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Show Sunday Laws Are Strictly Human Says the Rev. Silas G. Huntington The I?ov. Silas G. Huntington, pastor of the Seventh-day Advcntist cliurchv delivered a sermon Sunday evening on tho subject, "Origin of Sunday Laws I and Their Meaning." In part, ho said: I "All Sunday laws are strict)' human. There is no warrant in holy writ for the observance of this da': but even if there was u command in tho Bible for the observance of Sunday, its observance obser-vance would then be only a matter of conscience between the individual and God, and not betwoen the individual and the state. That thoro is no command com-mand in tho Scriptures for tho sanctity of the first day of the week is ack-nowledged ack-nowledged by leading authorities of all denominations and ercods. The following follow-ing quotations arc sufficient to establish estab-lish this fact: Ncandcr, one of tho most distinguished church historians, says: "Tho festival of Sunday, like till other festivals, was always oub' a human ordinance, or-dinance, and it was far from tho intentions inten-tions of tho ariostles to establish a divine di-vine command in this respect; far from them, and from tho early apostolic church to transfer the laws of the Sabbath Sab-bath to Sunday.' Ncandors Church Trans, by II. J. Rose, p. 1SG." Dr. Lyman Abbott "The current notion no-tion that Christ and his apostles authoritatively author-itatively substituted the first day of the week for the seventh day is absolutely without any authority In the Now Testament." Testa-ment." Christian Union. June 26, 1S90. Mr. Gladstone: "The seventh day of the week has been deposed from its lltlo to obligatory religious observance, and Its prerogative bus been carried over to the first, under no direct procept of Scripture." Church Monthly, March, 1825. Cardinal Gibbons: "You may read the Blblo from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not llnd a single Une authorising authoris-ing the sanctlllcatlon of Sunday." "Faith of Our Fathers." p. 111. Canon Eyton: "There Is no word, no hint, In the New Testament about" abstaining ab-staining from work on Sunday." The Ten Commandments. Dr. Philip Scliaff: "No regulations for Its. observance- aro laid down In the New Testament, nor, indeed, Is its observance oven enjoined." Sch.nfi'-Ilerzog Encyclo-! Encyclo-! pedla. Art. "Sunday," "Keforring to the origin of Sunday laws. Chamber's encyclodpedia, a most authoritative work, puis it thus:" r By nono of the Fathers before tho fourth century Is It (tho first duy of .the week) Identified with the Sabbath: nor Is tho duty of observing It grounded by them either on the fourth commandment command-ment or on tho precept or example of Jesus or his apostles. Uncpiestlonnbly tho first law. either ec-cloHlastleal ec-cloHlastleal or civil, by which the Sabbatical Sab-batical observance of that day is known to have been ordained. Is the edict of Constantino 321 A. D.. of which the following fol-lowing Is a translation: "Let all Judges, Inhabitants of tho cities, nnd artificers, rest on tho venerable Sunday. But In the country, hupbandmon mny freoly ,-md lawfully apply to tho business of agriculture: agri-culture: hIiic It often hnppens that tho sowing of corn and planting of vlnr-s can not he so advantageously performed on any other day; lest, by necloctlng iho opportunity, op-portunity, they should lose, the benefits which the rilvlno bounty bestows on us " But it, was not till the year 53S that abstinence from agricultural labor on Sunday Sun-day was recommended, rather than en-Joined, en-Joined, by an ecclesiastical authority (the third council of Orleans), and this expressly ex-pressly that the pcoplo might hnvo mor leisure to go to church and say their prayers. "The object of Sunday legislation in I he time of "Rome was religious, and involved a union of church and state. This fact is too potent to admit of discussion. dis-cussion. What the present agitation for Sunday laws in Utah and throughout the United States menus, is well stated by the promoters of said laws. Thus we observe that ho National lieform association, as-sociation, the chairman of whom is the Rev. W. F. Craft, of Washington, D. C, declares in article 2 of its constitution this: 'To secure such an ammondmcnt to the constitution of tho TJnitod States as will declare the nation's allegiance to Jesus Christ, nnd its necoptance of tho moral laws of tho Christian religion, and so indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all tho Christian laws, institutions and usages of our government govern-ment ou an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of tho land.' f. "As to how this amendment is to bo applied, the Rev. D. G. Gait, district secretary of tho National Reform association, asso-ciation, in a letter, .rune, 3SS0, smd: 'We propose to incorporate in our National Na-tional constitution tho moral nnd religious re-ligious command, in it (the Sabbath), thou shalt do no work, except the works of necessity, and by external force of sheriffs wo propose to arrest and punish pun-ish all violators of this law.' "That all this means a nuion of church and state in its most ultra form, persecution and the rcvivnl of the dark ages, if carriod into effect, is just ns clear as words can make it. I "In summing up tho question, therefore, there-fore, another has well said: The very inquisition itself Is wrapped up In the Sunday-law movement Let all honest, liberty-loving people everywhere withdraw from It. It belongs to the mystery mys-tery of Iniquity. God lurs cominandcd'no man to keep Sunday as the Sabbath. Tho seventh day Is God s Subbath, and those who observe it ask no civil law for Its enforcement. The Sunday Is u relic of paganism, a child of the papacy, and tho unfortunate herltagn of Protestant-Ism Protestant-Ism the mark and means la all ages of u union of church and slate. |