112 ABROGATION OF THE SABBATH. 



Belief of the Christian " Fathers." Selden : and Spenger. 



In an ancient Hebrew hjmn, it is said : " Thou didst not give 

 the Sabbath, Lord our God, to the nations of the earth.'' 

 (Machzor, Judæorum Germ. part. i. fol. 49, a. — vide Manasseh 

 Ben Israel, c?e Creatione, problem 8.) 



The early Christian *' Fathers" constantlj speak of the Sab- 

 bath as having been first given to the Israelites.* I believe 

 they are unanimous upon this point; — at least I am not aware 

 of any one of them who assigns an earlier origin to the institu- 

 tion. 



The learned Selden elaborately maintains and triumphant- 

 ly establishes the Jewish and ceremonial character of the 

 Sabbath, in a series of chapters. (Z>e Jure Nat. et Gent. Lib. 

 iii. cap. 9 — 12.) 



Says the scarcely less distinguished Spenger : " It can be 

 shown by the clearest evidence that God appointed the Sab- 

 bath to be observed — not by the human race — but by the Israel- 

 ites alone." (Z>e Legihiis Ilehræor. Ritual, lib. i. cap. iv. sect. 

 9.) And accordingly it always has been " peculiar to the Jew/'t 



seven laws given to the sons of Noah ; but this of keeping the seventh- 

 day Sabbath is not among them." (Bod. Divin. B. iii. ch. 8.) The 

 antiquity and universality of this Jewish tradition of the Noachic 

 Heptalogue give to its exclusion of the Sabbath the greatest value as 

 an historie evidence. 



* See JusTiN Martyr (c. Tnj_ph.) ; Irenæus (co7}t. Hær. iv. 30) ; 

 Tertullian (adv. Jud. 2, 3, 4), &c. &c. ; also Eusebius the historian 

 (lib. i. c. 2, 4; and Com. in Psal. xci.) ; Athanasius (Synop. Sacr. 

 Scrip. Ezod ), &c. 



f It may be noticed in illustration that, vphen Antiochus commanded 

 the Jewish law to be abolished, it is recorded among the changes of 

 custom necessarily consequent — "neither were the Sabbaths kept. 



And whosoever would not conform themselves to the 



ways of the Gentiles were put to death." (2 3Iaccabees vi. 6 — 9.) In 

 like manner, in their belligerent history, it was not nncommon for 

 their assailants, on discovering this peculiarity of their religions observ- 

 ance, to await their weekly rest for the purpose of attack or surprisal. 

 (See Josephus, Antiq. B. xiv. ch. 4, sec. 3 ; Jewish War, B. i. ch. 7, 

 sec. 3 ; also Antiq. B. xiii. ch. i. sec. 3 ; B. xviii. ch. 9, sec. 2.) 



