Installment forty.

On our previous entry Mrs. Gregory was asking point blank whether she
and her husband should openly embrace the Sabbath. Now it is Dr.
Spaulding's turn to answer.
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Installment forty:

"Mrs. Gregory, you have placed me in an exceedingly trying position, yet
you have done so unwittingly. You may not be aware that I have been
strongly opposed to the seventh-day Sabbath idea and have regarded it
as a delusion, something that is calculated to hinder the progress of the
Gospel in this time of great world evangelism. But to be perfectly frank,
I will say that it is everyone's privilege and duty to obey his conscience."
"But Dr. Spaulding," queried Mr. Gregory, "do you feel absolutely con-
fident that you are right in the positions you have taken regarding the
Sabbath? For instance, are you ready to stake your salvation on the
thought that the Sabbath is not to be kept, because the law is abolished?
Really, didn't Jesus honor the Ten Commandments and die to satisfy
their claims? Does not the story of Calvary show that the law of the new
covenant, the law written in the heart, is the law proclaimed from Sinai?
Before God, tell me. Let us be honest with our own hearts."
"Well, Mr. Gregory, I don't know how to analize my position. When I
read such texts as Matthew 5:17, 18; Romans 3:31; 8:3, 4; James 2:8-12;
Matthew 9:17, and other like passages, there is in my mind a bit of doubt.
No. I cannot truly say I am absolutely confident."
"Another question, then," continued Mr. Gregory: "Ought we not to regard
the example and teaching of Jesus as vital?"
"Yes, I believe we ought."
Dr. Spaulding began to relax, and a spirit of freedom which he almost un-
willingly enjoyed began to take possesion of him.
"Well, that's my opinion, too," continued Mr. Gregory. "For a long time I
have had in mind that if I would yield my pride, and freely follow the
saviour's plan, I would be a Sabbath keeper. He certainly was, yet not as
a Jew. Jesus was the Universal Man, and therefore His Sabbath keeping
was of universal import. He is my example and I see no way to escape
the conclusion that I should do as He did."
"You told me, Dr. Spaulding, that you had been connected to one of the
seminaries conducted by your people, and that you taught church
history. Tell me, please, has not your study shown you that the Sabbath
of the fourth commandment was kept by the apostles and by the church
generally for hundreds of years after Christ? Is it not true that the early
church was influenced by the forms and ceremonies of ancient pagan sun
worship and that the church gradually adopted the customs of the time?
Sunday observance being one of them? And, to make a long story short,
was it not the church, fallen and corrupted, seeking for worldy position
and power, that in the fourth century actually substituted Sunday for
the Sabbath, and compelled the recognition of it by law?"
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To be continued...