Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-06-18
TNi; SABBATH

Seventh day Advcntlsts A. is wet
Tho Sabbath appointed by divine com.
mand and that not to observe IN,
Saturday as such rs q crime compar
able to that of breaking any other
commandment NJ the Decalogue
II should De observed. to begin with
that the Lord has not sanctincd sat
urday In distinction from Sunday. OF
any other day The Law promulgated
from Sinai was: "Six days shalt thod
labor and do an thy work: but tho
seventh day is tho Sabbath of tho
Lord thy God. iu 1t thou shalt not do
other occasion C1x. 30: p rs follows.
"six days shall work be done. but on
the seventh day there shall be- To- you
an holy day. % sabbath of rest ct the
Lord whosocver docth work therein
shall be put to death"
Not q word IS said of Saturday. hut
n the seventh day Tho Law instl-
lutcs a week Of seven days. ~ which
six are work days and one a day 81
rest and devotion. 70 work six days
md TO rest on the seventh, whether this
he saturday.or Sunday. or Monday, Is to
ten days for Instance. as has been
suggested sometimes. would b. To vio-
tate IT, To maintain that the OBJ
scryance of saturday as sabbath Is en-
Joined by the Decalogue is simply 10
put into that sacred code something
that is not there.
Anyone who win reflect on the fact
thar time differs and varies on earth,
with different longitudes, viii under
stand the impossibiiity Of giving sab
bath law eniOinlng the observance OF
one and the same day all over the
,arth what Is Sunday in one place
Is Saturday IN another. by reference
10 time tables giving difference in time.
Il will be seen that when 1t Is - o'clock
noon on any Saturday in Salt Lake
city. It IL 2S7 Sunday morning at
Hong Kong, "a az the Philippine Is
lands 4;io az Melbourne. and 4:i9 at
Yokohama sunday at these longltudes
hcgins long before Saturday has eS-
pircd in the United states, what is
saturday to some Of the children OF
men IL Sunday to others.
II this needs further illustration, let
anyone travel from Salt Lake city
around the world eastward. when
ne returns he win ind that he has
lost a day, and that his Saturday is
sunday at home In the same way IL
he travels westward he will gain
lay. and his sunday viii be Saturday
AZ the starting point. II will be APP
parent TO anyone who reflects on the
form OF the earth Of which the Crea-
tor. and Author of the Dccalogue, was
fully aware that no special day could
be made universal Sabbath. while at
the same time. It was perfectly well
understood that man needed just what
the Law says six days OF work and
one day of rest
In Egypt they had a week OF seven
days, hut 1t began with the day de-
voted to Saturn, the Bel Of the ancient
Assyrians. aud ended with the day of
Venus, or the Assyrian Myitta. The
Hebrews began new reckoning with
the exodus. and they made the Egyp-
tian first day of the week their last.
That was perfectly feasible az long as
their faith was confined TO one small
locality OF the globe but as We have
seen. there could be no universal APP
plication Of that rule.
Nor Is it absolutely certain that the
sabbath of the Hebrews always oc-
CURED ON the same day. The question
has been raised with some reason
whether il was not a movable holiday
that would come on different days in
the cycle of seven years Just AZ our
own national holidays fan sometimes
on sunday. sometimes on Monday. and
then ON Tuesday and SO on II this
should be proved to have been the
ease. the entire controversy on the Sab
bath day would hc settled
But the question whether We have
apostolic authority for the observance
OF the first day of tho week as the
Christian sabbath Is one that Is held
60 be- the main one la this discussion.
We certainly have. There can be no
uoubt about that
Ia the Acts Of the Apostles We nnd
(chapter 2o.5l the church gathered for
worship on the hrat day And this day
Is in the Revelation tchaptcr l0l de-
signated as the day of the Lord thorc-
by clearly indicating that il had been
set apart for His service This ~ cor-
roboratcd 10y the carly literature Of the
church. I'm tho cpistc ascribad to
Barna bas the nrst day of the week is
referred 70 as the day ON which the
Christians contemplated tho resurrec-
ton Of Christ ana His ascension. and
the new creation founded on these
events and IN the letters of Ignatius
i is presupposcd that even the con
Nerts OF the Jews observed sun
lday instead of Saturday Sunday be-
lcame q the followers of Jesus the
lsymbol Of His hfc and work Just as
Ithe sabbath was the symbol of the
Mosaic covenant II was To the Chris
ltians a day Of JOY They did not fast
lon that day. They prayed erect on that
lday and not knceling as on other days
trhey prepared themselves FOR the OBJ
Eervanoe OF Sunday by contemplation
pr the sunerings and death of the LORD
Pn Wednesdays and Fridays, which
were days OF devotion and penltcnce in
the early days Of the church.
Some Of the seventh day Adventists