The Sabbath Controversy (2)

The quotes here are from Ellen White’s book, The Desire of Ages:

“The Sabbath was hallowed at creation … He [God] gave it to Adam as a day of rest. It was a memorial of the work of creation, and thus a sign of God’s power and love” (p. 281).

This is false. God created Adam on the 6th day and he worked for one day naming the animals (Gen. 1:24-31, 2:7), therefore, God’s 7th day of rest could not be the same as man’s day of rest.

Adam only worked for one day, whereas 6 days of work are required before the sabbath (Exo. 20:8-11).

Nowhere did God command Adam to observe the 7th day which He rested on and sanctified. God didn’t continue observing such a “rest day” because man sinned almost immediately and He began the work of redemption (Gen. 3:8-21).

Ellen: “The Sabbath was not for Israel merely, but for the world. It had been made known to man in Eden, and, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, it is of imperishable obligation.”

First, there is no record of any sabbath kept by man for at least 2,513 years before the Law was given. That is why the word “sabbath” does not occur once in the book of Genesis.

Patriarchs like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or Joseph who were friends of God never observed the sabbath. That would have been very strange if the 7th day sabbath was “made known to man in Eden” or was an “imperishable obligation.”

Second, there were no 10 commandments before Sinai. The word “sabbath” occurs first in Exodus 16:25 where God commanded Israel to not gather manna on the 7th day.

In Deut. 5:15, God commanded the sabbath as a memorial of Israel deliverance from the land of Egypt. It was not a commemoration of God’s rest upon completing His creation work. Verses 2-3 make it clear that this observance was not given to their fathers before them:

“The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us…”

The old covenant was between God and the nation of Israel not with the church (1 Kings 8:21, 2Chr. 6:11). The sabbath being part of it, had a special significance to them, not to the world. God was specific about the recipients of His laws:

“See that the LORD has given you the sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days…” (Exodus 16:29)

“Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. (Exo. 31:13)

“Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.” (Ezekiel 20:12)

The sabbath was not made mandatory on Gentiles. If they wished to be a part of Israel, they could only do so by meeting certain requirements like circumcision (Ex. 12:48) and an offering (Num 15:14) before all the Jewish sabbath laws could apply to them.

Ellen: “Of that law of which the fourth commandment forms a part, Christ declares, ‘Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law … So long as the heavens and the earth endure, the Sabbath will continue as a sign of the Creator’s power … it’s is the Lord’s day.” (p 289)

There’s a batch of leaven mixed into the yeast here. Jesus omitted the 4th commandment when He summed up the 10 commandments (Matt. 22:37-40).

Ellen White glibly left out “till all be fulfilled” out of her quotation of Matthew 5:18. Jesus came to fulfil the law. The term “fulfil” has been explained here. The sabbath was part of the law and it ended when the law was abolished at Calvary (Eph. 2:15, Rom. 7:4-6). Mrs White craftily mixed her own ideas into Scripture to condition her readers into her interpretation.

SDAs quote Jesus’ words in Mark 2:27-28 “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”

This actually means the sabbath should not be lorded over man. Man is free to do that which is good and best for man on rest days. Jesus Himself broke the sabbath by healing on it. The requirements Ellen White bound SDAs under for the sabbath are unbiblical.

Why Christians Consider Sunday?

1. The word sabbath occurs 60 times in the N.T. It was used 50 times in reference to before the new covenant was made. Of the remaining 10 times, 6 refers to Paul preaching to the Jews at non-Christian gatherings on Jewish sabbath days (Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 17:1, 18:4).

Two refers to Jews in their synagogues (Acts 13:27, 15:21). The last 2 references are to the Jewish travel on a sabbath day (Acts 1:12) and its abolishment at Calvary (Col. 2:14-17). At no point is it used in connection with Christians observing it.

2. The resurrection of Christ was on “the first day of the week” (Jn. 20:1, 19, 26-29) and the early Christians met on the “first day of the week” (Acts 20:6-12, 1Cor. 16:1-2).

There’s no justification for toe-dancing these passages away unless one is committed to Ellen White’s belief system.

3. Christ’s special manifestations to His disciples after the resurrection were on the first day of the week (Mt. 28, Mk. 16, Lk. 23-24). Nowhere did He or His apostles recognize the old Jewish sabbath after the resurrection.

4. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was on the first day of the week, the day after 7 Jewish sabbaths (Acts 2:1). Even in the OT, God honoured the eighth day (Lev. 9:1-2, 14:23, 22:27, Neh. 8:18)

5. The New covenant does not command any particular day to be observed by Christians. We are free to choose our day of rest:

“One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5).

Paul counters the SDA sabbath keeping as a “turning back to those weak and miserable principles … You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!” (Gal. 4:9-10).

6. We are commanded to not permit any man judge us regarding sabbaths (Col. 2:14-17). It’s only a token or figure – like circumcision – which has nothing to do with the church.

Even in the OT, God proclaimed the discontinuation of all the sabbaths. (Isa. 1:13, Jer. 31:31-34)

7. Sabbaths are not included among the necessary requirements of the gospel in the N.T. Therefore, its rank heresy to teach that those who don’t keep the sabbath will be eternally lost (Acts 15:1-29)

8. Rest and eternal rest is in Christ, not in a day (Heb. 4). For SDAs to pick the sabbath out of the OT laws to observe means they are under an obligation to keep the whole law. In that case, their trust is not in Christ but the law. True Christians are disciples of Christ, not of Moses (Gal. 3:10-14, James 2:10)

9. Nowhere did Christ warn against the “sin” or “mark of the beast” of observing the first day of the week as SDA’s prophetess taught. Had there been any explicit commands to worship on any day, (even the first day) it would have brought about the same bondage as the law of Moses.

The New Covenant frees from the bondage and death penalties of breaking the OT laws. If SDAs are going to be consistent with the sabbath laws, they will have to start killing people who break the sabbath.

Mutant Bible Alert!

In 1994, David Blancho, an Adventist scholar produced a Bible translation, The Clear Word (TCW) which paraphrases the King James Version, but it alters the texts and lace them with Ellen White’s extra biblical teachings. Though SDAs don’t consider it official, this mutant bible is often used to indoctrinate SDA converts. Here are some examples, with the altered texts appearing in bold:

I. Exodus 5:5 “You’ve created enough problems by making them rest every week on your Sabbath”

In the KJV, Pharaoh’s words were “and ye make them rest from their burdens.” There was no weekly sabbath at the time. Moses was only requesting 3 days for the Israelites to worship God. It is anachronistic to use the word “sabbath” at that time.

II. Exodus 16:5 “On the sixth day they should gather twice as much as on the other days so as to have enough for the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, the day I set aside for worship and rest.”

Those added words are not found in any Bible manuscript. They were smuggled there to reinforce SDA belief.

III. Exodus 31:13-14 “Say to the people, ‘Most importantly, remember to keep the Sabbath holy because it is a very special day for me, and its a day of rest for you … The Sabbath is holy and anyone who desecrates it by working on that day will be put to death, since that would be an act of treason against God’s government. My people are to keep the Sabbath, celebrating it as a sign that they belong to me…”

Compare this to your Bible and you will see that the words “children of Israel” has been replaced here with “My people” and the text has been changed to universalize the sabbath as if those who don’t observe it are acting in treason against God’s rule.

IV. Acts 20:7 “After sundown on Saturday night , the believers got together for a fellowship meal and to say goodbye to Paul. That evening he spoke to them until midnight, after which he hoped to get a few hours sleep before leaving early Sunday morning.”

Notice how the “first day of the week” in the Bible was replaced with “on Saturday.” They also altered the term “break bread” used by the early church for communion to “a fellowship meal and to say goodbye to Paul.” Such shameless revision of the Bible was intended to convince people that early Christians never worshiped on Sundays.

V. Col. 2:16 “Don’t let anyone control your life by giving you a set of ceremonial rules about what to eat, what to drink and what monthly festivals or special Sabbaths to keep.”

Compare this with the KJV: “Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” This verse poses a problem to SDA doctrine, so they expunged the “holy day” and altered the verse to imply that only the “special sabbaths” are no more binding. That verse refers to all sabbaths, including the 7th day sabbath.

VI. Heb. 4:4 “That’s why at creation He gave man the seventh-day sabbath, not only as a reminder of creation week, but also as a symbol of spiritual rest. According to the Scriptures, God Himself rested on the seventh day and enjoyed this special time with man.”

Compare this to the KJV: “For he spake of a certain place of the seventh day on this wise. And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.” The TCW laces the verse with Adventist flavours like “creation week”, “symbol of spiritual rest” “[God] enjoyed this special time with man.”

VII. Rev. 1:10 “On Sabbath morning when I had gone to the rocky island shore to meditate and worship.”

Compare this with the KJV: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet.” The TCW has mutilated the text that it’s barely recognizable. They pushed the word “in the Spirit” into the closet, switch “the Lord’s day” into “Sabbath morning” and import SDA liturgy (“meditate and worship”) into it and apostle John comes out as a first century Seventh Day Adventist!

These tell us they too are aware that their doctrines are unbiblical. A “church” that tampers with God’s Word is not of God. God has exalted His Word above all His name, so those who alter His word are in trouble with Him.

Adventists teach that Catholicism is the Great Harlot because she changed God’s laws, sadly the SDA church is guilty of the same: changing the Word of God to suit her beliefs. They have not “renounced the hidden things of dishonesty” but rather walk in craftiness by “handling the word of God deceitfully” (2Cor. 4:2). True Believers must also flee from Ellen White’s system.

The Roots of Sexual Depravity

If there was ever a generation where the battle for sexual purity has escalated, it’s ours.

Some of the awful headlines on our newspapers read: “Christian pastor rapes 11 year old girl,” “Boy, 19 Caught Having Sex with Dog,” “Father rapes daughters, impregnates one” or “Man 28, rapes 8 year old boy.”

These tales are recounted sometimes with graphic details that betray the pretext of our hyper religious society. An e-mail from Abuja, Nigeria, to a columnist reads:

“I am 25 years old. I lost my father [at] 10 … I had a mentor, who saw me through school and helped me with a bank job … I live in the boys’ quarters of his house. He showers me with lots of gifts … But this man and his family are perverts! He has been having homosexual relationship with me since my undergraduate years. His first son, a 28-year old … also has sex with me. The first daughter also comes [to me] for sex! Even their last born, a 17-year-old girl seductively came to my room, for sex.

“The man’s wife forced me to have sex with her whenever her husband travelled abroad … This multiple affair remains a secret between me and each member of the family… I know I cannot pack out [of the house] without his consent if I still need my job. Is it bad to be tall and handsome? I am sick and tired of this sex slavery” (Sunday PUNCH, April 6, 2014, p. 48).

Of course, people practicing these stuff don’t have it written on their foreheads. In some nations, things have gone terribly down the line.

The act of incest is now being defended by some scholars of Baal are trying to break down societal walls against paedophilia with intellectual sophistry. They are even advocating for the redefinition of paedophilia as “intergenerational intimacy.” Wow, that’s a pretty nicer term you have there.

The London Telegraph (May, 1, 2010) reported a story of a 72 year old grandmother, Pearl Carter, who hired a surrogate to carry the baby of her own grandson and sex partner, Phil Bailey, 26.

She said “I am in love with Phil and he’s in love with me. Soon I’ll be holding my son or daughter in my arms and Phil will be the proud dad.” Intergenerational intimacy – right?

From a Biblical perspective, this surge of sexual perversions is expected:

“There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:1-4)

It’s unrealistic to think sexual depravity will cease to exist on the earth or our continent. Unfortunately, some Africans adhering to an illusion of a morally superior African past, have a misguided belief that all forms of sexual perversions came from “Western colonization.”

The big question is: how can the church address the malaise of sexual disorders?

Death penalty for all sex perverts is a brutal alternative that has no bearing on public morality. It only drives such acts underground where they fester.

Uganda’s ethics minister, Fr. Simon Lokodo, who has been known to lead televised raids against pornography and erotic music videos, has called for police to raid restaurants often used by many Ugandans for “lunchtime sex.”

Such measures, though well-intentioned, are doomed to fail miserably. Why? “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications…” (Mark 7:22-23).

There’s no political or religious law that can change a man’s heart. Yes, they may externally modify him, but they can’t change him from within. In fact, the more legalistic a society is, the more sexually depraved they tend to be.

Until the root of sexual depravity is properly identified and dealt with, it will keep growing even in the church.

This is why human measures are like attacking the branches of a sturdy, deeply rooted tree. From my little study, these are some roots of sexual depravity:

I. The influence of Demons

Unnatural sexual drives have certain demons attached to them. For instance, it’s natural for a woman to desire a man, but when she begins to sexually desire another woman or an animal, that’s unnatural, and it’s often fuelled by demons.

A Bible commentary explains that evil spirits “influence people to hinder and operate against wedlock by enticing them to meet the demands of the sex drives apart from the sanctity of marriage … Hence those who satisfy their sex needs through perversions – any of the ways contrary to what is approved by Scripture are under the control more or less, of demons.”

Demons can compel people into such sexual acts by bombarding their minds with it. “Since I was already hooked on porn,” says Joseph Sciambra, an ex-gay porn model, “thus began my dark descent into the world of homosexual promiscuity. Soon afterwards. I started hearing strange voices. They told me to do things; to go to places I had never been before. One of the first location they guided me was a gay sex club … I met my first lover there.”

Matthew Durham, the 20 year old American missionary who sexually molested 8 African orphan children confessed that he was made to do it by a demon guide named “Luke.”

Demons have no respect for theological degrees or church titles. They don’t care if you are a sanctified Methodist, a committed Baptist or a spirit-filled Pentecostal, once you open the door to them.

One Nigerian bishop who raped a 15 year old girl (who reportedly came to him for prayers) said: “I was surprised when I saw her pulling off her blouse and skirt. But before I knew it, I had a carnal knowledge of her.” That sounds a lot like demonic control.

II. Immoral entertainment

This includes movies, soaps, music videos, websites or stories promoting debased sexual acts. What a person feeds himself/herself with, will to a large extent influence his thought life.

Exposure to internet porn among youths has increased in the last decade, resulting in a morbid increase in rape and promiscuity. The sex acts depicted in porn videos are more or less rape.

Many porn stars are paid to convince the viewers that they enjoy what is being done to them. As more men are exposed to these things, these images gradually become a sexual turn-on for them.

And when a person is repeatedly exposed to that image, he begins to act out what he has been feeding on. This is why many sex offenders often start out as porn addicts.

3. Sexual molestation or assault

This is the most common root of sexual depravity. Sexual molestation, particularly in childhood, can negatively mould people’s life and personality.

It has been documented that addictions, mental illness and crass immorality can be traced to childhood sexual abuse. Both genders can fall victim of it.

Some cultures also promote these acts. There is a tradition in Ethiopia for example, where rape is a form of marriage proposal. When a young man wants to marry, he looks for a girl, kidnaps and rapes her until she becomes pregnant, then the elders confirm the union as legal.

The practice of paedophila is fully acceptable in Islam, and by implication in all Muslim-dominated societies. Several Muslim child sex rings have been arrested in western countries, leaving behind a trail of abused children who grow into troubled adults.

Majority of the porn or music stars with sexually explicit videos are victims of sexual abuse. Let me give some examples:

Madonna Ciccone – She was the first artiste to popularize the idea of women using sex, nudity and controversy to make up for a poor voice.

In her video, Justify My Love (1990) sadomasochism, bisexual sex and voyeurism were vividly depicted – which made MTV ban the video. She later admitted being raped at 19.

Jenna Jameson – the notorious “Queen of Porn.” She acted about 178 porn movies, directed four, and won 35 porn video awards.

Though now retired, she later admitted she was gang raped and beaten with rocks by 4 boys at the age of 16. She was also raped by her boyfriend’s uncle.

Pamela Anderson – the actress/porn model, famous for her honeymoon sex tape with her ex-husband, Tommy Lee.

In 2014, she admitted being molested by a female babysitter from the ages of 6-10, raped by a 25 year old man when she was 12 and gang raped by her boyfriend and 6 of his friends while she was 14.

Lady Gaga – the bisexual queen of weird, occult, blasphemous and sexually explicit videos also admitted she was raped at the age of 19 – an incident which she claimed gave her a lot of mental and emotional trauma.

4. False Worship/ Doctrines

There is a link between a rejection of God as revealed in Scripture, which is idolatry, and sexual perversions (Rom. 1:21-28).

A study of most ancient religions shows that their objects of worship were the human genitals. These vile gods are still bowed to by many modern false religions though in more disguised forms. Such cults open people up to perverse spirits.

Isaiah 19:14 “The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as drunken man staggereth in his vomit.”

The Hebrew word mavah translated as perverse means to be crooked and perverted. God judged the leaders of Egypt and made them crooked in their counsel, thinking and acts.

This perverse spirit as Matthew Poole commentary notes, is also the spirit of error or delusion; a disposition of mind very apt to mistake and to mislead people into foolish and crooked counsels.

People who follow false religious leaders are likely to have a perverse spirit which drives them into sexually perverse acts – homosexuality, bestiality, rape, lesbianism, paedophilia, sadomasochism etc.

Perverse spirits can also mask up such that a person they indwell will have what I call a hyper-spiritual quietism. They become very legalistic, religious, appear holy or even carry a big Bible, but at a certain “trigger” (a gesture, sight or dream), they engage in sexually perverse acts. Afterwards, they resume their holy motions, as if they are two different persons living in one body.

False doctrines like priestly celibacy, strict dietary laws, offering sacrifices or bathing at sea sides, invoking angels, “praying” naked (as practiced in African syncretic churches) can also open people up to seducing spirits (1Tim. 4:1).

5. Unhealthy Family upbringing

When a child grows up in a home without love and acceptance, he/she seeks that acceptance from someone else outside the home. This is what sets people up for child molesters.

As a child grows, he tries to mentally “escape” from that void through alcohol or drugs which breaks down his spiritual walls (Prov. 25:28) and he can experiment with what he would normally never do.

Also, when either of a parent are emotionally disconnected from a male or female child, it can result in a loss of gender identity.

It has been established that a foetus at 25 weeks can hear the mother just like an adult, so when a mother hates the baby she’s carrying or the father displays hate or neglect towards an unborn child, he/she can sense it and grow up with a warped view of men or women.

But the good news is this: sexual depravity can be repented of, forgiven and totally forsaken, once the root is known and dealt with by the power of Jesus Christ.

The Sabbath Controversy (1)

The observance of the Saturday sabbath is a core belief of Seventh Day Adventists and some other religious sects. Considering the level of indoctrination and confusion disseminated by sabbatarians, this issue needs to be addressed.

When a lie is being repeated over and over again, it becomes very believable, most especially when those teaching the lie succeed in poisoning the minds of their listeners against those who disagree.

Before venturing into what Scripture says about the sabbath at all (that will be in Part 2), there is a need to first refute some blatantly false claims or premises planted into the minds of Seventh Day Adventists (SDAs).

They hold Ellen White’s writings as “a continuing and an authoritative source of truth.” Granted, the moment one accepts her visions and teachings as authoritative, one embraces sabbath-keeping as well therefore her claims demands scrutiny.

1. The Sabbath is the Mark of the True Church

She wrote:

“I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers, and that the Sabbath is the great question to unite the hearts of God’s dear waiting saints” (Early Writings, 1963, p. 33).

This is predicated on the error that the church has replaced Israel, and by implication, what applied to Israel now applies to the church (Replacement theology). This is incorrect.

While Israel consists of one nationality, the church consists of every tongue, tribe and nation. Israel was given a land with specific promises attached, but the church is not restricted to a geographical location.

Her statement also reflects the typical we-vs-them mentality. She calls Adventists the “true Israel” while non-Adventists are labelled as “unbelievers.”

SDAs believe that keeping the 7th day sabbath was “not a new truth discovered by Adventists, but a truth that was taught by Christ, and the apostles and by the church in the wilderness, a truth finally recaptured and proclaimed once again by the remnant” (Prophecy Seminar # 26).

But SDAs didn’t exist until the 19th century and there wasn’t a single Christian group that kept the sabbath until then.

Either true Christians missed this vital truth for 18 centuries or this was a tragic drawback into the bondage of the Law after 18 centuries.

2. The Early Christians Kept the Sabbath

“In the first centuries the true Sabbath had been kept by all Christians… [until] the early part of the fourth century [when] the emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman Empire” (The Great Controversy, 52)

This is historically false. There is no evidence that all the early Christians kept the sabbath for centuries. This can be seen from the writings of early church leaders before Constantine:

Ignatius of Antioch (30-107): “Those who were brought up in the ancient order of things [Jews] have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and by his death” (Letter to the Magnesians, 9)

Epistle of Barnabas (ascribed to Paul’s companion by Clement):
“He says to them. ‘Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot endure’ (Isa. 1:13). Ye perceive how He speaks: Your present sabbaths are not acceptable to me…I will make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day on which Jesus rose again from the dead.”

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD): “How is it, Typho, that we would not observe those rites which do not harm us – I speak of fleshy circumcision, and sabbaths, and feasts?… God enjoined you to keep the Sabbath and imposed on you other precepts for a sign … The Gentiles, who have believed in Him, and who have repented from their sins … shall receive the inheritance along with the patriarchs … even although they neither keep the sabbath, nor are circumcised nor observe the feasts …Christ is useless to those who observe the law” (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, 18, 21).

“But Sunday is the day on which we hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead” (1 Apology, 67, 6).

Tertullian (b 145): “The Holy Spirit upbraids the Jews for their holy days. ‘Your sabbaths, and new moons, and ceremonies my soul hateth … By us [Christians], to whom sabbaths are strange… to the heathen each festive day occurs but once annually; you [Christians] have a festive day every eighth day.” (The Ante-Nicene Fathers 3:70)

Ireneaus (b 178): “The mystery of the Lord’s resurrection may not be celebrated on any other day than the Lord’s day and on this alone should we observe the breaking of the Paschal Feast … Pentecost fell on the first day of the week, and was therefore associated with the Lord’s day” (ANF VII, 447)

3. Constantine made Sunday the Day of Worship

“It was on behalf of Sunday that popery first asserted its arrogant claims; and its first resort to the power of the state to compel the observance of Sunday as ‘the Lord Day‘” (GC p 447)

This claim is devoid of truth. The Edict of Laodicea issued in AD 321 didn’t impose Sunday as the Lord’s Day, rather it made it a civil holiday. Sunday had been a day of worship for Christians for 3 centuries before.

The edict was majorly directed at pagan business men who felt everyday should be a business day. The church of Rome didn’t even have the power at that time to enforce any laws.

SDA theologian, Dr Samuele Bacchiochi admitted this glaring error in Mrs White’s book:

“But at this time, the Bishop of Rome could not call upon ‘the power of the state’ to compel the observance of Sunday as the Lord’s day, because in the eyes of the Romans, Christianity was still a suspicious religion to be suppressed, rather than to be supported” (Endtime Issues, 87, Par. 1).

4. Sunday is a Pagan Day

As support, SDAs quote from 19th century anti-Christian works that attempt to link everything in Christianity with paganism. For example, they quote from Arthur Weigall’s The Paganism in Our Christianity:

“But, as a solar festival, Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra … The Lord’s day [Sunday] is of Pagan origin..” (pp. 136, 210)

What SDA leaders hide from their followers is that this is a thoroughly anti-Christian work that also states:
i- The 27 books of the New Testament are false (p. 37)
ii-The account of Jesus’ birth is pagan (p. 52)
iii-The 12 disciples of Christ are from the 12 zodiac signs. (p. 25)
iv- The virgin birth is pagan (p. 44)
v- The miracles of Christ are of pagan origin (p. 58)
vi- The crucifixion account is pagan (p. 69)
vii- The ascension of Christ is of pagan origin (p. 100)
viii- Both the Jewish sabbath and Sunday the Lord’s day are pagan days. Let me quote this:

“The origin of the seven-day week which was used by the Jews and certain peoples, but not till later by Greeks or Romans is to be sought in some primitive worship of the moon, for the keeping the day of the new moon as festivals which is widely found in antiquity… the institution is obviously derived from moon worship...” (pp. 209-211)

Using SDA logic, Sunday came from pagan sun worship while the sabbath came from pagan moon worship!

The fact is, almost every day of the week can be linked to paganism – if one decides to live in that cave. These works are too biased to be quoted as authorities. Their theories have been refuted by modern scholars.

Not only are SDAs appealing to books authored by Bible-haters, they are also being dishonest in their citations because their conclusions refute their own position.

5. Sunday is a Man-made institution

“Vast councils were held from time to time, in which the dignitaries of the church convened from all the world. In nearly every council, the Sabbath which God has instituted was pressed down a little lower, while the Sunday was correspondingly exalted” (GC, 53).

The councils being referred to are the ecumenical councils. The first seven of them are the Council of Nicaea (325), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680) and Nicaea II (787).

In all these councils, there is not a single one in which the issue of Sabbath/Sunday was ever debated. One doesn’t need to be receiving “angelic visions” to know this simple fact.

6. Sunday-Keepers will receive the Mark of the Beast

“When the test comes, it will be clearly shown what the mark of the beast is. It is the keeping of Sunday.” (SDA Bible Commentary, 7:980)

By what criterion will one receive this mark? In 1897, she wrote: “When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God … you consent to receive the Mark of the Beast” (Review and Herald)

Another early SDA leader wrote: “It is very clear therefore, that in order to keep the sabbath day according to the commandments we must not only rest on the seventh day, but we must also habitually treat all other days of the week as working days” (E. J. Waggoner, Review and Sabbath Herald, April 16, 1895).

In other words, SDAs must labour and never worship on Sunday or they will receive the mark of the beast. Yet in utter contradiction we read later:

“And never must we say to them, ‘You must work on Sunday’ … Give Sunday to the Lord as a day for doing missionary work. Take the student out to hold meetings in different places, and do medical missionary work” (The General Conference Bulletin, April 14, 1903).

“One does not receive the mark of the beast because he shows that he realises the wisdom of keeping peace by refraining from work that gives offence. On this day open-air meetings and cottage meetings can be held. House-to-house work can be done.Whenever its possible, let religious services be held on Sunday. Make these meetings intensely interesting. Sing genuine revival hymns and speak with power and assurance of the Saviour’s love” (Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 9, 232-33).

So it was now acceptable to conduct missionary works, do works “that gives no offense,” hold religious services, assemble with other Christians and sing hymns on Sunday.

We need to ask, who changed the criteria? Why the blowing hot and cold and flip-flop laws? If this prophetess couldn’t get her criteria of the “mark of the beast” straight why take the rest of her claims about it as truth?

6. Christians in the Dark Ages kept the Sabbath

“Through the ages of darkness and apostasy there were Waldenses who denied the supremacy of Rome … rejected image worship as idolatry, and who kept the true Sabbath. Under the fiercest tempest of oppositions they maintained their faith” (GC, 65)

What a ridiculous statement. There is absolutely no historical evidence to support the idea that the Waldenses kept the sabbath or were persecuted for not giving it up.

It seems Mrs White was confused about the nickname “insabbati” which the Waldenses were called, but this word has nothing to do with sabbath-keeping. The word is derived from “sabbatum” the Latin word for sandals, and the term “insabbati” was used to mock the Waldenses because of the sandals they were known to wear.

Mrs White was obviously trying to make up a quasi history to fill up the 15 century gap of “Christian sabbath keepers” – as if it wasn’t a 19th century innovation.

But such a fancy claim militates against her alleged heavenly visions. Having rebutted the arguments used to cloud the minds of SDAs, let’s now proceed to the Bible’s view of the sabbath.