The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 459

The European Union in Prophecy
Discourse in Six Dialogues on the Name, Notion, and Observation of the Lord's Day,
page 271.
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. (See Heylyn, History of the Sabbath, pt. 2, ch. 5,
sec. 7.)
Still the absence of Scriptural authority for Sundaykeeping occasioned 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 honour the day of the sun. To supply the lack of Bible testimony, other
expedients 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 the power and prosperity of the church
have in all ages been esteemed lawful by the papal hierarchy.
The roll forbade labor from the ninth hour, three o'clock, on Saturday afternoon,
till sunrise on Monday; and its authority was declared to be confirmed by many
miracles. It was reported that persons laboring beyond the appointed hour were
stricken with paralysis. A miller who attempted to grind his corn, saw, instead of flour,
a torrent of blood come forth, and the mill wheel stood still, notwithstanding the
strong rush of water. A woman who placed dough in the oven found it raw when taken
out, though the oven was very hot. Another who had dough prepared for baking at the
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