Note 10. Lutheran Manual, p. 293.


CHAPTER VII.
DENIAL OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTION AND OBLIGATION OF CHRISTIAN SABBATH.

The incalculable importance of the proper observation of the Christian
Sabbath to the progress of the kingdom of Christ in general, and to
the growth of piety in the heart of every Christian in particular, is
a point on which, we are happy to state, there is no difference between
the Plea and the Platform. Yet we cannot resist the conviction, that in
our efforts to observe this day, not with the pharisaic formalities of
the Jew, but with the conscientious spirituality of the Christian, the
question whether in doing so, we are obeying an injunction of God,
exhibited in the inspired example of his apostles, or are merely
conforming to an uninspired regulation of the church, must be of great
importance.

The lax views of the early reformers on this subject are so frequently
met with in theological discussions, that we had not expected to find
the position of the Platform disputed; but rather that the theory of
the Reformers would be defended, as is done by writers of no mean name
in Germany at the present day. The author of the Plea, however, takes a
different view of the Confession, and affirms that this venerable
document does not deny the divine institution and obligation of the
Christian Sabbath. "Luther and Melancthon (says he,) had received from
the older church, the doctrine and practice of the Christian Sabbath,
as a holy day, as a divine institution and obligation, and they had not
a word to say against this view of the Sabbath. But they had a great
deal to say against the abuses, by which the bishops made the Sabbath a