476
The Great Controversy 1888
Later, the pope gave directions that the parish priest should admon-
ish the violators of Sunday, and wish them to go to church and say
their prayers, lest they bring some great calamity on themselves and
neighbors. An ecclesiastical council brought forward the argument,
since so widely employed, even by Protestants, that because persons
had been struck by lightning while laboring on Sunday, it must be the
Sabbath. “It is apparent,” said the prelates, “how high the displeasure
of God was upon their neglect of this day.” An appeal was then made
that priests and ministers, kings and princes, and all faithful people,
“use their utmost endeavors and care that the day be restored to its
honor, and, for the credit of Christianity, more devoutly observed for
time to come.”
The decrees of councils proving insufficient, the secular authorities
were besought to issue an edict that would strike terror to the hearts
of the people, and force them to refrain from labor on the Sunday. At
a synod held in Rome, all previous decisions were reaffirmed with
greater force and solemnity. They were also incorporated into the
ecclesiastical law, and enforced by the civil authorities throughout
nearly all Christendom.
Still the absence of scriptural authority for Sunday-keeping occa-
sioned no little embarrassment. The people questioned the right of
their teachers to set aside the positive declaration of Jehovah, “The
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” in order to honor the
day of the sun. To supply the lack of Bible testimony, other expedients
[576]
were necessary. A zealous advocate of Sunday, who about the close
of the twelfth century visited the churches of England, was resisted
by faithful witnesses for the truth; and so fruitless were his efforts
that he departed from the country for a season, and cast about him
for some means to enforce his teachings. When he returned, the lack
was supplied, and in his after-labors he met with greater success. He
brought with him a roll purporting to be from God himself, which
contained the needed command for Sunday observance, with awful
threats to terrify the disobedient. This precious document—as base
a counterfeit as the institution it supported—was said to have fallen
from Heaven, and to have been found in Jerusalem, upon the altar of
St. Simeon, in Golgotha. But in fact, the pontifical palace at Rome
was the source whence it proceeded. Frauds and forgeries to advance