The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1921-08-26
THE TWO TABLES or STONE
THEIR MEANING

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the Religious Liberty Association Of
America, in very lengthy petition to
the Congress Of the United States
against the passage Of any compulsory
Sunday laws, fortifies his petition with
the following reasons, among others,
which he sets forth as being strong
and forceful Biblical admonitions
against SO doing.
Mr. Longacre for the Association
says:
In order that all men might know
and recognize the distinction between
the duties we owe to God and the du-
ties we owe to men. God purposely
wrote the Ten Commandments upon
two separate and distinct tables Of
stone. God did not throw the Ten
Commandments together promiscuous
ly Nor was He limited in the selec
ton of stone, and unable to find a
stone long enough to write all ten
on one table. He could just as easily
have written all ten on one table of
stone as upon two tables. But God
Intentionally and designedly wrote
those commandments which define
mans true and proper relationship
with God upon the first table, and
those which define mans proper and
equitable relationship with his fell
low men upon the second table. The
first four commandments of the dec
alogue, written upon the first table,.
deal exclusively with our duties and
relations toward God, while the last
six on the second table refer only to
mans obligations to his neighbor.
When Jesus Christ came into this
world He referred to these two tables
and stated explicitly that upon the
first table was written mans duties to
God, and likewise, on the second table,
mans obligations to his neighbor.
First Table Exclusively Gods
The state, which is supposed to exer-
else civil functions and deal only with
mans proper relationship with man,
has no right to enact and enforce any
of the first four commandments of the
decalogue, because these command
ments prescribe man S exclusive duty
toward God, and pertain to acts which,
in their very nature are purely de-
votional and religious. A violation
of these four commandments is a sin,
but not crime. They have nothing
whatever to do with mans relation
ship with the state or with man The
state can not properly or rightfully
function in this realm without invad-
ing the domain of God and the citadel
Of the soul of man. If a man chooses.
to reject the true God, to worship
images, to blaspheme the name Of God.
or to work on the Sabbath of the
Lord" he is accountable to God alone
for these specific offenses and must
appear and answer before His iudg-
ment seat in the last day, but not at
Caesars judgment bar now.
Must Segregate Duties on Second
Table
The duties set forth on the second
table can not be enforced by the civil
authorities as the commandments of
God in our relations to God, but only
IN our relations to man The last six
commandments on the second table
pertain to the duties between man and
man in all his relations of life with
man and are purely civil obligations.
And while a violation of these com
mandments is an offense against our
neighbor they are also an offense
against God The commandments
which phohibit stealing, killing, and
adultry set forth our duties both to-
ward God and toward man., and when
broken the offenses both against God
and man, when their interests are com
mon. For instance, the commandments
that say: Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not Kill, 2 Thou shalt not
commit adultery, cover more than
our duty toward man. The Scripture
says: viii a man rob God? Yea;
re have robbed Me in tithes and offer
Ings saith the Lord. But the civil
authorities do not punish Christians,
much less mont Christians, for refus-
lng to pay their tithes and offerings
to the Lord. Yet the Scriptures saith:
The 1.-THE is holy unto the Lord, the
same as it saith: The Sabbath is /
holy unto the Lord Both are duties
which believers owe exclusively to
God and not to man, and neither ought
g be enforced ~ the state, although
N the past both have been enforced
~ the civil magistrate.
Thou shall not kill can not be
enforced as the commandment of God