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Installment #29: Search for the Sabbath
Daniel Botkin

Continued from last issue...
  In the fall of 1988, I borrowed a book from a Christian friend. The title of the book was War, Women, Sabbath, and Slavery. The book was by a Mennonite writer. In the book the author discussed the four topics that appear in the title. He pointed out that these four topics are examples of controversial topics which can divide Bible-believing Christians into two (or more) opposing camps. (The issue of slavery rarely divides Christians now, but it did so in America not that long ago.) The writer then presented summaries of the different arguments that Christians use when discussing these topics.
  The purpose of the book was not to persuade readers to embrace or reject any of the views presented. Rather, the purpose of the book was to show how Bible-believing Christians, using the same Bible, will reach opposite conclusions about certain subjects, depending on the kind of hermeneutic they use when approaching the Bible.
  The topic in the book that most interested me was the Sabbath. Saturday, Sunday, or all days equally holy? As a young believer I had studied the subject as best I knew how. I had even talked to some SDAs (Seventh Day Adventists) about it, but they could not refute the objections I had read in some anti-Sabbath literature. Even though I was very willing to be persuaded, the Adventists did not know the Scriptures well enough to persuade me.
  I knew a businessman who was a SDA. He wanted to meet with me and a Christian friend of mine to have a calm, friendly discussion about the Sabbath question. We agreed that we would listen to him without interrupting, then he would have to listen to us without interrupting. This way it would be a polite discussion and not turn into an argument. We listened to him, and he presented a weak, unconvincing argument. When it was my turn to speak, he kept trying to interrupt me. When we politely and gently reminded him that we had agreed to hold our comments and not interrupt one another, he blew up.
  “I don’t have a devil!” he angrily shouted. “I don’t speak in tongues! I don’t have a demon that makes me go bluh, bluh, bluh!”
  We were extremely shocked by this immature outburst of mockery from a respected businessman who was old enough to be our father. Not long after this incident, the man suddenly and unexpectedly dropped dead of a heart attack. Stuff like this did not help to convince me of the Sabbath.
  In spite of the poor examples of 7th-day Sabbath-keepers I had seen among the SDAs, I eventually began thinking more about the subject. I had lived in Israel two years. My exposure to Jewish life had given me an awareness of the concept and practice of the Sabbath that most American Christians do not have, unless they live near an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. I read and studied the Old Testament a lot, and it was hard to get away from the fact that the Sabbath was very important to God before Christ came. Yet Paul’s writings made it clear (or so I thought) that the Sabbath was abolished after Christ came. Yet I could not figure out how or why the coming of the Messiah canceled out one of the Ten Commandments. I began to wonder if maybe we Christians were misunderstanding Paul.
  During the winter of 1984-85, I had done a lot of Scripture memorization. I drove a delivery van 300+ miles per day on remote country highways with very little traffic. I spent much of my driving time memorizing Scripture and reciting it aloud. One long passage that I memorized was all of Matthew chapters 5-7, The Sermon on the Mount. As I drove my delivery van Tuesday through Saturday, I recited The Sermon on the Mount every day for several weeks. Every time I recited Matthew 5:17-19 (“Think not that I am come to destroy the law,” etc.), it troubled me. Especially on Saturdays. Soon after that, I memorized the Ten Commandments. Every time I recited Exodus 20:8-11 (“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” etc.), it troubled me. Especially on Saturdays. It bothered me that I had no explanation for Matthew 5:17-19 (other than the obvious, that Jesus simply meant what He said). It bothered me that there was no place in my Christian life and experience for the Sabbath because my theology excluded it.
  These nagging doubts about the Sabbath question had been gradually building up for a few years. I had told myself that eventually I would do some in-depth study and re-examine the question with an open mind. So when I saw the book War, Women, Sabbath, and Slavery on my friend’s bookshelf, I borrowed it. The Mennonite author did a good job of presenting the three views of the Sabbath fairly and objectively. He explained that the three general views are Saturday, Sunday, or a spiritual-symbolic view which makes all days equally holy. Then the author presented arguments for each of the three positions by quoting theologians and scholars who hold the respective positions.
  I read through all the arguments carefully and prayerfully. When I returned the book to my friend, he asked me what I thought.
  “Well,” I said, “if I had to base my decision just on the arguments presented in this book, I’d have to say the Adventists are right about the Sabbath. Their arguments are far more persuasive than the others. But I’m going to get a couple books mentioned in there, and look at the subject in more detail.”
  One of the books I wanted to read was Samuele Bacchiocchi’s From Sabbath to Sunday, the book most often quoted by the Mennonite writer when he presented the case for the 7th-day Sabbath. The other book I wanted to read was D.A. Carson’s From Sabbath to Lord’s Day. Carson’s book was a collection of articles written by Carson and several other highly-educated Bible scholars. Apparently Bacchiocchi’s book had raised some questions and concerns in scholarly circles, and this collection of articles in Carson’s book was the response of the scholarly Christian community to Bacchiocchi’s persuasive book.
  Since Bacchiocchi’s book and Carson’s book seemed to be the two books that dealt with the Sabbath question in the greatest detail, I decided to read both of them. I had the library put in a request for both books via the inter-library loan system and waited for the books to arrive.
  Carson’s book came before Bacchiocchi’s, so I tackled it first. It was a thick volume, and very scholarly. Some of the chapters had over 200 detailed footnotes. I carefully and prayerfully read the entire book, including footnotes. I took over fifteen pages of notes in a spiral notebook so I could refer back to significant points the writers had made. Carson and the other writers tried to show that those who argue for the continuing validity of the 7th-day Sabbath for New Covenant believers are in error. They analyzed Bacchiocchi’s arguments and tried to find a different way to interpret the information that Bacchiocchi had presented in his book.
  By the time I finished the book, all of their arguments against Bacchiocchi’s view actually did more to persuade me that Bacchiocchi was probably correct about the Sabbath. Before I even opened Bacchiocchi’s book, the scholarly community’s arguments against the 7th-day Sabbath had persuaded me that the 7th-day Sabbath was probably valid and ought to be honored by New Covenant believers.
  It is ironic that high-ranking Christian scholars arguing against the 7th-day Sabbath did more to persuade me of the Sabbath than the SDAs who had tried to persuade me years before. There were three things about Carson’s book that caused me to lean toward belief in the 7th-day Sabbath. One thing was the scholars’ frank admissions that much of Bacchiocchi’s presentation was true and correct. The second thing was the inadequacy and weakness of their arguments for an alternative view. The third thing was the fact that some of the writers’ comments made it clear that they had a low view of the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures.
  My search for the Sabbath involved more than just intense academic study. It also involved a lot of intense prayer, asking God to show me the truth and to confirm it by both His Word and His Spirit. I am happy to say that He answered my prayer.

To be continued...