The Sabbath on a Round Earth
In their very nature all purely moral laws are universal and eternal in their application, are binding in heaven, in Eden, on Jews or Gentiles, saints or sinners, now or hereafter. Test the particular seventh day, Saturday, by that rule, and it fails everywhere. Go to Venus, where the days are about twenty-three hours long, to Jupiter, where they are only about ten hours long; to Saturn, where they are about twelve hours long, or to some of the larger planets, where their days are much longer than ours. How could the inhabitants of those worlds keep our seventh day? They could keep "a" seventh day, their own, but that would not be of the same length of ours, nor come at the same time of ours. Their seventh day would not be our Saturday, nor would the seventh day of any two planets be alike, nor come at the same time. All the universe can keep a seventh part of time, but no the same seventh part. Not knowing this, see what a blunder Mrs. White made. She says: "I saw that the Sabbath would never be done away, but the redeemed saints, AND ALL THE ANGELIC HOST, will observe it in honor of the great Creator to all eternity." Spiritual Gifts, Vol. I, page 113. Elder U. Smith, Biblical Institute, page 145, says: "We infer that the higher orders of his intelligences keep the Sabbath also.... The Sabbath of each of his creatures will be the Sabbath of all the rest, so that all will observe THE SAME PERIOD TOGETHER for the same purpose."
Here you have your definite seventh-day theory with a vengeance. Look at the utter absurdity and impossibility of the theory. All intelligent beings in heaven and earth and on all the planets, keep "THE SAME PERIOD TOGETHER." So the Sabbath day on this little planet of ours regulates the Sabbath days of all the planets in the universe! I wonder how they manage it in Jupiter, where their days are only ten hours long, or in Venus, where they are twenty- three hours long, or in some of the planets where they are as long as several of our days? As the Sabbath must be kept from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32), I wonder how they find out, on all those planets, just when it is sunset down here!
The stubborn facts nearer home show that God's children do not, and cannot, all observe "THE SAME PERIOD TOGETHER." Everybody knows that it is Saturday in India some twelve hours sooner than it is here, and that it is Saturday here twelve hours after it has ceased to be Saturday there. In Australia the day begins eighteen hours sooner than it does in California. So the Seventh- day brethren in California are working nearly the whole time that their brethren in Australia are keeping Sabbath! Come even nearer home than that. The sun sets about three hours later in California than it does in Maine. So when the Seventh-day Adventists in Maine begin to keep the Sabbath at sunset Friday evening, their own brethren in California, where the sun is yet three hours high, will still be at work for three hours! So, very few of them on this earth, observe "THE SAME PERIOD TOGETHER." While some of them are keeping Sabbath on one part of the earth, others of them are at work on another part of the earth. How much less, then, do all the heavenly hosts keep the same period with men on earth.
Now, if, as Mrs. White and Bro. Smith say, the angels keep our Sabbath, the question is, with which party do they keep it? With those in Australia, or those in America? If the angels keep the Sabbath at the same time the Sabbatarians keep it in Australia, then the Sabbatarians in America are working while the angels keep Sabbath, and so, of course, the angels work while those here rest. So we see how absolutely false and absurd is the theory that all can keep the Sabbath at the same time.
I have to confess that for many years I was so stupid as to suppose that the Lord himself kept the Sabbath at the same time I did here. I supposed that when the sun set Friday evening and I began keeping the Sabbath, the Lord and the angels began keeping it too. But now I see how utterly impossible that is; for if the Lord keeps the Sabbath at the same time I do here, then he does not keep it with the brethren on the other side of the globe, because they begin the Sabbath at least twelve hours earlier than we do here. In fact, it takes just forty-eight hours, or the time of two whole days, from the time any one day begins in the extreme east till it ends at the furthest place in the west. Will the reader stop and think carefully, sharply, on this point, for it is an important one? It takes twenty-four hours for the FIRST END of a day to go clear around the earth. Then, as the LAST END of the day is twenty-four hours behind the FIRST END, it must also have twenty-four hours more to go clear around the earth, and that makes forty-eight hours in all that each day is on the earth somewhere.
I am quite certain that the average Sabbatarian feels he keeps the seventh day that he is now keeping holy time with the Lord himself, and with the angels, and with all his brethren. I used to feel that way I know, and the above quotations from Mrs. White and Elder Smith show plainly that even they think so, too. But it will be seen that this cannot be so unless the Lord keeps the time of two whole days each week. And in that case, those on this side of the earth would be working while the Lord was keeping the Sabbath with those on the other side of the earth. Then those on the opposite of the earth would be working while the Lord kept Sabbath with those on this side. And so none of them would keep the Sabbath with the Lord after all! In fact, taking it all around the earth, there is not a single hour in the whole week, when there is not some Sabbatarian at work on some part of the earth!
But, further, does the Lord keep our seventh day with us, or does he keep the seventh day with the people on other planets? Our days and weeks are not at all in harmony with theirs, nor can one of them be like another. Now, if the Lord rests only on our Saturday, then he could not rest on the seventh day of Venus or Mars or Jupiter, etc., as the seventh day of each planet differs in length and comes at a different time, from that of our earth or any planet. How, then, could God rest on all these days? If he did he must keep Sabbath all the time, and then nobody, angels or men, could keep the Sabbath with the Lord if they worked at all!
What, then, becomes of Mrs. White's statement that "ALL THE ANGELIC HOST" keep our Sabbath? or Elder Smith's hypothesis that all the universe will observe "THE SAME PERIOD TOGETHER?" Both are utterly absurd. The same definite seventh day cannot be kept by all the universe; even on this earth alone it cannot be kept by all at the same time; but all can keep a seventh part of the time. This principle upon which the fourth commandment was based, may be of universal application in earth and in heaven, in time or eternity. But just which day that shall be, is a matter of minor consequence to be determined by the circumstances in the case, which may and must differ at different times and different places. To the Jewish people it certainly was the seventh day, or Saturday, and no other day would have met the commandment. All the rigorous limitations and exactions of the Sabbath day, as under the Jewish law, could be carried out by a small people in a limited territory where the church bore rule. A particular day, the seventh, Deut. 5:12-13; definite hours, sunset to sunset, Lev. 23:32; no fires in all their houses, Ex. 35:3; stoning to death for picking up a stick, Num. 15:32-36 - this was the Jewish law. But we are not Jews nor under the Jewish law. Under the new dispensation of the gospel, other circumstances have arisen plainly and grandly marking another day as the all important day in Christian memory - the resurrection day. When the gospel was to go to all nations, to all climates, and around the earth, the Christian rest day was necessarily and wisely left upon a far different basis.
Where Shall We Begin the Day?
If a man's salvation depends upon keeping the same day to a minute that God kept at creation, then it is infinitely important that we know exactly to a rod where his day began so as to begin ours there too. But the Lord has not said a word about it nor given the least clue as to where to begin the day. Nor do Sabbatarians KNOW anything about it, but have to guess at the whole thing. The day is now generally reckoned to begin at a certain line 180 degrees west from Greenwich, England. It runs north and south through the Pacific Ocean about 4,000 miles west of America. I wrote Prof. E.E. Holden of Lick Observatory asking, "1. Have we the date when the day line was established there? 2. Who did it, and why? 3. When? 4. Has it been reckoned from other places than Greenwich?"
He answered: "1. There was no one date. 2. No one. For convenience. 3. During the last hundred years. 4. Yes. Canary Islands, Tenereffe, Ferro, Paris, Berlin, Jerusalem, Washington, etc."
So we see: 1. It is only within the last hundred years that the day line has been fixed where it is now. 2. This was done merely for convenience, not because there was anything in nature requiring it. 3. At different times the day line has been counted from at least seven different places, from Jerusalem in the east to Washington in the west, about 8,000 miles difference, or one-third the way around the earth. Hence, the beginning of the seventh day has varied that much at different dates. 4. In another century it may be changed again. 5. There is just as much authority for one place as the other, and no divine authority for one place as the other, and no divine authority for either, as it is all man's work and done at hap-hazard. 6. Hence, so far as duty to God is concerned, any nation, church or society is at liberty to begin the day wherever they please. One place will be just as apt to be in harmony with God's day line as another.
Sabbatarians in America can fix their day line in the Atlantic instead of in the Pacific and then our Sunday will be Saturday, and they will be all right and convert a nation in a day! Could any one prove that this would not be in harmony with Hod's day line at creation? Certainly not. It would be just as apt to be right as the present day line. Then why not do it? Indeed, this is exactly parallel to what Seventh-day Adventists have done within the past few years in the case of a whole colony in the Pacific Ocean. Pitcairn Island, in the Pacific, was settled one hundred years ago by persons who brought their reckoning eastward from Asia. But it happens to be on the American side of the present day line; hence their Sunday was our Saturday, and they all kept it one hundred years as Sunday. According to Adventists, this was an awful thing, for Sunday is the Pope's Sabbath, the mark of the beast. So, a few years ago, Adventists went there and converted them all to keeping Saturday. How? They simply induced them to change their reckoning of the day line a few miles and lo! their Sunday was Saturday! Now they are all pious Sabbath- keepers while before they were all keeping Sunday, the mark of the beast! And yet they are keeping exactly the same day they always kept! If this is not hair-splitting, tell me what is. It illustrates the childishness of the whole Sabbatarian business. Now let the Adventists just shift their day line a little further east to include America and they can keep our day with us.
If the day began in the traditional place where Eden is said to have been located, then the day line would be away west of the present location some 7,000 miles, west even of Australia; and then the Seventh-day people in Australia are not keeping the Sabbath at all. In that case the Sunday-keepers of New Zealand and Australia are now actually keeping the original seventh day, and Sabbatarians there are keeping the sixth day! Do they know, and can they prove, that this is not so? No; they simply have to take the reckoning just as it happened to be, right or wrong, without knowing which it is. And yet, at great expense, they have sent missionaries there to convert the people over to keep another day, when actually they do not know but what those people are really keeping the seventh day, and they themselves are wrong! None, not even themselves, pretend to know where God began to reckon that day; yet they draw the line to a hair, and say that all will be damned who do not toe that line and count from that spot! Does the salvation of a man's soul depend upon such mathematical niceties and such uncertainties as these? If it does, we may well despair of heaven.
The very fact that God has never revealed just where the true day line is, or where the seventh day began, shows that it is of no consequence for us to know. Alaska, the northwest point of America, was settled by Russians ages ago, before the present day line existed. Of course they brought their reckoning with them and hence their Sunday was on Saturday. In 1867 we bought Alaska and it became a part of the United States. The day we took possession our laws changed their Sunday to Saturday, all by human authority. Did that change the Edenic Sabbath for that people? Again, in going around the earth one way we lose a day and going the other way we gain a day. Hence, in one case we must add a day and in the other drop a day. All have to do this to keep in harmony with the world. Adventists do this, but by what authority, and where? The Bible says keep the seventh day and from sunset to sunset. Ex. 20:8-11; Lev. 23:32. Let two Adventists start from Chicago, one going east, the other west, around the earth. Each keeps carefully the seventh day as the sun sets. When they meet again at Chicago they will be two days apart! One will be keeping Sunday and the other Friday. How do they manage it? Each gives up his seventh day and both take that of the world. So they have a worldly day after all!
Look at the difficulty in crossing this supposed day line in the Pacific Ocean. I have personally conversed with Sabbatarians who have crossed this line both ways, east and west. Going west, a day is ADDED, going east it is DROPPED and this is done at NOON of the day which finds them nearest the supposed line. On the vessel, a man going west sits down to dinner 11:50 A.M. Friday. While he is eating the time is changed and he rises from dinner Saturday noon! Then he has only six hours of Sabbath till sunset; or coming east, he sits down to dinner Saturday noon and rises from dinner Friday noon! He has kept eighteen hours Sabbath; then it is gone in a second at high noon, and he has six hours to work till sunset. Now he must begin Sabbath once more and keep it over again - twenty-four hours! In one case he only kept six hours Sabbath, and in the other case he kept forty-two hours!
These stubborn facts demonstrate the utter absurdity of the Sabbatarian view. They claim that these things do not bother them any; but I know that they do, and badly, too. They have written much on it, devised all sorts of diagrams, illustrations and arguments to meet the difficulty; but none are satisfactory, even to themselves. Hence new methods are constantly being devised to dodge the difficulty. The latest discovery is that adopted by the Seventh-day Adventist ministers of the New York conference. It is that the earth is absolutely FLAT and STATIONARY, with sun, moon and stars much smaller than the earth and revolving around it! "The sun, he do move," the old darkey said, and they say, Amen.
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Subota na okrugloj Zemlji
U samoj svojoj prirodi svi čisto moralni zakoni su univerzalni i večni u njihovoj primeni, obavezujući na nebu, u Edenu, za Jevreje ili pagane, svece ili grešnike, sada ili u budućnosti. Testirajmo posebno sedmi dan, subotu, po tom pravilu, i to podbacuje svugde. Idite na Veneru, gde su dani oko dvadeset tri sata, do Jupitera, gde su samo desetak sati dugi; na Saturn, gdje su oko dvanaest sati dugi, ili neki od većih planeta, gde su im dani mnogo duži od naših. Kako bi stanovnici tih svetova držali naš sedmi dan? Oni bi mogli držati "neki" sedmi dan, njihov vlastiti, ali to neće biti iste dužine našeg, niti dolaziti u isto naše vreme. Njihov sedmi dan ne bi bio naša subota, niti bi sedmi dan bilo koje dve planete bio podjednak, niti dolazili u isto vreme. Sav svemir može držati sedmi deo vremena, ali ne i isti sedmi deo. Ne znajući to, vidite kakvu grešku je gđa White napravila. Ona kaže: "Videla sam da subota nikada neće biti uklonjena, već otkupljeni sveci, I SVE ANĐEOLSKE VOJSKE, će je svetkovati u čast velikog Stvoritelja za celu večnost." Duhovni darovi, Vol. I, strana 113. Starešina U. Smith, Biblijski institut, stranica 145, kaže: "Mi takođe zaključujemo da su višeg reda njihova inteligencija držanja šabata .... subota svaka od njihovog stvorenja će biti subota svih ostalih, tako da će svi slaviti u istom razdoblju zajedno za istu svrhu."
Evo vam vaše definitivne teorije sedmog dana s osvetom. Pogledajte spoljašnji apsurd i nemogućnosti teorije. Sva inteligentna bića na nebu i zemlji i na svim planetima, drže "ISTI PERIOD ZAJEDNO". Dakle subota na ovoj našoj maloj planeti reguliše subotnje dane svih planeta u svemiru! Pitam se kako njome upravljati na Jupiteru, gde su njihovi dani samo deset sati dugi, ili na Veneri, gde su dvadeset tri sata dugi, ili na neke od planeta gde su tako dugi kao nekoliko naših dana? Kako subota mora biti od zalaska sunca do zalaska sunca (Lev 23:32), pitam se kako su saznali, na svim tim planetima, baš kad je zalazak sunca ovde dole!
Tvrdoglave činjenice bliže kući pokazuju da Božja deca ne čine, i ne mogu, svi slaviti "U ISTOM RAZDOBLJU ZAJEDNO." Svako zna da je subota u Indiji nekih dvanaest sati pre nego što je ovde, i da je subota ovde dvanaest sati nakon što je prestala biti subota. U Australiji dan započinje osamnaest sati pre nego što je to u Kaliforniji. Dakle, braća sedmog dana u Kaliforniji rade gotovo celo vreme dok njihova braća u Australiji drže subotu! Dođite čak bliže kući nego tamo. Sunce zalazi oko tri sata kasnije u Kaliforniji nego što je to u Maineu. Dakle, kada su adventisti u Maineu počeli držati subotu na zalasku petka naveče, njihova braće u Kaliforniji, gde je sunce još tri sata visoko, i dalje će biti na poslu za tri sata! Dakle, vrlo malo njih na ovoj zemlji, slavi "U ISTOM PERIODU ZAJEDNO." Dok neki od njih drže subotu na jednom delu zemlje, drugi od njih su na radu na nekom drugom delu zemlje. Koliko manje, dakle, čine sve nebeske vojske držeći isti period s ljudima na zemlji.
Sada, svaki put kad, kao gospođa White i brat Smith kažu, anđeli drže našu subotu, pitanje je s kojom strankom oni to drže? S onima u Australiji, ili s onima u Americi? Ako anđeli drže subotu u isto vreme kada Sabatariani je drže u Australiji, onda Sabatariani u Americi rade dok anđeli drže subotu, i tako, naravno, anđeli rade dok se oni ovde odmaraju. Dakle, vidimo kako je apsolutno netačna i apsurdna teorija da svi mogu držati subotu u isto vreme.
Moram priznati da već dugi niz godina bio sam toliko glup kada sam pretpostavljao da sam Gospod drži subotu u isto vreme kada ja činim ovde. Pretpostavio sam da kad sunce zađe petkom naveče, i ja počnem držati subotu, Gospod i anđeli počinju držati je takođe. No, sada vidim kako je sasvim nemoguće da je tako, jer ako Gospod drži subotu u isto vreme kada ja radim ovde, onda je on ne drži s braćom na drugoj strani sveta, jer oni počinju subotu najmanje dvanaest sati ranije nego mi ovde. U stvari, to traje tačno četrdeset osam sati, ili za vreme puna dva dana, od vremena jednog dana koji počinje na krajnjem istoku dok ne završi na krajnjem mestu na zapadu. Hoće li se čitatelj zaustaviti i razmisliti, oštro, u ovom trenutku, jer je to važno? Potrebno je dvadeset četiri sata za prvi kraj dana da obiđe jasna oko Zemlje. Zatim, kao poslednji KRAJ DANA je dvadeset četiri sata iza PRVOG KRAJA, on takođe mora imati dvadeset četiri sata više da obiđe jasno oko Zemlje, a to čini četrdeset osam sati u svemu tome svaki dan je na zemlji negde.
Ja sam prilično siguran da prosečni Sabatarian oseća da drži sedmi dan kao da on sada drži sveto vreme sa samim Gospodom, i sa anđelima, i sa svom svojom braćom. Znam osećao sam na taj način, a iznad citati od gospođe White i Starešine Smitha pokazuju jasno da čak i oni misle tako, takođe. No, to će se videti da ono ne može biti tako osim ako Gospod drži vreme puna dva dana svake nedelje. I u tom slučaju, oni na ovoj strani zemlje će raditi dok je Gospod držao subotu s onima na drugoj strani zemlje. Onda oni na suprotnoj strani zemlje će raditi dok Gospodin drži subotu sa onima na ovoj strani. I tako niko od njih ne bi držali subotu s Gospodom nakon svega! U stvari, uzimajući sve oko Zemlje, ne postoji jedan sat u celoj nedelji, kada ne postoji neki Sabatarian na poslu na nekom delu sveta!
No, i dalje, da li Gospod drži naš sedmi dan s nama, ili on drži sedmi dan s ljudima na drugim planetama? Naši dani i nedelje nisu uopšte u skladu s njihovima, niti jedan od njih može biti kao drugi. Sada, ako Gospod počiva samo na našu subotu, onda on ne može odmarati na sedmi dan Venere ili Marsa ili Jupitera, itd., kako se sedmi dan svake planete razlikuje u dužini i dolazi u neko drugo vreme, od onog naše zemlje ili bilo koje planete. Kako, dakle, Bog može počivati na sve ove dane? Ako je to učinio on mora držati subotu celo vreme, a onda niko, anđeli ili ljudi, ne mogu držati subotu s Gospodom ako su uopšte radili!
Šta, dakle, postaju gospođe White tvrdnja da "SVE ANĐEOLSKE VOJSKE" drže našu subotu? ili starješine Smitha hipoteza da će ceo svemir slaviti "U ISTOM RAZDOBLJU ZAJEDNO?" Obe su posve apsurdne. Isto definitivno se sedmi dan ne može držati od svih univerzuma, čak i na ovoj zemlji samoj ne može se držati sve u isto vreme, ali svi mogu držati sedmi deo vremena. Ovo načelo na kojem se temelji četvrta zapovest, može biti univerzalno primenjeno na zemlji i na nebu, u vremenu ili večnosti. No, samo koji dan će to biti, je minorna stvar koje će odrediti okolnosti u tom slučaju, koji se može i mora razlikovati u različitim vremenima i različitim mestima. Za jevrejski narod to svakako bio je sedmi dan, ili subota, a ne drugi dan da bi se ispunila ta zapovest. Sva rigorozna ograničenja i strogosti subote, kao pod jevrejskim zakonom, mogla je biti sprovedena od strane malog naroda u ograničenom prostoru gde je crkva rodila pravilo. Određeni dan, sedmi, Pnz. 5:12-13; određeni sati, od zalaska do zalaska sunca, Lev. 23:32; bez vatre u svim njihovim kućama, Ex. 35:3; kamenovanje na smrt za sakupljanje drva, Num. 15:32-36 - to je bio jevrejski zakon. Ali mi nismo Jevreji niti pod Jevrejskim zakonom. Prema novom oproštaju evanđelja, druge okolnosti su se pojavile jasno i veličanstveno obeležavajući drugi dan kao sveukupno važan dan u hrišćanskoj memoriji - vaskrsni dan. Kad je Evanđelje išlo svim narodima, u svim podnebljima, i oko Zemlje, hrišćanski dan odmora je bio nužan i mudro postavljen na daleko drugačijim osnovama.
Gde ćemo početi dan?
Ako čovekovo spasenje zavisi od držanja tog istog dana na minut koji je Bog držao kod stvaranja, onda je beskrajno važno da znamo tačnu meru dužine gde je njegov dan počeo tako kao što tamo počinje naš takođe. Ali Gospod nije rekao ni reči o tome, niti dao barem trag gde početi dan. Ni Sabatariani ne znaju ništa o tome, nego morate predpostaviti celu stvar. Dan danas se uopšteno računa da počinje na određenoj granici 180 stepeni zapadno od Greenwicha, Engleska. Ona kreće na sever i jug kroz Tihi okean oko 4.000 km zapadno od Amerike. Napisao sam prof EE Holden u Lick Observatory pitajući, "1. Imamo li datum kad je granica dana uspostavljena tamo? 2. Ko je to učinio i zašto? 3. Kada? 4. Da li je to bilo računato iz drugih mesta sem Grinvidža? "
On je odgovorio: "1. Nije bilo nikakvog datuma. 2. Niko. Radi lakšeg snalaženja. 3. Tokom poslednjih sto godina. 4. Da. Kanarska ostrva, Tenerife, Ferro, Pariz, Berlin, Jerusalim, Washington, itd.........."
Dakle, vidimo: 1. To je samo u zadnjih sto godina da je granica dana bila fiksna gde je sada. 2. To je učinjeno samo zbog praktičnosti, a ne zato što je nešto bilo zahtevalo u prirodi. 3. U različitim vremenima granica dana je brojana na najmanje sedam različitih mesta, od Jeruzalema na istoku do Washingtonu na zapadu, oko 8000 km razlike, ili jedna trećina puta oko sveta. Dakle, početak sedmog dana je varirao toliko mnogo na različite datume. 4. U drugom stoleću to može biti promenjeno opet. 5. Tu je samo koliki je autoritet za jedno mesto kao i drugo, i bez božanskog autoriteta za jedno mesto kao i drugo, i bez božanskog autoriteta za bilo koje drugo, kao što je sve čovek svojim radom i učinio u srećnoj-opasnosti. 6. Dakle, tako daleko da je dužnost prema Bogu u pitanju, svaka nacija, crkva ili društvo je slobodno početi dan gde god im se svidi. Jedno mesto će biti jednako harmonično da bude u skladu s Božjom granicom dana kao i drugo.
Subotari u Americi mogu namestiti svoju granicu dana u Atlantiku, umesto u Tihom okeanu, a onda naša nedelja će biti subota, a oni će biti u redu i preobratiti naciju u jednom danu! Može li iko dokazati da to ne bi bilo u skladu sa granicom dana pri stvaranju? Zasigurno ne. To bi bilo jednako podesno dobro kao današnja granica. Onda zašto ne učiniti to? Zaista, to se upravo podudara sa onim što su Adventisti učinili u poslednjih nekoliko godina u slučaju cele kolonije u Tihom okeanu. Na ostrvo Pitkern u Pacifiku naseljenici su došli pre sto godina ponevši svoj način razmišljanja istočno od Azije. Ali, to se događalo na američkoj strani današnje linije, stoga im je Nedjelja bila naša Subota, i svi oni su je svetkovali stotinu godina kao Nedelju. Prema adventistima, to je strašna stvar, jer Nedelja je Papina subota, žig Zveri. Dakle, pre nekoliko godina, adventisti su otišli tamo i preobratili ih sve da svetkuju Subotu. Kako? Oni su ih jednostavno nagovoriti da promene svoje računanje granice dana nekoliko milja i gle! njihova Nedelja je bila Subota! Sada su svi pobožni Subote - svetkovatelji, dok pre oni su svi bili svetkovatelji Nedelje, žiga Zveri! Pa ipak, oni drže tačno isti dan koji su uvek držali! Ako to nije cepidlačenje, recite mi šta je. To ilustruje detinjariju celog Sabotarskog posla. Sada neka adventisti samo premeste svoju granicu dana malo dalje istočno uključujući Ameriku i oni mogu proslavljati naš dan s nama.
Ako je dan počeo na tradicionalnom mestu gde se Eden kažu nalazio, onda granica dana će biti daleko zapadnije od sadašnjeg položaja nekih 7000 km, zapadno čak od Australije, a onda ljudi sedmoga dana u Australiji ne drže Subotu uopšte. U tom slučaju Nedeljni-svetkovatelji Novog Zelanda i Australije sada su zapravo oni koji svetkuju originalni sedmi dan, a Sabatariani postaju oni koji svetkuju šesti dan! Znaju li, i mogu li oni dokazati, da to nije tako? Ne, oni jednostavno moraju uzeti obračun baš kao što se to dogodilo, pravo ili krivo, ne znajući šta je to. Pa ipak, na veliku štetu, oni su poslali misionare tamo preobratiti ljude da svetkuju drugi dan, kad zapravo ne znaju, ali šta da su ti ljudi stvarno svetkovali sedmi dan, a oni sami su pogrešili! Niko, čak ni sami, ne pretenduju da znaju gde je Bog počeo računati dan, ali povlače krivu granicu, i kažu da će sve biti prokleto ko se ne pokorava toj granici i računa od tog mesta! Da li spasenje čovekove duši zavisi od takvih matematičkih slatkiša i takve neizvesnosti kao što su ovi? Ako se to radi, možemo očajavati za nebesima.
Sama činjenica da Bog nikada nije otkrio baš gde je tačna granica dana, ili gde je sedmi dan počeo, pokazuje da znamo da je to bez posledica za nas. Aljaska, severozapadna tačka Amerike, bila je naseljena Rusima davno, pre postojanja današnje granice. Naravno, oni su poneli svoj način razmišljanja s njima, a time i njihova Nedelja je bila u Subotu. U 1867 smo kupili Aljasku i ona je postala deo Sjedinjenih Američkih Država. Danom zaposedanja našim zakonima promenili smo njihovu Nedelju u Subotu, sve po ljudskom autoritetu. Je li to promenilo Edensku subotu za te ljude? Opet, idući oko Zemlje na jedan način mi smo izgubili dan i idući na drugi način možemo dobiti slobodan dan. Dakle, u jednom slučaju moramo dodati neki dan u drugom ispuštamo dan. Sve to morati učiniti kako bi se uskladili sa svetom. Adventisti to čine, ali po kojem autoritetu, i gde? Biblija kaže držite sedmi dan i od zalaska sunca do zalaska sunca. Ex. 20:8-11; Lev. 23:32. Neka dvojca adventista startuju iz Chicaga, jedan idući na istok, drugi na zapad, oko Zemlje. Svaki svetkuje pažljivo sedmi dan kako sunce zalazi. Kad se ponovo sastanu u Chicagu oni će biti dva dana, razdvojeni! Jedan će držati Nedjelju i drugi Petak. Kako su se upravljali? Svaki odustaje od svog sedmog dana i obojca uzimaju da su od sveta. Dakle, oni imaju svetovni dan nakon svega!
Pogledajte poteškoću u prelaženju ove navodne granice dana u Tihom okeanu. Lično sam razgovarao sa Subotarima koji su prešli ovu liniju u oba smera, istok i zapad. Idete zapadu, dan se dodaje, idete prema istoku se oduzima, a to je učinjeno u podne na dan koji im se nalazio najbliže pretpostavljenog granici. Na brodu, čovek ide na zapad seda za večeru 11:50 AM. Dok jede vreme se promenilo i on se diže od večere subotom u podne! Tada on ima samo šest sati Subote do zalaska sunca, ili dolaze na istok, seda za večeru u Subotu podne i diže se od večere u Petak u podne! On je držao osamnaest sati Subotu, a zatim je otišao u drugi u podne, i on ima šest sati za rad do zalaska sunca. Sada on mora početi Subotu još jednom i držati je opet - dvadeset četiri sata! U jednom slučaju je on samo držao šest sati Subotu, a u drugom slučaju je držao četrdeset dva sata!
Ove činjenice pokazuju tvrdoglavu krajnju apsurdnost Subotarskog gledišta. Oni tvrde da takve stvari ne smetaju bilo kome, ali znam da oni to čine, loše, previše. Oni su pisali puno o tome, smišljali sve vrste dijagrama, ilustracija i argumenta kako bi se odgovorilo na poteškoće, ali nikog nisu zadovoljili, čak ni sebe. Otuda nove metode se stalno smišljaju da izvrdaju poteškoće. Najnovije otkriće je ono usvojeno od strane adventističkih službenika Nju Jorkške konferencije. To je da je zemlja apsolutno FIKSNA i STACIONARNA, sa suncem, mesecom i zvezdama puno manjim od Zemlje i koji se vrte oko nje! "Sunce, ono čini kretanje," stari crnac rekao, a oni kažu, Amen. (Podvučeno moje)
Preveo Miloš Popadić