A DEFENSE OF THE Christian Sabbath In Answer to A TREATISE of Mr. Tho. Bampfield Pleading for SATURDAY-SABBATH BY IOHN WALLIS D. D. And Professor of Geometry in the University of OXFORD OXFORD Printed by L. Lichfield and are to be Sold by Chr. Coningsby at the Golden Turks-Head over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street LONDON 1692. Imprimatur IONATH EDWARDS Vice-Can OXON Sep. 17 t. 1692. A DISCOURSE Concerning The Christian Sabbath SIR Iune 12. 1692. I Had a while since a Book sent me by the Carrier I know not well from whom of Mr. Thomas Bampfield which in the Title-Page is said to be Printed for the Author 1692. It is Concerning the Sabbath Which he thinks should rather be Observed on what we call Saturday than on what we call Sunday I should not on this Account give any Disturbance to the Peace or Practise of the Church where I live so that a Sabbath be duly Observed as to the Substantials of it though perhaps not upon what day I should chuse For I do not know and I believe no man living can tell me whether what we now call Sunday be a First a Second a Third or a Seventh day in a continued Circulation of Weeks from the Creation And what it is impossible for me to know I think will be no Crime to be Ignorant of Nor hath this Author any other way than common Tradition on which he is not willing that we should lay weight whereby to guess which is the First or which is the Seventh day in such a Circulation of Weeks either from the Creation or even from Christ's Time I am sufficiently satisfied that we ought to keep a Sabbath that is a day of Holy Rest after Six days of ordinary Labour according to the Fourth Commandment and this in a continued Course or Circulation But I am not certain nor can I be which is a First or a Seventh day in such a Circulation of Weeks from the Creation And therefore shall content my self to observe that day which I find observed in the Church where I live In Old England I observe the Sabbath which here I find And if I were in New-England I would observe the Sabbath which I find observed there Though I think it may be disputable whether they and we may be said to observe the same day the First Meridian passing between them and us And yet I would not advise to have it changed in either Now I can hardly think that God hath laid the great stress of so weighty a Point as whereon the main of Gods publick Worship doth much depend on such a Circumstance as is impossible for us to know and of which we may be modestly ignorant I should rather think that what Christ says of the Place Ioh. 4. 21 23 The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor in Ierusalem worship the Father but the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth is in good measure true of the Time also And as it is not so material whether in this or that Place God be Worshiped so he be Worshiped Aright so neither is it so material whether on this or that day as that a Sabbath or day of Holy Rest be duly kept The publick Worship of God was then in great measure confined to the Temple not indifferently in any place within thy Gates but in the place which the Lord thy God shall chuse to put his name there Deut. 16. 6 11 15 16. For which any other place may now be as well assigned that men pray every where lifting up holy hands c. 1 Tim. 2. 8. Privately in private places and Publickly in places appointed for the publick And I do not think we are now more confined to the Iewish Sabbath than to the Iewish Temple This premised I can agree with this Author in many things by him discussed I agree that Our Lord Iesus Christ according to his Divinity was God and is so the true God the God that made Heaven and Earth the God who delivered the Law upon Mount Sinai For though we do acknowledge in the Godhead a Trinity of Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost whereof Christ according to his Divinity is called the Second Person the Son of God or God the Son yet those Three Persons are but One God Nor do I know any other true God but One The God that made Heaven and Earth The Lord Iehovah The God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob The Lord God of Israel The Lord their God who brought them out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage and besides whom we are to have no Other God The God who delivered the Law to them on Mount Sinai And I do agree that Our Lord Iesus Christ is as to his Divinity this God the True God the onely true God and that he was so before his Incarnation How far each of those Actions are to be ascribed to this or that Person of the Trinity we need not be over solicitous What in the New Testament is more peculiarly ascribed to this or that of the Three Persons is in the Old Testament wont to be ascribed to God indefinitely without such particular application the doctrine of the Trinity being then not so distinctly discovered But I cannot agree that Christ as God and Man in contradistinction to the Father and Holy Ghost did all those things for he was not then Man I agree with him also that God who made the World in Six days Rested the Seventh day Gen. 2. 23. Exod. 20. 11. And that he Blessed the Sabbath day and Hallowed it And that accordingly he hath appointed after Six days of ordinary Labour Man should observe a Seventh day of Holy Rest and this in a continued succession But I should rather say that our Lord Iesus Christ is according to his Divinity that God who Blessed the Seventh day Gen. 2. than that the God who Blessed the Sabbath day is the Lord Iesus Christ as he doth p. 64. and elsewhere very often seeming to lay great stress upon it For he was not then the Lord Christ God and Man nor did he bless it as Christ but as God in Union with the Father and Holy Ghost not as contradistinguished from them I agree also that the Law of the Sabbath is one of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments delivered to Israel on Mount Sinai Ex. 20. But I am willing to think it was a Law before Not only because we find it observed Exod. 16. before the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai Ex. 20. but especially because of that in Gen. 2. 3. God blessed the Seventh day and Sanctified it because in it he rested from all his Work And those who are most averse to the Morality as it is wont to be called or the Perpetuity of the Sabbath or Day of Holy Rest and are yet very zealous for the Holiness of Places would be very fond of it if they could find so clear
Congregation met together on a Religious account for the Service of God But let it be called if he please a Religious Discourse of the Holy Apostle to a Congregation of Christians met together for such a purpose He would then have it thought a favour or condescention to admit this breaking of bread to be meant of the Lords Supper and not barely a Common eating But since he doth not deny it we will accept the favour and take it so to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Disciples being congregated or assembled to break Bread 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Disciples not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some of them and they were perhaps not every one but the generality of them as at other meetings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 congregated or assembled and it seems to be a good full Congregation by Eutychus's being mounted to the third loft whatever he meant by that third loft though but the third scaffold so high that by a fall from thence he was in great danger of being killed Now it is not likely that such a Congregation of Christians were thus assembled for common eating He says Paul was to go away on the Morrow True But it is not said they came together to take leave of Paul but came together to Break Bread Paul's going away on the Morrow might be the reason and I believe was why they continued there so long but the End for which they came together was to Break Bread and the occasion of their so coming because it was the first day of the Week On which it should seem they were wont so to do for that end And if he candidly consider it methinks it should seem so to him Paul came to them at Troas in five days where he abode seven days And on the first day of the week when the Disciples came together to break Bread Paul preachea to them Doth not the fair prospect of the place import thus much that they were then met to break Bread as being the first day of the week What other occasion was there of mentioning what day of the Week it was It had been otherwise a fairer transition to have said He staid there Seven days and on the Seventh day or the last of those Seven the Disciples came together to take leave of Paul and Sup with him over night who was to depart on the morrow Now if it had been said on the Seventh day though meaning but the last of those Seven it would no doubt have been urged as a great argument of Paul's keeping a Seventh day Sabbath and the Disciples with him not as a Iewish but as a Christiam Assembly for breaking of bread which was a Christian not a Iewish Service For then breaking of bread would certainly have been the Lords Supper But because it was on the first day of the Week it must now be but common eating to take leave of Paul and to Sup with him as he tells us p. 57. Friends commonly do when a Minister or any other special Acquaintance intends to take a Iourney in the morning to sup with him over night But if he thinks this to be all which is there meant by the Disciples coming together on the first day of the Week to Break Bread he must excuse me if I cannot be of his Opinion But because he is content to admit upon some terms their meeting might be upon a Religious account for the Lords Supper as no doubt it was I shall press him no further therein but accept of his condescension When he tells us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Greek for one and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may as well be rendered One day of the Week as the First day of the Week Surely he is not in earnest Such trifling doth more hurt than help his cause No doubt but when ever they met it was one day of the Week we need not be told it nor need the word Week be added he might as well have said one day nor need he have said so much But this Author cannot think nor doth he that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth any where signify other than the first day of the Week In the whole story of Christs Resurrection and what followed on that day in all the Four Evangelists we have no other word for it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor have we any other word for it that I know of there or any where else I do not know that it is any where called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such shifting doth not look well 'T is somewhat like the Story of a man who bought a Horse for Five Pounds to be paid the next day And accordingly on the next day he sent Five Pounds of Candles Perhaps in the Bargain it was not said expresly in words at length Five Pounds of Lawful Money of England But by common intendment it must be so understood And an honest English Iury upon a Tryal would so Find it The Latin word Pridie is a Derivative or Compound rather from prae prior and Postridie from post posterior and accordingly in Latin pridie Calendarum and postridie Calendarum must signify a day before and a day after the Calends But can any man think it is meant of any day No but the next day before and the next day after So if we say Christ was Crucified one day before the Sabbath and Rose again one day after the Sabbath This one day is the next day And so any man who hath not a mind to Cavil will understand it And so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one day after the Sabbath must needs be understood of the next day after the Sabbath Nor is it ever used in any other sense If it were to be understood of any indefinitely it should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some day after the Sabbath not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one day after But the most pleasant shift of all is when he would have us think that this Evening which is called the first day of the Week was the Evening after the Seventh day that is Saturday night and the next morning when Paul was to go away was Sunday morning and he to travel that Sunday And that the Evening of Saturday was the beginning of Sunday and was therefore called the First day of the Week Because it is said Gen. 1. the evening and the morning was the First day and so of the rest and therefore the evening was the beginning of every day See what shift a man will make rather than quit an Opinion he hath once taken up We are taught that on the Fourteenth day of the first month at even the Pass-over was to be killed Doth he think that this Fourteenth day at even was the end of the Thirteenth day the Fourteenth day then beginning I think every body else takes it to be the evening at the end of the fourteenth day and the Fifteenth day on the morrow was the first day of
Chap. 4. 9 10 11. he rebukes them severely that after they had known God or rather were known of God they should turn again to the weak and beggarly rudiments or elements Ye observe saith he days and months and times and years I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain 'T is not indeed here said in particular what those days were that are here meant yet it is most likely and scarce to be doubted to be meant of the Iewish Sabbath For though other Observation of Times be here reckoned up there being the same reason of all yet there was no occasion for the others in Galatia For the Jews themselves did not think themselves obliged nor do the Jews at this day to the observation of their other Feasts or Fasts out of their own land But to that of Circumcision and of the Iewish Sabbath and the distinction of Meats they thought themselves obliged even out of their own land And of such we must understand this to the Galatians These being the things there in question not those other which were confined to the land of Canaan But he objects here that though Days be mentioned yet not Sabbath days and fansies it might be meant of some other days not of Sabbaths To gratify him therefore in this also I will proceed to that of Colos. 2. 16. Where Sabbaths are expresly named To the Colossians who were also Christian Gentiles he pursues the same notions Least any one should beguile them with inticing words Col. 2. 4. thereby to bring them under the Mosaick Law He bids them Beware lest any spoil them through Philosophy and vain deceit Whereby I suppose he means the Mosaick doctrines or Philosophy of the Jews which Clemens Alexandrinus doth all along call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in contradistinction to that of the Greeks after the traditions of men after the rudiments or elements of the world and not after Christ ver 8. and that particularly of Circumcision ver 11. in the room of which Baptism is come ver 12. Christ by his Death having blotted out the hand-writing of ordinances meaning the Jewish Law and took it out af the way nailing it to his Cross ver 14. and amongst other things Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink as if some were now clean others unclean as under the Mosaick Law or in respect of an holy day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Festival or of the new Moon or of the Sabbath days 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ver 16. Where by Sabbath must be meant the Iewish Sabbath the day which in common speech was understood by the word Sabbath For this he hath two or three evasions He doth commonly press hard in other places that by Sabbath is to be understood the Jews Seventh-day-Sabbath and no other day The holy Spirit doth call the Seventh-day the Sabbath and no other day of the week both in the Old and in the New Testament throughout p. 46. And I think he is not much out therein that it doth usually so signify where it doth not come with some intimation to direct us to some other sense And why it should not be thought so to signify here I see no reason For though I take our Christian Sabbath to fall as properly under the word Sabbath in the Fourth Commandment as that of the Iews yet the word in common use having by this time become the proper name of that Day which the Jews so called it was necessary to avoid confusion to give the Christian Sabbath another name as that of the Lords Day or the first day of the week And consequently that the Sabbaths here mentioned are to be understood according to the then use of the word of those Sabbaths Not as if all days of Holy Rest where hereby forbidden but onely the nicety of confining it particularly to that day which was then in common speech so called But he would not have it here understood of the Seventh-day Sabbath as every where else but some other Ceremonial Sabbaths but what those are he doth not tell us That there were some other Feasts observed by the Jews which in the Old Testament are sometimes called Sabbaths but very seldome I do not deny nor that those come under the general Words in this place But those do not seem to be here principally intended because it is manifest to be understood of the Sabbath there in dispute Now there was no occasion of a dispute concerning the observance of those other Sabbaths amongst the Gentiles out of the Holy-land These observations being not thought obligatory even to the Jews but in their own Land onely And it is expresly provided Deut. 16. that these were not to be kept in any place promiscuously not within any of the Gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee But in the place which the Lord thy God shall chuse to place his name there So of the Pass-over ver 5 6. So of the Feast of Pentecost ver 11. So of the Feast of Tabernacles ver 15. And of altogether ver 16. And therefore not out of their own Land I do not deny but that they might in private houses eat the Paschal Lamb as Christ did with his Disciples but not Sacrifice the Pass-over For it was to be sacrificed in the Temple onely and the Feast of the Pass-over to be there solemnly kept Not in private houses and much less out of their own Land Nor do I remember that any where in all the New Testament the word Sabbath is used for any such Sabbaths Nor can reasonably be supposed to be here meant of those Feasts because it is put in contradistinction to them Let no man judge you in respect of a Feast of the New-moon or of the Sabbaths Which yet I do not understand as if no Sabbath might now be kept but that the Obligation to that Sabbath was now at an end Another evasion is this He would have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sabbata in the plural number to signify Weeks not Sabbath-days The Sabbath-day being called in the singular number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sabbatum For he will rather play at small game than stand out If we should allow him this it would not advance his purpose at all For if the business of Weeks be at an end that we are no longer to distribute our time into Weeks than that of the Sabbath much more which he would have to be the seventh day of the Week But suppose we do allow that one Sabbath is to be called Sabbatum what are we to call two or more Sabbaths Must not they be Sabbata And if this be his meaning then are we not to observe such Sabbaths any longer But what must we then say to Mat. 28. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render In the end of the Sabbath meaning thereby the Seventh day Sabbath then past 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it began to draw towards the first day of the
shewed to the High-Priests the things which were done who calling a Councel gave the Souldiers Money to say His Disciples came and stole him away while they were asleep undertaking to secure them in case the Governour should come to hear it Upon this news being brought by the Women to the Disciples Two of them from the rest went to the Sepulchre to enquire into the business and brought an account of it to the rest who were Astonished at it And all this happened before the Two Disciples began their Journey to Emmaus for they discoursed of it by the way and told it to Iesus who fell into their Company Luk 24. 19 20 21 22 23 24. Now their Journey from Ierusalem to Emmaus was about Threescore Furlongs ver 13. which our Author rightly computes to be about Seven miles and an half of our miles which they Travelled on foot for 't is said they walked Mark 16. 12. and Iesus in their company Preaching to them out of Moses and the Prophets the Doctrine of Christ's Death and Resurrection When they came near to Emmaus it was towards Evening and the day far spent Luk. 24. 29. they did there abide for some time and Iesus with them continuing to Preach on the same Subject and was at length known to them by breaking of Bread ver 30. 35. After which they returned to Ierusalem and told these things to the Disciples then gathered together ver 33. By which time having now walked another Seven miles and an half we may reasonably suppose it to be pretty late at night For when they first approached to Emmaus it was then so late as that it was not thought convenient unless upon some such great occasion to Travel further ver 28. Yet after they were come back to Ierusalem Christ then appeared himself to the Disciples blessing them reproaching their unbelief confirming their Faith giving them Instructions and Commission for Preaching the Gospel and Planting the Christian Church And it was yet but the same day at evening being the First day of the Week Joh. 20. 19. on which he rose but now late at night when the doors were shut that is if I mistake not so late as that it was time to shut up doors as men use to do towards bed-time Not as if Christ came in through the Key-hole any more than did the Two Disciples that came from Emmaus or did Penetrate the doors as the Papists would have us think in favour of their Transubstantiation For they were not so shut but that they could be opened again upon occasion to let him in as they had been to let in those Two that came from Emmaus as well as to let in Peter late at night Act. 12. 16. So that from very early in the Morning while it was dark till very late night and about Mid-night was the same day the first day of the Week 'T is manifest therefore that about our Saviours time according to the Computation of the New Testament both the Jews and the Four Evangelists did reckon their days from mid-night to mid-night And if they did not so reckon Christ could not be said Mat. 12. 40. to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth For it was Evening when Ioseph begged the Body of Iesus and later yet before he had buried it and yet this must be reckoned part of the Sixth day olse he had not been three days in the Grave or heart of the earth And I think they were so reckoned in the times of the Old Testament also Which though it be not so much to the present purpose yet if you will pardon this digression I will tell you why I think so It is I know an Opinion taken up by some and I find it is grown pretty current even amongst Learned men that the Jews in the time of the Old Testament did reckon their days from Evening to Evening whether they mean from Sun-set to Sun-set or from Six a Clock to Six a Clock I cannot tell nor perhaps are they all agreed as to that point But I take it to be a mistake which being at first taken up without sufficient ground hath since passed without further examination from hand to hand We find Exod. 12. 6. the Pass-over was to be killed in the First month on the Fourteenth day in the Evening which I think is agreed by all to be the Evening at the end of the Fourteenth day not that at the end of the Thirteenth for the next morning was the Fifteenth day which evening therefore belonged to the Fourteenth day But it is noted in the Margin of our Bibles that it is in the Hebrew between the two Evening s. You 'l ask perhaps what are those two Evenings I 'le tell you what I think they are The word Day you know is taken in a double sense Sometimes for what we call the Natural day as it is contradistinguished to night from Sun-rising to Sun-setting sometimes for what we call the Artificial day or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so as to take in both day and night Our Saviour tells us there are Twelve hours in the day meaning the Natural day But in the Artificial day of which we are now speaking there be Four and Twenty hours Some please to call that the Natural day which I call the Artificial for all do not use the words in the same sense But that matters not so long as we understand one another Now by the word Evening is understood the end of the day Which as to the Natural day is at Sun-set but as to the Artificial day it is I think at Mid-night And consequently between the two Evenings is as much as to say after Sun-set and before Mid-night And this is what in our Language we commonly call the Evening which is in the Hebrew between the two Evenings that is between the end of the Natural day and the end of the Artificial day and within this time was the Passover to be Killed Rosted and Eaten Nothing of it was to remain till the Morning that is not after Mid-night for as soon as Mid-night is past Morning begins And within this time all Leaven was to be put away that is before the Mid-night of the Fourteenth day Which is so fair an account of it as that we need not scruple to embrace it And it was the Fifteenth day that was the first day of the Feast of Unlevened bread all Leven being put away before Mid-night and this Fifteenth day was to be kept as a Sabbath and a Holy Feast to the Lord ver 14. on what ever day of the Week it chanced to fall And so was the One and Twentieth day which was the last of those Seven days Seven days shall ye eat Unleavened bread even the first day ye shall put away or shall have put away leaven out of your house And in the First day there shall be an Holy Convocation and in the Seventh day there shall be an Holy
And if it had been on the seventh day how great a proof would this have been with him for a Seventh-day Sabbath This I take to be a Christian Sabbath and within the prospect of the Fourth Commandment And though it be not expresly called a Sabbath to avoid confusion or ambiguity because the word Sabbath in common speech was then appropriated to the Jewish Sabbath yet it is the same thing And if he doubt whether the Feast of Pentecost were on the First day of the Week as was that of the Resurrection he may be satisfied from Levit. 23. 15. where that Feast is appointed After mention made of the Pass-over ver 5. c. Moses proceeds to that of the Wave-offering v. 10 11. When ye be come into the land which I give unto you and shall reap the harvest thereof then shall ye bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the Priest and he shall Wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you on the morrow after the Sabbath the Priest shall wave it Whether by the Sabbath here mentioned be meant the Weekly Sabbath or the first day of the Feast of Unleavened-Bread is not material because in that year whereof we are speaking this first day of the Feast was on the Weekly Sabbath as is manifest from the story of Christs Crucifixion which was on the Sixth day of the Week and the next day being the Seventh day was the Feast of the Pass-over and the morrow after this Sabbath was the day of Christ's Resurrection as well as of the Wave-offering And then he proceeds ver 15 16 to the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks 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 compleat even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number Fifty days inclusively taken as the manner is in Scripture reckoning and must needs be so here It was called the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks as Deut. 16. 9 10. which Feast of Pentecost was the morrow after the Sabbath on a first day of the Week And on this first day of the Week the morrow after the seventh day Sabbath here was a solemn Assembly for Religious Worship and a very large one both of Jews and Gentiles out of every nation under Heaven Parthians Medes Elamites c. And this solemnized by a Miraculous Effusion of the Holy Ghost in the gift of Tongues For we all hear say those of that great assembly every one in our own Tongue where in we were born the wonderful Works of God ver 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. With a long Sermon of Peter's on that occasion Which I take to be another celebration of the First day Sabbath and a very eminent one We are to observe also that in some of the places alleged to this purpose though but single instances there is an intimation of a frequent usage As in that Act. 20. ◠On the first day of the week the disciples being assembled to break bread Paul preached c. Is a fair intimation that on the first day they did use so to assemble If it were said amongst us About six a clock when they were come together in the College-Hall to supper such a thing happened Any unprejudiced person would take it for a fair intimation that they used to suppe about six a clock And if this Author could any where find in the book of Iob that On the seventh day of the week from the Creation when Iob and his friends were assembled for the joint service of God Bildad spake thus c. He would take this for a strong proof that the seventh-day Sabbath was then wont to be observed Much stronger than what he allegeth to that purpose Abram and Lot had each of them so many Cattel that they could not dwell or rest together without quarrellings amongst their servants And that of what Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron Why do you Hinder their work you make the people Rest from their burthens A like place is that of 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Nov concerning the Collection for the Saints as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye and what that was we are told in the next words 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 If it had been so said to 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 or to Iob Upon the Seventh day of the week do this or thus what a strong proof would this have been for the Observation of a seventh day Sabbath I think it is plain from hence that the First day of the week was weekly observed and was wont to be so observed both by the Church of Corinth and by the Churches of Galatia For So Paul doth not here advise it but suppose it or take it for granted What that order was to the Churches of Galatia our Author says he cannot tell 〈◊〉 thought it had been plain enough he bids the Corinthians do as he had bid the Galatians that is on the First day of the Week c. What further order he had given the Galatians it is not as to this point necessary for us to know But saith he if they must on that day lay by as God hath blessed them then they must on that day cast up their accounts tell their mony reckon their stock compute their Expenses c. which are not Sabbath-day Works A wise objection As though all this could not as well be done before so far as is necessary and on Sunday put so much into the poor mans box or give to the Deacons or Collectors as upon such account they should have found fit like as is now done in our Churches when there is occasion for such Collections Why doth he not make the same exception to that of Deut. 16. 10. concerning the Feast of Pentecost where they are to bring a tribute of a free-will-offering which says he thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God c. according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee Doth he think that on the day of Pentecost which was to be strictly observed as a Sabbath a holy Convocation and no servile work to be done Lev. 23 1. they must cast up their accounts tell their money c. because they were to offer according as the Lord hath blessed them I think not But here comes in again his former trifling objection of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether it signify the first day of the Week Yet I am very confident himself doth really believe it doth here so signify and as to his own thoughts doth not doubt of it But perhaps thinks it a piece of wit or skill in Greek thus to object against his own judgment Yet since he will have it so and we must come again to Childs play I
a Testimony and so ancient for the holiness of Place as here is for that of Time I agree also that the Law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments though then given peculiarly to Israel is Obligatory to Us also For though some Clauses therein do peculiarly respect them as that who brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage and that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee which I think is there said with a particular respect to the land of Canaan which God gave to Israel not to us yet the Body of that Law and the preceptive part of it I take to be Obligatory to others also and to Us in particular the Decalogue being Declarative of what was I think a Law before however neglected or forgotten and is by Christ and his Apostles frequently cited as such even to Gentiles as well as Jews Nor will I dispute it with him whether the Sabbath were observed from the Creation to the Floud For I am willing to think that if it were not it should have been though in the short History that Moses gives us of that time there be no mention made of such Observation But I doubt it was not universally so observed if at all For when all flesh had corrupted their ways I doubt the Sabbath day and the worship of that day were by them not much regarded Nor do I find Gen. 2. 3. any express Command such as he demands for the First days Sabbath that it should be observed thenceforth by Men every Seventh day of the Week for ever How far the words he blessed and sanctified it may extend I will not dispute It may be a strong Intimation and I think it is But it is not expresly said that All Mankind must for ever after observe every Seventh day in every Week of days reckoned continually from the first Creation Nor do I think it necessary to have been so recorded by Moses any more than the Law for Sacrifices if it did otherwise appear to have been the Will of God And therefore I would not have him lay too great a stress on what he saith that there is no express Commandment Recorded in the New Testament for observing the First day It is enough if we there find sufficient Intimation for us to judge that God was pleased to have it observed I say the like as to the time from the Floud to that of Abraham and from thence to the coming of Israel out of Egypt For I do not find any mention of their observing a Sabbath either in the Writings of Moses or the Book of Iob earlier than that of Exod. 16. after Israels coming out of Egypt and after the time that God is said to have made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah Ex. 15. 25. What that Statute and Ordinance was we cannot tell The Jewish Writers think or some of them that it was that of the Sabbath and perhaps it might or this be some part of it It was perhaps a Revival of what had been before disused Nor is it likely that their Task-Masters in Egypt would suffer them to be Idle and neglect their Work one whole day in Seven Nor do I find any foot-steps in History that any other Nation but the Jews did for many Ages after this time so much as measure out their time by Weeks I know that many Learned and Pious men have been searching to that purpose and willing to lay hold on any thing that might seem to look that way And I should be well enough pleased to see it made out But I have not seen any thing convictive to give me satisfaction therein I have consulted Clemens Alexandrinus and what he cites in the Fifth Book of his Stromata who hath I believe made the best search of any into Heathen Writers for that purpose His design in that Book is to shew that the Heathens had stollen or borrowed much of their Philosophy from what he calls Philosophia Barbara or Barbarorum meaning thereby the Iewish Learning for with the Greeks all but themselves were Barbarians And amongst many other things he takes notice of the number Seven sometimes mentioned in Heathen Writers as with some veneration which he thinks to be occasioned from that number oft mentioned in the Sacred Writers and particularly from that of their Sabbath and measuring their time by Weeks But he doth not at all intimate as if himself did think the Heathens so to have divided their time or to keep that Sabbath but only that they were acquainted with the Jewish Learning and borrowed much of theirs from thence That which therein seemed to me the most promising and by others also is oft alledged was that Cited from Hesiod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Seventh a Sacred day But when I consulted the place in Hesiod in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the latter part of which he treats of Days I find nothing there of Weeks or days of the Week but only days of the Month. For 't is this he there proposeth to speak of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Thirty days of the Month on which he makes divers Remarks as which of them were to be accounted Good days and which Bad days and for what purposes And begins with these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Begin we with the First and the Fourth and the Seventh a Sacred day Because that on this day Apollo who hath the Golden Sword was born of Latona So that it seems the Seventh day not the First was then Sunday For Apollo with his Gold Sword is but another name for the Sun But it was the Seventh day of the Month not the Seventh day of the Week for of Weeks he there says nothing And he then goes on to speak of the Eighth and Ninth days then of the Eleventh and Twelfth next of the Thirteenth and so of other days of the Month shewing which of them were accounted Lucky days and which Unlucky and for what Affairs But nothing of Weeks at all However Hesiod himself though one of the Oldest of the Heathen Writers is but young as to the times we speak of who is reckoned to have lived about the time of King Uzziah Seven Hundred years after the time we are now considering upon the coming of Israel out of Egypt Nor doth Clemens Alexandrinus think when they name Seven it was from any Old Tradition from Adam or Noah but from what acquaintance they then had with the Jewish Writers of later time Nor do I find any thing that is more to the purpose in all there Cited by Clemens Alexandrinus than this of Hesiod But if any where he could have found that the Heathens divided their Time by Weeks no doubt but he would have mentioned this as borrowed from the Iewish Learning which was the thing he was there inquiring after And when he saith nothing of it we may be sure he could not find it I find indeed