Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-10-19
SEVENTH DAY ADvENTIsTs.

SEVENTH DAY ADyENTISTs.
Who and What They kre-Yesterday'i
eediugs-To-day's Programme
Tho camp.neeting at East Park, being
somewhat unusual in its order and arrange
ments, has created quite an interest IN thu
minds of those who attend, to learn NOR
| Of the people who ara holding it. Some
pains has therefore been taken to CLEAN some
| thing Of their history and their faith.
As their name indicates. they keep tbs
seventh day Of the week, or Saturday, al
the Sabbath. This custom they base on tbs
literal reading OF the fourth commandment
" The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lore
thy God" They argue that the Sabbath
was made at creation when God rested from
all bis work and blessed the seventh day
that this fact, and this alone, is made tbs
basis of Sabbath obligation in the decalosue
that it was not merely Jewish ordinance,
IS it came from the creation, as did marriage.
existing before any such distinction as that
| OF Jews aud Gentiles could be known, and is
| for the race; that 10 other day is called tae
| Sabbath in the Bible, and no reason given in
all the Bible for the observance of weekly
Sabbath but that in Ex. Xxx 10, IL, namely.
| Gods resting from his work of creation; and
that, as laws when plainly enacted must be
plainly repealed or changed, no change of the
| sancti6ed rest day has ever taken place; that
it is inconsistent aud impossible that keeping
the first day shall be counted as
OBEDIENCE
To the fourth commandment which requires
| the observance OF the seventh day; and
| finally, that there is no such institution IN
the Scriptures as Christian Sabbath, in
distinction from the original Sabbath OF the
Lord; that the gospel has its own institu-
tions, which are, however, confined to be-
levers in Christ, unlike marriage and the
| Sabbath. which together come down from
Eden, where they were given to the head of
| the race.
As Adventists, they believe that the com
| ing of the Lord is near, and that the present
dispensation will soon close. But they set no
| time for the coming Of Christ; they do not
believe that the time is revealed, and conse-
quently cannot be told by any one. Yet the
Savior said his people should know when 1t IS
near, even at the doors They consider the
doctrine of the second advent practical
| doctrine; that it is important that the
of the Lord be understood, even as it was
necessary for the people to understand the
coming Of the food, in order to prepare for
that event that the Savior himself SAID tiatt,
as they who knew not of the coming of the
food were taken away in their sins, so shall
it be when the Son OF Man shall come and
that the prophecies abuudantly show that the
world shall be warned before the Lord comes.
NoN-AGREESENT
Beside this, there is one point in which they
do not agree with the majority of the reli-
gious world. They do not balieve that man
is an immortal being, but is told to seek for
Immortality, and there il placed before him
the hope of eternal life through Christ. They
take the declaI ations literally, 1.-THE wages
of sin is DEATH" and 1.-THE soul that sinneth
it shall die" believing that they who do not
receive Immortality through Christ will be
utterly destroyed. They hold TO the iterality
of the threatening Of punishment with fire
others used to teach, but they do not believe
in eternal torment. This doctrine, though
not generally considered orthodox, is receiv-
ing attention from many good and eminent
men il the various denominations.
In most other respects their faith is nearly
in harmony with that of the churches styled
orthodox. They believe in the inspiration of
the Old and New Testament. and adhere
closely to their literal reading, being what are
known as literalists IL scripture interpre-
tation. They generally favor the revision of
the New Testament, believing that in many
respects it comes nearer to the original than
the old version, and the inspired original is
the real standard They are
STRONG ADHERENTs
To the ten commandments as the law Of God
and the rule of life-ths only moral law y
binding in all dispsnsatious alike; they con-
slider the Gospel, not as q substitute for the
law, but remedy for the violation OF the
law, and that it 10 more sets aside the au-
thority of the law than pardon granted by
the Governor abrogates statute Of the
State They believe in the unity of God and
the Sonship OF Christ. They are not Trini-
tarians, nor do they acknowledge thsmselyes
Unitarians in the common scceptation Of that
term. They believe in the divinity and pre-
existence of Christ, and his presence and
power ia the work Of creation, but always as
the Son OF God. They hold the evangelical
view Of the atonement; that the death Of
Christ was substitutionary, and sacrifice to
the violated law; that salvation is condi.
toned upon acceptance CT that sacrifice. and
obedience to the law of God through faith il
Christ. They believe In the
IMMEDIATE OPERATION
OF the Spirit of God, both as a comforter to
the saints and reprover of sinners that it
is an efficient agent in the work of CONVEX
sion, and that the various gifts of the Holy
Spirit were given to the Church for all time,
and are received according to the faith exsr-
eised by believers.
They hold to baptism as an ordinance for
believers. and the only memorial of the res
direction Of Christ, by which is also shown
| faith in the resurrection of all the saints at
the last day, and, as the Baptists, coafine
themselves strictly to immersion.
They reject the view held by many, OF the
millennium and the conversion of the world.
referring to such passages as Matthew vii .
| Is. IA, that the way to life is narrow, and
| found by the few while the way to destruc-
ton is broad, and travelled by the many
that the Gospel takes out the nations q
| people to Gods name-Acts XIV, IA; Rev.
vii, 9, Il.
They are organized into Conferences, of
which there are twenty-three; three of them
on the Pacific coast-California Oregon and
Upper Columbia. Also General Confer
ence, which has the oversight of all mission
arg work and missionary fields, and is the
| highest earthly authority in the denomina-
| ton. They are pre-eminentlY
A MISSIONARY PEOPLE,
] HAVING q NJeDeral lEdCI ana RllSs1OOery 90
ciety, State or Conference Societies, and To-
cal societies in all the churches. The object
| is to make every member missionary worker
in thu distribution of denominatioaal itera-
ture both at home and abroad, writing letters,
visiting families, etc. Elder J. N. Andrews,
who has been prominently connected with
| this cause for thirty-six years, was sent to
| Switzerland in 1873, having his headquarters
at Basic, from which point efaithiss spreading
! into Germany, France, Italy and Egypt. FL
| der J. N Loughborough, who labored several
years in planting and establishing the work
in this State, carries on the " English Mis-
sion, with headquarters at Southampton.
And Elder Matteson, who was educated in
Denmark for the Lutheran ministry, re-
turned to his native country to labor among
the Scandinayians, having his headquarters
at Christiana, Norway.
AN IMPORTANT BRANCH
OF the missionary work is that denominated
the ship work. Nearly every ship arriving
in San Francisco bay is visited and supplied
with books, tracts, and periodicals, By this
means they are sent to every port OF the
world. The same is done at Southampton,
England, and to some extent in Atlantic
ports in the United States. To no part of
their work have they paid more attention
than to that of publishing. Elder James
White, who recently died in Michigan, COM
nenced publishing a small paper in Maine,
in 1919 1t was enlarged and removed to
New York, and again in 1855 to Battle Noun
tain, Mich, where it has grown up to be one