1. Where is the
proof that any man ever kept the seventh day, except by special
commandment, prior to the proclamation of the ten commandments
at Mount Sinai? (Gen. 2:2, 3; Ex. 16:23-30; 20:1-17).
2. If Christians are required to keep the seventh day, why do
you depart from your dwelling on that day, seeing those to whom
the law was given were plainly commanded not to do so? (Ex.
16:29).
3. If you keep one Sabbath-the seventh day-why not keep them
all, the seventh year and the year of Jubilee? Who authorized
you to make distinction in favor of the seventh day? (Lev. 25
:1-22)
4. If Christians are required to keep the Sabbath, how are they
to live in cold climates when it is forbidden to build a fire on
the Sabbath? (Ex. 35:1-3).
5. Is it the duty of Christians to put to death those who
desecrate the seventh day? (Num. 15:32-36). If yes, who will be
the public executioner? If no, what will you do with the law?
(Ex. 35:2). If you say that the penalties are abolished, I
answer that the same passages that you use to establish this.
prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the law, too, is
abolished. If you admit that the penalties are still in
force-and the proof that they are unanswerable and invincible if
the law is in force-there is not a Seventh Dayist on top of the
green earth who can escape the vengeance of the broken law!
6. If Christians are under obligation to observe the seventh
day, why did Jesus declare that all law and prophecy hang on
love instead of the Sabbath, seeing the command to keep it is
the one on which you hang your everlasting all? (Matt. 22:34-40;
Rom. 13:8-10).
7. Why did Jesus not require the young ruler to keep the Sabbath
when enumerating the commandments? (Matt. 19:16-20; Mark
10:17-22; Luke 18:18-24).
8. If Christians are to keep the law of Moses-the Sabbath-why
did the apostles and elders who met at Jerusalem leave it out of
their address to the churches? (Acts 15 :1-29). This case finds,
in some respects, a parallel in your theorizing. Judaizing
teachers had gone forth declaring to the brethren that unless
they would submit to circumcision and keep the law of Moses they
could not be saved. The apostles said, "We gave no such
commandment."
9. If Christians are required to keep the Sabbath, how are we to
account for the open violation of the law by Jesus Christ, who
is our example, unless by saying that the power that made the
law can take it away (John 7 :22-23).
10. If you keep the Sabbath because you think it was kept before
the law of Moses, why do you not practice circumcision. seeing
it is plainly commanded in these ages? (Gen. 17:1-14; Gal.
5:1-6). 11. When did patriarch,
prophet, or apostles, or anybody else, command any Gentile to
keep the law of Moses? No dodging here. Proof! Proof!! Proof!!!
12. Paul says the ministration of death written and engraven in
stone (Ex. 20:1-17; 31:18; 32 6:15-16; 34:1-28) was done away (2
Cor. 3:1-18). When, where, and by whom was it brought back into
force? Name the day, the age, the authority, and give proof from
the Book! If your doctrine is true the great apostle of the
Gentiles stands convicted of a mistake.
13. If the early Christians kept the Sabbath day, why did they
break bread on the first day of the week? (Acts 20:7).
14. If Christians are to keep the Sabbath day, how do you
account for the fact that the apostles preached the gospel in
Jerusalem, Samaria, to Cornelius the Gentile, and to many
others, without commanding a single individual to keep it? Did
they, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit fail to properly
instruct their converts? (Acts 2:1-47; 8:1-40; 10:1-48
;16:1-40).
15. Is it not a fact, according to the book of Acts, that the
thing done was of more importance than the day? Acts 20:7.
16. Can you demonstrate that the day you keep is really the
seventh day or Sabbath, coming down in regular succession from
the day on which God keeps? If not, your day is no better than
any other day. Admitting, for argument's sake, that the law of
Moses is still in force, and that the fourth commandment is
binding on the whole human race, will you affirm that it is
possible for all men to keep the same day? If so, how do you
explain the fact that the traveler who starts out to go around
the earth, gains, say, if going east, one hour for every
thousand miles traveled, or if going west loses an hour for
every thousand miles traveled? How far would he go before he
lost the count? Do you not see that he would inevitably be
behind or in advance? Further, how do you explain the fact that
far away toward the extremes of the earth, traveling from the
equator, there are periods of six months night and six months
day from age to age? Do you not see that it is a geographical
impossibility for all men to keep the same day, and that the Law
was only intended for one people, one country, and one age?
17. Do you keep the Sabbath day? No dodging, do you? Do you
rest, or put in the day promulgating your doctrines? If you do
not keep the day according to the Law, you do not keep it at
all. If part is done away, then all is done away. Read Exodus
20:8-11; 35:1-3. |
