abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath , and its observance on the first day of the week ." --A . E . Waffle , The Lord ' s Day , pages 186-188 . Roman Catholics acknowledge that the change of the Sabbath was made by their church , and declare that Protestants by observing the Sunday are recognizing her power . In the Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion , in answer to a question as to the day to be observed in obedience to the fourth commandment , this statement is made : " During the old law , Saturday was the day sanctified ; but the church , instructed by Jesus Christ , and directed by the Spirit of God , has substituted Sunday for Saturday ; so now we sanctify the first , not the seventh day . Sunday means , and now is , the day of the Lord ."
As the sign of the authority of the Catholic Church , papist writers cite " the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday , which Protestants allow of ; . . . because by keeping Sunday , they acknowledge the church ' s power to ordain feasts , and to command them under sin ." --Henry Tuberville , An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine , page 58 . What then is the change of the Sabbath , but the sign , or mark , of the authority of the Roman Church-- " the mark of the beast "?
The Roman Church has not relinquished her claim to supremacy ; and when the world and the Protestant churches accept a sabbath of her creating , while they reject the Bible Sabbath , they virtually admit this assumption . They may claim the authority of tradition and of the Fathers for the change ; but in so doing they ignore the very principle which separates them from Rome--that " the Bible , and the Bible only , is the religion of Protestants ." The papist can see that they are deceiving themselves , willingly closing their eyes to the facts in the case . As the movement for Sunday enforcement gains favour , he rejoices , feeling assured that it will eventually bring the whole Protestant world under the banner of Rome .
Romanists declare that " the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay , in spite of themselves , to the authority of the [ Catholic ] Church ." --Mgr . Segur , Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today , page 213 . The enforcement of Sunday-keeping on the part of Protestant churches is an enforcement of the worship of the papacy--of the beast . Those who , understanding the claims of the fourth commandment , choose to observe the false instead of the true Sabbath are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded . But in the very act of enforcing a religious duty by secular power , the churches would themselves form an image to the beast ; hence the enforcement of Sunday-keeping in the United States would be an enforcement of the worship of the beast and his image .
But Christians of past generations observed the Sunday , supposing that in so doing they were keeping the Bible Sabbath ; and there are now true Christians in every church , not excepting the Roman Catholic communion , who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment . God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him . But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law , and the world shall be enlightened concerning the
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