?^^ ^ PRINCETON, N. J :*«« •' _.... . . """S, Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia. Pa. BV 110 .H65 1825 Holden, George, 1783-1865. The Christian sabbath 5CC April 1835. SERMONS PRINTED FOR AND SOLD BY J. G. & F. RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. NEW VOLUMES. NEWMAN. — Parochial Sermons. Volume the Second. For the Festivals of the Church. Bj the Rev. John Henry Newman, M.A. Vicar of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, and Fellow of Oriel College. 8vo. 10s. 6d. (Just published.) *.^* Lately Published the First Volume. 10s. 6d. ANDERSON.— Discourses on Elijah and John the Baptist. By the Rev. J. S. M. Anderson, M.A. Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen, and Perpetual Curate of St. George's Chapel, Brighton. 8vo. 10s. (id. GIRDLESTONE.— A Course of Sermons for the Year. By the Rev. Charles Girdlestone, M.A. Vicar of Sedgley, Staffordshire. 2 vols. 12mo. 14s. 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By one party it is deemed a sacred institution, while another maintains that all distinction of days is abolished by Christ. Henee some rest its obligation on expediency alone, others on the authority of ecclesias- tical government, and others on the sanction of the Inspired Writings. Nor, among those who ascribe a divine origin to the sabbath, is there a perfect agreement as to the parti- cular day to be kept holy in the septenary division of time ; nor whether the Deity requires the dedication of an entire day, or only a part of it. These are questions, however, of no tri- fling importance, since it is a fact attested by liistory and experience, that, in proportion A 2 IV PREFACE. as the Lord's day is observed or profaned, either in nations or in families, religion is found to flourish or decay. It cannot, in- deed, be otherwise, considering on the one hand, how needfid a weekly remission of secular employments is to the cultivation of religious principles, and on the other, that true faith is always distinguished by a regu- lar attendance on the hebdomadal offices of devotion. In the complaints, so often heard, of the increasing neglect of the sabbatical duties in this country, there may, perhaps, be more of querulousness than of truth ; but the desecration of the Lord's day un- questionably prevails to an alarming extent ; and it must be the wish, as it ought to be the endeavour, of every believer in Christ, to suppress an evil of so much magnitude, through a conviction that a stricter observance of this sacred season will be followed, as its natural consequence, by a more devout obe- dience to the law^s and ordinances of the Gospel. The design of the performance which the Author now ventures ■ to lay before the pub- lic, is to prove the divine institution of a PREFACE. V ' Weekly Festival, aikl to point out the manner '^ in which it ought to be sanctified. For this purpose it is attempted to shew that the sab- bath was appointed by the Almighty at the . close of his stupendous labours in the cre- ation of the world, and that it not only formed a part of each succeeding dispensa- tion of religion, but that it was successively enjoined with still increasing force and autho- rity. After having established the religious obligation of keeping holy one day in seven, it is in the next place attempted to inves- tigate the duties which this obligation im- poses. In the course of the inquiry the terms " sabbath" and " seventh day" are frequently applied, not to the seventh day consecrated to Jehovah under the Jewish economy, but, in a larger sense, to denote the weekly holy-day, whether under the Patriarchal, Jewish, or Christian dispensations. This use of the terms, so common with theological writers, is both admissible for the sake of convenience, and justifiable in literal strict- ness, if the meaning and appUcation of the VI PREFACE, fourth commandment, ndopted in a subse- quent part of this work, be correct. The annexed List of Writers on the sub- ject of this volume is far from being com- plete ; but the Author considered it right to insert such only as he has had an opportu- nity of consulting. The insertion of similar lists in his former works has been approved by some to whose judgment he pays the highest deference ; and he trusts that the apparent ostentation will be pardoned for the sake of their utility. It would not gratify the reader to detail the occasion which gave birth to the follow- ing Treatise, the researches by which it has swelled to its present size, or the reasons which have induced the Author to submit it to the decision of the pubUc. If " no w^ork w^as ever spared out of tenderness to the Author," how^ can the writer of these pages, under whatever circumstances they were composed, expect any exemption from the universal fate of authorship ? It w^ere vain to flatter himself that it would stay, much less disarm the uplifted hand of rigorous PREFACE. VU criticism, were he to recount the difficulties he has had to struggle with, or the various obstacles which have retarded the progress of his inquiries. He therefore commits his work, such as it is, to the candour of those who take an interest in theological discussions, courting, rather than avoiding, the detection of his errors, and fervently prapng that, if he have succeeded in establishing the sanc- tity of the sabbatical institution, his humble labours may be instrumental, through the divine blessing, to the more general observ- ance of so hallowed a rest. October, 1825. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE The political advantages of the Sabbatical Institu- tion 1 CHAPTER n. The perpetual obligation of the Sabbatical institu- tion proved from its first appointment » . . . 30 CHAPTER HI. Of the Sabbatical Institution under the Mosaic Dis- pensation , 99 SECTION I. Of the Jewish Sabbath ibid. SECTION II. Inquiry whether the Sabbatical Institution was to survive, or to be abrogated with, Judaism 141 CHAPTER IV. Of the Sabbatical Institution under the Christian Dispensation 160 SECTION I. PAGE. The Sabbatical Institution, so far from being abro- gated, is enjoined in the New Testament IGO SECTION II. Of the day of the Christian Sabbath 250 CHAPTER V. The testimony of the Primitive Church to the Sab- batical Institution 289 CHAPTER VI. Inquiry into the duties of the Christian Sabbath .... 352 SECTION I. The Christian Sabbath considered as a day of rest and relaxation 3G1 SECTION II. The religious observance of the Christian Sabbath . . 396 Conclusion 502 LIST OF AUTHORS RELATING TO THE SABBATH. A Dissertation on the Weekly Festival of the Christian Church. 12mo. Lond. 1768. Altingius, Be Tempore Instituti Sabbathi, inter Opera, Vol. v. Fol. Amstel. 1687. Adams, Religious World Displayed, Vol. ii. p. 214, et seq. 8vo. Lond. 1823. Allen, Modern Judaism, cap. xix. 8vo. Lond. 1816. Allix, Reflections on Scripture, cap. vii. in Bishop Watson's Tracts. Andrews, Exposition of the Ten Commandments, p. 259, et seq. Fol. Lond. 1650. Athanasius, Oratio de Sabbatho, Vol. ii. p. 55, et seq. Paris. 1698. Albaspinaeus, Observationes de Veterihus Ecclesice Ritibus. 4to. Lutet. Paris. 1623. As^inwaW, Abrogation of the Jewish Sabbath. 4to. Lond. 1657. Beausobre and L'Enfant, Introduction to the New Testament, p. 150, et seq. 8vo. Camb. 1779. Brown, Antiquities of the Jews, Vol. i. p. 556, et seq. 2 Vols. 8vo. Lond. 1820. Buxtorf, Synagoga Judaica, cap. xiv. — xvi. 12mo. Basil. 1680. Xll LIST OF AUTHORS Bickersteth, Treatise on Prayer, cap. vi. Burnet on Church Article VII. Fol. 1737. Buddeus, Instil. Theologies Moralis, P. ii. cap. iii. sect. 2. § 23, et seq. 4to. Lips. 1727. Barrow, (Dr.) Works, Vol. i. p. 523, et seq. Fol. Lond. 1GS3. Benson, Hulsean Lectures for 1820. Disc. xvi. Barclay, Apology. Prop. 11. § l. 8vo. Lond. 1780. Bohmeri, Jo. H. Diss. 1. de Stato Christianorum Die, inter Diss. Juris Ecclesiast. 12mo. Lips. 1711. Berrington, Dissertations on the Mosaical Creation^ Diss. iv. 8vo. Lond. 1750. Beveridge, Thesaurus, Theologicus, on John xx. 26. Vol. ii. p. 339. 4 Vols. 8vo. Lond. 1711. Bedford, Scripture Chronology, lib. i. cap. i. Burrow, Summary of Christian Faith and Practice, Vol, iii. cap. V. 12mo. Lond. 1822. 'QaXieXy,. The Original Institution of^the Sabbath^ 8vo. Lond. 1726. ' "' ' ■ Brerew^od, Treatise of the Sabbath. 4to. Oxford, 1630. By field, "Doctrine of the Sabbath vindicated agmnst^Brerewood, 4to. London. 1631. '■''''•■■ •^' " ■'''^!'-'^'' ' Busfield, (Dr.) Sermons. Serm. iii. iv. 8vo. Lond. 1819. Bingham, Antiquities of the Christian Church, 2 Vols. Fol. Lond. 1726. Bramhall, (Archbp.) Discourse on the Controversies about the Sabbath and the Lord's Day, in his Works, p. 907, et. seq. Fol. Dublin, 1677. Burnet, (Dr. Thos.) Epistola Secunda annexed to his Archcjeolo- gice Philosophicce. 8vo. London, 1733. Bamfield, Enquiry whether the Fourth Commandment be Repealed or Altered. 4to. Lond. 1692. , Reply to Dr. Wallis. 4to. Lond. 1693. CONCERNING THE SABBATH. XIU Capellus, Disputatio de Sabbatho cqi Comm, et Not. CriL in V. T. p. 2QS, et seq. Fol. Amstel, 1689. Cartwrigbt, Electa Thargumico - Rahbinica in Exod. 12mo. London, 1653. Christian Observer, Vol. i. and the Vol. for 1817. Cocceius, De Sabbato, inter Opera, Vol. ix. Fol. Amstel. 1701. Calmet, Dictionary, Art. Sabbath. Cave, Primitive Christianity, P. 1. cap. 7. 8vo. Lond. 1698. Curcellaeus, De Usu Sanguinis, cap. vi. ; and Instit. Relig. Christiance, lib. iv. cap. xv. § 11 ; lib. vii. cap. xxxi. § 11—16. Fol. Amstel. 1675. Cavvdrey and Palmer, Sabbatum Redivivum ; or the Christian Sabbath Vindicated. 4^10. Lond. Four Parts. 1645—1652. C\\o.?ie,: Seventh Day Sabbath ; or a Brief Treatise on the Fourth Commandment. 4'to. Lond. 16^. Calvin, Institutiones Christiance Religionis. Lib. ii. cap. viii. Fol. Argent. 1543. Clendon, Serious and Brief Discourse touching the Sabbath Day. 4to. Lond. 1674. Cook, View of Christianity, lib. ii. sect. ii. cap. x. 3 Vols. 8vo. Edinbm-gh, 1822. DoMridge, Lectures, ^c. Prop. 151. 2 Vols. 8vo. London, 1794. Danzius, Christi Curatio Sabbatica Vindicata ex Leg. Judaicis apud Meurchcn Nov. Test. 4to. Lips. 1736. Delany, Revelation Examined with Candoury Vol. iii. cap. i. 8vo. Lond. 1745—63. Dvvight, r/feo/o^y, Serm. cv. — cix. Vol. iv. 5 Vols. Lond. 1821. Dehon, (Bishop,) Sermons, xii— xiv. Durham, Exposition of the Ten Commandments, p. 187 — 307. 4to. Lond. 1675. Dow, ./ Discourse of the Sabbath and Lord's Day. 4to. 1636. XlV LIST OF AUTHORS Edwards, Survey of the Dispensations of Religion, cap. i. 8vo. Lond. 1699. , Theologia Reformala, Vol. ii. p. 140 — -162. Fol. Lond. 1713. Fiddes, Body of Diviniiy, Vol. ii. lib. ii. cap. vii. ; and lib. iii. cap. V. Fol. Lond. 1718. Fisher, Christian Caveat to the Old and New Sabbatarians. 4to. Lond. 1653. Gouge, The Sabbath's Smictifcaiion. 4to. Lond. 1641. Goodwin, Moses ct Aaron. Ed. Hottinger, iu Thesaurus Ugo- lini, Vol. iii. Gregory, Discourse on the Morality of the Sabbath. 12mo. 1681. Gerhardus, Loci Theologici, Tom. iii. p. 89—99. Fol. Ge- nevan, 1639. Glen, Treatise on the Sabbath. 12mo. Edinb. 18:2. Gomerus, Invesligalio Sententico ct Originis Sabbati atque Insti- tutionis Diet Dominici. 4to. Groningtc, 1628. Gill, Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity, lib. iii. cap. viii. ;3 Vols. 4to. Lond. 1769. Heylyn, History of the Sabbath. 4to. Lond. 1636. Homily on the Time and Place of Prayer. Horsley, Sermons, xxi. — xxiii. 3 Vols. 8vo. Diuulee, 1812— 1813. Home, Introduction to the Scriptures, Vol. iii. p. 290, ct seq. 4th edit. , (Dr. Thomas) Re/lections on the Sabbalh. 8vo. Lond. 1796. Ilallct, NoLcs uu Sciiplurc, Vol. ui. Diac. ii. Lond. 1729-1736. CONCERNING THE SABBATH. XV Hall, (Archibald) Gospel Worsltip, Vol. ii. cap. 10. 2 Vols. 12mo. Edinb. 1770. Hildehrandus, De Diebus Festis. 4to, Helmestad. 1701. Ironside, Seven Questio7is of the Sabbath briefly disputed after the manner of the Schools. 4to. Oxford, 1637. Jennings, Antiquities of the Jews, lib. iii. cap. iii. 2 Vols. 8vo. Lond. 1808. Jahn, Archceologia Biblica, § 346, et seq. 8vo. Viennse, 1814. Ikenius, Antiquitates HebrcBce, P. i. cap. ix. 12mo. Bremae, 1732. Jurieu, Histoire des Dogmes et des Cultes, P. i. cap. xv. ; P. ii. cap. xix. 4to. Amst. 1704. Jones, Sermons on the Commandments. 8vo. Lond. 1818. Jebb, (Bishop) Sermons, vi. and vii. 8vo. Lond. 1 824. Jephson, Discourse concerning the Religious Observance of the Lord's Day. 8vo. Lond. 1738. Kennicott, Two Dissertations on the Tree of Life, ^-c. p. 121, et seq. 8vo. Oxford, 1747. King, Morsels of Criticism, Dissertation concerning the Sabbath, in Vol. iii. 8vo. Lond. 1800. , (Lord) Inquiry into the Constitution of the Primitive Church. 8vo. Lond. no date. Leusden, Philologus Hebrceo-Mixtus, Diss. xxxv. xxxvi. 4to. Basil, 1739. Limbbrch, Theologia Christiana, lib. v. cap. xxviii. Fol. Am- stel. 1700. Lightfoot, Works, Vol. ii. p. 1321, et seq. et al. 2 Vols. Fol. Lond. lo84. Levi, (David,) Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews. 8vo. Lond. No date. Xvi LIST OF AUTHORS L'Estrange, God's Sabbath before the Law, under it, and under the Gospel, briejly Vindicated. 4to. Camb. 1641. Loei (Robert!) Effigiatio Veri Sabbat ismi. 4to. Lon(iri605. Lewis, Origines Hebrcece, lib. iii. cap. xvi. 4 Vols. 8vo. Lond. 1724. The Lord's Day the Sabbath Day. 4to. Lond. 1636. lAoyd, Inquiry into what it is to Preach Christ,]). 126 — 145. 8vo. Lond. 1825. Macbeth, Dissertation on the Sabbath. 12mo. Glasgow, 1823. Mede, Discourse, xv. in Works. Fol. Lond. 1672. Marckius, Theol. Christiance Medulla, cap. xii. 12mo. Traj. ad Rhen. 1772. Meyer, Tractatm de Temporibus Sacris et Festis Diebus Hebrcs- orum, in Thesaurus Ugolini, Vol. i. P. i. cap. x. Milton, De Doctrina Christiana, lib. i. cap. x. ; lib. ii. cap. vii. 4to. Lond. 1825. Magee (Archbp.) On Atonement, Vol. i. p. 88 ; Vol. ii. p. 407. 3 Vols. 8vo. Lond. 1812-16. Michaelis, Commentary on the Laws of Moses. Art. 94 — 96. 4 Vols. 8vo. Lond. 1814. Mant, (Miss) Ingenuous Scruples relating to the Sabbath answer- ed. 12mo. Lond. 1824. Memoires de l' Academic des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, Vol. iv. De la Fete du Scptieme Jour, par. M. I'Abbe Sallier. Marlow, Tract on the Sabbath Day. 4to. Lond. 1693-4. Owen, Exercitations on the Sabbath, in Exposit. of Hebrews. 7 Vols. Svo. Edinb. 1814. Orton, (Job) Six Discourses on the Lord's Day. 12mo. Shrews- bury, 1769. Ogden, Sermons, Vol. ii. Scrni. vii. viii. Svo. Lond. 17SS. CONCERNING THE SABBATH. XVIl Porteus, (Bishop,) Lectures on St. Matthew, Lect. vi. and x. ; and Sermons, Vol. i. Serm. ix. Paley, Moral Philosophy, lib. v. cap. vi. in Works. 5 Vols. 8vo. Lend. 1819. Prideaux, (Bishop,) Doctrine of the Sabbath. 4to. Lond. 1634. Priestley, Letters to a Young Man, in Reply to Evanson's Objec- tions to the Observance of the Lord's Day, Pfeiffer, Dub. Vex. Cent. i. Loc. iv. in Op. 2 Vols. 4to. Ul- traj. 1704. Placette, Dissertations sur divers Sujets de Morale et de Theologie, Diss. iii. 12mo. Amstel. 1704. Pareau, Antiquitas Hebraica, breviter delineata, p. 134, et seq. Svo. Traj. adRhen. 1817. Ranken, Institutes of Theology, p. 625, et seq. Svo. Glas. 1822. Ridgley, Body of Divinity, Quaest. 116. 2 Vols. Fol. Lond. 1731. Robinson, Christian System, Essay Ixv, andlxvi, in Vol. iii. 8vo. Lond. 1812. Rivetus, Exercit. 13 in Gen. et De Decalogo, Vol. i. Opera Theol. 3 Vols. Fol. Roteradami, 1651. Sellers, Examination of a late Book Published by Dr. Owen, con- cerning a Sacred Day of Rest. 4to. A. D. 1671. Sprint, Propositions tending to prove the necessarie Use of the Christian Sabbath. 4to. London. 1607. Stillingfleet, Works, Vol. ii. p. 166, et seq. 215—217 ; Vol. iii. p. 662^666. Fol. Lond. 1709. Shepard, Theses Sabbaticce, or Doctrine of the Sabbath. 12mo. Lond. 1650. Spencer, De Legibus Hebrceorum, lib. i. cap. iv. sect. 7 — 13. 2 vols. 4to. Leips. 1705. Selden, De Jure Nat, et Gent. lib. iii. cap. ix. et seq. 4to. Ar- gent. 1665. XVlll LIST OF AUTHORS Suicer, Thesaurus in voc. ^afiliaroy and Kwptafo;, 2 Vols. Fol. Amstel, 1728. Strauchius, Breviarium Ckronologicum, lib. i. cap. ii. 8vo. Lond* 1704. Stackhouse, Body of Divinity, P. iii. cap. iv. 3 vols. Svo. Edinb. 1787. Sharp, (Archbp.) Sermons, xii. xiii. xiv. Vol. iv. 7 Vols. Svo. Lond. 1717. Seeker (Archbp.) Sermons, Vol. vii. Serm. xiv. — xvi. Svo, Lond. 1795. Taylor, Scheme of Christian Divinity, cap. vi. in Bishop Wat- son's Tracts. Towerson, Explication of the Decalogue, p. 273, et seq. Fol. Lond. 1676. Twisse, Morality of the Fourth Commandment. 4to. Lond. 1641. Turretin, Theol. P. ii. Loc. xi. De Lege Dei. Quaest. 13 et 14. 4 Vols. 4to. Traject. 1734. Taylor, (Jeremy,) Great Exemplar of Sanctity and Holy Life, P. ii. Disc. ix. «_ , Ductor Dubitantium, lib. ii. cap. ii. p. 271, et seq. Fol. Lond. 1671. Thysius, De Sabbato et Die Dominico, apud Synop. Purioris Theologiae 52 Disput. comprehensa. 12mo. Lug. Bat. 1632. Voightius, Diss, de Via Sabbathi ap. Thesaur. Theol. Philol. Vol. ii. p. 417, et aeq. Vitringa, De Synagoga Vetere, lib. i. P. ii. cap. ii. 2 Vols. 4to. Francq. 1696. Watts, Perpetuity of the Sabbath, in Works, Vol. iii. and Ser- mon 1. in Vol. i. Svo. edit. Wemyss, Catechetical Treatise on the Palriarchal, Jewish, and Christian Sabbath. 18mo. Edinb. 1816. J% RELATING TO THE SABBATH. XIX Willison, Treatise concerning the Sanctificalion of the Lord's Day, in Vol. iv. of Works. 8vo. Edinb. 1816. Wagenseil, Tela Ignea Satana, P. i. p. 55^, et seq. 4to. Alt- dorf-Noric, 1681. Wright, Treatise on the Lord's Day. 12mo. Lond. 1726. Walaeus, Dissertatio de Sabbato, inter Opera, Vol. i. p. 275, et seq. 2 Vols. Fol. Lug. Bat. 1643. Wood, Mosaic History of the Creation Illustrated, cap. ix. 8vo. Lond. 1818. Walther, Diss, de Itinere Sabbathi ap. Thesaur. Theol. Philol. Vol. ii. p. 423, et seq. \i oitoxi. Translation of Misna, Title Shabbath. 8vo. Lond. 1718. Wallis, Defence of the Christian Sabbath, 4to. ^Oxford, 169^,i Part ii. 1693. =-'■-- h^ -"■;-'- '. -^-^^.■"'•'^"'"'''"'' '' ''' ' Witsius, (Economia Fcederum, lib. i. cap. vli. 4to. Traject, 1694. White, (Bishop) Treatise of the Sabbath Day. 4to. Lond. 1635. -, Examination of a ** Briefs Answer to the Treatise of the Sabbath Day." 4to. Lond. 1637. Zanchius, De Quarto Prcecepto, in Tom. iv. Operum. Fol. 1617. ^J ERRATA. 10, line Qfrom hot. read, the level of tliat of the uncultivated. 110, note, 1. ifrom hot. for Judric read Judaic. 112. 1. 14,/or was made read might be made. 138, note ({), 1. 3,/«r p. 45 read p. 54. 142, note ( c), /or MuUus rearf Nullus. 153, 1. l.for sixty-fifth read fifty-sixth. 187, note, 1. 7, for far read for. 199, note (a), for Schoff read Schott. 202, note (f), last line, for sect. ii. read heet.ii, 255, 1. 9, for whole read world. 327, 1. 20, for every place read in every place. 351, 1. 5/rom hot. for by read of. 352, 1. 15, for to paid read to be paid. 445, last line, for which read of which. 501 , 1. 14, for have determined read have not determined . THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. CHAPTER I. The Political advantages of the Sabbatical Institution. If the sabbath be contemplated only in a poli- tical point of view, it will appear to be founded in wisdom and benevolence. So beneficial are its effects upon the civil condition of man, that the philanthropist will find it difficult, even in imagination, to conceive any institution better adapted to promote the happiness of our species. The great mass of every nation being compelled, by the unalterable law of nature, to engage in the various employments of life, existence would cease to be a blessing, were they subjected, by rigorous necessity, to incessant labour. Some respite there must be, some cessation of worldly toil ; and by what means can this object be more effectually obtained than by the observance of the sabbath? Without encroaching too much upon the business of the world, it affords just such a periodical rest as is sufficient for the reno- B 2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. I. vation of wearied nature. On one day in the week the labourer and the husbandman relax from their hardy toils, the artist and the mecha- nic withdraw from their several occupations, the tradesman and merchant retire from the anxieties and cares of business ; and, while these are allowed a repose so necessary for the refreshment of their bodies, all ranks gain a breathing time from their wonted avocations, a time for innocent relaxa- tion, a time for the cultivation of their moral and intellectual powers. Circumstanced as mankind are in this mortal state; doomed, with few exceptions, to manual labour, or to pursue occupations still more pain- ful and fatiguing, what can be a wiser or more merciful ordination, than the appointment of every seventh day for ease and relaxation ? To those who are necessitated to toil for subsistence, it brings a weekly returning rest most grateful and refreshing ; contributing to the amelioration of their hard condition, and, if rightly used, to the improvement of their spiritual natures. Some, indeed, there are, favoured individuals, the chil- dren of rank and wealth, to whom the sabbatical rest affords no relief, and in whose bosoms it pro- duces no sensations of delight. Lulled upon the lap of smiling fortune, and surrounded with whatever ministers to luxurious enjoyment, every morning awakens thcni to ease and indulgence. CHAP. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 3 But far different is the state of the industrious poor, whose health and vigour would waste away in hopeless misery, if they were allowed no cessa- tion from labour. To them the seasons of re- creation, by affording a respite from toil, become the source of contentment and cheerfulness. With what transport do they hail the recurrence of the sabbath, which invites them to relax from the fatigues of their employments ? By this re- freshment of the body, and exhilaration of the spirits, they are enabled to fulfil the duties of their stations with alacrity and joy. Their occu- pations, however laborious and wearisome, are alleviated by these intervals of rest ; even while bending under the burden of their allotted task, they are cheered with the anticipation of the Sunday enjoyment; and content sits smiling upon those faces which, without such relaxation would be gloomy, and furrowed with murmuring dissatisfaction. Vastly as the sabbath contributes to the sum of human happiness, it has been censured by some as a grievous interruption to the business of the world. But such persons are actuated by erroneous views of their own interest, as well as of the principles of human nature. As the most robust constitutions would sink under incessant labour, occasional recreation is absolutely neces- sary to that sound state of the animal powers B 2 4 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. I. which is required for great or persevering exer- tions. Whatever, therefore, conduces to the health and vigour of the body, it at the same time augments the means of human industry; and the labourer renews his toils with alacrity after a day's rest, inasmuch as he returns to it with renovated strength. The sabbath also, by adding to his comforts, renders him cheerful and resigned, and experience proves the superiority of those exertions which spring from a willing and contented mind. But if the quantum of productive labour were diminished by a septe- nary rest, it would make no difference in a pecu- niary point of view, for the diminution being universal, would only enhance the price of labour, while every article would retain its relative value. If Sunday were now made a day of labour, it would have no other effect than to reduce the price, for, as the demand for labour would remain the same, the labourer would only obtain the same wages whether he worked six or seven days in the week, while in other respects he would be a material sufferer by the changed Even if some mercantile disadvantages do arise from a weekly festival, who that wishes the hap- piness of the poor man would consent to its abolition ? Vilely selfish must that man be who = Ranken, Inst.Uiilcs of Theohgy, cap. x. Sect. 1. ; Dr. Palcy, Moral and Pol'dUal Philosophy, lib, v. cap. 6, CHAP. I.]3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 5 would promote his interest at the expense of another's: cruel must that heart be which, for the sake of a little filthy lucre, would sacrifice the comfort of a fellow-creature. In all civiHzed nations there have been ap- pointed seasons in which the people rested from their diversified occupations, and devoted them- selves to ease and amusement. On such occa- sions it has been the universal practice to dedi- cate some portion of time to the celebration of sacred rites ; and wherever the worship of a Deity has obtained, there have been festive days ac- companied with the solemnities of religion ''. Among the Greeks and Romans the public festi- vals in honour of their gods were numerous and splendid. The shops were shut, the courts of judicature were closed, the rustic, the mechanic, the tradesman ceased from their employments, and the citizens, intermitting their secular cares, gave a loose to mirth and festivity. They were entertained with various and magnificent exhibi- tions, with shows, games, processions, and all the pageantry of a glittering and expensive, but de- grading idolatry. Whether originating in super- stition, or political expediency, they prove that heathen legislators were convinced of the utility •• Feriarum Festorumque solemnitates adeo cum cultu nu- minis conjunctae sunt, ut ubicumquehunc ibi et illas inveniamus. Witsius, ^gyptlaca, lib. II. cap. xvi. Sec. 3. I. 6 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. I. of granting seasons of rest and relaxation to the people. Some of the sages of antiquity hesitate not to regard them as the especial boon of the gods, who, in pity to the laborious classes, had granted these stated and solemn remissions of labour. " The Gods, says Plato, pitying the human race, born to toil, appointed the recur- rence of the festivals dedicated to the gods for the remission of human labour ''." Unceasing daily toil is so prejudicial to health, and so de- structive to the happiness of existence, that no rulers in any country, or in any age, have been sufficiently barbarous to enjoin it. Yet the pagan festivals, considered merely in reference to necessary recreation, were decidedly inferior to the institution of the sabbath. Their multitude was not so much calculated to refresh exhausted nature, as to invite to an indolent licentiousness. Archbishop Potter enumerates above three hundred Grecian festivals; and, though, they were not all observed by each state, every district having some peculiar to it, yet they must have been in all places far more numerous c 0£o« c?£ oiKTtipavrfg ro riitv avOQwirMv imirovov vi)v dvS'pwTrivaij/ dffxoXrjfiarwv, TOP Se ovTuic vovj/ Tpeirti rrpog rov Otiov. Strabo, Geogr, lib. X. p. 717. fol. Amstel. 1707. 16 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. I. who are formed in a softer mould, who are blessed with finer feelings and purer sentiments, it must be greatly influential. How is it possible for those who are endowed with ordinary sensibility, to behold the holy preparations of the sabbath without some serious thoughts arising in the mind ? The noise of rustic labour ceases, the din of mercantile tumult is hushed, the shops and marts of business are closed, and the opened gates of the temples of our God invite the multi- tudes who crowd the streets to assemble in the consecrated precincts. Who can witness so many human beings congregating together for the pur- pose of divine worship, without feeling a desire to join in paying adoration to the Sovereign Lord? He who can be a cold and unmoved spectator of thousands of his fellow -creatures assembling to celebrate their Creator's praise, must possess a heart but little susceptible of any gentle and vir- tuous impulse. " I have often heard it remarked," says an elo- quent writer, " by Christians of a serious and de- vout disposition, to whom the sacred day of rest had become, through habit and principle, a season of hallowed delight, that it seemed to their eyes as if, on the sabbath, the sun did shine more bright, the works of God appear more beautiful, the fields more fresh, the flowers more sweet, and all the face of nature to wear an unusual and a 1 CHAP. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 17 fitting stillness. It is not that the sun does shine more bright, or that the fields are indeed more fresh, or the flowers more sweet upon this than upon any other day. It is only that we are apt to think thus, because our minds are attuned to order, and to piety, and to contemplation. It is because our hearts are harmonized by the general repose and regularity around us. We look upon the joyful countenance of man, we hear no strife, we see no sorrow ; labour is at an end, quietness is upon the scene, and our affections are weaned from earthly, and fixed upon heavenly things. The goodness of God and the beauty of holiness force themselves into our thoughts, and in the fulness of the feeling we almost fancy that the in- animate creation has been taught to sympathize with the benevolence of our souls, and to re- member, like ourselves, the sabbath of God. This is mere imagination ; but then it is a godly imagination, and, God forbid, that by pointing out the cause of the delusion, I should rob the amiable mind of any Christian of a pleasing sentiment which he would wish to cherish, and which cannot possibly be productive of any evil effects '.'* These feelings, indeed, depend much upon the strength of imagination, and constitutional sensi- bility, and cannot, therefore, be laid down as a test whereby it may be known whether the heart '' Benson, Hidsean Lectures for 1820, Disc. 16. C 18 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. I. has a proper relish of spiritual things. Many- sincere Christians there doubtless are who have never been touched by feelings of this descrip- tion ; yet they are so allied to piety and virtue that the bosom in which they dwell will rarely be a stranger to the sentiments of religion. Permit me, then, to address a few questions to those into whose hands these pages may fall. Have you felt no emotion of delight when present at the consecrated rites of religion ? Have you heard the bell's solemn invitation to Church without a wish to unite with your brethren in prayer and thanksgiving ? Have you witnessed the quiet of the town, the tranquillity of the village on the sabbath morn, and not felt your bosoms swell with philanthropic joy? Have you beheld the rustics assembling from the scattered hamlets, or the city's throng crowding to the temples of the Lord, and not winged a thought to Heaven ? If h< you have ^ done this, look well into your hearts, for there is some cause to suspect that all is not right within. To be unmoved with what is most calculated to move, to be unaffected with what is best adapted to affect, generally, it must not be said always, bespeaks the callousness of a heart as yet unsoftened by religion. If it be found upon examination to proceed, not from constitu- tional apathy, but from carnal insensibility to divine things, rouse your dormant powers ; awake CHAP. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 19 from your spiritual lethargy; apply to the insti- tuted means of grace, and the commencement of a Christian course will be the commencement of new views, warmer affections, and brighter hopes. Those holy offices, once your aversion and dis- taste, will become your most transporting delight. Ere long you will be glad when they say unto you. Let us go into the house of the Lord ; and the morning which ushers in the sabbath will wake you to enjoyment, because it will wake you to the service of your God. Let the careless and the gay, arising from their dream of levity, bestow a few moments to serious- ness and reflection. Such not unfrequently have minds acutely sensitive, which only require pro- per culture to glow with the warmest feelings of devotion. There are those among them whose thoughts are dissipated by the world's allurements, while their hearts are strangers to base principles, who are giddy through health and fortune rather than corrupt, and who have a native bent to the sedate virtues which they neglect. Let such be in- vited to pause, to contemplate with attention the sabbMical observances, and their minds will pro- bably be roused from the slumber of indifference. Theirs is not the soul to remain untouched by that which is so well fitted to call forth the deepest interest ; nor is theirs the heart that can witness the orisons of piety without catching some por- c2 20 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP.I. tion of its fervour. Impelled by the excitement of the moment to join the congregation of the faithful, the virtuous impression may be confirm- ed, and a transitory emotion converted into a per- manent habit of religion. Say not that these are visionary notions, the day-dreams of one who suffers his reason to be led away by a heated imagination. The customs and solemnities connected with the seventh-day festival must operate with some efficacy; and most minds of the ordinary construction can, from experience, attest their influence. Numbers, it is true, behold with frigid indifference the rites and ceremonies which are wisely ordained to hal- low the Lord's-day. They make no impression upon hearts hardened with vice, or a benumbing attachment to the world. Yet though often dis- regarded, they are often effectual, often the happy means of recalling wandering souls to the wor- ship and service of God. The children of idle- ness and levity are lured to the sacred ordinances, in attending which the good seed that is sown not unfrequently takes root, and through the divine mercy shooting up, bears the acceptable fruits of righteousness and peace. Instances there are, and not very uncommon, of those who com- ing to mock, remained to pray ; and thousands can testify that their first serious impressions were received in the courts of the Lord's house. CHAP. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 21 to which they had repaired in compliance with custom, or from curiosity, or from motives still more unworthy. Out of the multitudes of those who are attracted, by various causes, to the pub- lic services of the Church, not a few carry away minds more sedate, and affections more pure than those which they brought to the house of God. Principles are imbibed not easily forgotten, which reflection serves to confirm, and which, watered by the dew of heavenly grace, produce the hap- piest results. The example of believers employed in devout exercises is powerful over every bosom not destitute of sympathetic feelings ; and the sacred impressions, however slight, by being often repeated, are tributary to the growth of a true and lively faith. A due respect for human nature, and a proper reliance on the efficacy of divine grace, forbid us to believe that the outward ser- vices of religion are ever wholly in vain. The mode of celebrating the sabbath, in all Protestant countries at least, furnishes the most valuable instruction on the most important sub- jects. The frequent enforcement of divine truths is useful, perhaps necessary to all, since all are apt, unless repeatedly admonished, to neglect the concerns of eternal moment ; but to very many the sabbatical ministrations afford the chief, and not unfrequently, the only means of edification. If this source of information were abolished, im- 22 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. 1. mense multitudes would remain ignorant of what they are most interested to know. Without days of rest, public worship, and a stated ministry ap- pointed to inculcate the doctrines of Revelation, the mass of mankind would remain in a state of deplorable spiritual darkness. Under the blessing of God they are the medium of diffusing the light of the Gospel, which is now so gloriously beam- ing in the Christian world. Abolish them, and an impervious mist and gloom would soon spread around ; the sense of moral and religious obliga- tion would wear away, or be obliterated ; and the flame of pure religion, which now burns brightly among the inhabitants of the earth, would at no distant period languish and expire. The moral good produced by the consecration of the seventh day, is not confined to those who attend the holy ordinances, but extends to such even as neglect or refuse to participate in them. The general tone of moral feeling is exalted by the universal knowledge that it is a day sacred to the Supreme Being. It is not spent like other days of the week, there being few, if any, who do not distinguish it by some difference of dress, of occupation, or of amusement, the effect of which is not limited to their political advantages ; but has an influence upon the heart, inasmuch as all are thus habituated to order and decency, and are reminded of concerns more important than CHAP. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 23 those of the world. Intensely as many are de- voted to pleasure, they are compelled, from a re- gard to public decorum, to pursue it on the Lord's sabbath-day in a more sober and private manner than they would if this restraint were dissolved. The sports and pastimes of the people are mainly exempt from the noisy revelry and mirth to which mere secular festivals give occasion. As there must be days of rest and relaxation for those who subsist by manual labour, it is of incalculable be- nefit to surround them with a sacredness so fa- vourable to a temperate enjoyment of them. The example also of that class who celebrate the sab- bath with exemplary devotion, forms a powerful check to the open profligacy of the dissolute. Vice may ridicule virtue, but cannot despise it ; and those who are restrained by no sense of con- science or religion, are often awed by fear of a class so powerful by their numbers, and so re- spectable in character. Considering these things it cannot be doubted that the sabbath contributes greatly to produce and maintain the high standard of, moral conduct which prevails in this happy land, but which would be lowered whenever either public law, or public opinion shall suffer this in- stitution to be profaned or violated. If we calmly reflect upon the benefits of the sabbatical institution, the salutary rest and re- creation it affords, the means it furnishes for the 24- THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. I. public worship of God, and for religious edifica- tion, its influence on the social and intellectual character of man, its instrumentality in cherish- ing a rational piety, its fitness to awaken the care- less and indifferent to a sense of spiritual things, its influence in restraining much vice and profli- gacy, in preserving decency and order, and in exalting the general tone of public morals, we cannot hesitate to pronounce the good derived from it to be incalculable in amount. Such are the advantages Avhich rational and ac- countable creatures derive from the institution of a weekly festival. To it may be ascribed one of the principal secondary causes of the great in- fluence which genuine Christianity has obtained in this country. If it be wise to allow a refresh- ing rest to the labouring classes ; if it be kind to furnish religious instruction to the careless and ignorant ; and if it be salutary to recal, at stated periods, the attention of all from things finite to things infinite, to impress upon their minds the importance of revealed truth, and to admonish them of their duties as responsible beings, and their obligations as Christians, the observance of the sabbath must be a high and imperious duty. With this duty, all will cheerfully comply who are anxious to promote the temporal and eternal interests of their fellow-creatures. It can be no light ofJence to disregard an institution, the CHAP. I.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 25 source of so many benefits to man ; moral, intel- lectual, and religious. If the philosophic ob- server were called upon to name the institution most conducive to the happiness of the human race, to the interests of religion and morality, he would, by a comparison with every other, indis- putably fix upon that of the sabbath. Let all, then, by authority, by precept, by example, en- deavour, to the extent of their power, to enforce the strict observance of this holy rest. Let every friend of his species, every lover of God, keep it, both in his own person and in those of his domes- tics, as far as possible inviolate, not only from occupations which may be avoided, but also from those earthly thoughts and cares which interfere with the spiritual improvement of so hallowed a season. To this conclusion the legislator, who judges of all institutions in the balance of political ex- pediency, must be led in contemplating the mul- tiplied blessings of the sabbath. But it remains a very important question how far it is supported by the authority of the Holy Scriptures. Were its origin merely human, it would indeed be obligatory to observe it on account of its influ- ence in augmenting the comforts, and exalting the moral character of mankind ; but this obliga- tion would only rest upon the same grounds as 26 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. I* the duty of obedience to the political institutions of the land. Though it might be regarded with the respect and deference to which all human laws are entitled, it would nevertheless be desti- tute of that force and influence which belong to whatever is stamped with the authority of Holy Writ. It is desirable, however, that an ordi- nance of such manifest utility should be fortified with a sacredness of character which may ensure a conscientious and permanent compliance. It is the tenet of mystic Quakerism, that God is not to be worshipped through the intervention of a ministry, of formal ceremonies, or of typical insti- tutions, but by a simply spiritual worship, and of course that one day is not more holy than another''. By the Unitarians also several objections are urged against the religious observance of stated days. " To a true Christian, says a writer of this school, every day is a sabbath, every place is a temple, and every action of life an act of devo- tion. A Christian is not required to be more holy, nor permitted to take greater liberties upon one day than upon another. Whatever is lawful or expedient upon any one day of the week is, under the Christian dispensation, equally lawful and ex- pedient upon any other day." Again, " I have ^ Barclay, Apology, Prop. II. § 4. ; Gurney, Observations on the religious reculiarities of the Society of Friends, cap. iv. CHAP. 1^2 'I'^E CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 27 no hesitation in asserting, that under the Christian dispensation * every day is alike.' Of public worship I am a sincere advocate ; and it having been the uniform practice of the Christian church to assemble for this purpose on the first day of the week, I highly approve of the continuance of this laudable and useful custom. But that under the Christian dispensation one day is more holy than another, or that any employment, or any amusement, which is lawful on other days, is un- lawful on the Sunday, can never be proved either from the Christian scriptures or from ecclesiastical antiquity '." Not far remote from this low and ' Belsham, Review of Mr. fVilberforce's Treatise, p. 15. 107. edit. 3. A much more sober theologian asserts, *' In Novo Testamento omne dierum discrimen abolitum est, nee ullus dies altero sanctior." (Limborch, Theologia Christiana, lib. v. cap. xxviii. § 7.) Another theologian of the same school observes, " Sub Novo Foedere omne dierum discrimen est abolitum, ita ut unum altero sanctiorem per se habere superstitionem resipe- ret." (Curcellaeus, Relig. Christiancs Instit. lib. vii. cap. xxxi. § 1 1 . See to the same effect, Grotius, Confessio Fidei Augustana, § 7. Opera vol. iv. p. 549.) Yet neither of these writers deny that a certain distinction of days is authorized under the Chris- tian dispensation, " Discrimen quod ponitur inter dies ordinis causa, et propter conventus sacros, non esse sublatum : necessa- rium enim est in ecclesia." (Curcellaeus, De Usu Sanguinis, cap. vi. p. 957.) A writer of great erudition, and to whom we are indebted for an admirable edition of the fragments of the ante-nicene Christian Fathers, observes, " Qui enim dies veteri 28 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. I. degrading notion of the sabbath is that very ge- nerally held by the Romanists, and by not a few Protestant divines, which rests it upon the au- thority of the church. The only difference seems to be, that the Unitarian grounds it merely upon expediency, while they make it rest upon the uniform custom and practice of the ancient catholic church: the one reduces it to a mere human institution, the other regards it as one of those ritual observances which Christ hath left power to his church to ordain. The third opi- nion is, that it is a divine institution, and conse- quently of universal and indispensable obligation. He who reflects how much the due observance of it contributes to the present and future happiness of man, must wish that opinion true which en- forces it with the sanction of divine authority. Now its religious obligation must arise from its being enjoined in the Word of God ; hence it is foedere sanctificatus colitur, is septimus, non primus est : atque in Novo Testamento nihil de cultu cujusquam diei substituti in sabbati locum praecipitur, nedum aliud aliquod sabbatum in- stituitur." He concludes, however, with saying, " Restat autem nobis, non sabbatum quidem, quia deletum atque abrogatum est, sed dies vetustissima consuetudine et perpetuo ecclesisc consensu observatus, dies dominicse resurrectionis, quo cultum Dei, ipsi et lege naturae debitum, publice celebramus." Routh, Reliquiai Sacrcc, vol. iv. p. 384. CHAP, l.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 29 incumbent upon the Christian to enquire whether the sabbath is of divine appointment, and whether the page of Revelation points out in what man- ner it is to be kept holy ; an enquiry which it is attempted to prosecute in the following chapters. CHAPTER II. The perpetual Obligatioji of the Sabbath, proved from its first Institution. In opening the Word of God we find at the begm- ning of the second chapter the following account of the first institution of the sabbath : '' Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God end- ed his work which he had made ; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it ; because that in it he had rest- ed from all his work which God created and made ''." The accuracy of the authorized version * Gen. ii. 1 — 3. As it is evident both from the first chapter, and various other parts of Scripture that the whole of creation was finished on the sixth day, several commentators adopt the reading of the Samaritan, Syriac, and Septuagint ; " And on the sixth day God ended his work which he had made." But this emendation is not authorized by MSS. and moreover is not required, for if the verb by be understood, not in the per- CHAP. II.;] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 31 of the Hebrew text is attested by the whole stream of translators, all of whom, with minute verbal differences, accord substantially in sense. What, then, are we taught by this part of the narrative ? Does it imply the moral and perpe- tual obligation of the sabbath? This is the question which we are now to examine. Now if the sabbath was instituted at the time of the creation, it is reasonable to infer that it is obligatory upon all mankind. Our first parents were the only human beings in existence, and an ordinance appointed for them, in no respect limit- ed to the paradisiacal state, must surely have been designed to extend also to their posterity. This, as it seems, is universally conceded "^ ; but it is proper to guard against the inference, that, if it was not appointed at the creation, the account in Genesis will 7iot render the observance of the sabbath binding upon the whole human race. Supposing it to have been first ordained in the feet tense " he ended," but in the plusquani-perfect " he had ended," the difficulty is obviated. Besides the commentators see Pfeiffer, Duhia Vexala, Cent. i. loc. 4. where the various opinions of the critics are enumerated. •• " If the divine command vi^as actually delivered at the crea- tion, it was addressed no doubt to the whole human species alike, and continues, unless repealed by some subsequent revelation, binding upon all who come to the knowledge of it." Paley, Moral and Political Philosophy, lib. v. cap. vii. So Limborch, Theologia Christiana, lib, v. cap. xxviii. § 7. ^2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. II. age of Moses, it may nevertheless be designed for universality. There may be, and, as we shall see afterwards, actually are reasons, shewing that the divine command recorded by Moses, whenever delivered, is of universal obligation. Hence the question of time involves another, namely, the question of extent, that is, whether the command was given by the Supreme Governor to a select people only, or was addressed to all mankind who come to the knowledge of it. If, however, it can be satisfactorily proved that the command was given at the creation, and that, independently of this circumstance, there are reasons shewing it not to be limited to the Israeli tish nation, it must still remain in force, unless abrogated by a sub- sequent revelation. Among those who have held that the Pentateu- chal record above-cited is proleptical, and that the sabbath is to be considered a part of the pe- culiar laws of the Jewish polity, no one has dis- played more ability than Dr. Paley. Others on the same side have exhibited far more extensive learning, and have exercised much more patient research ; but for acuteness of intellect, for cool- ness of judgment, and a habit of perspicacious reasoning he has been rarely, if ever, excelled. The arguments which he has approved must be allowed to be the chief strength of the cause ; and, as he is at once the most judicious and most CHAP. IlJ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 83 popular of its advocates, all that he has advanced demands a careful and candid examination. The doctrine which he maintains is, that the sabbath was not instituted at the creation ; that it was designed for the Jews only ; that the assemhling upon the first day of the week for the purpose of public worship, is a law of Christianity, of divine appointment; but that the resting on it longer than is necessary for attendance on these assem- blies, is an ordinance of human institution ; bind- ing nevertheless upon the conscience of every in- dividual of a country in which a weekly sabbath is established, for the sake of the beneficial pur- poses which the public and regular observance of it promotes, and recommended perhaps in some degree to the Divine approbation, by the resem- blance it bears to what God was pleased to make a solemn part of the law which he dehvered to the people of Israel, and by its subserviency to many of the same uses. Such is the doctrine of this very able writer in his Moral and Political Philosophy ; a doctrine which places the sabbath on the footing of civil laws, recommended by their .expediency, and which, being sanctioned by so high an authority, has probably given great encouragement to the lax notions concerning the sabbath which unhappily prevail. I design therefore to examine every thing he has advanced in defence of it; but in the present chapter I D 31 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^GHAP. II. shall confine myself to a review of his arguments in proof of the position that the sabbath was not instituted at the creation, but in the wilderness for the Jews only ; adding thereto such as appear deserving of consideration, collected from Selden, Spencer, Rivetus, Limborch, Curcellaeus, Jurieu, Gomarus, Bauer, Altingius, and others. Dr. Paley's principal argument is, that the first institution of the sabbath took place during the sojourning of the Jews in the wilderness. Upon the complaint of the people for want of food, God was pleased to provide for their relief by a miraculous supply of manna, which was found every morning upon the ground about the camp : ' and they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating : and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omars for one man ; and all the rulers of the con- gregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them. This is that which the Lord hath said. To-morrow is the rest of the holy sahhath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe ; and that Vvhich remaineth over lay up for you, to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade ; and it did not stink, (as it had done before, when some of them left it till the morning), neither was there any worm CHAP. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 3o therein. And Moses said. Eat that to-day ; for to-day is a sahhath unto the Lord; to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it ; but on the seventh-day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses. How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ? See, for that the Lord hath given you the sahhath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days : abide ye every man in his place : let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day '." From this passage Dr. Paley infers that the sabbath was first instituted in the wilderness; but to preclude the possibility of misrepresenting his argument I will quote his own words. " Now, in my opinion, the transaction in the wilderness above recited, was the first actual institution of the sabbath. For if the sabbath had been insti- tuted at the time of the creation, as the words in Genesis may seem at first sight to import ; and if it had been observed all along from that time to the departure of the Jews out of Egypt, a period of about two thousand five hundred years; it = Exodus xvi. 21—30. D 2 36 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. j^CHAP. II. appears unaccountable that no mention of it, no occasion of even the obscurest allusion to it, should occur, either in the general history of the world before the call of Abraham, which contains, we admit, only a few memoirs of its early ages, and those extremely abridged ; or, which is more to be wondered at, in that of the lives of the first three Jewish patriarchs, which, in many parts of the account, is sufficiently circumstantial and do- mestic. Nor is there, in the passage above quoted from the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, any intimation that the sabbath, when appointed to be observed, was only the revival of an ancient institution, which had been neglected, forgotten, or suspended; nor is any such neglect imputed either to the inhabitants of the old world, or to any part of the family of Noah ; nor, lastly, is any permission recorded to dispense with the institu- tion during the captivity of the Jews in Egypt, or on any other public emergency." As to the first part of this reasoning, if it were granted that in the history of the patriarchal ages no mention is made of the sabbath, nor even the obscurest allusion to it, it would be unfair to con- clude that it Vv^as not appointed previous to the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. If instituted at the creation, the memory of it might have been forgotten in the lapse of time, and the growing corruption of the world ; or. CHAP. 11.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 37 what is more probable, it might have been observed by the patriarchs, though no mention is made of it in the narrative of their lives, which, however cir- cumstantial in some particulars, is, upon the whole, very brief and compendious. There are omissions in the sacred history much more extraordinary. Excepting Jacob's supplication at Bethel '', scarce- ly a single allusion to prayer is to be found in all the Pentateuch; yet, considering the eminent piety of the w^orthies recorded in it, we cannot doubt the frequency of their devotional exercises. Cir- cumcision being the sign of God's covenant with Abraham, was beyond all question punctually ob- served by the Israelites, yet, from their settlement in Canaan, no particular instance is recorded of it till the circumcision of Christ, comprehending a period of about 1500 years. No express men- tion of the sabbath occurs in the books of Jo- shua, Judges, Ruth, the first and second of Sa- muel, or the first of Kings, though it was doubt- less regularly observed all the time included in these histories. In the second book of Kings, and the first and second of Chronicles, it is mentioned only twelve times, and some of them are merely repetitions of the same instance ^ If the sabbath '' Gen. xxviii. 18—23. * Eight times in the singular, 2 Kings iv. 23, — xi. 5, 7, 9. — xvi. IS. — 1 Chron. ix. .'J2 — 2 Ciiron xxiii. 8. — -xxxvi. 21. and four times in the plural, 1 Chron. xxiii. 31. — 2 Chron. ii. 4. — viii. 13. — xxxi. 3. 3^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. II. is SO seldom spoken of in this long historical series, it can be nothing wonderful if it should not be mentioned in the summary account of the pa- triarchal ages. But though the sabbath is not expressly men- tioned in the history of the anti-diluvian and pa- triarchal ages, the observance of it seems to be intimated by the division of time into weeks. In relating the catastrophe of the flood, the historian informs us, that Noah, at the end of forty days, opened the window of the ark ; " and he stayed yet other seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark : and the dove came in to him in the evening, and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf, pluckt off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more ^" The term " week" is used by Laban in reference to the nuptials of Leah, when he says, " Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also, for the ser- vice which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years ^" A week of days is here plainly signified, the same portion of time which in suc- ' Gen. viii. 10 — 12. See the observations of Dr. Kennicott on this part of Noah's history, in his Diss, on the Oblations of Cain and Abel, p. 172 — 176. though perhaps lliey are more in- genious than solid. 8 Gen. xxix. 27. CHAP. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 89 ceeding ages was set apart for nuptial festivities, as appears from the book of Esther, where the marriage feast of Vashti lasted seven days, and more particularly from the account of Samson's marriage-feast ''. Joseph and his brethren mourn- ed for their father Jacob seven days \ In the book of Job, which is generally allowed to be of higher antiquity than any other of the sacred writings, we read that " that there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord," which Dr. Kennicott proposes to render, *' And it was the day, and the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord," by which he understands the sabbath, a day en- joined for performing sacred services ; but the propriety of this version is very dubious, as the expression may only denote, that '' it came to pass on a certain day \" It is also contended by Dr. Kennicott, that in the recital of the offerings of Cain and Abel, which in the English transla- tion is, " And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an '' Jfudges xiv. 10 — 15. It is not certain that Vashti's was a marriage-feast, Esther i. 9 — 10. Compare Tobit xi. 19. but in chap. viii. 19. it is spoken of as lasting fourteen days. ' Gen. 1. 10. '' Kennicott, Dissertation ii. p. 172. The Hebrew of Job i. 6. is OTT^J^n '•Jl IKl^T DVn M^l on which phrase see Storr, Obs. ad Anal, el Syntax. Hch. p. 125. 40 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. 11. offering unto the Lord," the original should be rendered, " And it ^vas at the end of days, and Cain brought," &c. that is, he brought an oblation at or after the conclusion of the week '. This in- terpretation is very ingeniously supported, and the evidence seems to preponderate in its favour ; but as the Hebrew may undoubtedly be under- stood in a different sense, it would be inconsist- ent with the laws of sound criticism to lay much stress upon it. That the computation of time by weeks, obtained from the most remote antiquity, appears from the traditionary and written records of all nations, the numerous and undeniable testi- monies of which have been so often collected and displayed, that it would be worse than useless to repeat them "". ' Kennicott, Dissertation ii. p. 177. SeeReimari Cogitationes de Leg. Mos. ante Mosen, in vol. vi. of Commcntationes Thcol. a Velthusen, &c. "" It will be sufficient to refer to Clemens Alexand. Strom, v. p. 600. ; Theophilus Antioch. ad Autohjc. lib. ii. ; Eusebius, Prcep. Evangel, lib. xiii. cap. xii. ; Bp. Law, Theory of Reli- gion, p. 52. ; Jackson, Chronol. Antiq. ; Townsend, Character of Moses, vol. i. p. 61,; Faber, Horce Mosaicce, vol. i. sect. 1. cap. ii, ; Owen, Exercit. on the Sabbath, ii. § 13. et seq. ; Buddeus, Inst. Theol. Moralis, P. ii. cap. ii. sect. 2. § 32 ; Grotius, De Veritate lib. i. cap. xvi. ; Huetius, Dem. Evangel. Prop. iv. cap. xi. § 1. ; Goguet, Origin of Laws, lib. iii. cap. ii. art. 2. ; Me- moires de VAcademie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, vol. iv. p. 45, et seq. ; Jurieii Histoire des Dogmes et des Cultes. P. i. cap. xvi. ; Rivetus, Exerc. 13. in Gen. and Append, de Decal. cap. v. CHAP. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 41 Combining all these testimonies together, they fully establish the primitive custom of measuring time by the division of weeks, and prevailing as it did among nations separated by distance, having no mutual intercourse, and wholly distinct in man- ners, it must have originated from one common source, which cannot reasonably be supposed any other than the memory of the creation preserved in the Noahic family, and handed down to their posterities. The computation by days, months, and years, arises from obvious causes, the revolu- tion of the moon, and the annual and diurnal re- volutions of the sun ; but the division of time by periods of seven days, has no foundation in any natural or visible septenary change ; it must there- fore have originated from some positive appoint- ment, or some tradition anterior to the dispersion of mankind, which cannot well be any other than the memory of the creation and primeval blessing of the seventh day. The custom, it is true, has been supposed to have taken its rise from the planetary bodies, the number and names of which were applied to so many days ". But there is great reason to believe, that both the knowledge of the seven planets, and the denomination of the ° Selden, De Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. iii. cap. xix. et seq. ; Gomarus, Lib. de Sabbato, cap. iv. ; Le Clerc in Grotius de Ve- ritate, lib. i. cap. xvi. ; Marsham, Cation Chron. secul. ix. p. 194. et seq. 4to. Francq. 1696. 42 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. ^CHAP. II. seven days from them, were long posterior to the hebdomadal division of time. Seven principal stars are not once named in the Old Testament, while Joseph makes mention of eleven °. The Bible translation of Amos indeed speaks of the seven stars, but the Hebrew expression, though of very doubtful meaning, is certainly not expres- sive of number p. When it is considered also, that however early the study of astronomy began, particularly among the Egyptians, it must have been long before the seven planets were discover- ed, the hebdomadal division of time cannot have been derived from an observation of the heavenly bodies '^. The primitive fathers of the church, it is ac- knowledged, frequently assert that none of the patriarchs before Moses observed the ordinances of the sabbath ' ; but all the declarations of this • Gen. xxxvii. 9, »* Amos V. 8. s. '> See Kennicott, Dissertation ii. p. 162. et seq. ; and Jephson, Discourse on the Lord's Day, p. 21. et seq. ' Justin Martyr. Dial cum Trypho, p. 236. et seq. ; Irenaeus, Hceres, lib. iv. cap. xxx. ; TertuUian, Adocrsus Judceos, § 4. ; Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. iv. Preparatio Evangel, lib. vii. cap. vi. Dem. Evangel, lib. i. cap. vi. ; Damascen, De Fide Orthodox, lib. iv. cap. xxiv, I do not think it necessary to notice Dr. T. Burnet's attempt to prove that these Fathers do not refer to the Jewish sabbath. (Lett. 2da. ad Archoclogice, p. 4:dd.) It is glaringly unsuccessful. See cap. v. of this work. CHAP. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 43 kind refer to the sabbath, so far as it wasu peculi- arly Jewish. To this, however, it has been object- ed that, as it would be absurd to refer to an insti- tution before it was appointed, they cannot be rationally thought to have alluded to the Jewish sabbath. But this objection will be easily re- moved, if we consider that the fathers make these assertions in opposition to the pretensions of the Jews, who maintained the paramount authority of the law of Moses ; and their argument is, that we cannot be made heirs of salvation by observing the Levitical law, for the patriarchs were jui-Jtified without it. In proof of this position, they likewise instance circumcision, shewing that the worthies who lived long before the appointment of this rite were acceptable to God. Their constantly join- ing the sabbath with circumcision in such argu- ments, is a full proof that they are speaking of the Jewish sabbath, and not of that which was institut- ed at the origin of the world. The high authority of the ancient Fathers cannot therefore be pleaded in favour of the opinion, that this latter was not kept by men of piety in the patriarchal ages. Dr: Paley's next argument is, that " there is not in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus any intimation that the sabbath, when appointed to be observed, was only the revival of an ancient institution which had been neglected, forgotten, or suspended." The contrary, however, seems the more natural infe- 44 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. II. rence from the narrative. It is mentioned exactly in the way an historian would who had occasion to speak of a well-known institution. For instance, when the people were astonished at the double supply of manna on the sixth day, Moses observes, *' This is that which the Lord hath said. To-mor- row is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord," which, as far as we know, was never said previous- ly to this transaction, but at the close of the crea- tion. This surely is the language of a man refer- ring to a matter with which the people were al- ready acquainted, and recalling it to their remem- brance. In the 5th verse, God promises on the sixth day twice as much as they gather daily. For this no reason is given which seems to imply that it was already known to the children of Is- rael. Such a promise without some cause being assigned for so extraordinary a circumstance would have been strange indeed ; and if the rea- son had been that the seventh day was now for the first time to be appointed a festival, in which no work was to be done, would not the author have stated this circumstance ? Again, it is said, " Six days ye shall gather it ; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none :" and, " for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days." Here the sabbath is spoken of as an ordinance with which the people CHAP. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 45 were familiar. A double quantity of manna was given on the sixth day, because the following day, as they \yell knew, was the sabbath, in which God rested from his work, and which was to be kept as a day of rest, and holy to the Lord. It is like- wise mentioned incidentally, as it were, in the re- cital of the miraculous supply of manna, without any notice of its being enjoined upon that occa- sion for the first time, which would be a very surprising circumstance had it been the original establishment of the sabbath. In short, the entire phraseology in the account of this remarkable transaction accords with the supposition, and with it alone, that the sabbath had been long establish- ed, and was well known to the Israelites. The learned Mede has a very ingenious argu- ment to prove that the Jews did not keep the seventh day holy till the raining of manna. It ap- pears, says he, from the 16th of Exodus, that they marched a wearisome march on the 15th day of the second month ; the next morning it rained manna, which was the 16th day, and so six days together ; on the seventh, which was the 22d day, it rained none, and that day they were commanded to keep for their sabbath. Nov/, if the 22d day of the month were the sabbath, the 15th should have been one ; but it was not, since they march- ed on that day a great distance ; consequently the seventh day could not have been previously ob- 4G THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. II. served as a sabbath '. This may have been the case, but the argument is not sufficient to prove it, and the fallacy lies in taking it for granted, that it rained manna the next morning after they came to this station in the wilderness of Sin. They ar- rived there on the 15th day, but the history does not state that they murmured on the same day, or that manna was given on the 16th. It is only said that the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron while they were in the wilder- ness of Sin, without specifying the time ; and there is nothing which fixes the sabbath on the 22d day of tlie same month ; so that it is quite gratuitous to suppose the 15th the day on which they performed a wearisome march, should have been a sabbath ; and hence the conclusion, that the Israelites did not keep the seventh day holy before the miraculous supply of manna, is un- sound. But even allowing that they did not keep it during their journeying till this period, the proper inference would be, not that the sabbath was tJwn appointed, but either that the day was then changed, or that the Jews then began again to keep it, the observance of it having been ne- glected during their bondage in Egypt. Some of the Rabbins contend for a prior origi- • Mede, Discourse xv. in Works, p. 56. Archbishop Bram- hall uses the same argument, Works, p. 912, CHAP. n.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 47 nal of the sabbath in the station of Marah. Short- ly after passing the Red Sea, the children of Is- rael went out into the wilderness of Shur, " and when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter *." After relating how the waters were miraculously made sweet, the sacred historian adds, that the Lord " there made for them a statute and an or- dinance, and there he proved them "." Of these, say the Talmudical writers, the ordinance of the sabbath was one ; and the learned Selden has ad- duced abundance of authorities for this opinion '' ; but commonly as it was received by the Jewish doctors, it is so clearly destitute of even a plau- sible foundation in Scripture, that a bare state- ment is a sufficient refutation. That no neglect of the sabbath is " imputed either to the inhabitants of the old world, or to any part of the family of Noah," is very true ; but, so far from thehvbeing any proof of such ne- gligence ; there is, on the contrary, as we have seen, much reason for believing that it was duly observed by the pious Sethites of the old world, and,^ after the deluge, by the virtuous line of Shem. True, likewise, it is, that there is not ' Exod. XV. 23. " Verse 25. * De Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. iii. cap. ix. It is refuted by Owen, Exercit. on the Sabbath, ii. § 3, 4. 48 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. II. " any permission recorded to dispense with the in- stitution during the captivity of the Jews in Egypt, or on any other public emergency." But where is the evidence that such a permission would be consistent with the divine wisdom ? And if not, none such would either be given or recorded. At any rate, it is difficult to see how the silence of Scripture concerning such a cir- cumstance can furnish an argument in vindication of the opinion, that the sabbath was first appoint- ed in the wilderness. To allege it for this pur- pose, is just as inconclusive as it would be to argue, that the sabbath was instituted subsequent to the return of the Jews from Babylonia, because neither the observance of it, nor any permission to dispense with it during the captivity is record- ed in Scripture. The passage in the second chapter of Genesis is next adduced by Dr. Paley, and he pronounces it not inconsistent with his opinion ; " for as the seventh day was erected into a sabbath, on account of God's resting upon that day from the work of creation^ it was natural enough in the historian, when he had related the history of the creation, and of God's ceasing from it on the seventh day, to add, ' and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that on it he had rested from all his work which God created and made;' al- though the blessing and sanctification, /. e. the re- CHAP, 11.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 49 ligious distinction and appropriation of that day, were not actually made till many ages afterwards. The words do not assert, that God then ' blessed' and * sanctified' the seventh day, but that he blessed and sanctified it for that reason; and if any ask, why the sabbath, or sanctification of the seventh day, was then mentioned, if it were not then appointed, the answer is at hand : the order of connexion, and not of time, introduced the mention of the sabbath, in the history of the sub- ject which it was ordained to commemorate." That the Hebrew historian, in the passage here referred to, uses a prolepsis or anticipation, and alludes to the Mosaical institution of the sabbath, is maintained by some of the ancient Fathers, by Waehner, Heidegger, Beausobre, by Le Clerc, Rosenmiiller, Geddes, Dawson, and other com- mentators, and by the general stream of those writers who regard the sabbath as peculiar to the Jews. Yet this opinion is built upon the assump- tion, that the book of Genesis was not written till after the giving of the law, which may be the fact, but of which most unquestionably there is no proof. But waving this consideration, it is scarcely possible to conceive a greater violence to the sacred text, than is offered by this interpreta- tion. It attributes to the inspired author the absurd assertion, that God rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made, and E 50 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. II. THEREFORE about 2500 years after God blessed and sanctified the seventh day. It may as well be imagined that God had finished his work on the seventh day, but rested on some other seventh day, as that he rested the day following the work of creation, and afterwards blessed and sanctffi^ another. Not the slightest evidence appears for beheving that Moses followed " the order of con- nexion, and not of time," for no reasonable mo- tive can be assigned for then introducing the men- tion of it, if it was not tlien appointed. The de- sign of the sacred historian clearly is to give a faithful account of the origin of the world, and both the resting on the seventh day and the bless- ing it, have too close a connexion to be separated ; if the one took place immediately after the work of creation was concluded, so did the other. To the account of the production of the universe, the whole narrative is confined ; there is no inti- mation of subsequent events, nor the most distant allusion to Jewish ceremonies ; and it would be most astonishing if the writer deserted his grand object to mention one of the Hebrew ordinances which was not appointed till ages afterwards. But according to Dr. Geddes, the opinion of a prolepsis derives some confirmation from the ori- ginal Hebrew, which he renders, *' on the sixth day, God completed all the work which he had to do ; and on the seventh day, ceased from doing CHAP. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 51 any of his works. God, therefore, blessed tlie seventh day, and made it holy, because on it he ceased from all his works, which he had ordained to do." This version, he says, is " in the suppo- sition that the writer refers to the Jewish sab- bath ;" of course it was designedly adapted to an hypothesis ; but, notwithstanding this suspicious circumstance, it is not easy to determine how it differs in sense from the received translation, as it leaves the question entirely undecided when this blessing and sanctification took place. The pro- posed version, however, is opposed by those in the Polyglott, and by the generality of transla- tors, who render the particle vau at the beginning of the third verse as a copulative, not as an illa- tive ; and it is surprising how a sound Hebrew scholar can translate it otherwise. In short, no- thing can be more violent and unnatural than the proleptical interpretation ; and if we add, that it rests upon the unproved assumption, that the re- cord in question was written after i\\e delivery of the law, it must appear so devoid of critical sup- port, as not to require a moment's hesitation in rejecting it '^ " Dr. Geddes, in his Critical Note in loc, says, " I still think that the vau here is equivalent to P"7i? ; and is rather an infe- rence drawn by the narrator, than a part of the narrative." But though 1 may occasionally be rendered as p/^, a point clearly e2 52 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. II. Dr. Paley proceeds, " This interpretation " is strongly supported by a passage in the prophet Ezekiel, where the sabbath is plainly spoken of as given, (and what else can that mean, but as first instituted?) in the wilderness.—' Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness : and I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover, also, I gave them my sabhaths, to be a established by Noldius, there is not the slightest ground for doing so in this place. Even those who adopt the same opinion of the sabbath as Dr. Geddes, take it in its usual copulative sense ; as Dawson, whose version is, " And God hath blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his works which God had perfectly completed." For this criticism, how. ever, the Dr. seems to be indebted to Dathe, who, arguing for the primeval institution of the sabbath, says, " Si Moses legem suam coramendare Israehtis voluisset, profecto sua verba non conjunxisset per copulam vau, ut reliqua totius narrationis con- nectuntur ; sed distinxisset ea per particulam P 7^ propterea, uti cap. ii. 24. atque Exod. xx. 11. hac ipsk de re agcns." (Nota to Latin Transl. in loc.) The examples here referred to form a strong argument. It may be proper to observe, that, in the opinion of some critics, the insertion of the article H three times in the word ''i?''2ti'n shews it to be that very day on which God rested, and no other, that was sanctified. (Turretin, Inst. Theol. Elencticce P. ii. Loc. xi. Quest. IS. § 7.) But I do not see much force in the observation. ' Viz. of Gen. ii. 1—3, before cited. CHAP. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 53 sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them^.'" He also cites another passage from Nehemiah % in which it is said, that God made known his holy sabbaths to the people of Israel ; in evident refe- rence, however, to the delivery of the law from Mount Sinai, and consequently irrelevant to the present question. Now the Almighty, it is not denied, is represented both here and in a passage formerly cited % as giving the sabbath to the Jews, and no one ever doubted that it was pecu- liarly given to them, so far as it was peculiarly Jewish. According to the Mosaic law, it was ta be celebrated with some particular rites and cere- monies, as well as by a more strict rest, all which were peculiar to the Jews, and so far it may be said to have been ordained subsequent to the Egyptian exody. It was also in a special manner given to the Jews, inasmuch as they alone of all nations were enjoined to the oLservance of the sabbath by an express revelation. Hence nothing more is meant when the sabbath is said to be given to the Israelites, than that its observance was enjoined to them in a particular manner in the law of Moses. An equally short answer will serve for Dr. y Ezek. XX. 10—12. ' Chap. ix. 12—15. * Exod. xvi. 29. 54 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. II. Paley's next argument, taken from those passages in which the sabbath is said to be a sign between Jehovah and the people of Israel. " Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant ; it is a sign hetween me and the children of Israel for ever ''." Again, " And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; moreover, also I gave them my sabbaths, to he a sign between me afid them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them^" Now it does not seem easy to under- stand how the sabbath could be a sign between God and the people of Israel, unless the obser- vance of it was peculiar to that people, and " de- signed to be so." But the answer is easy. By the term " sign," is meant that which should distin- guish the people of God from the surrounding heathen nations; and the sabbath bore this dis- tinctive character among the Hebrews, because, while every other people had forgotten or neglect' ed this divine ordinance, they alone religiously maintained its sanctity. It was also peculiar to the Israelites, so far as regards the peculiar mode of observing it commanded in the law. " They were not so much distinguished, says Theodoret, ^ Exod. xxxi. IG, 17. •■ Ezek. XX. 1~'. CHAP. II.]] THE CIIIUSTIAN SABBATH. 55 from other nations by circumcision, as by the sabbath, for, while the former rite was practised by the Idumeans, Ismaelites, and Egyptians, the Jews alone observed the sabbath ''." Thus it was a sign, or distinguishing badge of the Hebrew family ; and that which is given in common to all may be specifically given to some, as the bow in the cloud, though exhibited to all mankind, was specifically the token of the covenant which Jeho- vah established with Noah % " The distinction of the sabbath," Dr. Paley proceeds to observe, " is, in its nature, as much a positive ceremonial institution, as that of many other seasons which were appointed by the Levitical law to be kept holy, and to be observed by a strict rest ; as the first and seventh days of unleavened bread; the feast of Pentecost; the feast of tabernacles ; and in the 23d chapter of Exodus, the sabbath and these are recited to- gether." How this bears upon the present ques- ^ Theodoret, Comment, in Ezek. xx. 13. See also Burnet, Epist. 2da. in Archceologice, p. 509, where he refers to a variety of pagan poets, historians, and philosophers, who assert the same.' ^ Gen. ix. 8 — 17. See Turretin, Inst. Theol. Elenct. P, ii. Loc. xi. Quest. 13. $ 16. Some, and particularly Spencer, who insists that the sabbath was " signi loco," cite in proof Deut. v. 15. — Exod. XX. 8 — 10. (De Leg. Heh. lib. i. cap. iv. § 7, 8.) but they are so little in point, that it is no wonder they were re- jected by the sober judgment of Paley. 9 56 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. II. tioii, I am utterly at a loss to conceive. Allow- ing it to be " a positive ceremonial institution," yet, if it be expressly commanded by the Almighty, it must be binding upon all to whom it is com- municated ; and the question is, whether such a command has been given to all mankind, to the solution of which the observations in the para- graph just quoted do not contribute either way. Dr. Paley further urges, '' If the command by which the sabbath was instituted be binding upon Christians, it must be binding as to the day, the duties, and the penalty ; in none of which it is re- ceived." Now, if this refers to the Jewish sab- bath, the answer must be unequivocally in the ne- gative ; for the peculiar observance of it en- joined in the law, is abrogated together with the polity of which it formed a part ; but if a sabba- tical ordinance was enjoined upon the whole human species at the creation, it must be binding upon all as to the day, the duties, and the penalty, unless the original institution be altered or repeal- ed. Whether it be so received or not makes no difference in the case ; the obligation of a divine command remains the same whether it be obeyed or disobeyed. Such are the arguments which this acute reasoner has produced to support his opinion, that the sab- bath was not originally instituted at the creation^ but ought to be considered as part of the peculiar GftA'f. 1I.]J THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 57 law of the Jewish polity ^; and after a careful exa- mination, they have been found to be unsatisfac- tory and inconclusive. This part of the subject might, therefore, without much impropriety be concluded, since it is not likely that the cause can be established, in which Dr. Paley has failed ; but, as other arguments have been produced in its de- fence, it may be right to review them. The command respecting the sabbath in the second chapter of Genesis, it has been contended, cannot be designed to be universally binding, since universal obedience is impossible. Some parts of the earth are destitute for months to- gether of the presence of the sun, involved in per- petual gloom, and in these dreary regions of cold and desolation, computation of time by days and nights, weeks and months, is impracticable. The day likewise is constantly varying with the annual and diurnal movements of our globe, so that mid-day in one country is mid-night in an- other : from all which it is inferred, that the pre- cise period of time which the Almighty blessed and sanctified, because he then rested from his work^, cannot be universally observed, and there- fore cannot be universally enjoined ^ ^ Dr. Paley adds to the arguments reviewed, one from Col. if. 16, 17. ; but this, together with his reasonings against the uni- versal obligation of the sabbath will be examined hereafter. s Spencer, Be Leg, Hchrceor. lib. i. cap. iv. sect. 9. ; Heylin, 58 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. t,CHAP. II. This objection, it must be allowed, wears at the first glance an imposing appearance, which never- theless will entirely vanish upon a closer inspec- tion. Let the same mode of argument be applied to the ordinances of the gospel. Many infants die before they can be baptized, and it may be that converts of mature age to the Christian faith may from unavoidable circumstances be prevent- ed from participating in that holy rite. Believ- ers in Christ may also be situated where, from a variety of causes, the sacrament of the Lord's supper cannot be administered. Such cases are clearly possible, but can they be allowed as an argument against the divine institution of these ordinances ? Certainly not. All that can fairly be inferred is, that cases do sometimes, though History of the Sabbath, P. i. cap. iii. § 2, 3. This last author says, '• Suppose we that a Turk, a Jew, and a Christian, should dwell together at Jerusalem, whereof the one doth keep his sab- bath on tlie Friday ; the other on the Saturday ; and the third sanctifieth the Sunday : then, that upon the Saturday, the Turk begin his journey westward, and the Christian eastward ; so as both of them compassing the world, do meet again at the same place, the Jew continuing where they left him. It will fall out, that the Turk, by going westward, having lost a day, and the Christian, going eastward, having got a day ; one and the self- same day will be a Friday to the Turk ; a Saturday unto the Jew ; and a Sunday to the Christian, in case they calculate the time exactly from their departure to their return." See Wagan- 5cil, Tela Signca Salancc, Cofifut. Lipmannit p. 571. et seq. CHAP. II.]] THE CIimSTIAN SABBATH. 59 rarely, occur, when these rites must be dispensed with. There is scarcely a rule of law, or precept of morality, which can be acted upon without some exceptions, yet it would be absurd to infer that the rule and precept are therefore not bind- ing upon the whole human race. As the non-ob- servance of a rite, when compliance is impossible, is justified by the necessity, the obligation of the sabbath must cease where the observance of it is impracticable ; but such extreme cases cannot in reason be pleaded against its divine origin, or universal obligation. In the code of revelation, moral duties are re- quired, the laws are promulgated in general terms, without specifying those exceptions to which every general rule is liable. As for in- stance, the duty of obedience to civil governors is laid down in comprehensive terms, without any limitations, or any reference to those occasions, when, through the wickedness or tyranny of rulers, resistance becomes imperative. In the same way the gospel precepts are delivered with- out stating such restrictions, as, in some cases, are imposed by the nature of things, and the cir- cumstances attending them. Had the Deity, therefore, willed to bind all mankind to the duty of keeping the seventh day holy, he would de- clare it generally, as it is natural to suppose, and GO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. II. without mentioning any of those exceptions which must eventually occur. And such is actually the fact; the law is promulged in general terms, in the same manner as the other laws of God, with- out a hint at any reservation, and without speci- fying the few cases when obedience, being im- possible, cannot be required by eternal justice. The allegation that the period which the Al- mighty blessed and sanctified agreeably to the ac- count in Genesis, cannot be observed by reason of the annual and diurnal revolution of the earth, contains more of cavil than of serious objection. It resembles those fierce, but unprofitable dis- putes which disturbed the peace of the ancient church respecting the time for the celebration of Easter. No part of the law of God, we may be assured, was intended to depend upon curious astronomical calculations ; and that obedience only is demanded which is yielded in spirit and in truth. The real meaning of the injunction is, that the seventh day, because in it the Almighty rested from his grand display of creative power, was to be set apart by his creatures, and dedicat- ed to religious offices. If the seventh day, or, what is much the same thing, an equivalent space of time which may be measured by hours, be de- voted to such purposes, the spirit and intention of the command is complied with, though nations CHAP. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 61 may cliifer as to the particular time ^ The sab- bath, then, may be observed in all lands, not even excepting those which extend, in melancholy so- litude, beneath the polar skies. Though the sun at one part of the year may be for months below the horizon, and at another part for months above it, a portion of time equivalent to a day in the temperate zones, may be sanctified even there with the exercises of religion. But if it were impossible, it would form only a trifling exception to the general applicability of the rule. Fcav are the inhabitants who obtain a scanty provision in these ungenial climates ; a waste and barren soil bound by the rigours of an arctic winter, denies subsistence for a numerous population ; and, if the observation of the sabbath be impracticable, the mercy of heaven will doubtless pardon the in- voluntary neglect among the hordes which must ever be thinly scattered over those bleak and frozen regions. The alleged impossibility of the universal ob- servance of the sabbath, therefore, forms no valid objection ; but it is further urged, that the He- brew^ doctors, whose authority is in this, if any subject, entitled to respect, believe it to be an or- dinance peculiar to the Jews ; a point which Sel- '■ This subject is discussed at length in chapter iv. sect. 2. of this work. j 62 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. II. den has laboured to establish with his usual pro- fundity of erudition '. This learned writer, it is true, has accumulated a variety of testimonies in support of this statement ; but the Rabbins, buoyed up with the notion that their nation was the favourite of heaven, and proud of the many privileges granted to it, very naturally supposed the sabbath to be, like the rest of the Levitical law, limited to the chosen race ; for which reason their sentiments on this subject may well be sus- pected of being tinctured with prejudice and par- tiality. Yet some of them, as Aben Ezra, Mai- monides, Abarbinel, Manasseh ben Israel, allow that the sabbath was instituted at the beginning of the world ^ ; and what may be deemed of still higher importance, Philo and Josephus speak of the sabbath as an universal institution. The for- mer calls it " a feast, not of one city or country, but of the whole world ' ;" he pronounces it " the world's birth-day," (rou /co-tjuou ysveaiov. ibid.) and " the festival of all people." (7ravS»?^tov scil eoprrfv, ibid.) He also remarks, " who is there that does ' Selden, De Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. iii. cap. x. et seq. See Spencer, De Leg. Hebrceor. lib. i. cap. iv. '' Proof of this maybe found in Selden, ibid. ; and Dr. Owen, Exercit. on the Sab. Exerc. ii. § 5. ; and Meyer, De Festis He- brceor. P. ii. cap. ix. § 24. et seq. ' 'Eoprq ov iiiag iroXtuQ, j) xiopag karip, dXXo tov ttoitoj: Dc Mundi Opificio p. 15. E. Ed. Colon. 1G13. CHAP. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 63 not reverence that sacred seventh day which brings rest and relaxation to him and his domes- tics, to the bond as well as to the free, and more- over to the brute beasts themselves "" ?" Josephus, in relating the works of the six days' creation, mentions the sabbath as if it were then instituted ; and he elsewhere speaks of it as an universal ordinance, the observation of which had spread to every nation, Greek and Barbarian °. It is not to be denied, however, that both these learned Jews sometimes speak of it as an ordinance pecu- liarly Jewish, so that it is difficult to ascertain to which side their sentiments really incline ". But whatever may be thought of their testimony, the » T^e yap riji/ upav ktij/jjv ij3donr}v ovk tKTiTifiriKtv, avitnv ttomv Kai fiaffTO)vt)v avTii) Tt Kai Toig -rrXtiffiaaovcnv, ovk iXevGtpoig fiovov, aWa kui UvXoiQ, naWov St Kai iTToKvyioig Movg. J)e Vita Mosis, lib. ii. p. 508. E. Compare also Be Decalogo, p. 585. B. C. ; De Lege Alienor. p. 33. B. C. D. ; De Vita Mosis, lib. iii. p. 529. B. et seq. " Antiq. lib. i. cap. i. § 1. ; Contra Apion. lib. ii. §. 40. ° See Philo, De Decalogo, p. 585. B.; De Vita Mosis. lib. iii. p. 529. C. and p. 530, A. B. ; De Abrahamo, p. 277. c. ; De Migrat. Ahrahami, p. 315. A. ; De Profugis, p. 371. C. ; Jose- phus, Antiq. lib. xvi. cap. ii. § 4. lib. xii. cap. 6. § 2. ; Jewish War, lib. ii.^ cap. xvi. § 4. lib. iv. cap. ii. § 3. ; Life, § 32. ; Against Apion, lib. i. § 22. More passages might be cited, but a compa- rison of those here referred to, will be sufficient to shew, that there is an ambiguity, if not an inconsistency, in their declara- tions concerning the sabbath. See the acute observations of the Abbe Sallier in Memoires de VAcademie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, vol. iv. p. 50. et seq. 64 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. II. Hebrew doctors are far from being unanimous in maintaining the original institution of the sabbath in the wilderness, which opinion, therefore, can- not justly claim the authority of the Hebrew church, nor if it could, would that authority be allowed by Christians to be decisive. Again, it has been argued in opposition to the primeval sanctity of the sabbath, that God gave but one command to Adam in paradise, namely, not to eat the forbidden fruit ; whereas, if he were obliged to keep the seventh day holy, he must have had two commands laid upon him, which is contrary to the fact f. Now the sacred history, it is acknowledged, states that there was only one command given to Adam, the breach of which was to be visited with the penalty of death ; but other obligations must have been imposed upon the Protoplast besides that of abstaining from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was strictly obligated to offer the sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving to God, and to perform the other duties which are demanded from the crea- ture to the Creator. Adam, therefore, must have had other obligations laid upon him, though there was only one positive command given as the test of his obedience. Besides, the objection supposes that the injunction to sanctify the seventh day P Jurieu, Jlistoire ties Dogmes, P, i. cap. xv. p. 108. CHAP. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 6v5 was not pronounced at the creation, which is a mere begging of the question; for if it were then given, there must have been more than one com- mand expressly laid upon Adam in paradise ; and, since this may as well be supposed as the con- trary, the argument must of course rest upon pre- carious ground. The same author further urges, that a certain day destined to repose, to contemplation, and to prayer, is unsuitable to a state of innocence ; in- asmuch as Adam, in the garden of Eden, before the earth was subjected to a curse, could have had no toil requiring alternate rest ; and it could not be necessary to separate a particular day for meditation, since his whole life would have been employed in the service of God : whence it is con- cluded, that the sabbath was not instituted in paradise ^ Now this conclusion is readily allow- ed to be legitimately deduced from the premises, but where is the evidence to shew that the conse- cration of the seventh day was not, in some v/ay 1 Jurieu, ibid. He thus concludes, " 11 est done clair, que ce commanderaent n' est bon qu' a i'homme corrumpu et miserable, qui est oblige d'employer la plus grande partie de sa vie au soin du corps, et qui ne sauroit, a cause de la petitesse de son cceur, parmi ses autres occupations, s'attacher a la contemplation avec tQute I'assiduite necessaire." But this is quite gratuitous. Com- pare Altingius, De Tempore Instituti Sahhalfti, lib. i. cap. iv» and V. 66 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. II. or other, as necessary to man in his pristine, as his fallen state ? An occasional repose 7}iig/it be advantageous, and there might be a peculiar fit- ness in a septenary day of peculiar holiness. The contrary is, what neither Monsieur Jurieu, nor any other man can prove; and of course the argu- ment, involving as it does questions beyond hu- man ability to solve, rests upon a sandy founda- tion. It has been questioned whether the blessing and sanctification of the seventh day was intend- ed to be confined to that single day, or to be ex- tended to every successive revolution of seven days. But though the record in Genesis does not state that God sanctified every seventh day, the same is clearly implied ; for what other meaning can the expressions have " God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it ?" And this natural signifi- cation of the phrase is fully confirmed by the de- sign and object of the institution. The reason of the benediction was, because God then rested from his labours ; it was therefore designed to comme- morate the great work of creation, which it could ndt do, in respect to succeeding generations of men, except by the observance of an hebdomadal rest. Nor could the object of it be accomplished in any other way ; for as the divine appropriation of one day was intended for the benefit of man, that ])enefit would not accrue if the blessing ^nd CHAP. TI.^ THE CIIUISTIAN SABBATH. G7 sanctification were confined to the single day which followed the work of creation. " It will also be allowed a conclusive maxim/' as Dr. Ken- nicott observes, " that every wise institution must be designed to last as long as the usefulness of that institution continues ; consequently, if the usefulness of a sabbath continued, the sabbath must have been designed to continue also, and to be in force after its first observation '." It would be unpardonable to omit an objection stated and discussed by that eminent scholar and divine Bishop Horsley \ It is to this effect, that if the antiquity and universality of the original institution of the sabbath be made the ground of a jDermanent obligation to the observance of it, mankind would, upon the same principle, be held to various ceremonies which for many ages have sunk into disuse. The prohibition to eat blood for instance, bore the same antiquity with respect to the second race of men, as the sabbath with re- spect to the first. The prohibition of blood fol- lowed the deluge as closely as the sabbath follow- ed the creation. The one was no less general to all the sons of Noah than the other to all the sons of Adam. It should seem, therefore, that the pro- hibition of blood is equally obligatory with the "^ Two Dissertations, p. 128. But see Vriemoet, Dicta Classica, yol. iii. p. 161. ' Sermons, vol. ii, Serm. xxii. F 2 68 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. j^CHAP. If, sabbath, since the argument from antiquity and original generality applies with equal force to both. Upon what principle, then, is the sanctity of the sabbath maintained by those who openly disregard the prohibition against eating blood ? — Such is the objection which, formidable as it ap- peared to the learned prelate, may be very briefly answered. The eating of blood was forbidden at the time when the Lord of the earth granted the permission of animal food ^ ; the restraint there- fore was generally binding upon mankind, and would have continued so, unless solemnly repeal- ed by the same power that enacted it. Though some, from conscientious scruples, abstain from meats prepared with the blood of animals, the prohibition has been repealed, as it should seem, by apostolical authority " : but be this as it may, it in no way invalidates the perpetuity of the sab- bath, the original obligation of which has never been abrogated. It has been attempted to invalidate the argu- ment from the first institution of the sabbath, by alleging that the narrative of the creation is an old, though ingenious philosophical mythos, in- serted by the author of the Pentateuch, to account for the origin of the world. The hypothesis that ' Gen. ix. 3, 4. " Rom. xiv. 14—17. 1 Cor. vi. 12.— viii. 8.— x. 25. 1 Tim. iy. 4. CHAP. II.] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 69 the book of Genesis was compiled from documents of a date long anterior to Moses, has found nume- rous advocates, but having in part examined it in another work, I may be spared the labour of dis- cussing it here. In the publication alluded to, the literal sense of the Mosaic history of the fall is vindicated at length, and many of the observa- tions there made maybe applied in support of the grammatical exposition of the history of the crea- tion. If the second and third chapters are a lite- ral recital of events, it will scarcely be denied that the first is so. The allegorical interpretatiov is, in truth, so absurd, so inconsistent with scrip tural phraseology, so irreconcileable with the uni form declarations of the inspired writers, so op posed to the very design of historical composi- tion, that a laboured refutation is scarcely required. But if the recital of the creation could be proved to be a mythological fragment, it would not un- dermine the argument for the obligation of the sabbath, derived from the beginning of Genesis, as it certainly makes mention of that ordinance, which renders it probable that it was, at least in part, designed to enforce it ; and this is actually the conjecture of some critics \ " "Siniulque eo consilio scripsisse videtur, ut sanctitatem Sab- bati declararet. Eo totius orationis (Twa^na tendit. Hiiic Deus sex diebiis operatur, septiimim auteni diem, quo a labore quies- cit, sacrum esse jubct." Bauer, Dicta Classica Vet. Test. P. i. 70 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CIIAP. II. But there is another objection too formidable in its aspect, and resting upon an hypothesis too ably supported, to be passed over without exami- nation. The six demiurgic days, it is said, in the course of which God is represented to have form- ed the world out of nothing, are not six natural days, those brief periods which are measured by the revolution of our planet round ifs axis, but six vast periods of very considerable length. The seventh, therefore, which was blessed and sancti- fied, was not one single day, but a period of vast, though indefinite length, the termination of which has not yet arrived. If this theory be established, a single natural day most undoubtedly cannot be the measure of the divine sabbath, and conse- quently the command in the second chapter of Genesis has no connexion whatever with the heb- domadal sabbath observed in the Jewish and Christian churches. The seventh day, it is true, may have been set apart in commemoration of the repose which followed the six demiurgic pe- riods, but this must have been either by human sect, ii, p. lOD. So RoscnmiiUer, Scholia in Gen. cap. i ; and Geddes, Preface, p. C. ; and Critical Remarks on Gen. ii. 3. The account of the tabbath in the second chapter of Genesis, has been objected to on the score of obscurity. I do not wish to pass over any plausible objection, but this appears to me so trifling as not to deserve a reply. Those, however, who may desire to sec it refuted, may consult Owen, Excrcit. on li'ic Sab. iii. ^ ;J7. CHAP. U.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 71 autliorityy or some subsequent revelation ; for if the blessing and sanctification of the seventh day recorded in Genesis, does not relate to a natural day, but to a period of considerable length, it cannot be construed into a command to observe a weekly sabbath. Hence it is imperative to de- molish this theory, or to own at once that the ob- ligation of the sabbath cannot be derived from its original institution. The hypothesis upon which this objection is grounded, has had several abettors of no mean distinction in the annals of literature ; and it has lately been defended at great length, and with all the lights which a powerful mind could supply, by a learned and ingenious writer of our own times \ As it is not likely that any argument of ' Mr. Faber, Treatise on the Patriarchal, Levitical, and Christian Dispensations, lib. i. cap. iii. For information on points connected with the theory above mentioned, see Rosen- miiller, Antiquissima Telluris Historia a Mcse Dcscripia ; Beck, De Fontihus Sentcntiarum de Creatione ; Chichester, Deism com^ 2)ared with Christianity, Lett. xx. ; D'Herbelot, Bihliothcque Orienialc, voc. Dunia ; Doederlein, Inst. Theol. Christiani, sect. 127.'Obs. ii. ; Wegscheider, Inst. Thcologice Christiance Dog- mat. § 97. ; Petavius, Dogmat. Theol. vol. iii. lib. i. cap. v. ; Moses Vindicatus adversus T. Burnet; Quarterly Review, vol. xxi. p. 49^. ; Rosenmullcr and Dathe in Gen. i. ; Burnet, Lett. ii. in Archceologice ; Amnion, Summa Theologimn -qf Mmet, Ai4. 195. 108 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. low ye the sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers "." The employment of beasts. " Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest ; that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed ''." Such was the benevolent reason for enjoining a cessation of labour upon all foreign- ers residing in the land of Judaea, and upon the beasts of burden. Neither man, nor the brute creation, were to be deprived of rest, or to be tor- tured with unremitting toil. Such alternation of labour and rest is necessary to dumb animals as well as to man ; for, if they are continually em- ployed in labour, they become weak, stupid, and useless. If they are hard worked every day, they cannot hold out long, but with intervening days of rest they will be active and serviceable for a length of time. A horse for instance, as is well known, will in the same space of time travel much farther without injury, if allowed regular days of rest, than he can if employed daily. " Hence," as Michaelis observes, " the good treatment of beasts enjoined in the Mosaic law, and the sabba- tical rest ordained for their refreshment was high- • Jer. xvii. 21, 22. Compare Neh. x. 31. — xiii. 15. * Exod. xxiii. 12.— So Exod. xx. 10 — Deut. v. 13, 14. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 109 ly expedient, even in an economical point of view, and wisely suited to the circumstances of a peo- ple, whose cattle formed the principal part of their subsistence ''." Travelling. The law enjoins that the Israel- ites should stay at home on the sabbath ; " abide ye every man in his place ; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day '." This statute was given in the wilderness on the occasion of raining manna, and the obvious meaning is, that the Is- raelites were not on that day to leave their tents for the purpose of gathering manna, or of doing any servile work, but to remain within their pre- cincts, and to devote the time to religious duties. But the Hebrew doctors have built many absurd fancies upon this prohibition, such as, that it was unlawful for a man to go from any town or village where he resides, farther than a 1000 cubits, or about an English mile, and that in whatever pos- ture they may be on the sabbath morning, they are to continue in it during the remainder of the day. These conceits are foreign from the mean- ing of the Jewish legislator, who, in the passage above cited, merely forbids such travelling as * Michaelis, Comm. on the Laws of Moses, Art. 167. See also Art. 195. ^ Exod. xvi. 29. 110 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. III. would interfere with the rest and duties of the festival ^ Gathering sticks. In Numbers xv. 32 — 36, we read, that while the people were in the wilder- ness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sab- bath day, and brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and all the congregation. Moses consulted the Lord, who commanded him to be put to death ; in consequence of which, " the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him • Our Saviour says, *' Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day ;" (Matt. xxiv. 20.) for which various reasons have been assigned, as may be seen in Pool, Wolfius, Koecherus, Kuinoel, &c. But, however it may be ex- plained^ it has undoubtedly a reference to the opinions and prac- tices of the Jews of that age concerning the sabbath day's jour- ney ; and the general sense is, that, in consequence of the exist- ing prejudices of the Jews, it would be dangerous to fly on the sabbath day. The mention of " a sabbath day's journey," in Acts i. 12. is likewise an allusion to the then custom of the Jews ; and neither of these texts give any support to the Rabbinical in- terpretation of Exod. xvi. 29. Those who may be curious to investigate the extent, &c. of a sabbath day's journey, may con- sult, in addition to the commentators, Voightius, De Via Sab- bathi ; Walther, -Oe Itinere Sabbathi in Thesaur. Theol Philol. vol. ii. p. 417 and 423. et seq. ; Selden, De Jure Nat. et Gent. lib.iii.cap. ix. ; Buxtorf, Synag. Jwrfric. cap. xvi. and Lex. Chald. Rab. et Talm. p. 25S2. et seq. ; Sigonius, De Republ. Hehraor. lib. v. cap. xi. ; Lightfoot, Works, vol. i. p. 252 ; Meyer» De Festis Hebraeor. P. ii. cap. ix. § 39, 40. SECT. I.|] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. Ill with stones, and he died." As the inspired his- torian has not informed us either of the object which the man had in gathering sticks, or the mo- tive which influenced him to it, it is idle to indulge in conjecture concerning the specific nature of the offence. Nor is it necessary for us to know more than that it was a breach of the sabbatical rest which it pleased the Almighty to visit with the se- vere, but just penalty, which he had threatened against those who violated that commandment. It has been maintained, particularly by the Iflabbins, that war is to be classed among the works prohibited on the sabbath by the Levitical statutes ; but Michaelis, in opposition to this, argues with great force, that it is inconceivable how a state could subsist under such a law, as it would neither be secure against invaders, nor against the disturbers of the public peace on the sabbath ; that the word " service" (mu^r) gives no handle for even thinking of war ; that if they had held warlike operations unlawful on the sab- bath, we should frequently have read in their his- tory, of their enemies having availed themselves of the advantage of attacking them on that day, whereas we hear of no such thing in any of their wars previous to the Babylonian captivity ; and that, if an individual by the law of nature might defend himself against an assault, it would be ab- surd to suppose the Deity would prohibit a nation 6 112 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. Illr from exercising the same right upon which life or death, liberty or slavery, depended *. These rea- sons seem to vindicate satisfactorily the lawfulness of military operations on the sabbath ; but the Jews, after their restoration from captivity in Babylonia, construed the law so strictly, as to for- bid, not only all offensive warfare, but even self- defence on that day. In the age of the Maccabees, 1000 persons suffered themselves to be slain with- out making the least resistance ; upon which Mattathias and his followers, foreseeing the inevit- able destruction which would ensue if they acted upon this principle, came to a general determina- tion to repel by force any attack that was made upon them on the sabbath ". To this determina- tion they adhered when Jerusalem was attacked by Pompey, who abstained from all hostilities on that day, and employed his army in carrying on the works for a siege, to which the Jews made no opposition ; and, in the opinion of Joseph us, the city was captured in consequence of this strata- gem '. On several occasions besides these, as is shewn by Michaelis and others, the Jews acted upon the notion, that offensive war was unlawful ' Michaelis, Comm. on the Laws of Moses, Art. 196. " 1 Mace. ii. 39 — 41 ; Josephus, Anitq. lib. xii. cap. vi. ^ 2, 3. " Josephus, Anliq. lib. xiv. cap. iv. § 2. ; Prideaux, Con- nexion, lib. vi. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 113 on the sabbath, though they appear in this, as in other instances, to have construed their law with a superstitious rigour y. Notwithstanding the strictness of the sabbatical command, it would be unreasonable to suppose it designed to exclude works of necessity and cha« rity. The Jewish code, it is acknowledged, con- tains no express statute relating to such works ; but the former must, in the nature of things, be exempt from punishment, because devoid of cri- minality ; and no human legislator, much less the King of kings, would, upon any occasion, forbid the performance of the other. It cannot be be- lieved that a Being of infinite benignity would ever consider his laws violated by actions proceed- ing from motives of pure benevolence, and which at the same time administered to the good of a fellow-creature. The numerous exhortations in the Old Testament, to the exercise of all the kindlier dispositions, and particularly of mercy to the poor, sufficiently prove how acceptable are ' Mr. Sumner argues that, as the sabbatical enactments ren- dered the Israelites, in every human view, an easy prey to their enemies, no legislator, acting upon his own authority, would have endangered the state by such a law, and that this law conse- quently proves both the necessity and existence of a superintend- ing Providence ; (Records of Creation, chap. iii. sect. 4.) but if the law did not forbid war on the sabbath, the foundation of this reasoning will be subverted. It is at least very unstable ground. I IVA THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. III. actions of tliat cle&cription in the sight of God. " Blessed is he that considereth the poor :" " With- hold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it :" " He that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he :" " He that hath pity on the poor, lendeth to the Lord ; and that which he hath given, He will repay him :" " The just man. is he that ha,th given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment \" In these, and a multitude of Qther passages, charity is required universally, at all seasons, without limitation; and surely the Divine Being, by whose inspiration they were uttered, could not be offended with a charitable deed, because it was performed on the sabbath day. The Jews, however, at the time of our Sa- viour, appear to have misconstrued the law in re- gard to this subject, for they accused him of pro- faning the sabbath, by performing miraculous cures upon it \ » Ps. xli. 1. Prov. iii. 27.— xiv. 21. — xix. 17. Ezek. xviii. 7. Compare also Ps. cxii. 9. Prov. xi. 24, 25. — xiv. 31. — xxii. 9. — xxYJii. 27.— xxix. 7. Eccles. xi. i. Isa. xxxii. 8. — Iviii. 6 — 12. ' The Rabbins maintain the lawfulness of works of charity, but with certain restrictions, which often are productive of great cruelty. (Leusden, Hebrceo-Mixtus. Diss, xxxvi. § 10. p. 259.) They clearly allow works of necessity. (See Mishna, Tract, Sab. cap. xviii. ; Maimonides, cap. ii. § 23, ; Leusden, ibid. ; Buxtorf, Synag. Jud. cap. xvi. p. 305. ; Ikenius, Antiq. Hcb. P. i. cap. XX. § 27.) Wliatcvcr maybe the opinions of the Rab- SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. llo With respect to recreations, no express permis- sion is found in the law of Moses, but that they were, at least to a certain extent, allowable, may be inferred from several considerations. As a total abstinence from all amusement would render it a day of gloom and sadness, productive of me- lancholy rather than of religious comfort, no such enactment, it may be presumed, would be pro- mulged by a benevolent Deity. It did, indeed, assume an aspect "of this forbidding appearance, in consequence of the minute and scrupulous ob- servances of the Pharisees, so strongly reprobated by our Saviour ; but the law of God does not pro- hibit those relaxations, without which the sabbath would be more toilsome to the body, more depress- ing to the spirits, than the six days' labour. The design of the institution was to afford an hebdo- madal respite from toil, not only to the Israelites, but to servants and strangers, that they might " be refreshed ;" and something to amuse and recreate is indispensable for this purpose ^ In some cases the seventh day was appointed by statute to be bins, we are assured by infallible authority, that works of neces- sity and charity are allowable and right on the sabbath. Matt. xii. 1—13. Mark ii. 27. Luke xiii. 15.— xiv. 3—16. John V. 8— 18.— vii. 22.— ix. 14. .'' Exod. xxiii. 12. I 2 116 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. III. kept a feast unto the Lord " ; and the sabbath is numbered among the Jewish feasts or festivals, in all of which they were commanded to rejoice '^. To the same purpose is the text of Isaiah : " Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy so- lemnity is kept ; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel \" Ze- chariah declares, that different fasts " shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts V From all these circumstances it is but just to conclude, that, according to the Mosaic law, the sabbath was to be not only a day of rest, but also of innocent enjoyment. But the Jews, it is said on the other hand, were forbid from " doing their own ways, or finding their own pleasure, or speaking their own words ^;" which, it is thought, is to be understood of recre- ations and diversions, and of talking about world- ly matters. Three things, it is perfectly clear, are here condemned by the prophet. Of these the first, " doing their own ways," means the re- * Exod. xiii. 6. Numb. xxix. 12. Deut. xvi. 13—15. 2 Chron. XXX. 21. <» Compare Levit. xxiii. 2, 4, 37. with Deut. xvi. 11, 14 — Lam. ii. 7. « Isa. xxx. 29. ' Zech. viii. 19. Compare Amos viii. 10. K Isaiali Iviii. 13. SECT. I.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 117 fraining from the usual business or way of life ; the second, " finding their own pleasure," upon which the objection chiefly depends, denotes the pursuing one's own will, pleasure, or inclination, in opposition, as the context shews, to the com- mands of God ; and the third, " speaking their own words," means the speaking vain, unprofit- able, or injurious words. The prophet, therefore, only condemns the pursuit of worldly affairs, and the indulgence of such inclinations and pleasures as are contrary to those holy purposes for which the sabbath M^as designed ''. He forbids such ways as are opposite to the true way, such pleasures as are contrary to those which are spiritual, and such language as is impure and unholy ; but his phrase- ology cannot fairly be construed in the sense of prohibiting what contributes to harmless enter- '' That the Jews of our Saviour's time were vyont to make en- tertainments on the sabbath day, and to invite their acquaint- ances, may be gathered from Luke xiv. i. ; (See Wetstein and Lightfoot in loc.) and both Philo and Josephus consider feastings and rejoicings as essential to the celebration of the sabbath. (Philo, DeDecalogo, p. 585. B. C. De Migrat. Abrahami. p. 315. A. De'Propigis, p. 371. C. Josephus, Antiq. lib. xi. cap. v. § 5. lib. xiii. cap. xi. § 1.) The more modern Jews have convert^ it into a day of festive entertainments, and often of revelry and merriment. See Buxtorf, Synag. Jud. cap. xv. p. 312. ; Spencer, De Leg. Heb. lib. i. cap. iv. § 10. ; Leusden, Heb. Mixt. Diss. xxxv. § 8. p. 253 ; Heylin, Hist, of the Sab. P. i. cap. v. § 8. et seq. 118 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. CCHAP. HI. taiiiment even in the sabbath day '. The law of Moses, then, with all its severity, is so far in- dulgent to the weakness of human nature, as to allow whatever recreations are innocent and com- patible with the sanctity of a day, which the Al- mighty has commanded to be kept holy. Hence, though the sabbath was ordained to be a day of complete cessation from all bodily labours, and secular employment, neither works of neces- sity nor charity were forbidden, and such recrea- tions were allowed as are necessary for the re- freshment of nature. The Jewish doctors, indeed, inculcate the sabbatical rest still more rigorously. ' The second phrase in the Hebrew is "^iiSn i^lJiQD, and un- questionably denotes the pursuing what is agreeable to one's own inclination, which, as it is condemned, must refer to what is opposed to the will of God. " Sententia hujus loquendi generis invenire voluntatem suam, est, id consequi, quod cupis, nulla habita ratione sanctimonise sabbathi, ita ut cuivis operi ma- nus admoveatur." Rosenmiiller, Scholia in loc. So Le Clerc, Dr. Gill, and others. The last phrase in the Hebrew is I^T I^TJ which means either to use unprofitable and injurious language, as un'0, convocatiofi, occurs, it appears doubtful whether, in the statute recorded in Leviticus, it signifies a religions assembly, or a ])roclaimed holy- day. This uncertainty might be removed were we acquainted with the practice of the ancient Jewish church ; for it cannot be thought that the law was misunderstood while inspired men were =» Levit. xxiii. .3, 4. 37. So ver. 2. 27. Isaiah i. 13. 128 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. Ill, its guardians and interpreters. But though this practice would furnish the best commentary on the enactment in question, the Old Testament affords no proof, that it was the custom to hold religious assemblies on the sabbath-day. It has, indeed, been argued from the Shunamite's hus- band inquiring, why she desired to go to Elisha's house when it was neither new moon nor sabbath, that it was then customary to frequent the houses of the prophets on the sabbath-day for the sake of public worship ^ ; but the circumstances of the transaction do not warrant such a conclusion. The sabbath was a day of rest and disengagement, when the people in general would have more lei- sure than at any other time to seek advice and direction from the divinely-commissioned teachers of the nation. All, therefore, that can with jus- tice be inferred from the history is, that it was usual to consult the prophets on such seasons for religious instruction. The Priests and Levites were the public teachers, for to them Moses expressly assigns this office ; " They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law ' ;" and as they had allotted to them forty-eight cities in different parts of the land, some have supposed that this was to enable the people of each district to assemble with great- ^ 2 Kings iv. 23. See Le Clerc and Poli Synop. in loc, • Deut. xxxiii. 10. 9 SECT, I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 129 er convenience for the performance of religious offices '^. But the sacerdotal cities were situated in the territories of Simeon, Judah, and Benjamin, which would hardly have been the case, had they been intended for the purpose just now men- tioned. At any rate, it is a merely gratuitous sup- position, to which, in the absence of other argu- ments, very little weight can justly be attached. If it were permitted to infer the ancient practice from that which obtained in the Jewish church in our Saviour's time, the dispute might be easily de- cided ; for it was most undoubtedly customary in that age to assemble in stated places on the sab- bath-day for sacred and religious purposes. Thus it was usual to offer up their devotions on the sabbath, where prayer was wont to be made% and to reason or dispute on religious subjects ^ It was the day set apart for teaching and admo- nishing the people ^ ; and we are told that the law was read and expounded every sabbath-day \ These testimonies clearly demonstrate the use of sabbatical assemblies for divine worship at the Christian era. ^ Numti. XXXV. I — 8. Josh. xxi. 1. et seq. " Acts xvi. 13. ' Acts xviii. 4. R Mark i. 21. vi. 2. Luke iv. 16. et^seq. Acts xiii. 14. et seq. ^ Acts[xiii. 27. xy. 21. K 130 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. The learned men of the Hebrew nation also believe that congregational worship on the sab- bath was enforced by their inspired legislator. Philo declares that all persons belonging to the polity which Moses established should spend the seventh day in repose and festive delights, not in profane amusements, but in the study of true philosophy ; and a little farther he says, " that it was the custom, especially on the sabbath -day, to apply to the study of wisdom, the governor set- ting the example, and teaching what is proper to be done and spoken, and the rest attending to the lessons of virtue and to the correction of their lives and manners ; from which time to the pre- sent the Jews on the sabbath-days study the phi- losophy of their country, and devote that season to the knowledge and contemplation of nature : for in every city there are places destined for prayer '." Again, as reported by Eusebius, Philo says that their legislator " commanded them on the seventh day to assemble together, and to lis- ten to the recital of the law, with modest silence that nothing may escape them. This custom of assembling together they still follow, and the multitude keep silence, except when they receive with acclamations something that is read to them. ' Pliilo Judaeus, De Vita Mosis, lib. iii. p. 529. E. 530. A. See also De Decalogo, p. 585. B. De Mundl Opifido, p. 15. et seq. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 131 Some one of the priests or elders recites the sacred laws, and expounds them, till in the evening they separate, instructed in the knowledge of the di- vine laws, and confirmed in piety \" Josephus likewise quotes Agatharchides as saying that *' the Jews are accustomed to rest on every seventh day ; on which times they make no use of their arms, nor meddle with husbandry, nor take care of any affairs of life, but spread out their hands in their holy places, and pray till the evening \" The more modern Rabbins maintain that the sanctity of the sabbath, according to the law, consisted in part in religious assemblies for the purpose of worship and edification; of which abundant evidence may be found in the authors named in the margin ™. But neither the authority of the Jewish doctors, nor the practice of the Jewish church in the time of Christ, can be considered as decisive of the question. Though the former is in many in- stances strong corroborative attestation, it scarcely in the present case brings the scales to an equi- poise; and the existence of a practice in the •' Eusebius, Prcej)aratio Evangel, lib. viii. cap. vii. ' Josephus, contra Apion. lib. i. § 22. See also Antiq. lib. xvi. cap. ii. § 4. ™ Cartwright, Electa Thargumico-RahUn, p. 245. 417. ; Vi- tringa, De Synag. Vet. lib. i. P. 2. cap. ii. ; Meyer, De Festis Hehrccor. P. 2. cap. ix. § 60. et seq. K 2 132 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. earlier periods of the Mosaic economy cannot be inferred from its prevalence in the time of our Saviour ; and least of all does it prove it to have been enjoined in the Levitical code. Upon the whole, then, the phrase *' an holy convocation" is of very doubtful interpretation, yet it is the only one which seems to sanction the practice of sabba- tical public worship ; and, as it cannot be supposed that the Deity, if he had intended to enjoin such a practice among the Israelites, would have done it in ambiguous terms, it may safely be concluded, that they were left at liberty by the Mosaic law as to the mode by which they were individually — to sanctify the sabbath. So much for the rites and ceremonies peculiar to the Jewish sabbath, it still remains to investigate the peculiar object of its appointment. III. The object in appointing the sabbath to be kept by the people of Israel was unquestion- ably the furtherance of the end, which the provi- dence of God had in view in selecting them for his peculiar people. Like all the other statutes, and ordinances enjoined under the Mosaic dispen- sation, it was a means of securing those principles of true religion, the preservation of which was the design of the Almighty in making them the depository of his revealed will. So much may be inferred from the circumstance of its being a divine ordination, though it may not be easy to SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 133 discover the particular way in which that pur- pose was effected. Our conviction of the wisdom and goodness of the divine administration should not be shaken by our ignorance as to the precise mode of its operation. In surveying the ways of God to man the human understanding marches with the confidence of security to a certain limit, beyond which it feebly gropes its way, till it is lost in the mysteriousness of unfathomable im- mensity. We see enough, however, to convince us that they are in design beneficent, in execution all-wise ; and, while impressed with a humbling sense of our littleness and imperfection, we learn to confide in the wisdom and benignity of the great First Cause. From the fitness and mercy of the divine dispensations with which we are acquainted, it is just to infer the same fitness and mercy in such as come not within the sphere of our limited vision. If reason, confined as it is, can trace many benefits resulting from the ordi- nances of Revelation, it cannot be doubted, con- sidering the nature of him from whom they pro- ceed, that there are many more benefits which escape observatioa. Without presuming, then, to discover every object of the sabbatical institu- tion under the law, there are some to the know- ledge of which we are led by the unerring guid- ance of the holy Scripture. From various passages of the sacred writings 134; THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. it appears that the sabbath was in part designed to afford a weekly rest and refreshment from the toil of worldly occupations. " Six days shalt thou do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest ; that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed V Of this rest not only ser- vants and labourers, but beasts of burden were to partake : a wise and merciful law, which ex- tended the repose so needful for man to the brute animals subjected to his domination. Being also appointed to be kept holy to the Lord, it afforded a frequent opportunity for sacred meditation, and for such pious exercises as administer to the spi- ritual welfare of the soul. Time was thus allowed for the performance of many rites and ceremonies and obligations enjoined in the Levitical law. All the circumstances attending the celebration of that day were adapted to awaken the devout feelings of the heart, and to fix their minds upon the one true God in the peculiar relationship of king and governor of Israel. On every account the influence of the sabbath must have been no less advantageous than powerful ; so that without such a regular monition a people prone to idola- try and to revolt from God could scarcely have " Exod. xxiii. 12. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 135 been retained in obedience to the divine com- mands. Much as it contributed to the support of reli- gion in general, it was specially designed to keep in memory the creation of all things by Jehovah Elohim. This is the specific reason assigned for its adoption into the Mosaic polity. " In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed if." Great must have been the efficacy of this ordinance in restraining the Israelites from idol-worship, the besetting sin of that stubborn people. Being instituted in me- mory of the work of creation, every act of com- pliance with the command was a virtual acknow- ledgment of the one Jehovah, in opposition to the numerous false deities of surrounding nations. The remission of their worldly employments on the seventh day naturally called to remembrance God's creating the world in six days, and resting on the seventh. In the constant renewal of this recollection, their minds must have been as ©on- stantly impressed with the first and fundamental truth of all religion, the unity and omnipotence of the Deity. With every returning sabbath their thoughts were directed to the Supreme Be- " Exod. XX. 11. So Exod, xxxi. 1 7, 9 136 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. III. ing, who, existing eternally, infinite in his per- fections, and the Creator of the universe, was alone deserving their praise, their reverence and worship. As such a memorial the sabbath is of equal utility to all mankind, and will continue so to the latest posterities ; but it was likewise in an espe- cial manner useful to the Jews as commemorative of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. In the repetition of the Sinaitic law in the book of Deuteronomy this is declared to be one object of its institution : " Remember that thou wast a ser- vant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm : therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath-day ^" Amid the enjoyment of the rest allowed on the seventh day, the Israelites were reminded of the gratitude due to the Lord their God, who had " redeemed them out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage." It is the opinion of some that the Jewish sabbath was celebrated on the very day of the week on which God completed the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host in the red sea''; but, though such P Deut. V. 15. " Mede, Discourse XV. The reason for the institution of the sabbath assigned Exod. xx. 11. and Deut. v. 15. are perfectly reconcileable, as must be evident upon tlie least consideration. SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 137 calculations are probably too obscure to be de- pended upon, it was a manifest commemoration of their escape from the most severe slavery, through the mercies of God, and the frequent exertion of miraculous power. Reflection upon these events, so interesting to the Hebrew race, would bring to their remembrance the mighty works which had been wrought for them by Jeho- vah, how he led them by an outstretched arm, shewed them signs and wonders, and was for ever kind and long-suffering to a rebellious people. The thought of these things would excite senti- ments of grateful piety to the God of their fa- thers, and as the sabbath commemorated their deliverance from the bonds of Pharaoh, they would naturally, in celebrating it, profess them- selves the servants of Jehovah in the peculiar relation of Deliverer, and feel their obligation strengthened to obey his laws. That the sabbath was instituted partly with the view of being a sign is asserted by the inspired writers : " The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a Some suppose that in Deuteronomy God does not give the rea- son for the sanctification of the seventh day, but the reason why servants and labourers should have a rest as well as their mas- ters. Boothroyd and others in loc. But see Wagenseil, Tela Ignea Satance, p. 560 — 564. 138 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. sign between me and the children of Israel for ever'." As the original word, here rendered " sign," has various significations, the expression is not without ambiguity ; but it seems, in this place, to denote that which distinguishes one thing from another, that which is a mark of dis- tinction, or that by which any thing is known % According to this signification of the term, the sabbath was a sign, or symholum, whereby it was attested that Jehovah was the only God whom the Israelites worshipped, and that they were his peculiar people. In this manner it is explained by the most able commentators, and Mede, Spen- cer, and others have pointed out the way in which it was a sign between Jehovah and the people of Israel. Though undoubtedly a sign, it was so only in common with the other rites and ceremo- nies of the Levitical law, all of which were the distinguishing marks of that dispensation. Hence when the sabbath is so described it is usually mentioned in the plural, with an evident intention to include all the other festivals and holy days, which were equally signs under the Mosaic eco- nomy*. "■ Exod. xxxi. 16, 17. See Le Clerc in he. ' See the Hebrew Lexicons, especially Taylor's Concordance in m«. ' As for instance Exod. xxxi. 13. Ezek. xx. 12, 20. That this forms no objection to its primeval institution has been shewn before, chap, ii. p. 45. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 139 The Jewish sabbath being in some respects ceremonial, has been considered as having a typi- cal meaning, and it derives a degree of probability from the general typical nature of the Mosaic or-^ dinances. A type must have been originally de- signed to be so, of which there can be no indubit- able evidence except the declaration of an in- spired writer ; no symbolical design, therefore, ought to be attributed to the sabbath without the authority of the sacred Scriptures. If examined by this test, some notions which have been cur- rent respecting the typical nature of the sabbath will be found to be perfectly gratuitous, and wholly devoid of scriptural foundation. Thus some have imagined it to be a prefiguration of the rest of the body of our Lord in the grave, in which it lay during the whole Jewish sabbath, as also part of the sixth day, and part of the first. Some think that, in respect of the peculiar sacri- fices annexed to it, it was typical of the sacrifice of Christ. Some regard it as a type of the spiri- tual rest which the righteous should enjoy under the Gospel by resting from the burthensome rites and ceremonies of the law ; while others consi- der it a figure or representation of that spiritual ceasing from the works of sin, which Christians should aim at under the law of grace. That the sabbath was designed to be typical in any of these respects no intimation is supplied by the sacred writers ; these notions, therefore, must be num- liO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. bered among those resemblances and analogies, which a fertile imagination can easily discover, but which, having no support in the declarations of Scripture, must be discarded with all other idle dreams of fancy. Again it has been contended that the sabbath is typical of the everlasting rest which the faith- ful shall enjoy in heaven ; and for proof appeal has been made to the discourse of the Apostle in the fourth chapter of Hebrews. This passage, it must be owned, is not without considerable diffi- culties, and no conclusion can perhaps be drawn from it without some hesitation : nevertheless, there does appear to be no very slender grounds for asserting, on the authority of this passage, that the sabbath had a mystical meaning, and that it was typical of a heavenly rest. These grounds need not now be stated, as this subject will come again under consideration in a subsequent part of this work ". " On the typical character of the sabbath. See Mather, On the Types of the Old Testament, p. 445.; Shepard, Theses Sah- haticce, P. 2. $ 21. ; Owen, Exercit. iii. § 56. ; Wright, Treatise on the Lord's Day, cap. v. sect. 6. ; Edwards, Theol. Reformata, vol. ii. p. 444.; Bishop White, Treatise on the Sabbath, p. 163.; Burnet, Lett. 2da annexed to his Archceologice ; Deyhngius, Obs. Sacrce, P. v. Diss. 32. § 9. Diss. SS. § 4. ; Witsius, jEco- nom. Foederis, lib. i. cap. vii. §13.; Lightfoot, Works, vol. ii. p. 1320. et seq. ; Buxtorf, Syn. Jud. p. 331. and Florileg. Heb. p. 299. ; Whitby, Abresch and Wetstein on Heb. iv. 9. and A. Clarke on Exod. xx. 10. and Col. ii. 16. SECTION 11. Inquiry ivhether the Sabbatical Institution tvas to survive^ or to be abrogated with, Judaism, Having now investigated the peculiarities of the Jewish sabbath, our attention must now be directed to the important question, whether it was to be abolished along with the peculiar rites of Judaism. It is often argued that the sabbath, having been incorporated by divine command among the laws of Moses, necessarily ceased with the extinction of that polity. The argument is specious, and is, in fact, the palladium of the anti-sabbatarian cause. A strong impression was once made by it upon the author of these pages, at an earlier period of his life ; and, as it is cal- culated to have a similar influence upon the minds of others, it deserves a serious considera- tion. That the Hebrew ritual, with its typical rites and emblematical ordinances, was superseded by the introduction of Christianity, is a truth which 142 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. no believer in the divine mission of our Lord will dispute ; and the obligation of the sabbath so far as it was peculiar to that ritual, must have ceased. It was declared in the law, that " the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to ob- serve the sabbath throughout their genera- tions, for a perpetual covenant;" that is, I con- ceive, so long as their state and constitution should endure ^ ; and St. Paul pronounced it to be abolished among the other ceremonial institu- tions of the Mosaic economy ^ The cessation of the Jewish sabbath is unequivocally allowed ; but it does not follow from this admission, that Chris- tians are released from the duty of keeping the sabbatical ordinance according to its original appointment. Though its peculiar observance expired with the peculiar polity to which it be- longed, in its essential nature and spirit it may still be binding upon all mankind. The repeal of the Levitical rites accompanying the sabbath does not necessarily involve the sanctity of the seventh day ; since that which is essential to an ■ Exod. xxxi. IG. '' Rom. xiv. 5, 6. Gal. iv. 10. Col. ii. 16, 17*. J^ •■ " MuUus Apostoli sermo est yel per epistolam, vel presentis, in quo non laboret docere antiquae legis oneradeposita, et omnia ilia quae in typis et hnaginibus praecesserunt, i. e. otium Sab- bati, &c. gratia Evangelii subrepente, cessasse." Jerome, Praefat. in Ep. ad Galat. Vol. iv. p. 2Z2. SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 143 institution may remain, while adventitious appen- dages may be abrogated. Whether this is the case with the sabbath must finally be determined by the Christian Scriptures ; yet some considera- tions, independently of their infallible authority, and derived solely from the Jewish Scriptures evince, that it was not to be annulled along with the Levitical ordinances. The appointment of the sabbath has been shown before, to be coeval with the world, ad- dressed to all mankind, and consequently obliga- tory upon the whole human race. It was re- ceived into the Levitical code with certain modi- fications, a circumstance by no means converting it into a mere Jewish festival, binding only upon the Hebrew nation. The relation in which it stood to all mankind from its aboriginal institu- tion cannot be altered by its adoption into the religious polity of a particular people ; for, though it was adopted by the direction of the Deity, it does not thereby lose the character of universa- lity which he had antecedently given to it. Deriving no part of its sanctity from the Mosaic Law, it is no more cancelled by the abrogation of that polity, than the injunction to practise the moral duties. The obligation of the sabbath, as the prohibition to abstain from adultery, murder, theft, and other crimes, is independent of the Jewish dispensation, with the dissolution of which 144- THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. it cannot therefore be affected. It is an institu- tion of divine origin, of an earlier age, of univer- sal interest, and, while the peculiar observance of it established by the law of Moses has expired, will remain in force to the latest generations. If the sabbatical command was given at the creation, it would not be disobeyed, it may be presumed, in the antediluvian ages by the pious Sethi tes, nor subsequently by the faithful line of Abraham ; it, therefore, formed a part of the ritual religion of the patriarchs. Now " the worship of the Christian church is properly to be considered as a restoration of the patriarchal, in its primitive simplicity and purity; — and of the patriarchal worship, the sabbath was the noblest and perhaps the simplest rite ^" If it be objected to this argument, that it would equally go to prove the obligation of sacrifices in the Christian church, the answer is, that the ancient sacrifices were typical, as the holy Eucharist is commemorative of the great mediatorial sacrifice of Christ. They had respect to one and the same object. An emblematical representation is of no further use, when that which it prefigured has actually come to pass. As Christ has once offered himself for all, the rites typical of that event must needs give place to those which are ' Bishop Horsley, Sermon^ xxii. vol. ii. p. 201. ] SECT. 11.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 145 commemorative. But the sabbath cannot be proved to be a type of any gospel blessing on earthy and must therefore continue under the co- venant of grace, as must the memorial of that which the sacrifices represented. The patriarchal, Jewish, and Christian dispen- sations have each something peculiar, something which distinguishes it from the rest, while at the same time they have a mutual relationship. With many distinctive features they have many things in common. They are all founded in the same system of divine grace, which, commencing with the fall, was successively developed, till it shone with its most resplendent lustre at the advent of our Redeemer. They promulgate the same truth, though with different degrees of clearness ; and they conspire with wonderful harmony and accordance in announcing to man the grand scheme of redemption through a Medi- ator. Christ is the mighty Deliverer promised to the Patriarchs, typified in the law, ahd described in the gospel ; he, like the sun in the solar sys- tem, is the orb about which they revolve, and for the manifestation of whom they were design- ed in the deep counsels of omnipotence. From first to last the incarnate God is the subject of their proclamation ; and under every religious institution the Almighty has been progressively carrying on a stupendous plan of grace and h 146 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. mercy for the salvation of his fallen creatures. Amid the harmony of these dispensations, a har- mony we must admire and revere, not the least striking is their accordance in a septenary day of public worship. The sabbath, moreover, is distinguished above the other holy-days of the Jews by some circum- stances so remarkable as can only be accounted for on the supposition that it was designed to survive the rest. Of all the Jewish festivals it alone dates its origin with that of the world, being appointed during the state of man's inno- cency, and for the only human beings then in ex- istence, which seems to mark it out for universal reception. Marriage, another paradisiacal institu- tion, an institution not more conducive to the multiplication than to the virtue and happiness of the human race, is plainly designed to last till the consummation of all things ; and why should the sanctity of the sabbath, which is as necessary for the religious improvement, as marriage for the comfort of man, be thought of more limited continuance? Of all the Jewish festivals it alone was blessed and sanctified by the imme- diate agency of the Deity. The rest were appoint- ed by the instrumentality of his servant Moses, through whom they are commanded to be hallowed by the children of Israel ; but the sabbath was sanctified by the act of God himself, primarily. SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 147 when he surveyed with benign complacency the work of the six demiurgic days, and subse- quently, when the glory of the Lord was dis- played with awful and tremendous majesty from the Arabian mount. Why this distinction if the sabbath was to perish with the ceremonial ordi- nances of the Law ? Was the peculiar eminence attached to it by these circumstances without design, and for no purpose? Impossible. In the divine operations there is nothing super- fluous or unmeaning, no display of useless power and grandeur ; for what purpose, then, could the seventh day be distinguished in so remarkable a manner above all other days, unless to desig- nate it as a perpetual ordinance ? In short, every thing respecting the institution is inexpli- cable on the supposition that it was to be an- nulled with the Hebrew ritual. In the fourth commandment the sabbath is declared to be a commemoration of the wisdom and goodness of God in creating the universe in six days, and resting on the seventh ; and, as all mankind are bound to reverence the divine per- fections manifested in the work of creation, all mankind, as it should seem, are likewise bound to observe an institution appointed by the Deity for its commemoration. If it had not been de- signed to be of lasting obligation, why was a reason given for its institution which renders it l2 148 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. equally incumbent upon every individual of all nations, and of all ages ? Other festivals were especial signs between Jehovah and the Israelites, instituted in memory of some special kindness of Providence vouchsafed to them, or to adumbrate some future expected blessing ; but the sabbath cannot be proved to typify or prefigure any thing under the gospel dispensation : if it is a mystic representation of any thing future, it is of the beatified rest in heaven, and in that way it is co-existent with the human species. The pious Jew reading in the Law, that " in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed if," must have concluded, that, as the reason here alleged for the appointment of the sabbath equally applies to all men, all are bound to re- ceive it who are taught that the universe was created by the fiat of Jehovah Elohim. Again, in the fourth commandment " the strangers that were within their gates," were enjoined to observe the sabbath, which implies that it was something more than a mere Jewish festival. No " stranger" was permitted to eat the Passover without being initiated into the religion of Moses by the rite of circumcision ', • Exod. XX. II. ' Ibid. xii. 43, 41. SECT. 11.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 149 nor was he allowed to offer incense, or to join in any of the ritual services of the Law, unless he submitted to be circumcised^; but, without such initiation, he was obliged to keep the sab- batical rest ; of which no other account can rationally be given, than that the former were rites peculiar to Judaism, while the latter was also designed for universal and perpetual obser- vance. This receives much confirmation from the other injunctions extended to the " stran- gers" in Judea, which are of a moral nature. Thus they were commanded to abstain from idola- try, and to worship the true God^ and they were not to blaspheme his holy name '. As these are injunctions permanently binding upon mankind, it must reasonably be supposed, that the com- mand of the sabbath is of the same description. An express declaration that the Jewish polity was to be abrogated, and a new one to be substi- tuted in its stead, would have defeated the design of that dispensation, and of course is not to be expected ; nevertheless it is intimated, and in no very obscure terms, that the sabbath was to have a place in the new and spiritual covenant. Thus Isaiah, " The sons of the stranger that join them- selves unto the Lord, to serve him, and to love » Gen. xvii. 10. et seq. Josh. v. 2, et seq. " Exod. xxii. 20. ' Levit. xxiv. 16. . £$0 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketli hold of my covenant : even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer ; their burnt-offer- ings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon my altar : for mine house shall be called the house of prayer for all people. The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith. Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him ''" Some refer this prophecy to the return of the Jews from the Babylonian cap- tivity, but Vitringa, and other able commenta- tors, to the gospel dispensation ; and with good reason, for, in embracing Christianity, " the sons of the stranger had joined themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants," " they kept the sabbath from polluting it," " they had taken hold of his covenant," they had been brought to God's holy mountain, that is the church, of which mount Zion was the type \ " they were made joyful in his house of prayer," " their spiritual burnt- offerings and sacrifices were accepted upon his altar," Christ, which is the true propitiatory "", '' Isa. Ivi. 6—8. ' Ibid. ii. 2.— xi. 9. Ezek. xx. 40. "' Rom. iii. 25. SECT. H.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 151 " his house had been called a house of prayer for all people," and the Lord God had gathered unto Christ others than " the outcasts of Israel." The prediction therefore is completely fulfilled in the Christian dispensation, under which, it is declared in the prophecy, that the sabbath should continue a divine institution, and that those who keep from polluting it, taking hold of the new cove- nant, shall be made joyful in the church, which is the house of prayer for all people. The house of God was never " the house of prayer for all people," till the Gentiles, under the gospel dispensation, were admitted to all the privileges of grace ; and under this dispensation the sabbath was not only to continue, but a spe- cial blessing is annexed to the observance of it. This interpretation is supported by a commen- tator whose sceptical notions on some important articles render his authority less suspicious where he agrees with the orthodox. " As the persons here intended, says he, are not proselytes to the Jewish religion, but mere Gentiles, who were under no obligation to observe any part of the Mosaic Law, as such, and yet are considered as highly commendable for keeping the sabbath, it seems to me that a strong argument may hence be drawn in support of the opinion, that the sabbath was instituted by God at the beginning of the world, and that it was obligatory on all 152 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. men to whom that institution was made known. The promise in Isaiah is not confined to persons who might be desirous of living among the Jews, but extends to all strangers in any part of the world, who, not being proselytes to the Jewish religion, might be induced to forsake idolatry, and to observe the sabbath "." In another place Isaiah says, " If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy-day ; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words : then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon tlie high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it °." This passage has primarily so evident a reference to the Jewish sabbath, that I have not scrupled so to apply it in the preceding section. But when it is con- sidered that the Evangelical prophet is continu- ally extending his view to the future kingdom of grace, that in these latter parts of his predic- tions he refers more particularly to the blessings of the gospel dispensation, and that he had a " Dodson, Translation of Isaiah, note in loc. See also Dwight, Theology, Serm. 105. • Isa. Iviii. 13, 14. SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 153 little before, in the sixty-fifth chapter, referred to the Christian sabbath, it is highly probable that he here treats of the Jewish, with allusion to the Christian festival. " Perhaps, says Bp. Jebb, in no other passage are its duties, its enjoyments, and its rewards, so happily described, as in the text. The prophet writes, no less for Christians, than for Jews. He looks beyond a cold forma- lity of ritual obedience, to the enlarged and free spirit of rational devotion. With him the sab- bath breathes, as it ever ought to breathe, the cheerful animation of a festival p." Again, Isaiah says ; " As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord''." The chapter from which this is extracted, together with the preceding one, manifestly relate, as Bishop Lowth observes, to the calling of the Gen- tiles, the establishment of the Christian dispensa- tion, the reprobation of the apostate Jews, and their destruction by the Romans. The applica- tion to the times of the gospel is so extremely p Bp. Jebb, Sermons on Isa. Iviii. 13, 14. p. 140. *» Isa. Ixvi. 22, 23. IS4 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. evident, that those who are apt to be somewhat sceptical in the interpretation of prophecy have not denied it, as Grotius, Le Clerc, and Dathe. In the prophetical description of the new eco- nomy it is declared, that all flesh should worship the Lord, " from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another ;" that is, as many understand it, believers should offer up their public devotions, not only every month, but on every sabbath day. It must be allowed however, that the expressions may only be intended to signify generally, that public worship should be offered to the Deity, under the new economy, at the seasons appointed for it, without determining what those seasons should be '. The same doubt attaches to a passage in Eze- kiel wherein mention is made of the sabbath, " Likewise the people of the Lord shall worship *■ " Omnis generis gentisque homines venient oraturi in sub- diali Gentium : idque non tantum fiet singulis mensibus, sed qu^ue hebdomade." Grotius in loc. Another eminent commen- tator says on the other hand. " Sensus simplex ; conditorum perfectorumque Coelorum novorum ac Terrse novee consequens fore, ut tandem omnes per orbem homines, vera religione agnita, ingente zelo statis temporibus Deum publice colant ac venera- bundi celebrent atque adorent, et quidem ritu spirituali." Vi- tringa in loc. A little after he says " Si sub nomine sabbati hie non tantum hehdomadalia, verum etiam omnia sahbata intelli- gantur ; quod in medio relinquo ; sufficit mihi, hebdomadalia non excludi." 4 SECT. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 155 at the door of this gate before the Lord, in the sabbaths, and in the new moons. And the burnt- offerings that the prince shall offer unto the Lord in the sabbath day, shall be six lambs with- out blemish, and a ram without blemish '." This description occurs in Ezekiel's grand but myste- rious vision of a new temple and city, under which is represented the establishment of the universal church of Christ, and the prophet gives a particular direction concerning the service of the sabbath day in the new spiritual state. But whether it is meant that the sabbath should be continued under the new religion and polity, or merely that sacred offices should be performed at stated times, it is not easy to decide. While the general duty of public worship in the future eco- nomy is evidently set forth, we cannot but hesi- tate in inferring the particular manner of its per- formance from a description so highly parabolical, and abounding with such obscure imagery. The perpetuity of the sabbath has been argued from the language of the psalmist ; " Open to me the gates of righteousness : I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord; this gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee ; for thou hast heard me, and art be- come my salvation. The stone which the build- • Ezek. xlvi. 3, 4. 156 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. III. ers refused is become the head stone of the cor- ner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made ; we will rejoice and be glad in it '." That this passage is prophetical of Christ is acknow- ledged by the generality of divines, for it is ex- pressly referred to him in the New Testament % but that " the day which the Lord hath made," relates to the Christian observance of the sabbath is a position not so easily defined. By various commentators it is variously explained " ; but it is most commonly understood of the day on which Christ rose from the dead. Bp. Horsley seems to take it for the day of the resurrection, for he explains this and the cxviith psalm of the angelic host attending round the throne of God in heaven, with Messiah the conqueror in his train, the redeemed. In this, as in several instances of his posthumous notes in the psalms, he is proba- bly more fanciful than just ; but whatever may be intended by the expression, it must be allowed to be somewhat ambiguous, and it would there- » Ps. cxviii. 19 — 24. " Matt. xxi. 42. Mark xii. 10. Luke xx. 17. Acts iv. 11. Ephes. ii. 20. 1 Peter ii. 4. =" Michaclis, Notce Uberiores in Hagiographos, in loc. ; Poli Synop. in loc. Dwight strenuously urges it in favour of the per- petuity of the sabbath, but his reasoning is glaringly weak : no unusual thing with that writer. SECT. 11.2 "^^^ CHRISTIAN SABBATH. ISY fore be injudicious to found an argument on it in reference to the present question. Discarding testimony of so dubious a character, we may rely upon the before-cited passages from Isaiah, the first of which clearly, and the other two most probably, predict the continuance of the sabbath under the gospel dispensation. They are not, however, to be received as isolated passages, having no mutual bearing and relation- ship : they reflect light and strength upon each other ; and any one of them being proved to foretel that the sabbath was to continue under the dispensation of grace, confirms, in no trifling de- gree, the same interpretation of the others. Considered in their combined evidence and force, no rational doubt can remain that, agreeably to the predictions of the evangelical prophet, the sabbath was an institution designed to last to the termination of this sublunary scene. To the inquiry which has formed the subject of this section, whether the sabbath was to sur- vive, or to be abrogated with Judaism, a satisfac- tory answer may now be returned. For let the conclusions which have been already established be recapitulated, and candidly considered. It has been proved in the former part of this work ; that the sanctity of the seventh day, was origi- nally declared by the Almighty upon finishing the work of creation, and that the command 158 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[ciIAP. III. was addressed to the whole human race. In the present chapter it has been shewn, that, notwith- standing its being adopted into the Hebrew ritual with some peculiar rites and observances, which have been briefly described, it did not thereby become a mere Jewish festival ; that, while these rites and observances were necessarily abrogated along with the polity of which they constituted a part, all that is essential to the sabbatical institution survived ; that its sanctity, being anterior to, and independent of the law, did not cease with Judaism ; that several circum- stances in regard to the sabbath, even under the Mosaic economy, designated it for a perpetual ordinance ; and that there are express intima- tions in the Old Testament that the sabbath was to be revived under the new covenant which the Lord God would establish in the latter days. So far, then, from being annulled by the dissolution of the Levitical law, it received additional sanc- tion from its adoption into that law. Thus in tracing the history of the sabbath, through the period of the Patriarchal and Jewish dispensations, the sanctification of it at the crea- tion has not been abrogated by any declaration in the inspired records of the Old Testament ; and as a divine command must continue in force for ever, unless repealed by the same authority by which it was promulged, the sabbatical law SECT. II.;] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 159 remains still incumbent upon all mankind unless it be repealed in the Christian Scriptures, to the authority of which we bow with submissive reve- rence. Our next inquiry, therefore, is, whether any, and what alteration has been made in it by our blessed Lord, and his Apostles. CHAPTER IV. OF THE SABBATICAL INSTITUTION UNDER THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION. SECT. I. The sabbatical institution, so far from being abrogated, is enjoined in the New Testament. By the preceding investigation the way is pre- pared for the most important inquiry into the nature and obligation of the sabbath under the gospel dispensation. Whatever law concerning it may have been promulged to the patriarchs or Israelites, if annulled by the authority of our Saviour, it is no longer binding upon Christians. The question then of highest interest is, whether it be repealed in the sacred records of Chris- tianity, for upon its decision our duties in regard to the ordinance under consideration must de- pend. Those who deny the religious obligation of the sabbath, confidently affirm that it is abolished by apostolical authority; in proof of which appeal SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 161 has been made to a few texts of the apostolical epistles. Of these the first and most imposing is the injunction of St. Paul: " Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days ; which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body is of Christ \" From this passage Dr. Paley, and a multitude of other writers, conclude that the sanctification of the seventh day is dispensed with in the Chris- tian church. In dissenting from this conclusion, however, I readily concede that, though by using the plural number the apostle evidently refers to all the days of sacred rest appointed in the law, the Jewish weekly sabbath is included, which conse- quently is declared, in plain and explicit language, to be abolished with the carnal ordinances of the Jewish religion. " But, as Dr. Priestley remarks, this does not imply that we should observe no day at all, as a season of rest from worldly busi- ness, and for the purpose of religious improve- ment, but only such a sabbath as the Jews, and especially the more superstitious of them, ob- serve^, with respect to which our Saviour was frequently reproving them. Such superstitious observances were probably retained by the Ju- daizing Gnostics, and they are retained by the » Col. ii. 16, 17. M 162 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. bulk of the Jewish nation until this day. The Gentiles also were under no obligation to observe a seventh day for the purpose of rest, as the Jews were ; but as the apostles had always been used to offices of pubhc worship one day in seven, and the propriety and use of the custom was never questioned, it cannot be supposed that they would voluntarily abandon so useful an institution, or that they would not recommend it to their disci- ples ^" Though the last sentence is perhaps objec- tionable, as seeming to exclude the agency of the Spirit in the apostolical directions, the passage, coming from so keen and sceptical a writer, is a valuable acknowledgment. That the apostle re- fers solely to the Levitical ordinances is plain from the whole scope of the chapter, and from the circumstance, that the seventh day festival of the Christians was not called " the sabbath," but " the Lord's day." These appellations were never confounded in the apostolic age, and in speaking of the former, no one would ever suppose that the latter was included. The sabbath days, then, to which St. Paul alludes, vvere not the Sundays of the Christian woiship, but the Saturdays and other feasts of the Jewish calendar. The same '' Notes on all the Boohs of Scripture, in loc. See Danzius, De Festo Septimmt. abrnrralo, apud Meusclion, Noi\ Test, e.t Tul- ■tintJ-Ulvslrat. SECT. I.J THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 163 inference results from the very phraseology used by him; for, extending the prohibition against judging others " in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon," he can only refer to the Mosaic statutes relating to these matters ; and it would be as unreasonable to sup- pose that the Christian sabbath was prohibited by the mention of the " sabbath days," as that the use of bread and wine in the eucharist was condemned by the expressions " in meat, or in drink." In this part of his epistle the apostle is guard- ing the Colossians against the errors and super- stitions which Judaizing and corrupt men were endeavouring to ingraft upon the simplicity of the Gospel. He admonishes the converts of their freedom from the ceremonies of the Jews, their circumcision, their distinction of meats, their new moons, their holy days ; all which were obscure adumbrations of " things to come," of spiritual blessings in the church, which is the body of Christ, and now perfectly useless to those who enjoy the reality of what they were only the shadows. The sabbath, in being incorporated with the Levitical rites, received a peculiar and especial object, together with peculiar ceremonies and laws for its celebration ; and, so far as it was peculiarly Judaic, it is abolished in Christ. Its penal sanction, its rigorous rest, its appropriation M 2 164 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. as a sign, in short, all that accommodated it to the Hebrew church, is done away ; but there is no reference to the Paradisiacal institution of the sabbath. The primoeval command is not impli- cated in the apostle's declaration ; it is to the Jewish sabbath alone to which he refers ; and while the festivals of that religion are pronounced to be transient shadows, the original institution, which is not even glanced at by the apostle, must remain in full force. These observations are for the most part appli- cable to the other texts adduced in opposition to the permanency of the sabbatical institution, namely, Ptom. xiv. 5, 6. and Gal. iv. 10, 11. in the former of which the apostle says ; " One man es- teemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, re- gardeth it unto the Lord ; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it." Here St. Paul is speaking of the Levitical festi- vals, the new moons, the sabbaths, and other holy days, for which the Jewish converts naturally en- tertained a regard, while the Gentile believers as naturally deemed them entitled to no respect. This was the subject of controversy, and the apostle exhorts every one to be firmly persuaded in his own mind, and, while differing in practice, to exercise mutual charity and forbearance. In SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 165 the other passage above referred to, he says to the Galatians, " Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain." He alludes to the weekly sabbaths, the new moons, the festivals, and the sabbatical and Jubilee years of the Jews, the observance of which the apostle delicately condemns, in expressing his fears lest, after all his labour, the Galatians did not under- stand the liberty and privileges of the gospel. That in both these passages St. Paul is speaking of the Jewish festivals must be evident upon a bare perusal of the context, and it is acknow- ledged and illustrated by almost every commen- tator ; his decision, therefore, respecting the Mo- saic holy days cannot be extended to the Para- disiacal and Christian sabbaths. From this review of the texts in the New Tes- tament, which have been appealed to by our ad- versaries, it may be confidently asserted that the sanctity of the seventh day has not been abro- gated either by Christ or his apostles. But there is another objection derived rather from the spirit of the gospel than any express declaration, and as it is not unfrequently made, even by writers of the first respectability, it would be improper to pass it over without remark. The objection is, that positive institutions of religion have no in- herent excellence ; that they only make a part of 166 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV the discipline by wliicli creatures in their first state of imperfection, weak in intellect, and strong in passion, must be trained to the habit of those virtues which are in themselves valuable ; that they are but a secondary part of the will of God, and must be considered to be of secondary rank as branches of man's obedience ; that they are no otherwise pleasing to God, than as they are bene- ficial to man by enlivening the flame of genuine religion in his bosom ; and that, while the primary duties of religion are the very end for which man was originally created, and, after the ruin of the fall, redeemed, the positive precepts are only the means appointed to facilitate and secure the at- tainment of the end. The sabbath, therefore, being merely a positive and ceremonial institu- tion, cannot be of universal application, nor be placed upon the same footing with a moral duty. Such is the objection, and, notwithstanding the eminent names by which it is urged, I am of opi- nion that it contains more of subtilty than solidity. The distinction between moral and positive laws is in many cases very difficult to be defined. A moral law, having its foundation in right reason, and the eternal fitness of things, is obligatory upon the consciences of all intelligent creatures ; positive laws, on the other hand, have no fitness or authority antecedently to their promulgation, and, independently of such promulgation, are in SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 167 their own nature indifferent. The former is universally assented to by unsophisticated reason, and is necessarily, and for ever binding; while the latter, not originating in any dictate of con- science, has no importance beyond what it re- ceives from the will of him by whom it is pre- scribed. But they sometimes approximate so near, that it is no easy matter to distinguish their limits. In what class, for instance, are we to number the laws respecting marriage within cer- tain degrees of kindred, the law of divorces, the ordinance of the sacraments, and many others ? These are consentaneous to the eternal principles of morality, and yet they are in some degree of a positive nature. They participate, to a certain extent, of both ; and hence a precept may be said to be moral in a secondary or inferior sense, when it is naturally suitable to advance that which is moral in the highest sense. Of this mixed cha- racter is the sabbath in the opinion of perhaps the greater part of those who have treated the subject, who allow it to be agreeable to eternal reason, that some portion of time should be de- voted by all intelligent creatures to the service of God, while they can discover no reason in the na- ture of things why it should be the seventh, rather than the sixth, or any other day. But this representation, notwithstanding its plausibility, cannot claim unqualified assent. If 1 168 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. it be right and fit to commemorate the creation of the world in six days, and the cessation of that sublime work on the seventh, it is right and fit to select such a revolution of days as may be suitable for this purpose. The acknowledgment of the production of the universe out of nothing is so connected with the belief of a great First Cause, that it is indisputably the duty of all men to commemorate that glorious operation of Omni- potent Wisdom ; but agreeably to the light we enjoy from Revelation ; a septenary revolution alone is commemorative of its completion in six days, which authorizes the adoption of every seventh day rather than any other cycle ". Yet, allowing the sabbatical law to be in cer- tain respects ceremonial, it evidently accords, in some particulars, with the light of reason and nature. That some part of our time should be *^ Against the opinion that the sabbath is a positive institution, it has been alleged, " that the ceremonial law" in all the parts of it was contrived on account of sin, and to point to a Saviour ; but in a state of innocence there could be no use for such sha- dows and ceremonies. Therefore we must conclude, that a law which was to be observed, though man had never apostatized from God ; and which stood in full force, from the very creation of the world ; cannot be made a part of that ceremonial law which was contrived for a state of sin, and was given 2500 years after." (Wright's Treatise on the Lord's Day, cap. i. § 4.) But I own this appears to me very like a begging of the question; it certainly assumes what is not, and cannot, be proved. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 169 devoted to the service of the Deity, is a duty demanded by the relation of creatures to their Creator, and recognized by the moral feelings implanted in the human breast. The law which enjoins a duty discoverable without the aid of revelation, must have its foundation in the law of nature ; it is the echo of the voice of con- science, and universally binding, because founded in reason, and the eternal fitness of things. Of this kind is the law of the sabbath, since it en-, joins the stated worship of God, a duty to which every virtuous bosom is naturally impelled, and of which every generous mind acknowledges the propriety. To the performance of this duty it is plain that fixed seasons are absolutely necessary, and so far it is a moral dictate, though it belongs to God alone to determine, by a positive enact- ment, the stated periods of its return. A mere ceremonial act, likewise, has no natural con- nection with religious feelings, it is arbitrary in its nature, and influential only by institution ; but the appropriation of a portion of our time to the praise and veneration of the Deity is linked with the noblest virtues, is interwoven with all the sentiments of ardent piety, and, antecedently to any revealed knowledge, is felt to be an en- during and sacred obligation. But it is suffi- cient to rebut the objection, if the sabbatical command be deemed partly moral, and partly 170 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. LCHAP. IV. positive ; for in whatever degree it is moral, it becomes so far imperative upon the conscience. The law of the sabbath, then, is not a mere positive precept ; but Bishop Horsely urges, that our Saviour's declaration, " that the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath V establishes, in the most peremptory terms the dis- tinction between natural duties and positive insti- tutions, and determines the sabbath to be of the latter description'. These positions he labours at great length to substantiate ; but the whole of his reasoning proceeds upon a misconception of our Lord's words, which have no reference to the distinction between moral laws and positive or- dinances. They form part of his reply to the charge against his disciples for doing what was not lawful on the sabbath day, and they amount to this, that, inasmuch as the sabbath was made for the use of man, it cannot be profaned by doing what contributes to the benefit of man. Our Saviour retorts upon the Pharisees that, by their traditions and superstitious observances, they had so far perverted a law of God as to deprive it of some advantages it was intended to confer. The sabbath was designed for the good of man, as is the moral law ingrafted in his heart, and «• Mark ii. 27. * Bp. Horslcy, Sermon 21. SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 171 whatever opposes this object is equally culpable in the one case as in the other. His disciples therefore were not to be condemned for only having done that which was strictly agreeable to the design of all the laws of God, whether moral or ceremonial. Hence the text in question has nothing to do with the distinction between natu- ral and positive laws ; and to infer from it that the sabbath belongs to the latter, is just as irrele- vant as to conclude that the fifth commandment is a mere positive law, because our Saviour de- clares that the Pharisees had made it of none effect through their traditions ^ In the question respecting the perpetual sanc- tity of the sabbath, too much importance has been attached to the distinction between moral laws and positive institutions. It is a distinction which cannot be always satisfactorily traced ; for, amid the clouds, and errors, and prejudices, and weaknesses which obscure our intellectual views, it is often impossible to perceive what is, and what is not consonant with the eternal fit- ness of things : nor, when it is clearly perceived, is it easy to discriminate how much of it is discoverable by the light of nature, and how much is owing to the effulgence of celestial com- munication. If, pushing our inquiries farther, ' Mark vii. 9—13. 172 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. we attempt to trace that which constitutes the immutable distinction of right and wrong in hu- man actions, we shall find no other sure founda- tion for it than the will of God : in point of moral obligation, therefore, where is the diffe- rence whether a duty be discoverable by the light of nature, or of revelation? If the will of God be the sole foundation of moral obligation, all duties, natural and positive, must upon this principle be equally binding upon those to whom that will is made known ^. In reference, then, to the revealed will of God, and without such re- ference there can be no argument on Christian conduct, it matters not whether a precept belong to the class of moral or positive laws ; for, if it be promulged in the volume of revelation, it is, in either case, equally authoritative. The circum- stance of its being commanded by the Almighty gives it validity, which is no way affected whether it were, or were not, antecedently founded in reason and nature ; and the injunction of the sabbath, whether it be a moral or ceremonial law, or in part partaking of both, is as binding, pro- ^ See Ernesti, Opuscula Theologka, Diss. 3. It will not follow from this doctrine, that all crimes are equal, as Bp. Horsley supposes; {Sermon xxi. p. 184.) for it may be the will of God to attach a greater value and importance to some duties than to others, according to which the violation of them must be more or less criminal. SECT. 1.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 173 vided it be clearly published in the Word of God, as the prohibition against murder, theft, or adultery. The sabbath, then, is not a mere positive insti- tution, nor, if it were, would that circumstance derogate from its perpetual obligation ; and, not being annulled as we have seen, by the express declaration of our Lord or his Apostles, the con- clusion is inevitable, that it will remain in force as long as the world endures. This must be deemed a satisfactory answer, supposing we were furnished with no other, to those who allege that the observance of the sab- bath is, in the writings of the New Testament, enjoined by no positive authority, and that it cannot, consequently, be of moral or religious obligation. But if the objection were founded in truth, it would be nugatory ; for a festival di- vinely instituted, and never subsequently abro- gated, continues obligatory upon all who are made acquainted with it. To assert that, if it were designed for perpetuity, it would be ex- pressly authorized in the Christian Scriptures, is to trespass beyond the limits of the human un- derstanding. We have only to inquire whether any dispensation be divine ; for, having ascer- tained that it proceeds from infinite wisdom, our duty is passive and unlimited obedience. Impious is the presumption of prescribing the 174 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CIIAP. IV. time and mode of the communication of the divine commands; these are in the disposal of God's sovereign will ; and he alone can absolve his creatures from the duty of complying with whatever he has enjoined. A revealed law, whenever or wherever given, constitutes an eternal obligation, unless dispensed with by some later revelation ; for which reason the Para- disiacal law of the sabbath, not having been can- celled by the Christian religion, must remain per- petually binding. In these observations we are supplied with an answer to two arguments which have been advanced by Dr. Paley. The first is, " If the command by which the sabbath was instituted be binding upon Christians, it must be binding as to the day, the duties, and the penalty ; in none of which it is received." In reference to the Jewish sabbath, it is undoubtedly true that it is not now binding either as to the day, the duties, or the penalty ; but in reference to the original institution, it has been shown to be still binding upon Christians. The other argument is, that " the observance of the sabbath was not one of the articles enjoined by the Apostles, in the fif- teenth chapter of Acts, upon them ' which, from among tie Gentiles, were turned unto God.' " Granted ; but the decree here referred to relates to the ceremonial ordinances of the Law, and the SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 175 sabbath as a part of that Law is abolished, whilst its sanctity, not being derived from Judaism, necessarily survives the extinction of that polity. Both these objections apply only against the Jewish sabbath from which Christians, it is freely acknowledged, are released ; but they cannot in justice be urged against the weekly festival, which was a divine appointment of a long anterior date, and never afterwards annulled. The general result of the investigation, so far as it has proceeded, is, that the law of the sab- bath PROMULGATED BY THE AlMIGHTY AT THE TERMINATION OF HIS DEMIURGIC LABOURS, HAS NOT BEEN REPEALED BY ANY SUBSEQUENT REVE- LATION, AND, THEREFORE, REMAINS BINDING UPON EVERY HUMAN BEING TO WHOM IT IS COM- MUNICATED. Resting in this conclusion, which has acquired additional accessions of strength in every stage of our progress, we may consider the permanent obligation of keeping the seventh day holy as completely established. Nothing further is, strictly speaking, required ; yet there is still a reserve of evidence conspiring to the same result, and, if possible, still more decisive. Hitherto the appeal to the Christian Scriptures has been rather negative than affirmative, but it shall now be our pleasing office to shew that they unequivocally sanction the appointment of a septenary day dedicated to the service of God. 176 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. Ill the foremost rank of this reserve stands the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue, ori"^i- nally written on two tables of stone by the finger of God, and still divided into two tables, both by Jews and Christians, the one comprehending, according to the opinion of Protestants, the first four commandments which relate to our duty to God, and the other, the remaining six which comprise our duty to man. This division has not been universally adopted ^ but it does not •" That there are Two Tables and Ten Commandments is generally agreed ; but as to the division of these Command- ments, and which belong to each Table, there is a diversity of opinion. Some of the Rabbins place five in each Table, but they are usually distributed as above, in the text. Again, the Commandments are differently divided. Thus Jerome (^Com- ment, in Hoseam, cap. 10.) makes what we consider the preface, to be the first commandment, viz. *' I am the Lord thy God," and so proceeds. Augustine (Sermo 148. De Tempore) com- bines the first and second into one, and divides the tenth into two, which is the division adopted by the Church of Rome. It is indeed often asserted against the Romanists, that they have struck the second commandment out of the Decalogue, because it forbids the use of images, and to make up the number, have divided the tenth into two. But this is a false accusation, and is refuted with manly candour by Bishop Heber. (Bampton Lectures, Lect. i. note (e).) They number the ten command- ments differently from us Protestants ; but it is a subject, on which, as Calvin well observes, " liberum cuique judicium esse debeat, ob quam non sit contentiose cum dissentiente pugnan- dum." (Jnst. lib. ii. cap. viii. §. 12.) Those who may be eurions to invostiiiratc this matter, will find ample information in SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 177 affect the present argument, which is, that the Decalogue is held up by our blessed. Lord for universal obedience ; that the observance of the sabbath is commanded in the Decalogue ; and, therefore, that its observance is required under the Christian dispensation. As the inference is perfectly indisputable if the Decalogue be bind- ing upon believers in the gospel, this is the point, the establishment of which must in the first place be attempted. That no one is in this age obliged to obey any part of the Levitical Law, as such, is a truth which admits of no dispute ; but there are laws incorporated with it which, on other grounds, are still obligatory on Christians. It is but too common with divines to speak of the Law of Moses in terms so low as to border on contempt. Yet, as it proceeded from Him whose purity is all-spotless, and whose wisdom is all-perfect, it must be worthy of its author, and should not be neglected in the more spiritual excellence of the Christian religion. As a preparatory dispensa- Buxtorf, Diss, de Decalogo, §. 37. et seq. ; Vossius, De Decalogi Divisione ; Cramerus, De Decalogi Distinctione ; see also Ed- wards, .Theologia Reformata, vol. ii. p. 297 — 8; PfeifFer, Dubia Vex. cent. 1. Loc. 96.; Buddeus, Inst. Theol. Moralis, P. 2. cap. ii. § 6. ; Stackhouse, Body of Divinity, P. 3. cap. iv. ; Hallet, Notes on Scrijil. vol. iii. Disc. 1.; VI alscus, De Deca- logo, in Oper. vol. i. p. i)i. et seq. ; Gerhardus, Loci Theol. toni. iii. p. 19. etseq. N 178 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. j^CHAP. IV. tion it was not intended for a complete system ; and, being adapted to a specific object, it must, so far as it was ceremonial and political, be of a temporary nature. But the moral law remains in force, because it is the declared will of God on a subject in itself eternal and immutable, and because we are bid to observe it by the Author and Finisher of our faith. In his Sermon on the Mount, he corrects some misrepresentations of it, and explains it in a more enlarged sense ; but the law that is corrected and explained is to be continued, otherwise it would be abrogated, not amended. When he likewise declares that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, he must mean that we are to give up no moral rule which they observed '. Hence " although the Law given from God by Moses, as touching ceremonies and rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any com- mon-wealth, yet notwithstanding no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the ' Dr. Hey, Lectures in Divinity, lib. iv. Art. vii. §. xiii. " Quod cff'ata Servatoris attinet, baud pauca quidem rebgionis morum- quc doctrinae Mosaicae placita, ajternum vabtura, modo aperte, modo tacitc, ipsa probavit, suis discipubs comniendavit, iisque suam institutiuncm, tanquam i'lindanifiito, superstruxit." H. A. Scbott, Ejntomc Thcol. Christ. Dogmut. §. 123. 8vo. Lips. 1822. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 179 commandments which are called moral ^" The obligation of these is not derived from the Mosaic polity, but results as well from some antecedent foundation in the law of nature, as from subse- quent declarations in the Apostolic writings. Though the enactments of the Two Tables are clearly not binding upon us, because they are included in the covenant of God with the people of Israel, they nevertheless are so, provided they are agreeable to the eternal principles of reason and morality, or are authorized by the inspired teachers of Christianity. Is the Decalogue, then, either from its own nature, or from any Scrip- tural sanction, to be regarded as a divine rule of conduct to believers in the Gospel ? In answer to this inquiry it may be observed that its universal obligation may be inferred from the character of its precepts, which are a re-en- actment of the law of nature written on the hu- man heart. Of these precepts nine are unques- tionably founded in the essential principles of morality, and, therefore, no less imperative under the Christian, than Jewish dispensation ; but the subtilty of theological disputants has invented a inode of evading the force of the remaining ^ Church Article 7. On the excellency of the Jewish Law, see Randolph, Serm. 10 and 11. annexed to his View of our Saviour's Ministry. N 2 180 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAF. IV one. It has been averred to be only civil or ceremonial, and for that reason only binding upon those who were subject to the polity under which it was promulged. When it is urged, that, as nine of these commandments are con- fessedly of moral and universal obligation, it may reasonably be presumed that the other, which relates to the sabbath, is of the same ; it is answered, " that this argument will have less weight when it is considered that the distinction between positive and natural duties, like other distinctions of modern ethics, was unknown to the simplicity of ancient language ; and that there are various passages in Scripture, in which duties of a political, or ceremonial, or positive nature, and confessedly of partial obligation, are enumerated, and without any mark of discrimina- tion, along with others which are natural and universal \ Two passages "", are cited as ex- amples. It is not a little surprising that an argument so really futile should be approved by a writer of such judgment and penetration as Dr. Paley. The distinction between natural and positive duties was surely not unknown to the Divine Being, by whose inspiration the holy Scriptures ' Dr. Paley, Moral and Political Philosophy, lib. v. cap. vii. "■ Ezek. xviii. 5 — 9. and Acts xv. 28, 21). SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 181 were written for our learning ; and though in some passages ceremonial and political duties are enumerated, without any mark of discrimina- tion, along with others which are moral, how does this prove that the Fourth Commandment is of a positive nature ? Granting all that the argument asserts, it still leaves the question un- decided, whether this particular commandment he ceremonial. It assumes instead of proving, and assumes moreover, what is nothing to the pur- pose; for, if the fourth commandment were merely ritual, it would, as a divine injunction, be equally binding. But it assumes what is not true; for it has been before demonstrated that the sabbatical law is not altogether positive, but belongs, at least in part, to the class of moral duties. That some portion of time ought to be allotted to the worship of God is, if any thing can be, a primary law of nature ; and the com- mand which imposes such a duty must of course have its foundation in reason and morality. Hence, as the fourth commandment is not a mere positive precept, it must belong to that class of duties which, from their agreement with the law of nature, are of permanent obligation. This inference is corroborated by the Scrip- tural attestations to the importance and authority of the Decalogue. It was spoken with an au- dible voice by the Deity from Mount Sinai, out 182 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. of the midst of lightnings, and thunderings, and clouds. Interesting to the devout mind is the contemplation of this scene. The assembled hands of Israel, having been rescued from the vassalage of Egypt, by the out-stretched arm of Omnipotence, had arrived, under the conduct of their celestial guide, at the foot of Horeb and Sinai, whose rugged summits rise majestically above the parched and barren desert of Arabia. When Moses was commanded to set bounds about the mount and the people were bid to sanctify themselves, and neither to go up into the mount, nor to touch the border of it, how anxiously must they have anticipated some stu- pendous exhibition of glory and power " ? On the appointed day the mountain top was en- veloped with a darkness impenetrable to human gaze ; a dense cloud of smoke ascended from the mount, which trembled to its foundation ; and, as the eternal and consubstantial Word, the Jehovah of the Hebrew Church, descended, " the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder"." At length, we may well suppose, the roar of thunder ceased, the blaze of lightning intermitted, and, in this solemn pause of elemental grandeur, the voice of the Almighty ° Exod. xix. 7 — 25. " Ibid. xix. 17—19. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 183 sounded loud and appalling in the ears of the adoring multitude. After the divine mandate was pronounced all was still. To mark still more strongly the high importance of the laws de- livered amid this scenery of magnificence and glory, God wrote them on two tables of stone; and when they had been broken by Moses in a moment of agitation and despair, they were again written on other two tables by the finger of God p. These, which are also called the tables of testimony'', were put into the ark, which was deposited in the Holy of Holies within the pre- cincts of the temple '. No other of the Jewish laws were spoken im- mediately by the voice of God ; whether ceremo- nial, judicial, or moral, they were especially given to Moses, and by him communicated to the peo- ple. While the Decalogue was twice written by the finger of God on tablets of stone, every other law was merely inserted in a book by Moses at the divine command. The Decalogue was depo- sited within the ark, whereas the law of ceremo- nial ordinances was placed by the side of it in the Holy of Holies. What is the cause of this difference between the Ten Commandments, and P Exod. xxxi. 18 — xxxii. 15 — xxxiv. 1. Deut. iv. 13 — v. 22— X. 4. ■• Exod. XXV. 16, 21 — xxxi. 18 — xxxii. 15. — xxxiv. 29. ^ Deut. X. 5. 1 Kings viii. 9. 2 Chron. v. 10. Heb. ix. 4. 184 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CIIAP. IV. every other part of the Mosaic law ? That an eminence and distinction are given to these pre- cepts beyond all the rest, it were absurd to deny; and, proceeding from an infinitely wise Being, who does nothing in vain, it must have been with some special design. Was it because the Almighty intended thus to point them out to the Israelites for the more particular test of their obedience? But they are only promulgated, like the rest, under the same sanction of tem- poral rewards and punishments. Was it because the commands of the Decalogue are of superior intrinsic importance ? But in that case, how are they more applicable to the Jew than the Gen- tile ? Was it because they are of a moral, not a ceremonial nature ? But then, as morality is essentially immutable and eternal, they must be for ever binding. In short no other cause can reasonably be assigned for this pre-eminence of the Decalogue, than its being designed by the Almighty for universal reception. This alone accounts for its being singled out from the rest of the Mosaic laws, and distinguished in so sin- gular a manner. They were spoken by the im- mediate voice of God, while the other statutes were given by the mediation of Moses, to denote that they were to be sounded forth throughout the whole world, while the latter were peculiar to the Judaic state and economy: they were SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 183 written with the finger of God to signify their identity with the law of nature impTinted on the heart by the same sovereign Lord : and they were placed in the ark to intimate their inseparable connection with the covenant of grace, of which the Holy of Holies was an em- blematical representation '. The transcendant importance of these com- mands is often intimated in the sacred Scrip- tures ^ They were emphatically called the Ten Commandments ", the tables of testimony % the words of the covenant ^ ; and it is very probable that, in several places of Scripture where the law of the Lord, or the testimony of the Lord is spoken of by way of eminence, a particular refe- rence is made to these precepts. They occupy so prominent a place in the sacred code, and are in all respects so conspicuously distinguished from all the other laws of Moses, that it would be irra- tional to suppose them designed for the purposes of a temporary dispensation. It has, indeed, been objected, that they contain ' See Irenaeus, Advers. Hceres. lib. iv. cap. xxxi. ; Witsius, JEconom. Foederis, lib. iv. cap. iv. §. 16. et seq. ; Owen, Exercit. on the Sabbath, in. § 45. ' Deut. iv. 13 — V. 22. " Exod. xxxiv. 28. Deut. iv. 13 — x. 4. '^ Ibid. xxxi. 18 — xxxii. 15 — xxxiv. 29. " Ibid, xxxiv. 28. Deut. iv. 13— ix. 9, 11, 15— xxix. 1. 18G THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. []CHAP. IV. matters of a civil or ceremonial nature, which relate solely to the Jews; as for instance, por- tions of the second and fifth commandments. But in my judgment the declarations referred to are not to be understood as belonging exclusively to the Mosaic polity. When Jehovah announces himself as "' a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him," common sense requires us to limit the threat to the temporal punishment of sin. It cannot be meant to affect the eternal salvation of indivi- duals, for that would not only be a violation of all our ideas of divine equity, but would contra- dict the absolute promise that children should not be punished for their fathers' sins '\ Regard- ed, then, in this light as a temporal threat, can we doubt its application to the times of the gospel, when we daily see children suffering for the vices of their parents ? That the temporal effects of sin, are often extended to the sinner's posterity cannot be controverted, and must, therefore, be consistent with God's moral govern- ment of the world. One great advantage of this constitution of nature is, that it operates as a powerful dissuasive from vice. No motive can be conceived more effectual in checking the ' Deut. xxiv. IG. Jer. xxxi. 29, 30. Ezek, xviii, 3, et seq. SECT. lO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 187 criminal desires of man, tlian tlie dread of involv- ing his posterity in the sad consequences of his crimes ^ It is, therefore, no more inapplicable under Christianity than our Saviour's declaration. •' For any doubts as to God's moral government of tlie world a solution may be found in Bp. Butler's Analogy. Many writers, as Dr. Paley, Scrm. 13. ; Dr. Graves, Led. on the Pent. P. 3. Lect. iii. § 2. ; Collyer, Sacred Interp. vol. ii. p. 186.; Maimonides, More Nevoch. P. 1 . cap. liv. ; and many others, restrict the threat in the second commandment to the sin of idolatry; but I think improperly so, f^r the words are not " visiting this iniquity," i. e. the sin of idolatry just before for- bidden, but " visiting the iniquity of the fathers," i. e. generally, in the divine administration thus punishing the vices of man. Again, some consider this visitation of the father's sin as threat- ened only against his wicked posterity, i. e. to be inflicted on " them that hate him," viz. God. " Ego — qui parentum culpam etiam in liberis mei osoribus ad tertiam usque generationevn punit." Datlie, with whom agree the Targumist, Ainsworth, Boothroyd, Rosenmviller, &c. Michaelis thinks the threat is unquestionably to be understood in reference to the leprosy. Comment, on the Laws of Moses, Art. 208. Others again con- sider it as referring, not to individuals, but to the whole people of Israel. Pareau, Institutio Inter}). Vet. Test. P. 2. Sect. iii. §. v. p. 282. ; Hallet, Notes on Script, vol. iii. p. 76. But the ancient versions with the exception of the Targum, may be un- derstood cither of this visitation being upon the third and fourth generation of the sinning imrent, or of his sinning offspring, I take it in its most general sense, as a threat of visiting the sins of parents upon their children, let these sins be what they may, but a threat, be it remembered, only extending to the temporal effects of crime. 188 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. []CHAP. IV. that some of the prophets and apostles they shall slay and persecute, " that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation ^" When again Jehovah proclaims in the fifth commandment, " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee," we must believe the promise applicable under the gospel dispensation, for it is declared to be so by apos- tolical authority ^ In the repetition of the law in Deuteronomy it added, " that it may go well with thee ;" and thus an especial blessing is an- nexed to the discharge of the filial duties ; a blessing indeed which has reference to this life, but which is not for that reason to be restricted to the period of the Theocracy, since a promise of temporal blessings remains to the faithful of all ages ^ and it does not seem to differ materially from our Saviour's assertion, " that the meek shall inherit the earth %" •> Luke xi. 49, 50. ' Ephes. vi. 1, 2. ** Matt. xix. 29. Mark x. 30. Luke xviii. 30. 1 Tim. iv. 8. * Matt. V. 5. ^ ' Some critics render yty pD"lK'' ]Vd7 not as E. T. " that thy days may be long, or be prolonged," but " they (i. e. thy parents) may prolong tliy days," " nempe precibus suis ad Deum, quibus ut te diu incolumom servcnt orabunt," as Lc Clerc SECT. I.J THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 189 Thus no reason appears for restricting any part of the Decalogue to the peculiar situation of the Jews under the Levitical economy; the whole of it is applicable to the present state of things under the reign of grace, and those parts which may at first sight appear to be especially referable to the Theocracy are supported by cor- responding declarations in the New Testament. But supposing it to have an especial relation to the Hebrew polity, this circumstance will not of itself evince its abrogation under the Christian religion. Allowing it to be, in some instances, adapted to the state of the Jews, to whom it was first promulgated, it may nevertheless be design- ed by the Almighty for perpetuity ; as several parts of the Old Testament, primarily addressed to the Israelites, are applicable to Christians in a higher and secondary sense. This would be the more likely, if, like other brief and compendious summaries, the measure of obedience is to be regulated, not so much by the letter, as the spirit of the Decalogue. It is enough, however, for silencing the objection, to prove that no portion of it is so peculiar to the Jews as to forbid its extension to believers in Christianity ^. explains it. As far as the present question is concerned this version mates no difference as it is still a temporal promise ; but the standard version is preferable, and far better supported. * Several other reasons are advanced by Hallet in his formal 190 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. That it still remains in force, obligatory upon Christians, is declared by the infallible authority of our blessed Lord. In reply to the rich man who asked what good thing he should do that he might have eternal life, Jesus said, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him. Which? Jesus said. Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adul- try. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness ; Honour thy father and thy mother ; and. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself'." Here our Saviour insists upon the necessity of keeping the ten commandments in order to eternal life; for though he expressly cites only five of them, he clearly intended to inculcate the observance of the whole. It would be absurd to suppose that by citing these alone, he designed to discharge his disciples from the obligation of the rest. They are all in one code of laws, all of equal authority, and five are specified to desig- nate the particular commandments necessary to attempt to prove that " the ten commandments given at Mount Sinai do not oblige Christians," but they do not appear of sufficient importance to require a particular refutation. His allegations from the N. T. viz. 2 Cor. iii. 6. et seq. Gal. iii. 24, 25. Acts XV. 28, 29. Heb. xii. 18. et seq. are clearly irrelevant ; as these texts refer, not to the Moral Law of Moses, but to the Mosaic Cooenanl, which, it is allowed on all hands, is superseded by the New Covenant. {Notes, &c. vol. i. disc. 8.) »' Matt. xix. 17—19. SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 191 salvation : which are thus designated to be those comprehended in the Decalogue. Both here, and in other places of the New Tes- tament, where the ten commandments are refer- red to, those of the second table, and none of the first, are cited ' : w hich, some account for by sup- posing that the Jews were not so chargeable with offences against those as against the laws of the second table ; some, again, by supposing that it was meant to enforce the great duties of charity to our neighbours as a principal part of religion, and the strongest evidence of our love to God ; while others are of opinion, to whom I fully ac- cede, that our Lord and his apostles quoted from the second table, without any other specific view than to point out the necessity of keeping those commandments which are contained in the De- calogue. It is worthy of observation that, in the above cited passage, our Saviour adds, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," which, as it is not a part of the ten commandments, must be understood, either as the sum of the precepts which he had cited, or as briefly expressing the substance of the tenth, " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any * Rom. xiii. 8, 9.— James ii. 8—11. 192 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. thing that is thy neighbour's." The clause is omitted in the parallel passages of Mark x. 19. and Luke xviii. 20. ; but Mark, after the words " do not bear false witness," adds instead of it the prohibition " defraud not," which must also be in- terpreted either as explanatory of the foregoing clause, or as substituted for the tenth command- ment ^ At all events, it is beyond contradiction that our Lord, by referring to the Decalogue as a rule of conduct, has given his infallible sanction to its laws. Again, when a certain lawyer, tempting him, asked which was the great commandment in the law, our Saviour answered, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets '." None of the ten commandments are here verbally cited, but reference is certainly made to them, for, by giving the substance of the two tables, Christ undoubtedly intended to ratify the whole. In the question of the Pharisee, k See the commentators, particularly Poli Synop., Wolfius, and Kuinoel. In citing the Decalogue, the Jews were not very solicitous of verbal accuracy. See Surcnhusius, Bihlos Ratal. lib. ii. Thcs. iv. et seq. ; Kuinoel, Comm. in Mark x. 19. ' Matt. xxii. 37—40. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 193 *' Master, which is the great commandment ?" the ten commandments are clearly alluded to, and, if our Saviour had meant to liberate his followers from their observance, he would doubt- less have said, that the precepts of the law were now become of little moment in comparison of the new commandments which he was about to impose upon his disciples. But, so far from say- ing aught in disparagement of the Decalogue, he declares its sum and substance to be that upon which all the law and the prophets depend. That passages containing similar sentiments to those which our Lord delivers are to be found in the law makes no difference in the case °^ ; for as the Decalogue is an epitome of the moral law, so are his two commandments an epitome of the Deca- logue, and when he enforces these latter he vir- tually enforces the former, which is only a little more extended summary of the same moral prin- ciples. The text in Deuteronomy, cited below, immediately follows the chapter in which Moses rehearsed the divine proclamation of the ten com- mandments, to the first table of which he most likely referred ; and that from Leviticus concludes m " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deut. vi. 5. " Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love tliy neighbo'.w as thyself." Levit. xix. 1 8. o 194 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. a recapitulation of various laws relating to a man's neighbour, and explanatory of the second table : if, therefore, our Lord be supposed to have alleged these, he must at the same time have referred to the precepts of the Decalogue. Considering also that these precepts must have been uppermost in the mind of a Jew in asking the question, which is the great commandment ? it can scarcely be doubted that our Saviour, who knew what was in man, alluded to them, and that his intention was, in his reply, to enforce the obligation of the ten commandments. In his sermon on the mount he declares, in the most explicit terms, that it was not his design to abrogate any part of the moral law. " Think not, says he, that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least command- ments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven ; but whoso- ever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven °." That our Saviour in these declarations made a reference to the Decalogue is clear from this, that he im- » Matt.v, 17—19. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 195 mediately proceeds to explain the sixth, seventh, and third commandments", evidently regarding them as parts of the moral law which he was inculcating. He removes the false glosses which the Jews had put upon them, and shews their spiritual nature and extent, which is a full proof that he imposes them as a rule of conduct upon his disciples. If it had been his object to re- scind any part of them, he would, it may fairly be presumed, have expressly said so ; whereas he declares that " one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law," and '' that whosoever shall break one of these least commandments," that is, which are esteemed least by the Pha- risees p, *' shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven ;" thereby confirming their entire and permanent obligation. In another conference with the Scribes and Pharisees, " he answered and said unto them. Why do ye also trmisgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded^ saying. Honour thy father and mother : and. He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say. Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever • Verses 21, 27, 35. P So many commentators explain it, but t)r. Campbell renders it " whosoever shall violate, were it the least of these command- ments," o 2 196 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. j^CHAP. IV. thou miglitest be profited by^, me; and honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect through your tradition ''." The fifth com- mandment is here cited, and those wlio made it of none effect are condemned ; which implies the perpetual obligation of the whole moral law, of which it forms a conspicuous part. In perfect unison with our Saviour's declara- tion concerning the universality and importance of the Decalogue, are those of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. In exhorting the Roman con- verts to the performance of their duties towards man, he says, " Owe no man any thing, but to love one another ; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not com- mit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet ; and if there be any other com- mandment, it is briefly comprehended in this say- ing, namely. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour ; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law '." St. Paul here cites five out of the ten command- ments, and in sanctioning these five he cannot be understood otherwise than as sanctioning the whole. Had he meant that these five only were " Matt. XV. 3- n. Compare Mark vii. 7—13. ' Rom. xiii. 8 — 10 . SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 197 binding upon Christians, he would in all proba- bility have said so, or at least something to this effect would be found in the sacred writings; but there is not the slightest intimation that some precepts of the Decalogue are to be ob- served in exclusion of the rest; and consequently when the Apostle authorizes one of its com- mands the same authority must be extended to all. He who appeals to a particular section of a Parliamentary statute, must believe every section to be in force, unless repealed by some subse- quent enactment; and in like manner when any of the ten commandments are declared in the New Testament to be binding upon Christians, the rest must be inferred to be so, except they are expressly exempted ; and as none of them are expressly exempted, we necessarily conclude that all are equally obligatory. There are two other passages in the epistles of this Apostle to which the same reasoning applies. Writing to the Romans he says, " What shall we say then ? Is the law sin ? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law : for I had not known lust except the law had said. Thou shalt not covet '." The citation is from the tenth commandment, and the unreserved manner in which he alleges it, proves that he considered the • Rom. vii. 7, 198 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV' whole Decalogue to be in full force. This will appear still more clearly by paying attention to the scope of the Apostle's argument. He had before declared that we are loosed from the law of Moses, freed from the obligation of observing it ; but lest it might be hastily concluded from this, that it is " sin," that is, bad in itself, he in the verse quoted expresses his abhorrence at such a conclusion, and by citing the tenth com- mandment shews, that although the Levitical covenant is abrogated, the moral law of Moses, and especially the Decalogue, which is a sum- mary of it, is of permanent authority. In another place, discoursing on the duties of parents and children, he observes, in respect to the latter, " Children, obey your parents in the Lord ; for this is right. Honour thy father and mother, (which is the first commandment with promise,) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth*."" The expression " with promise" is variously ex- plained to mean, that it is the first command- ment to which a special promise is annexed, that to the second commandment being a promise of mercy in general"; that it is the only com- mandment, properly speaking, with a promise, ' Ephes. vi. 1 — 3. " Wolfius, Doddridge, Diodati, Harwood, Newcomc, Whitby, Gill, Priestley, Mackni":ht. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 199 the others having a threatening also annexed ' ; that it is the first commandment with this pro- mise, viz. which is mentioned in the next verse ^ ; that it is the first of the second table having a promise^; that it is one of the primary or prin- cipal precepts \ Some of these opinions are perhaps reconcileable ; but however the expres- sion may be interpreted, the Apostle in this part of his epistle requires obedience to one of the ten commandments, the just inference from which is, that obedience to the remaining nine is equally incumbent upon Christians. The same inference may be drawn from a passage in the general epistle of St. James, who declares that " whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said. Do not commit adultery, said also. Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law^" That there is in this passage a reference to the dicta of the Rabbins is evident from the collections of Wetstein and Schoettgen, yet the difficulty of interpreting it hath tortured the ingenuity of the critics. Among the various * Bengel. ^ Schleusner, Nov. Test. edit. Koppiana. ' See Poli Synop. Hammond, and Jaspis. • Jaspis, SchofF, Rosenmiiller, and JMorus. ^ James ii. 10, 11. 200 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. IV, opinions the one most generally received is, that as all the commandments were given by divine authority, he who violates one of them, equally resists this authority as if he violated the whole ; for in both cases he alike disregards the authority of the Lawgiver. But it is not easy to see how this sense can be extracted from the Apostle's words, nor, if it could, how it is consistent with the unalterable rules of equity. He who breaks one commandment cannot surely be deemed to resist the divine authority equally with him who breaks the whole. I am, therefore, inclined to take the phrase " he is guilty of ail" as parallel with " a transgressor of the law," and to under- stand the latter, with Bp. Middleton, in the general sense of morality or moral law. Agree- ably to this the meaning will be, he that offends against one commandment is " a transgressor of the (moral) law," or in other words, " is guilty of (violating the morality which) all (and every part of the law was designed to promote ^") Whether ■= Bp. Middleton, Doct. of Greek Art. p. 610. Semler {Pa- rcvplirasis in Jac. ii. 10.) proposes to take iv kvi after the Hebrew idiom for >^v -rrpwrip i. e. whosoever shall offend in the first com- mandment, namely, that by which the Israelites are bid to wor- ship God, and which our Lord calls the first and greatest com- mandment, (Matt. xxii. 37, 38.) But this is properly rejected by Rosenmiiller, {Scholia in loc.) and Pott, {Nov. Test. Edit. Koppiana in loc.) SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 201 this be admitted or not, the Apostle actually mentions a part of the Decalogistic statute as binding, because he declares him who breaks it to be " a transgressor ;" and if one be binding the whole must. In appealing to one part as autho- rity St. James virtually ratifies the whole, just as a Roman jurisconsult, in citing one of the laws of the twelve tables, must have regarded them all as possessing the same validity. From these references to the Decalogue in the New Testament, combined with the nature of the laws themselves, and the circumstances of their promulgation, it clearly appears to be still bind- ing upon all to whom a knowledge of God's re- vealed will has been imparted. " The ten com- mandments, says Lightfoot, may be called the word of the word of God ; for though all Scrip- ture be his word, yet these in more special be his Scripture, to which he made himself his own scribe or pen-man : upon these commandments hang all the law and the Prophets, and these commandments upon two duties, to love God, and to love our neighbour*^." It would be un- just, however, to infer from this that they form a complete system of ethics ; for there are several duties both to God and man, which, without a very circuitous exposition, they cannot be made ' Works, vol. i. p. 1030. 202 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [CHAP. IV. to embrace '. It was reserved for the divine author of our religion to explain and amplify the moral code of the Hebrew Scriptures, and to exalt it to the standard of purity propounded in the Gospel. A morality so pure and refined can only be required of humanity under a dispensa- tion wherein is promised from above supplies of the vivifying principle from which all acceptable obedience springs ; the Decalogue is, nevertheless, an invaluable compendium of the most momen- tous laws concerning human duty ; and by the aid of those rules which divines have prescribed for its exposition, it may be so extended as to in- clude, though not all, yet the principal duties which we owe to God, to our neighbour, and to ourselves *'. After demonstrating the Decalogue to be still in force under the Christian dispensation, it only remains to be proved that it enjoins the observ- ance of the sabbath which to those who have even so much as read the fourth commandment ' See Barrow, Exposition of the Decalogiie ; Le CI ere, Com' ment, in Exod. xx. 1 . ' These rules are enumerated by Towerson, On the Deca- logue Disc. 5. ; Edwards, Thcol. Reformata, vol. ii. p. 299. et seq. ; Dr. Burrow, Summary of Christian Faith and Practice, vol. iii. p. 5. et seq. ; Stackliouse, Bodij of Divinity, P. 3. cap. iv. ; Ridgley, Body of Divinity, vol. ii. quest. 99. Gerhardus, Loci Theol. Tom. iii, p. 38. See Dr. Graves, Lectures on the Pentateuch, P. 2. sect. ii. SECT. l.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 203 must appear a work of supererogation. The seventh day is there ordered, in the most explicit terms, to be kept holy ; and, as it is part of a law which has not been abrogated by our Lord, the sabbath must be of perpetual and religious obligation. In searching the sacred pages of the New Tes- tament with a view to the present question, it is material to enquire whether any thing which bears upon it can be discovered in our Saviour's conduct or discourses. This inquiry shall now be instituted, and the result, it is confidently believed, will afford additional confirmation of our former conclusions. Our Lord, in the course of his ministry, was several times charged by his enemies with vio- lating the laws relating to the sabbath, and how does he vindicate himself from this accusation ? Did he tell them, either expressly or by implica- tion, that all distinction of days was to cease under the religion which he came into the world to establish ? No ! His answers to various charges of this description imply the necessity and ad^ vantage of that institution ; for, while he abates the rigorous observance of it, and condemns the Pharisees for their superstitious reverence for it, he in reality sanctions a due respect for it, and a proper attention to its duties. In some instances his argument is grounded upon its obligation, 9 201 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. (^CHAP. IV. and would be absolutely futile, if it were a tem- porary ordinance like the other Jewish festivals and rites. The truth of these observations will be abundantly confirmed by a review of his different replies to his adversaries who charged him with profaning their weekly holy-day. In passing through a field of corn on the sab- bath day his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and when the Pharisees charged them with the unlawfulness of the action, our Lord's answer was, " Have ye not read what David did when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew-bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests ? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the Temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, that in this place there is one greater than the Temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have con- demned the guiltless. For the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath day ^" Our Saviour here vindicates the conduct of his disciples by that of David, both a prophet and king, and of the priests in preparing the temple sacrifices, * Matt. xii. 3—8. Compare Mark ii. 23—28. Luke vi. 1—^' SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 205 thereby shewing that works of necessity could not be criminal on that holy-day. By -referring to a passage of Hosea in which God declares his delight in mercy rather than sacrifice, he infers the lawfulness of exercising charity on sacred seasons. In this, it is true, he reasoned with the Pharisees upon their own principles, proving that they, as professing to be guided by the law of Moses, were bound to the performance of works of necessity and charity on the sabbath day ; but much more is implied than a mere argumentum ad hominem, since iiis reasoning takes for grant- ed the moral duty of a sabbatical observance. He allows no exception to that rest from labour which the Jews observed, except in cases of ne- cessity and charity, and hence, though it is lawful, as he expresses it, to do well on the sab- bath, he approves and sanctions the duty of resting from worldly occupations on that day. This is very much corroborated by the decla- ration, that " the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath day," that is, has the power of miti- gating the rigour of the Mosaic Law concerning it, and of dispensing with its obligation ; and as he 6nly modifies, without abohshing its observ- ance, he virtually authorizes its continuance. The act of amending a law implies that it is not intended to be repealed. This is further con- firmed by what is added in the parallel place of 206 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. St. Mark, " The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath," which imports that it was instituted, not for the benefit of this or that nation, but of man in general, or, in other words, of all mankind. If he had meant to designate it as a transitory institution, he would have said that it was made for the Jews alone, and as such of no obligation under the new covenant. In reply to the question of the woman of Samaria about the proper place of worship, he openly as- serts that the local worship of the Levitical ritual was to be done away '' ; and can we doubt that, if the obligation of the sabbath was to have ceas- ed with the ceremonial law, he would have re- frained from dropping some intimation of it ? So far, however, is he from adopting this course of proceeding, that his argument is built upon the assumption of its perpetual sanctity '. Our Lord being in a synagogue on the sab- bath day, he there miraculously healed a man whose right hand was withered ; and to the •' John iv. 23. ' See Bp. Porteus, Led. 10. on St. Matthew. The expression " Son of man" in the passage cited above from St. Matthew, is thought by some to mean a7iy man ; (See Priestley, Notes, and Kuinoel, Comment, in loo.) but, as it is the phrase by which our Lord usually characterized himself, there is no ground for de- parting from this signification in the place referred to. See Storr, Opuscula, vol. iii. p. 32, et seq. SECT, ij THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 207 Scribes and Pharisees who watched him whether he would heal on that day, in order to accuse him, he said, " What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out ? How much then is a man better than a sheep ? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the man. Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretch- ed it forth ; and it was restored whole as the other \" Here is not a single hint of the sabbath being a ceremonial rite, or of a temporary na- ture ; nothing which can be deemed in any way opposed to its proper observance ; the conclu- sion, on the contrary, that '' it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days" is stated as an universal truth, which it could not be, except the sabbath was, in its true spirit, to remain universally binding. When accused by the ruler of the synagogue for having on the sabbath cured a woman who had been bowed down with an infirmity of eigh- teen years, his reply was, " Thou hypocrite! doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering ? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, ^ Matt. xii. 11 — 13. Compare Mark Hi. 1 — 12. Luke vi. 6—11. 208 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day ' ?" His answer was in substance the same when, upon another occasion, he cured a man of the dropsy on the sabbath day '". In neither of these passages does our Saviour let fall the slightest intimation that the sabbath was ta be abrogated, while, on the other hand, his argument shewing that it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day, implies its con- tinuance. Our Saviour, as we are informed by St. John, having cured a lame man at the Pool of Be- thesda, was pronounced by the Jews to have profaned the sabbath, to which accusation he replies in these words : " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work " ;" viz. as the commen- tators are generally agreed, " Though my Father rested from the work of the creation on the seventh day, yet he worheth hitherto, continues to govern and preserve the universe on the seventh, as well as on other days, and I work, i. e. I do the same, having an equal right to work on every day °." The charge being the profanation of the sabbath the answer must have some relation to Luke xiii. 10—21. " Ibid. xiv. 1—6. " John V. 17. ° See Origen, Homil. 23, m Niimeros, vol. ii. p. 359. B. and Scripture Tcsthnon'us, cap. iii. § 17. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 209 it; but it cannot well have any other bearing upon it than this, that, as the Father's invisible operation was equally active on the sabbath as at other times, the Son has the same right to work at all times ; and that, if the sabbath is not pro- faned in the one case, neither is it in the other. Our Saviour argues from the Almighty's unceas- ing operation that every kind of work does not violate the sabbath, in which argument the sanc- tity of the institution is necessarily supposed. In rebutting the inference of the Jews he grants their premises, that the sabbath was to be kept holy; which it is very unlikely he would have done, if it were to be abrogated under the gospel. In reference, probably, to the same miracle at Bethesda, he says, " I have done one work, and ye all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision ; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers ;) and ye on the sabbath day circum- cise a man. If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken ; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day ? Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment p." Here he rea- sons with them on their own principles, asserting that, as the law of Moses allowed circumcision f John vii. 21—24. P 210 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. IV. on the sabbath, it must also have allowed such a cure as he had been performing, since it was vastly more important than any ritual ordi- nance. Thus without any the most remote allu- sion to the repeal of the sabbatical appointment, he by explaining its true nature, ratifies and confirms it '^. Such is the line of argument used by our Saviour in vindicating himself from the charge of violating the law of the sabbath. In no instance does he intimate, even in the most oblique man- ner, the abolition of the seventh day's sanctity, which would be an astonishing circumstance if all distinction of days had been to cease when Chris- tianity should prevail in the world. The law of the sabbath was promulged amid every accom- paniment of solemnity and grandeur calculated to awe the Israelites into obedience, and the abro- gation, if that had been the design of the Deity, would certainly have been communicated in a manner the most clear and explicit. Divine wisdom might not deem it requisite that the abolition of the Sinaitic statutes should be at- tended v/ith the same appalling visitations with which they were delivered; but it would un- doubtedly have been effected in a way not to be mistaken by impartial inquirers. If the repeal of 1 The narrative in John ix, 1, et seq. supplies nothing in re- j5fard to our present subject. 7 SECT. I J THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 211 a divine command is not made with the same clearness as the promulgation of it, iiien could not be assured of their duty respecting it ; a situation in which it cannot be believed the Al- mighty would place his creatures. Nothing re- sembling an abrogation, however, either directly or remotely, is discoverable in our Lord's conduct or discourses; and, often as his attention was directed to the subject, he never so much as once hints at any future cessation of the ordinance. Whatever may have been said to the contrary, there could be nothing in such a hint more alarm- ing to the Jev^^s, than in doing what they con- sidered a violation of a festival which they so superstitiously observed ; and it must have been much less offensive than the open declaration of his being the Son of the Father in a sense which they understood as an assumption of equality with God. In other matters he scrupled not to attack the inveterate opinions of the Pharisees ; and, if the sabbath was to be abolished, why does he so cautiously abstain from any allusion to it, especially when occasions so often offered of an- nouncing what was of the highest importance to have clearly published. Or, if in deference to the prejudices of the Jews, or from other reasons of a prudential nature, he had chosen to vail in some degree of obscurity a truth which might otherwise shock his contemporaries, can we doubt p 2 212 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. that he would have done it in such a way as could not be misunderstood by believers in suc- ceeding ages ? To refrain from declaring a doc- trine of high moment, or so to deliver it that the great body of his followers would inevitably mis- interpret it, is wholly incompatible with the character of Him who partakes of essential Divinity. His silence, under all the circumstan- ces of the case, is, I had almost said conclusive, evidence, that it was not the intention of Omnipo- tence to annul the weekly festival by the esta- blishment of Christianity. The mode of defence which our Saviour adopt- ed against the charge of profaning the sabbath is irreconcileable with the supposition of its being only a part of the Levitical law, and to perish with it. He explains its real end and design ; he corrects the notions of the Pharisees concerning it; he mitigates the rigour of the Jewish ob- servance ; circumstances so far from being ad- verse to, are confirmatory of, its lasting obligation. The very act of modifying a law imports it to be, to a certain extent, in force ; as for example, in our Lord's explanation and enlargement in his sermon on the mount of some parts of the Mosaic moral code, is implied that this moral code, as far as it goes, is binding upon his followei's. A law not intended to remain is repealed, not amended ; for an amendment supposes the continuance of SECT. lO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 213 the law in its altered state ; and in like manner the very modification of the Pharisaic practice as to the sabbath implies the continuance of the institution. It is, moreover, incredible that he would regulate the existing rules of an ordinance which was to expire in a few years. His was the sublime object to lay the foundation of a religion which was to spread through every region, and to last till the completion of the gracious plans of Providence in the salvation of the world ; it can- not, therefore, be believed that he would enact new laws concerning a festival which was to perish with the polity of the Hebrews. Hence, as he actually did modify the law of the sabbath its observance must be presumed to be essential to his religion. So much may be inferred from the mode of his defence, in addition to which he lets fall some expressions altogether unsuitable to a temporary institution. In avowing that " the sabbath was made for man," he cannot be supposed to have uttered such a declaration in respect to a festival appointed only for the use of the Israelites. The maxim that " it is lawful to do well on the sabbath day," in the unlimited way in which it is delivered, can only apply to an ordinance design- ed for universal reception. These, together with the assertions that " the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath," and that he is assimilated 214 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. to the Father in working on the sabbath, taken in connexion with the scope of our Saviour's reasoning, are strong attestations to the perpe- tuity of that institution. Had it been the design of our Lord to abrogate the holiness of the seventh day, his conduct, in his controversies with the Jews respecting it, would be wholly unaccountable. He is frequently accused of profaning it, and in what manner does he reply to the charge ? Did he tell his adversa- ries that he was about to abolish the sabbatical institution ? that an hebdomadal cessation from labour was not to be observed under the king- dom of grace which he was establishing ? or, that all distinction of days was now to be done away ? No such thing. He never asserts that the keep- ing the seventh day holy was incompatible with the spirit of his religion ; which is the more as- tonishing as such an intimation would have been the most complete answer to the accusation. He might have silenced the Pharisees by declar- ing it to be a ritual appointment, no longer necessary under the spiritual law of the gospel. But instead of this he chooses a mode of defence in which the obligation of the sabbath is assum- ed ; he adopts a line of argument which implies its permanency ; and, in addition, gives suffi- ciently clear intimations that it was not an ordinance of temporary duration. Such a course SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 215 of proceeding would neither be compatible with the rules of fair dealing, nor with the impeccable character of our Lord, in regard to an institution, the religious authority of which he was about to annul. He never compromised the truth in sub- servience to Pharisaic prejudice ; and, even grant- ing that there might be reasons for speaking cau- tiously on the subject in question, he would never have used expressions which imply directly the reverse of what he intended subsequently to pro- mulgate. On these grounds, then, we conclude, that his mode of vindicating himself from the charge of profaning the sabbath, sanctions both an alteration in the Jewish laws respecting it, and the duty of dedicating the seventh day to the exercises of religion '. Proceeding with our investigation of the New Testament, we are supplied with another strong evidence of the appropriation of a septenary day to sacred duties in the practice of the apostles, and first converts. As the apostles, in all things ■■ Our Saviour's words, Matt. xxiv. 20. " Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath-day," have been appealed to as declaring the law of the sabbath to be bind- ing upon Christians ; (Owen, Exercit. 3d. on the Sahbath, § 47.) but it appears to me very clear that he refers to tlie Jewish sab- bath alone, declaring it to be dangerous to fly on that day on account of the opinions, prejudices, and practices of the Jews of that age. See ante, cap. iii. sect. 1. p. 110. note. 216 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. relating to the guidance and regulation of the church, were directed by divine inspiration, their practice in regard to matters connected with the well-being of their infant society must have been agreeable to the divine will. Influenced by a piety the most profound, and guided by a celestial mo- nitor, they would never authorize by their exam- ple any religious ordinance of merely human in- vention. Whatever was sanctioned by their prac- tice must be allowed to be sanctioned by the Holy Spirit, under whose influence they acted. The only doubt that can reasonably be indulged is, whether it might not be of a temporary na- ture, necessary to the then state of Christianity, but to be dispensed vv^ith after the complete esta- blishment of the gospel. The apostles, as appears from the sacred history, far from exhibiting an unbending severity of manners, accommodated themselves to the peculiar circumstances in which they were placed ; they were made all things to all men that they might by all means save some ' ; but in these cases their practices evidently appear to be so conformed. Thus they consulted the in- flrmities of their weaker brethren by teaching such doctrines alone as they were able to bear it' ; they sometimes complied with the Levitical ceremo- • 1 Cor. ix. 22. « 1 Cor. iii. 2. SECT, ij THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 217 nies relating to vows " ; and to purification " ; they sometimes adhered to the rite of circumci- sion ^ ; they privately assemhled for divine wor- ship'; and sometimes yielded to the prejudices of others respecting meats ^ : all which, it is clear beyond contradiction arose from a compliance with temporary circumstances ^ This compliance seems to have been their in- variable custom, as far as it could be carried without compromising the essential principles of the gospel; and, being the suggestion of the Spirit, is to be followed by all who are similarly circumstanced. No example can be more worthy of imitation than that of men illuminated with celestial light ; at the same time this is required by common sense to be limited to cases strictly parallel. Nothing is more absurd than the appli- cation of what was meant for one age to a totally " Acts xviii. IS. " Acts xxi. 26. '' Acts xvi. 3. * John XX. 19. Acts xii. 12. » Rom. xiv. 20. 1 Cor. viii. 13. '' The apostoHcal decree sent from Jerusalem to the converts at Autioch, Syria, and Cilicia, (Acts xv. 1, et seq.) cannot be cited as an instance of such compliance, for there is considerable doubt whether it was designed to be temporary or permanent ; a doubt which must remain till it be shewn satisfactorily who are meant by the brethren of the Gentiles to whom it was addressed, which is « difficult, if not impossible task. 218 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. different state of society and manners. But the apostolical practice in things, neither specially adapted to existing circumstances, nor in their own nature temporary, nor declared to be so in the sacred writings, is the very strongest evidence of their propriety and obligation. If the gospel contained no exhortation to charity, the example of the apostles in contributing to the relief of the poor would be sufficient to recommend the duty of pecuniary benevolence"; and, by parity of reason, their practice of religious rites and ordi- nances, if not originating in local circumstances, is just as strong evidence of their being suggested by the Holy Spirit, as their being expressly ap- pointed in the Holy Scriptures. Applying these observations to the sabbath, its permanent obligation must be allowed if the apostles have sanctioned it by their authority and example. In proof of this, it is not enough to shew that they have observed it, for they occa- sionally adopted some transitory rites; but it must likewise be shewn that there is nothing either in its own nature, or in the sacred Scrip- tures, designating it to be a transitory institution. They might keep one day in seven as a solemn festival out of deference to Jewish prejudices, or to the opinions and habits of those nations among " Rom. XV. 26. Gal. ii. lU. Acts vi. 1— i. SECT. I.]] THK CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 219 whom they preached the gospel ; and they migJd consider it only as a valuable means of furthering the establishment of a new religion in the world. It is therefore requisite to evince that the con- trary is the fact ; that, in its adoption, they nei- ther acted in compliance with the manners, rites, and customs of Jews or heathens ; and that they were not actuated by any considerations of local interest and expediency. Now for this purpose it may, perhaps, be only necessary to allege the manifold benefits of the sabbatical institution, which have been before stated, and which are of such a kind as are not more advantageous to the nascent church, than to every succeeding age. But it is further to be considered, that it contains nothing in its nature and object which points it out as an accommoda- tion to peculiar circumstances, or as designed for only a temporary continuance. It could not be adopted in compliance with Jewish notions and prejudices, since these were opposed and thwarted by the appointment of a different day in the week from the Jewish sabbath ; neither could it be out of deference to the feelings of pagans, all whose prepossessions were inveterately hostile to every thing that bore the stamp of Hebrew usages. Alike beneficial in the end and in the means, and not more useful to ancient than to modern na- tions, it bears all the characters of an institution 220 TPIE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. intended for perpetuity ; and if the first disciples of Christ had not regarded it in that lights they would, we may suppose, either have told us so, or dropt some expressions from which their senti- ments might be collected. Not the slightest in- timation to this effect, however, is to be found in the whole Christian Scriptures ; and, conse- quently, if the Apostles really observed a weekly festival, not as a local and temporary, but per- manent institution, its sacred obligation is de- monstrated, inasmuch as their sanction, under these circumstances, is the sanction of inspira- tion. That the first teachers of Christianity were accustomed to appropriate a septenary day to re- ligious services, is evinced by several unanswer- able testimonies. In the gospel of St. John we read that " the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith u ito them. Peace be unto you ;" and also in a subsequent verse, " after Qizto) eight days again his disciples were within, &c %" Be- fore proceeding farther it is necessary to remove an objection advanced by Heylin and others, namely, that the Evangelist's expressions should • John XX. 19, 26. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 221 rather be understood of the ninth or tenth, than the eighth day after. But it is the common phraseology of the sacred writers to reckon time inclusively ; thus our Lord says in Mark viii. 31. that he must suffer " and after Qx^tu) three days rise again," and again in Matt, xxvii. 63. '' after ((U£ra) three days I will rise again," i. e. on the third day. Again in Luke ii. 46. we read that " after (/usra) three days they found him in the temple," viz. on the third day as appears from the history. So in 2 Chron. x. 5. Rehoboam says to the people, " Come again to me after three days," and yet in the twelfth verse it is said that " the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king commanded." Many more instances may be seen by referring to the authors named in the margin \ so that the phrase " after eight days," must be understood to denote the first day of the week following. According to the history, then, the disciples of Christ were assembled on a particular day, and again the next week on the same day ; and this is related without any thing leading us to sup- pose such meetings unusual, without any intima- ' Wallis, Defence of the Christian Sabbath, P. i. p. 20. et seq. Jephson, Discourse on the Lord's Day, p. 47, et seq. ; Glass, Philologica Sacra, p. 473. ed Dathe ; Bp. Pearce, Miracles of Jesus vindicated, P. i. ; Bp. Smalbroke, Vindication of our Saviour's Miracles, vol. ii. p. 437, et seq. 222 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. IV. tion of their being convened to transact some immediate and pressing business. The fact is mentioned with the simple brevity, and exactly in the same manner that an historian would use in referring to a customary practice. To suppose these meetings purely accidental, when we take the situation of the Apostles into the account, were most unreasonable. In the disappointment of their hopes of temporal grandeur, and in their dread of the enraged Jews, they would not have met together, except by particular appointment, or in compliance with an usual custom. But for what purpose could they assemble by particular appointment ? Not surely to arrange any ordi- nary concerns of this world, at a time when they were shuddering at the cruelty of persecuting power ; much less for recreation and amusement when, in bitter anguish of heart, they were la- menting the loss of a revered Lord and Master. It can scarcely, then, be doubted that they came together agreeably to custom, and for religious objects, at a season when religious sentiments must have had fullest possession of their minds. Humbled into a true sense of the nothingness of earthly things, and bending under the stroke of recent bereavement, they must have met as they had been wont, for the purpose of mutual advice and exhortation, and of soothing their wounded spirits with the consolations of religion. There SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 223 prostrate in prayer, they would lift up their de- vout supplications to God, that they might be strengthened to endure the trial which they had reason to anticipate, and that they might be en- abled to contend successfully against the perse- cuting enmity of Pharisaic domination. The occasion and the specified times of these meetings constrain us to infer that they were the stated seasons of divine worship, which proves, not only the early practice of assembling on the first day of the week for religious exercises, but that it was a practice sanctioned by the authority of the Apostles. Following their bright example, let us in seasons of gloom and sorrow, seek alle- viation, where alone it can be found, in the pro- mises of the gospel, and the hopes which it inspires. There are times when the cares of life press heavy upon the heart, when the mind sickens at the prospect of the future, and when the bosom throbs with unutterable grief; at these times indulge not the fallacious expectation, that care can be banished by redoubled ardour in those occupations which, upon trial, will be found to be only vanity, and to terminate in vexation of spirit. Not all the busy scenes of life, not all the revelry of pleasure can sooth the disquietude of an aching heart. Let the victims of misfor- tune, let the weeping mourner, let all who are tortured with silent grief, or wearied with the 224 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. frowns of the world, fly to the temples of the Lord, beyond the vestibule of which no sorrow will pursue those who worship there in the warmth of unfeigned piety. Let them pour out their souls before the throne of their Saviour and their God, and, as they kindle with the fervour of devotion, the beams of the Sun of righteousness will gra- dually dispel the clouds which have gathered around their head. A ray of comfort will be darted into the heart which has been beating with anguish ; attendance in the congregation will be found a delightful service ; and as the fascinations of the present scene vanish away, the glories of the future world will rise to the mind's contemplation, and, exulting in the mercies of redeeming love, the soul will be elevated to a state of peace and hope, unassailable by the light afflictions of the present hour. But to return to the passage before us. The Evangelical history records that on both the days w hen they were met together, the disciples were honoured with the visible presence of our Lord, which marks, in the most emphatic manner, his approbation of their conduct. He appeared on the first day of the week, or Sunday, and then absented himself till the following Sunday when he appeared again, while they wei*e assembled together, which stamps with his sacred authority both the object for which they were assembled. SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 225 and the stated return of it. For what purpose, except to distinguish this day above the rest, did he suffer the intervening week to pass without a repetition of his visit ? At the firsi he gave them his solemn benediction, " Peace be with you ;'' and in confirmation of his resurrection from the grave, " he shewed unto them his hands and his side." At the second visit he repeated the bene- diction. He ordained or commissioned them to preach the gospel, and to plant the Christian church ; " Peace be unto you : as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed upon them, and said unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose- soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained." In all this solemn and religious ser- vice there is something which seems very like the celebration of a Christian sabbath. The transaction, considered in all its bearings, must be allowed to shew, in no ambiguous manner, the Apostolical custom at the period of holding weekly assemblies and the concurring approba- tion of Christ. The historian of the acts of the Apostles in- forms us of another transaction which establishes the practice at a later period. " We sailed away from Philippi, says he, after the days of un- leavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in Q 226 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CIIAP. IV. five days ; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow ; and continued his speech until midnight V The object of this meeting being to break bread, to participate in the Lord's Supper, and to receive the word of exhortation, for Paul preached unto them, clearly proves it to have been a religious assembly. The time specified, the first day of the week, and the manner in which the disciples are stated to come together, are plain indications of a practice already familiar. The expressions " when the disciples came together," imply that they were not specially summoned ; and in this the meeting was evidently distinguished from the assembly of the elders of the church, recorded in the same chapter, which was convened by St. Paul ^. Nor, though the apostle tarried with them seven days, is there mention of any meeting, ex- cept on the first day of the week ; and why did he preach on that day rather than any other, if it had not been the time of their usual assemblies ? " He had his choice of all the days ; but probably the wind not being favourable for sailing, he did not chuse to call the church together before their usual time of meeting, and before that went from « Acts XX. C, 7. '' Ibid. ver. 17. et seq. SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 221 house to house V It is also worthy of remark, that the scene of this narrative is not in Jerusa^ lem or Palestine, but in a distant country, where the Jews had no particular influence, and where^ consequently, the practice did not originate froni a compliance with Jewish prejudices. At Troas the apostles were under no necessity of conform- ing to established opinions and superstitious ha- bits ; they were at perfect liberty to appoint whatever day they chose for public worship, and as Sunday was selected for this purpose, it must have been by their direction and authority, as the converts would not of themselves have presumed to establish such a custom. It was a custom, however, approved by our Lord ; for when Euty- chus, " as Paul was long preaching, sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and Was taken up dead," he was miraculously restored to life again ; which proves how acceptable in the eight of God were the weekly religious assemblies of the believers at Troas ^. ' Priestlefy, Letters to a Young Man, p. 46. '' The phrase *' to break bread," in the passage above com- ftiented upon has been variously interpreted. Some, as Hein- richs, Morus, Pearce, Bengel, Rosenmuller, Kuinoel, take it to mean feasts in common or Agapae, joined with the celebration of the Eucharist : others, as Lyra, Calvin, Heylin, understand it aff denoting an ordinary meal or supper ; while it has been thought, in this place, to denote, by a synecdoche, the whole of divine Worship. (Glen, Treatise on the Sab. cap. 3. sect. 2. § 1.) Bu"* Q 2 228 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CIIAP. IV. In writing to the Corinthians St. Panl says, " Concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come '." That the apostle does not mean to limit their laying by in store to one particular day alone is demonstrably evident, the original there- fore, would be better rendered with Bishop Pearce, I am of opinion that it denotes tlie holy Eucharist, though as that was usually accompanied with a feast called Agapae, it may include both. See Mosheim, De Reh. Christ, ante Const. Cent. 1. Note (s) ; Vorstius, De Hebraismis, p. 689. ed Fischer ; Mi- chaelis, Introduction, vol. iv. cap. xiv. Sect. 2. ; Bingham, Afiti- quities, lib. xv. cap. vii. § 6. et seq. ; Albaspinaeus, De Vet. Eccles. Ritibus, lib. i. cap. viii. x. Hallet, Notes on Scripture, vol. 3. Disc. vi. ; Bolimer, Diss. Juris Eccles. Diss. 4. The phrase used by the sacred writer, tv ry fii^ nov ffa(5j3dru>v, is rendered by Erasmus, Calvin, Gomarus, Heylin, &c. " upon one of the days of the week," or, " upon a certain sabbath," but it is not supported by any sound critical reasons. The inspired authors of the New Testament often put the cardinal number for the or- dinal, as alf for TTpwroe, according to a well known Hebrew idiom, it is therefore clear beyond dispute that the phrase is correctly rendered in the authorized version, " on the first day of the week ;" i. e. the day immediately following the Jewish Sabbath. See Schleusner, Lex. in voc. ; Valckenaer, Selecta e Scholis, vol. 2. p 338. ; Glass, Pliil. Sac. p. 38. ; Whitby, on 1 Cor. xvi. 2. ; Wallis, Defence of the Christian Sab. P. 1. p. 30. et seq. ; Goma- rws, De Sabbato, cap. vi. ' 1 Cor. xvi. I, ?. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 229 " Upon every first day of the week let every one of you, &c." It is the very probable conjecture of Archbishop Bramhall and Mr. Locke, that these savings for charitable uses were on that day to be deposited in some common treasury, or officer's hands ; for if they were only to lay by at home, there would be need of a collection when the apostle came. The Jews were accustomed to make weekly collections of alms which, on the evening of the sabbath, they distributed to the poor"; and after this example, as Whitby re- marks, St. Paul most probably ordained that the Christians should on the Lord's day make provi- sion for the necessitous. The fact of similar con- tributions being in after times made in the churches on the Lord's day, is strong evidence that the practice began with the apostles. Cer- tain, however, it is that St. Paul does enjoin pe- cuniary charity on every first day of the week, and there must have been some reason for speci- fying this day rather than another ; for, had he only intended that each person should occasionally contribute to the necessities of the saints, to par- ticularize the day would have been absurd. The exhortation implies that charity on every first day of the week was distinguished in some way or other from the rest; and that it was so distin- " Authorities are cited by Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. Talm. Rah. in Kn:i and nsip. '250 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. guished by bi iiig appropriated to religious pur- poses, may be inferred from the nature of the in- junction the object of which was charity, a virtue most likely to be exercised when the heart is softened by participation in sacred offices °. There is another text in the same epistle of St. Paul, to which the celebrated Michaelis has at- tached considerable importance on the present question. It occurs in the eleventh chapter; " When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper ; for in eating every one taketh before other his own supper ; and one is hungry and another is drunken." The ex- pression/cupia/cov SerTTvov, says he, may be translated, as in the Syriac version, " a meal which is proper for the Lord's day," or, " a Sunday meal." In the controversy relative to the celebration of Sunday, it is extraordinary that this translation of KvpiaKov ^Hirvov in so ancient a version as the Syriac should never " have been quoted °." But this seems to be an oversight of the learned critic, as the literal version of the Peshito, or old Syriac, is, " when ye " See Chrysostom, Homil. 43 in 1 Cor. Dr. Priestley, Letters to a Young Man, p. 45. Bishop White, Treatise on the Sab. p. 211, ai2. Bishop Pearce's version, ** upon every first day of the week" is supported by the Arabic and Syriac versions, and seve- ral moderns : '• primo quoque die hebdomadis," Rosenmiiller ; " primo quohbet septimanae die," Schott ; so Jaspis ; and so it is understood by Bengel, and some in Poli Synop* " Michaehs, Introduciton, vol. i. cap. xiv. § 2. 9 SECT. I.]3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 2'M come together ye do not eat and drink as is fit for our Lord's day p." The Syriac indeed takes kv~ piaKov for the Lord's day, in the passage under consideration; but it is not supported by any other of the ancient versions ; it is a sense which cannot be extracted from the original Greek ; and KvpiaKov Be'iTTvov cannot be properly rendered otherwise than " the Lord's supper." This text, then, from the first epistle to the Corinthians has no relation to the subject before us, and I should not have noticed it but for the criticism of so eminent a scholar as Michaelis. In the question respecting the apostolical prac- tice, the much contested passage in the second chapter of Acts must not be passed over without examination. " When the day of Pentecost was fully come, says the sacred historian, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them ; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as p The version of Schaaf is, " Quum igitur congregamini, non. sicut justum est die Domini nostri, comeditis et bibitis." That in the Polyglot is, " Quum convenitis non ut decet diem Domini nostri editis et bibitis." 232 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[chAP. iV. the Spirit gave them utterance ^" The full discus- sion of the various opinions of the matters here related would require a separate dissertation ; though in this, perhaps, as in some other cases, the subject has been rather perplexed, than eluci- dated by the ingenuity of the learned. As far as we are at present concerned with it, two points are alone necessary to be made owi, first, that the historian speaks of the actual day on which the feast of Pentecost was celebrated, and seco7idly, that this day was the first day of the week. With respect to the first point, there can be but little doubt that the expressions " when the day of Pentecost was fully come," {av^irXri^ovaBai) mean, not the day when that feast was fulfilled and over, but the day of its actual celebration ; for the verb is applied in this way, in the only other place where it occurs in reference to time. " And it came to pass when the time was come (tv tw avjx- TT^vpovaOai) that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem '." Dr. « Acts ii. 1 — 4. ""Luke ix. 51. *' Quum dies Pentecostes instaret, aut, adesset. Is usus V. ffvfnr\r]povQai, incogtiitus scriptoribus Graecis antiquis, jure annumeratur loquutionibus ex Orientali fonte ductis. irXtjcr- ^jjvai, 7rX»jpoD(T&ai et ffv/tTrXijpou^ai ssepius in his Libris S. S. usur- pantur do Spatio certo temporis, vel definito, quod ad finem ver- gere incipit." Valckenaer, Selecta e Scholisy v. 1. p. 538. See ^Iso Hammond, on Acts ii. 1. SECT. I.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 233 Lightfoot, however, and other critics of eminence^ understand them to denote the day when the feast was over, and their reasons are, that, Christ most likely ate the passover on the same day with the rest of the Jews, namely on the fourteenth of Nisan, which was thursday ; friday, on which he was crucified, was therefore the first day of the feast of unleavened bread ; and reckoning seven weeks forwards, makes the day of Pentecost to fall on the Saturday, or Jewish sabbath, which being " come," fulfilled and over, brings us to the first day of the week, when the disciples were " with one accord in one place." But since the words in Acts most probably de- note the day when the feast of Pentecost was ce- lebrated, how does this accord with the second point to be established, that the day of the mira- culous effusion of the Spirit was the first day of the week ? This is a question of great difficulty, and one on which the critics are divided and per- plexed ; but that the feast of Pentecost alluded to fell on the first day of the week, seems to be evinced by the direction for computing the time of celebrating it. " Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering ; seven sabbaths shall be complete : even unto the mor- row after the seventh sabbath shall ye number 234- THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. fifty days '." This is not without its obscurities ; but if this refers to the weekly sabbath, and the Jews were to reckon seven sabbaths complete, even to the morrow of the seventh, the feast of Pentecost must always have fallen on the first day of the week, which. Dr. Lightfoot affirms, was the computation of the Baithusians and Karraites. Again the feast of Pentecost, it is universally al- lowed was on the fiftieth day after the first day of unleavened bread, which was the second of the passover week. Now if Christ, as many suppose, ate the passover at the stated time, on the thurs- day, friday would be the first of the passover week, and Saturday the first day of unleavened bread, and beginning to reckon from the day after, Sunday, the fiftieth brings us to Sunday again, the first day of the week, the day of the miracu- lous out-pouring of the Spirit. But further, the feast was to begin seven weeks complete from the time when they first put the sickle into the corn', they were then to bring a sheaf of the first fruits of their harvest, and the priest was to wave it be- fore the Lord, " on the morrow after the sabbath"," that is, on the second day of the passover week, which, in the year of our Lord's crucifixion, was • Levit. xxiii. 15, 16, ' Deut. xvi. 9—12. " Levit. xxiii. 10. 11. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 235 on the seventh day of the week, or Saturday ; counting then seven weeks complete brings us again to the first day of the week, the day of Pentecost. This, it must be confessed, is a perplexing sub- ject, but one thing is certain, that no interpreta- tion or mode of calculation does necessarily ex- clude the first day of the week from being the day of the descent of the Holy Ghost. But the cal- culation built upon, Levit. xxiii. 15, 16. seems very strong in support of the opinion, that the feast of Pentecost must always have fallen on the first day of the week. Besides, if thursday, the day before our Saviour's crucifixion was, as ap- pears most probable, the stated day when the paschal lamb was killed and eaten, the friday must have been the first day of the passover week ; and according to the usual mode of num- bering fifty days, or seven weeks complete, from thence to the Pentecost, this feast must in that year have happened on the first day of the week. Taking all these circumstances into consideration it must be allowed to be at least extremely pro- bable that the feast of Pentecost mentioned in the second chapter of Acts, was celebrated on the first day of the week. The assembly of the dis- ciples on that day could not have been accidental, as they were come together " with one accord," and it must have been for religious purposes, as 236 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. nothing else could have so probably brought them together " m one place :" we must therefore con- clude that it was not a casual meeting, nor one for worldly business, but an assembly for Christian worship, on a day which was then usually set apart for that purpose ; and, as the divine bless- ing was so signally vouchsafed by the shedding forth of the Holy Spirit, we must infer the divine approbation both of the day, the first of the week, and of the object for which the disciples were convened, which was the public worship of the Almighty. The practice of the apostles in appropriating one day in the week to religion, may now be con- sidered as sufficiently established ; it has, how- ever, been objected, that if their practice is to au- thorize any particular day, it would rather be in favour of the Jewish sabbath, and this is strenu- ously urged by Brabourne, and other Sabbatarians. But the answer is easy. Though the apostles ap- propriated the first day of the week to sacred offices, they made no scruple in frequenting the synagogues on the sabbath day, in order that they might more effectually propagate the Christian faith. Thus when Paul and his company " de- parted from Perga, and came to Antioch in Pisi- dia, they went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 237 sent unto them, saying. Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand, said," Sec. /nd after concluding his address, '' when the Jews were gone out, the Gen- tiles besought that these words might be preached unto them the next sabbath," when " almost the whole city came together, to hear the word of God \" So at Philippi " on the sabbath day he went out of the city by the river side, where prayer was wont to be made, and sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither ^." The object, then, of the apostle in visiting the synagogues on the sabbath day was, not for the purpose of public worship, but for preaching the doctrines of Christianity : and such was the case when at Corinth, " he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Gentiles %" and at Thessalonica, when he " on three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures \" These are the only occasions recorded of an apostle shewing any respect for the Jewish sab- bath after Christs resurrection, and nothing ap- pears farther from their intention than to sanction ^ Acts xiii. 14. et seq. ^ Acts xvi. 13. * Acts xviii. 4. » Acts xvii. 1, 2. 238 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. the perpetual sanctity of that peculiar ordinance. St. Paul did not repair to the assemblies in the synagogues for the purpose of offering up praise, prayer, and thanksgiving, but to "preach," to " exhort," to " reason." He probably joined in the service performed there, but his motive was the propagation of those doctrines which he was commissioned to deliver both to Jews and Gen- tiles. And how could this object be more effec- tually obtained than by frequenting those places of public resort, where they had not only permis- sion to teach, but where the people were pre- pared to listen to religious instruction ^ The apostles were under the strongest tie to publish the gospel which could bind men to the perform- ance of a duty% and they gladly seized every op- portunity of proclaiming salvation through Him, of whom they were the servants and ambassadors. That such was their object in frequenting the synagogues, further appears from their custom of doing so on other days, as it should seem, than the sabbath '^. There they resorted in execution of their apostolical office, and whether on the sab- That others beside the regular officers were allowed to teacj} in the synagogues is evident from Matt. iv. 23. — xiii. 54. Mark ti. 2. Luke iv. 16. John vi. 59. — xviii. 20. and many other places. See Lightfoot, Horce Heb. in Matt. iv. 23. •= 1 Cor. ix. IG. * Acts ix. 20.— xiii. 5.— xiv. 1.— xvii. 17.— xviii. SO.- SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 239 bath or other clays, for the synagogues were opened three times a week for the ritual service % their design was to preach Christ crucified ; but when they assembled with the converts for Chris- tian worship, it was invariably on the first day of the week. This difference in their practice shews the distinction between the Jewish sabbath, and Sunday: the former being a temporary institution, they conformed to it in furtherance of the special object of their mission, but the latter, being vo- luntarily chosen by themselves, was consecrated to Christian devotion, and therefore to be dedica- ted to the same purposes in all succeeding ages. A stronger argument for the religious obser- vance of a septenary day, than the practice of the apostles, when all the circumstances are taken into the account, it were unreasonable to demand. Whatever they instituted was in reality instituted by the Almighty Being, by whose suggestion they were guided in all things relating to the church of Christ ; and, if it were not undeniably of a local and temporary nature, it must be binding upon all who reverence their authority as inspired teachers. Their whole conduct, in reference to the subject in question, their selection of the first day of the week in contradistinction to the Jewish sabbath; their observance of it as well in other countries as in Judea; and the purposes to which • See Brown, Antiquities of the Jews, vol. i. p. 019, 240 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. IV. it was applied, prove that it was not intended to be limited to the apostolic age. If to this consi- deration we add the testimonies already produced from the New Testament, it seems impossible for a candid mind to resist the force of their combined evidence for the perpetuity of the sabbatical insti- tution. Yet, in addition to this, there is some direct evidence which shall now be submitted to the reader's consideration. In the Book of Revelations, St. John says, " I was in the spirit on the Lord's day ;" (ch. i. 10.) from which passage it is clear, that a certain day was dis- tinguished as the Lord's, and it if be inquired what particular day is thus designated, the only reason- able answer is, that it was the first day of the week, which was from the beginning set apart for the celebration of the sacred offices enjoined by the religion of our blessed Lord. It is an appel- lation conveying some pre-eminent dignity, which can belong to no other than that which has been reverenced subsequently in the churches of Christ by the same name. The apostle unquestionably meant by this appellation to specify the time when he received the apocalyptic visions ; but how could the churches to whom the Revelations were addressed have comprehended the meaning, unless it had been the designation of a day with which they were familiarly acquainted? It is likewise mentioned without explanation, without SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 241 intimating any thing novel either in the term or thing signified, and must therefore have been known by that title when the book was written ; but there is no other than the first day of the w eek which answers to this description, inasmuch as there is no other day on which Christ per- formed any work which could give occasion to such a name, except the first day of the week which was consecrated by his resurrection. Nei- ther was there any other distinguished by the title of the Lord's day, as is proved by the unani- mous consent of all antiquity ; and the testimony of the early Fathers in this case must be consi- dered as decisive, since they could scarcely be mistaken whether the first day of the week was intended by the just-cited text in Revelations '^. The apostle, then, by " the Lord's day" meant that which was set apart for religious observance under the gospel dispensation ; and such an ap- propriation of one day in seven during the first century, can only be ascribed to divine authority. The term itself imports a day either instituted by Christ, or consecrated to the offices of his reli- gion ; as in the only other place where the same Greek' word occurs, the Eucharist is called " the Lord's Supper," because it was instituted by, and ^ That the fathers with one voice declare it to be the first day of the week, whicli was consecrated to the service of the Tri-une God, will be shewn in a subsequent chapter. R 242 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. in commemoration of him -. Similar expressions are frequent, as the Lord's temple, the Lords priests, the Lord's people, the Lord's offerings, the spirit of the Lord, the grace of the Lord, the glory of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the cup of the Lord, the beloved of the Lord '' ; and they invariably denote, not only what is sacred and ve- nerable, but what is consecrated to him, and sanc- tified by him ; which shews that the Lord's day must signify a day which he has separated and sanctified to his service. There was a day em- phatically and by way of distinction called the Lord's, the same which was afterwards so desig- nated ; and an inspired writer would not have distinguished it by this appellation, except it had been originally either instituted by the Lord Jesus, or by his authority. The consecration of one day in the week to divine worship, being of divine appointment, must be perpetually binding ; and accordingly it has been transmitted from the apostles to the church of God, and happily conti- nued throughout the Christian world. The present discussion might justly be deemed imperfect, if no notice were taken of a passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which has been con- ' 1 Cor. xi. 20. See Schleusner in voc. Kvpiaico^. ^ Rev. xi. 1, 19. 1 Sam. xxii. 17, 21. 1 Sam. ii. 24. 2 Cor. iii. 17. Rom. xvi. 24. 2 Cor. iii. 18. 1 Tim. vi. S. 1 Cor. xi. 27. Rom. xvi. 8. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 243 sidered of great importance in the Sabbatarian controversy. It is confessedly one of no little dif- ficulty, owing to the concise and eliptical manner in which the apostle has delivered his argument, and the full illustration of it would demand a long and elaborate commentary. As an attempt of this kind would require too large a space, I shall only state the result of an examination aided by all the critical assistance to which I have had ac- cess. The passage referred to includes the first eleven verses of the fourth chapter, in which the apostle, in exhorting the Hebrews to beware of an evil heart of unbelief, argues with them upon their own principles, and, taking it in connexion with the preceding chapter, the substance of the reasoning is, that a promise of entering into a sacred rest is made by the Almighty to believers in all ages ; that this rest was not the seventh day rest, nor the rest arising from the possession of Canaan ; and that, consequently, it was a far better, even a heavenly rest, from which, how- ever, those who believe not will be excluded, as the unbelieving Israelites in the wilderness were excluded from the rest in Canaan. As of all the commentators which have fallen under my observation, Macknight and Abresch have most clearly represented the scope of the apostle's reasoning, it will probably be more satis- factory to cite one of their paraphrases than to R 2 / 244 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. attempt a new one ; and the former, being in our language, demands the preference. " Wherefore, since the Israelites were excluded from Canaan for their unbelief and disobedience, let us he afraid lest a promise of entrance into God's rest being left to all Abraham's seed in the covenant, any of you should actually fall short of ohtaining it. 2. For we also who believe, being Abraham's seed, hare in that promise received the good tidings of a rest in the heavenly country, ei^en as the Israelites in the wilderness received the good tidings of a rest in Canaan. But the good tidings ichich they heard had no influerice on their conduct, because they did not believe what they heard. 3. Wherefore, ac- cording to God's promise, ive the seed of Abraham ^vho believe shall enter into the rest of God. But it is a rest different from the seventh-day rest, seeing he said concerning the unbelieving Israel- ites in the wilderness. So I sivare in my ivrath, they shall not cjder into my rest, notwithstanding the ivorhs «^creation ive re finished, and the seventh day rest was instituted, from the formation of the world: consequently the Israelites had en- tered into that rest, before the oath was sworn. 4. That the seventh-day rest is God's rest, and that it was instituted at the creation is evident. For Moses hath spolcen some where concerning the se- venth, day rest, thus : and God completely rested on the seventh day from all his ivorl's. 5. Moreover SECT. I.J THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 245 in this ninety-fifth psalm, the Holy Ghost said again to the unbelieving Israelites in David's time who were living in Canaan, They shall not enter into my rest. This shews that another rest besides that in Canaan was promised to Abraham's seed, which would be forfeited by unbelief, but be obtained by believing. 6. Seeing then, after the Israelites were living iji Canaan, it still remained for them to enter into God's rest through believing. And seeing they ivho first received in the wilderness the good tidings of the rest in Ca- naan did not enter in on account of their unbelief, it follows, that they who receive or have received the good tidings of the rest in the heavenly coun- try shall not enter into it, if they do not believe. 7. Moreover, seeing the Holy Ghost specifieth a particular time for entering in, Saying to the peo- ple by David, To-day so long a time after the nation had taken possession of Canaan, as it is written. To-day when ye shall hear God's voice commanding you to enter into his rest. Harden not your hearts against entering. 8. For, if Jo- shua, by introducing the Israelites into Canaan, had caused them to rest according to the full meaning of God's promise, the Holy Ghost would not after that, m David's time, have spohen of an- other day for entering into God's rest. 9. There- fore, seeing the Israelites did not, in Canaan, enter fully into God's rest, the enjoyment of another rest 246 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV« remalneth to tJie people of God, in which they shall rest completely from all the troubles of this life. For the believer who is entered into God's rest, hath himself cdso rested from his own works of trial and suffering, Rev. xiv. 13. like as God rested from his works of creation. 11. Since there re- maineth such a happy rest to the people of God, Let us carefully strive to enter into that rest, by obeying Jesus, lest any of us should fall, after the example of the Israelites, through unheliefr Though this passage, so admirably paraphrased by Macknight, affords, as is obvious to remark, no di7'ect proof of the Christian sabbath, yet some circumstances go indirectly to establish its last- ing obligation. For in the first place, it supplies a striking confirmation of the original appoint- ment of the sabbath immediately upon the con- clusion of the creative labour of Omnipotence. The apostle not only quotes the Mosaic account of the institution of the seventh day's rest, *' for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise. And God did rest the seventh day from all his works ' ;" but his argument rests upon the assumption that it was instituted " from the foun- dation of the world," as is evident from the pa- raphrase of the third verse. If the law of the sabbath was first given in the wilderness, the rea- soning is entirely inconclusive, since it is to this * Verse i. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABByVTII. 2i7 effect, tliat the promised rest into which God sware the unbeheving Israelites should not enter could not be that of the seventh day, because they had entered into that rest before the oath was sworn. It must, therefore, have been appointed at the creation, which proves its perpetuity, for the command must, in that case, have been ad- dressed to all mankind, and consequently univer- sally binding. In the second place, the seventh day's rest, as it should seem from this passage, was designed to be typical of the eternal rest in heaven. In the ninth verse the apostle says, " There remaineth therefore a rest (ffajS/Sortcr^toc) to the people of God," by which expression, as is generally agreed, is denoted a rest of holy bliss, such as God enjoyed when he finished his work of creation ; and therefore, by using it, he intimates that the sabbath is an emblem or figure of the heavenly rest which remaineth to the people of God\ This is further evident from the next verse, " For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his," where the parallel shews that the sabbatical rest is a re- " '' Sdj3j8art(7ju6e est hand dubie idem, quod antea ssepius KardiravcnQ dicitur. Sed maluit Auctor hie crafijSarifffitp uti, quod legentis ani- mum ad ea revocaret, quae supra de Deo, septimo die quiescente, dixisset, simulque doceret, esse in sabbato typxim, sive adum- brationem coelestis vitze, quae et ipsa perpetuum sabbatum est habitura." Abresch, Nota in loc See also Pierce, in loc. 218 TllK CHRISTIAN SABBATH. LCHAP. IV. presentation of eternal rest. And the same thing is implied in other parts of the apostolical writ- ings; for St. Paul reckons the sabbaths among those things which were " a shadow of things to come," and in this very epistle he represents the Jewish ritual as a pattern, a figure, or shadow of heavenly things '. If the sabbath be in reality a type of the hea- venly rest, this circumstance will go a great way in corroborating its moral and perpetual obliga- tion. A type being ordained by the Almighty to adumbrate something future, must necessarily con- tinue in force till the thing represented shall have actually come to pass. Its emblematical nature will never expire but with the accomplishment of the thing signified ; for a type being of divine ap- pointment, cannot be supposed to be annulled before the thing typified takes place. If the se- venth day's rest were originally designed to be typical, it cannot rationally be believed that it would be abolished till that which it prefigures shall have arrived. The same wise purposes which were answered by its first ordination as a type must remain until that ordination be accom- plished. Now the sabbath, the apostle intimates, is a figure of future happiness of heaven, and, as it can never lose its emblematical character, in ' Col. ii. r/. Heb. viii. 5. ct passiifi. Sec aide, cap. iii. sect. i. § 3, p. 139. SECT. I.]3 THE CIUIISTIAN SABBATH. 249 which character also it will be ever equally use- ful, its moral obligation must continue till time be swallowed up in eternity. Such is the decisive evidence of the sacred re- cords of Christianity for the appropriation of a weekly day to religious exercises. SECTION II. Of the Day of the Christian Sabbath. Though we are bound to rest in the conclusion, so irresistibly established in the foregoing section, that our blessed Lord and his apostles have au- thorized the observance of a weekly festival ; yet, as to the particular day, it may be supposed that we have rather retrograded than advanced in our inquiries. Whichever day of our week was bless- ed and sanctified at the creation, it is perfectly clear that Saturday was the appointed sabbath under the Levitical economy, and it is equally so that Sunday was dedicated to holy offices by the first disciples of our Lord. If the obligation of the sabbath be immutable, it is contended that it must extend to the identical day, and that a change in this particular annuls its religious sanc- tion ; which change having actually taken place must consequently exempt Christians from the penalties of its non-observance. This is an ob- SECT. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 251 jeetion by which many persons of great piety have been startled, who cannot divest themselves of a latent doubt, whether the alteration of the time in the apostolical observance of it does not subtan- tially abrogate the original appointment ; and it cannot be denied that it seems at the first glance, to throw a degree of shade and obscurity over the investigation. The difficulty, however, is more apparent than real ; but since our researches hi- therto have not supplied an answer to the very natural inquiry, which day in the septenary cycle is to be kept holy ? it is imperative to search the Scriptures whether they furnish a satisfactory so- lution. Respecting this subject there are two principal questions,^r,s/, whether the sacred Scriptures de- termine the particular day in the hebdomadal re- volution, and secondly, whether they require the "whole day, the period of the diurnal revolution, or only a part of it, for the celebration of the Chris- tian sabbath. If to these questions a satisfactory answer can be returned, nothing more can fairly be demanded in reference to time; and the task is much facilitated by our former conclusions. No change, it is readily granted, can be made in the sabbatical appointment, except by the same divine authority by which it was at first in- stituted, it is therefore to be inquired, whether the exact day was originally specified by that in- 252 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. fallible authority. Now, in reviewing what has already been established from the Old Testament concerning the obligation of the sabbath as affect- ing Christians, it must strike every inquirer that the particular day is left entirely undetermined. While the seventh day is expressly enjoined, there is nothing which specifies the day from whence the septenary cycle is to be calculated "'. In the original institution it is stated in general terms that God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, which must undoubtedly imply the sanctity of every seventh day ; but not that it is to be subse- quently reckoned from the first demiurgic day. Had this been included in the command of the Almighty, something, it is probable would have been added declaratory of the intention ; whereas expressions the most undefined are employed ; not a syllable is uttered concerning the order and number of the days ; and it cannot reasonably be disputed that the command is truly obeyed by the separation of every seventh day, from common to sacred purposes, at whatever given time the " "> Ex comnumi Theologorum ore, hoc quiclem humano ge- neri praeceptum ac imperatum esse, ut in memoriam creati intra exaemeron Imjus universi, semper post sex profestos dies, Septi- mus festus agatur; at unde coniputationis hujus initium facien- dum sit, id nuUis legibus ita circumscriptum esse, ut non arbitrii libertati aliquid hactenus liccat." Wagenseil, Tela Jgnea Sa- tancc, Confut. Lipnianni. p. 565. SECT. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 253 cycle may commence. The difference in the mode of expression here from that which the sacred historian has used in the first chapter is very remarkable. At the conclusion of each di- vision of the work of creation he says, " the even- ing and the morning were the first day," and so on ; but at the termination of the whole he merely calls it the seventh day ; a diversity of phrase, which, as it would be inconsistent with every idea of inspiration to suppose it undesigned, must have been intended to denote a day, leaving it to each people as to what manner it is to be reckoned. The term obviously imports the pe- riod of the earth's rotation round its axis, while it is left undetermined, whether it shall be counted from evening or morning, from noon or midnight. At the establishment of the Mosaic polity Sa- turday was reserved for a holy rest unto the Lord, and unquestionably by divine suggestion ; but, as this might be only a ceremonial ordinance intended to be annulled together with the entire Hebrew ritual, it is to be inquired whether it be authorized by the fourth commandment, the only Jewish law relating to this subject which is bind- ing upon Christians. The terms of the law are " Remember the sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work ; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God. — For in six days the Lord made heaven and 254 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day ; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." With respect to time it is here mentioned in the same indefinite manner as at its primaeval institution, nothing more being expressly required than to observe a day of sacred rest after every six days of labour. The seventh day is to be kept holy, but not a word is said as to what epoch the commencement of the series is to be referred, nor could the He- brews have determined from the Decalogue what day of the week was to be kept as their sabbath ". The precept is not, remember the seventh day of the week to keep it holy, but " remember the sab- bath day to keep it holy ;" and in the following explication of these expressions it is not said that the seventh day of the week is the sabbath, but without restriction " the seventh day is the sab- bath of the Lord thy God ;" not the seventh ac- cording to any particular method of computing the septenary cycle, but, in reference to the six before-mentioned, every seventh day in rotation after six of labour. If every seventh day, there- fore, be consecrated to religious exercises, whe- " ■ Notare oportet nihil aliud in Decalogo praecipi, nisi ut unum (licm c septem a labore feriemur : quis vero sit Septimus ille dies, non dcsignari : num septimus ab inclioata mundi crcatione, an vero aliunde sumpto numerandi principio." Curcullaeus, De Esu Sanguinis, cap. vi. in Ap. p. 05('k 2 SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 255 ther it be the first or the last, or any other day of the week, the law of the Decalogue is literally and substantially observed. The reason alleged for hallowing the sabbath day, both in the primary command in Genesis, and in the Sinaitic law, does not limit it to any specific day of the week. The seventh day was blessed and sanctified because God then rested, having made the whole in six days ; but it is not said that this is the only portion of the septenary rotation to which he would afterwards bestow his blessing, nor that this portion was invariably to be kept ; the statute merely is, that, because God rested on the seventh day, he sanctified every seventh day ; and this event is equally commemo- rated by the observance of a seventh day, cal- culated from any given epoch. The sabbath was made for man, and every purpose of its institu- tion is answered, if, after every six days' labour, the seventh be kept as a day of rest, holy unto the Lord. And further, God blessed and hallowed the seventh day, not because it was the seventh day of the week, but because it was a day of rest ; whichever part, therefore, of the hebdomadal cycle is niade a day of rest, it is the day which he blesses and sanctifies ". " See Wright, Treatise on the Lord's Day, cap. i. Curcellaeus, De ^su Sang. cap. vi. Since this work was transcribed for tlie press, I have discovered that the view here taken of tlie day of ^56 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. Whether the specific day for keeping the sacred rest be pointed out under the Christian dispensa- tion is an inquiry of no easy determination. It is often argued that sufficient grounds exist in the practice of the apostles for believing the first day of the week to be constituted a sacred festival by divine appointment. And it may no doubt be very speciously urged, if this practice be allowed to form an invincible argument for the duty of keeping a weekly festival, it must as to the parti- cular day which they adopted. But there are some considerations which strongly oppose such a conclusion. The inspired teachers of Christianity appropriated one day in seven to the purposes of religion, and they selected the first day of the week most probably in contradistinction to the Jewish sabbath which was on the last. They might also intend by so doing to shew the disciples that the design of God in the sabbatical institution was not to hallow any particular day in the hebdomadal rotation, but to require the duty of consecrating A SEVENTH PORTION OF OUR TIME tO his SCrvicC. There was, moreover, an especial propriety in making choice of a different day, when all that rendered the sabbath peculiarly Jewish was to be the sabbath coincides with that taken by Dean Milner, Sermons, vol. i. Serm. 2. That it substantially accords with the opinion of several of the older theologians may be seen in VValaeus, De Sab. cap. v. inter Opera, vol. i. SECT. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 257 abolished ; for, had they adopted the last day of the week, they would have afforded a pretext for the prevailing errors of the Judaizing Christians. This was, therefore, a wise, and, perhaps, neces- sary measure to guard against a pharisaic perver- sion of the purity of the gospel; but the same reason has no longer any force when the Mosaic polity is overthrown, and the Jews scattered over the whole face of the earth. It is not meant that their adoption of Sunday was altogether an ac- commodation to existing circumstances, but it has every appearance of being thus intentionally dis- tinguished from Judaism; and, as the same reason does not now exist, we can scarcely now be obli- gated to that particular time. Besides, the apos- tles no where require believers of all ages to fol- low them in this selection, and, though their ex- ample, even in this particular, should not be de- parted from v/ithout very sufficient grounds, it is not exhibited in the New Testament as a pattern for perpetual imitation. For these reasons their practice, while it is decisive as to the duty of keeping a sabbath, does not render the day they adopted absolutely imperative upon succeeding generations. In thus leaving the selection of the day to a certain extent open to the prudence and discre- tion of the faithful, divine Providence has acted in consistency with the whole tenour of his gra- s 258 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV, cious dealings with mankind. No express regu- lations are enjoined as to those matters which, not belonging to the essentials of morality, but va- riable according to the varying modes and cus- toms of the world, are better left to human direc- tion and appointment. Some rites and ceremo- nies, for instance, are indispensable in the church of God, yet the Scripture, omitting all specific enactments, merely propounds the general princi- ple that all be done decently and in order ; while every individual church is at liberty to enjoin, in the exercise of a sound judgment, what in such matters is most^p^uitable to its own convenience and edification. In the same way the general duty of sanctifying every seventh day is promulged, while the particular day is not so precisely ascer- tained as to preclude each nation and church from subjecting it to such regulations as are most accordant with the sentiments and character of the people. If the Almighty had intended to designate the day of the week upon which, and no other, the sabbatical rest should be consecrated, he would, it may be presumed, have defined it in a more specific manner. We are indeed incompetent to decide a priori upon the mode of the divine legis- lation, for such an attempt would require a know- ledge of the whole plan of Gods moral govern- ment of the world, to which the human mind is SECT. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 259 utterly incompetent ; but we can scarcely be mis- taken in asserting, that he would not promulge in obscure and indefinite terms a law, which his creatures are bound to obey in its literal strictness. To do so would be inconsistent with the object of revelation to enlighten men on the important sub- ject of their duties as responsible agents. If, therefore, he had intended to fix invariably the day of the sabbath, it is probable he would have said so expressly, and prescribed the mode of the septenary computation. As to the time of some of the Jewish feasts and festivals he gave most minute and exact rules ^ ; and judging from ana- logy, it is reasonable to believe that he would be equally precise in his commands, had he willed the day of the sabbath to be unalterable. But in all the laws relating to it which are binding upon Christians the expressions are indefinite ? they merely declare that the seventh day is the sab- bath of the Lord, which, by fair construction can only imply that every seventh day is to be so kept, however the series may commence. The aposto- lical practice is decisive authority for observing a weekly religious festival, but there does not ap- pear to be any thing which renders the particular time they made choice of imperative upon suc- P Exod. xii. 2, S, 15, 16, 18— xxlii. 15— xxix. 30. Levit. xxiii. 4, 5, 7, 32, So—ymv. 9 — xvi. 2, 17, 29. Numb, xxviii. J 6, 18— xxix. 1, 7— ix. 3,5, 11. s 2 260 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV, ceeding ages. Had the Deity intended to pre- scribe the identical day, he would doubtless have fixed the epoch from which the septenary revolu- tion was to commence ; and his not doing so is, I conceive, a convincing proof that he designedly left the law open in this respect for any future alteration which might become necessary, with- out any abridgment of the obligation to its obser- vance. Such a procedure was, perhaps, alone compati- ble with the several changes which, in the pro- gress of ages, took place in the sabbatical ap- pointment. The first sabbath that was kept in the wilderness was calculated, not from the epoch of the creation, but from the raining of manna "^ ; and at the establishment of Christianity it was transferred from the last to the first day of the week ; which alterations must be supposed to have been in correspondency with the successive alterations in the nature and design of the ordi- nance. In the progressive developements of the divine plans of Providence it acquired in some de- gree new ends and objects, the accomplishment of which most probably required a change in the time of its celebration. '' In the first ages of the world, says Bishop Horsley, the creation of the world was the benefaction by which God was '' Exod. xvi. 4, et seq. SECT. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 261 principally known, and for which he was chiefly to be worshipped. The Jews, in their religious assemblies, had to commemorate other blessings —the political creation of their nation out of Abraham's family, and their deliverance from the Egyptian bondage. We Christians have to com- memorate, beside the common benefit of the creation, the transcendent blessing of our re- demption— our new creation to the hope of ever- lasting life, of which our Lord's resurrection to life on the first day of the week is a sure pledge and evidence '." From these successive changes it may be inferred that it may be again changed whenever circumstances render it expedient ; for there is nothing in the last by which the day is un- alterably determined. It cannot well be imagined that the law of the sabbath would be inculcated in any other than this simple and unrestricted way. To keep one day in seven holy, resting upon a plain and easy computation, is a rule about the meaning of which no doubt can reasonably be entertained; but if the very day in a septenary series, either from that in which God rested, or from that on which Christ rose from the dead, was to be observed, it would give occasion to incessant and perplexing difficulties. Who could be sure that they punc- tually fulfilled the command in the day which they "■ Sermons, vol. ii. p. 223. 262 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. devoted to a holy rest ? Would it not give rise to interminable differences of opinion? And would not such a doubt afford a specious handle to the cunning of incredulity, and cause many a conscientious scruple in the bosom of sincere be- lievers ? A law fixing the day in the hebdomadal cycle would depend upon astronomical calcula- tions too intricate for the mass of mankind, and in the result of which the man of science must some- times hesitate ; and, even if it could be deduced with the clearness of mathematical demonstration, it would tend to no practical good. The plain precept to sanctify a weekly festival has all the benefits that can arise from fixing the numerical day on which God rested at the creation, or on which Christ rose from the grave ; for which rea- son the Almighty, we may believe, would not en- cumber it with an enactment depending upon a chronological computation of weeks and days. Nor after all would a specific law as to the nu- merical day be practicable in all ages, and through- out the world. We have no definite account of the day when the patriarchal sabbath was ob- served ; and he would be no very culpable sceptic who should deny the accuracy of our calculations respecting the time of the Levitical sabbath, or the day of the Christian Sunday. But granting that the seventh day ivoni either of these two epochs can be clearly determined, this can only SECT. 11.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 203 extend to a few degrees of latitude and longitude ^ around the scene of divine revelation ;- for as the day is continually changing with the diurnal and annual rotations of the earth, midday in one part ^ is midnight in another ; and consequently, if an- cient chronology were more accurate than it is, the precise period of God's rest cannot, without great difficulty, be calculated for all places ; nor, when this is effected, can it be every where reli- ligiously observed. From these considerations it is justly inferred that the scriptural authority for keeping the se- venth day holy, does not, in sanctioning the duty, absolutely determine the identical time. If one day in seven be consecrated to religion, the exam- ple of the apostles, as well as the provisions of the primaeval and Decalogistic commands are in spirit and in substance complied with. No mode of computation being prescribed in the sacred Scrip- tures, leaves room for any alteration consistent with the regular sanctification of every sevenths after six days of labour. But though the law of God has not unalterably fixed the numerical day, several reasons evince a peculiar propriety in all churches throughout the world preferring the first to any other day of the week. By the li- berty of the Christian law believers may, for good cause, select any portion of the week, without in- fringing the sabbatical enactments ; yet, where it 2 264 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. can conveniently be done, there are strong grounds for adopting the first day of the week according to their respective modes of computing the pe- riodical divisions of time. The example of the apostles, guided as they were by the Spirit in their sacred ministrations, is entitled to the most respectful deference in what- ever appertains to the worship of the God whom they served. Though no precise direction is given as to the time of the Christian festival, yet, as they were under the superintending agency of God, their selection of the first day of the week must have been best suited to the early age of the Gospel ; and since there is nothing in the present state of the world, at least in Europe, requiring a change in this particular, to diverge from their practice would certainly be useless, and probably absurd. Nay, if it were then the wisest and best, it must now be deemed a practice from which the strongest grounds alone can justify a departure. Unless it can be shewn to be unsuitable to the pre- sent condition of human society, or that a change would be attended with additional advantages, to pursue a diiferent course would be a daring stretch of culpable presumption. The practice in question appears in no respect better adapted to the primitive, than the present age of Christia- nity ; and it is a duty to pause, in serious delibe- ration, before making any alteration in what lias SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 265 once been sanctioned by divine authority. Who that is actuated by a humble, yet fervent piety, would willingly select a day for social worship different from that which was adopted by the in- spired disciples of our Lord ? The appropriation of the first day of the week is authorized by some considerations of no mean force, and of universal application. Our Saviour ap- pears to have honoured it with the especial tokens of his regard. He shewed himself twice on the first day of the week to his disciples who were assembled, as has been shewn before, for the sacred purposes of religion ; he bestowed his peaceful benedic- tion, instructed them in his doctrine, and by the symbolical action of breathing on them confirmed the promise that they should receive the Holy Ghost*. Here is a sensible demonstration of his approval of assembling weekly in the church for the exercises of devotion, as he would not other- wise have favoured them with his benignant pre- sence ; and it proves that the time of the meeting was not objectionable in his sight. It is a point gained to be assured that he does not disapprove of the first day of the week ; for, as that cannot be 'said of any other, it ought in common pru- dence, as it should seem, to be adapted for public worship in succeeding generations. By his ap- pearance he sanctified both the meeting and the ' John XX. ID, 26. 266 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. IV. TIME ; and both, till the contrary is shewn, must be deemed fit and proper in every age of the Christian church. This, it is true, does not appropriate this day to the absolute exclusion of any other ; but there is another circumstance which seems to point it out as peculiarly fit for perpetual solemnization. On that day Christ rose from the dead, by which sig- nal act of power he gave undoubted proof of his being the Messiah foretold by the prophets, and accomplished the great object of his piacular sa- crifice. Though he suffered for our offences, he on that day rose again for our justification, and by bursting the bonds of the grave, triumphing over principalities and powers, and becoming the first fruits of them that slept, he is exalted to be a prince and a Saviour. By his resurrection he has proved that the demands of divine justice are sa- tisfied, and that he has of a truth opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Between the completion of this glorious work, and that of the creation, there is an analogy so close and striking as seems to require a similar commemoration. In the production of the universe out of nothing we admire the power which effected it, the wisdom which contrived so beautiful a system, and the goodness which has diffused happiness in wide- spread abundance throughout the whole ; but in the new creation in Christ Jesus, in addition to all SECT. U.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 267 these, we adore the infinite mercy and benignity which has rescued man from the ruin of the fall, restored him to favour, and provided the means of raising him hereafter to transcendent and never- ending glory. As a regularly returning day was consecrated for a memorial of the visible creation, it is with equal propriety so to commemorate the spiritual creation, which no less conspicuously displays the perfections of Deity. It is natural to the feelings of a grateful piety to regard with some- thing more than ordinary veneration the day on which our Lord consummated the redemption of the world : an event which will for ever excite the wonder and admiration, the praise and thanks- giving of intelligent beings and ransomed spirits. The solemn dedication of it to religious worship corresponds with the sentiments which those are delighted to cherish who are animated with the hope of a joyful resurrection, of which Christ's rising from the grave was the earnest and the pledge. This devout respect for the day on which he completed the work that the Father had given him to do, if not a commanded duty, is well calcu- lated to draw our affections from earth to heaven, and to inspire our ardour in contending for the crown of glory laid up for the righteous. The keeping holy the day on which our Saviour rose from the grave is productive of the most exalted 268 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. IV. associations, and forms a commemoration, at once devout and delightful, of the most stupendous event that was ever presented to the admiration and gratitude of mankind. The preference of this day is supported by the example of believers in the Gospel from the earliest period. The authority of the church on a matter in which it was not possible to be mistaken, and in which there could be no temporary com- pliance with the opinions, prejudices, and manners of the times, is to be held in very high estimation. That the observation of the first day of the week constantly prevailed in the church, even from the days of the apostles, will be confirmed by abundant evidence in the ensuing chapter. The ancient Christian writers declare that this day was kept as a festival, with joy and gladness, in commemoration of the glorious resurrection of their Redeemer. " We keep the eighth day, says Barnabas, with gladness, on which Jesus rose from the dead ;" and Ignatius says, " Let us live agreeably to the Lord's day, on which our life arose through him \" In honour of this day it * Barnabas, ^pwf, $11.; Ignatius, Ep. ad Magnes.; Justin Martyr, Jpol. ii. p. 98. ; Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromal, lib. vii. p. 744. ; Origan, Homil. v. in Isaiam ; Maximus Taurinensis, Homil. iii. de Pentecost. ; Augustine, Epist. 119. Serm. 15. de Verb. Apost.y De Civit. Dei. lib. xxii. cap. xxx. ; Athanasius, De SECT. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 269 was the universal custom to T^xmy standing, whereas at all other times they kneeled in offering up their supplications ; the reason of which is declared by the author of the Questions and Answers among the works of Justin Martyr to be, that in six days they prayed on their knees in token of the fall by sin, but that they did not bow the knee on the Lord's day to represent their resurrection, by which through the grace of Christ they were de- livered from sin and the power of death". The practice of the ancient church is a strong, and, as I am inclined to think, the strongest argvunent in favour of the first day of the week ; for it is mo- rally impossible that all the Christians of all places should unaniiilously agree in the observance of a particular day, without some direction claim- ing universal respect, which could scarcely be any other than a divine and apostolical regula- tion. It has been often held that it is necessary for Christians to keep their sabbath on a different Sab. et Circumcis ; Chrysostom, in P sal. 119.: Balsamon, Ad Canon Ajpostol. CG. ; Peter Bishop of Alexandria, apud Routh. Reliq. Sac. vol. iii. p. 343. ; Theophilus of Alexandria, Edict. ap Balsamum, Tom. ii. P. i. " Respons. ad Qucest. cxv. p. 468. See Cave, Prim. Chris^ tianity, P. 1. cap. vii. ; Bingham, Christian Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. viii. §. 3. lib. xx. cap. ii. § 6. 270 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. IVi day to the Hebrews, in order to manifest their protestation against Judaism. Believers in the Gospel, it is said, are to separate openly from the communion of the Jews, who, after their per- verse rejection of our Lord, ceased to be the true church of God ; and the sanctification of the Sa- turday being the most visible and notorious cha- racter of the Jewish worship, it was necessary that the Christian sabbath should be transferred to some other day of the week. This is the opi- nion of the illustrious Horsley who, in concluding a very able argument, observes that " by keeping a sabbath we acknowledge a God, and declare that we are not atheists; by keeping one day in seven, we protest against idolatry, and acknowledge that God who in the beginning made the heavens and the earth ; and by keeping our sabbath on the first day of the week, we protest against Judaism, and acknowledge that God who, having made the world, sent his only-begotten Son to redeem man- kind. The observation therefore of the Sunday in the Christian church is a public weekly assertion of the two first articles in our creed, — the belief in God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth ; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord \" Though concurring with a great part of this " Bishop Horsley, Sermon xxiii. in vol. 2. SECT. 11.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 27t learned writer's statement, I must express my doubts whether a change as to the day of the sab- bath is necessary for the avowed purpose of pro- testing against Judaism. I own myself unable to see the grounds of such necessity, or, indeed, any foundation in [the sacred Scriptures for an open protestation against the Mosaic dispen- sation. As far as it was typical, ceremonial, political, it, of course, expired by the introduction of a new faith ; and, in taking upon ourselves the Christian profession, we only adopt the old covenant so far as it is ratified in the New Tes- tament ; but where are we required to protest openly against it ? How does it appear that we ought to change the day of the sabbath to shew our dissent from Judaism ? If it were necessary in the primitive ages, how can it be so now when that polity is abrogated? In short, I cannot perceive why a change of the day is called for in order to mark our dissent from the Levitical reli- gion. The bishop's argument, therefore, in my apprehension, carries but little weight ; at the same time, there are other grounds, some of which have been already stated, why, as we adopt a different faith from the Jews, we should adopt a different day for the Christian sabbath. Many more reasons have been brought forward for the change from the last to the first day of the week, but I am compelled to abandon them 272 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. as destitute of argumentative force ^ The chief grounds for the transfer are those already 'stated, and it must be acknowledged that they go no fur- ther than to establish its expediency. Those ought not, therefore, to be charged with incre- dulity who believe that neither the sabbatical enactments, nor the practice cf the apostles, amount to a proof of the religious obligation of devoting Sunday exclusively to a sacred rest. More, nevertheless, may be said in favour of that day than of any other; it was certainly chosen by the apostles ; it was recommended by special tokens of our Saviour's approbation ; it was uni- formly adhered to by the primitive Christians; and it is peculiarly eligible for the pious comme- moration of our Lord's resurrection from the dead ; the churches of God, therefore, do well in ' These reasons may be found in Lightfoot, Works, vol. ii. p. 272 and 1329, et seq. ; Beveridge, Thesaurus Theol. vol. ii. p. 340; Archibald Hall, Gospel Worship, cap. x. §.2; Shepard, Theses Sahhaticce, P. 2 ; Durham, Exposition of the Ten Com- mandmen'.s, P. 26G — 276 ; Willison, Treatise concerning the Lord's Da7j, cap. i. p. 36, et seq,; Loei Effigiatio Veri Sabba- tismi, p. 39, et seq. ; Edwards, Theologia Reformata, vol. ii. p. 446, et seq. ; Dwight, Theology, Serm. 106; Wright, Trea- tise on the Lord's Day, cap. ii. ; Macbeth, Diss, on the Sabbath, sect. ix. ; Glen, Treatise on the Sabbath, cap. iii. ; Jephson, Discourse on the Lord's Day, cap. ii. See, on the other hand, Altingius, De Temp. Inst. Sab. lib. v. Heylin, History of the Sabbath, P. 2, cap. i. and ii. SECT. II.J THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 273 appropriating it to the public performance of religious duties. Differing in theory, as this does, from the opi- nion of those writers who hold the numerical day to be fixed by divine and apostolical autho- rity, it is pretty much the same in its practical result. While I agree with them in the fitness, the peculiar fitness, of the first day of the week, I do not see it in the light of an imperative duty. Forcibly as this day is recommended to our adop- tion, I cannot perceive it to be unalterable ; it is approved by our Lord, but not exclusively ; sanc- tioned by the apostles, but not enjoined ; so that room is left for any change which may become necessary by time and circumstances. The appli- cation of one day in seven to the exercises of de- votion is a bounden duty ; not so the appropria- tion of the first day of the week, which is rather a matter of prudence and propriety than of re- ligious obedience. Yet it is a matter of pro- priety supported so strongly, that the most clear and convincing reasons alone can justify a depar- ture ; and any church would act very culpably that should select any other day, without being impelled to it by a due regard to the character, the circumstances, and habits of the people. Still, as the day is not precisely fixed in the Scriptures, it may be altered whenever moral or political 274 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. considerations exist sufficiently urgent to require a change. To this doctrine, however, it has been objected, that to rest the appointment of the sabbatical day on such grounds, is pregnant with mischief. " It is certainly a very dangerous thing to make the necessity of God's worship, and the authority of the Lord's day, depend upon human orders and customs. For (as Dr. Prideaux argues in a book published long ago) what would it affect men that are busied about farms, and merchandize, and domestic affairs, to tell them of an human insti- tution ! Would they not easily set at nought all that could be urged in such a way ? Would not profane men easily dispense with their absenting themselves from prayer and preaching, and give themselves free leave of doing or neglecting any thing, were there not something found in Scrip- ture which should bind the conscience more than any human appointment ' ?" To this plausible representation it may be re- plied, that it is our duty to receive with humi- lity, and to maintain with firmness a doctrine founded in Scripture, in the conviction, that how- ever it may appear to us, it must, in its conse- quences, be beneficial to man. Whatever is or- » Wright, Treatise on the Lord's Day, cap. ii. § 2. See also Shepard, Theses Sahhaticce, P.2. p. 2. SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 275 dered by divine Providence is wise and benevo- lent ; and we need be under no apprehensions as to the supposed ill effects of the view of the sub- ject here given, provided it be built upon the word of God. Besides, it is assuming too much to aver that it makes '' the authority of the Lord's day depend upon human orders and customs." The religious solemnization of one day in the week has been shewn to be of divine appoint- ment ; hence the institution comes recommended by divine, not human, authority, though the par- ticular day, it is believed, is not unalterably fixed. What is there in this doctrine to excite alarm in the conscientious minds of even the most timid ? Many duties are declared incumbent upon men, though the time, the manner, the opportunity, are left to human control and direction. We are commanded not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together in public worship ; and who ever considered himself absolved from the obliga- tion, because neither the time nor the place are specified by the sacred writers ? Is the Christian ministry less a divine institution, because no law is promulged concerning the age of admissibi- lity, the mode of ordination, and the like. How many things in the administration of the holy sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper are left to man's regulation, which neither diminishes T 2 276 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^C'HAP. IV. their authority nor their efficacy ? In the church of Christ, discipline and various rites must be observed ; but every thing of a ritual nature is submitted to the rubrical authority of ecclesiasti- cal governors ; and for the wisest reasons, since they ought to be adapted to the diversified habits, dispositions, customs, and circumstances of man- kind. While the duty, then, of sanctifying every seventh day is allowed, being proclaimed by the sacred oracles of God, what danger is there in leaving it to every church to decide what part of the hebdomadal cycle should be considered as the seventh day? The duty of consecrating A SEVENTH PORTION OF TIME rcmaius Unchanged, the obligation unimpaired, though in one parti- cular, as all moral duties are, in some respects, it may be left to human prudence and discretion. Yet, satisfactory as this reply appears, it must not be forgotten that the designation of the day is not altogether a matter of arbitrary choice. A SEVENTH DAY must be Selected, and sunday was fixed upon by the apostles, no doubt by the sug- gestion of the Spirit, as it unquestionably was with the approbation of our Lord ; and there are not wanting considerations which give it a pro- priety above any other day of the week. These circumstances, thougli they do not render its adop- tion imperative, fairly claim a preference for it ; SECT. 11.] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 277 and, being so recommended, to change it, without the most urgent reasons, would be an unwar- rantable procedure. If the opinion here advocated, that the numeri- cal day of the Christian sabbath is not definitively established by divine authority, the Sabbatarian controversy will be of very easy determination. There have been, and still are, some who still keep the Saturday as a Christian festival instead of Sunday. The rise of these sectarians, if they can be so called, is not clearly ascertained : in the primitive church, it was the custom of certain individuals to observe both the Lord's day and the Saturday, in compliance with the prejudices of the Jewish converts, as is now practised by some members of the Abyssinian and Greek churches ; but since the Reformation, there have been, both in this and other countries, some per- fect Sabbatarians. The historian. Fuller, makes mention of some who held these tenets towards the beginning of the seventeenth century ' ; and the subject was controverted during this age with much heat and asperity, as appears from the pub- lications of Brabourne, Bampfield, and other Sab- batarians, as well as from those of White, Pri- deaux, Wallis, Shepard, Batteley, Chafie, Brere- ' Fuller, Church History, lib. ii. See also Heylin, Hist, of the Sab. P. 2. cap. viii. Some sectarians in the twelfth century observed the Jewish sabbath. Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. Cent. 12. P. 2. cap. V. §. 14. 278 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. wood, Dow, Byfield, Lowe, Twisse, Heylin, &c. Two congregations of them exist now in London; but in England they are few, and chiefly among the baptists, while in America, where sects and schisms multiply with all the rankness of the vegetation of their native prairies, they are, as it seems, far more numerous ^ Their peculiar tenet, as stated by Mr. Adam, is, that God hath required the observation of the seventh, or last day of the week, to be observed by mankind universally for the weekly sabbath ; that this command of God is perpetually binding ; and that this sacred rest of the seventh-day sabbath is not changed, by divine authority, from the last to the first day of the week, and, of course, the seventh day, which is still kept by the Jews, is obligatory on Christians. Now, if the view of the subject taken in this section be assented to, the fiercely agitated question, as to the time, must be pronounced to belong to the non-essentials of rehgion. If the sabbatical law does not fix the identical day, the Sabbatarians cannot be convicted of a direct violation of it ; but they are culpable in deviating, without any just and urgent cause, from the practice of the apostles and the Christian church of all ages. The evidence of Scripture, and the authority of antiquity, are in favour of the Lord's day ; and as they produce no reasons for '' Adam, Religious World Displayed, vol. ii. p. 214, et. scq. edit. 2d. SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 279 a change sufficient to counterbalance this testi- mony, their views of the subject must be deemed injudicious and erroneous. They are further to be condemned for disturbing the unity of the Church on a point which, as the Scriptures have not given any express decision, all believers are bound to submit to the regulation of ecclesias- tical authority in the bonds of peace. So much for the first of those questions relat- ing to this subject, which, in the beginning of this section, were proposed for discussion : the second question is, whether it be required to devote a whole weekly day, or only a part of it, to religious services. The latter is the opinion of many ; for the custom of terminating the sacred rest of Sunday early in the afternoon, is general on the continent, and some among ourselves contend, that we have only scriptural warrant for appropriating so much time as is necessary for public worship. " It will be remembered," says Dr. Paley, " that we are contending by these proofs, for no other duty upon the first day of the week, than that of holding and frequenting religious assemblies. A cessation upon that day from labour, beyond the time of attendance upon public worship, is not intimated in any passage of the New Testament ; nor did Christ or his apostles deliver, that we know of, any command to their disciples for a discontinuance, upon that 280 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. day, of the common offices of their professions ; a reserve which none will see reason to wonder at, or to blame as a defect in the institution, who consider that, in the primitive condition of Chris- tianity, the observance of a new sabbath would have been useless, or inconvenient, or impractica- ble ^" That the professors of the Christian faith are not to follow " the common offices of their pro- fessions" on the Lord's day, will be shewn in a subsequent chapter; and with regard to the time, the only question with which we are at pre- sent concerned, the Scriptures appear very clearly to require the consecration of a complete natural day. At the original institution, God blessed and sanctified the seventh day ; St, John, in the book of Revelations, speaks of the Lord's-DAY '' ; and the fourth commandment bids us to remem- ber the sabbath day, to keep it holy ; by which phraseology, a whole day, or the period of a diurnal revolution of our globe, seems evidently intended. Had a portion of this period only " Moral and Political Philosophy, lib. v. cap. 7. See also Towerson, On the Fourth Commandment, P. 2. p. 181. " Deni- qiie nulla aliA diving, quaeque conscientiam liget, lege nos te- neri temperari e^ die ab operibus servilibus, nisi quatenus ilia nos avocare possunt ab exhibendo publico Numini, qui illi debe- tur, cultu." Capellus, Diss, de Sab. p. 304. •' Kev. i. 10. SECT. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 281 been meant, the command would have been to keep A sabbath on the seventh day ; but the law enjoining to keep the seventh day holy, desig- nates the whole, and not a part. Nor is there any hint in the sacred writings from which it can be gathered, that the Almighty will be satisfied with the separation of less than a seventh part of our time to his service ; while, on the contrary, the law, both according to the letter and the spirit of it, demands the appropriation of so much time as constitutes an entire day. Assuming the contrary, and maintaining that a cessation from labour on the first day of the week is not enjoined in the Christian Scriptures, Dr. Paley endeavours to prove that such a reserve was necessary in the primitive condition of Chris- tianity. '' During Christ's personal ministry," says he, " his religion was preached to the Jews alone. They already had a sabbath, which, as citizens and subjects of that economy, they were obliged to keep, and did keep. It was not, therefore, probable that Christ would enjoin another day of rest in conjunction with this. When the new religion came forth into the Gentile world, con- verts to it were, for the most part, made from those classes of society who have not their time and labour at their own disposal ; and it was scarcely to be expected^ that unbelieving masters and magistrates, and they who directed the em- 282 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. ployment of others, would permit their slaves and labourers to rest from their work every se- venth day; or that civil government, indeed, would have submitted to the loss of the seventh part of the public industry, and that too in addition to the numerous festivals which the national reli- gion indulged to the people ; at least, this would have been an incumbrance which might have greatly retarded the reception of Christianity in the world. In reality, the institution of a weekly sabbath is so connected with the functions of civil life, and requires so much of the concur- rence of civil law, in its regulation and support, that it cannot, perhaps, properly be made the ordinance of any religion, till that religion be re- ceived as the religion of the state." This reasoning, however specious, is altogether hypothetical ; and of all arguments those are the most fallacious which reason upon the divine pro- ceedings from our notions of fitness and propriety. But allowing Christ and his apostles in the sabba- tical appointment to have acted in some respects in accommodation to the primitive state of the gos- pel, a point which I feel no disposition to dispute, it does not seem fair to draw from it the conclusion which Dr. Paley labours to establish. If, in con- formity with the then situation of the world, they maintained a reserve with respect to this institu- tion, is it justifiable to infer from this circum- SECT. II.]] the: christian sabbath. 283 stance, that they did not mtend it to consist of an entire day? It would be more just to infer the contrary ; for, if they did not speak out plainly, this silence implies that the whole truth could not, from prudential considerations, be then delivered ; for which reason, if, as Dr. Paley sup- poses, they really used a reserve in the institution of the sabbath, it imports that there was some- thing more than they chose at that time to com- municate. They must have intended to establish either the whole of the seventh day, or a part of it, for the Christian sabbath. If they had de- signed the latter, they might, according to Dr. Paley 's argument, have done so with propriety; and their not doing so, is presumptive evidence that such was not their design : but if they in- tended to enjoin the consecration of the whole day, some caution in announcing it might be re- quisite, considering the prejudices both of Jews and Pagans in that age. The reasoning, then, of Dr. Paley in the above passage, whatever weight it may possess, ought in reality to be placed in the opposite scale to that for which it was meant. It is, likewise, undeniably plain that Christ and the apostles did sanction the dedication of a weekly day to religion ; and as they did not, at the same time, either expressly or indirectly, limit it to any given portion of that period, they meant, we may fairly presume, an entire day. Combin- 284 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. IV. incr this with the reasons before adduced for be- lieving this to be the actual fact, it would be un- reasonable to doubt that we are bound to devote one whole day in the week to the observance of the Christian sabbath. But clearly as this seems to be established, the mode of computing the day is left altogether indefinite. This, like other matters, respecting which no explicit directions are recorded in the sacred writings, must be left to the determination of every national church. As neither the epoch from which the hebdomadal rotation is to be counted, nor the mode of computing the diurnal divisions of it, are declared, they must be re- garded as subjects upon which the word of God lays no stress ; and therefore to be reckoned by all nations according to their customary methods of measuring time. To debate fiercely about the sabbath's beginning and ending, is to contend about that which is of little consequence, and upon which we have no adequate scriptural data for a decision'. Ptemembering that the sacred oracles were not given to satisfy the scruples of those who are inclined to cavil, but to supply * The various opinions as to the time of beginning and ending the holy rest of the sabbath, are discussed, in a curious and amusing manner, by Shepard, Theses Sahhatlece, P. 3. See also Ironside, Seven Questions of the Sabbath, cap. xiv — xvi. ; Chafie, Tract on the Fourth Commandment, cap. i — viii. SECT. nO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 285 general directions to the conscience, we should, in all cases of such a description, exercise a dis- creet sobriety and forbearance. We ought to accept with all thankfulness the light, whether it be little or much, which the Almighty has been pleased to communicate on points affecting the moral conduct of man, without presuming to dictate authoritatively where it shines with less than its wonted splendour. Having now arrived at the end of our investi- gation of the sabbath under the Christian dispen- sation, it may be well to pause awhile, and to recall to our recollection the evidence which has been produced for the appropriation of a weekly day to the service of our God. It is surprising how it can be asserted, in opposition to testimony so ample and overpowering, that, under the gos- pel economy, every day is alike, and that, in this period of religious liberty, we are bound to the observance of no times or seasons. For the refu- tation of so dangerous an error, a body of evi- dence has been reviewed, which those may con- temn who, in the littleness of human vanity, idol- ize human reason, but which it will ill become the devout believer in the gospel to scorn or reject. The original command of the sabbath has been shewn to be coeval with the world, which com- mand having never been annulled by the same divine authority by which it was imposed, must 1 286 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. IV. still remain in force, for Deity alone can abrogate the laws of Deity. It has been proved that, although incorporated into the Levitical code, it was even then remarkably distinguished from all the transitory ordinances of Judaism ; that it is shewn, as well by express declarations of the Hebrew writers as by other circumstances, to have been intended to survive the extinction of the Mosaic polity ; and that there is no direct or indirect abrogation of it in the Christian records, as might reasonably be expected, had its abolition been the original design. The moral law, from its eternal and immutable nature, must for ever demand obedience ; and the sabbatical law, if not wholly moral, has in it so much of morality, and is so clearly founded on a natural dictate, that it must remain for ever binding upon responsible beings. If an abstract argument of this kind fail of effect, yet the prominent rank it holds in the Decalogue, which has been demonstrated to continue in force upon all who reverence the authority of Christ, is enough to stamp it with the character of sacredness. Our blessed Saviour, in his discourses with the Jews on the subject of the sabbath, is so far from giving any intimation of its repeal, that he reasons in such a man- ner as necessarily supposes its permanency ; and by explaining its real end and object, virtually sanctions its continuance. The apostles, in con- SECT. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 287 formity with the principles of their revered mas- ter, separated one day in the week to holy pur- poses; and, as in all that regarded the govern- ment of the church, they were under the guidance of the Spirit, their practice must be allowed to be the best comment upon the sabbatical duties under the Christian covenant. Not only did they and their immediate followers uniformly observe a septenary festival, but they, in different parts of their writings, let fall some expressions which infer its perpetual obligation. It has been fur- ther evinced that the scriptural requirements in relation to the sabbath, only go so far as to de- mand A SEVENTH PORTION OF OUR TIME for the service of God; but that, for several reasons, there is a peculiar fitness and propriety in celebrating the Christian sabbath on the first day of the week, consisting of an intire natural day ; not necessarily to be counted in regular succes- sion from the actual time of our Lord's resurrec- tion, for in that case it could not be observed in some parts of the globe ; but to be reckoned ac- cording to the customary mode of counting the division of time in every church. These testimonies, viewed in their combination, constitute an accumulated, and, it may be fear- lessly avowed, an irrefragable bulwark, in support of the universal and permanent obligation of a weekly festival. But satisfactory as this evidence 288 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. {[[CHAr. IV. must be deemed, it is not the whole which may be brought forward. It is corroborated by the attestation of the ancient Christian church, an attestation of vast importance, inasmuch as it confirms our interpretation of the sacred Scrip- tures in reference to the sabbatical institution, and as it shews the general belief of the faithful in the purest ages of the church on a subject on which believers could scarcely be mistaken, and during a period while inspired teachers, and those who had been taught by them, guided and directed the principles and practice of such as had been converted from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God. This, therefore, shall be the next object of inquiry. CHAPTER V. The Testimony of the Primitive Christian Church to the Sabbatical Institution. While prosecuting the inquiry which forms the subject of this chapter, I have often been com- pelled to lament the want of a more extensive library. Many are the valuable works which I wished, but in vain, to examine; some I have been able to consult only casually or in haste ; and of others I could only obtain imperfect and inferior editions. Under these circumstances, the following investigation is not so complete as it might have been, if I had been so fortunately situated as to have access to the splendid acade- mical or metropolitan repositories of ancient and modern literature. Grateful, however, for the literary stores, though limited, in my own pos- session, I have carefully ransacked the treasures they contain ; and, without further apology, sub- mit the result to the reader's consideration, con- scious of its manifold defects, yet, at the same u 290 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. time, assured that, under existing circumstances, I had not the power to accomplish more. Common as it is, in the superficial, though wide- spread learning of the age, to despise the authority of the primitive Christian church, those who think more, and have drank more deeply of the wells of literature, regard her de- cisions as of great weight on all points connected with our religion. The Anglican church does not, like that of Rome, receive them with a blind veneration ; but she ever pays a respectful defer- ence to the voice of Christian antiquity. The ancient fathers were not always accurate in rea- soning, nor invariably sober in judgment, and, generally speaking, were but little skilled in cri- tical and philological researches ; but they were eminently pious, unquestionably men of inte- grity ; a character which renders them unexcep- tionable witnesses to the primitive faith. Those who flourished in the earlier ages, when the stream of traditionary faith was still flowing pure and undefiled, must have known what were the doc- trine and practice of the apostles ; and, as they appear to have been actuated by a sacred attach- ment to their religion, and a conscientious regard to truth and virtue, they must be considered as faithful interpreters of the general belief; a be- lief which could scarcely have been corrupted so near its source. On the subject under investiga- CHAP. V.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 291 tion, it was impossible for them to be mistaken, as they could not be ignorant whether the obser- vance of the sabbatical institution obtained from the time of the apostles; and, if it prevailed among all the converts of the gospel from that early period, the inference is incontrovertible, that it must have been by divine and apostolic appointment ^ • The authority of the ancient fathers is often too little re- garded by Protestants : it is invariably contemned by those whose ignorance or indolence prevents the perusal of their volu- minous works ; and it has been virulently assailed by Daille, Whitby, Barbeyrac, Rosenmiiller, and others ; but there have not been wanting writers of great judgment and profound eru- dition, who have stood up in its defence. Much valuable mat- ter relating to the fathers may be found in Bishop Van Mildert, Bampt. Led. p. 112 ; Simpson, Plea for the Divinity of Christy P. 8, sect. 1 ; Kett, Bampt. Led. ; Jahn, Encheirid. Hermeneut. §. 32 ; Ernesti, Instit. Interpretis Nov. Test. P. 3. cap. v. ; Croft, Bampt. Led. ; Sherlock, Present State of the Soc. Con- trov. cap. ii. sect. 2. ; Berriman, Lady Moyer's Serm. I. ; Wa- terland, Import, of the Trin. cap. vii. ; Gerard, Bibl. Inst. P. 1, §. 1 ; Ibott, Boyle's Lect. 2d course, serm. 4. ; Hey, Lect. in Divinity, vol. i. p. 105 ; Heber, Bampt. Lect. 2, p. 72, et seq. ; Cave, Lives and Hist. Lit. ; Bevercge, Codex Canon. Procem. ; Reeves, Pref. to the Apol. ; Buddeus, Isagoge, lib. ii. cap. iii. ; Sculte^us, Medulla Theol. Patrum ; Le Clerc, Epist. Crit, et Ecclesiast. Ep. IV. But to enumerate the foreign writers on the fathers, would be useless ; as most of them are mentioned by Walch, Bihliotheca Patristica, in which learned work may be found most full and accurate information on almost every thing relating to the fathers. V2 292 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. In searching the records of antiquity for the evidence bearing upon this question, our attention must be first directed to the celebrated letter of Pliny to the emperor Trajan, written while he presided over Pontus and Bithynia with procon- sular power. " The Christians," says he, " af- firmed the whole of their guilt or error to be, that they were accustomed to assemble together on a stated day before it was light, and to sing hymns to Christ as a God, and to bind them- selves by a solemn oath, not for any wicked pur- pose, but never to commit fraud, theft, or adul- tery, never to break their word, nor to refuse, when called upon, to deliver up any trust ; after which, it was their custom to separate, or to assemble again, to take in common a harmless meal*"." This is evidently a description, though an imper- fect one, of the celebration of the Lord's day, on which the Christians of Bithynia were accus- tomed to hold two distinct meetings, the one before sun-rise for public worship, and the other in the course of the day, when they partook of a repast in common, by which is designated the Agape, or feast of charity, usually in the pri- mitive church accompanying the Sunday's admi- nistration of the communion. Bbhmer labours to prove this " stated day" to be the Jewish sab- •" Lib. X. Epist. 97. See Lardner, Works, vol. iv. p. 11. et seq. * CHAP. Y.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 293 bath ; but his reasons appear to me altogether inadequate; since the services said to be per- formed upon it agree with the Christian Sunday, and no other day '. It is the same to which the heathen in Minutius Fehx refers, when he men- tions that the Christians " came together to a re- past on a solemn day ^" Passing from Pagan to Christian antiquity, the writings of the apostolical fathers, so called be- cause they v/ere co-temporary with the apostles, justly claim the first consideration. These are Clement, Ignatius, Barnabas, Polycarp, and Her- mas, of whom the first three only have any thing applicable to our present purpose. Clement Ro- manus, whom St. Paul calls his " fellow labourer, whose name is in the book of life %" says, that " we are to do all things in order, whatsoever our Lord has commanded us to do. We are to perform our offerings and services at the stated times, for he hath ordered them to be done, not rashly or disorderly, but at certain determinate times and hours \" But what stated and determinate ' Bohmer, Diss, de Stato Christianorum Di£. §. 3. et seq. See ■ Mosheim, De Rebus ante Const. Cent. I. Sect. 47, note (u). " Minutius Felix, Octavius, p. 89, ed, Ouzil. Lug. Bat. 1672. • Phil. iv. 3. ' Ep. ad Corinth. §. 4(k From the circumstances alluded to in the beginning of this chapter, under which many of the author rities in this part of the inquiry were collected, it was impossible 294; THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. times can be so probably meant as the returns of the weekly festival ? Clement is clearly speaking of religious services ^ for which he says there were, even at that early period, appointed seasons ; and it cannot rationally be doubted that the Lord's day was the principal. Ignatius, in one of the shorter and genuine epistles, speaks of " those who, having been brought up under the ancient laws, come to the newness of hope ; no longer observing Sabbaths, but keeping the Lord's day in their lives, (literally, living according to the Lord's day,) on which day our life sprung up through him ''. In the inter- polated epistle it is thus paraphrased : " Let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner. — But next to the Sabbath, let every one who loves Christ keep the Lord's day, his resur- rection day, the queen and empress of all days — in which our life arose, and the victory of death was atchieved by Christ." to cite in all cases, the original texts ; for which reason they are omitted entirely. I hope, however, my translations will be found sufficiently accurate. » See Bishop Fell's notes in edit. Coteler, '' Epist. ad Magnes, § 9. The Greek text is k-aro KvpiaKoy ^(orji' C^vrec, but Cotelerius rejects '(m))v without hesitation. If it should be deemed the true reading, and it yields a good sense, die passage will not serve our purpose ; though Milncr {Church History, cent. 2. cap. i.) thinks it will still be a manifest intima- tion to them to observe the Lord's day. CHAP. V.J THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 295 In the Catholic epistle of Barnabas, it is said, in explanation of Isaiah i. 13, " Behold how he declares. The Sabbaths which are now kept are not acceptable to me ; but those alone which I have made ; when, resting from all things, I shall begin the eighth day, which is the beginning of the other world. Wherefore we observe the eighth day with gladness, on which Jesus rose from the dead, and, having been manifested openly, he ascended into heaven'." The eighth day, it is well known, was a very common appellation, with the ancient Christian writers, for the first day of the week, or Sunday. So much for the first century : in the second we have a decisive testimony to the religious ob- servance of the Lord's day in Justin Martyr, who flourished A. D. 140. *' On the day called sun- day (says he,) there is an assemblage in one place of all who live in the cities or in the country, and the memoirs of the Apostles, or the writings of the Prophets, are read, as the time permits. After this the President in a discourse admonishes and exhorts the people to live suitably to the good things they have heard. Then we all stand up together, and offer up our prayers ; at the con- clusion of which, bread, and wine, and water are brought, and, the President having poured forth ' Epist. § 15. 296 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. V. prayers and thanksgivings according to his ability, the people unanimously declare their assent by saying, Amen. And there is a distribution and participation of the things for which thanks were given, and part is sent by the Deacons to those who are absent. Those who are rich give accord- ing as each hath purposed in his mind, and what is collected is deposited with the President, with which he relieves the orphans and widows, &c." And again, a little afterwards, he adds : " We all assemble together in common on sunday, because it is the first day in which God, having changed darkness and matter, created the world, and on the same day Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead ^." In another place he speaks of the first day of the week, on which our Saviour rose, and calls it " the first of days '." These passages are too clear and decisive to require any comment. Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, who, according to Lardner, flourished about A.D. 170, in a frag- ment preserved by Eusebius, says, " To-day, be- ing the Lord's day, we keep holy ; in which we read the epistle written by you to us, as also the first epistle of Clemens'"." Contemporary with Dionysius was Melito, ^ Justin Martyr, Jpo/. 2. p. 98. D. ed. Colon, 16S6. ' Ibid, Dial, cum Trifpho, p. 260. C. D. "* Routh RcUquiae b'aace, vol. 1, p. 168. CHAP. V.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 297 Bishop of Sardis, in Lydia, who wrote a book on the Lord's day", which, if it had been extant, would, doubtless, have thrown much light upon the subject of our enquiry. Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons, in Gaul, A.D. 178, if we may give credit to the author of the Ques- tions and Answers to the Orthodox, inserted among the works of Justin Martyr, speaks of the Lord's day as observed with peculiar ceremonies by Christians ". And in his Epistle to Pope Victor, relating to the Paschal festival, he says, that the mysteries of our Lord's resurrection should be kept only on the Lord's day f. This rests upon the testimony of Eusebius, the letter itself being lost, with the exception of the fragment preserved by that historian ; and, moreover, it does not ap- pear quite clear whether it be an exact quotation of the words of Irenseus, or Eusebius's statement of the position maintained by Irenaeus ; but in either case it proves the early observance of sunday. The same Father, speaking of the Decalogue, asserts, that " The Lord himself proclaimed the words of the Decalogue to all (mankind), and therefore they remain in force with us, extended and, augmented, but not dissolved, by his advent " Jerome, Z)e V'lrh Illust. cap. xxiv. ; Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xxvi. ; Koutb UeUquioe Sacrce, vol. 1, p. 129. " liespo/is ad Qucest, 15, p. 468. ^ Eusebius Hist. Ecctcs. lib. v. cap. xxiv. 298 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. in the flesh '^ ;" from which it is clear that Irenaeus considered the Sabbath, the law of which holds a conspicuous place in the Decalogue, as obligatory upon Christians. Clemens Alexandrinus, A.D. 194, speaks of the Lord's day as a well-known and customary festi- val ^ Speaking of that part of the Decalogue which we call the 4th commandment, he describes it as " indicating that the world was made by the Almighty, who gave to us the seventh day for rest, on account of the afflictions to which life is subject. For God is never tired, is not subject to passions, neither is he in want of any thing ; but we, who bear about an earthly body, have need of repose ; the seventh day, therefore, is called a rest, a cessation from evils, constituting the chief of days, our rest indeed', &c." Again he says, " He who hath executed the precepts of the gospel, (i. e. he who is a true Christian) keeps the Lord's day when he casts away evil thoughts, and entertains wise and good ones, glorifying the resurrection of the Lord on that day '." TertulUan, about the end of the second century, '■ Irenaeus, Advers. Hceres. lib. iv. cap. xxxi, ed. Grabe. Oxon. 1702. ' Clemens Alexand. Slromat. 5. p. 600. A, ed. Sylburgins, Paris, 1629. • Slrom. G. p. 682. C. D. • Strom. 7. p. 7ti. C. CHAP. V.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 299 affords indubitable evidence of the custom, esta- blished in his time, of observing a weekly festival. In condemning the practices of certaiii Christians, he says, " O superior fidelity of the heathens to- wards their sect, which disclaims the Christian solemnities ! They would not join us in celebrat- ing the Lord's day or the Pentecost, even if they were acquainted with them ; they would be afraid lest they should appear Christians ; but we have no dread lest we should be pronounced heathens"." Answering the charge of the pagans, that Chris- tians worshipped the sun, he declares, " We make Sunday a day of joy, but for a reason very dif- ferent from the worship of the sun \" He also says, that " the notion of the sun being the God of the Christians, has arisen from our praying with our faces to the east, or from our delight in Sunday ^." Likewise, " We deem it wrong to fast " Tertullian, De Idololatria, § 1 i. p. 94. B. ed. Rigalt, Paris. 1C64. " Jpolog.§ 16. p. 16. B. y Ad Nationes, lib. i. § 13. p. 50. A. The custom of pray- ing with their faces towards the east, prevailed early in the Church, as appears from this place of Tertullian, and from many other authorities. (See Clemens Alexandrinus, Strom. 7. p. 724. C. D ; Cyril Hierosol. Apol. p. 327. ed. Milles ; ComtiluL Apostol. lib. ii. cap. Ivii. lib. vii. cap. xxviii. Respons ad Qucest. 118. ap. Justin Martyr ; Basil, De Spirilu Sancto, cap. xxvii ; Au- gustine, De Sermon Dom. lib. ii. cap. v.) Various reasons have been assigned for it : but, however it orie'inated, the custom 300 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. on the Lord's day, or to pray upon our knees ;" and again, in the same Treatise, he makes mention of the Lord's day '. In another place he distin- guishes the Lord's day from the Jewish sahbath " ; and in some passages speaks of " the Lord's day's solemnities'"." In adverting to the interruption of the sacred rites of the Christians by the military, he thus reasons : " But you will say. How shall we assemble? How shall we celebrate the Lord's day's solemnities ? Just as the Apostles did, who were safe by faith, not by bribery. If faith can remove mountains, it may, with much greater ease, the sol- diery." And, after some more observations to the like purpose, he adds, " Lastly,' if you cannot as- semble in the day time, you have the night, which will be illuminated by the light of Christ ^" In his refutation of Marcion, there is an argument, too long to quote, but the scope of which is to shew, that Christ did not design to abrogate the sabbatical law, but to explain and amend it ; and amongst us of turning towards the east at certain parts of our Liturgy, is sanctioned by that of the primitive church. See Turnei", Discourse on the A'postolical Constitutions, cap. ii. ; Bingham, Antiquities, lib. xiii. cap. viii. § 15 ; Wheatley, on the Common Prayer, cap. ii. sect. 2. § 3. ^ De Corona, § 3. p. 102. A. § 11. p. 107. C. » Dc Jejuniis, § 15. p. 553. A. *> DeAnlma, § 9. p. 269. D. De Fuga, § 14. p. 543. B. ' Dc Fuga,h 14. p. 543. B. C. CHAP. V.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 301 in the course of which he asserts that neither Christ nor the Creator have destroyed the sab- bath ** ; that Jesus is called the Lord of the sab- bath, because he maintained it " ut rem suam%" that as the Lord of the sabbath he did not alto- gether abolish it^; and that he did not wholly rescind the sabbath, the law of which he observ- ed, proving by his actions that he did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it ; " for even here he fulfilled the law, whilst he interprets the con- ditions of it, whilst he illustrates the difference of works, whilst he does those things which the law declares to be exceptions on the sabbath holy-days, whilst by his own benefaction he ren- ders still more holy the sabbath day, which was sanctified from the beginning by the benediction of the Father ^" Proceeding to the Christian Fathers of the third century, we find the most unequivocal attes- tation to the consecration of the first day of the week, in the works of the learned, ingenious, and indefatigable Origen, who was born A.D. 184 or 185, and died A.D. 253. In his Treatise against Celsus, he says, " If any one object to our obser- vances of the Lord's day, (Good) Friday, Easter, ^ Advers Marcionem, lib. iv. § 11. p. 423. C. • Ibid, p. 424. B. ' Ibid. ' Ibid. p. 424. C. 302 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [CHAP. V. and Pentecost, it is answered, that a perfect (Christian) who in word, deed, and thought, is ever with his natural Lord, the Word of God, always observes the days sacred to him, and keeps the Lord's days V Commenting upon the six- teenth chapter of Exodus, he says, " I ask, on what day was manna first given from heaven ? and I desire to compare our Lord's day with the Jewish sabbath. From the sacred scriptures it appears that manna was first given on the Lord's day ; for if, as the Scripture says, it was gathered on six successive days, but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, it ceased, without doubt it commenced on the first day, which is the Lord's day. If, therefore, it is clear from the sacred Scriptures that God rained from heaven more manna on the Lord's day, and rained none on the sabbath, let the Jews learn from this, that the Lord's day, which we observe, was even then pre- ferred to the Jewish sabbath ; and that it was then indicated, that on their sabbath no grace of God descended upon them from heaven, no bread of heaven, which is the Word of God, came to them, &c.'" Again, in another place, he observes, " Leaving the Jewish observances of the sabbath, let us see how the sabbath ought to be observed •■ Origin, Contra Celsum. lib. viii. § 2ft, vol. i. p. 758. F. ed. Delarue, Paris. 1733. ' Homil. 7, in Exod, vol. ii. p. 153. F. 1 CHAP. V.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 303 by a Christian. It is by abstaining from all worldly actions and labours. If, therefore, you cease from all secular works, and execute nothing worldly, but give yourselves up to spiritual exercises, repairing to Church, attending to sacred reading and instruction, thinking of celestial things, soli- citous for the future, placing the judgment to come before your eyes, not looking to things pre- sent and visible, but to those which are future and invisible, this is the observance of the Christian sabbath \" Origen does not in this passage ex- pressly mention the first day of the week ; but his contrasting it with the Jewish sabbath, and stating the way in which the sabbath should be kept by believers in the gospel, shew that he is speaking of the Sunday of the Christians. Again, " Since many are now assembled because it is (Good) Friday, which is commemorative of the passion of Christ, pray to God omnipotent that his word may come to us ; and especially (do so) on the Lord's day, for the resurrection of the Lord is not only celebrated once in the year, but every seven days continually '." '' Hbmil. 23 in Numeros, vol. ii. p. 358. D, ' Homil. 5 in Isaiam, vol. iii. p. 114. D. As the passage is perplexed, if not corrupt, I will present it to the reader. " Et quia nunc populi multitude est propter parasceven, et maxime in Dominica die, quae passionis Xti commeraoratrix est (neque 304 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. V. About the year of our Lord, 248, flourished Cyprian, a prelate not more illustrious for his learning, virtues, and episcopal labours, than for the dangers and persecutions to which he was exposed, and the unshaken constancy with which he braved them. He unites in the general suf- frage in favour of a septenary Christian festival. Asserting that the Jewish circumcision, being on the eighth day, contained a mystery fulfilled in Christ, he argues, " Because the eighth day, that is, the first after the sabbath, was to be the day on which our Lord should rise and quicken us, and give us the spiritual circumcision, this eighth day, that is, the first after the sabbath, and the Lord's day, preceded in the image, which image ceased when the truth supervened, and the spiri- tual circumcision was given to us "." This testi- enim resurrectio Domini semel in anno, et non semper post sep- tem dies celebratur) orate Deum omnipotentem, ut veniat ad nos sermo ejus." " Cyprian, ^pis/. 64. p. 161. ed. Fell. Oxon. 1682. Also apud Routh, Reliquice Sacrce, vol. iii. p. 74, et seq. Several of the Fathers give a mystical interpretation to the rite of circum- cision. Thus Justin Martyr says, " The command to circum- cise infants on the eighth day was a type of the true circum- cision, by which we are circumcised from error and wickedness, through Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead on the first day of the week ; therefore it remains the first and chief of all the days. Dial. c. Tryph. p. 260. CHAP. V.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 305 mony is of the greater value, since it is not the testimony of one Father alone, but of many ; for it is taken from a synodical epistle of Cyprian and his colleagues, who were present at the third Car- thaginian council under the episcopate of Cyprian, A.D. 253. The learned men of whom this coun- cil consisted, could not be ignorant of the general practice in the church, and they would not have sanctioned the Lord's day festival by a mystical interpretation of the rite of circumcision, unless they had believed it to be founded on divine authority. Again Cyprian speaks of one Aure- lius, who was ordained a clerk, and " read on the Lord's day " ;" though the original it must be acknowledged, may be rendered " in the church," and not " on the Lord's day." The same doubt applies to another passage, where, speaking of a certain person, he says, " You are rich, and beheve that you celebrate the Lord's dayV' &c. The word used in these two latter passages denotes sometimes the Lord's day, sometimes the church, and sometimes the mysteries of our religion cele- brated on that day in the church, as is remarked by Bishop Fell in his note upon the place last cited. Commodian, who is placed by Lardner about " Epist. 38. p. 75. " Dominico legit." " De Op. el Elecmosijnis, p. 203. " Dominicum celebrare te credis." X 306 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. V. the year 270, mentions the Lord's day p. It is also mentioned by Victorine, Bishop of Pettaw upon the Drave, in Germany, A.D. 290 "^ ; and about the same period by Peter, Bishop of Alex- andria, and Martyr, who says, "We keep the Lord's day as a day of joy, because of him who rose on it ; neither is it the received custom among us to kneel upon that day '." To the Fathers already cited may be added Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, who was born, as is thought, about A.D. 270. He mentions the Lord's day as a festival dedicated to Christ, with- out the slightest hint of its being a recent insti- tution'. He says, " Constantine appointed for prayer that day which is really the first and chief of days, which is truly the Lord's day, and a day of salvation ' ;" and in another place he repeats the same sentiment, in the same words, together with some enlargements ". Again, he eulogizes Constantine for commanding, that, "all should assemble together every week, and keep that which is called the Lord's day as a festival, to P Apud Lardner, Works, vol. 2. p. 73. edit. 4to. *> Apud Routh, Reliquice Sacrce, vol. iii. p. 237. ' Ibid. p. 343. • Eusebius, Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. v. cap. xxiii. ed. Valesius, Paris. 1659. ' De Vita Constantini, lib. iv. cap. xviii. p. 534. B. • De Lmdibus Constantini, cap. ix.p. 628. C. 9 CHAP. V.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 307 refresh their bodies, and to stir up their minds with divine precepts and instruction \" Constantine was born about A.D. 273, and died A.D. 337. He was the first emperor who made public profession of Christianity ; and he pro- mulged several laws for the regular and orderly observance of the Lord's day. By a general enactment he commanded, as Eusebius expresses it, " that those who lived within the Roman em- pire should rest on the day entitled from our Saviour," i. e. the Lord's day^. He likewise ' Ibid. cap. xvii. p. 664. C. The text is kciI avra aiifxara irialyeii', upon which Valesius remarks, *' Scio quidem Christi- anos diebus Dominicis lautius epulari solitos. Verum to Triai- veiv non convenit Christianis. Quare no dubito quin Eusebius scripserit, vat ov tu cw^ara Triaiyeiy." But I see not why Tnalyeif may not be used figuratively in the sense expressed in my version. (See Hederici Lex. ed. 1821.) This is preferable, to altering the text upon conjecture. y De Vita Constantini, lib. iv. cap. xviii. p. 534:. C. Eusebius adds, 6fioi but at all times, which has been supposed irre- concileable with the notion of a sabbath. Thiis, Justin Martyr says, " The new law demands the observance of a perpetual sabbath''." Clemens Alexandrinus says, " We are commanded to wor- ship and honour him whom we believe to be the Word, the Saviour, and Captain, and through him the Father, not on selected days, as some do, but continually through our whole lives, and in every manner. Truly the royal Prophet declares, * Seven times a day have I praised thee,' being justified by the commandment. Hence, he who has knowledge, (yvwatiKo^, i. e. the Christian,) ho- nours God, that is, is grateful for the knowledge of the right way of life, not in one determinate place or chosen temple, nor on certain festivals or appointed days, but throughout his whole life, every place, whether he be alone, or be joined by others of the same faith. — Making our whole life, therefore, a festival, and persuaded that God is every where present, we praise him while labour- ing in the field, we praise him while sailing on the seas ; and in every situation of life we con- duct ourselves the same way V A few pages « Dial, cum Tryph. p. 229. C. [ Stromal. 7. p. 719. C D. 328 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. afterwards he asserts, that " every place is truly sacred, in which we receive the knowledge of God, and every time when we do the same^." We ought to keep the sabbath, says Tertullian, " not only on every seventh day, but at all times, (per omne tempus) ''." Origen says, " Tell me, ye who frequent the church on festival days alone, are not all days festivals ? Are they not all the Lord's ? It belongs to the Jews to observe cer- tain solemn days. Hence God says to them, * Bring no more vain oblations : incense is an abomination unto me ; the new-moons and sab- baths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with : it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new -moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth : they are a trouble unto me : I am weary to bear them'.' God therefore abhors those who believe one day (only) to be the festi- val of the Lord. Christians every day eat the flesh of the Lamb, that is, they daily take of the flesh of the Word of God, (i. e. in the holy sacrament \)" Jerome also declares, "that all days are equal ; that Christ was not only crucified on the friday, and rose again only on the Lord's « Stromal. 7. p. 724, A. ** Adversns Judceos, § 4. p. 18G, D. ' Isa. i. 13, 14. " Homil. 10 in Gen. vol. ii. p. 88, C. Compare Homil. 23 in Numer. § 3, vol. ii. p. 358, E. ; Contra Celsum, lib. viii. § 23. CHAP. VO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 329 day, but that every day is the holy day of his resurrection, and that at all times the Lord's body may be eaten (in the sacrament.) But fasts and assemblies on certain days were constituted by men of prudence, on account of those who are more devoted to the world than to God, and who are neither able nor willing to assemble in the church continually V' These passages, though by far the strongest that I have met with in the ancient Fathers, are by no means hostile to the observance of a Christian sabbath. The context, of which they form a part, plainly shews that they are directed against those who confine their religion to certain times and seasons. In opposition to such, these vene- rable fathers affirm, that we must cherish an abiding sense of religion, that we must not only worship the Creator on certain days, but preserve a continual reverence of him in the mind, and that, by retaining an unceasing, operative princi- ple of piety in the heart, every day may be made, as it were, a Christian festival. In this all sincere Christians will coincide, while they strenuously support the obligation of a weekly holy day. Our faith is not merely to be exhibited at certain times, ' Comment, in Gal, cap. iv. vol. iv. p. 272. Jerome, it is pos- sible, is here stating the allegation of an objector, not his own opinion : but compare Comment, in Isa. cap. Iviii. vol. iii. p. 435. 330 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. and in certain places ; it should become an ever- active principle, pervading the whole heart, and influencing every thought, word, and deed, from its first implantation in the soul, to the termina- tion of life; yet the sabbatical institution is need- ful as well for the culture and advancement of the religious principle, as for offering the incense of public praise and thanksgiving to the Deity. Not only are they reconcileable, but mutually friendly to each other ; the Lord's day does not prevent the daily secret worship, and unceasing veneration of God, nor does this militate against the appropriation of the Lord's day to his more immediate service. If it be culpable to confine our religion to particular seasons, it is equally so to contemn the seasons set apart for its specific cultivation. And this is the doctrine of the fa- thers : while they hold the necessity of keeping the seventh day holy, they constantly declare that our religion must not be limited to that portion of time, but that every day should be sanctified by those sentiments, dispositions, and devout habits which are required by the Christian pro- fession. Again, it is frequently asserted by the fathers, that the sabbath is an institution peculiar to the Jews ; that it was to be abolished ; and that its observance is unnecessary under the Christian Jaw of liberty. Justin Martyr says : " We should CHAP. V.^ TH£ CHRISTIAN SABBAtH. 331 have kept the circumcision in the flesh, the sab- baths, and all the festivals, unless we had known for what cause they were commanded you, (i. e. the Jews,) namely, for your iniquity and hardness of heart ■"." And he proceeds to argue that these ordinances were necessary to the Jews, but not now to Christians. Speaking of the Levitical rites, he declares them unnecessary to salvation ; ** For, (says he,) unless we confess this, we shall fall into the absurd notion, that the God of the Jews was not the God of Enoch, and others in those times, who were not circumcised, nor kept the Sabbath, nor the rest of the Mosaic institu- tions"." Again, "for if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, nor of the obser- vation of the sabbath, nor of festivals, nor of offerings before Moses, neither is there now need of them after Jesus Christ the Son of God was born, according to the counsel of God, without sin, of a virgin, of the race of Abraham"." " The Gentiles who believe in Christ, and repent of their sins, shall inherit together with the patriarchs, and prophets, and righteous persons descended from Jacob : although they neither observe the sabbath, nor are circumcised, nor keep the festivals, they shall obtain the holy inheritance of '" Dial, cum Tryph. p. 235, E. " Ibid. p. 240. E. " Ibid. p. 241. B. 332 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. V. God '." Irenaeus asserts that the keeping of the Sabbath, and other Mosaic ordinances, cannot justify a man '' ; and Tertullian argues that the Sabbath was not an eternal and spiritual institu- tion, but a temporary one'. Origen likewise reasons upon the assumption that the sabbath was no longer obligatory after the coming of Christ ' ; and similar sentiments are proclaimed by most of the ancient fathers, to some of whom, as it would be tedious to cite them, I refer in the margin '. But all the declarations of this kind, it is to be observed, have reference to the Jewish sabbath, P Dial, cum Tryph. p. 243. C. •^ Advers. Hceres, lib. iv. cap. xxx. "^ Advers. Judceos, § 4. p. 186, 187. Also ibid. § 6. p. 188 ; and De Idololatria, § 14. p. 94, A. Compare Advers. Marci- onem, lib. iv. § 11 — 13. ' Homil. 7 in Exod. § 5. p. 154. ; Homil. 10 in Gen. § 3. p. 88. ; Homil. 23 inNumer. § 4. p. 358. ' Athanasius, De Sabbato, (if it be his,) written to shew the abrogation of the Sabbath ; Eusebius, Hist. Ecclcs. lib. i. cap, iv. ; Ambrose, Epist. 39 and 72, in torn. ii. ; in Lucam, cap. iii. tom. iv. ct al. ; Epiphanius, lib. i. Hceres. 30 and 66 ; Jerome, Pre/at. in Gal. Comment, in Ezek. cap. xliv. ; Augustine, De Spirit et Lit. ad Marcel, cap. xiv. and often in other places ; Basil, Epist. 74 ; Cyril Hierosol. Catechesis 4, p. 68 ; Socrates, Hist. Eccles, lib. v. cap. xxi. ; Macarius, Homil. 35 ; Gregory Nyssen, Orat. 1 de Resurrect. ; Theodoret, Comment, in Ezek. cap. XX. et in Gal. cap. iv. ; Victorine, De Fabrica Cocli, apud Routh, Rcliq. Sac. vol. iii. p. 237. CHAP. V.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 333 and they only amount to this, that so far as the sabbath was a Levitical institution, it is no longer binding upon Christians ; a position to which the most strenuous advocates of the Christian weekly festival will instantly and cheerfully accede. The truth of this observation is demonstrated, first, by the concurring attestation of the fathers to the obligation of a septenary festival under the Gospel ; and, secondly, by their contrasting, in many of the passages referred to, the Jewish fes- tival on the seventh day, with the Christian festi- val on the first, or, as they frequently call it, the eighth day of the week. These circumstances clearly prove that these learned and venerable men, in speaking of the abolition of the sabbath, refer solely to it as it constituted a part of the Mosaic dispensation. They would not palpably contradict themselves ; and, as they asserted the duty of consecrating a weekly day to religion, they must, when mentioning the abrogation of the sabbath, have meant that the Levitical ordi- nance of the sabbath was no longer in force. This might be further confirmed by certain ex- pressions and circumstances in the passages ap- pealed to ; but a more particular examination may be waved, as the general observations just now made are applicable to them all, and at the same time completely rebut the force of the objection. 334 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. In speaking of the hebdomadal festival under the Christian law, it is not the usual language of the Fathers to call it the sabbath, but the Lord's day, or the first, and sometimes the eighth day of the week. They seem desirous, by the distinc- tion of the names, to preserve the distinction between the two festivals. In numbering the days of the septenary cycle, they call Saturday the sabbath, and Sunday, generally, the Lord's day, by which they designated the day which was consecrated to his service from the apostolic age. By the sabbath they signified the Mosaic institution, which, it is acknowledged, is abolished by Christ. Sometimes, indeed, they used the appellation " sabbath," to denote the spiritual and mystical sabbath, typified by the Levitical sab- bath, and which was most commonly regarded by them as a representation of the heavenly rest of the redeemed ; though occasionally they treat it as adumbrative of the spiritual blessings under the reign of the Messiah. But they were careful not to confound the different appellations, which is another strong argument, that, whenever they speak disparagingly of the sabbath, they did it in reference to the Jewish ordinance of keeping the seventh day holy. It may be objected to the testimony derived from the concurrence of antiquity, that, in the early ages of Christianity, the last day of the CHAP. \.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 3S5 week, or Saturday, was observed as a sabbath, together with the first day of the week, or sun- day ; and by consequence the authority of the primitive church cannot be pleaded in favour of the one more than of the other. This objection is the more imposing, as it confessedly has some foundation in truth". Next to the Lord's day some of the ancient Christians were careful to observe the seventh day, which was the Jewish sabbath ; and in many parts, particularly in the East, honoured it with the public services of reli- gion. This custom is accounted for by the learned Dr. Cave, from the circumstance : " The Gospel in those parts mainly prevailing amongst the Jews, they being generally the first converts to the Christian faith, they still maintained a mighty reverence for the Mosaic institutions, and especially for the sabbath, as that which had been appointed by God himself, (as the memorial of his rest from the work of creation,) settled by their great master Moses, and celebrated by their ancestors for so many ages, as the solemn day of " Cave, Primitive Christianity ^ P. 1 . cap. vii. ; Bingham, Antiquities of the Christian Church, lib. xx. cap. iii. ; Heylyn, History of the Sabbath, P. 2. cap. it. ; Lardner, Credibility, cap. Ixxxv. ; Curcellaeus, De Esu Sanguinis, cap. vi. ; Albas- pinaeus, Observat. de Vet. Eccles. Ritibus, lib. i. cap. xiii. See also Bohmer, Diss, de Stato Christianorum Die. ; and the Eccle- siastical historians. 336 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. their public worship, and were therefore very loth that it should be wholly antiquated and laid aside. For this reason it seemed good to the prudence of those times, (as in others of the Jewish rites, so in this,) to indulge the humour of that people, and to keep the Sabbath as a day for religious offices." This valuable writer, and others named in the margin, further assert, that in the Oriental church the seventh day was kept as a festival, but in the Roman, and some of the Latin churches, as a fast ; yet that in both it was singled out as a day for religious solemnization. This, it is acknowledged, appears to cast a shade of doubt over the evidence of the ancient church. It does not, it is true, in the least shake the fact that the first day of the week was ob- served as a sacred festival by the primitive Chris- tians ; but if they likewise observed the seventh day, it cannot be inferred from their practice, whether one or both of these days were appoint- ed by the immediate disciples of Christ. If, moreover, they were so far mistaken as to keep two days holy, for which there is no authority in the sacred Scriptures, they can scarcely be credi- ble witnesses to the apostolical doctrine and practice. Such is the unavoidable inference, sup- posing that Saturday and Sunday were observed as festivals universally in the ancient church ; and it must be allowed to be more formidable than 4 CHAP. V.]3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 337 any of the objections before noticed ; but the following observations, it is hoped, will shew that although it has some foundation in truth, it is not true to the extent sufficient to warrant the conclusion. In the first place, the religious observance of the seventh day does not appear to have obtained in the earliest and purest ages of the Christian church. No countenance is given to it by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, TertuUian, Origen, Cyprian, or in the writings of any of the ante-Nicene Fa- thers ; nor do I find any satisfactory evidence of its having prevailed in the second century, or, to any considerable extent, in the third. It is, in- deed mentioned in a passage already cited from the large Epistles of Ignatius " ; but though the opposition there noted between the Christian and Jewish modes of keeping the sabbath may seem to lead to a contrary conclusion ; I think the fair interpretation does not sanction the observance of the seventh day. These epistles, however, are generally reckoned to be interpolated, while in the shorter and more genuine epistles nothing of the kind occurs. The apostolical constitu- tions ordain that Christians should assemble for public worship on the sabbath,^ and on the Lord's day, on which Christ arose from the dead ; that * See ante. p. 323. Z 338 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. V, these two days should be kept as festivals ; that every sabbath in the year, except one, should be kept, not as a fast, but with joy and gladness ; and that servants should cease from labour, and resort to the church on that day ^ But the au- thority of the constitutions in regard to the cus- toms of the first three centuries, is extremely small, as they are clearly pseudepigraphal, forged, as is most probable, in the latter part of the fourth, or the beginning of the fifth century ^. The principal writers in the post-Nicene ages, to whom appeal has been made in proof of the ancient practice of keeping the seventh day sab- bath, are Athanasius, Epiphanius, Basil, Cassian, Socrates, Sozomen, the council of Laodicea, and Theodore Balsamon. Of these the first declares, that " They met on the sabbath, not because they were infected with Judaism, for they regarded not false sabbaths, but to worship Jesus the Lord of the sabbath." Though here is an acknow- ' Constitut. Apostol. lib. ii. cap. lix. ; lib. v. cap. xv. xx. ; lib. vii. cap. xxiii. xxxvi. : lib. viii. cap. xxxiii. * Turner, Discourse on the 'pretended Apostolical Constitutions ; 8 vo. London, 1715; Dalaeus, De Pseudepigraphis Apostolicis, 12mo. Hardevic, 1653 ; Lardner, Credibility , cap. Ixxxv. ; Co- telerius, Judicium de Const. Apostol. ; Le Clerc, Diss, de Con- stit. Apostol. in ed Patrum Apost. ; Jortin, Discourses on the Christian Religion, Disc. 6 ; and, Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, Vol. i. CHAP. V.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 339 ledgment of religious assemblies on the sabbath day, yet the expressions themselves imply, that Athanasius did not consider it to be binding upon Christians; which is further confirmed by his immediately adding, — " With the ancients the sabbath was held in estimation, but the Lord hath transferred the sabbath day into the Lord's day. We do not derogate from the sabbath by our own authority ; it is the prophet who hath rejected it, Isa. i. 13, &:c.'"' Epiphanius merely states that, " In some places religious assemblies were held on the sabbath days ;" but as to how far the cus- tom prevailed, and when it took its rise, he is altogether silent ''. Basil only says that the Satur- day was one of the days on which, in his time, the communion was administered ; and Cassian, as cited by Bingham, is not free from ambiguity ^ The ecclesiastical historians, Socrates and Sozo- men, supply more important testimonies. The former says, "The churches throughout the world celebrated the mysteries (i. e. the commu- nion) every week, on the sabbath day, except those in Alexandria and Rome, which, following their ancient traditions, did not adopt that cus- ^ Homil. de Semente, vol. ii. p. 60, A. It is very doubtful whether this be the work of Athanasius. '' Epiphanius, Epitom. vol. ii. p. 1107, C. ' Basil, Efist. 289 ; Cassian apud Bingham, Antiquities, lib. xiii. cap. ix. § 3. z 2 340 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CIIAP. V. torn ;" and in another place, speaking of the churches of Constantinople in the time of Chry- sostom, he mentions the sabbath and the Lord's day, as the two weekly festivals, on which they always held religious assemblies'*. Sozomen, about the same time, says, " The Christians as- sembled on the sabbath, in like manner as on the first day of the week, in Constantinople, and almost every where, except in Rome and Alexan- dria \" The Council of Laodicea certainly ac- knowledges both days as festivals ; and Balsamon, as quoted by Curcellaeus, says, that " by the holy Fathers the sabbaths are almost equalled with the Lord's days ^" Some other testimonies have been brought forward ^ but these are the principal ; and it is obvious to remark that the authors, in speaking of the consecration of the seventh day, refer solely to the practice of their own times, when, it is con- fessed, it was in some places kept as a religious * Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. cap. xxii. ; lib. vi. cap. viii. • Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. xix. ' Concil. Laod. Canon 16, 49, 51 ; Balsamon apud Curcel- laeus, De Esu Sang. cap. vi. p. 959. ^ As for instance, Gregory Nyssen, Asterius, Anastasius, Ni- caenus, Augustine, Timothy of Alexandria, Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xviii. (See Bingham and Curcellaeus.) The passage in Eusebius has been noticed in a former part of this chapter. See ante, p. 307. CHAP. V.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 341 festival by the Christians. But this practice was confined within narrow limits, as appears from the citations in the preceding paragraph. Epiphanius says that it prevailed only ** in some places ;" and both Socrates and Sozomen expressly exempt the chm-ches in Rome and Alexandria. More an- ciently, as is evident from Pliny's letter to Trajan, the churches in Bithynia had only one stated day for the celebration of public worship. If, then, the sabbath was not observed, along with the Lord's day, by the churches in the province of Bithynia, and in the patriarchates of Rome and Alexandria, this will include a large proportion of the then Christian world. If the historians' meaning be limited to the cities of Rome and Alexandria, for which, however, there is no just reason, it implies, at all events, considerable ex- ceptions to the universality of the custom. From the representations of Cave, and Bingham, and Curcellseus, and Albaspinaeus, one might suppose the practice to have been every where adopted ; whereas the very references alleged prove the contrary. So far, then, from being an universal practice, it must have been partial ; and the au- thorities cited, as well as the very general silence of the Latin Fathers, lead us to believe that it prevailed chiefly in the eastern parts of the Ro- man empire. It is also observable, that none of the writers 342 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. who have adverted to this custom, give us any reason for believing that it had existed for any great length of time. They say not a word as to its antiquity, and the way in which they men- tion it leads us to suppose that it grew up by degrees. It probably was adopted in the very earliest ages of Christianity, by certain churches in accommodation to the prejudices of the Jews ; and the truth seems to be, as stated by Mosheim, that ''the seventh day of the week was observed as a festival, not by the Christians in general, but by such churches only as were principally com- posed of Jewish converts, nor did the other Chris- tians censure this conduct as criminal and unlaw- ful '." Such a compliance with existing sentiments and feelings, has been approved by many in a more recent age, as by Curcell8eus,who thinks that Christians of later times would have acted more wisely if they had retained the Sabbath, together with the Lord's day, in order to conciliate the Jews ; not that it would be well now to resort to it, as such a proceeding w ould create confusion in the church, but that it would have been better not to have alienated the Hebrew people by its abrogation. The custom, however, of keeping both days, rose up by degrees, adopted in differ- ent places, as circumstances rendered it expedient ; " Ecclesiastical History, Cent. I. P. 2. cap. iv. § 4. Mac- hine's Translation. CHAP. V.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 343 and there is no evidence to prove that it was ge- neral in any period, or that it ever prevailed to any great extent in the Christian world '. ' I beg leave to strengthen these remarks by the authority of a few writers distinguished for their accurate acquaintance with ecclesiastical antiquities. " Consuetude (i. e. Sabbati observa- tio) interim ista per aliquod temporis spatium in Ecclesia, prae- sertim orientali, permansit, ut sabbatho quoque aliquid solemni- tatis tribueretur." (Buddeus, Ecclesia ApostoUca, cap. vii. p. 818.) " In quibusdam regionibus, sacra etiam erat dies Sabbati, vel. Feria VII. initio quidem, ut videtur, in gratiam Judae- orum, et cum his sanctificata, nunc jam vero in memoriam sepul- turac Christi concelebrata." (Jablonski, Instit. Hist. Christiance. Seoul. 2. cap. i. § 8.) " Scimus certe, praeter diem dominicum, etiam Sabbatum quibusdam festum fuisse ;" and again, "Die primo hebdomadis omnes, alii praeterea septimo, quidam et quarto, (quia illo Christus in ostium potestatem traditus fuit) et sexto, (quo in cruce mortuus,) solebant sacris operari." (Sem- ler. Hist. Eccles. Selecta Capita, Secul. 2. cap. iii. ; Commentarii de Antiq. Christianorum Statu. Secvl. 2. § 47.) "It does not appear that the practice mentioned by Socrates and Sozomen of assembling on the Sabbath, obtained in the early days of Chris- tianity. Nor was it universal in their time, as it would have been, in all probabihty, if it had been of Apostolical appoint- ment." (Lardner, Credibility, cap. Ixxxv. vol. ii. p. 433, edit. 4to.) Mosheim, besides the passage cited above, says, in refer- ence to the second century, " Their meetings were on the first day of the week, and in some places, they assembled also on the seventh, which was celebrated by the Jews." (Hist. Cent. II. P. 2. cap. iv. § 8.) Milner, in his History of the Church of Christ, does not advert to this subject ; but if he had, his work is perhaps too partial and too superficial to be appealed to on questions of Christian archaeology. Petavius, in reference to 344 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. In the second place, those churches which adopted the practice of keeping both days, mani- fested, by the rites and ceremonies used, a prefe- rence of the Lord's day above the sabbath. For, as the indefatigable Bingham states, "first, we find no ecclesiastical laws obliging men to pray standing on the sabbath. For that was a cere- mony peculiar to the Lord's day, in memory of our Saviour's resurrection. Nor, secondly, are there any imperial laws forbidding law-suits and pleadings on this day. Nor, thirdly, any laws prohibiting the public shows and games, as on the Lord's day. '^ or, fourthly, any laws obliging men to abstain wholly from bodily labour ''." All these circumstances clearly shew that they did not consider the sabbath as equally sacred with the Sunday. With some of the primitive Chris- tians it was usual to distinguish the Wednesday and friday in each week by religious observances ' ; but, though they deemed it expedient to assemble Sozomen's account of the Saturday sabbath, says, " Ita non Orientis modo, sed totius orbis consuetudinem fuisse scribit ; quod ego verum non arbitror. Fuit enim Orientis fere solius." {Animadvers. in Epiphan. vol. ii. p. 353.) "^ Antiquities, lib. xx. cap. iii. $ 3. ' Bingham, Antiquities, lib. xiii. cap. ix. § 2. ; Mosheim, Ec' cles. History, Cent. II. P. 2. cap. iv. § 8. ; Jablonskl and Sem- ber, as cited in the preceding note ; Beveridge, Cod. canon, vind, ct lUustral. lib. iii. cap. x. CHAP. V.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 345 for religious offices on these days, they never regarded them as of divine appointment, like the first day of the week. In the same light they regarded the Saturday; for, while they thought it expedient, particularly in compliance with Jew- ish prejudices, to assemble on it for sacred pur- poses, they in other respects held it as the rest of the working days, abstaining from their worldly callings only as far as was necessary for attend- ance on divine service in the church. Lastli/, The believers who kept the seventh day of the week as a festival, while they did it partly in deference to the Jewish converts, nevertheless observed it, not in a Jewish, but a Christian way. The author of the interpolated Epistles of Igna- tius says, that the sabbath was not to be kept after a Jewish manner " ; Athanasius declares that they met on the sabbath not with a view to Judaize, but to worship Jesus, the Lord of the sabbath". The Council of Laodicea, A.D. 361, anathematizes those who taught the necessity of keeping the sabbath as a day of entire rest with the Jews ° ; and the Ebionites and other heretics were condemned for joining the observation of the jsabbath, according to the law of the Jews, •" Epist. ad Magnes. § 9. " Hom'il. de Semente, vol. ii. p. 60. A. " Canon, xxix. 346 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. V. with the observation of the Lord's day ^ The learned doctors of those ages knew well, and con- stantly held, that the Jewish sabbath was abro- gated ; and those who devoted it to religious purposes, like those who kept the Wednesday and friday, never considered it as a divine insti- tution, binding upon Christians. No contradic- tion, therefore, exists between the doctrine and practice of the primitive believers, between their observance of the seventh day of the week, and their openly professed conviction that our Saviour has abolished all the Jewish holy days. Though in some places they kept the sabbath with a cer- tain degree of sacredness, they never considered it a point of doctrinal" necessity, while they reso- lutely opposed every thing which they deemed to be Judaizing. They uniformly gave a preference to the Lord's day, which they regarded as the sole weekly festival obligatory by the Christian law. The observation of the seventh day they vindi- cated from motives of expediency, but held the sanctification of Sunday to be a religious obli- gation. From these remarks it is clear that the custom of keeping the seventh day of the week as a festi- val, though it probably took its rise in the earliest P Eusebiiis, Hist. Eccks. lib. iii. cap. xxvii. ; Nicephorus, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. xiii. ; Epiphanius, Hoeres. ZO. CHAP, v.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 347 ages of Christianity, was but partially received till some centuries afterwards ; that so far from being universal, it prevailed chiefly in the eastern empire ; and that where it was adopted, it was from such motives, and was attended with such rites and ceremonies, as designated it to be, in their estimation, of subordinate authority to the sacredness of the Lord's day. This was regarded as a divine and apostolical institution, while the former was an ordinance of some particular churches, partly out of deference to the opinions of the Jewish converts, and partly from that proneness to ritual observances and superstitious practices with which the faith of Christ was but too soon encumbered. A pharisaic and puritan- ical spirit was early in operation, a spirit which represented useless rigour and austerity as virtue, which presumed to win the favour of the Deity by observances and practices unauthorized in his revealed Word, and which has, more or less, in all ages of the church, produced '' hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife," a stern, forbidding temper within, and an uncharitable disposition towards others, to the great and lamentable per- version of the pure religion of Jesus. To this spirit is mainly attributable that multiplication of fasts and festivals, of mortifications and penan- ces, of rites and ceremonies, of the long train of inventions by which bigotry and enthusiasm have 348 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CKAP. V. in all periods essayed to climb into heaven. The observance of the Saturday sabbath by Christians, originated, no doubt, in prudential motives ; but as little doubt can there be, that at length it par- ticipated of the pharisaic and self-righteous spirit which aims at salvation by a road different from that pointed out in the sacred writings. Be this as it may, the practice of which I am speaking does not lessen the authority of the pri- mitive church in favour of the septenary festival. Neither is that authority at all diminished by any of the objections which have now been examined ; and hence we may rest, without any hesitation, in the inference that the consecration of one day in the week is sanctioned by the practice of the church in uninterrupted continuance from the time of the apostles. Highly valuable is this attestation, since it goes far to prove the sacred appointment of the Lord's day ; for to what other origin can so universal a practice be ascribed ? Reason demands the dedi- cation of some portion of our time to God ; with believers in revelation a seventh part may be pe- culiarly proper, as commemorative of the crea- tion of the universe ; yet, as the adoption of one particular day in the week is no natural dictate, it is most reasonable to refer it to some positive injunction, human or divine. Those who assert that all distinction of days is abolished under the CHAP. V.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. M9 gospel, of course consider the Lord's day as a mere ecclesiastical institution, resting on the au- thority of the church, not on any precept of Christ or his apostles. But this position is wholly subverted by several of the testimonies before adduced, which declare that our Lord sanctified the first day of the week by his resurrection, and that it was appointed a festival by the primitive teachers of Christianity. This is an indisputable fact; and it evinces, that in the judgment of the ancient fathers, a divine origin is to be ascribed to the Christian sabbath. But the argument in this chapter does not rest so much upon the express declarations of the fathers, as upon the uniform and undeviating practice of believers from the apostolic age. This practice could not have sprung from any legisla- tive enactment, while the sceptre of the world was swayed by Pagan hands ; neither could it be enjoined by ecclesiastical authority, separated as the different churches were from each other by distance, manners, and languages. While they continued mutually independent, yet all destitute alike of temporal power, it cannot be conceived that they would entertain the absurd project of establishing an institution which, in those ages of Christianity, they had no power to enforce. Nor can it be supposed that the governors of the nascent church would of themselves, without any 850 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. V. divine sanction, institute a festival, which, by in- terfering, as it must, with the civil obligations of the converts, would have inflamed the hostility of their numerous and potent enemies, who were ever on the alert forgrounds of accusation. They were not so devoid of prudence as to alarm the Pagans by an infringement of their civil rights, the effect of which must have been to expose the faithful to reproach and persecution, and to aug- ment the obstacles to the propagation of the gos- pel. Besides, the practice prevailed long previous to any general council subsequent to the apostolic age, and no council ever pretended to the first establishment of it ; which confirms its sacred derivation, according to the sound rule of Augus- tine, that, " whatever the universal church holds, and has always held, without being instituted by councils, must be accounted to be derived from apostolical authority V No authority, independ- ently of theirs, was sufficiently early and exten- sive and commanding, to give rise to the universal •• " Quod universa tenet Ecclesia, nee conciliis institutum, sed semper retentum est, non nisi auctoritate Apostolica traditum rectissime creditur." Augustine, Contra Donatistas, lib. iv. cap. xxiii. This is the general voice of the fathers : see Irenaeus, Adv. Hceres. lib. iii. cap. iv. ; TertuUian, De Prcescrijit. § 21. ; Clemens Alexand. Stromal. 7. p. 755, B. p. 757, A. p. 764, B. D. ; Origen, Z)e PrmcipJJs, lib. i. Prooem. ; B.uffinus, Prcef at. in Origen De Princip. lib. iii. ; Vincentius Lirinens. Adv. Hceres. cap. ii. et seq. 3 CHAP. V.]3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 351 sanctification of the Lord's day. The heathens, who held the reins of empire, would not sanction it ; the rulers in the church could not ; it must therefore have been by common consent ; a con- sent so general and unanimous as could have no other origin than a conviction of its being or- dained by Christ and the apostles. It was a mat- ter respecting which the early Christians could not be mistaken, and how is it possible for all the churches throughout the Christian world to have agreed, even from the beginning of their planta- tion, to make the first day of the week a festival, unless they had been directed by the founders of their religion ? Hence, as it has been shewn by evidence which cannot, in fairness, be disputed, that the consecration of a septenary day was the universal practice by the orthodox in the best and purest ages of the church, it must have origi- nated in divine appointment, which proves the perpetual sanctity and obligation of a weekly religious festival. N CHAPTER Vr. Inquiry into the Duties of the Sabbath, We are now arrived at that stage of our inquiry, from which many, who have travelled together in unanimity, have diverged into very opposite direc- tions. In the ample and spacious field which opens to the view, we shall be liable, without the utmost caution, though treading upon firm ground, to be led astray into wandering and devious paths. Resting upon the previously established conclu- sion, that it is a bounden duty, ratified by the scrip- tures, and by the practice of the Christian church from the earliest ages, to dedicate every seventh - day to the service of Him in whom we live and move, and have our being, it still remains to un- dertake the difficult investigation of the mode in vt which this homage is to paid. The holy solemniza- tion of one day in the week, though admitted to be incumbent upon believers in the gospel, is a subject which has given birth to a wide contrariety of opinion ; it being prescribed, on the one hand. CHAP. VI.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 353 with a laxity which loosens, if not entirely dis- solves, its religious obligation ; and on the other, with a rigid austerity scarcely practicable, and certainly but ill-adapted to the present constitu- tion of human nature. To draw the necessary line of distinction requires the prudent exercise of a chastised judgment ; and, had the plan of this inquiry admitted it, the author would gladly have avoided an attempt, to the execution of which he is far from presuming himself to be fully competent. In entering upon this task, it is impossible not to feel the greater hesitation and diffidence, as the sacred Scriptures furnish us with but little direct and particular information. To legislate minutely on any particular branch of moral and religious conduct, on which the Almighty has not promulged his revealed will, is often pre- sumptuous, and not unfrequently mischievous. If we hold the fundamental truth of Protestant- ism, the sufficiency of Holy Writ, correctly inter- preted, in matters of faith, to enjoin aught as a religious duty which is not ivritten there, must be at least a dangerous experiment. It is especially so in regard to the external duties of our sacred vocation, as an error here has a natural tendency to induce weak, but well-disposed minds, to de- pend too much upon ceremonial observances. What has contributed more to sully and obscure A a 354 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. the pure spirit of religion, than the immoderate introduction of unauthorized rites and ceremo- nies ? External ceremonies are more easily per- formed than the internal purification of the heart; for which reason the former are apt to be substi- tuted for the latter ; and if this inherent propen- sity of the mind be pampered by those who mi- nister in sacred things, outward ordinances will assume an importance in the eyes of the people, to Yv^hich they are not justly entitled. The utmost vigilance should be used against stamping that which is ritual, with the same degree of sacred- ness as that which is essential in religion ; other- wise the end, however important, will be lost sight of, in a too fond attention to the means. To a want of care of this kind is to be attributed the regard and value which the Pharisees attached to their traditionary prescriptions, to the neglect of the weightier matters of the law ; and awful, yet viseful, is the example of the church in the middle ages, during which, tradition assuming a para- mount authority to Scripture, Christianity, pure, spiritual, vital Christianity, degenerated into a religion of parade and ceremony. In recommending a vigilant caution in matters upon which the sacred Scriptures are silent, it is not intended to deny the necessity of external ordinances. In all social religion they are requi- site; and every church has authority to decree CHAP. VI.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 355 such rites and ceremonies as are deemed expedi- ent, provided nothing be ordained contrary to the word of God. The disputatious puritanical op- position to such ceremonies as common sense must pronounce to be at least harmless, is now happily almost extinct ; yet in a recent publica- tion it is asserted, that " Nothing can more strongly depict the weakness and folly of man- kind, than the assumption of the right to publish laws for the regulation of his (God's) worship, in cases where He himself has chosen to be silent ; and to punish their fellow men for non-compliance with them, without the shadow of a proof of a divine warrant to substantiate the transgression, or inflict the penalty ^" But public worship be- ing impossible without published laws for its re- gulation, and none being delivered in the volume of Revelation, the duty of enacting them devolves of necessity upon the supreme governors of the church. As the Almighty has given few direc- tions concerning some of those external perform- ances which he requires, it must clearly be his sovereign will to leave-mich matters to the gene- ral power with which he has invested the church ; and he cannot be wholly free from a schismatical spirit who refuses submission to what is justified by necessity, and recommended by expediency. * Macbeth, Dissertation on the Sabbath, p. 166. A a 2 356 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. It has been shewn before, that the mode of com- puting the seventh day is left to human decision ; and there are many other circumstances indispen- sable to the holy solemnization of it, for which we have no divine or apostolical prescription. Being mutable in their nature, and requiring to be modified according to the various habits of various regions, they are to be ordained by each national church ; and a compliance Avith what- ever ceremonial regulations are enjoined for the sake of public decency and order, is a duty, be- cause their appointment is strictly within the province of an ecclesiastical establishment. In the performance of moral and religious obli- gations, much is also unavoidably left to the discretion of individuals. While the duty is pe- remptorily enjoined by the inspired writers, the limitations to which it is subject, the means of fulfilling it, the choice of opportunities, and other circumstances connected with its discharge, are to be regulated by the prudence of each believer. So with respect to the sabbath. The duty of con- secrating it in a holy and devout manner, is decla- red by the great Sovereign Lord, while the mode is partly submitted to human determination. In this and all other cases where the sacred Scrip- tures give no express directions, much, after all the prescribed rites and ordinances of the churcli, must be left to the guidance of every man's con- CHAP. Vl.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 357 science ; and he who with sincerity of purpose wishes to comply with the commandment, may rely that, through the assistance and illumination of the Holy Spirit, he will not err very far from the truth. An honest intention will rarely fail, through the divine blessing, to arrive at right con- clusions on all points connected with practical religion ; at any rate, beings responsible for their conduct are bound to follow the light of that in- ternal monitor, which the Deity has implanted to be the arbiter of our actions. Nor is there room for apprehension, that those who obey the dictates of conscience will perform an unacceptable ser- vice. The votive offering of a heart actuated by pure faith, and bounding with a humble piety, w^ill be graciously received by a God of mercy, as the offering of sincerity and truth. In all cases, how- ever, where the inspired writings have not de- scended to particulars, something must be left to individual conscience and discretion, as well as to the authority of ecclesiastical power. On these accounts it will occur, that, amid a general agreement as to the duty of religiously solemnizing the Lord's day, there will be some shades of difference in practice. All sincere be- lievers are aiming, though by courses somewhat various, to one common end ; and this correspond- ency of motive should teach us to look with libe- rality and candour on such as do not accord with 358 THE CHRISTIAN SABBA-EJI. [^CHAP. VI. US ill those doctrines and practices which are not -expressly enforced by the pen of inspiration. It must not, however, be understood as if holy Scripture supplied us with no directions whatever for the discharge of so momentous a duty as the sanctification of the sabbath. There are general rules propounded for our guidance, which may be applied to particular cases ; and though the pre- cise manner of consecrating the seventh day is not stated in the Christian Scriptures, as it would have led to a minuteness at once tedious and un- profitable, we are not wholly destitute of Scrip- tural authority on the subject. Something rela- tive to its observance may be inferred from the law itself; something from the practice of the apostles ; something from the incidental remarks of Revelation ; something from its prevailing tenour ; and something from the general princi- ples of morality. By the combination of what may be collected from these sources, minds well exercised by the reverential study of the Book of Life, will chalk out for themselves a mode of keeping the sabbath day holy, consistently with the divine will ; and though they may not be en- tirely agreed, they will not separate to an irrecon- cileable distance. For this result, however, it is indispensable to be well disciplined in the word of God ; for if we bring to the examination minds warped by prejudice, inflamed by enthusiasm, or GHAP. VlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 359* blindly attached to a previously formed system, discordant and multifarious opinions must be the consequence. Those who, with meek reverence, strive to collect the hallowed truths of Scripture by the cool exercise of interpretive criticism, will not differ as to the nature of the sabbatical duties, more than may well be forgiven to each other in the spirit of Christian charity. Be it our endeavour, then, to gather into a focus the disseminated beams of Revelation which illustrate this branch of the inquiry. It were easy, after the example of some writers, by pur- suing this subject through its various ramifica- tions, to accumulate a multiplicity of precepts. But to descend to particulars, and to discuss every minute point connected with the practical duties of the sabbath, would not only occupy too large a space, but would, moreover, lead us to dwell upon matters, many of which must, after all, be left to the decision of individuals. It is not uncommon for those who agree in the rule to differ in its application, especially in questions relating to the lesser points of moral conduct, which, admitting some variety, according to the diversified situations and characters of men, must be referred, ultimately, to every one's own con- science. Without attempting an enumeration of specific instances, which would not be of much practical utility, my sole aim is, to deduce those 360 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. general principles by which private persons ought to be guided in preserving, and ecclesiastical governors in enforcing, the sanctity of the weekly festival. This shall be attempted, not from any confidence in the Author's own competency, still less through the presumption of dictating to the consciences of others; but in the humble hope that the aid of the Spirit of Truth will not be wanting in a cause so sacred. In pursuance of this object, the inquiry naturally divides itself into two parts ; t\iQ first respecting the negative, and the second respecting the positive duties of the Lord's day; or, in other words, it may be considered as a day of rest, and a day of holiness. SECTION I. The Sabbath considered as a Day of rest and relaxation. The sabbath, according to its original institution, is to be a day separated from all others, and de- voted to sacred purposes, which implies a cessa- tion from worldly labours and employments ; and this is further confirmed by the express enactment of the fourth Commandment : " Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work ; but the seventh is the sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-ser- vant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates." From the various applications of the Hebrew word here rendered "work," it appears evidently to denote, as Taylor in his Con- cordmce explains it, "any work, business, or affairs done or transacted by God or man ;" and of course the prohibition is full, direct, and une- quivocal against secular employment on the Lord's day. The Ahnighty points out the proportion of 362 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI- time which he allows for the management both of our temporal affairs, and spiritual concerns ; and to let the former trench on the time which he demands for his own immediate service, is incom- patible with this solemn requirement. Yet not every kind of work is forbidden, but only that which is the principal occupation of the preceding portion of the week. " Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work ;" that is, all the labour required in the station of life in which man is placed : whatever may be his avocation, he is to execute it on six successive days; but " the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God ; in it thou shalt not do any work ;" that is, as is clear from the parallelism of the expressions, any work which is the proper employment of the six days. Works of every description are not prohibited, for some are absolutely necessary, but that specific work alone which is allowed on the six days before mentioned. Whatever is the general and customary employment of these days, ought to be omitted on the seventh; for that work which is permitted, or rather enjoined, on the former, is directly forbidden on the latter. Hence the meaning of the precept is, that the seventh day ought to be a cessation from those worldly occupations to the performance of which the other days are devoted. The sum and sub- stance of the command is thus explained by a SECT. I.)3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 363 sensible writer on the subject. " Thou shalt not follow any trade, or worldly employment what- soever, whether it be the labour of the body, the hands, or the head, which on other days is pursued for the sake of worldly enjoyment, and to pro- vide for this bodily dying life ''." Agreeably to this interpretation, the statute cannot fairly be charged with being harsh, or impracticably rigid. The Jews were bound, un- der the penalty of death, to observe a still stricter rest on the sabbath ; but theirs was a law of car- nal commandments, restraining the people under a severe tutelage, and burthensome by various severe prescriptions, from the obligation of which Christ has set his disciples free. Judaism was a dispensation of rigour and severity ; Christianity is a law of mercy, of tenderness, and of liberty. The sabbatical enactments which remain binding upon believers, in the Gospel, are neither unrea- sonable nor austere, only requiring a septenary rest from the business of our callings, and daily ^ Wright, Treatise on the Lord's Day, cap. iii. sect. I. *' Non facies in ea, {scil. septima die) omne opus : quod? utique tuum. Consequens est, ut ea opera sabbato auferret, quae sex diebus supra induxerat : tua scilicet, id est, humana, et quotidiana." — Tertullian, Advers. Marcion. lib. ii. § 21. p. S9'2, C. Others of the fathers agree in limiting the prohibition to servile and secular works ; Iren^us, Advers. Hceres. lib. iv. cap. xx. ; Jerome, Comment, in Isa. cap. Iviii. ; Augustine, Homil. 151 de Tempore, torn. 10. 364 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. occupations. Six days of the week are allowed for the promotion of our temporal interests, and the abstraction of the seventh for concerns of infinitely higher moment, so far from being a rigorous exaction, must be deemed a law at once merciful towards man, and necessary to the pur- poses of devotion. Were all employed on that day, as they ought to be, in giving attendance to the concerns of an eternal world, they would have no leisure for secular employments. The ordi- nary labours and occupations of life are, there- fore, to be suspended on that day, which is pecu- liarly the Lord's ; the business of the shop, the counting-house, and the manufactory is to cease ; the labouring classes are to rest from their toils, the higher from their professions and pursuits ; and the mind is to be kept as free as possible from the distraction of secular cares and avocations. To forbid absolutely every kind of work, would be rigorous and unreasonable ; but to prohibit the exercise of our ordinary callings on the sab- bath, is a law of easy comprehension, and not less in accordance with humanity than with religion. In this view of the sabbatical law, he who sin- cerely purposes obedience, will rarely, if ever, hesitate concerning the nature of his compliance. The least consideration must shew to every man whether he have abstained from the customary labours of his station. They are as various as SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 365 the various ranks of society ; but, of whatever description they may consist, the performance of them is a violation of the statute. The sabbath may be equally profaned by the labour of the head as of the hand, by mental no less than bodily exertion, in privacy as well as in the busy hum of men. The desecration of this holy season is not extenuated by veiling it from public view ; the retired prosecution of profane literature, the perusing and writing letters on business, the balancing of accounts, the arrangement of worldly concerns, or engaging others in such employ- ments, is as culpable as public commercial trans- actions, or the cultivation of the ground. To enumerate particulars, however, were a waste of time, as every one is competent to decide, in his own individual case, in what manner the law is to be obeyed. If he do not abstain from those occupations, of whatever kind, which he pursues during the six days, with worldly views, and for worldly ends, he violates the sacred rest. So far from consecrating the season to the offices of religion, he profanes it by secular employments ; and let not such a one lay the flattering unction to his soul that he will escape merited punish- ment for refusing to the Deity the homage which he claims as his unalienable right. What we are forbid to do ourselves, it is evi- dently wrong to do by our servants and depend- 1 366 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. ants. On this point the law is particular and express, extending the sacred rest to those who are in subordinate situations ; and to employ them in worldly business, is in direct contradiction to the statute ^ It is but too common, even with such as refrain from secular pursuits themselves, to engage others in occupations inconsistent with the sabbatical rest. So much is often required from servants as leaves them but little leisure for exercises befitting the season, and sometimes scarcely opportunity for attendance on public worship. Any employment of dependants beyond what necessity demands, is opposed by the clear declaration of God's word, and is as much a breach of the commandment as if their masters did it in their own persons. It is an act of op- pression and tyranny to infringe, for the sake of a little interest or pleasure, upon that rest and relaxation which those who are in humbler situ- ations have a right to enjoy, and which to them is a boon granted by a merciful Providence. Cruel as it is to deprive them, as members of society, of the repose to which they are entitled, it is doing a still more fatal injury to their immortal souls. The profanation of the sabbath is, in ge- neral, among the lower orders, the forerunner of every crime ; and aggravated is the guilt of lead- ' Exod. XX. 10. Deut. v. It. SECT. I.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 367 ing them, by any means, to disregard an ordi- nance, the reverence of which is so important to the preservation of their religious principles. Dreadful is the account which we must render at the tribunal of Heaven, if we have been instru- mental in the eternal ruin of those whose virtue and piety it is our duty to promote. From the benefits of the law, which provides a weekly rest for the labouring classes, the animal creation are not excluded. On the sabbath day " THOU shalt not do any work — nor any of thy CATTLE." Here, then, is a direct prohibition against all unnecessary using or working of the domesticated animals on this day, and of course the loading of beasts, the driving of teams, the running of horses in carriages, beyond what is requisite for the real benefit of man, are unques- tionably forbidden. The usual employment of beasts is contrary to the general law against working on the Lord's day ; but it is prohibited by a specific enactment in the Decalogue, ordain- ing a regular time in which they are to rest from labour, and to recruit their exhausted strength. Divine Providence surveys, with benignant eye, the vast circuit of creation, in every minute part of which, as far as we can trace it, we see the manifestation of his wisdom, power, and mercy ; nor is any creature that lives and moves beneath his notice or his care. Of all the evidences of 368 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VL his unbounded goodness, none are more impres- sive, more fitted to excite an idea of the immen- sity of his benevolence, than his providing by an express revelation for the comfort of the animals subjected to the service of man. While grateful, therefore, for our dominion over the brute crea- tion, we should remember that we are not to exer- cise it with harshness, or unfeeling cruelty. God hath blessed every living creature '' ; he careth for the cattle ^ ; and not a sparrow falleth to the ground without him ^ Far, then, from treating them with the savage brutality, which, shocking as it is to humanity, is but too often practised, we are not wantonly or unnecessarily to deprive them of the indulgence of a stated rest ^ In conformity with this principle we are to for- bear employing them, without urgent cause, in journeying abroad on the Lord's day. It is a most unwarrantable exercise of our dominion over them to pursue our profit or pleasure, witli- out any regard to the fatigues and hardships which ^ Gen. i. 21. et seq. « Deut. XXV. 4. 1 Cor. ix. 9. ' Matt. X. 29. * Since writing the above, I observed in the Courier News- paper for June 1 7th, 1 824, the Report of a Meeting for the pur- pose of forming a "Society for* the preventing of cruelty to Animals ;" and every friend to humanity must wish success to the design. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 369 they undergo. Sunday travelling is in other respects a disobedience of the divine command, for it deprives the offender of the means of join- ing in the public worship of the Almighty, sets a bad example of carelessness about holy things, and frustrates the object of the sabbatical institu- tion by raising obstacles to the devotions of others. But the evils of this custom will be most effec- tually exposed in the strong and nervous language of Bishop Horsley. "It breaks in, (says he,) upon the principal business of the day, laying some under a neces- sity, and furnishing others with a pretence, for withdrawing ourselves from the public assem- blies ; and it defeats the ordinance in its subor- dinate ends, depriving servants and cattle of that temporary exemption from fatigue which it was intended both should enjoy. This, like other evils, has arisen from small beginnings; and by an unperceived, because a natural and a gradual growth, hath attained at last an alarming height. Persons of the higher ranks, whether from a cer- tain vanity of appearing great, by assuming a privilege of doing what was generally forbidden, or for the convenience of travelling when the roads were most empty, began within our own memory to make their journeys on a Sunday. In a commercial country, the great fortunes acquired in trade have a natural tendency to level all dis- Bb 370 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VT. tinctions but what arise from affluence. Wealth supphes the place of nobility ; birth retains only the privilege of setting the first example. The city presently catches the manners of the court ; and the vices of the high-born peer are faithfully copied in the life of the opulent merchant, and the thriving tradesman. Accordingly, in the space of a few years, the Sunday became the tra- velling day of all who travel in their own car- riages. But why should the humbler citizen, whose scantier means oblige him to commit his person to the crammed stage coach, more than his wealthier neighbour be exposed to the hard- ship of travelling on the working days, when the multitude of heavy carts and waggons moving to and fro in all directions, renders the roads un- pleasant and unsafe to all carriages of a lighter fabric ; especially when the only real inconve- nience, the danger of such obstructions, is infi- nitely increased to him, by the greater difficulty with which the vehicle in which he makes his uncomfortable journey crosses out of the way, in deep and miry roads, to avoid the fatal jostle ? The force of these principles was soon perceived, and, in open defiance of the laws, stage-coaches have for several years travelled on the Sundays. The waggoner soon understands that the road is as free for him as for the coachman, — that if the magistrate connives at the one he cannot enforce SECT, ij THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 371 the law against the other ; and the Sunday travel- ler now breaks the sabbath without any advantage gained in the safety or pleasure of his journey. It may seem that the evil, grown to this height, would become its own remedy : but this is not the case. The temptation indeed to the crime among the higher ranks of the people, subsists no longer ; but the reverence for the day among all orders is extinguished, and the abuse goes on from the mere habit of profaneness. In the country, the roads are crowded on the sunday, as on any other day, with travellers of every sort. The devotion of the villagers is interrupted by the noise of the carriages passing through, or stopping at the inns for refreshment. In the metropolis, instead of that solemn stillness of the vacant streets in the hours of the public service, which might suit, as in our fathers' days, with the sanctity of the day, and be a reproof to every one who should stir abroad but upon the business of devotion, the mingled racket of worldly busi- ness and pleasure is going on with little abate- ment; and in the churches and chapels which adjoin the public streets, the sharp rattle of the whirling phaeton, and the graver rumble of the loaded waggon, mixed with the oaths and impre- cations of the brawling drivers, disturb the con- gregation, and stun the voice of the preacher '." *• Bishop Horsley, Sermon 23d. Bb2 372 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. But the law requiring a periodical suspension of the business of the world, must not be under- stood so strictly as to exclude every work which comes under that description. "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath * ;" and, being originally intended for his benefit, whenever a rigid observance of it would operate to the injury of his health, or the serious loss of his property, he is not bound by imperious duty to comply with the literal strictness of the injunc- tion. What are called works of necessity, it is evident from their very nature, may be performed without infringing the statute. The only diffi- culty is to distinguish those which are necessary from those which are not so, which, as it should seem, admits of no other criterion than the sober discretion of each believer. It may be generally observed, that the permission includes all such works as are needful to the exercises of religion, to the sustenance of our bodies, to the care of our cattle ; such as cannot be omitted without very injurious consequences ; such as are requisite for domestic health and comfort ; such, in short, as for some reason or other are proper to be done, not for the sake of obtaining a little pecuniary gain, but to procure some important and consi- derable object. All servile labour, all worldly ' Mark ii. 27. SECT, r.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 373 business, all secular pursuits, ought, as far as pos- sible, to be suspended ; and it is necessity alone, of which every individual can judge in his own case, that can justify any abandonment of the hallowed repose of the sabbath ^. The great design of this festival is the promo- tion of piety and religion, to which the rest enjoined must be subservient ; and such works as may be executed without interfering with this object, are not in opposition to the laws of God. Such are works of necessity which are not refer- able to the disposition of the performer, because they are imposed by circumstances over which he has no control. They neither proceed from worldly motives, nor are carried on with worldly views, and therefore, in a moral point of view, are mat- ters of indifference. Here, as in every thing else where human conduct is concerned, the motive is chiefly to be looked at ; for where that is in unison with the revealed will of God, the action which '' It is well observed by a pagan : " Scaevola consultus quid feriis agi liceret, respondit, quod praetermissum noceret." (Ma-^ crobius, Saturnalia, lib. i. cap. xvi.) This writer tells us, in loc, citat. " aflBrmabant sacerdotes pollui ferias, si indictis concep- tisque opus aliquod fieret : praeterea regem sacrorura flamines- que noii licebat videre feriis opus fieri ; et idea per praeconem denunciabatur ne quid tale ageretur : et prsecepti negligens muK tabatur, prseter multam affirmabatur eum, qui talibus diebus im- prudens aliquid egisset, porco piaculum dare debere ; prudentera expiare non posse." 374 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. VI. proceeds from it will not be criminal. Hence works on the Lord's day, in themselves the most innocent, may become sinful by being executed with improper motives. As for example, it is perfectly right for persons to adorn themselves in attire becoming their rank and station ; but those who do it from a love of empty parade, or with the intent to outvie their neighbours, and to gain admiration, convert the holy season into an occa- sion of culpable vanity. Works of necessity may thus become criminal, if performed with views and purposes at variance with the sanctity of the sabbath ; while, on the other hand, there need be no scruple in such employments as do not inter- fere with the temper and frame of mind suitable to so sacred a festival. Works, however, the moral character of which so much depends upon the motive, cannot be judged by any human tribunal ; they are to be arbitrated between every man's conscience and his God ; and any attempt to de- fine them minutely is as idle as presumptuous, trenching upon that liberty which we enjoy in Christ. A formal enumeration, likewise, of particulars, if it were possible, would be attended with little practical advantage, since different minds, acting from an equally conscientious regard to duty, will not unfrequently view them in different lights. Thus by one writer we are told, that SECT. I.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 375 '' Employing others about our persons, as barbers, hair- dressers, and the like, is a direct violation of the original law of the sabbath, and of the fourth commandment. Nor is there any reason to except those occupations, which consist in preparing ma- terials even for food '." Another writer seriously inquires whether the preparing of food on the sabbath, the kindling of a fire, the act of self- defence, the extinguishing of devouring flames, be works of necessity ; and he decides in the affirmative"". But all such matters, varying as they must according to circumstances, are better left to the discretion of individuals. The general law is, that we are to abstain from our secular business, of what description soever, and an ho- nest heart will rarely be at a loss to discover the exceptions, or to distinguish what may or may not be done without infringing the command. Works of charity were not excluded by the rigour of the Mosaic law, much less can they be so under a more benign and gracious dispensa- tion. There is something so truly Christian in the exercise of a philanthropic disposition as fits it for all times and seasons ; and it is not only allowable, but seems especially appropriate, on a day- consecrated to the honour of a pardoning ' Job Orton, Six Discourses on the Lord's Day, Disc. 3. ■" Glen, Treatise on the Sabbath, cap. iv. sect. iv. § 2, 376 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. ^CHAP. VI. God. To relieve the indigent, to comfort the mourners, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, to extend the hand of succour to the needy, to augment the comforts of a brother Christian ; these are actions which will ever be approved by a Being of infinite mercy, which will for ever brighten in the glory of eternity. Our Saviour both taught the lawfulness of doing well on that sacred day, and exemplified his doc- trine by performing many miracles on it in com- passion to the infirmities of the people. On the sabbath he cured the man with the withered hand ° ; he cured a man who had the dropsy ° ; he cured a woman bowed down with a spirit of infir- mity eighteen years ^ ; he cured the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda '' ; and he cured the man who was blind from his birth '. In humble imi- tation of the divine pattern of our blessed Lord, we ought to hallow his sacred day by doing good, and shewing mercy. To shut up our bowels of compassion against a fellow-creature in distress, is wholly unsuitable to a season so adapted to excite emotions of generosity and kindness. It is the spirit of unsocial bigotry to withhold the meed of charity and benevolence on the seventh day, because we are commanded to rest upon it. " Matt. xii. 9—13. • Luke xiv. 1—6. f Luke xiii. 10—17. *> John v. 1, et sc(^. ' John ix. 1 , ct seq. SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH, SVT It is to suffer that which is ritual to interfere with the weightier matters of the law : it is a derelic- tion of every principle by which the true Chris- tian should be distinguished. Let no opportu- nity, then, be omitted, no disposition wanting, to perform the offices of that love which is the dis- criminating badge of our fellowship with the Father and with the Son'. Some modes of distributing charity are so nearly allied to civil institutions, that it is no easy matter to decide whether they are lawful on the Lord's day. Thus, the concerns of schools for the education of poor children^ of Dispensa- ries, of Benefit Clubs, and of other charitable societies, are sometimes managed by committees and meetings on a Sunday ; and the functions of select vestries, the appointment of which has con- tributed more to the diminution of pauperism than any other legislative measure, are very often exercised, especially in country places, on alter- nate Sundays. Of these the end is benevolent and praise-worthy, which, in the opinion of many, will justify the means ; yet the conducting of them on the Lord's day partakes so much of secularity, and is so connected with secular mat- ters, that he who doubts its lawfulness may well be exonerated from the charge of puritanical ' 1 John iv. 7—21. 378 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. rigour. A total exclusion, however, of every thing allied to civil employment, it is to be feared, could not be effected, in the present state of soci- ety, without detriment to certain charities them- selves. In reference to select vestries, it is ques- tionable whether, in very many places, a sufficient attendance of the members could be obtained on any other day, in default of which the object of that admirable institution could not be secured. Works of charity, besides, are at all times proper, and under this description we may surely rank such works as it is for the interest of the poor, the sick, the aged, the infirm, that they should be performed. The apostle exhorts the Corin- thians to make collections for the saints on the first day of the week ' ; and if we are thus war- ranted in making charitable contributions, we are, by parity of reason, justified in ordering and dis- tributing them on that holy season. So much may be said in defence, or rather in extenuation of the practices alluded to ; it is, nevertheless, desirable, even in the beneficent offices of pro- viding for, the poor, that every thing wearing a civil or secular character should, as far as pos- sible, be omitted on the Lord's day; and it is only some evident advantage, or undeniable ex- pediency, which can vindicate its employment ". ' 1 Cor. xvi. 2. " It is matter of regret to many pious persons, that the Le- SECT. I.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 379 Allowable as it is on the sabbath to administer kindness to our brethren, is it equally so to do any thing for the sake of communicating or re- ceiving amusement ? A nice and delicate ques- tion this, and one which, more perhaps than any other connected with the subject, requires for its determination the exercise of mutual candour and forbearance. Many writers and preachers con- demn, without restriction, all secular pleasures on this sacred day ; but that amusements are, to a certain extent, permitted, is implied in the sab- batical command, for the injunction to remit the accustomed toils of life not only is, but must have been intended to be, a source of delight ; and it is in perfect harmony with this design, to allot some portion of the day to proper recreation and refreshment. Under Judaism it is declared to be the object of the institution that beasts of burthen, servants, and labourers, might be refresh- ed'^; and it cannot be supposed to have a less beneficent intention under Christianity. Con- templating the ease and lightness of the Chris- tian yoke, the spirit of tenderness and love which gislature, without due attention to the sacredness of the time and place, has enacted that so many things of a secular nature should be done or published in the churches ; and it is much to be wished that some other means could be devised to attain the object, without such hindrances to public devotion. * Exodus xxiii. 12. 380 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. breathes throughout the gospel, the benevolence of its ordinances, the benignity of its precepts, the freedom and cheerfulness of the services re- quired, together with the total absence of all rigour and austerity, it cannot be imagined that a God so merciful and gracious would forbid innocent recreation on the day set apart for his praise and worship. He has so constituted the human powers, that seasonable relaxation is indis- pensable to their legitimate use ; the mind cannot remain upon the stretch for an intire day ; and the spiritual exercises of the sabbath, like every other which demand a steady application, require convenient intermissions. Whatever may be pretended by those who, under the impulse of fanaticism or hypocrisy, overstep the sobriety of truth, it is impossible to be wholly occupied for so long a space as one day, in the public and pri- vate duties of religion : some relaxation, then, there must be ; and the divine Being will never be offended with that which he has rendered necessary by the constitution of human nature. To describe particularly what recreations are lawful, varied as they must be according to the diversified tastes, habits, inclinations, and circum- stances of mankind, were a hopeless task. All that can be attempted here is to propose those general rules by which a Christian conduct ought, in these matters, to be uniformly guided. And SECT. I.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. ^SJ this plan is recommended by the consideration that, as the leading principles of Sunday recre- ations rest upon the basis of Scripture, a more general agreement may be expected, than in their application to individual cases, in which some difference of opinion will naturally arise. In the^r^^ place, whatever forms the ordinary occupation of life must not be permitted for sun- day amusement, inasmuch as it is included in the prohibition of the fourth commandment. By the prescribed cessation of the daily employ- ments of the world, a resumption of them by any person, or for any purpose, for pleasure or for profit, or with any view beyond what necessity and charity may demand, is undoubtedly forbid- den. To many individuals different kinds of mechanical labour afford very great pleasure, as turning, carving, gilding, casting metals, varnish- ing, making various articles of cabinet-work, &c. The exercise of the fine arts, drawing, engraving, painting, sculpture, is a source of still higher gratification; others take great delight in the rural sports of fishing, shooting, training of dogs and horses; and, in fact, there is scarcely any worldly business which may not, to some persons or other, be the means of occasional recreation ; but, of whatever description it may be, as being a worldly business, it is prohibited on the Lord's day. It matters not whether it be our usual and 382 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CKAP. VI. proper calling ; neither does it make any differ- ence in the case that it is exercised solely for recreation, without any view to emolument ; it is one of the common businesses of the world, and, as such, is to be remitted on the sabbath. What- ever comes under the denomination of the works forbidden in the fourth commandment, as all secu- lar employments do, must not be practised, even for the sake of amusement, and for the shortest time, on pain of incurring the guilt of violating the law. Nor is it necessary, to constitute this offence, to be ourselves actively engaged in any of the customary employments of life ; it is equally culpable to be present for the purpose of derivhig amusement from them, though performed by others; for that is an evident participation in them, within the meaning of the commandment ; and it is an acknowledged axiom of law and mo- rality, that accessaries share the crime with the principals. Between him who is the real agent in a forbidden work, and him who witnesses it for the sake of the pleasure it affords him, there is not a shade of moral distinction ; and the crimi- nality, to whatever degree it may rise, attaches alike to both. This principle excludes such en- tertainments as are derived from the exercise of that which forms the worldly calling of any class of persons. Of this description are theatrical SECT. I.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 383 representations, ajid many other public diversions, to the exhibition and enjoyment of which it is requisite for certain individuals to exercise their wonted employments. Such persons are clearly following their worldly business, contrary to the provisions of the divine statute ; and those who, by being present, participate in such spectacles, unquestionably participate in the guilt. It is very mean, as well as very unprincipled, to lead others into sin for the sake of deriving from it a temporary gratification. From such baseness an attendance on any public diversions on the sab- bath can rarely be exempt. Those who conduct them act from mercenary motives, those who are present from feelings of levity ; and all waste so much time in a secular and unprofitable way, which should be consecrated to holier purposes, or to recreations less tumultuous, and more inno- cent. Amusements, of whatever kind and cha- racter, which either consist in, or necessarily require the exercise of worldly pursuits, are irre- concileable with the law of the Decalogue. The recreations of the sabbath should, in the second place, be consistent with the sacred objects of the institution. Whatever are riotous and noisy, occasioning that intemperate mirth which absorbs the mental powers within its vortex, are contrary to those serious impressions, which the devout appropriation of the day was intended to 384 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CIIAP. VI. produce. The law which enjoins it to be kept holy, virtually forbids every species of excitement incompatible with devotional feelings, as must be the effect of all recreations that are not calm, tran- quillizing, and sedate. Those that produce a lassi- tude of body or mind, also indispose the faculties to serious thought, keep the heart cold and indif- ferent to religious sentiment, and create that dis- taste for devotional intercourse with God, which it is the gracious design of the sabbath to pre- serve and enliven. Clamorous mirth cannot accord with the feelings of piety, and the train of serious thought, which the holy festival of the Lord should implant and cherish. The din of the chase, the acclamations of the theatre, the hurry and tumult of processions, splendid entertain- ments, and public performances, are diametrically opposite to every object for which the sabbath was appointed. It may reasonably admit a doubt whether any public amusement be compatible with that soberness of mind, without which the religious duties of the institution cannot be ade- quately performed. They not only tend to secu- larize the day, but distract the mind, and excite associations very ill adapted to a humble spirit of devotion. Still more reprehensible are all amuse- ments calculated to inflame the passions, as games of chance, lotteries, and the thousand modes by which money is lost and won. In every stage of 9 SECT. I.]3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. ,385 gambling, from the highest to the lowest, there is more or less of bad feeling. When money is at stake, the mind is seldom altogether indifferent ; there is commonly exultation on the one hand, chagrin on the other, and a general interest exci- ted, wholly at variance with the pious and con- templative purposes of the Lord's day. As nothing should be suffered to interfere with these purposes, no recreation can be innocent which is calculated to banish the disposition of mind re- quisite for the consecration of the day to the service of the Creator ; and to whatever relax- ation we may have recourse, it ought to be mild, temperate, rational, such as befits a mind engaged in the solemn and important service of its God. It may be laid down as a tJiird rule, that sab- bath recreations ought to be, as far as may be, different from the ordinary amusements of the other days. By the original blessing and sancti- fication of the seventh day, it was separated from common to sacred uses ; and by consequence it is incumbent upon believers to abstain, as far as possible, from every thing, whether of business or of pleasure, which forms the common pursuits of the preceding six days. On this portion of the week it is proper to follow worldly employments, but the sabbath is distinguished as the Lord's, for which reason a devout heart will feel itself bound to abstain from some things, in other respects c c 386 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. []CHAP. VI. lawful, merely for the sake of this distinction. It is not unfrequently asked. Where is the harm of chess, or a game of cards, of fishing or shoot- ing, of singing a song, or playing an overture, when they do not interfere with the duties of the Sunday ? And well-educated persons are some- times heard to declare, that they reject them merely from the consideration of the injury which servants and others might sustain by the exam- ple. The motive is so far right, since every man is bound by the Christian law to consult the morals of his domestics ; but if the diversions alluded to were otherwise unexceptionable, yet they are reprehensible as having a tendency to secularise the holy season. They are, indeed, on other grounds objectionable on the Lord's day, but if they could be proved to be in every other respect perfectly harmless, they ought to be re- jected by pious families as an infringement of the sacred character of the sabbath. Every trespass against its external and visible solemnity, breaks down the barrier by which it is separated to the service of religion, and thereby diminishes the reverence for religion itself, so far as the effect of the example reaches. The admission of such amusements assimilates the seventh to the other days of the week, which never can be done with- out diminishing its solemnity and usefulness. It is very important to the interests of true religion •ECT. r.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 387 to preserve the separation between sacred and common days, and every conscientious person will abstain from certain things, in themselves perhaps indifferent, in order to mark this distinc- tion the more strongly. The law which com- mands a cessation of labour virtually includes a prohibition against the ordinary pastimes of men, and who that reverences this divine law will refuse the surrender of a little amusement for the more complete sanctification of a day which the Al- mighty bids to be hallowed. Recreations, in the last place, should not occu- py so much time as to trespass upon the more important duties of the sabbath. It is a day ap- propriated to prayer and worship, to devout com- munion and religious improvement, objects con- fessedly the most momentous, and with which nothing should be suffered to interfere. Amuse- ment is not the business of those sacred hours ; it is an indulgence permitted to the weakness of human nature ; and no more time should be given to it than is necessary to bodily refreshment, and to unbend the mind, which would be oppressed by unremitting exertion. Whatever exceeds this, whatever interferes with the offices of piety, though perfectly innocent in itself, contravenes the principal design of the institution. Pleasure is sweet to the heart of man, lulling vigilance to sleep with its fascinating notes, and stealing im- c c 2 388 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. perceptibly on the affections, till the whole soul is engrossed by its soft seduction. It is the syren by which thousands have been deluded to a fatal neglect of all that is essential to virtue and hap- piness; and while they have fancied themselves reposing in rosy bowers, they have been rapidly hastening to destruction. Dangerous as its allure- ments always are, they are more so on the sabbath day : the remission of labour facilitates its ap- proach, and it is apt to find too easy an access into the bosom, amid the disengagements of secu- lar pursuits. Except a wakeful guard be placed in the avenues of delight, except a steady watch be kept over the feelings and the passions, pleasure, in one shape or other, will usurp too great an influence over the heart ; so that the sabbath will be viewed rather as a day of pleasure, than of religious improvement. If a vigilant eye is not set over the Sunday amusements, they will be apt to overstep the just limits ; one indulgence will follow another, and little relaxations of sabbatical duty will pave the way for still greater, till the sanctity of the season is forgotten in the mad career of indulgence. Diversions, therefore, the most appropriate, must not be suffered to interest the mind too deeply, nor to employ too great a portion of the day ; otherwise they become cri- minal, by usurping the time which should be devoted to higher and more useful purposes. SECT. I.)3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 389 Within these prescribed rules, recreations are both lawful and expedient on the Lord's day. Though they must be limited and modified in accordance with the holy design of the sabbath, a sufficiently ample field is left for every legiti- mate object of amusement. The cheerful walk, the pleasures of domestic society, the charms of social conversation, the perusal of instructive books, and the fertile stores of a moral literature, open sources of amusement equally pure and rational. At the exclusion of noisy, public, and arousing diversions, it would be unreasonable to complain ; since, being incompatible with serious- ness of thought, they are incompatible with the design of a sacred festival. Nor is it just to murmur at the prohibition of certain amusements, as a diminution of the stock of harmless plea- sures, when so many sources of recreation, such vast stores of moral and intellectual delight, are in return freely offered for acceptance. We are not required to make it a day of gloom and soli- tude, of cheerless service, and peevish mortifica- tion. The strictness of our faith does not re- quire us to deaden the finer feelings of the heart by stifling each soft and social impulse. The affections are implanted by a beneficent Being, who cannot be offended when they beam forth amid the tranquillity of the sacred hours. Monk- ish austerity, and a forbidding, sour, melancholy 390 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. Seclusion, are repugnant to the benevolent spirit of Christianity, all whose requirements sweeten the passage through this vale of woe, and all whose prospects charm the mind into an oblivion of earth-born cares. We are to call the sabbath a delight ^ ; it is to be a day of joy and gladness, a festival for the refreshment, not the maceration of the body ; for the edification, not the afflicting of the mind ; no proper indulgence, no needful relaxation of the faculties is prohibited ; the duties of the holy season may be relieved by inno- cent amusements, and abundance of rational plea- sures may be enjoyed, while, at the same time, every thing intended to unbend and recreate, must be of that sober and sedate kind, which can alone harmonize with the sacredness of a day sanctified for the service of God. Nor should the duties of the weekly festival be regarded as a task and labour so much as a recre- ation and enjoyment. Easy is the yoke of Christ, light is the burthen laid upon us by our vocation ; and the service of a God whose perfections we adore, and whose mercies we love, calls into exer- tion the sweetest affections of the soul. No hap- pier moments are experienced than in the per- formance of holy offices, in which the whole heart is poured forth in love, and gratitude, and bless- * Isa, Iviii. 13. SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 391 ing and praise to its Creator. Delightful are the emotions of those who, harassed with terres- trial cares, or satiated with the empty gratifica- tions of life, refresh their fainting spirits with the weekly pleasures of religion. How contemptible are all the pursuits of a world which passeth away as a shadow, compared with the enraptured employment of worshipping the Lord of lords ? With conscious satisfaction thence arising, the exulting hope is kindled that, by such prepara- tion, the soul is fitting itself for the enjoyment of a blessed immortality. All earthly joys fade away in comparison of the sacred transports of a soul in communion with God. The fellowship of kin- dred spirits in the same duties gives a warmer glow to piety, and awakens in the heart whatever is animated in devotion, whatever is social and divine. No less delightful is the retirement allotted to the private exercises of religion ; in the fervency of secret prayer the soul ascends to the throne of Grace, and, in meditating on the truths of Revelation, the mind is elevated with themes calculated to excite astonishment by their grandeur, and love by their overflowing kindness. The requirements of the sabbatical service, so far from being austere and forbidding, are fitted to produce all that is pleasant and peaceful, all that is ennobling, all that raises our intellectual nature to a purer enjoyment than this world affords. Un- 392 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. reasonable, then, is it to murmur at the sabbath as an abridgment of human felicity, or to com- plain at the want of amusement amid such a pro- fusion of pleasures the most sacred. Pitiable are those hearts which feel no conscious gratifi- cation at the Lord's festival, which spend it in weariness and distaste, which take no delight in duties so well adapted to exalt and exhilarate. The faithful and sincere hail its return as the season of their happiest hours ; with the sweet Psalmist of Israel they are glad at the invitation "to go into the house of the Lord ^ ;" and in the hallowed moments of sacred joy, the worshipper exclaims, " Lord, how love I thy law : a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had ra- ther be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness '." To those who have a just sense of the value of religion, and whose affections are centered, where they ought, upon things heavenly and eternal, the whole service of the Lord's day administers the most refined enjoyment, in addition to which there are recreations in abundance which may be harmlessly and lawfully enjoyed. All diversions, indeed, are not admissible, and I have attempted to draw the line of distinction according to the spirit and declarations of scripture. But far be *• Psalm cxxii. 1. * Ibid. cxix. 97— Ixxxiv. 10. SECT. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 393 it from any minister of the gospel to lord it, in this matter, over the consciences of men. It is a subject which may well admit some difference of opinion. Even while agreed in the general prin- ciples, some diversity may exist in their applica- tion to individual instances. Such minor differ- ences have ever been, and ever will be, and should therefore be mutually forgiven, in pity to the weakness of our common nature. They ought to be merged in the unceasing ardour to preserve the fundamentals of our faith, without being suf- fered to violate the bond of peace, in the search of unattainable unity. Little is the justice, and less the charity of that man, who severely cen- sures another for matters, in respect to which God has given no explicit directions. " Let us not, therefore. Judge one another any more ; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall, in his brother's way '^." So long as there is nothing in the conduct of a bro- ther flagrantly contrary to the Word of God, though he may be weak in the faith, yet we ought to receive him, "but not to doubtful disputa- tions'." We may be truly charged with being angry with him without a cause, if we are offend- ed merely because we cannot consent to join him ^ Rom. xiv. 13. Compare ver, 4, 10. James iv. 11, 12. * Rom. xiv, 1. 394 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. in certain recreations on the Lord's day. " Cha- rity suffereth long, and is kind ^ ; it rejects all harsh judgment ; at the same time we are to mark and avoid those who cause divisions and offences contrary to sound doctrine ^ ; and, as we value the welfare of our souls, — as we prize the glory of God, and the honour of his name, we must fly from all who evidently act from impure motives, and who, in the hour of relaxation and amuse- ment, are guided by a spirit of profaneness and impiety. Little is the stern and unrelenting disposition to be commended, which severely censures those ranks of society who gain subsistence by their daily toil, if they devote a larger portion of the day to recreation, than those who, in the world's estimation, are accounted their more fortunate brethren. The sabbath was intended to be in part a day of refreshment to the industrious classes, which it cannot be, if made a day of puri- tanical rigour and mortified restraint. Those who are engaged in wearisome and unwholesome occu- pations, may well be excused if they take advan- tage of the leisure afforded them to refresh their strength and spirits by innocent amusements; and those who are confined to the noxious atmos- phere of populous cities, are not to be rudely ' 1 Cor. xiii. 4. * Rom. xvi. 17. SECT. I.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 395 condemned, if, issuing forth "among the plea- sant villages and farms," they recruit their haras- sed natures with rural pleasures, and a purer air. Provided they avoid all intemperance and riot, and tumultuous mirth, and suffer not recreation to interfere with the duties of the day, nor to disturb that sobriety of mind which it was in- tended to preserve, they cannot be culpable in accepting the offered boon of harmless pleasure. Sunday cannot be wholly passed in the devout offices of the church and the closet, nor would it accord with its destination to render it, by unne- cessary austerity, dismal and forbidding. While therefore, we earnestly contend for the fulfilment both of the public and private duties of religion, let us not forbid what Providence has allowed to all, according to their respective ranks and avo- cations— seasonable intermissions for rational in- dulgence. SECTION II. The Religious observance of the Sabbath. By the primaeval blessing and sanctification of the seventh day, God separated it from common to sacred uses ; it should not, therefore, be made a day of indolence, a day of mere exemption from worldly labours and employments. There may be a scrupulous preservation of the positive rest, and a total abstinence from business and unholy amusement, but with little spiritual advantage. The refreshment of the body is one reason for the institution of a weekly rest ; but, according to its primitive destination, it must be such a rest from secular labours as will minister to the nou- rishment of the soul. The day, then, cannot be worthily consecrated, unless it be hallowed by the exercises of piety and devotion. Lamentable is the misemployment of the sacred season, if it does not excite the religious feelings which it is so peculiarly fitted to cherish and improve. Being chiefly intended for the cultivation of those prin- ciples of holiness without which an inheritance SECT. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 397 cannot be obtained among the saints in light, if it is not employed suitably to this object, the principal design of the institution is frustrated, and the most valuable of its benefits forfeited. It remains, therefore to inquire into the nature of the lioly services in which Christians are to en- gage, that they may convert the day to the uses of a pious edification. From this primary and general design of the sabbatical institution, arises the indispensable duty of public worship. The divine command to keep the seventh day holy, implies that some- thing holy is to be performed on it, and in Chris- tian holiness a public expression of prayer and thanksgiving is an essential ingredient. It was intended, by commemorating the stupendous mer- cies of the Tri-une God in the creation of the world, and the redemption of man, to encourage the holy preparation of heart which becomes the expectants of eternity. Because the Divine Be- ing rested on this day from the work of creation, he sanctified it ; from which it is evident that the exemption from worldly toil is to be instrumental to a spiritual and hallowed service. Rest is enjomed, but the end and object of it is the advancement of religion ; and a vacancy from employment is commanded, to afford an opportu- nity of attendance to spiritual things. But there can be no serious attention to the things which 398 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. belong unto our salvation, no sincere religion without a devout participation in the public ser- vices of the church. A diligent and constant attendance upon the public worship of God, is a duty repeatedly incul- cated in the sacred Scriptures % Our Saviour promised his especial presence and blessing when- ever two or three are gathered together in his name ^ ; he instituted two sacraments, the cele- bration of which requires a public service " ; and he appointed a standing ministry to publish the gospel to the world, which can only be in Chris- tian assemblies \ We are commanded not to for- sake the assembling ourselves together ^ ; and the Holy Spirit enjoins men to '' pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubt- ing *^; a compliance with which must be more especially incumbent on the day which the Lord hath separated from all others to be the means of holiness to his servants. If public worship be an indispensable duty, its exercise on the Lord's day is necessary, for on no other has the greater part ' Deut. xxxi. 12. Ps. v. 7. — xxvi. 6, 7, S. — xcv. 6. — xcvi. 9. — xcvii. 3. Matt, xviii. 20. James i. 22. ^ Matt, xviii. 20. * Matt, xxviii. 19. Luke xxii. 19. * Matt, xxviii. 20. Luke x. 2. 2 Tim. ii. 2. * Heb. X. 25. ^ 1 Tim. ii. 8. SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 399 of mankind leisure for its performance. The prescribed cessation of labour must have been with a view that men might, on one day in the week, give heed to spiritual and eternal things ; and if it be claimed by the Lord as peculiarly his own day, it follows as a natural consequence, that some portion of it must be devoted to the public praise and adoration of the Lord of Hosts. The offices of piety to God form the great business of the day ; a business equally interest- ing to every age, rank, and distinction ; and from the perpetual obligation of which no age, rank, or distinction can be exempt. In the church, then, should every Christian take his place on the Lord's day. The rich should come to be admo- nished of their danger, and the poor to be com- forted in their affliction ; the wise to be reminded of the most invaluable truths, and the ignorant to be instructed in their duty ; the pious to offer up the incense of gratitude, and the sinful to prostrate themselves in penitence and supplica- tion. All mankind being bound to a public con- fession of their dependence upon God, to a pub- lic supplication for the pardon of their trespasses, and to a public expression of praise and thanks- giving for all the blessings of heaven, none can forsake the assembling themselves together, with- out incurring a high degree of criminality. " Pri- vate devotion," says Bishop Horsley in the Ser- 13 400 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. mons so often referred to, "is the Christian's daily duty : but the peculiar duty of the sabbath is public worship." For the performance of this duty there is re- quired a conscientious attendance upon all the parts and offices of religious worship. Prayer and supplication, thanksgiving and praise, parti« cipation of the Lord's Supper, and reverent attention to the Word of God read or preached, will successively be the transporting employment of the devout worshipper at the shrine of his Creator. The hour and place of assembling, the ceremonies necessary in order to secure proper decorum in divine worship, the order in which its several parts are to succeed each other, the ritual to be observed, and other circumstances connected with the public services of religion, must be left to the regulation of ecclesiastical rulers ; and it is the part of Christian humility to comply with the forms, and rites, and services of the community to which he belongs. Every church having a right to prescribe the terms of its communion, all its members are to conform to those ceremonial ordinances which it enjoins for the more effectual advancement of religion. Some mode of conducting public worship must be estabhshed in every congregation ; and in this country of freedom and toleration, every indivi- dual is at liberty to join himself to whatever de- SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 401 nomination of Christians he may conscientiously prefer ; but, under some form or other, the adora- tion of the Deity remains an indispensable duty. If divine worship be the proper business of the day, no believer in Revelation can be unneces- sarily absent, without offending the Almighty Being, who has commanded the sabbath to be kept holy. The high and spiritual delights arising from the discharge of this duty, might seem sufficient inducement to its regular performance. In re- nouncing for a season the business and pleasure of the world, the mind at ease and unfettered indulges the ardour of its devotion ; an ardour that is the parent of the most ennobling senti* ments, and that lifts it for a time beyond the nar- row precincts of terrestrial nature. Joined with fellow Christians in the same devout exercises, with bosoms inspired with the same hopes, and responding to the same exalted feelings, the heart, as it bounds in rapturous communion with God, anticipates the pure joys of heaven. In the ex- citement thus given to the virtuous energies of moral beings, the soul is purified from the pollu- tions of earth, and elevated almost to a level with those spotless and ethereal intelligences who inhabit a brighter and eternal world. In these moments of devout fervency is realized the pro- mise of the Deity, to bring those who keep the Dd 402 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH, [[CHAP. VI. sabbath from polluting it, to his holy mountain and to make them joyful in his house of prayer ^ Those who have ever experienced these feelings of sacred transport will exclaim, " O come, let us sing unto the Lord : let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joy- ful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods ''." Of all the duties in which rational creatures can be engaged, that of social worship is most powerfully adapted to cherish the growth of genuine piety. The fervour attending it, the solemnity with which it is performed, and the recollections which it calls up, are calculated to stimulate our love and veneration for the Deity. In devout abstraction from worldly cares and pur- suits, the mind dwells entire and undivided upon heavenly things ; it is absorbed in spiritual thought ; and sees with clearness and force the perfections of God as displayed in the works of creation and redemption. The blessings of sal- vation purchased by the atoning sacrifice of Christ, are contemplated with that deep interest which attaches the heart in gratitude to its Re- deemer. A pardoning God, an interceding Sa- viour, a sanctifying Spirit, are presented to the X Isa. Ivi. 7 '' Ps. xcv. 1—3. SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 403 view, surrounded with all the attributes which can win our affections, and command our adora- tion. Along with meek reverence to the ever- blessed Trinity, is awakened a sentiment of uni- versal kindness and benevolence to man. What is more august, more affecting, more adapted to excite the feelings of brotherly affection, than the appearance of a full assembly of fellow-creatures in humble prostration before the throne of the Most High ? All ranks and conditions being united in one common service, and a service sti- mulating the best affections of human nature, are drawn towards each other by the influence of sympathy and mutual regard. They are assem- bled together as members of the same family, as children of the same Parent, acknowledging the same wants, trusting in the same Saviour, and aiming at the same end by means which rarely fail, when duly applied, to melt the heart to unbounded charity. Who ever departed the company of the faithful, worshipping in the house of prayer, without experiencing a fresh stimulus to his piety towards God, and his bene- volence to man ? Nor is it reasonable to doubt that the sabbati cal exercises of devotion are attended with the especial favour of God. Our Lord dignified by his presence, and distinguished by his grace, the septenary day of his resurrection ; and the same D d 2 404 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. day of the week, at the feast of Pentecost, was signalized by the miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost. The apostles, in obedience to the com- mand of their divine Master, " continued in fel- lowship, and in prayer, and in breaking of bread ;" and when assembled sung " psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs '." Many promises are made by the Almighty to devout prayer and supplica- tion ^ ; all of which apply to public worship on the Lord's day ; and this is agreeable to the de- claration at the first institution of the sabbath. When God appropriated the seventh day to him- self, he also ** blessed it," that is, promised to annex his special blessing to the pious observance of it. If we devote it to religious exercises, he has thus engaged to accept the homage which we ofier to him in sincerity and truth. The Supreme Lord will then be propitious to the prayers of his faithful people ; he will graciously accept the offerings of contrite hearts, shedding abroad upon them the influence of his Spirit, when they par- ticipate in the ordinances he has prescribed. So favourably does he regard public worship, that his blessing is bestowed upon the punctual discharge ' Actsii. 42. Ephes. v. 19. '' Deut. iv. 7. Ps. Ixv. 2. — Ixxxvi. 5. Isa. xxx. 19. Jer. xxix. 12.— xxxiii. 3. Joel ii. 32. Zecli. xiii. 9. Matt. vii. 8. Rom. X.12, 13. 1 Tun.ii. 8. James v. IC. Revel, v. 8. — viii. 3, 4 ; and other places. SliCT. 1I.]3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 405 of this duty. Let all, therefore, who confide in the Word of God, accept the opportunities of public worship as a valuable boon ; let them re- gard " the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ;" let them esteem " one day in his courts better than a thousand ;" so will they obtain the divine favour and protection, which can alone enable them to gain the crown of glory that fadeth not away. The time, the place, and the mode of divine worship, are discussions foreign from the object of this work, which proposes only to ascertain the general duty, leaving the particular ritual observances to be determined by each national church ; but the subject of evening Lectures is so identified with the public edification of the Lord's day, and has of late been so pressed upon the public attention, that I cannot forbear to offer a few observations. The hour of holding public assemblies, being no where prescribed in the sacred Scriptures, must be determined by fthe authority of the church, upon those general principles which ap- ply to every other question of religious expedi- ency. The evils resulting from evening meetings in villages and small towns are so evident, so pre- ponderating over the good, that the most stre- nuous advocates of Sunday evening lectures are unanimous in confining them to cities and larger 406 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [CHAP. VI. towns, where the custom has now become almost universal. Many sensible and reflecting persons still remain adverse to the plan, which, it must be acknowledged, is liable to some abuses of too obvious a nature to escape observation. It must also be conceded to the opponents of the prac- tice, that the time might be spent to a much more profitable purpose in the private and domes- tic exercises of religion. Those who have attended divine service morning and afternoon, if they were earnestly seeking the spiritual advantage of their souls, might be much better employed at home than in attending a public lecture. So great a proportion of the day being occupied in external duties, leaves too little time for secret prayer and private meditation, which are so need- ful to the cultivation of a rational and manly piety. Nothing is gained, though much may be lost by the performance of one duty at the ex- pense of another, equally, or perhaps more im- portant. If families, after the regular attendance on public worship, fulfilled the domestic require- ments of the sabbath, they would derive from it far greater benefit than from the instruction of an evening preacher. But, admitting this, the existing habits of the people, and the present state of religion in our own country, evince the expediency of evening lectures in extensive and populous towns. SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 407 A general invitation is by these means given to the performance of sacred duties, which, of itself, must have some effect in preserving a sense of religion among the people ; and many are indu- ced to join in them, who would otherwise pass the time in those haunts of idleness and dissipa- tion with which every large town abounds. To some classes, as those occupied in menial and other indispensable offices, the evening is the most convenient season for divine worship ; while still more absent themselves from the afternoon service in pursuit of recreation. Those who by the habits of modern life are prevented from the public worship of the morning, are unfortunately numerous ; and who would sternly condemn them, if, after labouring six days, they seek relax- ation and amusement in the afternoon of the seventh ? Among them are multitudes virtuously and piously inclined, who would accept it as a valuable boon, if, at the close of the day, they were provided with the means of performing their devotions in the temples of the Lord. From one cause or other a large proportion of mankind, and many, it is to be feared, of those who con- sider themselves Christians, neglect the private exercises of religion, for which the returning sab- bath affords the opportunity and the encourage- ment. To such the evening lecture becomes the medium of spiritual edification ; a medium less 408 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. valuable, indeed, than that of private devotion, but still to be commended, inasmuch as it is the only channel of communicating instruction to characters of this description. That it has at the same time a tendency to foster the too pre- valent disposition to rely on the external duties of religion, is unquestionably true. Many have an undivided attachment to the public means of grace, and would take delight in spending the whole of the Lord's day in attendance upon favourite preachers ; a spirit which has descended, though with much softening and abatement, from the age of puritanism ; and an additional service in the churches gives scope for its additional indulgence. For this there is no other remedy than to inculcate, with the more earnestness, the necessity of sacred exercises in private ; and that, highly as the public means of grace are to be esteemed, they ought not to be embraced to the exclusion of domestic piety. But the mis- chiefs arising from this source, and 1 am not in- sensible to their magnitude, are far from out- weighing the advantages of opening the doors of the churches, for public devotion, at an hour most convenient to great numbers who belong to Christ's fold. Experience proves that multitudes are ready to attend evening worship, and if the doors of the national churches be closed, those of the SECT. II. 3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 409 meeting-houses will be open, by which means numbers may be led to desert the pale of the Establishment. Except evening lectures are adopted by the established clergy, the dissenters are left upon the vantage ground, of which they well know how to avail themselves ; and such services, whether strictly accordant with the ori- ginal discipline of the Anglican church or not, seem a necessary accommodation to the temper and spirit of the age. Many churchmen, when their own places of worship are closed, will not scruple to enter the dissenting chapel, which rarely fails to alienate their affections from the Establishment, and commonly ends in seceding from its communion. In saying this I am not actuated by that sensitive alarm which pervades the minds of many concerning the stability of the National Church, for, so far from being in danger, I am persuaded that her influence has been for years on the increase, and is daily increasing. It is not meant to palliate that schismatical spirit by which sects and heresies are multiplied in end- less disorder. He who separates from the Esta- blished Church without candid inquiry, without careful deliberation, and conscentious motives, is guilty of a crime condemned by every principle of law, of reason, and of religion. But whether the separation be without cause, or arise from the honest conviction of the mind, there is no ade- 410 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. CCHAP. VI. quate judge besides that omniscient Being who can distinguish the secrets of the heart. No one can be blind to the evils of schism ; they are nevertheless so mitigated by that charity and for- bearance which result from a free toleration, so diminished by counteracting good, so compensa- ted by rousing the energies and awakening the vigilance of the clergy, that, if it were possible to produce a perfect unanimity in religious opi- nions, a contemplative mind might well hesitate as to its expediency. Knowing from the page of history the lamentable consequences arising from a powerful, indolent, slumbering Hierarchy, we can scarcely desire the total abolition of that which imposes the necessity of an active and faithful discharge of the clerical functions. " Differences of opinion, (says Dr. Paley,) when accompanied with mutual charity, which Chris- tianity forbids them to violate, are for the most part innocent, and for some purposes useful. They promote inquiry, discussion, and know- ledge. They help to keep up an attention to religious subjects, and a concern about them, which might be apt to die away in the calm and silence of universal agreement. I do not know that it is in any degree true, that the influence of religion is the greatest, where there are the fewest dissenters'." But whatever benefits accrue to ' Evidences of Christianity, P. 3. cap. vii. SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 411 the church from the stimulus of opposition, they are only felt so long as the dissenting interest is restricted within proper bounds ; beyond these it produces all the deplorable effects which follow a contention for superiority, heightened and em- bittered by the asperity of theological hatred. When two hostile religions are so nearly and equally balanced as to enter into a rivalry for power, the unhappy country is exposed to some of the sorest evils with which it can be visited, the evils of an interminable discord the most fierce and unrelenting. To avoid a persecuting and vindictive contest, it appears the wisest plan the Legislature can adopt, to sanction one, and allow a free toleration of the rest, as in this kingdom. Now to preserve the ascendancy of the Protestant religion established in these realms, the members of the church, and particularly the clergy, must be careful not to lose, through neglect and su- pineness, the advantages they enjoy, nor to yield to their opponents in that activity and zeal which can alone ensure the stability of the ecclesiastical constitution. If the doors of the churches are closed in the evening, while those of the meeting- houses are open, many of our flocks, through a disposition to roam, or in a vain search of more luxuriant pastures, will be seduced to wander from our folds. It were indeed to be wished that believers 412 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI, would attend the canonical hours of divine wor- ship, and devote the remainder of the day to the private duties of religion, and to those innocent recreations so necessary to the refreshment of nature. In privacy and retirement, in devout reading, meditation and prayer, the soul disen- gages itself from the grovelling objects of the world, and increases in that penitence and faith, that relish for spiritual things, which become the aspirants to a blessed immortality. But little can he know of the human heart, who expects that the bulk of professing Christians will employ their sabbath leisure in so useful and holy a man- ner. Allured by the dreams of pleasure, immersed in the pursuits of business or ambition, the great- er part of mankind occupy but few of those sa- cred hours in preparation for that moment which must launch them into eternity. Some mitigation of this evil is provided by evening lectures, whi- ther numbers are attracted, to whom, whatever may be the motive of resorting there, some good impressions are generally imparted, and of whom many would otherwise waste the precious time in thoughtless mirth, or unhallowed indulgences. When it is considered that multitudes go to the lecture who would else devote the evening to pleasure or vice ; and that still more receive spi- ritual instruction, which they would else neglect, we must needs approve of those services, though SECT. 11.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 413 attended with some disadvantages, by which the profligate are invited to repentance, the thought- less are reminded, the negligent are stirred up, and a tribute of praise and worship is offered to the Creator. It was very generally the custom of the primi- tive Christians to hold their religious assemblies in the night-time. But their example in this par- ticular instance is the less applicable to us, inas- much as they were compelled to it through the violent persecutions of those times. They met in the morning before day-break, or in the even- ing after sun-set, and in these assemblies the Scriptures were read, prayers offered up, dis- courses delivered, and all the sacred rites of the new religion were performed. Though it was necessity which at first gave rise to this practice, it was continued in after ages, partly out of con- venience, partly from an honest intention of keep- ing alive the flame of devotion, and partly from that spirit of ascetic and monastic piety which began to creep in at an early period of the church. These nocturnal assemblies gave occa- sion to the enemies of the faith to calumniate and asperse the Christians, as practising deeds which were only fit to be veiled under the cloak of darkness. The truth is, that their meetings being regulated according to circumstances, va- ried in different places ; and therefore, while their 414 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI authority fully recognizes the duty of public worship, it cannot fairly be extended to the hour and place of assembling ■". But to whatever conclusion we may come re- specting the utility of Sunday evening lectures, the obligation and benefit of public worship are clearly deducible from the divine records of Chris- tianity. Yet it is but too common to hear the most vain and idle pretences alleged, to varnish over the neglect of a duty, ascertained by many express injunctions of Scripture, by the prohibi- tion not to forsake the assembling ourselves toge- ther, by the example of our Saviour, of the apos- tles, of the martyrs ; by the propriety of joining the faithful in the participation of the holy sacra- ments, by the necessity of receiving the public instructions of the ministry, and by the happy effects which the proper performance of it never fails to produce upon the heart. No other ser- vice which gratitude inspires to the Creator so edifies and elevates the soul, as the mingling with our fellow-creatures in sacred communion with heaven. No other service is so well calculated, both to cherish in ourselves, and by the force of "' This subject is amply treated by Bingham, Christian Antiq. lib. iii. cap. ix. and x. ; lib. xx. cap. ii. § 8, et seq. See also Mede, E2nst. GG. in Works, p. 80 ; Cave, Primitive Christianity, P. 1. cap. vii. ; Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. Cent. II. P. 2. cap. iv. §8. 3 SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 415 sympathy and example to excite in others, the warmest sentiments of piety. Nor should the force of example be forgotten ; for, if we absent ourselves, without just cause, from the ministra- tions of the church, the thoughtless will thereby be confirmed in their levity, the profane in their impiety ; and if the example of such neglect should become general, it would bring on, as its inevitable consequence, the decay of public wor- ship, and along with it, of all true religion in the nation. It is melancholy to reflect that so many, who bear the name of Christians, should act in direct opposition to a duty, not more profitable than delightful. Resenting even the imputation of infidelity, and professing a reverence for the truths of Revelation, they yet, without cause and without scruple, arbitrarily absent themselves from the house of God. The exercise required for the preservation of health, the relaxation ne- cessary to the spirits, the little effect produced on the morals of those who frequent the sanctuary, the inutility of hearing doctrines and precepts which are universally received, the more advan- tageo,us employment of the time at home ; these are the alleged grounds for non-attendance on public worship, and they are so futile, so easily repelled, that they must appear, upon a little con- sideration, to be nothing better than subterfuges. 416 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VL A mere empty excuse, which those who utter it can scarcely believe in sincerity, will not exte- nuate the guilt of such as spurn the high privi- lege of worshipping God in the beauty of holi- ness. If we are commanded to offer up our adorations with all our hearts, and minds, and strength, nothing remains on our parts but unli- mited obedience; and the strongest reason can alone form a justifiable plea even for its tempo- rary neglect. How deeply criminal, then, are those who, for some silly diversion, some short- lived indulgence, or some pretence equally frivo- lous, refuse to join in the congregation of be- lievers. This cannot, perhaps, be characterized as an irreligious age ; but crowds are every where seen, who remain disobedient to the heavenly call ; whom no advice, no persuasion, no example can induce to assemble in the temples of the Lord. What a contrast to the spirit and practice of the primitive believers in Christianity, when, as Jerome observes, "the blood of our Lord and Saviour was yet warm, and the new faith yet fer- vent in the bosoms of believers "." Not contented with the private homage of piety, they were zea- lous and constant in attendance upon the solem- " " Quando Domini nostri adhuc calebat cruor, et fervebat recens in credentibus fides." Ep. ad Demet. SECT. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 417 nities of public worship. No worldly object, no personal engagement, nothing in short but sick- ness and absolute necessity, detained them from appearing in the public assemblies. Neither dan- ger, nor difficulty, nor even persecution could abate their zeal for the public worship on the Lord's day ; for when, in those calamitous times, they could not meet by day, they held nocturnal assemblies either early in the morning, or in the evening. No light excuses were then admitted for a voluntary absence from the congregation ; but they thronged together in happy and delight- ed troops, excited by the hopes of spiritual bless- ings, and exulting in the opportunity of offering the tribute of adoring praise to the Supreme Lord". With the duties of public prayer must be joined a due attention to the private offices of religion. There is not a more mistaken sentiment, though unhappily too common, than to imagine that we have fulfilled the obligations of the sabbath, when ° See the circumstantial account of their religious assemblies in Tertullian, Apol. § 39. Also Justin Martyr as before cited, p. 295. On the subject of divine worship in the primitive church, besides the ecclesiastical historians, see Cave, Primitive Christianity, P. l.cap. vii. ; Bingham, Christian Antiquities, \\h. XX. cap. ii. ; Bishop White, Treatise on the Sabbath, p. 213, et seq. ; Lord King, Enquiry into the Primitive Church, P. 2. cap. i. and ii. £ e 418 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. we have assembled together in the courts of the Lord's house. An attendance on the public ser- vice of the church is indispensable; but the remaining portion of the sacred hours must also be disposed of in such a way as will perpetuate and confirm the devout impressions which are there made. It is not a part of the morning and evening that is to be sanctified by the grateful homage of man, but the whole day. Throughout each succeeding division it is to be kept holy, not indeed precisely in one and the same manner, but, however varied, that object is never to be lost sight of, and every inward meditation, and outward performance, every thought, word, and deed, should be inscribed with the character of holiness to the Lord. Even those moments which indulgent Providence allows for relaxa- tion, must be given to such recreations alone as wear a complexion in some degree correspond- ing to the solemnity of a sacred festival. Of little avail will it be to visit the temple of God, if we carry not from thence feelings so refined, affections so warmed, and views so spiritual- ized, as will give a tone of piety to the heart during the remainder of the day, and throughout the week. Tiie principles of Christian godliness are not to glide from the mind as soon as we have quitted the consecrated altar of the Deity. They must be carried away into retirement, into the SECT, ir.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 419 midst of our families and our homes, where the flame of devotion which has been kindled in the Lord's house, is to be kept alive by those holy exercises, which, under the divine blessing, may become effectual in enlivening our faith into a steady principle of action ^ The private duties of the Lord's day may be described generally as all those pious exercises which contribute to the spiritual advancement of man, and for the practice of which the weekly rest furnishes the opportunity and the means. To delineate them minutely, and to define their nature and limits is impossible, since they must of necessity vary according to the habits, and pur- suits, and dispositions of men. It is but little accordant with wisdom to attempt a complete specification of those domestic and personal duties, which must be partly regulated by every person's own judgment and conscience. But without meaning to invade the privileges of Christian liberty, it may not be amiss to throw together a few reflections upon the private obligations of the sabbath, as they respect families individually and collectively. Among the most important of the religious p Cultus Deorum est optumus idemque eastissimus atque sanctissimus plenissimusque pietatis, ut eos semper pura, inte- gra, incorrupta et mente et voce veneremur. Cicero, De Nat, Deor, lib, ii. cap. xxviii. ed. Davies. E e 2 420 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. duties which every one is bound to perform in secrecy, is private prayer ; the devout practice of which, as it is incumbent every day of the week, so is it particularly on the Lord's. It is a neces- sary preparation in order that we may profit to the full extent by the public means of grace. Our minds must be disposed by secret prayer for the high and heavenly purposes for which we enter the sanctuary, or the celestial seed there sown will be scattered upon a barren and unpro- ductive soil ; and, when we retire, we must seek in humble supplication for the dew of the divine blessing, without which the good seed will never ripen into the fruits of righteousness. By these means alone can we secure the spiritual advantages of an attendance on the public ministrations of religion, or return to our homes with the answer of a good conscience towards God. There are many things peculiar to every individual's own case, many sins to bewail, many blessings to ask, many special favours to acknowledge, which, as they cannot be mentioned with propriety in the hearing of others, must form the subject of sup- plication and thanksgiving in the retirement of the closet. The pouring out our personal wants in secret, attended, as it ever must be, by reflec- tions and feelings the most interesting, produces a warmth and earnestness of supplication, which grow more ardent the nearer the heart is drawn SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 421 to its Creator. In privacy the pious soul may give a loose to all the fervours of devotion, which in the presence of the congregation, would be indecorous, and subject the worshipper to the imputation of doing it to be seen of men. Under the inspection of no eye but that of God, who spies out all our ways, and understands our thoughts long before they are conceived, the more fervent our devotions, the more acceptable they are, because as hypocrisy would be useless, they must originate in earnestness and sincerity. The specious dissembler, and the self-righteous for- malist, are strangers to that secret devotion which seeks no v/itness but approving heaven, and which, unobserved by human gaze, maintains a high and spiritual intercourse with the great First Cause. The value of private prayer is proved by its influence in deepening the impressions of religion on the mind. The intensity of feeling, of thought, of recollection, which attends the right perform- ance of it, is calculated to rivet the attention upon things divine and immortal. The imagination is elevated with awful ideas of the power, majesty, and goodness of the Deity, who dwells in unut- terable glory, possessed of infinite and eternal perfections, of dominion before which the most exalted of created intelligences must bow, of ho- liness so immaculate, that the heaven of heavens 422 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. are not pure in his sight, yet overlooks not the children of the dust, but condescends to dwell with the humble and contrite. Ideas so lofty, and contemplations so awakening, leave a vividness and solemnity upon the mind which will seldom expire with the utterance of the prayer that gave them birth. In the secret breathing of the soul to God, every object which is presented, and every sentiment which is excited, tends to foster the devout affections, and thereby to confirm the principles of piety in the heart. By an acknow- ledgment of our wants, weakness, and transgres- sions, we feel our dependence upon God: our souls are bent with a deep and reverential humi- lity, and, convinced of our own frailty and imper- fections, we perceive both the necessity of divine grace, and the worth of the Redeemer's sacrifice. Fully impressed with this belief, we are melted into a deeper gratitude for the mercies of salva- tion, into a warmer love to God, into a sincerer attachment to the truths of revelation, which must have a corresponding influence on the con- duct. And this effect is powerfully assisted by the solitude to which the petitioner retires, and which, by its freedom from the distraction of external objects, is adapted to feed the flame of pure, spiritual, and hallowed devotion. " Solitude, (says Blair,) is the hallowed ground which reli- gion hath in every age chosen as her own. There SECT. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 423 her inspiration is felt, and her secret mysteries elevate the soul." Private prayer, in addition to many advantages not attainable in public worship, is urged in the sacred oracles as an indispensable duty. " When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly''." Much encouragement is afforded by the practice of the patriarchs and saints recorded in the sacred history. Jacob made a vow to God at Bethel ' ; David prayed at morn, at noon, and at evening ^ ; Daniel was constant in supplication ' ; and men- tion is made of the private devotions of St. Paul, St. Peter, and Cornelius ". It receives a superior sanction from the example of our blessed Lord, who frequently retired to solitude to hold com- munion with the Father \ Secret prayer, then, is never to be omitted, especially on that day which Jehovah has claimed for his own immediate worship. Whether the Christian fills the highest rank, or moves in the bustle of a busy world, or lives in the peaceful vale of retirement, he must "J Matt. vi. 6. ' Gen. xxviii. 20. ' Ps. Iv. 17. * Dan. vi. 11. " Actsix. 11.— X. 9,30. ' Matt. xiv. 23.— xxvi. 36. Mark i. 35. Luke vi. 12. 424 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI, not neglect the duties of solitude. They are efficacious means of that grace, of which they are the most incontestible evidence. Without the regular practice of the silent unobserved de- votion of the closet, the spirit of genuine religion will evaporate. The holy principles of faith which have been planted by the external minis- tration of the Word, will be extinguished by the cares, and pleasures, and attractions of the world, unless they are kept alive by private prayer and meditation. It is in these devout offices of pri- vacy that our hopes are enlivened, our thoughts sobered, our passions chastised, our resolutions strengthened, our faith confirmed. We return from this delightful communion with God, invi- gorated and refreshed for the discharge of every duty. Retirement devoutly improved supplies nutriment to the Christian graces, which else would languish and die. It raises the soul above all low-born cares and anxieties about temporal things, and causes an evenness of temper, a cha- ritableness of disposition, and a purity of mind, which form the fruits and ornaments of a life of faith. Without prayer we cannot be Christians, and those who are in earnest to hold fast the be- lief into which they have been baptized, and are sincerely desirous of making it the rule of their conduct through the blessing of heaven, ought to practise it with punctuality and zeal in the silent hours of retirement. SECT. II 0 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 425 But essential as secret prayer is to genuine religion, there are not wanting impediments, which, in too many instances, combine to inter- rupt or prevent its performance. Nature is of itself reluctant towards a duty which, by teaching the littleness of humanity, and its dependance upon heavenly aid for strength, strips it of the robe of proud self-sufficiency. The cares, and business, and pleasures of the world seize upon the thoughts, till the mind is often too much abstracted by their fascinations to give heed to things spiritual and divine. The oppositions which are without, and the temptations which are within, continually allure and distract, while the apostate spirit, in mahgnant enmity to man, uses every artifice to withdraw him from the service of God. The zeal and fervour of our devotions will sometimes engender a Pharisaic pride ; and the very regularity of their performance is apt to produce indifference and formality. A latent persuasion also will occasionally force itself upon the mind, that, as God searches the heart, if sin- cere piety be there, all outward expressions of it are superfluous. To surmount these obstacles, and to bow the knee in private prayer, without wandering or lukewarmness, requires constancy and resolution ; but where these exist, it is one of the most effi- cacious means of ratifying the union of the soul 426 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. fCHAP. VI. with its Creator. A reward of sufficient magni- tude is held out for the sincere devotion of pri- vacy, both in its efficacy as the preservative of true religion, and in the promise of our Redeemer, that the Father, who seeth in secret, will reward it openly \ For all the difficulties and resistan- cies with which we may have to struggle in the execution of this duty, there will be an adequate return, a gracious retribution, if not in this stage of being, certainly in another, and openly before men and angels. The prayers of Cornelius came up for a memorial before God "^ ; and those of the faithful Christian will ascend as a cloud of incense to the throne of the Most High. Every tear of penitent sorrow, every secret ejaculation of piety, every hidden aspiration of the heart to its Maker, will augment the brilliancy of the heavenly crown. Encouraged by such benignant promises, it ought to be our fixed, unalterable resolve, whatever im- pediments may obstruct, to persevere in pouring out earnest and frequent addresses to our Al- mighty Father. The same mind should be in us which was in Christ Jesus, who upon all occasions displayed a deep, fixed, and unceasing piety. He frequently betook himself to visible devotion, retiring to the lonely mount, or solitary plain, where, apart from his companions, he spent whole ^ Matt. vi. 6. '■ Acts x. 4. SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 427 nights in prayer. " Let all who feel their hearts impregnated with religious fervour, remember this example ; remember that this disposition of the heart ought to vent itself in actual prayer ; let them not either be afraid nor ashamed, nor suffer any person, nor any thing, to keep them from this holy exercise. They will find the devout dispositions of their souls strengthened, gratified, confirmed V As the sacred Scriptures do not say whether extemporaneous or pre-composed prayers are to be used, the Christian is at liberty to choose either, or both, according as he may deem it most to his personal advantage. With respect to the frequency of private prayer, the Scriptures are equally silent. The morning, indeed, when we rise from the repose of sleep to the engagements of the day, and the evening, when these engage- ments are over, appear the fittest seasons for the regular exercises of private devotion ; but a mind deeply imbued with piety will, at other times of the day, as occasion offers, devote a few moments to so holy and refreshing a purpose. The truth, however, is, the sacred Scriptures give no parti- cular directions as to the frequency, and the length of private prayer; nor does our apostolical church ■ Dr. Paley, in his admirable Sermon on " Prayer in imita- tion of Christ." 4^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. assume the power to determine them. While they declare that every believer is bound to this duty by the most sacred obligations, they leave him to perform it in the way which he esteems most conducive to his spiritual good. We may, therefore, advise, we may recommend certain modes and times, but to urge them as a plain duty is to infringe the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. They are matters which must in part be accommodated to personal feelings and convenience ; but he who is sincerely anxious to comply with the Scriptural admonitions to " pray always," to *'pray without ceasing," and to " continue instant in prayer," will ever, even in the busiest life, find leisure for secret devotion. If there be only a fervent desire, opportunities will not be wanting. And in the discharge of this duty, the errors to be guarded against are, ostentation on the one hand, and a self-righteous spirit on the other. When the least particle of parade mingles with our prayers, or whenever they nourish the propensity to which human na- ture is too prone, of deeming ourselves holier than others, our offerings are a polluted service, and we come under the condemnation of those hypocrites who have received their reward ^ Pri- vate devotion must be exercised in the strictest " Matt. vi. 5. SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 429 secrecy, withdrawn from the eye of the world, and with fervour, with humility, with singleness of heart ; and whenever we kneel down under the influence of these feelings, God, without being extreme to mark either our errors, or our igno- rance in asking, will graciously accept the homage of our humbled souls. Private prayer is the best preparative for the profitable discharge of another important duty, — the perusal of the sacred Scriptures. Other books will entertain, will gratify curiosity, will delight the imagination, will warm the affections; they may even do more ; they may afford instruction, enlighten the understanding, exalt the sentiments, and improve the heart ; but the Bible, and the Bible alone, contains the words of eternal life. To expatiate on this topic, however delightful and interesting, is the less needful, as no sound Protestant wilL dispute the excellence or the sufficiency of the inspired Writings. But the question with which we are now concerned is, whether believers in their divine origin are under any moral or religious obligation to the frequent perusal of them. That it is not a commanded duty, has been often asserted, even by Protestant writers "" ; and "^ Doederlein unhesitatingly declares, " Lectio Scripturae Sa- crae per se quidem nee necessaria est cuivis homini Christiano 430 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. I am free to admit that it is frequently attempted to be supported by a line of argument strikingly fallacious. As for example, it is argued that Christians are bound to read the sacred Oracles, because they are the celestial fountain of our faith, and the standard of all moral and religious practice ; which appears just as absurd as it would be to infer the necessity of reading the statutes at large, because they regulate the con- duct of men in their civil and political relations. Another argument echoed from mouth to mouth, and copied from book to book in endless succes- sion, is taken from the many benefits which are supposed to accrue from reverently perusing the Bible : but this seems nothing else than that Spe- cies of argument called a begging of the question : for, though Protestants, with few exceptions, are convinced of these benefits, the Romanists will not allow them. And, could they be proved to the satisfaction of every unprejudiced mind, they would not be conclusive ; since many advantages arise from the reading of various publications, yet the perusal of them cannot, on this account, be represented as a religious obligation. It has also ad discendam religionem, nee ulla lege Novi Testamenti jubetur, nisi doctoribus Ecclesice : valde tamen commendari meretur, dummodo in usu populari nee singulas utriusquc Testamenti particulas, parum saepe utiles, nee quamcumque translationem temere et promiscue perlegant." Instit. Theol. Christ. § 50. 10 SECT. II.]3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 431 been said, that, if it has pleased the Almighty to bestow upon mankind a revelation of his will, it becomes their duty to investigate what is thus made known to them. But this is as little satis- factory as the former ; for, since the revelation is entrusted to the church, it may only be design- ed that the truths which it contains should be dispensed through the medium of an established ministry, just as the law of the land, in which all subjects have an interest, is administered by a body of men appropriated to that office. No argument, as it should seem, independent of Revelation, can prove the regular perusal of it to be incumbent upon believers, inasmuch as Revelation alone can inform us, whether it was given for the guidance of all immediately, or ine- diately through the instruction of those who are appointed to minister in spiritual things. It affords, however, convincing evidence that those to whom it is communicated are bound, by the strongest obligations, to search and read its sacred records. The Jews were strictly enjoined to medi- tate on the law of God ^ ; and a fortiori believers in our Redeemer must be obligated to study the Christian Scriptures. Our blessed Lord approved of the practice, as is clear from the injunction which he gave his disciples to " search the Scriptures," ^ Deut. vi. 6—8 ; xi. 18—21. Josh. i. 8. Ps. i. 2. 4-32 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. for, if the original be rendered, not imperatively as in the authorized version, but indicatively, *' ye search the Scriptures," as some prefer, the words still imply his approbation % He constantly referred, in his conferences with the people, to the authority of the Scriptures, which presumes a familiar acquaintance with them on the part of his followers ^ The practice of reading the Scriptures is mentioned by the Apostles with applause and commendation. Thus Timothy is praised because " that from a child he had known the holy Scriptures V' and this before he was ordained to the ministry. The Bereans are said to be " more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so ''." There are also express declarations, which evince the duty of perusing the Scriptures, but which, for brevity's sake, I shall merely refer to in the margin '. An argu- * John V. 39. The indicative sense is supported by Le Clerc, Bengel, Wolfius, Hackspann, Rosenmiiller, Kuinoel, Camp- bell, Lampe, A. Clarke, Schott, Tittmann, &c. ' Matt. xxi. 42 ; xxii, 29 ; xxvi. 54. Luke xvi. 29. John ii. 22 ; vii. 38, 42. ^ 2 Tim. iii. 15. " Actsxvii. 11. ^J Luke i. 1—4. John xx. 31. Rom. xv. 4. 1 Cor. i. 2 ; X. 11. Col. iv. IG. 1 Thes. v. 27. 2 Pet. iii. 1. 1 John ii. I. Jude 3. Rev. i. 3. SECT. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 433 ment equally strong arises from the mode in which the Apostles addressed their epistles. These were directed to "all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:" "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord :" '' To the faithful in Christ Jesus :" *' To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia \" These expressions, and similar ones in other epistles, include every Christian ; and since the Scriptures were thus directed to all, the laity as well as the clergy, an obligation is laid upon all to search and examine them. The reading of the Scriptures by the people is sanctioned by the authority and example of the primitive church. All ranks were allowed the use of the Bible ; and when, in times of persecution, the believers were ordered to deliver up their copies to be burnt, many of both sexes chose rather to suffer death than to part with them. In the earliest ages of our religion the Scriptures were translated into the vernacular languages for the use and instruction of the people. That all the faithful in the primitive times were not only allowed the use of, but were exhorted to peruse "^ Rom. i. 7. 1 Cor. i. 2. Ephes. i. 1. 1 Pet. i. 1. Ff 434 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. the Bible, is an indisputable fact ; and it strongly marks the utility of placing the Scriptures, along with proper guidance, in the hands of all be- lievers K ' The universal use of the Bible in the primitive church is proved by Dr. Scott, Christian Life, vol. v. Diss. 4 ; Du Pin, Prolegomenes sur la Bible, lib. i. cap. ix. §. 1, et seq. ; Bingham, Christian Antiquities, lib. xiii. cap. iv. §. 8. The duty of read- ing the Scriptures is well elucidated, and objections answered, by Dr. Scott, Christian Life, ibid. ; Seeker, Five Sermons on Scripture; and Du Pin in loc. citato, who says, in speaking of the books of the New Testament, " II n'est pas permis a un Chretien de les ignorer." What would a Protestant desire more ? See also Viser, Hermeneut. Sac. in Praenot. The strong attes- tations of the celebrated Father Quesnel in favour of reading the Scriptures, have been often cited ; and many individuals of the Romish persuasion promote the diffusion of the Bible. Nu- merous editions have been printed for the use of the Roman Catholics in France, Germany, and the British Dominions ; the decree in the 4th Session of the Council of Trent respecting the use of the Scriptures, is easily reconcileable with the general circulation of them ; and it requires no great ingenuity to evade the restriction imposed by the Bull Unigenitus ; nor can I find that it forms any part of the Roman Catholic religion to prohi- bit the reading of the Scriptures in an authorized translation : yet the Romish Hierarchy, it is too evident to be denied, do dis- courage the general use of them. (See History of the Jesuits, vol. i. p. 355, et seq. ; vol. ii. p. 401, et seq. 8vo. Lond. 1816.) In perusing the sarcasms at " Bible-reading," and the invectives against " Bible-Christians" and '* Bible-men," which have been lately vented in speeches and pamphlets by Roman Catholics in the sister kingdom, one might suppose oneself carried back to the darkest ages of the church. The reason of this conduct in SECT. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 435 To read, then, and meditate in the volume of inspiration, is an important duty ; but much em- barrassment, it is true, will often arise in the execution of it, principally owing to those diffi- culties, the existence of which is owned by every sober-minded scholar. The sacred records were composed by various persons in remote periods, and in different countries, the necessary result of which is a great diversity of style, imagery, and manner, and a consequent difficulty of interpre- tation. They are written in three languages, Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek ; not Greek in its purity, but idiomatical, sometimes not improperly called Hellenistical ; and, as they have long since ceased to be spoken, except in a corrupt dialect, they camiot be exempt from those doubts and obscurities which attend all dead languages. There are numerous allusions to manners, cus- toms, and opinions, very different from our own, the Roman Catholic priesthood, will readily be perceived by the Biblical student ; but if the Scriptures were given to all, " to wrest the New Testament out of the hands of Christians, or to keep it closed up, is," as the pious Quesnel observes, " to shut the mouth of Christ in respect of them." At the same time I am as fully convinced as the most zealous Romanists, that the indiscriminate perusal of the Bible alone, without note or com-, ment, will never make men wise unto salvation; and that in order to read it profitably, all the external helps must be ap- pKed, which are required by the institutions of Christ, and by tfhe nature of the inspired records thenl&elves. Ff 2 436 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. with many of which we are imperfectly acquainted, so that it is no easy matter to place ourselves in the situation of the several writers, to enter into their views, to appreciate their feelings, to see their drift, and to comprehend their reasonings. Difficulties also arise from the subjects treated of in the sacred writings : historical, prophetical, poetical, religious ; commencing with the creation and fall of man, and developing a scheme of re- demption of such stupendous magnitude and awful mysteriousness, as, in all its parts and bear- ings, to be above the comprehension of the human intellect. From these causes it must often hap- pen that some things will, upon a cursory view, appear contradictory to our notions ; some irre- concileable to each other ; and some inexplicably dark and obscure. Hence there must, in the nature of things, be obscurities in the Bible, and many difficulties must, of necessity, be encountered in its exposi- tion ; but this forms no ground of rational objec- tion ; for it could not be otherwise without the operation of a continued miracle ; and these dif- ficulties, moreover, are attended with several ad- vantages. They form the best internal argu- ments in favour of Revelation, since they consti- tute those characteristic features which fix the composition of the sacred Scriptures to the par- ticular persons and periods to which they are SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 437 assigned. Scripture difficulties likewise stimu- late inquiry ; contribute to the improvement of man's rational nature, by exercising the under- standing ; and afford renewed confirmation of our sinking and wavering faith by their elucidation. And it must not be forgotten, that, amongst the various difficulties with which the Scriptures are acknowledged to abound, there are none w^hich, to a candid mind, will lead to any immorality, or any dangerous error ; and that the Bible is suffi- ciently clear upon all the fundamentals of religion to every willing and ordinary capacity "". As difficulties, then, must exist, and are recon- cileable with the perfection and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, it cannot be derogatory to them to assert that external helps are required for sur- mounting these obstacles. They "are able to make us wise unto salvation ;" but not without we study them with suitable dispositions, and use all necessary means for the explanation of their sacred contents. The Eunuch confessed that he could not understand what he read, except some man should guide him, and gladly received the instruction of Philip ". The admonitions against "false teachers," against "corrupting the word See Benson's valuable Hidsean Lectures on Scripture Dif^ JtcuUies. " Acts viii. 'ZQ, et seq. 438 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. of God," against "handling the word of God deceitfully," against those who " wrest the Scrip- tures to their own destruction," against those *' who concerning the truth have erred," against those " who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake," plainly imply that, without due care and caution, the sacred Writings themselves may be pervert^ ed °. The establishment of a standing ministry by Christ, is satisfactory evidence, that some guidance is necessary to the proper understand- ing of the Scriptures. The appointment itself of the priesthood, implies that something beyond the mere circulation of the letter is requisite for the propagation of genuine Christianity in the world ; and the same truth may be inferred from the want of systematic arrangement in the Scriptures themselves. Every attentive reader of them must be struck with the circumstance of the Christian doctrines being oftener incUrectli/ taught than expressly delivered. Owing to this absence of system, though perfect and sufficient as a rule of faith, they are deficient as to the first teaching of the articles of our creed; from which it follows that the disciples of Christ have need of external assistance in learning the truths therein " 2 Pet. ii. 1. 2 Cor. ii. 17 ; iv. 2. 2 Pet. iii. 16. 2 Tim. ii. 18. Tit. i. 11. SECT. n.'2 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 439 communicated. The Word of God contains all things necessary to salvation ; but it is at the same time requisite to use the means of explain- ing and enforcing it, which are provided in the church of Christ, lest either the weak, or the ig- norant, or the wicked, should " wrest it to their own destruction." What can be more absurd than to put into the reader's hands a book, allowed to be the only guide to heaven and immortality, and yet confessedly of most difficult interpreta- tion, without also furnishing him with the means of understanding it ? " The idea that the bible is easily understood, flatters the self-sufficiency of ignorance and fanaticism ; but the great difficulty attending its interpretation, is a fact too palpable to be denied, except by those who are benighted in the mists of prejudice, or who have never doubted, only because they have never inquired p." Those who devoutly read the sacred Scriptures, and re- flect seriously upon what they read, will not deny the necessity of external guidance, a truth acknow- ledged in all ages, from the composers of the pri- mitive creeds, down to our venerable reformers, who thought it requisite to accompany the Bible with articles and a liturgy. Ascending from Christian individuals to Chris- tian societies, we shall find reason to believe that P Prel. Diss, to Eccles. p. 1 . 440 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. no church can safely reject all external aid, in what it inculcates upon the members of its com- munion. The Church of England lays the grand foundation of her faith upon holy Scripture, which she pronounces, in her sixth Article, to contain all things necessary to salvation ; but at the same time, as Bishop Jebb observes, " she inculcates a liberal, discriminative, yet undeviating reverence for pious antiquity : a reverence, alike sanctioned by reason, inspired by feeling, and recommended by authority. This principle is, in truth, our special characteristic : a principle which has ever enabled our church to combine discursiveness with consistency ; freedom of inquiry, with ortho- doxy of belief; and vigorous good sense, with primitive and elevated piety '^." While the church of Rome maintains two equal and independent authorities for doctrines. Scripture and Tradition, the Anglican church founds her doctrines on the sole authority of Scripture, taking antiquity only ^ Bishop Jebb, Sermons, Append, p. 357. See Dr. Gray, Bampt. Lectures, Serm. 5 ; Bishop V^hite, Treatise on the Sab- bath, p. 11, 12. Compare Bishop Marsh, Comparative View; and see some excellent observations in Hawkins, Dissertation on the use and importance of unauthoritative Tradition : also consult Brett, Tradition necessary to understand the Scriptures. Those who desire to learn what an ingenious Romanist says respecting tradition, may peruse Bossuet, Defense de la Tradition et des Saintes Peres, 2 vols. 12mo. Paris. 1763. SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 441 as a handmaid for assisting in the interpretation of the word of God, and for guidance in matters pertaining to discipline and ceremonies. The former regards tradition as co-equal with, and in some respects paramount to. Scripture ; the latter, though preserving a proper respect for tradition, will only allow it to be subordinate and subser- vient. In this she has steered a wise and prudent course between the extremes of papal adherence to tradition, and the unbounded licence of inter- pretation, indulged by some foreign branches of the Reformation ; thus escaping the evils both of blind submission to authority, and of that unli- mited freedom of private interpretation, from the levelling principle of which have arisen innumer- able wild fanatical conceits, and a host of secta- rian errors. The church of Rome having founded most of her peculiar dogmas upon tradition, many Pro- testants, in their eagerness to mark their abhor- rence of popery, have gone into the opposite extreme of discarding tradition altogether. That this has been followed by very pernicious effects, will be acknowledged by those who are acquaint- ed with the history of biblical interpretation since the Reformation. To reject the authority of the ancient, venerable, universal church, is to reject the most rational guide to the Christian faith. Even Chillingworth, whose principles were 442 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. VI. latitudinarian, declares that the supporters of the reformed religion " are ready to receive both Scripture, and the sense of Scripture, upon the authority of original tradition V The deference which the ancient fathers paid to tradition, must be evident to every one who has examined their writings. They coincide in the sentiment deli- vered in a well-known passage of Vincentius Lirinensis where it is declared, that "Whoever wishes to remain sound and whole in the true faith, must, through the Divine assistance, fortify his faith in a two-fold manner ; first, by the autho- rity of the Divine law, and next by the tradition of the catholic church'." Our own apostolical ^ ChiWrngvi oxi\i, Relig. of Prot. Answer to cap. ii. §. 89. See also Answer to cap. iii. §. 44, et seq. To avoid confusion in reasoning upon this subject, theologians have divided tradition into three kinds, historic, ritual, and dogmatic ; the last being again subdivided into hermeneutic tradition and dogmatic properly so called, or doctrinal. (Doederlein, Insiit. Theol. Christ. ^57. et seq.) We are only at present concerned with the dogmatic, including the tradition of interpretations, and the tradition of doc- trines, which we affirm to be' one of the best guides to scriptural religion. The fundamental error of the church of Rome is, that she receives tradition as a rule of faith co-equal with the Scriptures. ' " Sive ego, sive quis alius vellet exurgentium haereticorum fraudes deprehendere, laqueosque ritare, et in fide sana sanus atque integer permanere, duplici modo, munire fidem suam, Domino adjuvante, deberet : primo scilicet, Divinae Legis auc- toritate ; tum deinde Ecclesiae Catholicse traditione." Vincen- tius, Advers. Hccrcs. cap. i. edit. Baluz. SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 443 church reveres pure and primitive antiquity, next to the holy Scriptures, as is evident from her incomparable liturgy, derived chiefly from the actual forms of the ancient church, and from her constantly referring to the ancient fathers as wit- nesses to the Christian doctrine and worship*. The idea of making Scripture its own interpre- ter, without the admission of foreign help, is one of those modern whims, from which have arisen a multiplicity of opinions, agreeing in nothing but their heterodoxy. In consequence of the many difficulties which Providence has seen fit to admit into the records of revealed truth, some external guidance is necessary to their profitable perusal ; and it is agreeable to right reason to look for it, in the first place, in the traditionary instruction of the church, to which the Scriptures are entrusted as a sacred deposit, and in which there has been a constant succession of Christian teachers. The institution of a standing order of minis- ters by our Lord, points them out to be the dele- gated interpreters of the sacred Books. To this office they are called by virtue of their commis- sion ^0 teach all nations whatsoever our Saviour * See Article 20 ; Prefaces to the Book of Common Prayer ; Homilws passim ; Preface to the Ordaining of Bishops, &c. 12 444 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. hath commanded ". The power of binding and loosing conferred upon the Apostles, must be extended to their successors, the ministers and governors of the church, and by these expressions it is generally allowed, we are to understand, at least in part, an authority to declare the doctrines of Christianity \ Their office as Christian teach- ers is recognized by the Apostle when he asserts that Christ " gave some, apostles ; and some, pro- phets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ \" When St. Paul says to Timo- thy, " I besought thee to abide still in Ephesus, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine," it is evident that Timothy was invested with a power to regulate the faith of the Ephesian churches, over which he was ap- pointed to preside ' ; and the same thing with respect to those in Crete is implied in the admo- nition to Titus, who was bishop there ; " a man that is an heretic, after the first and second admo- nition, rejects" By the description of what a " Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Mark xvi. 15. Compare 1 Tim. iii. 2 ; iv. 11 ; vi. 2. 2 Tim. iv. 2. Tit. ii. 1. * Matt, xviii. 18. Compare ch. xvi. 19. y Ephes. iv. 11, 12. ' 1 Tim. i. 3. a Titus iii. 10. SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 445 bishop ought to be ; " Holding fast the faithful word, as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to con- vince the gainsayers;" and by the direction to Timothy; *' the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also ;" we are led to consider the Christian mi- nistry as intended to be the guardians of Chris- tian truth". The apostle thus writes to the Hebrews : " Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God : whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, — Jesus Christ, the same yes- terday, to-day, and for ever ''." The disciples of Christ are here enjoined to continue in the truth which they receive from their spiritual teachers and governors. From these passages it may assuredly be ga- thered that the Christian ministry are the depo- sitories of sacred truth, which they are appointed to preserve, and faithfully to promulge. They are intended by Divine Providence to be the legi- timate interpreters and expounders of holy writ, and to afford that assistance in learning the truth as it is in Jesus, which, from the nature of the '' Titus i. 9. 2 Tim, ii. 2. ' Heb. xiii. 7, 8. 446 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cttAP. VI. inspired records, the great body of believers must ever stand in need. But this duty imposed upon the ministers of religion, creates a corresponding duty in the people. If the former are appointed " for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the nmiistry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," the latter are to pay them due respect, to receive instruction at their hands, and to reve- rence every lawful exercise of the authority with which Christ has invested them. The true disci- ples, firm in their allegiance to Him who is the Head of the church, will not lightly reject the teaching of the ambassadors of Christ, the minis- ters and stewards of the mysteries of God "^ ; nor will they contemn the authority of " the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth%" Many licentious and ungovernable spirits there are, who spurn all church authority as a spiritual thraldom, to which they disdain to be in bondage. With men of this stamp, who are too self-suffi- cient to seek instruction from others, too rebel- lious to yield submission to the powers that be, " 2 Cor. V. 20. 1 Cor. iv. 1. • 1 Tim. iii. 15. Griesbach, Bengel, Rosenmiiller, Heinrichs (mj edit. N. T. Kojipiana,) and Valckenaar, {Selecta e Scholis, vol. ii. p. 223,) disjoin these two clauses, making a new sentence to commence with " the pillar and ground of the truth," but, in my judgment, improperly. SECT. 11.^]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 447 and too exalted in their own conceits to be open to conviction, I do not mean to hold disputation : I address myself to those of a more sober mind, and more teachable disposition; who submit to propagate the gospel according to the plan of discipline and government instituted by its divine Author. The commission given to the apostles by our blessed Lord was to preach the gospel to every creature ^ ; and in virtue of this authority committed to them, they appointed others to pub- lish the doctrines of their Master, who, in like manner, were empowered to ordain successors in the same office. Christ has promised to be pre- sent by his especial favour and grace, with his visible church, even unto the end of the world ^ Any attempt, therefore, to disseminate the saving truths of religion, either by the mere perusal, or the mere circulation of the bible, are contrary to the method set on foot by our Redeemer, for pro- moting the knowledge of the Lord in the heart, and in the world. If it is not necessary to listen with due submission to the dictates of the church, why did he erect a visible church on earth ? If it is not necessary to instruct believers, why did he institute an order of ministers, with an injunc- tion that it should be perpetuated ? The church, then, " hath power to decree rites and ceremonies, ^ Matt, xxviii. 19. Mark xvi. 15. * Matt, xxviii. 20. 448 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. CciIAP. VI. and authority in controversies of faith," so far as it may go in accordance with God's written word ''. As the church, within these limits, has authority in all matters relating to the Christian faith, the believer is, in every case of difficulty, first to con- sult her as the faithful depository of true reli- gion. The church may be understood both in a restricted, and a more enlarged sense, either as denoting a national and particular church, or as designating the one universal Catholic church of Christ, composed of many branches, situate in different countries, and consisting of various na- tions and languages, which has existed from the beginning, and will continue to exist to the end of time. I speak only of the visible church, not of that which is the mystical body of Christ, which is not an object of sense, which is a society distinguished by characters manifest only to the great Searcher of hearts, and some of whose mem- bers are already in heaven with Christ '. Now those who read the bible with a view to spiritual edification, ought to consult the church in the first sense, namely, the ecclesiastical communion to which they belong, and the decisions of which are to be found in its authorized articles and for- mularies. If qualified by abilities and literary ■• Church Article, 20. ' See Hooker, Eccles. Polity, lib. iii. cap. i. SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 449 acquirements, they are next to collect the judg- ment of the universal church of God> and to investigate what has been the recorded belief from the first ages of pious antiquity, down to those of barbarity and darkness. Instances will often occur where the sense of the church cannot be collected from her public formularies, and recognized decisions ; and in such cases recourse must be had to the assistance of the appointed ministry, whom she commissions to preach and explain the word of God. Quali- fied by education and discipline for this office, they must be supposed not only to be beyond others mighty in the Scriptures, but also to un- derstand them in consistency with the general principles of the church, in which they are or- dained to minister. The sentiments of the cle- rical body, then, though inferior to the public formularies of the church, are an authority of no inconsiderable weight, and to which, being so easily accessible, it is expedient to apply, when- ever difficulties in religious matters arise. Those who regularly attend the ministrations of the clergy, will find most of their doubts, on points of imp^ortance at least, resolved ; and if not, every zealous Clergyman will be glad to afford private advice and assistance in whatever relates to the spiritual concerns of his flock. The unlearned should pay the same deference to the juigment G g 450 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. VI. of their teachers in matters of religion, as they do to that of lawyers and physicians in matters belonging to their professions. In the sense of difficult passages of Scripture, men of limited education should depend upon the instruction of those spiritual guides whom God has placed over them. Such is the leading aid which the humble Christian will call to his assistance in studying the word of God ; but it must ever be kept in mind that it is nothing more than an auxiliary. The sacred Scriptures are the source of all religious truth, and the authority of the church is only subsidiary to its investigation. Highly as it is to be prized, it is still to be esteemed in no other light than as the means of drawing the limpid waters from their pure, original, and celestial fountain. This is the doctrine and discipline of that sound branch of the apostolical church esta- blished in these realms. She proposes to assist, not to supersede the exercise of private judgment. Renouncing the presumptuous claim to infallibi- lity she does not, like the church of Rome, require of her children a blind and bigoted subjection to her decrees; but she bids them use their own reason by an examination of Scripture, and an investigation of antiquity. While she affirms her entire accordance with the word of God, and with the best and purest ages of Christianity, she chal- 7 SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATIt. 45 1 lenges inquiry, claiming, from her competent members, to compare her with that standard of evangelic truth, upon which alone it is her pride and glory to have founded her articles of faith. Hence, in studying the sacred writings, the church is the best, though not an infallible guide *, and every reflecting person will hesitate to inter- pret them in any sense contrary to that which has been put upon them by an authority, ordained by Christ, and to which he has promised his continued presence and protection ^ Were the church a merely human constitution, a man of common candour must naturally distrust his own judgment, when it leads to conclusions opposed to those which have been approved by the most able, most judicious, and most enlightened cha- racters in so many successive ages. It is much safer for men of ordinary capacities to adhere ta the Established Church, than to forsake it on grounds in which there is so great a probability of their being mistaken. " When men err with their governors, they have this favourable plea on their side, that they were led into error by those whom God had placed over them ; but when men forsake the truth and the church together, both these faults will be laid to their charge : first, '' Matt. xvi. 18; xxviii. 18 — 20. John xiv. 16; xvi. 13. Ephes. i. 23 ; v. 23—27. 1 Tim. iii. 15. G g 2 452 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. VI. learning the truth, and embracing error ; and then causelessly breaking the peace of the church'." Still it may sometimes happen when the inqui- rer will see reason to differ from the avowed opinions of the church ; and if he does so after mature deliberation, upon grounds which he deems perfectly satisfactory, the Christian law of liberty leaves him free to dissent. Great respect is due to the decisions of the church ; but if, after making all possible enquiry, he cannot agree with them, his conscience is not under bonds. Ecclesiastical authority is not absolute, nor is it built upon any promise of infallibility. Every man must be left free and unshackled, to the en- joyment of religious liberty : but woe be to him who abuses so invaluable a privilege, by dissent- ing lightly and unreasonably from the Established Church. Another requisite for the profitable reading of the Bible, is a competent store of those literary acquirements, without which it cannot be pro- perly understood. The meaning of the divine records is to be discovered by much the same means as are employed in unfolding the sense of ' William Lowtli, Directions for Reading the Scriplurex, cap. iii. On the authority and constitution of tlie church, I would particularly recommend to the general reader Collinson's Abridg- ment of Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity. SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 153 human productions; for which reason a degree of learning is required for their interpretation, far beyond what is possessed by a great part of those who assume to themselves the office of expound- ing and enforcing the word of God. To those even who, without pretending to a critical expo- sition of the Scriptures, and with due respect for the authority of the church, peruse them for their own spiritual edification, some preparatory know- ledge is, if not absolutely requisite, certainly highly advantageous. Without some share of it the Bible will present the most formidable obsta- cles ; and it will scarcely be possible to profit, to the full extent, by the works of those who have laboured in the popular illustration of the sacred Scriptures. It should, therefore, be the endeavour of every one who would reap all the benefits which the reading of the Bible can supply, to obtain the knowledge requisite for that purpose ; and such are the facilities now afforded, that it is by no means a task of insuperable difficulty. Any person of ordinary capacity may, without any great labour, acquire sufficient for reading the Bible with intelligence ; and if the perusal of it be a duty, as it assuredly is, it must likewise be a duty to provide what is necessary to its proper and advantageous performance. What then are those literary helps which, in addition to the authority of the church, every 454 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. Christian in studying the Bible should use, as far as they are within his reach ? They consist pri- mariliji in the knowledge of the Biblical langua- ges ; of manuscripts, versions, history, chronology^ geography, antiquities ; of the subjects, style, arrangement, age, and authors of the sacred books ; of the manners and customs of the times in which they were written ; of criticism, and Biblical interpretation : and secondarily, in the commentaries and expositions which are derived from these sources of illustration. To give even a brief outline of these helps would require a treatise of itself; all that can now be done, con- sistently with the limits of these pages, is to point out a few publications in which the reader will find more ample information on the subject. Of these I know none better adapted for the poor than the Christian Knowledge Society's tract, entitled Plain Directions for Reading the Holy Scriptures ; and none which can be more unre- servedly recommended to readers in general, than Lowth's Directions for tJie Profitable Reading of' the Holy Scriptures ; Beausobre and L'Enfant's Introduction to the New Testament ; Collyer's Sacred Interpreter ; Gray's Key to the Old Tes- tament, and Percy's Key to the Netv Testament. Frank's Guide to the Reading and Study of the Holy Scriptures, translated by Jacques, is a very useful work ; and there is also A Scripture Help, SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 455 designed to assist in Reading the Bible Profitably, by the Rev. E. Bickersteth, which has had a most extensive sale ; but though it is in some respects very valuable, it is often lamentably deficient in judgment, and betrays a want of accurate infor- mation on the subject of which it treats. But the most luminous and comprehensive is the Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of' the Holy Scriptures, by the Rev. T. H. Home, 4 vols. 8vo. edit. 5, London, 1825, which both contains a vast mass of information, and refers to the principal writers on all matters connected with the illustration of the Bible. To understand the sacred Writings, necessary as it must be confessed, is no farther valuable than as it becomes instrumental to its practical application to the heart and life. The deepest acquaintance with Biblical criticism, the most extensive knowledge of hermeneutic and dogma- tic theology, will be of little avail in the sight of heaven, unless they have a corresponding effect upon the temper and disposition. Literary re- searches, in reference to the Scriptures, are liable, without caution, to beget pride and ostentation, and, to encourage that knowledge which puffeth up, to the exclusion of that charity which edifi- eth'\ A constant recurrence to critical points "' 1 Coi, viii. 1. 4:56 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI, and controversial discussions is apt to have a benumbing effect upon tlie finer feelings, and to deaden the mind to the deep and awakening sen- timents of piety. Literary engagement brings with it so many charms and attractions that, it is to be feared, it is sometimes pursued for its own sake, to the neglect of the weightier matters of practical religion. In this probationary state all have their trials, and these are the dangers to which the learned are exposed ; but it would be unreasonable on that account to condemn the pursuit of theological knowledge. There is no native connection between ignorance and godli- ness ; and it would be a marvellous incongruity with the light of the gospel, if the more learned we become, the farther are we off from real faith ; if the more intellectual we grow, the less capable we become of spiritual discernment. It is more rational to believe that the heart is warmed and animated by the truths of Revelation, when the whole mind is engrossed in its contemplation. Moses was learned in the Egyptian, and Daniel in the Chaldean sciences ; Solomon excelled all men in natural and moral wisdom ; and St. Paul was instructed both in Grecian and Jewish knowledge. Men may abuse learning ; but it may also be made to redound to the glory of God, and it is requisite to our becoming true scribes instructed to the kingdom of God. As literary pride, how- SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 457 ever, is insinuating and dangerous, it behoves the student to guard against its encroachment, and while engaged in the laudable study of the Scrip- tures, to cultivate that spirit of devotion, and those holy affections, by which the inward man is enlivened and spiritualized. That we may become wiser and better by the lessons which the Bible teaches, we must read it with dispositions corresponding to the sacredness of the task in which we are engaged. All pre- judices and partialities must be laid aside, and, disengaging the mind from every thing which blinds it against the perception of truth, we must cherish a spirit of candour and ingenuousness ; not seeking for the confirmation of preconceived opinions, but submitting our opinions to the Volume of inspiration. If care is required for the profitable study of profane authors, much more so is it in perusing those writings which, from the supreme importance of the tidings they announce, merit all devotedness of attention. They must be read with the humility and reve- rence which become creatures listening to a com- munication graciously vouchsafed from their Creator. Every proud imagination must be cast down, every high and lofty thought must be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and instead of exalting reason to be the arbitress of faith, v/e are to make reason subservient to a 458 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. fCHAP. VI. just conception of the sacred message. The Bible also is to be read with self-application, so that its lessons may be brought home to every man's own case and conscience. They were not given merely to enlarge our speculative know- ledge, but for our guide in life, and hence, com- paring our lives and conversations with the standard of God's word, we are to practise what it commands, renounce what it prohibits, and, when it points out the path to heaven and hap- piness, we are earnestly to pursue it. But after all, no spiritual advantage will be derived from the exercise, except the Holy Spirit enlighten the eyes of the understanding. Abili- ties the most splendid, and knowledge the most profound, will not of themselves avail in acqui- ring the wisdom that is from above. To the proper discernment of the mysteries of redemp- tion, there must be superadded to all the human means of unfolding the mind of the Spirit, the co-operating influence of divine grace. For this grace, then, we should humbly yet devoutly sup- plicate, that we, '' through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope," and that, drawing from thence the treasures of spiritual wisdom, we may be enabled to " walk worthy of the Lord, increasing in the knowledge of God "." " Rom. XV. 4. Col. i. 10. SECT. IlJ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 459 The necessity of divine assistance appears from several declarations of holy Writ. To some of these I will refer, that the reader may consult them at his leisure : Deut. xxix. 4. Ps. cxix, passim Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. Joel ii. 28, 29. Matt. xiii. 11 Luke xxiv. 45. John iii. 3 ; vi. 44, 45 ; vii. 17 ; xii. 37, 38,39, 40; xvi. 13. Acts xvi. 14. 1 Cor ii. 12—14; iv. 7; xii. 11. Ephes. i. 17, 18 1 Thes. iv. 9. James i. 5. 1 John ii. 20—27 ; v. 20. These texts, though they by no means prove that for which they are sometimes cited, namely, the sufficiency of that aid which the Spi- rit supplies for understanding the Scriptures, without the application of human means, yet plainly imply the need of a spiritual illumination. A fanatical notion is circulated by certain sec- tarians, and by some injudicious members of our own church, that nothing more is required for interpreting the Bible, than a supposed inward light, communicated by the Holy Spirit. Far be it from any Churchman to deny tbe necessity of Divine assistance ; but it is in vain to expect it, except we use all the means and helps which are declared by common sense, and the nature of things, to be requisite for understanding the Bible. It is impossible to perceive, and to accept by faith, the words of eternal life, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, and working 160 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI, with US ° ; but no greater degree of it is required for the study of the Scriptures, than for the per- formance of any other good work. As well might we expect to reap without sowing, as to interpret the Bible rightly without preparatory study. It is a fact amply verified by experience, that those who neglect the assistance of reason and learning, cannot be sound interpreters of the sacred Re- cords. The influences of the Spirit are not repre- sented as determining the judgment, without the exercise of the ordinary faculties of the mind : they do not preclude the use, but aid and assist the imperfections, of human reason. The Spirit accompanies the Gospel with his salutary influ- ence, inclining the mind to the acknowledgment of the truth, and the heart to obedience ; but he does not work irresistibly ; and while he works effectually in them that desire to be saved, he gives light only to those who willingly open their eyes to perceive it. The fruits of the Spirit will not be wrought in us, if we neglect the outward means of grace. The one are as necessary as the other, and to rely upon either alone is a perni- cious error, leading either into enthusiasm, or Pharisaical self-sufficiency. But appeal has been made to the authority of Scripture, and the texts above referred to have ° Church Article 10. SECT. n.]3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 461 been cited, as well as some others, to prove the sufficiency of the communicated light of the Spirit, independently of human reason. To examine these texts in detail, would lead to a lengthened discussion, which may be spared, as the distinction between the ordinary and extra- ordinary gifts of the Spirit will afford an easy solution to whatever difficulties they may present. All those spiritual gifts which are promised to believers in general are of the former description ; and, as they must be compatible with the free- agency of man, they will do no more than " work with us," which is so far from precluding our own exertions, that it necessarily pre-supposes our co-operation. *The fulfilment of these pro- mises must, therefore, be sought in the ordinary aids of the Holy Spirit, which are supplied to all who bring the requisite natural and acquired en- dowments to the elucidation of the Scriptures, and who seek truth with sincerity and faith. Few errors are so pernicious as the adoption of this fanatical principle, since it subverts the very foundation of the Protestant belief, the sufficiency and perfection of holy Scripture. We are taught to consider that " the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul," that his "word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path," and that it is " able to make us wise unto salvation. 462 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CIIAP. VI. through faith which is in Christ Jesus ^' But if the Bible be a sealed book without an inward and special illumination, it would be wholly ina- dequate " to make us wise unto salvation ;" it would be chargeable with the absurdity of being a revelation^ requiring an immediate revelation to understand it, and would be useless if the rich treasures it contains were not to be procured without the special teaching of the Spirit. The admission of such a principle, is setting up an infallible arbiter of Scripture, of much the same kind, though more dangerous, than the infallibility of the Church of Rome; for in attributing a divine illumination to private individuals, it con- stitutes them infallible interpreters ; thus opening a door for all the wild phantasies of a distem- pered imagination, and all the senseless dotage of fanaticism ; which the mind, in reviewing their dire effects in all ages, cannot but sicken to con- template "". p Ps. xix. 7 ; cxix. 105. 2 Tim. iii. 15. '* The subject of the supposed inward light is touched with a masterly hand by Bishop Van Mildert, Bampton Led. 3 ; but it is exposed at length, and the texts which give a colour to it vindicated, by Dr. Hammond, Postscript concerning the New Light, annexed to his Annotations on the New Testament ; and still more completely by Dr. Bennet, Confutation of Quakerism, cap. i — xii. See also Hicks, Enthusiasm Exorcised; Buddeus, Miscel. Sac. vol. ii. P. 3, p. 137 et seq. ; Rosenmiiller, Historia SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 463 The Anglican church, it has been said, coun- tenances the principle of an inward light, when she declares in the book of Homilies, after Chry- sostom, " that man's human and worldly wisdom or science is not needful to the understanding of Scripture, but the revelation of the Holy Ghost, who inspireth the true meaning unto them, that with humility and diligence do search therefore '.** But taking this passage, as we ought, in connec- tion with the scope of the argument, it will have a very different complexion ; for this part of the Homily is a reply to the objections against reading the Scripture, on account of " the difficulty to understand it, and the hardness thereof;" and among many other things it is asserted, that hq who applies to it " with diligent study and burn- ing desire," will not be left without help, as either God " will send him some godly doctor to teach him," or, in defect of that, " God himself from above will give light unto our minds, and teach us those things which are necessary for us, and wherein we be ignorant.'* Then follows the pas- sage first cited. The argument, therefore, amounts Interpretationis, vol. i. p. 240, et seq. et al; Leslie, Snake in the Grass, sect. 5, Q, 7 ; and Answer to the Switch, &c. sect, i — vi. ; Warburton, Doctrine of Grace, lib. iii. cap. ii. ; Lloyd, Chris' iian Theology, p. 331, et seq. ; Stapfer, Instit. Theol. Polemicce, cap. xiii. vol. iv. p. 338, et seq. [ Homily on the Reading of Scripture, Part 2. 464 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. to this ; that none should be deterred from peru- sing the Scriptures, by the difficulties in them, since if they read with proper dispositions, they will not be left without help, either from compe- tent teachers, or spiritual illumination. The use of human helps is not excluded, but rather enfor- ced, inasmuch as the illumination of the Holy Ghost is only promised to inspire " the true meaning unto them, that with humility and dili- gence do search therefore." I am not anxious, however, to defend all the expressions, reasonings, and interpretations in the Homilies, which, as a Churchman, I am only bound to believe " contain a goodly and whole- some doctrine, and necessary for the times in which they were composed'." The doctrine of the Anglican church is that which I have been endeavouring to urge, the necessity of divine aid, and human exertion, in order to read the Scrip- tures with intelhgence and effect. We beseech the Almighty to " grant that we may mark, learn, and inwardly digest them," that we may " in such wise hear them," as to experience their influence in our hearts, that " by his Spirit we may have a right judgment in all things," and that he would give us " increase of grace to hear meekly God's word, and to receive it with pure affection, and '^ Church Article, 35. SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 465 to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit*. Thus our church declares, that, unless the Lord open the understanding, we cannot know the revealed truths ; unless he soften our hearts, we cannot obey them : but she likewise declares, that we are to "read, mark, and inwardly digest them," to exercise our powers, and to use all the external helps within our reach. While the advantage and necessity of reverently perusing the sacred Writings is strenuously main- tained, due care must be taken not to press the duty beyond the just limits of obligation. It is obviously, from its very nature, a duty which must be modified by circumstances. Those who are unable to read, are of course exempt from its obligation ; and, as every man is to be judged according to what he hath, it can only be required from individuals in proportion to their abilities and education. This furnishes a solution of the scruples and doubts entertained by well-inten- tioned people, who, while they acknowledge the duty of reading the Scriptures, clearly perceive that it demands for their right interpretation such natural and acquired endowments as compara- tively few possess. They are perplexed, there- fore, how to reconcile the obligation with the ' Collect for second Sunday in Advent ; for Whitsunday ; the Litany. Compare the Order of Confrmation, and the Ordina- tion Services. Hh 466 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. CciIAP. VI. difficulty of its performance. But it ought to silence such scruples to reflect that, as God only requires an obedience proportioned to our pow- ers and opportunities, the learned and the un- learned, with regard to the duty of reading the Bible lie under very different obligations. And, in correspondency with this state of things, there is something in the sacred Volume which fits it for all ages, and all conditions of men. " Con- cerning the hardness of Scripture, (says the Homily already quoted,) he that is so weak that he is not able to brook strong meat, yet he may suck the sweet and tender milk, and defer the rest until he wax stronger, and come to more knowledge. For God receiveth the learned and the unlearned, and casteth away none, but is indifferent unto all. And the Scripture is full, as well of low vallies, plain ways, and easy for every man to use and to walk in ; as also of high hills and mountains, which few men can climb unto." Not only Romanists, but some Protestants entertain, what I am persuaded are unfounded, apprehensions as to the consequences of the in- discriminate perusal of the Bible. That it is often perverted to serve worldly purposes ; that it is often studied with the sole view to establish pre- conceived opinions and prejudices; that it is often made the handle of wild and schismatical folly ; SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 467 and that it is frequently read with little advan- tage, are truths too evident to be denied ; but it would be very rash and precipitate to condemn, on these grounds, the perusal of the sacred Scrip- tures. This, like every other duty, is liable to abuse, from which it is not fair to draw any other conclusion than the necessity of caution in its performance. The evils alluded to are not so much the consequences of the duty, as the result of some error or mistake in its discharge. If the Bible is read with improper views, and in an im- proper manner ; if the unlearned presumptuously decide on intricate and mysterious matters ; and if the requisite means of understanding it are neglected and despised, it cannot be reasonably expected that much, if any, benefit will be reaped from the perusal. Hence the ministers of Christ, in inculcating the duty of a pious meditation in the Word of God, should at the same time earnestly enforce the necessity of accompanying it with those in- ward dispositions, and those external helps, which can alone render it successful. Far from slight- ing the fountain of all divine knowledge, they should carefully point out the way for their flocks to drink the waters, pure and undefiled, of its translucent stream. Though the Bible is often read with little profit, and sometimes with actual Hh2 ^68 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. harm, yet the devout perusal of it, while it con- firms the principles of faith, gives strength and ardour to every virtue which ought to warm the heart, or adorn the conduct of the Christian. Those who, in any rank of life, will apply to this sacred ofiice, from devout motives, and with suit- able dispositions, using such of the helps before described as are within their reach, and praying for the illuminating influence of the Spirit, are not only properly discharging a bounden duty, but will, through the divine blessing, derive from it that spiritual nourishment which is of so much avail to the soul's comfort and edification. They who have leisure ought to devote a considerable portion of time to so useful and edifying a duty, and they whose occupations leave little oppor- tunity for study, may yet dedicate some part of the Lord's day to the perusal of the Scriptures. In any situation a pious zeal will very often snatch a few moments from the world to give them to the inspired Writings ; and the busiest, they who are most immersed in secular affairs, may spare some part of that holy season for reading and meditating in the Word of God. By a steady perseverance in this practice, a degree of religious knowledge will, through the divine blessing, be imparted ; which, by animating and reviving the impressions of virtue, and enlivening SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 469 the hope of immortality, will render the Chris- tian " perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works "." Besides the sacred Scriptures there are many other books which may be advantageously read in the retirement of the Sabbath. Works expla- natory of the Christian faith, are valuable helps to a correct view of the doctrines of the Gospel, while those of a practical nature supply an useful exposition of the duties and obligations in the various walks of life. From Sermons, Discourses, Elementary Treatises of religion. Sacred Biogra- phy, and productions of piety and devotion, much may be reaped that is instructive, much that will prove a powerful incentive to a godly life. Those works which are designed as guides and intro- ductions to the reading of the Scriptures, toge- ther with those commentaries and expository works which help to the understanding them, may also be read with much profit. The careful perusal, in short, of books, of whatever kind, which contribute to augment the knowledge, and to stimulate the practice of religion, is an exercise both beneficial, and suited to the great objects of the sacred season. In the number, variety, and excellence of works of this description, our own language is so abundant, that the bare enume- " 2 Tim. iii. 17. 470 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. j^CIIAP. VI. ration of them would form a catalogue of no in- considerable extent ; but believers would do well to be guided in the selection by the judgment of the legally appointed teachers of religion. Among the most improving of those pious exercises in which it behoves us to be more par- ticularly diligent on the Lord s day, is that inter- nal and silent piety which, without any outward demonstration of its power, occupies and elevates the soul, unobserved by any eye but the eye of Deity. The habit of turning the thoughts inward, with a view to spiritual improvement ; of medi- tating upon the Creator's wisdom, and goodness, and power, displayed in the universe, and in the various dispensations to man; of referring all the blessings we enjoy, and all the events of our lives, to his over-ruling Providence ; and of di- recting a silent prayer or thanksgiving to the Father of mercies, ought to be cultivated with the utmost care. It may be called into operation even amid the daily business and occupation of the world ; and, whenever it becomes a rooted and settled habit, it diffuses a sedate, yet cheerful spirit of the happiest influence over the dispo- sition and character. What can be more becom- ing rational beings than that secret piety, which, at every intermission of employment, at every pause of v/orldly thought, wings the mind to its Maker and Preserver ? In external worship man SECT. 11.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 471 may play the hypocrite, and it must ever be more or less accompanied with the distraction of objects of sense ; but the worship which is "within the bosom can only be prompted by undissembled piety, and forms the most spiritual exercise of man's spiritual nature. It is the holy aspiration of the heart, warm, fervent, and sincere, beyond whatever can be expressed by the utterance of the lips. It is the full devotion of a soul delighted to hold communion with its God. There is something in it so pure, so intellectual, so resem- bling the service which we may suppose is paid by etherial intelligences, that it must be pecu- liarly acceptable to the Almighty Being, who requires his creatures to worship him in spirit and in truth. The visible expressions of devotion are necessary while we remain encumbered with mortality, and any attempt to supersede them is the mere dream of mystic fanaticism ; but to superadd the habit of constantly reverting to sacred reflections, of lifting up the soul in silence to its Creator, is to give a proper direction to those high moral and intellectual powers with which mankind are endowed. Though mental devotion is the most refined degree of adoration, and the best evidence of a heart disciplined unto godliness, many impedi- ments lie in the way of its attainment. The natural man is immersed in sense, to which he is 472 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. often chained down as well by the innate propen- sities of the heart, as the attractions which it spreads in alluring abundance. The world dis- plays its fascinations, and, by a thousand various modes, pleasure, business, care, and occupation, steal the affections from the more momentous objects of an invisible eternity. Hence the abso- lute necessity of a frequent, serious, and candid self-examination. Frequently to inspect our bo- soms, to enquire into our sentiments, feelings, and dispositions, and to compare them with the rule of God's commandments, is one of the most effectual means of divesting the heart of its car- nality and worldly-miodedness. The repeated ex- ercise of such an impartial scrutiny will, through the divine blessing, gradually withdraw the thoughts from the never-ceasing gaities, and amusements, and cares of life, and attach them to that unseen world to which we are all hastening on the rapid wing of time. Those who are intent upon the cultivation of the holy sentiments and heavenly affections, which should be the aim of every Christian, must withdraw themselves from the distractions of surrounding objects, by reti- ring into their chambers, and communing with their own hearts. In stillness and retirement let them examine, whether religion has a predomi- nating influence on their conduct ; whether it guards them against the pollutions which beset SECT. 11.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 473 their earthly pilgrimage; whether it constrains them to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present world; and whether it stimulates them to press earnestly forward towards the celestial Zion, by the hope of the glorious reward laid up for the ransomed of the Lord. While engaged in the salutary office of self-investiga- tion, let them fall down on their knees before their Maker, fervently imploring him to pour upon them the influences of his Spirit, to en- lighten their understandings, to purify their hearts, and to produce that pervading spirituality required from those who, through the merits of a Saviour, are worthy expectants of a blessed immortality. Of no less importance is a holy and devout meditation upon the multiplied instances of the divine perfections displayed around us, and upon the hallowed truths revealed in the sacred Scrip- tures. It is that exercise by which, under divine grace, our faith in the Redeemer is increased, our best affections cherished and enlivened, and by which the whole mind is raised from the low and grovelling thoughts engendered by the world, to a clearer perception of things heavenly and eter- nal. All religion which is sincere, fervent, and effectual, is, and must be, spiritual. To this every thing else is subservient, and can only be esteemed in proportion as it tends to promote 474 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[cHAP. VI. and maintain spiritual religion in the heart. The external ordinances, as well as the private offices of piety, are calculated to generate and nourish it; but of all those devout exercises which strengthen the influence of religion, there are none better adapted to give it spirituality than silent and retired meditation. The longer any subject is dwelt upon, the deeper is the impres- sion made upon the mind ; and, as that of reli- gion surpasses all others in value and importance, the frequent contemplation of it is the likeliest means to fix and rivet its supremacy in the heart. It will produce that seriousness, that earnestness in things pertaining to faith, and that devotedness of the soul to God, which is the unfailing charac- teristic of genuine Christianity. It provides a mansion, where it ought ever to remain enthroned, in the bosom and in the mind. In many there are strong devotional feelings, but too vehement to be lasting, too much mixed with human pas- sions to be a reasonable service, too much assi- milated to natural impulses to be pure, mental religion. They have a relish for the excitements of religion, and a strong devotional fervour, but at the same time unproductive and unprofitable, as being substituted for the calm and benign influence of undefiled religion. The intellectual part of man being but little concerned in such devotion, it wants the purely spiritual character 4 SECT, n.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 475 of true Christianity. It is the effect of passion, of imagination, of constitutional warmth, rather than of the finer affections under the sway and guidance of reason. That spirituality which constitutes the essence of all religion befitting rational beings, can only be acquired, through the divine blessing, by the regular use of the out- ward means of grace, together with the private exercises of prayer, meditation, and communion with God\ Religion, to be available to salvation, must gain full possession of the soul, must be subli- mated from all earthly passions, must be as it were incorporated with the mind, till every thought, and every meditation of the heart be- come holy and spiritualized. To arrive at this happy state should be the constant aim of all our sacred employments ; and, valuable as the external expressions of worship must be pronounced, they will be povv^erless unless we join to them the offices of domestic devotion, devout prayer, the reverent perusal of the Bible, and the inspiring exercises of silent piety. In these offices, then, it behoves us to be assiduous, fervent, devout ; daily, if cir- cumstances permit, but especially on the sabbath, which affords a specific opportunity for the spi- ^ See Dr. Paley, Discourse on Meditating on Religion, in his volume of Sermons, excelled by none in the enforcement of pure, rational, and spiritual religion. '176 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. ^CHAP. VI. ritual nurture of the soul. It would betray an un- hallowed distrust in the promises of God to sup- pose that a sincere application to the public and private means of grace will be ineffectual. To those who use them rightly he will bestow the influences of the Spirit commensurate with their exigencies, and efficient to the production of that which is the surest test of all vital religion, a change of heart and life. The things pertaining to the kingdom of God will be often in their thoughts; they "will remember them in their beds, and think upon them when they are waking." Nor will their thoughts on these awful and interesting subjects be, like their former re- flections, fleeting and transitory ; but they will be steady, serious, enduring, because they find a congenial temper and disposition. The senti- ments of the mind will be elevated and refined, the feelings will be purified, the heart will be pre- pared to receive vivid impressions from the truths of the gospel, and the whole soul will be directed by that principle of faith, which, while it pro- duces all that is amiable in disposition, and all that is lovely or excellent in conduct, forms the support, and consolation, and happiness of the Christian life. Blessed are they in whose hearts religion hath obtained undivided empire. Having their spirits exalted from earth to heaven, from things temporal to things eternal, they alone arc SECT. II.)3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 477 actuated by those motives of faith, and love, and obedience, without whicli all our sabbatical ob- servances are nothing worth. " Greatly are we deceived, (says Barnabus,) if we imagine that any one can now sanctify the day which God hath sanctified, without being in all things pure in hearth" Yet in taking a moral survey of the times in which w^e live, without any wish to form a gloomy estimate, we are reluctantly compelled to believe, that the piety of the closet, that best test of sincerity in religion, is not gaining ground. Great is the outward display of religion in the frequency of public worship, in the following of popular preachers, in meetings for disseminating the Scrip- tures, in societies for promoting missionary la- bours, in speeches, exertions, and subscriptions for spreading the gospel. An extensive machi- nery for these purposes is in active operation; and the female sex take a part, and no inconsi- derable part, in it, not always with judgment, but with an ardour which they manifest in whatever their affections are centered. On this subject, however, the sentiments of the judicious Hooker may be more authoritative than my own. " What will not poor beguiled souls do, (says he,) through so powerful incitements ? It is observable that '' Barnabas, Epist. §. 15. inter Patres ApostoL 478 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CIIAP. VI. most care is taken to win those whose judgments are commonly v/eakest, by reason of their sex. We do not consider them as women *loaden with sins/ but disposed to devotion and holiness ; yet it seems unlikely that, if the cause was supported by strong and sound evidence, the greatest indus- try would prevail in making proselytes among those who have least ability of judgment. The female sex are fitter instruments to further this cause, from their natural eagerness of affection, which makes them, whatever way they pursue, earnest to draw with them husbands, children, and friends ; from their disposition to pity, which makes them bountiful in succouring distressed preachers ; from the various opportunities they have of procuring encouragement to the brethren ; and lastly, from the delight they take in giving large and particular intelligence of the state of all about them ""." In that ardour about the externals of religion, which forms the distinguishing feature of the times, there is, it is to be feared, more pretence than reality, more zeal than knowledge. A great- er predilection seems to exist for these social and public proceedings, than for the study of the Scriptures, or the offices of secret retirement, meditation, prayer, and self-examination. It is ^ Hooker, Eccles. PoliUf, Pief. CoUiuson's Abridgment, p. 18. SECT. IlO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 479 to be lamented, as an eminent Prelate observes, " that, in zealous efforts for the improvement of others, too many neglect the improvement of themselves ; that the Bible is more praised than read, more circulated than consulted ; that, in all ranks of the community, men are to be found, more solicitous to waft the sacred Volume from the Ganges to the Mississippi, than to make it their companion, their guide, and their own fami- liar friend ; and that, in few periods, have declared promoters and advocates of Christianity seemed less inclined to commune with their own hearts, and be still ; to enter into their closet, and shut their door, and pray unto their father which seeth in secret, with a calm and peaceful confidence, that their Father which seeth in secret, will re- ward them openly \" Seriously as these truths are to be deplored, they should excite all in whose hearts the flame of undefiled Christianity burns brightly, to beware of the tendency to external services which cha- racterizes the age. The more the tone and spirit of the times serve to divert the thoughts from inward religion, the more does it become us to bring it home to our business and bosoms. Wherever the hope can be indulged that the Scriptures will be piously and profitably used, * Bishop Jebb, Sermon viii, p. 191. 480 THE CHRISTIAN sabbath. [;chap. VI. there we are bound to disseminate tliem ; but it is a duty of still superior importance to apply them, through divine assistance, to the regulation of our own hearts. For this purpose they must be studied diligently and reverently, with the assistance of all the human helps obtainable, to- gether with fervent prayer for that illumination from above which can alone enable us to mark, learn, and inwardly digest their sacred lessons. In the zeal which ought to be encouraged towards the public means of grace, we must not forget that the duties of secret piety are equally essen- tial to a life of godliness. With religion is our immediate and personal concern ; and we must persevere in holy resolutions, earnest endeavours, and devout prayer, till it becomes a steady, ardent, pervading principle, attuning the soul to that pure and heavenly frame, which, through the meritorious sacrifice of a Redeemer, will fit it for the enjoyment of its God for ever and ever. Having now discussed the private obligations of the Sabbath, as they respect families huUvi- diLally, we must next advert to those which respect families collectively. Among the domestic exercises of the Lord's day, family worship is frequently accounted one of the most important ; and, if it be a duty to practise it on every day of the week, it must be of still more pressing obligation on the sacred SECT. II.]3 THE CKRIS.TIAN SABBATH. 481 season which is set apart for the exclusive ser- vice of heaven. But I hope it will not be attri- buted to any intention of denying or disparaging the efficacy of family worship, if the Author pre- sumes to question the propriety of representing it as an indispensable duty. That it is not directly commanded by the Holy Spirit is a truth acknow- ledged by the most able writers upon the subject; yet, while they allow that it is not expressly enr- joined, it is considered by many as plainly implied in the Word of God : and for proof, appeal is generally made to our Saviour's declaration, " Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them ^" " Matt. xvHi. 20. The authors whom I have consulted, and io whom the reader is referred, are Durham, Exposition of the Ten Commandments, p. 208, et seq. ; Willison, Treatise concerning the Lord's Day, cap. ii. sect. 2. p. 103, et seq. ; Doddridge, Address to the Mas- ter of a Family on the subject of Family-worship ; Job Orton, Six Discourses on Family Worship; Jones, Serious and Friendly Address from a Minister to his Parishioners, on Family Religion, S^c. ; Dwight, Theology, Sermon 141 ; Hunter, Two Sermons on Family Worship, in the 3rd volume of the Scotch Preacher : Baxter, Dialogues on Family Religion ; Burkitt, Help and Guide to Christian Families, cap. ix. ; Belfrage, Monitor to Families, Disc. 13; Archibald Hall, Gospel Worship, vol. ii. cap. xvii. ; Thornton, Discourse on Prayer, cap. ii. sect. 2; Cecil, Remains, in Works, vol. iii. p. 430 ; Glen, Treatise on the Sabbath, cap. iv. sect. 3 : Bickerstetb, Treatise rma- ' Series orationis videtur esse lisec ; pertinax et obstinatus removeatur e coetu Cbristianorum, v. 17 ; vos estis rectores Ecclesiae, adeoque penes vos est potestas ejusmodi liominem excludendi, et ubi resipuerit, eum recipiendi, v. 18; nee opus est ut tunc magnus sit coetus, ut vos etiam omnes praesentes sitis, nam si vel diio vestrum de aliqua re convenerunt, quae ad SECT. II.;] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 48(J rihj relates to the government of the church of God by the duly authorized mmistry, whom our Lord hath invested with the requisite power and authority. But some are of opinion that it has an indirect reference to the expression of worship which is required from believers, and consequently affords, by the gracious promise it conveys, an encou- ragement both to public and domestic prayer. Of this number is Bishop Blomfield, who says, " It is then in the solemn assembly, in the courts of the Lord's house, where God is worshipped in the beauty, as well as in the spirit, of holiness, that we are naturally inclined to look for the fulfilment of our Saviour's promise ; tJwre am I in the midst of them. Yet that promise is certainly not so limited ; but is as general, as it is gracious and encouraging; where two or three are gathered together in my yiame. It appears, then, that his presence may be looked for in the smallest, as well as in the most numerous assembly of his disciples, provided that they are moved by one common faith, inspired with a common devotion, religionem, ad societatem Christianorum pertinet, ratum erit apud Deum, et pieces vestrae exaudientur, v. 19; nam etiam duobus vel tribus, admodum paucis doctoribus religionis meae meisque legatis, auxilio meo adero, v. 20." Kuinoel, Comment in Matt, xviii. 20. See Archbishop Potter, Discourse on Church Government, p. 306— S19. ii2 484 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. Vi- and are agreed as to the objects of their assem- bling. I do not perceive what interpretation can be put upon our Saviour's words, by which they can be made to imply less than this — an assurance of his especial regard and blessing upon every religious assembly of his true and obedient disci- ples, met together as he has directed. And if so, consider what an encouragement they afford, and consequently what an obligation they create, to the assembling of ourselves together, not only at the stated and solemn returns of public worship, in our character of members of the visible church of Christ ; but on all those occasions of common devotion which are presented to us by the rela- tions of domestic life **." There are others, however, who, believing that the passage in question has no reference to the practice of domestic worship, rest its obligation not so much upon any precept or authority of Scripture, as upon considerations of utility. These are, its beneficial influence on servants and the young members of a family ; its recommendation of piety by the example of a father or master; its adaptation to domestic wants and situations ; and its efficacy in keeping alive the feelings of devotion, which are apt to grow languid, unless daily renewed. •^ Bishop Blomfield, Sermon on the duty of Family Prayer. SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 485 The strongest objection against family worship is, the danger lest, by becoming a mere habit and routine, it should cause religion to degenerate into languor and indifference. But this does not so much apply against the office itself, as the manner in which it is too frequently performed. Without the utmost care and circumspection it will be apt to turn religion into a mere matter of daily custom and ordinary business. The fre- quency of its repetition has, without due caution, a tendency to damp the fervency of devotion, and to beget that indifference, which of all obstacles to vital Christianity, is the most to be dreaded. Assembling not always with a suitable temper of soul, sometimes with distracted thoughts, with bosoms oppressed with care, with wandering imaginations, the mind and the affections are not in tune with the sacredness of an office, liable, for that reason to become a cold inanimate ser- vice. In the inevitable hurry and distraction of the six working days, it is apt to degenerate into mere custom and formality, into a lifeless cere- mony, which is any thing rather than the religion of the heart. Family worship, it is to be feared, is often performed in such a way as to leave an impression of its being only a matter of course, and it can be nothing wonderful if, instead of strengthening the religious principle, it should, in such case«, fail of leaving that calm and de- 486 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. vout spirit in the inward man, which results from the devout discharge of religious duties. As much of its usefulness depends upon the mode in which it is conducted, those who adopt the practice of it should guard with all care against the abuse to which, without constant vigilance, it is exposed. But when it is performed in such a manner, and under such circumstances as to ensure the benefit which it is capable of affording, it is a practice to be earnestly recom- mended. At the same time it is not absolutely commanded in the sacred Scriptures ; and there is a wide difference between duties expressly enjoined, and the practices which we deem in a religious point of view expedient : they rest upon different grounds ; the one are perpetually bind- ing and indispensable, the other are in some de- gree subjected to human choice and determi- nation. As family worship is not a prescribed duty of religion, some difference of opinion as to its obligation and expediency, is inevitable; but every man should adopt in his own case that course which, after deliberate inquiry, he is per- suaded will most contribute to the honour of God, and the religious benefit of himself and his own household. Let all, however, be careful to guard against the exercise of a rash and uncharitable judgment upon the conduct of others, where we SECT. 11.^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 487 are supplied with no express scriptural direction. There is, it is to be feared, a disposition to make family prayer a test of piety, and to condemn all as worldly and profane in whose domestic circle it is not practised. Presumptuous judgment this, and opposed, if any thing can be, to the genius of Christianity. Many of those who do not practise it are, as far as human eye can discern, actuated by a vital principle of faith, and are sincerely desirous to fulfil their religious obliga- tions. We ought not to judge them, but to leave them to the approval or condemnation of Him, to whose tribunal alone they are amenable. Culpable, likewise, is that spiritual pride which attaches such a merit and value to family wor- ship, as if it were the criterion whereby the true believers are distinguished. It is not religion, but merely instrumental to religion ; and it should not rank higher in our estimation than any other of those means which are only to be prized in proportion to their usefulness in cultivating a sincere devotion. It is bigotry to esteem the means equally with the end. If the motive jus- tified the deed, it would go far in extenuating the examples of superstition and enthusiasm which history blushes to record. There is a Pha- risaism still existing, which connects a peculiar degree of holiness with certain rites, and modes, and observances, the authority of which is not 488 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. derived from the infallible standard of sacred truth. Judging from some modern publications one might suppose that Christianity consisted in abstaining wholly from the common amusements of the world, in the use of certain cant phrases and expressions, in frequent attendance in reli- gious societies, in carrying an outward serious- ness of deportment, in having religion ever upon the tongue, and in complying with certain usages which are deemed characteristic of true faith, though not proved by warranty of Sacred Writ. If, however, it be piety to observe the inven- tions of men, it will stamp with the sacred- ness of religion the most absurd devices which have ever been formed by the fanatic imagination of man. To regard aught as essential in reli- gion besides the prescriptions of the Book of Life, is just the same spirit of bigotry which actuates the ascetic in his fasts, the monk in his seclusion, and the Bramin in his macerations. It may be observed in the last place, that in all family religion the master ought to consider him- self as the head, or in a lower sense, the priest and minister of his household. No other should conduct the worship which is there offered, not even those who are invested with the clerical character. It is an encroachment upon the pre- rogative of the master, who is constituted both by nature and religion, guide of the church in SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 489 his own house; and in clergymen of the church of England it is a violation of that ecclesiastical discipline which he is bound to preserve and sup- port. The duty of common prayer, says Bishop Blomfield, " may either be performed with a de- gree of public solemnity, under the guidance of a minister duly appointed for that purpose ; or in the more limited, but distinct and well-defined circle of family and household, under the super- intendance and direction of its head. Every maH ought to consider himself as a member of that church in whose bosom he has been brought up ; and also as the minister and steward of the church in his own house." And again : " Every Christian ought to be the head and guide of the church in his own house ; to instruct, admonish, and encourage all its inmates, to the zealous per- formance of the common work which they have to do for Him, who is the Lord and Master of them all V Such is the judgment of my learned Diocesan ; and it is accordant with the dictates of natural and revealed religion, that family worship should be conducted by its head and guardian, a privi- lege with which no other person should interfere. Let our attention be now directed to another domestic duty, of the very first importance, the religious education of families. I Sermon on Family WorsUihV- ^^' ^^' 490 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [^CHAP. VI. The sabbath having been appointed for the benefit of man, it is incumbent upon all to use the means, both public and private, of spiritual edification. The great body of the people have few opportunities besides of religious instruction. Those of the Lord's day, should, therefore, be turned by them to a proper account. Every indi- vidual should strive to improve his experimental knowledge in regard to things eternal. Those who neglect it wilfully, shut their eyes against those celestial beams which have been shed from heaven to enlighten the world. It behoves us, then, to endeavour to implant and cherish in others that which is so important to all; and hence supreme governors are bound to provide for the public instruction of the people, and masters of families are to be anxious to extend the blessings of religious edification to their chil- dren and dependants. Of the former there is noiv m thio kingdom but little reason to complain, the churches being open to all, where the pure doctrines of the gospel are regularly taught, and strenuous efforts being made, by the erection of new ones, to meet the daily increasing demand for accommodation. As the head of a household, a man fulfils his duty by taking his fiimily to the public ministrations of religion, by catecliizing his children, by private instruction, by pious admoni- tion, by reading useful publications, by furnishing them with instructive books, by accustoming them SECT. 11^ THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 491 to habits of order and regularity, and perhaps not least effectually by setting an example of serious- ness and devotion in his own person. Momentous are the duties which a master is bound to discharge towards the domestic com- munity, of which he is the guardian and guide. On week-days we are to labour in such things as contribute to the wants of the body ; on Sunday we must administer to the wants of the soul ; and this is of infinitely higher moment, since it in- volves the interests of the immortal spirit, while the former relates to a world which passeth away as a shadow. He who is desirous of exemplifying his faith by his practice, will attend with diligence on this day to the religious instruction of his children, servants, and dependants. To describe the precise mode in which this is to be effected is impossible, as it must vary according to family circumstances and situation. But he is under the most sacred obligations to employ, together with meek supplication for the divine blessing upon his efforts, all those means which he may deem most effectual, in his own domestic circle, for training them " in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Man does not exist for himself alone. It was not the design of Providence, in forming the social compact, that he should be a selfish being, wrapt in solitary enjoyment, to be minis- tered to by children and menials, and, without 492 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [|CHAP. VI. making any return, to dream away his time in passive ease, and indolent security. The obliga- tions are reciprocal, and, while they are to respect him as the head, he is not only to supply their temporal necessities, but also to be zealous and active in administering to their spiritual wants. If he omits this, however he may otherwise pro- vide for them, he is guilty of a criminal negli- gence towards those, whose principles he ought to guard and defend, as being partakers with him of the same spiritual privileges, and of the same hopes of heaven and immortality. The sabbatical instruction and catechising of the young members of Christ's fold, is usually represented as a very responsible branch of the clerical office. It is earnestly and repeatedly urged in Episcopal Charges; it is commended and enforced by most of those who have treated of the pastoral duties *^; and, what is of still higher consideration, it is prescribed by the An- glican church ^ He who considers the practice and example of Christian antiquity, the suscep- ' It will be sufficient to refer to the Tracts in The Clergtj- mans Instructor, ed. 2. Oxon. 1813; by Herbert, p. 64; by Bishop Taylor, p. 108; by Bishop Burnet, p. 199 ; by Bishop Sprat, p. 255 ; by Bishop Bull, p. 298 ; by Bishop Gibson, p, 320 ; by Archbishop Hort, p. 361. ' See the Rubric at the end of the Catechism ; the Ordcriitg of Deacons; and Canon 59. SECT. 11.13 tllE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 493 tibility in youth of impressions, whether good or bad, the advantage of being taught in infancy the way men should go, and that, unless the good seed be early sown, and maturely cultured, the enemy will sow tares in the heart, must regard the catechetical institution of the young as the best preservative of sound and orthodox princi- ples. But, however much it may be regretted, the custom of ministerial catechising has fallen into very general neglect. Such indeed is the fact ; and, as far as my own observation has ex- tended, wherever it has been attempted to be revived, it has not been followed with merited success. Considering the high character and zeal of the Established Clergy, its failure, as it cannot be attributed to any remissness on their part, ought rather to be ascribed to a change in the opinions, manners, and circumstances of the age. The supineness of the clergy, long the subject of virulent invective with infidels and scorners, is now too unfounded, too stale and vulgar to be the topic of abuse. Some other reason, then, must be assigned for the disuse of public catechetical instruction ; and from an impartial investigation it will appear to have partly arisen from the diminution of the power and influence of the clerical order at the sera of the Reformation. By her claim of infallibility the church of Rome exacts a reverential obe- 404 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [CHAP. VI. dience ; and by means of indulgences, penance, and auricular confession, the priesthood acquire an almost unlimited ascendancy over the minds of the people. To the catholic clergy her chil- dren are instructed to pay implicit deference ; to them they are taught to look, not only for spiri- tual guidance, but also for sealing the pardon of tbeir offences, and, to a certain extent, for the remission of the future punishment of sin. The peculiar doctrines, upon which this predomina- ting influence rested, were rejected by the Re- formers ; and the Protestant ministry, in ceasing to hold the same power over the consciences of the people, have ceased to command the same regard and obedience. God forbid that the spi- ritual domination of an ambitious Hierarchy should ever again lord it over a Protestant land; but whether, in opposing papal infallibility, Pro- testants may not sometimes have trenched upon the lawful authority of the church ; whether, in casting oif the shackles of ecclesiastical tyranny, they may not have fallen into laxity of discipline ; and whether, in subverting the influence of an aspiring priesthood, they may not have lessened the respect which is due to the ministers of God's word, are questions which it is not for the Author of these remarks to determine. The Church of England clergy, however, no longer standing in the same situation between the soul and its Ma- SECT. II.3 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 41^5 ker as the Roman Catholic clergy, have no longer the same importance in the eyes of the laity. The spiritual connexion between them and their flocks has been altered; the consequence of which is, that the former cannot noiv command obedience, and the latter will not seek that minis- terial instruction of the young which the great body of them have ceased to regard as indispen- sably necessary. Another cause of the disuse complained of is the increased refinement, or perhaps, more pro- perly speaking, the prevailing pride of the age, which disdains the intermixture of different ranks in the business of education. It would be deemed an indignity for the children of the gentry to mingle with those of the tradesman, the peasant, or the artificer ; the former are, therefore, v/ith- held from becoming parochial catechumens, and the latter soon learn to despise what their supe- riors neglect. The same effect has likewise fol- lowed from the almost universal diffusion of edu- cation. When a great part of the population were unable to read, catechising formed the prin- cipal means of instilling the truths of religion into the minds of the young ; but now, when education is so widely extended, and books are found in every dwelling, other sources of infor- mation are open to all classes. Religious instruc- tion is so facilitated by tracts and elementary 7 496 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. CCHAP. VI. treatises, that the poorest can obtain it ; for which reason it is little to be wondered that the people cease to have recourse to a method of imparting it, which they imagine is no longer recommended by necessity. To these causes, if I am not mistaken, is to be attributed the growing disuse of public catechi- sing ; yet let it not thence be inferred that its utility has vanished, or that it is not advisable to adopt it wherever it can be used with success. So efficacious a means of instruction should never be omitted where circumstances admit its employ- ment ; at the same time, though its revival would be hailed with sincere gratification by every sound churchman, it appears unfortunately too true, that, in consequence of a change in the national character and habits, the duty, generally speaking, has devolved upon other hands ; what was formerly an important branch of the minis- terial labour, now principally belongs to the pa- rental office. However disadvantageous the change may be, and how much soever to be re- gretted, it is one for which it will be difficult to find a remedy. There is no lack of zeal, no want of exertion in the clergy to renew the practice ; but without some great and unexpected change in public opinion, it is very questionable whether it can ever again become general. Wherever the office of ministerial catechising can be practised. SECT. II.)] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 497 let it not be neglected ; but if catechising, to be generally performed, must be performed by those who are intrusted with the education of youth, let the ministers of Christ inculcate upon parents and guardians the necessity of a practice no less pleasing than useful, and afford such advice and directions as may assist them in executing it with assiduity and advantage. A distinguished Prelate, speaking of this sub- ject, remarks, that, "it is observable, that, in exact proportion as catechising has been prac- tised or neglected, in the same proportion have the public faith and morals been seen to flourish or decline \" If this representation were correct, religion, in these realms, where the usage, as he himself owns, is fallen into nearly total neglect, would be in a deplorable state of decay; but, admitting the existence of a widely-spread dis- tempered feeling on religious subjects, it is fairly questionable whether, upon the whole, public faith and morals are on the decline. By the mer ciful ordination of Providence all evil is met by some counteracting good ; and the disuse of Mi nisterial catechising has been in some degree balanced by other modes of training up the youiig members of the Christian community. Among the better informed orders of society * Bishop Jebb, Charge in 1823, p. 21. Kk 498 THE CHRISTJAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VI. it has been in part compensated by the greater diligence which parents and teachers, in conse- quence of this disuse, have found necessary to employ in inculcating the first principles of faith ; and among the humbler, by the enlarged and still rapidly increasing means of education. The instruction of the children of the poor, and of the labouring classes, has been of late years greatly facilitated and extended by the establishment of Sunday schools. If conducted upon right principles, they will, under the divine blessing, be one of the most efficacious means of training the rising generation to moral and reli- gious habits. The regular attendance at school and church, is of itself favourable to virtue, while, under the superintendance of the clergy, sound principles may be instilled, and the most useful lessons inculcated upon the infant mind, the advantage of which will be experienced in after life. The carelessness, the indifference, and the vice which unhappily prevail among the hum- bler ranks, throw formidable impediments in the way, of which those alone can be justly sensible who have been concerned in the management of such schools : but however we may regret the want of success which sometimes attends the most zealous efforts, our exertions should not be relaxed. Much may be accomplished by perse- verance ; and experience of the benefits, it may SECT. II.]] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 499 be lioped^ will in time cause a general eagerness among the poor to extend them to their children. So little open to objection are these institutions, and so fraught with the most beneficial effects, that it ought to be the wish of every servant of Christ, of every friend to humanity, to render their operation universal. These, together with the exertions of the National School Society ; a Society deserving the warmest support of every member of our Apostolical church, afford an encouraging prospect for the future ; and from their united efforts it is reasonable to expect an increase of attachment to our venerable establish- ments, civil and ecclesiastical, a gradual extension of religious feeling, and a consequent improve- ment in the national character '. Such are the private and domestic duties required of those who would devote the sabbath to the consecrated objects of its institution. It is not meant that all these duties are to be performed ever^ sabbath, or that they are all incumbent upon every individual: but they are to be practised, either all or in part, either on ' It has been made a question, whether the teaching of writing in Sunday-Schools be not a breach of the sabbatical law. To prohibit it, however, appears to be too strict a construction of the statute, as it may well be considered a work of charity. Nevertheless, the time may, probably, be employed other ways to much batter purpose. K k 2 500 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [[CHAP. VT. every sabbath, or successively, as may appear most expedient to every person's own judg- ment and discretion. Private prayer, meditation, self-examination, studying the Bible, reading books of piety and devotion, family worship, catechetical instruction of the young and unin- formed, are confessedly religious exercises proper for the Lord's day. Varied, however, they must be, according to the different relations sustained in society, and as they may be best adapted to the peculiar circumstances in which those who use them are placed ; but to direct beforehand the exact proportion and the particular appli- cation of them, is to assume a power over others inconsistent with Christian liberty. Every indi- vidual should exercise himself herein in the way which he deems most likely to meet the exigen- cies of his own case, and of those with whom he may be united by any of the ties which bind society together; but the time and manner, the degree and nature of these exercises must be left to his own determination, which will commonly be right if he humbly and sincerely follows his best judgment, meekly praying for the light and guidance of God's Spirit. The great object of the institution is to be kept constantly in view, which is the commemoration of the divine good- ness in creation and redemption, and the improve- ment of the heart in godliness. He who adopts SECT. II.;] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 501 such exercises of privacy and devotion, as he conscientiously esteems most conducive to that end, truly fulfils the domestic duties of the sacred season. The several obligations imposed by the sab- bath, in its twofold character of a day of rest and a day of holiness, have now been investigated. I cannot, however, conclude this part of the en- quiry without feeling some anxiety, considering how easily error may arise from too much laxity on the one hand, and over-strained rigour on the other, from an incautious application of Scrip' ture precepts, and from hasty decisions respect- ing matters which the sacred writers have deter- mined. Under such circumstances, to expect an exemption from all mistake, or to satisfy every reader, were a delusive hope : some points also are of such a nature as to admit a difference of opinion : yet I flatter myself (so strong is my own conviction,) that the conclusions attempted to be established in this chapter will be found substantially accordant with the word of God, and its best interpreter, the Anghcan Church. CONCLUSION. A FORMAL recapitulation of the arguments ad- vanced in the preceding chapters, would swell this work beyond its just limits; it may, never- theless, be proper to state briefly the conclusions to which they have led. It has been proved that the sabbatical institution is fraught with moral and political benefits sufficient, if it were only of human appointment, to recommend its adoption to the philanthropist ; (chap, i.) that it was first instituted at the creation, by a divine command, addressed to the whole human race, and conse- quently binding upon all mankind, if not subse- quently repealed (chap, ii.) ; that it was adopted into the Mosaic dispensation, but under circum- stances which shewed that it was to survive the extinction of the peculiar polity of the Hebrews, (chap, iii.) ; that, so far from being abrogated under the Christian dispensation, it is clearly enjoined in the New Testament, (chap, iv.) ; that, although it is not unalterably fixed to any parti- cular day of the septenary cycle, there is a pecu- THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 50,3 liar propriety in keeping the first day of the week, (chap. iv. sect. 2.) ; and that the observance of the institution, and on the first day of the week, is sanctioned by the authority and practice of the ancient Christian church, (chap, v.) To these conclusions, established upon grounds which, it is believed, cannot easily be shaken, it has been attempted to add a deduction of those principles by which ecclesiastical governors, and private individuals, ought to be guided in the consecra- tion of the seventh day. Such is the result of the inquiry, and if it rest, as it assuredly does, upon incontrovertible evi- dence, let it be duly considered what an obliga- tion it creates to maintain inviolate the sanctity of the sabbath day. Of no light importance can that institution be which is coeval with the world, and which has formed a part of every successive dispensation of religion. The Patriarch, the Jew, the Christian, though with some variety, and some observances peculiar to each, have been commanded to keep a sabbath; and it cannot be a venal offence to neglect or profane what the Deity has thought fit to enjoin in every revela- tion of his will. Upon Christian believers it im- poses the most solemn and awful obligations ; being ratified by our Saviour, inculcated by ex- press declarations, and sanctioned by the conduct of the Apostles, as well as by the practice of the 504 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. pure primitive church of Christ, whose authority, though not infallible, must ever demand our reve- rence and respect. The multiplied advantages, civil and religious, of the weekly festival, must secure to it the favour of every moral, every hu- mane man ; while those who open their eyes to the light of celestial truth, must regard its devout observance as the mandate of heaven. Its holy solemnization has accordingly been observed from the apostolic age, wherever genuine faith has been found to flourish, by the saints of ancient days, by the glorious army of martyrs, by all, in short, who, in any period of the church, have been distinguished by the fervour of their piety and virtue. Surrounded with such a cloud of witnesses to the truth, it would ill become us to infringe the rest and sanctity of this holy day by continuing our ordinary occupations, by secular pursuits, by unnecessary travelling, by splendid entertain- ments, by the employment of servants or cattle in needless labour, or by any other engagement incompatible with the sacred purposes of the institution. Works of necessity and charity are never inopportune ; such recreations as are re- quired for the refreshment of the spirits, and the renovation of the body, may be innocently enjoy- ed ; in other respects it should be kept " a holy rest unto the Lord." Who but must wish the 6 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 505 universal observance of an ordinance which brings to the industrious and labouring classes a tempo- rary relief from incessant toil? But for this festival, such of our brethren as earn their daily food by the sweat of their brows, would waste away in cheerless, unmitigated misery. Doomed to perpetual labour, broken in spirit, impaired in bodily vigour, they would wear out the residue of their days in hopeless despondency. The sab- bath allows a periodical suspension of labour most refreshing and salutary, a sweet consolation of an existence, which, without the regular recurrence of ease and recreation, would be an existence of wretchedness. Who that has a spark of huma- nity in his bosom, would wrest from them this small drop of comfort, which a gracious Provi- dence has thrown into their cup of sorrow ? Of still higher moment is the opportunity thus granted for that holy preparation, which can alone, through the merits of a Redeemer, fit the soul for an inheritance in the regions of light. Those who are engaged in the busy scenes of life have at least one day in the week for attend- ing to the concerns of their immortal spirits. Rob them not of this boon of indulgent heaven, nor lead them, by any unnecessary employment, to disregard, or misuse so valuable, so sacred a privilege. Much will those have to answer for who, for the sake of some trifling gain, some idle 506 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. pleasure, some transitory self-indulgence, cause others to neglect the proper business of this holy season : much also will those have to answer for who are guilty of voluntarily disparaging so great a blessing. If subjected by their destiny to the labour of six days, the seventh should be sincerely and assiduously devoted to the care of their souls ; the less leisure they enjoy, the more earnestly should they convert the little that may be afforded them to the business of their heavenly vocation. Having their peculiar obstacles to sur- mount, they should give the greater heed to the sacred services of the day to keep alive the thoughts of eternity, which would otherwise be banished by the business and occupations of life. Let them especially beware, lest, through eager- ness for recreation and enjoyment, that which should be a sanctified rest become to them an occasion of licentiousness, or of forgetfulness of God. Many a soul has been lost through supine- ness and neglect ; and if they have any reverence for their Lord and Master, any attachment to his laws, any regard for their own future happiness, let them employ the rest of that day which is sacred to him, in those acts of public and private religion, without which it cannot be acceptable in his sight. Nor can those who are blessed with more am- X^le leisure plead any exemption from the duties THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 507 of the Lord's day. If the talents with which they are intrusted are not duly improved, they will not be able to bear that strict account which will one day be demanded of them. Many are the temp- tations with which they have to contend, temp- tations too often successful in winning upon their affections. Wealth presents before their eyes its dazzling splendours; ambition pictures all its glories to their imagination ; and pleasure dances before their eyes in all the gaiety of its delusive charms. Thus buoyed up by delusive expecta- tions, thus allured by fond hopes, how often do they neglect the things eternal, in the wild ca- reer of worldly pursuits and enjoyments ? To them this holy festival, by its regular return, supplies an useful and solemn admonition. It withdraws the attention from things vain and perishable ; it gives them a little pause from the follies and vanities of the world, a little respite from the unceasing importunities of business or of pleasure. Let them hail its return with sober joy ; let them not slight its admonitory call ; but, remembering that it is a day which God claims as his own, let them seek his favour by disenga- ging themselves, for a time, from the scenes of life, by attending on public worship, by diligence in the duties of retirement, of secret prayer, and devout meditation. A festival not more salutary to the rich than 508 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. the poor, to the fortunate than the unfortunate, to the happy than the wretched, should be kept sacred to its destination by all ranks and condi- tions of men. The devout observance of it is instrumental, I had almost said absolutely neces- sary, to the growth and cultivation of those holy sentiments and affections which should inhabit the bosom of the Christian. There is a lurking attachment in the heart to objects of sense ; the world is ever displaying its fascinations to the view ; the arch-enemy of man is continually spreading his delusions before our path ; and, if we wish to resist the influence of these seductions, the mind must be fortified by the offices of reli- gion. If the sabbatical duties of piety be neglect- ed, the principles of faith will languish, and the impressions of virtue, which have been imprinted in youth, will gradually wear away. By setting the affections on the things of this lower sphere, by dissolving in ease and pleasure, by too eagerly pursuing the honours and emoluments of the pre- sent life, the pure flame of religion will be extin- guished. It can only be kept alive in the heart by withdrawing the thoughts at stated seasons from temporal things, by deep contrition for our past offences, by earnest supplication for pardon and acceptance through the merits of Christ, by a humble prostration of ourselves before the throne of grace, in fervent prayer for the sane- THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 509 tification of the Spirit. Withdrawing on every Lord's day from the tumultuous scenes of life, we must attend to the things which belong to our eternal peace ; we must retire into our chambers to commune with our own hearts, to hold con- verse with our Maker, and to implore our hea- venly Father to deliver us in all time of our tri- bulation, in all time of our wealth ; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment. Thus alone can the principle of faith be preserved pure and unsullied in the breast ; thus alone can we become worthy of that divine grace, without which our souls cannot be purified and harmonized for celestial blessedness. According to the manner in which the sabbath has been kept in all ages, religion has been found to flourish or decay. Wherever the desecration of it has prevailed, it has been attended by a cor- responding decay of vital Christianity. Look at the spiritual condition of several continental kingdoms ; look at the Roman Catholic countries ; look at the state of France, whose rebel sons, in the phrenzy of revolutionary madness, endea- voured to banish the very remembrance of every thing sacred, while with sacrilegious hands they tore down the altars of their God. In these fair portions of the earth, where the Lord's day is systematically disregarded and profaned, fair reli- gion veils her face, and the tone of public morals 510 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. is proportion ably low. Impiety, and the desecra- tion of this festival, must, in the nature of things, have a mutual relationship. Do you see a family blind to the truths of Revelation, averse to prac- tical godliness, and regardless of their eternal interests ? There the fear and the worship of God are habitually neglected. Where are the indivi- duals addicted to open profligacy, or secret sen- suality ? They are to be found among those who contemn this holy ordinance. Is there a remorse- less villain, a cool deceiver, an abandoned violator of the laws of earth and heaven ? They are, every one, profaners of the Lord's day. It may be laid down as a maxim, indisputably true of nations, of families, and of individuals, that their piety and virtue are in exact proportion to their observance of the sabbatical institution. The sanctification of the sabbath is not only the best preservative of the religious principle, but is likewise attended with the approbation of God. He blessed the seventh day, pronounced it the time for conferring his choicest blessings, and for being propitious to those who strive to keep it holy in the true spirit of faith and piety. It would betray an unholy scepticism to doubt the fulfilment of this promise. That the devo- tional services of the sabbath are accompanied with the especial favour of the Deity is a truth, to which every humble Christian can bear ample THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 511 testimony. Many a rebellious disposition has been subdued on that day, many a slumbering soul awakened, many a proud heart humbled. Multitudes of those who have wandered into the bye-paths of sin, have been recalled by the public ministrations of the Lord's day ; and innumer- able are those who have been strengthened with pious confidence to go on their way rejoicing. The gracious promises of the Gospel, the sacra- mental seals to these promises, the more imme- diate manifestations of divine love, are the gifts of this consecrated day. Where two or three are assembled together for public worship, there is Christ in the midst of them, confirming their hopes, administering to their wants, regarding with a favouring eye their imperfect services, and supplying that spiritual help, without which all our labours are ineffectual to salvation. Sincere believers, who are earnestly contending for the prize of their high calling, are thus prepared, by their devout observation of this holy day, to receive more grace, and more abundant blessing ; and the whole host of ransomed spirits will have cause to magnify the mercies of their Redeemer's festival. Being, therefore, the day which the Lord hath made, a day upon which he hath stampt the cha- racter of sacredness, and to the religious observ- ance of which he hath annexed a special blessing. 512 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. to divert it from the holy purposes of its appoint- ment, is a profanation, of which, as Christians, wc should tremble to be guilty. We should guard against the fatal delusion of supposing that we can violate the commands of God with impunity, or obtain salvation by any other mode than that which he hath prescribed in the Book of Life. He has commanded every seventh day to be kept holy : let us not, then, by the desecra- tion of it, subject ourselves to the severity of his vengeance. Oh! let us from this moment resolve to make the Christian sabbath a day of heavenly rest and refreshment, a day of exalted piety, a day of holy preparation for the dread tribunal, before which we must all stand. It is no harsh pre- scription which requires the dedication of one day in the week to him in whom we live and move, and from whom we have our being. If we cannot spare this portion of time for religion, if we feel it too great a sacrifice even to the man- date of Omnipotence, it is highly requisite in- stantly to examine our own hearts by the standard of God's Word. Some root of bitterness must be there, some leaven of iniquity, which can thus render cheerless and distasteful that which should be a day of sacred joy and consolation. The very disinclination to devout exercises is the strongest reason for arousing from this careless slumber of the soul, for rising from this spiritual THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 513 death, that Christ, through redeeming love, may bring us by penitence and faith to life and immor- tality. Let no chilling indifference, therefore, no spe- cious sophistry, no example, however prevalent induce us to profane, or disregard the Christian sabbath. It is a day by divine consecration holy unto the Lord ; but it must ever be borne in mind, that it is a diligent performance of its various obligations which can alone make it to us a day of holiness. We may turn it into a day of vanity, a day of indolence, a day of unprofit- able amusement, a day of vicious indulgence. The misemployment of it is a wilful and wicked rejection of a boon which heaven has in mercy granted for the furtherance of our eternal inte- rests. It therefore depends upon ourselves, whe- ther it will only be instrumental in increasing our condemnation, or be the means of advancing our proficiency in that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Of such importance it is to remember the sabbath day to keep it holy ; for the only way in which it can be promotive of the soul's advantage is, by discharging the duties belonging to its sanctification. The fulfilment of these obligations in a world abounding with temptations to sin, demands much steady resolution, much patient perseverance; but it is encouraging to be assured that victory L 1 514 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. will be crowned with an abundant recompence. In the Christian life difficulties must be encoun- tered ; but he who, undaunted by a few failures, stedfastly aims at the prize of his high calling in Christ, will ultimately triumph; he will go on from step to step, from gradation to gradation, till he will find in spiritual things an overflowing fountain of enjoyment. The duties of the Lord's day, at first attended with distaste, perhaps with pain, will in process of time become easy, will at length be performed with complacency, and at last be regarded as the source of the most pure and exalted delights. Much will be effected by the power of habit, and still more by the special blessing of God, which is ever present to those who conscientiously endeavour to walk in the fear of the Lord blameless. The influence of the Holy Spirit will be shed abroad in the hearts of such as strive, with sincere and faithful efforts, to hallow the sabbath day. The Almighty giveth the Holy Ghost to them that obey him ^, and, as the Spirit helpeth our infirmities ^ it bringeth forth the fruits of love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tempe- rance"'. Assisted by the power from on high, believers are girded with strength to press for- ward in the paths of righteousness, which, by the * Acts V, 32. ' Rom. viii. S6. ■" Gal. v. 22. THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 515 transfusion of a purer spirit, become the paths of happiness, so that they rejoice with joy unspeak- able, and full of glory ". Here, then, is a test by which we may ascertain our progress in a religious life. The sanctifica- tion of the sabbath is indispensable to them who shall be meet for the holiness of heaven. But the performance of the duties proper for that purpose will be vain, if it springs from a listless, tired, and reluctant mind. The obedience which the Deity requires is the obedience of a cheerful and willing heart. We must " call the sabbath a delight ;" we must love it, and all its holy occu- pations ; we must hail with inward joy its return as the renewal of those devout feelings and sacred employments, which, while they inspire the holiest raptures, lift the soul by divine assistance above earthly pollutions, and bring it nearer to its God. By this spiritual consecration alone of our hearts and minds can we be fitted, through the merits of a Saviour, for an everlasting sabbath in the society of glorified spirits, who, with the pure transports of unutterable joy, shall hymn the Triune God for ever and ever ! " 1 Pet. i. 8. THE END. Printed by R. GILBERT, St. John's Square, London. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. I. The SCRIPTURE TESTIMONIES to the DIVINITY of our LORD JESUS, Collected and Illustrated ; to which are added, a List of Authors Consulted, and an Index of Texts. 8vo. 10s. 6d. n. An ATTEMPT to ILLUSTRATE the BOOK of ECCLE- SIASTES. 8vo. 10s. 6d. in. An ATTEMPT towards an IMPROVED VERSION of the PROVERBS of SOLOMON, with Notes, Critical and Expla- natory, and a Preliminary Dissertation. 8vo. 15s. IV. A DISSERTATION on THE FALL OF MAN ; in which the Literal Sense of the Mosaic Account of that event is assert- ed and vindicated. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 1 1 012 01003 2532