St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-26
According to the Bible Teach
ing 1t Should Be Re-
spected,
Else Our Courts Must Be
Turned Into Courts Of
Theology,
And a Despotic Decree Will
Be Enforced as Gods
Will.


Fourth avenue, was delivered last
night. The concluding one is to be
given this evening. The attendance
has steadily increased from the opening
discourse, and it is expected that the
two farewell lectures at Plummer post
hall on Washington avenue next Sun
day and Monday evenings will at
tract equally appreciative and intelli-
gent audiences. The speaker said in
beginning that he would notice some of
the questions that would arise when
Sunday law should be passed. 1t is
called the Sabbath and the Lords day.
Now if the state attempts to enforce
the observance of the Lords day it will
inevitably follow that the scriptures
will have to be consulted to ascertain
what the Lord says about its observance,
because it will certainly be dis
puted that Sunday is the Lords
day, and if the state Sc
fuses to consult the word of the Lord,
it will place itself in the place of the
Lord. If it does consult the Scriptures
to ascertain what is the Lords day it
will find that all the Sunday laws must
be set aside, because the book shows
the first day is not the Lords day. The
spoken of in this way is in Revelation
when it says, Il was in the Spirit on the
Lords day." and as this is not con-
clusiveit must go further and then
is found text saying, The
Son of Man is Lord CT the Sab
bath, and the Bible says the seventh
day is the Sabbath. Now, putting these
together, all logic will say that the Son
of Man is Lord of the seventh day, and
the seventh day is the Lords day. Now,
what can the state do if it has to come
to such decision? Take the question
on the basis of the Sabbath day. This
makes it
A RELIGIOUS QUESTION,
and to uphold the law the Bible must
be ignored. as, from beginning to end it
declares the seventh day to be the Sab
bath. and if the Bible is ignored. then
the government puts itself in the
place of God. In either case the
result is the papacy. Col. Elliott
F. Shepherd says They rest this whole
movement upon the fourth command
ment-amd as given in it. DR.. Kenick
Johnson, before the educational COM
mittee of the senate in Washington,
said this liberalism that cOnfiers it to a
literal day is making fetch of it and
subduing the spirit, and Senator Blair
asked him what basis he had for its
observance, and he answered, the
fourth commandment, and on being
pressed to show on what he
based the change to the first
day, said, in substance, on the
fact that two or three meetings were held
on that day. Now as these men base
their authority on the forth command
ment let one take it into law and see
the result. A supreme court decision is
RI no ho ~ 10 oh ha fob
as it is written.' This would, then
make the seventh day the Sabbath, if
appealed to in court. But they will
say it does not say what seventh day it
is. The decision says it is very proper
rule that the whole statue should be eX-
amined to ascertain the intention of
every part. Well,
THE COMMANDMENT SHOWS
that it is the seventh day in the course
of seven from the beginning, which was
the first week of creation and the origin
was therefore the seventh day of the
week. Now look at the last verse of
chapter % and first verse of chapter "a
of the book of Luke: The seventh day
then is the day that comes just before
the first day of the week, and so the
court would have to decide, under
this ruling, so the law would
be found to contradict the basis
upon which it rests, and show
that there is no basis for law for Sun
day observance. Another rule: 1T is
the intent of the law giver that is to be
inforced.' Now then, the intention of
God will have to be ascertained also.
There is no doubt about this. Turn to
Exodus, xvi, 4, in which is shown by
these special acts what God intended by
giving the Sabbath to man, interpreted
the law and continued to point out to
them for forty years the day He
intended them to keep. All men
now admit this, and there
fore on this count, if the
statute comes into court Of law to be
guided by law, the enactment enfOrces
Sunday observance. would have to be
declared against. Another statement:
When the words of statute are plain,
taken according to their common mean
ing, and no room is left $50
says another authority for cOnstruc-
tiOn.. Another says the words must be
followed, So, then, in this case
THE MEN HAVE NO RIGHT
to put upon this commandment any
meaning that the words which are plain
and common, have not in common use.
When the seventh day. is spoken.
there is but one queryi in the mind-the
seventh day of the week or month, not
seventh part of time, and when spoken
of the fourth commandment it is known
always that the meaning is the seventh
day of the week. But mark this. if such
legislation is enacted our courts will be
turned from courts of law into courts
of theology, and receive the the
ology from the theologians. DR..
Crafts admitting this, when
he says the ministers are the succession
of the prophets of old, through whom
God declared His will. These men will
define the meaning of God to suit the
law enacted, and this will result in the
establishment of as great deSpOtISm
as the world has ever seen. From anvi
standpoint from which we argue this
question: it brings US to the papacy as
logical termination. The speaker
read again from Judge Corby
to show that DR.. Johnson's po-,.
sition that the day had been
changed by the resurrection of
the Lord, to show that a law could not
be construed to mean one thing at one
time and another at another time. but
must mean one thing as long as it re-
mains i'll existence, and that a court
which will allow public sentiment to
influence it to give different meaning
to a law than that intended by its
founder, would be guilty of a reckless
disregard of official duty and the oath
OF office. Now, then, what can the
JUST AND LOGICAL CONCLUSION
be if these men, who admit they base
their claims ON the fourth command
ment, seek to construe in legal form,
the commandment to apply to new
and foreign day? Is it not fraud and
unnatural construction of the words.
and a meaning that can never be at
tached to them, being given before anv