THE

LITERATURE

OF

THE SABBATH QUESTION.

VOL. II,

141. COCCEIUS, JOHN, Professor of Theology in the University of Leyden (died 1669).-Indagatio Naturæ Sabbati et Quietis Novi Testamenti. Accedunt Veterum et Recentiorum Testimonia. Lugd. Bat. 1658. 12mo. Pp. 269.

This treatise is among the author's collected works, vol. ix. pp. 21-94; Amst. 1701, 12 vols. fol. In vol. vii. p. 119, there is a short article De Festis et Sabbatho.

The word rest, he thinks, comprehends within its meaning "the whole worship of God to be rendered under the New Testament; for faith and charity is the rest of the soul." (P. 3.) It will thus be seen that he agrees with the Fathers and Reformers in considering the Christian Sabbath as a rest, not from bodily labour on a weekly day, but from evil works on all days; and that tranquillity of soul by which it is accompanied, and of which, with its continuation in heaven, the ancient Sabbath is supposed to have been a type. (See above, i. 124, 135, 137.) With Grotius he holds, that, even if the seventh day was hallowed at the creation (a question determined by him in the negative), there is no proof that rest was enjoined as a part of the worship until the time of Moses, or that such an injunction was ever given to any but the Jews. The Jewish rest was in itself worship, nam quod præceptum est, cultus est, si propter præceptum fiat," "for that is worship, which is done as in obedience to a Divine command." (P. 94;

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see also 125, 144, 157.) But, besides that there is no record of the imposition upon Christians of the duty of resting on the Sabbath, it is plain from Paul's Epistles that he zealously withstood the Jewish converts who wished to bring their Gentile brethren under the law of Moses. "Undoubtedly the controversy about the Sabbath," adds Cocceius, "consists in the question,-Whether or not it be commanded to Christians, 'Thou shalt not do any work.'" (P. 144.) That cessation from work which is necessary to allow of attendance at religious meetings, he holds to be quite a different thing from the religious rest of the Jews. (P. 157.)*

He rejects all meanings of the phrase "moral law" except natural law." (P. 136.)

The custom of assembling on the Lord's Day he regards as having arisen among the early Christians, "certè non sine providentiâ Dei," though without express command; and, being established, its observance, he thinks, cannot be opposed, or transferred to another day, without a tacit denial of the resurrection of our Lord. (P. 35.) The titles of the different sections of the treatise will farther indicate the opinions of its author :

"Novum Testamentum habet singularem quietem ; quam Gentes debent agnoscere, et non violare. (P. 1.)

"Quies Novi Testamenti propria opponitur siti et jugo præcedentis temporis. (P. 3.)

"Decalogus postulat fidem promissionis et charitatem, cum amplexatione pignoris, nempe terræ Canaan. (P. 11.)

"Jugum Decalogo superadditum. Locus Ezech. xx. 25, 26. (P. 14.)

"Sanctificatio tollit jugum et sitim, et facit requiem. (P. 18.) "Analogia requietis à siti et jugo cum quiete Sabbati probat Sabbatum esse typum; et sic præceptum de Sabbato observando obligat ad sanctificandum tempus requietis N. T. quippe quod est revera Sabbatum Domini. (P. 19.)

"Ratio Dominicæ observandæ. (P. 31.)

Propositio quæstionis primæ: An Christianis incumbat præceptum cessandi septimâ? (P. 39.)

*This opinion is precisely that which, in the English controversy, was expressed by Prideaux and White, nay by the prolocutor of the Westminster Assembly, Dr Twisse (see above, i. 166, 171, 209); to whom, as we shall see, Owen and Baxter must be added. A learned Sabbatarian writer of the present time holds the singular notion that even on the Jews the Fourth Commandment imposed no farther duty of resting than this. "It is no part," says he, "of the Fourth Commandment, fairly interpreted, to prohibit ordinary labour, excepting in so far as it tends to interfere with the proper sanctification of the time to God. It was not work in the abstract that was forbidden in the Fourth Commandment, but work only in so far as it interfered with the sanctified use of the day."-(The Typology of Scripture, viewed in connection with the Entire Scheme of the Divine Dispensations, by Patrick Fairbairn, D.D., Professor of Divinity, Free Church College, Glasgow; 3d ed., vol. ii. p. 136; Edin. 1857.)

"Primum argumentum, à naturâ, subjecto, et tempore præcepti cessationis. (P. 45.)

"Locus Es. xx. 10, 12. (P. 46.)

"Instantia, quòd dedit significet restituit. (P. 47.)

66

Objectio I. Locus Genes. ii. 2, 3. (Pp. 48, 55.) Objectio II. Locus Exod. xx. 11. (P. 52.) Objectio III. (P. 56.) Objectio IV. Locus Hebr. iv. 3, 4. (P. 59.) Objectio V. (P. 62.)

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Argumentum secundum, ab eo, quòd Sabbatum est signum. (P. 62.)

74.)

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'Exceptiones I., II., III., IV., V. (Pp. 63, 64, 65, 67, 69.) Amplior explicatio verborum, Exod. xx. 11. (P. 71.)

Argumentum tertium; ab eo, quòd Sabbatum est onus. (P.

Exceptio. (P. 78.)

Argumentum quartum, à naturâ præceptorum Novi Testamenti. (P. 80.)

66

แ

Exceptiones I., II. (Pp. 89, 91.)

Argumentum quintum, ab eo, quòd in prophetiis de N. T. Sabbatum non significat diem otii ab opere licito. (P. 93.)

"Propositio quæstionis secundæ : An Christianis incumbat præceptum directum, cessandi die aliquo ex septem. (P. 96.)

Rom. xiv. 5, 6. (P. 116.) Marc. ii. 27, 28. (P. 120.)

Objectio mutationis Decalogi. (P. 131.)

"Quæstio de morali quarti præcepti. (P. 133.) "Sensus Catechismi Belgici. (P. 139.)

Synodus Dordracenæ. (P. 144.)*

(P. 115.)

Hebr. iv.

"Objectio à distinctione præceptorum Decalogi. (P. 147.) "Conclusio distinguens res minimè confundendas. (P. 156.)

From p. 161 to 269 is a copious collection of extracts from the Fathers, Reformers, and others, concerning the Sabbath and the Lord's Day "Testimonia veterum et recentiorum ecclesiæ doctorum: ex quibus intelligi potest, quid Ecclesia primis temporibus et à reformatione de Sabbato, cessatione, et Dominicæ origine ac celebratione senserit." Some passages now known to be spurious are included. The writers quoted are Ignatius (p. 161, also 42);

The Articles of the Synod of Dort, of which a translation borrowed from Dr Fairbairn was given above, i. 218, are cited by Cocceius in Latin. I observe that in the English version of Article 6, works of charity ought to have been joined to those of necessity, and that the recreations disapproved of would be more precisely described as those which are impediments to, than as those "discordant with," the worship of God. The article, as given by Cocceius, is as follows:-" 6. Idem dies sic cultui divino est consecrandus, ut in eo cessetur ab omnibus quæ non sunt charitatis aut præsentis necessitatis, et ab ejusmodi recreationibus quæ Dei cultum impediunt."

Justin Martyr (p. 162);* Irenæus (p. 165); Dionysius of Corinth, and Clement of Alexandria (p. 169); Tertullian (p. 170); Cyprian, Novatian, and Lactantius (p. 176): the Council of Nice (p. 177); Eusebius, and Clement of Rome (p. 178); Juvencus (p. 189); Macarius (p. 190); Athanasius (p. 191; also 33, 41, 243); Hilary, and Cl. Marius Victor (p. 195); Cyril of Jerusalem (p. 196); Gregory Nazianzene (p. 196); Epiphanius (p. 197); Ambrose (p. 200); Gregory of Nyssa (p. 201); Basil, and Jerome (p. 203); Prudentius (p. 205); Chrysostom (p. 206); Augustine (p. 211; also 86); Paullinus (p. 221); Cyril of Alexandria (p. 222); Theodoret (p. 230); Sedulius (p. 231); Prosper (p. 232); Gennadius Massiliensis (p. 232); Isidorus Hispalensis (p. 233); Gregory the Great (p. 233); Luther (p. 252);† Melancthon, Loci Communes,

The following is the most important passage in Justin Martyr, or indeed in any of the Fathers, relative to the Lord's Day. It was written between A.D. 139 and A.D. 150:

"On the day which is called Sunday, there is an assembly in one place of all who dwell either in towns or in the country; and the Memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the Prophets are read, as long as the time permits. Then, when the reader hath ceased, the President delivers a discourse, in which he reminds and exhorts them to the imitation of all these good things. We then all stand up together, and put forth prayers. Then, as we have already said, when we cease from prayer, bread is brought, and wine, and water; and the President in like manner offers up prayers and praises with his utmost power; and the people express their assent by saying, Amen. The consecrated elements are then distributed and received by every one; and a portion is sent by the deacons to those who are absent.

"Each of those also who have abundance, and are willing, according to his choice, gives what he thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the President, who succours the fatherless and the widows, and those who are in necessity from disease or any other cause; those also who are in bonds, and the strangers who are sojourning among us; and in a word takes care of all who are in need.

"We all of us assemble together on Sunday, because it is the first day in which God changed darkness and matter, and made the world. On the same day also Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead. For he was crucified the day before that of Saturn; and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, he appeared to his apostles and disciples and taught them what we now submit to your consideration." (Apology for the Christians to Antoninus Pius, §§ 87-89; Chevallier's transl. pp. 224-5.)

This is the passage referred to above, i. 106. For discussions on it see the works mentioned i. 120, especially Domville, i. 273, 294, 304, 310. Three things chiefly have been insisted on: 1. That the day is called by Justin, not the Lord's Day, but Sunday; 2. That it is not called the Sabbath, or in any way described as a day of rest from work-though such cessation, while the meetings were held, and for the purpose of attending them, is of course implied; and 3. That among the reasons assigned for assembling on it, there is neither the command nor the example of Christ or his apostles, nor the obligation of a primeval or the Mosaic Sabbath-law.

†The passage quoted above, i. 126-7, is here given by Cocceius in the original German.

(p. 259); Christophorus Pezelius, Arg. et Resp. Theol., p. 3, p. 169 (p. 260); Calvin, Catechismus Ecclesiæ Genevensis (p. 261; also 96); Catechesis Heidelbergensis (p. 262; also 134); Ursinus (p. 262); the later Swiss Confession, c. 24 (p. 43); Belgian Catechism (p. 139); Synod of Dort (p. 263; also 144, 269); Spiliardus (p. 264), &c. Those passages from the Fathers which were written in Greek have Latin translations subjoined to them. At the end of the collection Cocceius presents (pp. 235–252) a “synopsis of those things which are to be remarked in the testimonies of these ancient writers;" some of which things are as follows :—

"1. None of them affirms that a commandment to rest on the seventh day was given to Adam in his unfallen state.

"2. Or that Adam, or any of the patriarchs before Moses, sabbatized or rested from labour on a stated day, as in obedience to a precept.

"3. Some writers of pretty high antiquity affirm, that Adam, Enoch, Noah, Melchisedec, and Abraham, did not sabbatize, but exercised a free kind of piety.

"12. None of them is of opinion that God by the Fourth Commandment has determined a time for his worship.

"13. Only Chrysostom takes notice, that Moses, in the history of the creation, has insinuated that it would be a good thing for the Church in common and universally to devote at least a seventh day to solemn assemblies of all the members of the Church in every place.

“15. And it is to be well observed, that they considered the precept of resting from labour to relate to the seventh day only, which alone they designated the Sabbath; never calling the Sabbath the Lord's Day, but carefully distinguishing between the Lord's Day and the Sabbath.

"23. The ancient Christians called the first day of the week the Lord's Day, thereby commemorating that day on which Christ had arisen from the dead. And,

"24. None of the ancients affirms, that this appellation was given to the Sunday because Christ had enjoined such rest from work thereon as formerly the Jews observed on the Sabbath."

142. HEIDANUS, ABRAHAM, Professor of Theology at Leyden (died 1678).-De Sabbato et Die Dominico Disputatio. Accedit Joh. Prideaux Tractatus de Sabbato. Lugd. Bat. 1658. 8vo.-De Sabbato Disputatio Secunda. Lugd. Bat. 1658. 8vo.

143. ESSENIUS, ANDREW, Professor of Theology at Utrecht (died 1672).-Dissertatio de Perpetuâ Moralitate Decalogi, adeoque specialiùs etiam Sabbathi, ex