Note 9 — STATESMAN’S REPLY. ARTICLE SEVEN. TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY FATHERS TO THE FIRST-DAY SABBATH.

Not a few eminent writers, such as Dwight, and Wilson, of Calcutta, who are followed by many lesser authors, quote Ignatius, as saying: “Let us no more Sabbatize, but keep the Lord’s day.” From the literal rendering of the original above given, it will be seen that these writers take an unwarrantable liberty with their author. The words of Ignatius are, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν κυριακὴν ζωὴν ζῶντες. To separate the noun ζωὴν from the preceding adjective, and connect it with the following participle, so as to read, “Living a life according to the Lord’s day,” is an unnatural separation of the words of the original. To drop out the word ζωὴν is unwarranted. If this word were spurious, then the rendering would be, “Living according to the Lord’s day,” the adjective κυριακη without the noun for “day” being expressed occurring frequently for “the Lord’s day.” But there is no ground for rejecting the word “life.” To color the language of an author for the sake of giving it point in favor of one side of a question is unworthy of a seeker after truth. In the present case there is really nothing gained by departing from the precise language of the writer. Another passage, often quoted as from Ignatius, is part of the spurious epistle to the Galatians. It is as follows: “During the Sabbath, Christ continued under the earth, in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathea had laid him. At the dawning of the lord’s day, he arose from the dead. The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Lord’s day contains the resurrection.” This certainly has some weight as the testimony of comparatively early writer, but it must not be ascribed to Ignatius.