In Defense of the Faith

Chapter 6 — Has the Sabbath Been Lost?

Becoming desperate in his effort to abolish the Creator’s Sabbath, Mr. Canright the Baptist turns to the age worn lost time theory. On this point he says: DOF 91.1

“Then how do Sabbatarians know that our Saturday is the exact seventh day from creation down? ‘There is no possible means of fixing the day of the original Sabbath.’ ... During the long period before the flood, during the patriarchal age when they had no records; during their slavery in Egypt when even traditional knowledge was largely lost; during the anarchy under the judges, and all down the ages since, are they sure that no mistake has been made, not even of one day? Of course they are not.”—Seventh-day Adventism Renounced, pp. 183, 184. DOF 91.2

This objection to the Bible Sabbath has been so often and so adequately answered in the past that it hardly seems necessary to devote much space to it here, and yet we find that some people are genuinely troubled over it. DOF 91.3

There is nothing more sure than that there has been an accurate accounting of the days of the week from creation to the present hour. The week was instituted in Eden before the fall, and its beginning and close were marked by the Sabbath. Since that time God has carefully preserved the weekly cycle, as can be proved beyond all possible doubt. But we must refrain from replying to this point ourselves. Much better is it that Mr. Canright again be answered by his own words. In this way it will be clear to the reader that he was fully aware of the fact that the lost-time quibble was not valid, and that he simply used it in an effort to create doubt in the minds of those who had never properly looked into the matter. DOF 91.4

In 1873 Mr. Canright published a tract entitled “The Lost-Time Question,” in which he completely explodes all his later arguments on this point. We will quote at some length from this tract in order that the reader may see how fully and completely he has answered himself and how he leaves himself entirely without excuse for advocating this lost-time theory. The following is taken, from this former publication, Canright the Adventist speaking: DOF 92.1

“Among the numerous excuses which men raise for not keeping God’s holy Sabbath, that one based upon the argument of ‘lost time’ may be called the ‘last ditch.’ When all other arguments fail, persons fall back upon this, and excuse themselves from any further trouble about the matter. We often hear them say that they are convinced that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and that they would keep it, if they only knew which it was; but that, either before the flood or during the sojourn of Israel in Egypt, or in the Babylonish captivity, or during the Dark Ages, or somewhere, time was so lost that the true seventh day cannot be found. That this excuse is utterly without foundation we are sure we can now convince the reader, if he is candid enough to really desire the truth in the case. DOF 92.2

“That Saturday is the true and veritable seventh day, the day upon which God rested at the creation of the world, can be proved by an overwhelming mass of evidence. Is it not a little strange that until seventh-day advocates came along no one ever said anything about time being lost, and that you could not tell when the seventh day comes? From the minister in the desk to the child in Sunday school, all agreed that Saturday was the old seventh day upon which God rested, and Sunday the first day on which Christ rose from the dead. But when it is shown that there is no proof for a first-day Sabbath, and that the Scriptures teach that the seventh day is still the Sabbath, then, behold, these same persons are very ignorant all at once. Time has been lost, and they cannot tell when the seventh day comes. Can they tell when the first day comes, the day of Christ’s resurrection? They never seem to have any doubt about this. If they can tell that, certainly we can find the seventh day; for it must be the one just before it! Having found the first day, any person who can count seven on his fingers ought to be able to find the seventh day! Somehow, notwithstanding all the other days of the week are so easy to find and to count, this seventh day is very slippery, bothersome, and hard to find. It reminds me of the boy who was sent out by his father to count the pigs. He returned, saying that there were six pigs besides one little spotted fellow that frisked about so that he could not count him! DOF 92.3

“We should naturally suppose that this cry of ‘lost time’ would be confined to those who claim that there is no Sabbath now binding; but this is not the case. They generally freely acknowledge that Saturday is the old and true seventh day, and that there is no reliance to be placed upon the argument of lost time. Surprising indeed it is to hear this argument used by those who profess a great regard for the Sabbath commandment, and for Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, the resurrection day. They seem not to realize that if time has been lost, they are as bad off as we are. This objection weighs just as heavily against the first day of the week as ‘it does against the seventh. DOF 93.1

“Allowing that the seventh-day Sabbath is binding, it is unreasonable to suppose that God has suffered it to be lost.’ If God has given a law requiring the observance of the day, He certainly is able to preserve the knowledge of that day if He still desires men to keep it. It is, then, highly absurd to admit that the seventh day is the day that ought to be kept, and then to say that we would keep it if we could only tell which it is, claiming that it has been lost! It is directly impeaching the wisdom and power of God. Equally unreasonable is it to claim that any other day of the week is the Sabbath, and yet to say that the days of the week have been lost so that you cannot tell when it does come. No; the judgment day will show that all these objections and quibbles arise more from a carnal heart unwilling to submit itself to the plain requirements of the law of God than they do from any real difficulty in the case. DOF 93.2