to overcome everything that is wrong in the sight of the Lord, and keep his commandments, that we may have a right to the tree of life and enter in through the gates into the city. Bro. Fuller was here last June and held meetings with us, and baptized four. He was here again in October, and baptized five more. There are some two or three that have embraced the truth since, and others are investigating, some of whom are convinced, yet need courage. A few were accustomed to meet formerly on the Sabbath to worship God. Now our number is increased, and we feel to thank and praise God for his goodness to the children of men.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.9
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, MARCH 18, 1862.
JAMES WHITE, EDITOR
WESTERN TOUR
FEB. 27 we left Bro. Sanborn’s hospitable home at Twin Groves early in the morning, and rode five miles in the stinging cold prairie winds to Juda Station, where we took the cars for Janesville. There we had to wait five hours for the cars for Madison, which gave us a good opportunity to visit with Bro. Loudon and family, and Bro. and sister Packard, who came in to see us. These are very anxious that something should be done in Janesville. It may be an excellent location for tent labor. At least, we hope our preachers will bestow some labor with them. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.10
After receiving rest, refreshment, and substantial aid for our journey, we left these lonely pilgrims, and took the cars for Madison, and arrived there at 7 in the evening. Here Brn. Decker and Crosby from Avon had been waiting nine hours to take us through to Leeds, a distance of twenty miles. We concluded to go on with them that night, and a little before 1 o’clock the next morning drove up to the door of Bro. Jonathan Chase’s, of North Leeds. We received a hearty welcome from Bro. and sister Chase, and the pilgrim guests who had come in ahead of us, among whom were Bro. and sister Patch, formerly of the State of New York. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.11
The meeting was held at Lodi. There was a general turnout of the scattered friends, and some from other counties. We had good liberty in preaching, and Mrs. W. gave her testimony with freedom. The friends all manifested a deep interest to hear. It has been an excellent, and we trust a profitable, meeting. Here the brethren had Systematic Benevolence funds to liberally help us on our way. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.12
On first-day a terrible snow-storm set in, blocking up the roads so that up to this time (fourth-day) many of the brethren could not get to their homes. Second-day we had a precious meeting with those who could get out, at the close of which Bro. Taber and sisters Newcomb and McIntosh were baptized. Here we found our rubber baptizing-dress of great value. We came out perfectly comfortable and dry. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.13
When we came to this place we put up at the house of Bro. Nathaniel Keezer, and finding it very pleasant to conform to the text, “In the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give,” we have remained here, and now, the fifth day since we came, are writing at their table. Brother and sister Keezer, and their mother, are New England people. Here we find a good, plain, nourishing diet, where we are not compelled to eat of that delicacy to the palate of many, namely, a superabundant amount of swine’s grease. Here we have been entertained with great kindness and hospitality, and shall long remember this home which we now name the New England House. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.14
To-morrow our good Brn. Decker and Crosby design to make an effort to get us through to Marquette. How we succeed, may be learned by our next report. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.15
Lodi, Wis., March 5, 1862.
THE TWO HORNS
IN Review number 8, volume xviii, July 23, 1861, will be found answers to some queries respecting the two horns of this government, proposed by sister N. G. Sanders, to which she makes the following reply: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.16
BRO. SMITH: Pardon me for troubling you a little further. I wish to ask in what consisted the union or the division of the Medo-Persian empire. We read that the two horns are the two kings. I suppose they were not kings ruling successively. Daniel 11:2, says there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia. The two horns which were the respective kings of Media and Persia, were on one beast; both were civil rulers - kings. I saw the difficulty of which you speak, but considered Media and Persia a parallel case. It seems by your exposition that civil or ecclesiastical power may be a horn. If the little horn was called a horn while yet unclothed with civil power, what was it when so clothed? The ecclesiastic power was alone a horn; when civil power was added it was two powers - horns. Why was not the civil power called a horn, as in case of the two-horned beast, if Protestantism constitutes one horn, and civil power the other? When the church power in this nation unites with the civil power, will not the two horns be merged into one, as in the case of the little horn? You seem to think me in a hurry to adapt the nation to the prophecy; but I ask, May we not determine from the prophecy what will be required to fulfill it? This is slightly abridged from a letter which I wrote on receiving your reply to my question in July last. I had laid it aside, not intending to send it; but at the request of a sister I concluded to send it. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.17
Yours, desiring the truth.
N. G. SANDERS.
Rush Lake, Wis., Feb., 1862.
ANSWER. The Medes and Persians were consolidated into one empire, and governed by one king; hence they are represented by one beast. The two horns are explained to be the two elements or nationalities, Medes and Persians, of which that kingdom was composed. When the Persians under Cyrus, and the Medes under Darius, united to subjugate the Babylonian empire, Cyrus placed his uncle Darius on the throne, vesting in him the whole regal authority; and from that time onward to the subversion of the empire, but one king ruled at the same time over the Medes and Persians. The division of the United States into a Northern and Southern Confederacy could not be a parallel case; for here we should have, not union, but disunion; not two nations consolidated into one, but one nation rent into two; not all subject to one ruler, or to the same class of rulers, but governed by different rulers; not acting together, but acting independently, and often with hostility. Consequently the difficulty that exists against the two horns of the two-horned beast representing two divisions of this government, it seems cannot be removed by reference to Media and Persia. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.18
In regard to the little horn of Daniel 7:8, which was called a horn while yet it was but an ecclesiastical power, it did not become two horns by being clothed with civil power; for the two elements of civil and ecclesiastical authority were both vested in the same person. To be represented by two horns, it is necessary that these powers should be exercised distinct from, and independent of, each other. They were not so exercised by the little horn, but are so in this nation; hence here they are properly represented by two horns. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.19
In reply to the question, “When the church power in this nation, unites with the civil power, will not the two horns be merged into one,” I answer that I do not expect that there will be in this country a union of Church and State, in the sense in which this expression is generally understood. By a union of Church and State, I understand a religion made national, and the civil power upholding and enforcing obedience to the ecclesiastical. But a national religion in this country is out of the question, on account of the many kinds and diversities that exist; and all that, in the light of the prophecy, can here be looked for in this direction, as I view it, is the clothing of the ecclesiastical power with civil authority - giving the church power to enforce obedience to its own decrees. And in this we shall have the image to the beast, an exact resemblance to the little horn, which was the same essential thing - an ecclesiastical power clothed with civil authority. And when the different church establishments are thus endowed, the only question upon which they can act harmoniously as being the only one upon which they are generally agreed, is the question of Sunday-keeping. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 124.20
The following general principle may aid us in arriving at correct conclusions respecting the two-horned beast: Whenever the horns of a beast denote divisions that are to take place in the nation which it symbolizes, or kingdoms to grow out of it, whatever acts are ascribed to such beast, are all to be accomplished before this division takes place. This principle is illustrated in the case of the leopard with four heads, Daniel 7, the same as the he-goat of chap 8. All the acts said to have been done by this beast, were done before the notable horn was broken, and the empire divided. We see the same principle carried out in the ten-horned beast of Daniel 7. The ten horns of that beast denoted the ten kingdoms that were to arise out of that empire; but the treading down, devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping the residue with the feet of it, which is said to be the work of this beast, were all done before this division took place. After this division was accomplished, and the little horn came upon the stage of action, further acts are said to be done, not by the beast, but specifically by the little horn. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.1
Apply this principle to the two-horned beast. There are at least nine specific acts to be done by this beast, according to the prophecy. And if the two horns denote divisions that are to arise out of this nation, all these acts must be accomplished before this division takes place. This must necessarily be so, or the subject is open to the utmost confusion. For if certain acts are said to be done by the beast, in its divided state, which division shall we understand is to perform them? Which division will constitute the beast? Which horn will perform the work? Let it be noticed that no actions are attributed to these horns; but when actions are performed by the divisions or kingdoms which are represented by horns, these actions are said to be done, not by the beast out of which these horns arose, but by the horns themselves. See Revelation 17:12-14, 16, 17. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.2
Let us then inquire as to what period we have reached in the fulfillment of the prophecy of the two-horned beast, that we may determine whether the time has come for the division of this government, provided the two horns denote its division. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.3
1. He speaks like a dragon. Fulfilled in a measure, but not fully. 2. He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him. Not yet accomplished. 3. He causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast. Not yet accomplished. 4. He doeth great wonders. Partially fulfilled in the developments of steam power, electricity, and modern Spiritualism. 5. He maketh fire come down from heaven. Not yet accomplished. 6. He deceiveth them that dwell on the earth. Only partially fulfilled. 7. Saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast. Not yet accomplished. 8. And had power to give life to the image of the beast, etc. Not yet accomplished. 9. He causeth all, both small and great, etc., to receive a mark. Not yet accomplished. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.4
We see therefore that, according to the principle above laid down, much is yet to be done before the division of this government can take place, even if such an event is in the order of the prophecy. But after all has been done that the beast is to perform in his undivided state, the next event in the series is the standing of the people of God upon mount Zion; showing that the existence of this nation in a divided state is not contemplated in the prophecy. The very comparison of the horns to those of a lamb, would seem to show that they are designed to represent character, not political divisions. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.5
In the light of the prophecy, then, I do not look for any division in this government. The leprosy of slavery has so far infected the mass of this nation that the present trouble will probably be temporarily hushed by some dishonorable and disgraceful compromise. And the union thus gained will undoubtedly continue till the opening of that time of dire confusion, in which all the constitutions of society will be broken up, the bonds of nations be severed, and the race perish in disorganization and ruin. U. S. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.6
“TRUTH HAS FALLEN IN THE STREETS”
IT is truly painful to see those who are esteemed, and in some respects appear to be the wisest and best of men, often misleading their fellow men in matters of vital importance, and which are so plain that we cannot frame an excuse for them, especially when they are men of long study and close observation. An instance of this kind has been pointed out in Dr. Edwards’ Sabbath Manual, where the Jews are made to observe Sunday during the siege of Jerusalem! ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.7
Another instance equally unpardonable and to me still more strange, is found in the “Cause and Cure of Infidelity.” Dr. Nelson was a thinker, a reasoner, and a close observer; therefore we find no way to excuse the following remark: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.8
“The Israelites, in reckoning their time, made use of two kinds of weeks, very different in duration, but the same in parts, commencement, and termination. They used the week so well known with us, seven days in extent, and commencing with a Sabbath of one day, or twenty-four hours.” - Tract Society, Second edition, p.311. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.9
With the Israelites the days of the week were only known by their order, first-day, second-day, etc., and according to the above extract the week commenced with the seventh day! Now the Dr. knew that the seventh day of the week, not the first day, was the Sabbath; and his statement is no more just nor reasonable than it would be to say that in a family of seven children the youngest child was the first. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.10
This is the manner in which the minds of the young are trained to believe that the first-day was and is the Sabbath. Truly this is a pious fraud worthy only of the Jesuits. A good cause will never use them. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.11
J. H. WAGGONER.
THE CONFERENCE MEETING
YES, it is good to be there where all meet in love and union. There the Spirit of God pervades each heart, and all desire to bear some humble part in the solemn worship of God. ‘Tis there that the aged pilgrim (it may be leaning upon his staff), recounts his conflicts and victories. And having discovered some new truth, having gained some new eminence, he is rejoiced to think that his journey is almost done, with such a bright prospect just before him. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.12
And then there is the aged matron who has been brought through the deep waters of affliction and temptation. Her hair is whitened, her face is deeply furrowed, her strength is almost gone; yet how strong is her confidence in God. She knows that her Redeemer lives. She knows that she has passed from death unto life, and that it is good to serve God. And she expects, if faithful a few more days, the crown will be hers, and soon Jesus will come, and this mortal will put on immortality. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.13
Yes, and there also we find the young convert who has just begun in the service of the Lord. His heart is filled with love to God and to his brethren, and he is rejoiced that he has found the way, while he sings: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.14
“Oh how happy are they,
Who their Saviour obey,
And have laid up their treasure above,
No tongue can express
The sweet comfort and peace
Of a soul in its earliest love.”
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.15
He little realizes how straight and narrow is the way to life. He knows not the power of the tempter, nor what sore temptations mean. He knows not that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, and that the fiery trials through which he may be called to pass will burn his very soul, purging it of dross as gold when tried in the fire. He reads, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” yet how can it be that a man will be hated, pursued, and persecuted without cause? ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.16
Again he reads, “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household,” but how can parents hate their own children, or sisters their brothers, or the wife become the husband’s most bitter enemy? No, he understands none of these things, and ‘tis well he does not; for then how could he stand? Having been suddenly exalted he would as suddenly be thrown down to earth without power to rise again. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.17
But it is good for the young convert to attend the prayer and conference meeting. ‘Tis there he learns to live religion. If doubts creep in, if darkness shuts out the light, or even if he has stumbled, how many a good and experienced brother is ready to hold him up and bid him God speed. It is not easy falling among brethren. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.18
Yes, it is good to be there to hear the words of mutual comfort and exhortation. How it makes us forget our past gloomy days! How it buoys us above the trials of this life! How it strengthens us to do good and go on our way rejoicing! Yes, it is good to be there. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.19
E. GOODRICH.
Edinboro, Pa.
“HE WILL MAGNIFY THE LAW AND MAKE IT HONORABLE.” Isaiah 42:21
A. N. SEYMOUR, in his 47th “unanswerable argument against seventh-day Sabbath-keeping,” after having quoted the scripture above, says, “Where is the authority for saying that the law here referred to is confined to the decalogue? Let them give a thus saith the Lord that the ten precepts are a law first, then we will hear them.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.20
That they are a law, we refer the reader to Exodus 24:12. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me in the mount and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.21
Again, in Deuteronomy 5, after Moses had rehearsed the substance of the ten commandments to Israel, he says in verse 22, “These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly, out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice, and added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone and delivered them unto me.” The record verbatim of what God with that voice said, is found in Exodus 20:3-17. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.22
The above three scriptures taken together prove, 1. That God spake from Sinai the ten commandments with such a voice that the whole nation heard. 2. That he wrote them on two tables of stone. 3. That these constituted a law entire, or else he left his work unfinished, for he added no more. 4. That they were to be the basis of religious teaching. Exodus 24:12; Deuteronomy 6:1, 7-9. In Nehemiah 9:13, 14, it is also said, “Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, true laws, good statutes, and commandments, and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath.” The above we understand God himself gave and made known. This constitutes one code. “And commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.” This we understand constitutes another. Now if the law referred to in the text is the whole system of law as recorded by Moses, then the language of Nehemiah above is somewhat remarkable; and still more remarkable is the language of Ezekiel 20:11-13: “And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do he shall even live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness, they walked not in my statutes, and despised my judgments, which if a man do he shall even live in them. Then I said I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness.” Now compare this with verses 24, 25. “Because they had not executed my judgments, but despised my statutes, and polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols; wherefore [for which reason] I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they should not live.” Consequently the good must have been given first, and those not good were given because the others were broken. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.23
We now wish to ascertain which of these laws the Lord was going to magnify. It does not seem a reasonable conclusion that he should magnify that code which was not good, that was against us, contrary to us, which he was about to blot out by nailing it to his cross. Colossians 2:14. The law of commandments contained in ordinances which he abolished in his flesh. Ephesians 2:15. Would it not be more reasonable to believe that he would magnify that law which is holy, just, and good [Romans 7:12], that perfect law of liberty by which we are to be judged? James 1:25; 2:11, 12. Is it not evidently the law of which the Lord Jesus Christ himself said, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass?” Matthew 5:18. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.24
As proof that this is the law magnified, read verse 19; and as proof what law it is, read verses 21, 27. By his comments here on the sixth and seventh commandments of the decalogue, to show how broad they are, we discover how greatly he magnifies them. But when he treats of divorce [verses 31, 32], the requisition of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth [verses 38-40], and of hating our enemies [verses 43-44], these principles he utterly repudiates. Hence we conclude that whatever he ratifies pertains to the good statutes, and these he magnifies. But those which he repudiates belong to statutes which were not good, and these he abolished. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 125.25
But here we inquire, Did he ratify and magnify the Sabbath law? Let the Lord himself answer. “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day. All believe that the fulfillment of this must have been as late as A. D. 70, thirty-nine years after those Sabbaths mentioned in Colossians 2 were nailed to the cross. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.1
Hear him again. Mark 2:27. “The Sabbath was made for man.” This expression meaning all mankind, as every grammarian knows, sweeps the first eleven “unanswerable arguments” all to destruction at once. But the climax of truth on this point is, that all flesh are going to observe this institution in the world to come, where they need no shadows; still they claim it to be a shadow, against reason, and more especially contrary to scripture. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.2
Still it is argued that to magnify the law alters or changes it. Let us see if it does. Gentlemen frequently visit some elevated site for the purpose of gratifying their vision with a view of country scenery. Supposing, while thus employed, they should at a distance discover a splendid edifice; and although it may not be so distant but that they can decide whether it be a private mansion or a public building, having with them a telescope for such purposes which magnifies 500 or 1000 times, they make use of it for a more particular examination of the object of their curiosity. They find by the aid of this glass that they can examine the exterior of this edifice in all its most minute particulars. The outside doors, windows, window-blinds, and clapboards, can all be distinguished from one another; and even the shingles on the roof may be distinguished and counted. This is called magnifying that object. Does it alter that edifice to magnify it? Not in the least. Then does it alter the law of God to magnify it? No more than it did the edifice. What does this telescope do to accomplish this magnifying process? It only cuts short the angle of vision so as to apparently bring the object near in proportion to the power of the instrument to magnify. Well, what is it then to magnify the law? The Lord promised in the new covenant to bring his laws so near as to put them in their mind and write them in their hearts. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.3
S. PIERCE.
SUNDAY ARGUMENTS
To reason justly on any question is to reason syllogistically; and every conclusion will result from combining two or more premises in one proposition. Although each premise may not be stated, yet it exists in the mind, and often we may tell what the suppressed premise is by knowing the other one and the conclusion. I have tried to look at the arguments for Sunday-observance in this light, and will now give some of them stated in full, so that we may see how vain and empty they appear. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.4
1. Jesus commanded his followers to rest from labor on his resurrection-day. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.5
2. He arose from the dead on the first day of the week. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.6
Conclusion: Christians are required to rest on the first day of the week. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.7
If this argument is not fallacious, the conclusion is just; but if it is a fallacy, we may detect it by a careful examination of the premises. The second premise is admitted by all; so if we object to the conclusion it must be grounded upon an error in the first, viz., “Jesus commanded his followers to rest from labor on his resurrection-day.” The Bible student will readily see that this is an assumption without a word of scripture support, and is also assuming the very point to be proved, which is nothing less than begging the question. To avoid the stigma of this, first-day advocates try to make the first premise good by arguing as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.8
1. The early Christians rested on the first day instead of the seventh, contrary to their early training. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.9
2. They were guided by divine authority in their religious observances. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.10
Conclusion: Hence they must have had divine authority for first-day observance. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.11
Here the reasoning is good; and if the premises are true, all must come to the same conclusion; but a false premise will lead to a false conclusion. A little searching of the inspired history of their acts will convince any reasonable person that there is no text stating positively that they rested from labor on the first day of the week; hence Protestants are driven to make the following argument to prove the point in question: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.12
1. It has been the universal practice of the people of God to have a holy convocation on the Sabbath, or rest-day. Leviticus 23:3. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.13
2. It was customary for the early Christians to meet for worship on the first day of the week. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.14
Conclusion: Hence the first day of the week was the rest-day, or Sabbath, of the early Christians. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.15
Against this reasoning and conclusion the following objections might be urged: 1. It was a custom among the people of God for ages to have holy convocations on other days besides the seventh day. See Leviticus 23. It is possible for such to have been the case among the early Christians. 2. The early Christians did have a custom of meeting for worship on another day; in proof of which we refer to Acts 13:42-44, also 17:2, which shows what Paul’s manner was. This was not because he could get a hearing from the Jews on that day, for they deemed themselves unworthy of eternal life, and the apostles had turned to the Gentiles as early as the year 45, and it was Paul’s “manner” in A. D. 53, or twelve years afterward. Also at this time we find him preaching in Philippi, in Macedonia, not in the synagogue to Jewish ears, but out by the river-side where prayer was wont to be made. Hence we conclude that it was a custom to meet for worship on the seventh day, or Sabbath; and if the custom in one case shows a sacred regard for the day, it will do the same in the other case also. Therefore we conclude, if the second premise is true, that they regarded two days in each week as rest-days. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.16
But was it the custom of the disciples to meet for worship on the first day? It is needless to bring forward that instance where our Lord met with the disciples while at supper, for they had not met for worship, but to eat a common meal; and there is but one other instance of Christians’ assembling on that day, and that is recorded in Acts 20. Now how many times would it be necessary for them to meet for worship to make it a custom? Is once enough? So we are led to the conclusion that the first day of the week was not the day kept by the early Christians, because the premises upon which such a supposition is founded are false. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.17
Thus we see how the principal evidence for Sunday-observance is founded upon an assumption so naked that it is necessary to hide its deformity by another equally glaring, and this one by another, and so on to the end of the chapter of first-day evidence, furnished us by the Mystery of Iniquity. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.18
If such arguments were applied to common subjects, they would be utterly unworthy of notice; it is the importance of the subject that saves them from the contempt they deserve. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.19
Again, why men seek to honor the resurrection of our Lord by a weekly observance, is more easily asked than answered. Certainly there is nothing in the nature of the event that would divide time into periods of seven days; but it is inferred because it happened on a certain day of the week. Men infer these things, and are esteemed wise, when if they used similar arguments on anything else, they would be esteemed lunatics. To expose this, let us take an argument similar to the first one adduced for Sunday observance; thus, ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.20
1. The angel of the Lord passed over the first-born of Israel on the fifteenth day of the month. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.21
2. The children of Israel were required to keep this day by a feast to the Lord, forever. Exodus 12:14. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.22
Conclusion: Hence the children of Israel were required to keep the feast of the passover, on the fifteenth of every month. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.23
It does not require a logician to discern the fallacy of the above conclusion. As well think of observing the anniversary of Washington’s birth-day on the twenty-second day of every month in the year. This would be as sensible as to believe in commemorating our Lord’s resurrection once in every seven days, because he arose on one day of the week. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.24
There are many other fallacious points in the arguments of first-day advocates, which perhaps may receive a future notice. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.25
E. B. SAUNDERS.
Eagle Harbor, N. Y.
HIDING UNDER GOD’S WINGS
“HE shall cover thee with his feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.26
‘Neath the shadow of thy wing,
Dearest Saviour, I can sing,
Safely sheltered on thy breast,
O how sweetly can I rest.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.27
Round this world I’ve sought in vain
Soothing balms to quell my pain,
Nothing have I found to prize,
Like my home beyond the skies.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.28
Jesus found me in my sin,
Gave relief and took me in,
Bade my weary heart rejoice,
And I love his welcome voice.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.29
When all earthly joys depart,
Thou canst heal the sorrowing heart;
And in all my cares and grief,
Thou, O Lord, canst give relief.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.30
In that glorious home above,
Where is joy, and peace, and love,
We shall shout our trials done,
And through Christ the victory won.
L. E. MILLNE.
Owasso, March 10.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.31
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.”
From Sister Harmon
DEAR BRO. WHITE: I have long felt a desire to speak through the Review to the dear saints who are striving to prepare for the soon coming of our blessed Lord and Saviour. I love to read the testimonies of those who are trying to enter in at the strait gate, and to tread the “high way of holiness.” My heart is filled with grateful love to God for his mercy and loving kindness to me, in permitting me to hear and embrace the third angel’s message. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.32
The precious truths of the Advent doctrine are very dear to me, and I am trying to live them out in my daily life, and be prepared to meet my Saviour when he comes. I want to be able to say with David, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.33
As the way seems to be growing more narrow, I feel the need of more entire consecration to the will of God. I am determined henceforth to live closer to God, to strive with more zeal to win a home in the glorious earth made new. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.34
I feel thankful that the way is made so plain that no one need err therein, and I feel thankful also that our Father has seen fit to reprove and correct us through vision, as also to warn us of the dangers that lie in our pathway, thus giving us evidence of his constant watchcare over us. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.35
I have many things to overcome, many evil besetments to conquer, and I feel my need of the grace of God to help me in the conflict. I hope I ever shall have a heart willing to receive reproof, and turn from iniquity. It seems to me that there is no habit I would not by the grace of God resist, no earthly pleasure I would not forego, no indulgence I would not give up for eternal life. When I think of the life and sufferings of our dear Saviour here for us, I feel ashamed that we ever talk of sacrifices on our part. If we cannot bear the tests that are brought to bear upon us thus far, how shall we be able to bear such as God may see fit to try our faith with in the future? I feel like submitting myself to the will of the Lord, and would say to any who are cast down, “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your hearts, all ye that hope in the Lord.” Yours in hope of eternal life. SUSAN A. HARMON. Marion, Iowa. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 126.36
From Bro. Lindsey
DEAR BRO. WHITE: Since by providence my lot is cast with the church in Ulysses, Pa., it may be interesting to you to know something of the state of feeling that now exists among the brethren here. Although they were at first almost unanimous (only two exceptions) in voting down organization, the subject has since been so much more thoroughly investigated that only four now occupy the ground they then took. The rest are favorable to organization, some quite anxious that the church should be reined up to the subject. The Lord has a people here who are trying, according to their best ability, to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.1
At the first, taking a “name” looked to them like participating in the “number of his name.” Revelation 13:18; 15:2. But most of them have better light now. They see that to be numbered with the “beast” they must bear his characteristic “mark.” The shepherd knows his flock by the mark he puts upon them. Just so the Lord has a mark for his flock, and the beast has for his. So may we not still recognize the Sunday-keeping churches as rapidly making up the prophetic “number?” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.2
The church here would be very thankful for a visit from you and sister W., and would aid in defraying your traveling expenses. They are willing to be reproved and corrected, and would gladly receive instruction. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.3
Yours in hope.
JOHN LINDSEY.
Ulysses, Pa.
From Sister Sanford
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: I commenced to keep the Sabbath, and covenanted to walk with the remnant to mount Zion, about eight years ago. I rejoice when I look back and see what advancement has been made by the people of God since that time. Not only have numbers been added unto us, of such, I trust, as shall be saved, but progress has been made in other things. Systematic Benevolence has been presented, and adopted by most of the churches, which has added much to the spread of the truth. Organization has come up, though through much trial, to restore order and bless the church; and although I confess that when it was first presented I had strong doubts and forebodings as to its propriety, I now find that if we trust in God we need not try to steady the ark, but God will take care of that himself. I rejoice that it has been received by the church. The gifts also I hope and trust are being revived in the church; and although the straight testimony is plucking out right eyes and cutting off right hands, I feel that it is good, and that I am willing to be scored and hewed by it, until I am fit to be with God’s people here, and to dwell with them in the kingdom. I know that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, but I do desire to be cleansed by the blood of Christ and made pure. I never before realized as I have of late what it is to be pure in the sight of God, to have dominion over ourselves, our hearts, and our tongues. James says, “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” James 3:2. I wish to become more pure, more upright, more like my Lord, that I may not be condemned when he appears. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.4
Your sister striving to overcome.
ELVIRA SANFORD.
Ashland, Dodge Co., Minn.
Extracts from Letters
Sister M. C. Trembly writes from Sanford, Mich.: “I am still striving to live out the precious truths of the Bible. I feel a strong determination to get on the whole armor, that I may be prepared for what is coming. I believe we are living in a solemn and awful time. We must be guarded on every side, watch and pray much, that we enter not into temptation. I feel much pleased with the idea of order among God’s people. I would like to have my name enrolled among them here, and hereafter.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.5
Bro. C. A. Ingalls writes from Berlin, Wis.: “We are very lonely here, but we keep struggling on. How we want to hear the word preached again. It rejoices us to hear of the prosperity of the cause. It seems as if the hand of the Lord was leading his church upon higher and holier ground. O, may we all be prepared for the mighty work before us. It is very cheering to us lonely ones to read the letters from the brethren and sisters. My whole heart is in the cause. O Lord, prepare thy people for the trials that are fast thickening upon the earth. I desire your prayers that I may be found with that happy people who will say, ‘Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him; we will rejoice in his salvation, and he will save us.’” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.6
Bro. B. P. Warner writes from Woodhull, Mich.: “I would say a few words with regard to our spiritual welfare. There are some eight or nine of us here who are trying to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. We never have heard a lecture on present truth. All the preaching we have is the Bible and Review, with some few of your books, which we prize very highly. We feel the need of a teacher very much, and hope to be able to bear the expenses of one this spring if we are favored. We desire an interest in the prayers of God’s dear children that we may ever be found living up to all the light that we have.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.7
Bro. L. Bean writes from Troy, Vt.: “I can say that there is nothing which gives me more delight than the prosperity of the cause of Christ here on earth, and the advancement of the third angel’s message. I want to go through with the remnant and enter that kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world for the little flock.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.8
Sister E. A. Sevey writes: “I still feel a determination to make heaven my home. I am more and more determined every day I live. We see the perilous times hastening on, and I think it should stir us up to more earnestness in the good cause in which we are engaged. I feel to thank God that he has given me eyes to see, and a heart to prize, the present truth. If we firmly obey it, we shall overcome every fault, and have a home in that blest mansion that Christ has gone to prepare for us. O, happy thought! that we can be where trouble and sighing will be no more. I long for that time to come. And though the doubt sometimes arises that I never shall be there, I am determined to try, the Lord being my helper. I realize that I can do nothing of myself.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.9
TRUST
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.10
A THOUGHT to cheer my lonely path,
A light to shine upon my way,
A hope that brightens every spot,
And chaseth every cloud away.
‘Tis that a Father’s hand doth bring
All joy to those who trust in Him.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.11
Though clouds arise above my head,
Leaving no space for light to shine -
Though trials ‘round my pathway meet
Like foes arrayed in battle line.
What matters it? No grief ‘twill bring,
If I but put my trust in Him.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.12
When time, with swift and steady hand,
My head has crowned with silver hair,
And palsied these now active limbs,
I will not doubt, nor e’er despair,
But when in death my eyes grow dim,
Still will I hope and trust in Him.
MARY HOUSE.
Catlin, N. Y.
ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.13
PRAYER
PRAYER is the means which God has appointed to obtain every good and escape every evil. We are certain of obtaining what we ask in faith, according to God’s will. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. He has earnestly invited us to come to him, has promised to supply all our wants, and to give us durable riches and righteousness. Jesus said to his disciples, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name, he will give it you; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. We may not obtain the first time we ask. Paul had a thorn in the flesh, and besought the Lord thrice before he was heard, and though it was not removed he was enabled to take pleasure in his infirmities. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.14
Prayer is a satisfactory evidence of our having received the saving grace of God. Because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby we cry abba Father. It is the breath of the spiritual life in the soul. Whatever has life must breathe, and if the life be strong it will breathe freely. If prayer be faint, weak, and disordered, the soul is not in full life and health; if there be no prayer there is no spiritual life. The first mark of it is “Behold, he prayeth,” and the last account we have of one is, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit.” It is to the spiritual church the promise belongs, I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. When we can feel with David, My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Then we may also say with humble yet believing confidence, “O, God, thou art my God.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.15
It is that singular duty in which every grace is exercised, every sin opposed, every blessing obtained, the whole soul revived, strengthened, and invigorated for the Christian race. Just in proportion to your prayers, so is your holiness, so is your usefulness. As the naturally weak ivy which if it had no support would grovel on the earth by adhering to some neighboring tree or building, and entwining itself about it, thus grows and flourishes, and rises higher and higher, and the more the winds blow and the tempests beat against it, the closer it adheres and the nearer it clings, and the faster its fibers embrace that which supports it, and it remains uninjured. Just so the Christian, naturally weak, by prayer connects himself with the Almighty, and the more dangers and difficulties beset him, the more closely they unite him to his God; he reaches toward, and leans upon, and clings to him and is strengthened with divine strength. High is the privilege of prayer, which turns our very wants to our advantage, leading us by them into a constant intercourse with God, and keeping us in a spiritual and heavenly state of mind. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.16
TO CORRESPONDENTS. - Please notice the following rules. If you will notice them, you will save our Secretary much perplexity and time. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.17
1. State all your business items distinctly, and put them all on a sheet by themselves, or on the last leaf of your letter, so that it may be torn off when the letter is opened. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.18
2. Always, in writing to this Office, give your Post Office, State, and County. If your Post Office be one name and your town another, give both, stating which is which. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.19
3. If you wish your paper changed to another Post Office, first state the name of the person, the Post Office, County, and State where it is sent, then the person, Post Office, County, and State where you wish it sent. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.20
OBITUARY
DIED in Huntsburg, Ohio, Jan. 21, my beloved companion, Laura C. Moffet, aged 32 years. Her disease was quick consumption, following the measles. She kept the Sabbath for the last six months of her life, having previous to that time made no profession. After she commenced keeping the Sabbath the change in her was so marked as to be noticed by all. She fell asleep in the full faith that Jesus has power to break the bands of death and restore her to life from the dead. I do not mourn like those that have no hope, for I expect, if I overcome my sins, to meet her again in God’s everlasting kingdom. This is a glorious hope. It cheers me on the way. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 127.21
T. H. MOFFET.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, MARCH 18, 1862.
TO A. N. SEYMOUR
[THE following note was sent by Bro. Hull to the Millennial Harbinger, and appeared in that paper in the issue of March 5, inst.] ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.1
SIR: You may remember that about five years ago, I accepted a challenge publicly given by you to discuss the subject of the seventh-day Sabbath, but you did not see fit to meet me. On the 15th page of your recently published tract on the subject, I find words equivalent to a renewal of the challenge; and I hereby renew my acceptance of it. And this time I will make my acceptance as public as your challenge, so that if you do not meet me, the public may enquire the reason. I will name as the place of meeting, Buchanan, Mich. Time, any time in April or May 1862. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.2
If you feel inclined to carry out your challenge, please inform me immediately at Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.3
MOSES HULL.
NOTE FROM BRO. INGRAHAM
BRO. WHITE: I have visited the churches in Ills., at Plumb River, Crane’s Grove, and Round Grove, and have heard from Princeville. I have received pledges to run the tent this summer to the amount of $200, one-half of which will be ready by the first of May. WM. S. INGRAHAM. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.4
NOW READY
MIRACULOUS POWERS, compiled by Elder M. E. Cornell, is now out of press and ready for delivery. It is a work of 143 pages, containing a narrative of incidents and sentiments from the eminently pious and learned, and from some of the most reliable historians, fairly representing the faith of the church in all ages upon the subject of miraculous powers, with an introduction by Elder James White, giving the Scripture testimony on the perpetuity of spiritual Gifts. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.5
APPOINTMENTS
WE will, providence permitting, meet with the church in Oakland, Wis., March 18, 19; Little Prairie, 22, 23; Battle Creek, Mich., 29. JAMES WHITE. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.6
Providence permitting, I will meet with the brethren on my Eastern tour as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.7
| Berkshire, Vt., | March 21-23. |
| Wolcott, “ | ” 28-30. |
| Roxbury, “ | April 4-6. |
| Washington, N. H., | ” 10-12. |
| Boston, Mass., | ” 18-20. |
I expect to visit several places in N. Y. on my return, and will appoint in due time. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.8
M. E. CORNELL.
Providence permitting, I will meet with the church in Princeville, Ills., the first Sabbath and first-day in May. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.9
WM. S. INGRAHAM.
Monthly meeting, April 12, at Bro. J. Lamson’s, Hamlin, Monroe Co., N. Y., seven miles north of Brockport Station. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.10
R. F. C.
TO BRO. BYINGTON
I WILL appoint to meet you at Colon on Friday, March 28. I would be pleased to have you meet the church in Burlington on the Tuesday evening following. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.11
J. H. WAGGONER.
DISCUSSION ON SPIRITUALISM
THERE will be a discussion between F. L. WADSWORTH and myself, in Stuart’s Hall, in the city of Battle Creek, commencing on Monday, March 17, at 7 o’clock P. M., and continuing three or four evenings. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.12
The proposition for discussion reads as follows: ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.13
“Resolved, That the teachings of Spiritualism are better adapted to the moral advancement of the human family than the teachings of Christianity.” ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.14
All who are interested in an examination of the relative merits of Spiritualism and Christianity, are invited to attend. MOSES HULL. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.15
Business Department
M. Kunselman: You will find the remittance you sent to be credited on Dr. Lovejoy’s Review, receipted in No. 15, present Vol. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.16
A. R. Austin: We have mailed the Instructor to you regularly. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.17
S. J. Voorus: There is due from Mrs. L. Fink on Review and Herald, 58 cts, and from L. Hodges, 92 cts.; both at half price. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.18
E. C. Stiles: The P. O. Address of D. T. Bourdeau is West Enosburg, Vt., and that of Eld. M. B. Czechowski is Enosburg Falls, Vt. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.19
J. Martin, of Ireland: Your letter of Feb. 25, 1862, has been received. We have mailed the Review regularly to you since the commencement of this volume, and will send again all the back numbers, and will also send you some more of our small pamphlets. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.20
J. Whitenack: The letter you refer to containing a remittance for Review has not been received. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.21
W. S. Foote: We receive postage stamps in payment of our books and papers. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.22
W. P. Rathbun: The Instructor has been regularly sent. We will send the missing numbers again. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.23
Receipts FOR REVIEW AND HERALD
Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the ‘Review and Herald’ to which the money receipted pays. If money for the paper is not in due time acknowledged, immediate notice of the omission should be given. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.24
W. Bryant 1,00,xx,1. W. S. Higley jr. 0,45,xviii,8. H. Seeley 2,00,xviii,1. S. M. Booth 2,00,xx,13. John Wheeler 0,50,xx,1. David Ferrin 1,00,xviii,12. D. Libbey 1,00,xix,18. H. W. Decker 1,00,xx,13. W. Holcomb 3,00,xxi,9. C. W. Stanley 1,50,xxi,1. P. L. Cornell 2,00,xx,13. H. M. Grant 50c. E. W. Carpenter 2,00,xx,13. A. L. Crosby 0,33,xix,7. E. Magee 2,00,xix,1. M. Edson 1,00,xix,1. J. M. Ferguson for T. Loofborrow 0,50,xx,13. J. M. Ferguson 0,50,xix,21. J. Wilber for M. Montgomery 0,50,xx,13. S. Zinn 1,00,xx,1. J. L. Baker $1. W. S. Lane 1,00,xx,1. A. Cochran 2,00,xix,5. H. G. Overmier 1,00,xix,20. A. Lanphear 1,00,xx,1. W. T. Davis 2,00,xviii,18. M. Hutchins 0,15,xxi,9. G. Berry 1,00,xxi,13. T. T. Brown 1,00,xv,1. W. Kelley 1,00,xxi,13. L. Sheldon 3,00,xix,14. B. Crandall 2,00,xxi,13. E. Hallock 1,00,xx,10. J. B. Benson 2,00,xx,14. C. Manley 1,00,xxii,1. M. M. Nelson 1,50,xx,18. L. Morris 1,00,xxi,14. G. R. Cooper 0,50,xix,1. S. Lawton 2,00,xxiii,1. R. Conley 0,40,xxi,22. O. W. Benson 1,00,xv,1. E. S. Decker 1,50,xx,1. H. N. Bates 3,10,xx,4. C. Bates 2,00,xxi,1. T. W. Newcomer 1,00,xviii,19. A. Coventry 1,00,xx,1. A. Coventry for W. Warrant 0,50,xix,14. R. Loveland 1,75,xix,13. R. Loveland for L. Cole 1,00,xx,1. J. King 1,00,xxi,13. A. Amborn 1,00,xx,6. C. M. Shepard 0,75,xix,1. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.25
Donations to Publishing Association
W. Dawson 55c. R. Cochran 90c. A. Avery, S. B. $1. Emma E. Decker $2,40. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.26
Books Sent By Mail
H. N. Bates $1,40. T. Bryant 60c. W. S. Higley jr. $1,70. D. H. Sanborn 25c. S. I. Twing 25c. S. W. Flanders 35c. A. Barnes 65c. D. Ferren 10c. R. G. Lockwood 10c. E. S. Decker 60c. J. P. Rathbun 15c. J. H. Ginley 10c. W. Farrar 15c. R. Baker 15c. M. H. Bates 15c. W. S. Foote 15c. N. M. Jordon 25c. N. Keezer 15c. E. A. Davis 35c. A. M. Preston $1,20. P. R. Chamberlain $1. C. M. Brown $1. J. Lindsey 75c. E. Bartlett 10c. L. Bean 45c. A. Stone 10c. W. Dawson 45c. P. L. Cornell 10c. W. T. Campbell 10c. H. M. Grant 10c. L. Bartholomew 12c. C. W. Nash 30c. J. A. Wilcox 55c. J. L. Baker 25c. E. Sanford 10c. W. S. Lane $1,60. John Clarke $1,30. T. Clement $1,02. F. Carlin 25c. J. Whitenack 10c. R. Cochran 10c. Jos. Clarke $1. B. F. Roberts $1. E. Hutchins 85c. J. M. Chaffee 60c. D. T. Shireman 10c. M. Hewitt. $1. J. L. Palfry 10c. M. Edson 40c. E. Styles $1. A. Avery 10c. L. M. Gates 15c. C. Manly 15c. T. Hamilton 15c. L. H. Russell 15c. S. Lawton 15c. W. Kelley 15c. E. Hallock $1. T. Paton 30c. J. Hallock $2,25. E. S. Decker 60c. F. Frauenfelter 45c. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.27
Cash Received on Account
B. F. Snook $12. A. Lanphear for B. F. Robbins $4. A. Coventry 70c. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.28
Books Sent by Express
B. F. Snook, Marion, Iowa, $13,88. F. Wheeler, West Monroe, N. Y., $15,40. Elias Goodwin, Oswego, N. Y., $7,80. I. N. Van Gorder $12,88. R. S. Patterson, Knoxville, Iowa, $10,25. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.29
PUBLICATIONS
| The New Hymn Book, containing 464 pages and 122 pieces of music, | 80 cts. |
| History of the Sabbath, in one volume, bound - Part I, Bible History - Part II, Secular History, | 60 “ |
| Sabbath Tracts, Nos. 1-4. This work presents a condensed view of the entire Sabbath question, | 15 “ |
| The Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12, particularly the Third Angel’s Message, and the Two-horned Beast, | 15 “ |
| Hope of the Gospel, or Immortality the gift of God, | 15 “ |
| Which? Mortal or Immortal? or an inquiry into the present constitution and future condition of man, | 15 “ |
| Modern Spiritualism; its Nature and Tendency. This book should be in the hands of every family, as a warning against Spiritualism, | 15 “ |
| The Kingdom of God. A Refutation of the doctrine, called Age to Come, | 15 “ |
| Pauline Theology, or the Christian Doctrine of Future Punishment, as taught in the epistles of Paul, | 15 “ |
| Prophecy of Daniel. The Four Universal Kingdoms, The Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days, | 10 “ |
| The Saints’ Inheritance. The Immortal Kingdom located on the New Earth, | 10 “ |
| Signs of the Times, showing that the Second Coming of Christ is at the Door, | 10 “ |
| Law of God. The testimony of both Testaments, showing its origin and perpetuity, | 10 “ |
| Vindication of the true Sabbath, by J. W. Morton, late Missionary to Hayti, | 10 “ |
| Review of Springer on the Sabbath, Law of God and first day of the week, | 10 “ |
| Facts for the Times. Extracts from the writings of eminent authors Ancient and Modern, | 10 “ |
| Miscellany. Seven Tracts in one book on the Second Advent and the Sabbath, | 10 “ |
| The Seven Trumpets. The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9, | 10 “ |
| Christian Baptism. Its Nature, Subjects and Design, | 10 “ |
| Assistant. The Bible Student’s Assistant, or a Compend of Scripture references, | 5 “ |
| The Fate of the Transgressor, or a short argument on the First and Second Deaths, | 5 “ |
| Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment - Apostasy and perils of the last days, | 5 “ |
| Truth Found. A short argument for the Sabbath, with an Appendix, “The Sabbath not a Type,“ | 5 “ |
| An Appeal for the restoration of the Bible Sabbath in an address to the Baptists, | 5 “ |
| Review of Crozier on the Institution, Design and Abolition of the Seventh-day Sabbath, | 5 “ |
| Review of Fillio. A reply to a series of discourses delivered by him in Battle Creek on the Sabbath question, | 5 “ |
| Brown’s Experience in relation to Entire Consecration and the Second Advent, | 5 “ |
| Report of General Conference held in Battle Creek, June 1859, Address on Systematic Benevolence, etc., | 5 “ |
| Sabbath Poem. A Word for the Sabbath, or False Theories Exposed, | 5 “ |
| Illustrated Review. A Double Number of the REVIEW AND HERALD Illustrated, | 5 “ |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. I, or the Great Controversy between Christ and his angels, and Satan and his angels, | 50 “ |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. II. Experience, Views and Incidents in connection with the Third Message, | 50 “ |
| Scripture Doctrine of Future Punishment. An Argument by H. H. Dobney, Baptist Minister of England, | 75 “ |
| Debt and Grace as related to the Doctrine of Future Punishment, by C. F. Hudson, | 100 “ |
| Voice of the Church on the Coming and Kingdom of the Redeemer. A History of the doctrine, | 100 “ |
PENNY TRACTS. Who Changed the Sabbath? - Unity of the Church - Spiritual Gifts - Judson’s Letter on Dress - Law of God, by Dobney (2 cts.) - Law of God by Wesley - Appeal to men of reason on Immortality - Much in Little - Truth - Death and Burial - Preach the Word. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.30
These tracts can be sent, post-paid, in packages of not less than twenty-five. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.31
Home Here and Home in Heaven, with other poems. This work embraces all those sweet and Scriptural poems written by Annie R. Smith, from the time she embraced the third message till she fell asleep in Jesus. Price 25 cents. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.32
The Chart. A Pictorial Illustration of the Visions of Daniel and John 20 by 25 inches. Price 15 cents. On rollers, post-paid, 75 cts. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.33
German. Das Wesen des Sabbaths und unsere Verpflichtung auf ihn nach dem Vierten Gebote. A Tract of 80 pp., a Translation of Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment. Price 10 cents. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.34
Holland. De Natuur en Verbinding van den Sabbath volgens het vierde Gebodt. Translated from the same as the German. Price 10 cents. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.35
French. Le Sabbat de la Bible. A Tract on the Sabbath of 32 pp. Price 5 cents. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.36
La Grande Statue de Daniel II, et les Quatre Betes Symboliques, et quelques remarques sur la Seconde Venue de Christ, et sur le Cinquieme Royaume Universel. A Tract of 32 pp. on the Prophecies. Price 5 cents. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.37
These publications will be sent by mail, post-paid, at their respective prices. When ordered by the quantity, not less than $5 worth, one-third will be deducted from these prices on Pamphlets and Tracts, and one-fourth on bound Books. In this case, postage added, if sent by mail. Orders, to insure attention, must be accompanied with the cash, unless special arrangements be made. Address Elder JAMES WHITE, Battle Creek Michigan. ARSH March 18, 1862, page 128.38