MR. taylor's third reply. 213 



Isaiah Ixv. — Modified. The text ^nii-sabbatarian ; and prospectire. 



2. The second text is from the prophecy oi Isaiah (Ixv. 17, 

 &c.) : " For behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and 

 the former shall noi he rememhered , nor come into mind. But 

 be ye glad, and rejoice for ever in that which I create : for be- 

 hold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy ; 

 and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and 

 the Yoice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the 

 voice of erying. . . . The wolf and the lamb shall feed to- 

 gether, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock." From 

 all which it ought to be apparent to any one not blinded by 

 " an evil heart of unbelief,'' that the Sabbath law has been 

 changed, and that now the first day '^ is the Sabbath of the 

 Lord thy Grod; in it thou shalt not do any work.'^ Unfortu- 

 nately, J. N. B. is not — himself altogether satisfied with the 

 passage, and wishes to modify it. " Not absoluteJy^ indeed (as 

 W. B. T. perversely understands me), but comparativeli/y will 

 the wonders of the original creation ^ cease to be remembered 

 and come into mind.' ^^ (p. 178.) How ^^ perverse' ' in W. 

 B. T. to be so literal! And how provoking that Isaiah forgot 

 so trivial a qualification as the word " comparatively !" But, 

 alas ! the passage contains (as I have already noticed, — p. 92) a 

 clear annihilation of the fourth commandment. ^' Remember 

 not the Sabbath-day" of creation ! No periodic intervals shall 

 measure your rejoicings.* Even supposing, as before, I grant 

 to the uttermost my friend's own reading, where is " the 

 thing — the vital thing .?" It cannot be found ! It is from here 

 " As far removed, as from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole !'' 

 Strong and unequivocal, however, as is the Anti-sabbatarianism 

 of this passage, I decline employing it in evidence. My cause 

 is too strong to accept incompetent support. J. N. B. knows 



* As Grotius well observes of the strong and spiritual Christian : 

 *' He esteems every day alike holy, serving God from new moon to new 

 moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, according to the prophecy of Isaiah.'^ 

 {Annotations on N. Test. in Rom. xiv. 5.) 



