The Constitutional Amendment: or, The Sunday, the Sabbath, the Change, and Restitution / A discussion between W. H. Littlejohn, Seventh-day Adventist, and the editor of the Christian Statesman

by Wolcott H. Littlejohn

But when did the Jewish day commence? The undeniable answer is, At sunset. But when did Christ appear to the disciples, according to Roman time, as argued? We answer, In the darkness of the evening, and, therefore, after the ending of the Jewish first day. What is the necessary conclusion? We reply, One of two things. 1. Either that the visit of Christ had no reference to the sanctity of the day on which it occurred; or 2. That it was designed to honor the second day of the Jewish week. We leave the writer in question to take whichever horn of this dilemma he pleases. If he should insist that John employed Roman time, then all which he has said in reference to the effect of the visit of Christ upon the first day of the Jewish week is emptied of all force. Never was self-stultification more complete. In his effort to escape from the paws of the Trojan bear (secular travel on Sunday), the writer has thrown himself into the jaws of the lion (no Scripture precedent for Sunday-keeping). For, if he is right in supposing that the meeting in John 20:19, occurred on the Roman evening of that day—that is, after sunset, and the coming on of darkness—then, of course, it did not transpire on the Jewish first day of the week, which had previously ended, according to his own admission, at the going down of the sun; but it actually took place after the commencement of the second day of the Jewish week.

Not only so, but the second meeting, of Christ with his disciples (after eight days), according to his own reasoning, must have fallen on the second Jewish day of the next week. And, finally, accepting his logic that the meeting of Acts 20:7, also fell on the Roman evening of the first day of the week, that precedent, so long cherished, and so often cited, is now forever disposed of, since it, too, illustrates the second Jewish day of the week, and not the first, if, indeed, it adds luster to any. But, reader, it would be neither Christian nor manly to adopt an exegesis of Scripture presented by an opponent, simply because such an exegesis would prove his overthrow. Truth is worth more than mere victory. The gentleman has made a mistake in deciding that Roman time is employed in the Bible, and that mistake has brought him to confusion. But now we propose to show that Roman time is not employed, even though in so doing we shall assist him out of his trouble for the time being. Let no one suppose, however, that the relief which we shall afford him will be permanent, for, unfortunately for him, we shall rescue him from one death simply to deliver him to another.

The whole question turns upon the commencement and end of the Bible day. If it can be shown that it began and terminated with the setting of the sun, then, beyond all dispute, the meeting in Troas occurred at the commencement of the first day of the week, at the coming on of darkness, the only period in that day when lights could be employed to advantage (verse 8). We proceed, therefore, to our task. We have heretofore quoted from the Tract Society’s Bible Dictionary, under the article, day, to prove a general agreement that the Hebrews commenced and ended their day with the setting of the sun. In addition to this, we might refer the reader to Smith’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the Bible on the same subject. In fact, we might multiply authorities without end; but this is not necessary here. By turning to Genesis, chapter 1, the reader will find that God measured the day by “the evening and the morning” (darkness and light). He will here observe that with the ancient Hebrews the whole night preceded the day to which it belonged. Advancing to Leviticus 23:32, he will there read the command of God, that the people should keep their Sabbaths “from even to even.” But as the Sabbath was the last day of the week, and was to commence and end with the evening, he will discover that it will be necessary that all the other days should commence and end in the same manner.

Passing now to the New Testament, he will find the same custom prevailing in the days of our Lord. Nay, more; he will there obtain the authority of Luke himself, who wrote the book of Acts, for believing that Christ and the Jews followed that system of beginning and ending the day which God had inaugurated in the outset. We read in Luke 4:40: “Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases, brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.” By tracing back the event, as given by Luke, in its parallel, as found in Mark 1, we find that Christ was healing in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and that he subsequently repaired to the house of Peter, and healed his wife’s mother; and that, “at even, when the sun did set,” the Jews brought to him all those that were diseased, and possessed with devils, for the purpose of having him heal them. This, however, they could not have done on the Sabbath day, according to their views; therefore they prove that the custom was still prevalent among them of ending the days with the setting of the sun. But, furthermore, has it not been argued by the writer himself, that the day of Pentecost was coincident with the first day of the week? We think this will hardly be disputed. If it be true, however, and if the logic be sound, that the Spirit which was poured out on the day of Pentecost was designed to indicate that it corresponded with the Christian Sabbath, then we need not argue further, for no man will deny that that day was emphatically Jewish in its beginning and ending.

This army of Scripture testimony, gleaned from a history of 4000 years, if met at all, it will be necessary that it should be done by clear and emphatic statements emanating from the same source from which the authorities in question are drawn. Has the gentleman furnished any such evidence? The reader will readily discover that he has not. The only texts brought forward in support of the change upon which he insists are John 20:19, and Matt. 28:1. In reference to the first of these, it will only be required that attention should be called to the fact that, with the Hebrews, each day had two evenings. (Exodus 12:6, margin; and Numbers 9:3, and 28:4, margin.) On this point, the Bible Dictionary says: “The Hebrews reckoned two evenings in each day.... According to the Karaites, this time between the evenings is the interval from sunset to complete darkness, that is, the evening twilight. According to the Pharisees and the Rabbins, the first evening began when the sun inclined to descend more rapidly; that is, at the ninth hour; while the second or real evening commenced at sunset.” (Art. Evening.) Now let it be supposed that Christ met with his disciples somewhere between three o’clock and sunset, on the day of the resurrection, and the statement that he met with them the “same day at evening,” is at once verified, and the necessity for the supposition of a change of time disappears.

In explanation of Matt. 28:1, we cannot do better, perhaps, than to append the following comment from Albert Barnes: “The word end, here means the same as after the Sabbath; i. e., after the Sabbath was fully completed, or finished, and may be expressed in the following manner: ‘In the night following the Sabbath; for the Sabbath closed at sunset, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.’” That Mr. Barnes is right in his criticism, will become apparent when we compare Matt. 28:1, with the parallel passage in Mark 16:1, 2, where the same historic fact is introduced with these words: “When the Sabbath was past.” A complete harmony is thus preserved between the two evangelists, and all requisition for the extreme resort to the hypothesis of a sudden and unprecedented employment of the Roman system for the computation of time is dispensed with.

As it regards the objection, which is based upon the use made in Acts 20:7, of the words, “on the morrow,” we reply that it is not well taken. That it was perfectly compatible with a Jewish custom, when speaking of the daylight portion of any day from the stand-point of the previous evening, to allude to it as “the morrow,” we cite the following passages: “Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle.” Acts 23:31, 32. “Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning; and Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain.” 1 Samuel 19:11.

In addition to the above texts, we might quote the authority of Mr. Howson, who is so justly complimented for his scholarship by the writer. He cannot be charged with leaning toward our views of the Sabbath, and, therefore, if he had any bias in the case, it would be against, and not in favor of, the position which we are trying to maintain. If there was really any force in the criticism which is offered respecting the use of the preposition and the term with which it is connected, assuredly the discriminating eye of this gentleman would not have allowed it to escape detection. Nevertheless, he, as the writer admits, deliberately decides, while examining at length the very passages now before us, that the events there spoken of, journey and all, did transpire on the Sunday. In doing so, it follows, as a matter of course, that he did not regard the difficulty which is urged concerning the words, “on the morrow,” as one at all formidable.

Thus much by way of a brief refutation of the diversity theory for the commencing of the days of the Bible. We have seen heretofore, that, if the advocate of this theory were right and we wrong, he has lost to his cause the three precedental meetings of John 20:19, John 20:26, and Acts 20:7, since they occurred on the second, and not the first, Jewish day of the week. Let us now view the situation from the stand-point of one who believes that the sacred, instead of the heathen, method is followed consistently throughout the Scriptures. In Acts 20:7, the text which is passing under review, it is said that there was a meeting held upon the first day of the week, and that Paul preached until midnight. It now becomes important to know on what portion of the first day of the week this meeting fell. By examining the record, we find the statement that there were many lights employed in the chamber where they were gathered. We know, therefore, that the meeting must have taken place during the dark portion of the first day of the week. But as we have seen that the Jewish day commenced with sunset, the only hours of darkness which belong to it were to be found between that time and the next morning. Advancing, we learn that, having spent the night in preaching, breaking of bread, &c., the apostle devoted the daylight portion of the first day of the week to the accomplishment of a journey of nineteen and a half miles, while his companions sailed the vessel a greater distance round the headland to Assos. Here, then, is apostolic example for travel upon the first day of the week. The writer endeavored to escape this conclusion, by asserting that the meeting in question and the travel took place on the second day of the week. This view, we have met, and successfully answered. The record states that it was upon the first day of the week when they came together. It then proceeds to give a connected account of what transpired on that day, and among other things, is found the story of Paul and his companions starting for Jerusalem. Now, if the events related did really transpire on two days, instead of on one merely, as would naturally be inferred from the context, the burden of the proof is with our opponent. We rest the matter, therefore, right here. The only attempt which he has made has been a complete failure. That he thought it was the best he could do under the circumstances, we doubt not.

There remains now no item of difference between ourselves and the writer in the Statesman which should occupy us longer. For, between him and myself there is no room for dispute respecting the morality of traveling on the Sabbath, since, according to his own confession, the object which Paul had in remaining at Troas was that of a good “Sabbath-keeping Christian,” who was unwilling to violate the sacredness of holy time by the performance of secular labor. Here, then, we pause. As we do so, we appeal to the judgment of the candid men and women who have read the criticism of our friend and our reply thereto. Did Paul conscientiously regard the first day of the week, while traveling on foot nineteen and a half miles upon it, and did Luke and his six companions, in sailing a much greater distance on the same hours, transgress the law of God, and ignore the example of Christ; or, did they look upon the first day of the week as one which God had given to man for the purposes of labor and travel? If you still decide that it was holy time, you must be able to reconcile their action with this theory. This, however, you can never do. If, on the contrary, you shall determine that they treated it as a secular day, then it remains so still, for its character has not changed from that day to this.