MR. TAYLOR' S THIRD REPLY. 221 



An unwarrantable sixggestion of motive. " Chosen day" — of Tisiting. 



is of course obvious to every one that the Sabbath day bas 

 been changed! 



Once more, my friend, " the tliiiig^^ is not liere ! TVhat 

 possible exercise of verbal legerdemain can " explain" or tor- 

 ture this narrative into Sabbatarianism ? Is anything com- 

 manded by it ? '^Eeach hither thy finger T^ Is anything 

 practically recommended by it ? '^Blessed are they that have 

 not seen, and yet have believed !" What can the ingenuity 

 of J. N. B. contrive to make out of it ? ^^ To honor this day" 

 says he, '^ as his own chosen day, he met his assembled disci- 

 ples on it, and said, Peace be unto you. Not till a full week 

 afterwards was accomplished, did he meet with them again. 

 Was there no significance in this ? Why did he not meet them 

 sooner ?" {p. 175.) The " why'' has not been revealed ; I sup- 

 pose it was even so, because it seemed good in his sight. And if 

 my friend is not satisfied with this, I at least am not satisfied to 

 accept his gratuitous guess that its significance was to cliange 

 the /Sabbath I {p. 185.) We have nothing ^' officiaF' to sug- 

 gest so extraordinary a stretch of " fancy.'' Had such been 

 the intention of Jesus, he would doubtless have said so ) and 

 had he said so, it certainly would have been recorded. " ' Add 

 thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be 

 found a liar,' is a warning that should pierce every conscience 

 to the quick." {p. 164.) '' Thine own mouth condemneth thee, 

 and not I : yea, thine own lips testify against thee !" 



The coyness of expression employed above by J. N. B. 

 should not be overlooked : honoring it "as his own chosen 

 day !" Day chosen for what ? — " His own chosen day" of 

 rest? Even an earnest Sabbatarian apologist dared not 

 venture to announce so glaring an absurdity : — day "chosen" 

 to meet his assembled disciples ? What then ? This would 

 simply be a precedent for visiting on that day. Alas, the day 

 was not even "honored" thus: for more " appearances" ai'e 

 recorded, not on Sunday, than upon it! The sole object of 

 this last appearance, so far as we are instructed by the New 



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