The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-26
OBSERVE THE SABBATH
The Question Discussed by the
Rev. d. @. Clark.
IT'S A BURNING QUESTION
The Pendulum IL Swinging to the Con-
tinentai sabbath-It Is Called For
by the Physical Necessities
OF Man. -.

The Sabbath was made for man.
Mark H.. %.
Among the burning questions OF the
day the Christian Sabbath stands in the
foreground. Divine Providence Is fore
ing II upon our attention. and the logic
OF event. is compelling us to take some
positive stand In relation to 1t. on the
hand there Is a determined effort
to secularize the day and to rob II of It's
sanctity; on the other. there Is an
equally determined purpose to insist
that both as a civil and a religious in
stitution 1t deserves recognition and de-
Tense. In this discussion. as well as In
the discussion of all c~ontroverted pues-
tions. IL is unreasonable to rye ex-
IRENE views: "A conservative and ra-
tional judgment is the attitude of mind
to be desired. We should bear In mind
that we are living In a day of second
recoiL
Three hundred years ago the people
OF England attended church on sunday
forenoon ard In the afternoon were free
to attend the fairs and horse races. The
dissipation and immortality then engen-
dered led to the reaction that found ex.
preston In the Puritan Sabbath. To-
day the pendulum Is swinging with fear
full velocity from the Puritan Sabbath
to the Partisan or the continental Sab
bath. This tendency. then, that Is so
pervasive. should be considered In our
discussion this morning.
THE sabbath Is both a civil and a re-
ligious institution, and let us at once
inquire upon what basis IL rests. The
more carefully we look into the subject
the more evidence we shall find to con-
vince us that the Sabbath Is not pri-
marily a liked day. but that 1t is an in
stitution. The Hebrew word for Sab
bath means rest IL came to be used
naturally enough as the name of the
particular day set apart from the rest.
In which there was "A hush In the big
whirl of life. But It's reference was
never to the day, as "A day. but TO an
Observance, an institution.
Our American Thanksgiving affords
an illustration. Thanksgiving is not
primarily the name Of "a day. but of an
observance. IL d~esignates a day which
already has It's own name as one of the
days of the week. Thus. one might date
"A letter Thursday. Thanksgiving day.
Nov. "a. III there was an adequate rea-
son n might keep Thanksgiving,
though he observed IT on Wednesday.
When we say that Saturday is the jew
ish Sabbath we simply affirm that the
Jews observe an institution upon a GER
cain day OF the week, and we may just
as truly say that the Christian keeps
his Sabbath IN sunday. The origin OF
the sabbath is neither In Christian prae-
tice nor In Jewish law. Neither Jesus
nor Moses gave us the Sabbath; they
found % already existing. They reaf-
firmed n amplified IL. Remember the
Sabbath lay to keep IL holy An insti-
tuition a..,ddy I'm existence Ii implied
by the very language Of the fourth
commandment. The Sabbath is more
than n Jewish or "A Christian iustitu-
tiOp n Ia n ntNina ipsfitnfinp God in
stituted the Sabbath when He made
man. When God built the world he
built the sabbath into it, The evidences
Of this primeval sabbath. which ante
date Moses, are abundant. but we can
not dwell upon them this morning.
Moses recognizes the authority OF the
day and gives his reasons for 1t. That
thine OK and thine ass may rest-that
thy man servan and thy maid servant
may rest as well as thou
Christ recognizes n. but he presents
Its observance as a privilege rather
than as a command. I sabbath was
made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath. IL is a means To an end.
Mans well-being. and not the peculiar
observance OF the day. Is thrown into
the foreground. IL IL to be observed be-
cause IL is for his good.
Here. ihen. we have our authority
for the Sabbath. II Is more than the
W " s'"hN eN ASA 'Nfh
the Decalogue points back, as the rea-
son for observing the day, To creation
itself-'For In six days the Lord made
heaven and earth. the sea and all that
In them is. and rested the seventh day
The Christian sabbath is the natural
successor both Of the Jewish and the
primeval Sabbath. IL is OF the same
stock. but II has come 10 flower and
fruit. II Is a broader and "A better day.
IL partakes OF the gladness which char
acterizes the gospel of Christ. IL pre-
sents the Sabbath as "A gift TO man
rather than as an obligation laid upon
him.
The question Of the particular day is
trivial IL savors OF the letter and not
OF the spirit. The Sabbath IL a sancti-
fed seventh of time. IL is true that
for the last 10 centuries the majority OF
Christendom have accepted the first In
stead OF the seventh day as the day of
rest and worship. To-day, according
10 accredited statistics, there is only
seven-tenths OF n per cent. OF the
population OF the United States. and
less han that I'm Great Britain, includ-
ing the Jews. the Seventh Day Advent
lists and the Seventh Day Baptists. who
adhere to the old Mosaic law. But for
them the seventh day Is as assuredly
the sabbath as h first is for the
masses. But a sabbath of rest Is OF
eternal and perpetual obligation.
This morning l will aim TO establish
this statement by adequate proof and
then I will consider some other ques-
tions vitality connected with IL. ! will
appeal to evidence from three distinct
sources.
"First-The physical necessities OF
man call for a Sabbath. DIR. Henry
Foster Of Clifton Springs. New York.
says: IL is a law OF God. established
in our physical constitution. that de-
mands rest as often as one day in
sever. Any infraction OF that
law weakens the constitution and low
ers the physical N moral tone of be
ing
In a prize essay on Sunday Rest by
a professor OF hygiene in Leipsic univer-
sity he maintains the striking fact that
the average life OF Jews. who are strict
Sabbatarians. is 10 Years longer than