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July - August 2000 The Sabbath Sentinel
The Seventh Day Men
by Leon J. Lyell
Few modern Sabbath-keepers know anything of the first
formulation of the Sabbath doctrine in the modern
era. Many will be surprised to learn that it has come
directly from the seventeenth century -- where, a handful
of Englishmen and their congregations "discovered" and
observed it.
These Sabbath-keepers did not consider themselves to
be forming a new denomination; indeed, they did not
form a unified group. Rather, they saw themselves as
only one step ahead of their brethren.
Today, it is possible to uncover the main features of
this rediscovery. The story is of real people, from
diverse backgrounds, many of whom displayed the same
human failings as modern Sabbath-keepers do. This
history is a heritage that all Sabbath-keepers share.
Leon J. Lyell
Part 1: The Sabbath under the King
John Traske: The Truth in Trouble
Soon after the publication of the famous King James
Version of the Bible in 1611, an itinerant preacher
named John Traske arrived in London. Disgusted by the
obvious corruption and indulgence of the clergy of his
day, Traske emphasized that God would give his Spirit to
those who obey him in the way they live their lives.
Traske began advocating fasting, and went on to revive
the Old Testament prohibition on unclean meats. In a
short time, this gifted preacher had built a significant
following of men and women, all seeking to obey God's
commandments. Hamlet Jackson was one such scrupulous
student. His studies led him to conclude that there was
no Biblical command to observe Sunday, and that the
Saturday-Sabbath observed by the Jews had never been
abolished.
Stunned by this discovery, Jackson went immediately to
Traske -- who was also convinced and began observing the
Sabbath, as well as vigorously preaching the "Saturday
Sabbath." Most of Traske's congregation also adopted
it. In 1614, Traske ordained Jackson and three others to
proclaim their discoveries of obedience and also to heal
diseases by anointing with oil.
Sunday verses Sunday
At this time two opposing and equally elaborate
arguments were developing about the meaning of
Sunday. The traditional Anglican view, upheld by King
James himself (as Head of the Church of England), saw
Sunday as a new Christian festival. They held that it
had been established by the early church with the
consent of God, that it was called the "Lord's Day" in
honor of the Lord's resurrection, and that it had no
connection at all with the Sabbath of the Old Testament,
which was made redundant at the cross.
Opposing this view, a growing body of "Puritan" opinion
insisted that the Bible nowhere annulled the Sabbath
command. However, because of the resurrection, the
Sabbath had somehow been transferred to Sunday, which
was now the "Christian Sabbath". Exactly how and when
this transformation took place was the subject of much
disagreement!
Traske's "Judaising"
Traske's argument was by contrast attractively simple:
the Sabbath command remained and it had not been changed
to Sunday. However, Anglican and Puritan alike both
cried "Judaising!". Now, while the term was very
ill-defined, all agreed it was a very undesirable thing
to be doing!
In circumstances still unclear, Traske and his followers
were arrested in 1616. Brought before a panel of
bishops, Traske refused to be argued back to Anglican
orthodoxy. Offended by his challenge that they would all
one day observe the Sabbath, they imprisoned him and
urged him to "repent."
While in prison Traske continued his study of early
Church history, no doubt with material provided to him
by the bishops. As a result, he made another surprising
discovery: he denounced Easter as a man-made blasphemy
of the same kind that Sunday was! In its place Traske
adopted the Old Testament date of the Passover and also
observed the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Infuriated with his "arrogance," Traske's persecutors
formally charged him in 1618 with sedition -- seducing the
King's subjects away from the Church of England to
Judaism. Traske was imprisoned, degraded from the
ministry, whipped, mutilated, branded with a "J" on his
forehead, and fined one thousand pounds. Defeated and
dejected, Traske gave up his beliefs and published a
recantation three years later. He was immediately
released from prison. His wife however remained in
prison till her death -- still a Sabbath-keeper.
To Traske goes the honor of being the first known
Christian of modern times to observe the Sabbath and the
Passover. Nonetheless, his name became so stigmatized
with the Judaising tag, that the following generation of
Sabbath-keepers avoided all mention of his name.
Brabourne: A Vital Link
In 1621, the Puritan Thomas Broad published a book
detailing the reasons why Sunday should be considered
the Christian Sabbath. It became prescribed reading for
Puritan ministers, and Theophilus Brabourne was one of
the many respectable preachers who studied it.
However, Brabourne's reading led him to disagree with
Broad on one point: he could find no convincing evidence
for the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to
Sunday. Amazed that nobody seemed to have noticed this
gap in logic before, he published a three hundred page
book, "Discourse on the Sabbath" (1628), on
this issue.
Brabourne had more surprises to come. Nobody responded
to his book, so he then quickly revised it (also in
1628), putting the case for the Sabbath more
forcefully. This time, he dedicated the work to King
Charles I, and asked him (as the head of the Church) to
enforce the Saturday Sabbath.
This book certainly was noticed: Charles was offended
and Brabourne found himself before the
Bishops. Astounded and unrepentant, Brabourne was sent
to Newgate prison for eighteen months. After a year
Brabourne was reexamined and threatened with the loss of
his ears in an effort to speed his repentance.
Brabourne then quickly submitted a brief ambiguous
statement, which was accepted as a recantation.
Brabourne lost his living as a minister, but continued
to observe and write for the Sabbath. However, not
wishing to be disloyal to the Church of England, he
remained a staunch supporter of her and refused the
opportunity to lead a break-away congregation.
Part 2: The Sabbath Under Cromwell
Ockford: A New Phase
By 1643, the English Puritans had won the argument about
Sunday, and the law of the land now upheld the
"Christian Sabbath". Politically, two Civil wars
preceded the execution of Charles I in 1648. Cromwell
now headed a Puritan government that opposed the idea of
a State Church and was prepared to allow some freedom of
thought. Interestingly, the Government opposed the
celebration of Christmas because of its papist/pagan
origin.
Up sprang a variety of "independent" churches. It is
important to remember that these were a long way from
modern denominations. Each congregation considered
itself to be a part of the one Christian Church; for
example, "baptist" was at this stage a popular name
given to those congregations which practiced "believer's
baptism"-it did not become a denominational title until
the following century.
In 1650, a pupil of Brabourne's, who had adopted
believer's baptism, announced that the Sabbath
commandment has been "restored to its primitive purity."
James Ockford's seventy-two page treatise indeed marks
the start of a rapid spread of Sabbath keeping amongst
some "baptist" congregations.
Thomas Tillam and Peter Chamberlen M.D.
Thomas Tillam was a prominent preacher at Hexham, to the
north of London. His vigorous exhortations, usually
based on graphic adaptations of Revelation, brought
scores of people to baptism by immersion. Jealous rivals
soon complained of his preaching methods to Hansard
Knolleys -- whose London congregation provided leadership
for many baptists. In 1653 Tillam was called to give an
account of himself.
The particular issue of dispute which provoked this was
Tillam's adoption of the laying on of hands on all
believers at baptism. This newly discovered ordinance
was not accepted by Knolley's congregation, which then
revoked its support of Tillam's ministry. Essentially,
this meant that Tillam had no money or credentials with
which to preach.
Feeling betrayed, Tillam set out to find other
congregations which might share his views on baptism,
prophecy and laying on of hands. This search led him to
Dr. Peter Chamberlen, who guided the only baptist
congregation which supported the Fifth Monarchy
Movement.
The Fifth Monarchy movement was what we might describe
today as a semi-political pressure group which drew
support from "fundamentalist" congregations. It expected
Christ's Kingdom (the Fifth Monarchy to follow the four
Kingdoms described in Daniel 2) would soon be literally
established on earth. To prepare for this, they
advocated that England quickly pattern its government
and laws on Biblical prescription.
This link, and the firm friendship which grew from it,
would prove important for the Sabbath idea as well as
the long term establishment of Sabbath-keeping
congregations in England -- and later the United States. In
normal times these two men would never have
met. Chamberlen was a clean shaven aristocrat and former
Royal Physician who wore his hair long and powdered. He
and his father had invented forceps for use in
childbirth and had the influence to undertake many
good-works for the community. Tillam, who believed that
real men had short hair and long beards, came from a
very different social position.
Another baptist and moderate Fifth Monarchist was Henry
Jessey. He was a gifted preacher with a sound knowledge
of Hebrew -- who believed that the King James version had
lacked an understanding of Israel's calendar and
customs. Jessey was active in the campaign to readmit
the Jews to England in the 1650's.
The Jews had been expelled from England in the twelfth
century, and this fact created some awe regarding what
the Jews actually were. Some had an irrational fear, and
others, such as those who observed the Sabbath, wanted
to know much more about "God's chosen people." Jessey
observed a number of what opponents described as "Jewish
laws"-which certainly included the Sabbath. He knew that
the "lost tribes" were to play a part in end time
prophecy and made attempts to identify who they
were -- even postulating that they may be the American
Indians. He was never to know that the truth was closer
to home!
Their Discovery of the Sabbath
By 1655 Tillam had moved to Colchester. There his gifts
as a preacher impressed the local mayor who invited him
to use the parish church. Enlivened by this opportunity,
Tillam had baptized over one hundred people in a few
short months. It is also probable that Tillam came to
know Brabourne who lived in the area.
Early in 1656, Tillam began holding services in the
parish church on Saturday. Exactly how he arrived at the
notion of the Saturday Sabbath is not clear. Through
this period he had remained in regular and close contact
with Chamberlen, whose London congregation adopted the
Sabbath about the same time. Another possible link is
that Chamberlen probably knew Ockford.
Displeased with Tillam's innovation, the authorities had
him imprisoned. Like many seventeenth century religious
prisoners, Tillam occupied himself in writing and
produced his most memorable work: The
Seventh Day Sabbath Sought Out and
Celebrated was published in 1657 and
brought a rush of condemning response. In more than two
hundred pages, Tillam developed the link between the
Sabbath and Biblical prophecy, first suggested by
Ockford, into a detailed scenario. The Sabbath, said
Tillam, "...is in these very last days become the last
great controversy between the Saints and the Man of Sin,
The Changer of Times and Laws".
Tillam was the first to call the Sunday Sabbath the Mark
of the Beast, a cry many later Sabbath-keepers would
take up. Tillam had one disagreement with Chamberlen on
this subject. While Chamberlen felt that Sabbath
observance negated all significance of Sunday, Tillam
believed that the resurrection could be celebrated on
Sunday, so as not to cause divisions between Christians.
Perhaps the strongest agreement of the pair was that
their adoption of the Sabbath would aid the conversion
of the Jews -- a sure sign that Christ's return was
near. As Chamberlen wrote to Tillam, "The Jews of London
are very much affected with our keeping the
Sabbath.... I perceive it is a great stumbling block to
them, ... that Christians violate the Sabbath."
Chamberlen's Congregation
Tillam's book was written as an answer to a pamphlet
against Sabbath keeping by William Aspinwall, a leading
Fifth Monarchist. Aspinwall systematically dissected the
arguments of Ockford and another Sabbath-keeper, John
Spittlehouse, in an effort to ridicule both the Sabbath
and Sabbath-keepers.
Spittlehouse, spokesman for Chamberlen's congregation,
had published his advocacy of the "unchangeable
morality" of the Sabbath in mid 1656. Aspinwall's abuse
did not quell Sabbath enthusiasm. Almost immediately,
Spittlehouse and William Sellers presented a (perhaps
naive) petition to the Chief Magistrates, asking that
the Sabbath be established in law. The task must have
seemed easy, as English law now supported all the
arguments in favor of Sabbath-keeping. All they had to
do was convince the lawmakers that the supposed Sunday
texts of the New Testament did not change the Sabbath to
Sunday. Their confident appeal was, to their dismay,
unceremoniously rejected.
The Sabbath had now become an issue of controversy among
baptists, many of whom now observed it. Jeremiah Ives, a
popular baptist controversialist, decided to meet the
arguments head on: he challenged Tillam, Chamberlen and
one Matthew Coppinger to a public debate on the
issue. The three agreed, and for three days in 1658, the
Stone Chapel in St. Paul's Cathedral was crowded with
eager listeners.
Each side considered itself the winner. Whatever the
case, it was soon after that two able preachers added
their voices to the defence of the Sabbath: Edward
Stennet and John James.
Stennet had been a chaplain for the Parliament during
the Civil wars -- and, though not a Fifth Monarchist, he
did expect Christ to return in his lifetime. His defence
of the Sabbath was published in 1658. In it he argued
for the perpetuity of the Ten Commandments, which he
dubbed the "Royal Law" (James 2:8).
Part 3: The Sabbath under the Restoration
Persecution Renewed
In 1658 Oliver Cromwell died. Soon the experimental
Commonwealth lacked stable government and by 1661 the
exiled son of Charles I was asked to return as
king. This he willingly did, promising religious
toleration. In fact, persecution was renewed. All who
would not support the Church of England, as previously
constituted, were to be imprisoned or otherwise
punished. The Fifth Monarchy Movement was banned, and
those who supported it were regarded as rebels.
John James was at this time preaching to a "seventh day"
church in Bullstake Alley, London. Like Stennet, James
was not a Fifth Monarchist, but he did expect Christ to
literally return to earth displacing all earthly
government to establish the Millennium.
On the Sabbath of 19 October 1661, after a vigorous
sermon on this subject, James was arrested with thirty
of his congregation. The charges were plotting treason,
and being a Fifth Monarchist. The authorities apparently
decided to make an example of James and ordered him
executed: his head was placed on a stake outside the
Bullstake Alley meeting house.
Sabbath-keeping Spreads
No wonder that in such times many sought the relative
freedom of America. One member of Stennet's
congregation, Stephen Mumford, decided to escape and
arrived in Rhode Island in 1664. There he found
fellowship with the local Sunday keeping
congregation. With Mumford the Sabbath idea came to
America, and in a few years, with the help and
encouragement of Stennet and Chamberlen, he established
America's first Sabbath-keeping church.
Back in London, the dozen or so Sabbath-keeping
congregations faced new times with tenacity and
resourcefulness. Talented men would yet add their
voices to the Sabbath chorus; and with each a new
harmony. The aristocrat Francis Bampfield, also fully
conversant with Greek and Hebrew was but one.
For example, in defending the Sabbath in 1677, he wrote
in his book "The Seventh Day Sabbath - The
Desirable Day"," The LORD Jesus
Christ, who is Redeemer, was Creator.... Jehovah Christ
as Mediator did himself at Mount Sinai proclaim the law
of Ten Words." His argument is quite simply that it
was Jesus Christ Himself who wrote the Ten Commandments
at Mount Sinai. Why then would this same Christ seek to
do away with one of "the Ten Words"? ("The Ten Words- is
Bampfield's translation of the Hebrew for "ten
commandments.")
What had been achieved by the end of the seventeenth
century was not merely the rediscovery of an old idea,
but the formation of a particular way of defending
it. This defense would be repeated by succeeding
generations of Sabbath-keepers -- who, in time, would loose
all knowledge of the men and times to whom they owed so
much.
Leon J. Lyell can be reached for comment at PO Box
206, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia, or by email at
<
l.lyell@latrobe.edu.au >. We at The
Sabbath Sentinel thank Leon for his interesting
historical insight on the origins of Sabbath keeping in
the Americas.
TSS
July - August 2000 The Sabbath Sentinel
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