The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1877-12-15

SIR-It would be easy to I'll your whole paper
with arguments and quotations on this Sabbath ques-
toni again ask for but q half column. H.
I was sorry to see Cosmopolitan, In his last com
municatiOn, fall from bis gentlemanliness into
something Of unchristian bitterness. What good
does it DO for him to presume that the great body Of
earnest loving Christian workers in this day are un-
circumcised JeWsH Why need be speak Of that
large and learned body Of Westminster divines. and
consequently also, Of all the great general assemblies
Of the Presbyterian Church, in England and Amer
lea. and all the great Congregational Councils, and
the conferences Of other churches, and the Church
of England, and the great Evangelical Alliances,
composed of the best scholarship and piety in the
world, as guilty Of " n great falsehood and unblush-
ing lie against Christ and his word"
These all stand on the same ground on this Sab
bath question. The celebrated Boston Council Of
1866 planted itself on this ground. That vast con-
course Of glowing piety gathered in Providence In
October last would not have hesitated 10 do the same.
All the great bodies Of Christians who are doing 10
much for the eyangelization Of the world, hold the
Sabbath TO be n day holy unto the Lord.
1t is true that Luther and Calvin and other ancient
and modern scholars and reformers have given ut
terances against regarding the Lords day as n Jew
ish Sabbath. They reject the idea that the Mosaic
Sabbath has been carried over into the Lords day.
And yet there never has been a time, since the res
direction cf Christ, when the Lords day or the
DIlbl DuObhhus "a bOh DNNh bublthy ~ TtllK-
iously observed in the Christian Church. This IL
quite uudisputed. No one claims that by direct en-
actment Of Christ or the Apostles. was the Jewish
Sabbath transferred to the first day Of the week;
and yet its sanctity, as a matter Of fact, was trans
ferred. DIR. Hessey, author Of hampton Lectures for
1860, after thoroughly going over all the patriotic
evidence Of the first two or three centuries, concludes
that . the Lords day existed during these centuries
as a part and parcel Of Apostolic, and 80 Of Scriptural
Christianity" lie says " IL was never defended,
for it was never impugned." 1t Is an exlraordi.
nary fact that we never End Its dedication ques-
toned, or argued about, but accepted AS some
thing equally apostolic with confirmation. infant
baptism and ordination" "The Fathers at the
general council Of Nice, A. ID. 326 make No doubt
Of the obligation Of that day" Richard Baxter
says " That the first Christian Emperor finding
all Christians unanimous In the possession OF the
day should make a law for the due observing Of it,
and that the FIRST Christian Council should estab-
lish uniformity in the very gesture OF worship on
that day are strong combinations Of the matter Of
fact, that the churches unanimously agreed In the
holy use OF IL az n separated day even from and In
the Apostles days Justin Martyr, A. ID. lao.
says: ION Sunday all Christians meet together
for religious worship, because God created the
world, and Jesus Christ rose from the dead
Tertullian says ave celebrate Sunday as a joy
ful day" Even business is TO be put on, lest
we give place TO the devil" Clement Of Alexan-
dria says "a true Christian according 10 the
commands OF the gospel observes the Lords day
by casting out all bad thoughts, and chcrishing all
goodness, honoring the resurrection Of our Lord"
Origen says 1T IL one OF the marks Of a perfect
Christian TO keep the Lords day" SO the Chris
tian Fathers testify. To have regarded the Lords
day as a day for business or worldly pleasure
would have been incompatible with the sacred
purposes TO which IL was devoted. True ~evangeli-
Gal, vital Christianity has never advanced where
the day Of rest has been without s~anctlty.
The true position OF this question Is that God
from the beginning has enjoined that a portion Of
our time be given to holy purposes. Calvin him
self strongly argues for this, Notwithstanding the
quotations OF Cosmopolitan. He took the ground
that the cpTpmonial Sabbath was fulfilled In Clrfaf
but that the day Of rest for the good OF man.
sacredly remains. he says: sour Provident
Father has been no less attentive TO provide for
our necessity than for that Of the Jews" lie
says (" IL were abolished the Church would be
in immediate danger Of convnlsion and ruin."
And yet Luther and Calvin, having no great
conflicts or discussions on this question, did not sin
it thoroughly. and did not come TO the clear and
correct position that the English Pnrftans did.
The consequence Is that Germany and France
have never had the Christian Sabbath that England,
Scotland and America have. The picture Of the
Sabbath in Germany as drawn by a distinguished
German scholar a few years ago IL a sorry one.
showing IL to be there "a day Of wOrldliness and
S1s; h 4. nSw ssi0EPi is'y m 1SS very ,b ,os sabbath Sae S sSG
the present religious tendency there IL decidedly
evangelical.
In England there was conflict, broad aud deep
on this question, and the reformation came 10 solid
ground on II. DIR. Bound in 1888 was the 0rst 10
set forth the true relation Of the Lords day 10 the
Old Testament Sabbath. His book was suppressed
Out circulated the more. hnN tue controversy went
on until the Church Of England adopted In their
canons the Puritan position. IL n strange that
Cosmopolitan should take sideG with James |. and
Charles III. and the notorious Archbishop Laud
who used force TO enforce the Dissertation Of the
Christian Sabbath with dances. games, drinking
bouts and the like. The best of the clergy " many
hundred godly minister" who refused 10 publish
the order for these things from their pulpits were
ex-communicated and Imprisoned. On which side
was The superstition and bigotryf Oh bow much
England aud America owe 20 their Christian
Sabbatbsi
In answer TO CosmoPolitan's position that
" every day is a Sabbath y let me quote from q
quaint historian on this very point " These tran
scendants, accounting Themselves mounted above
the predicament OF common piety, aver they need
not keep any, because they keep all days as Lords
days in their elevated HOLINESS. But alas Christ
ian duties, said TO be ever done will prove never
done, II not sometimes sOlcmnly done. They are
the most dangerous Jewelers., equaling at all times
places aud persons making a general confusion TO
be gospel perfection" o.. .....I
i will only add that even those scholars md re-
formers who reject any direct connection between
the Christian Sabbath aud the fourth Command,
yet regard the day sacredly as a one Of Christian
privilege.
AIas 7 hava ovapvaacha1 kha half ooIumn