GIVING &
SHARING NEWSLETTER September,
1989 No. 6
Companion
Bible An Excellent Study Tool
Ethelbert W.
Bullinger (1837-1913) was a brilliant Bible scholar. His Companion Bible is published by
Kregel. This valuable study Bible, with
its 227-page Appendix, has long been one of the most popular items distributed
by Giving & Sharing.
The Appendix
is the heart of the Companion
Bible. Bullinger’s 198 Appendices cover such topics as
genealogies, outlines of books and passages, Biblical synonyms and figures of
speech, tables of coins and measures, detailed word studies, historical
contexts for Biblical events, and much more.
This excellent study tool proves, among other things, that the
crucifixion was on Wednesday; the Savior was crucified on an upright pole, not
a cross; that Messiah was born in the fall near Tabernacles; it is not wrong to
drink wine moderately; and Nimrod was the first dictator.
You will enjoy
Bullinger’s other works. The Church Epistles
is a commentary on the Apostle Paul’s books.
Number in Scripture
is a valuable study on the spiritual significance of numbers and proof of the
divine design of Holy Scripture.
Sabbatarians
or Sabbath-Keepers?
In the July,
1989, Sabbath Sentinel, Eugene Lincoln referred to those of us who keep
the seventh-day Sabbath as “Sabbatarians.”
He expressed aversion to the term “Sabbath-keepers” which in his opinion
smacks of a “Pharisaical attitude.”
Actually, the
opposite is true. Here are two good reasons why “Sabbath-keeper” is a better
term than “Sabbatarian”:
(1) “Sabbatarian” generally means “a strict
Sunday-keeper.” The Encyclopaedia
Britannica, article, “Sabbatarianism,” says that Sabbatarians are those
“who regard the first day of the week as the
sabbath . . . . [and are] concerned mainly with the things
that may not be done on that day.
Sabbatarianism in this sense of excessive strictness in observance of
Sunday, and legislation on the subject, is as old as Constantine, who decreed
regulations against Sunday labour in 321, [and reached its height with] the
Puritans and Scottish Presbyterians . . . [who enacted] the
most rigorous ‘blue laws’ . . . .” The article concludes by saying that those
who observe a Saturday Sabbath “are not those to whom the name Sabbatarian is
commonly given.”
(2) The term
“Sabbatarian,” by definition, means one who has an excessive Pharisaical
attitude towards observance of a day of rest.
“Sabbatarian” rhymes with “sectarian,” a narrow-minded bigot who cannot
transcend a tightly defined set of ideas.
Likewise, a Sabbatarian worships the Sabbath instead of the Creator of
the Sabbath. I have many important religious beliefs that
I would die for, in addition to the Sabbath!
Webster's
Third International Dictionary,
Unabridged, defines “sabbatarian” as not only one who keeps the seventh (a
seventh) day, but also “one who favors strict observance of the Sabbath,” and
“rigidly strict.” Sabbatarianism is
“the puritanical suppression on Sunday of all avoidable work and enjoyment as
an enforcement of pious devotion and sobriety.” Here is the “Pharisaical attitude” that we oppose. Devotion must come from the heart, and
cannot be enforced through “blue laws.”
God’s Sabbath is a joyous blessing, not a somber burden. The Sabbath was made for man’s spiritual and
physical enjoyment. We abhor those who
make the Sabbath a burden with excessive strictness.
It is true
that “Sabbath-keeper” and “Sabbath-observer” are not in the unabridged
dictionary. Yet no better terms
express true seventh-day Sabbath observance.
The commandment states, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” And we who believe and practice this command
are “Sabbath-keepers,” not “Sabbatarians.”
In its
masthead the BSA is defined as a “strictly nonsectarian association dedicated
to helping Sabbath-keepers.” Eugene Lincoln has written a helpful booklet
“Right Face: A Handbook for
Sabbath-keepers.”
A sabbatarian is a sectarian, strictly
enforcing Sunday, rather than the Bible Sabbath. Let us be known for what we are, loving keepers of the Bible
Sabbath, the seventh day, not the first day, of the week. “Sabbath-keeper” rather than “Sabbatarian”
is the proper term. Ω