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History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week - John N. Andrews

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devoted <strong>and</strong> pious <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fa<strong>the</strong>rs were busy<br />

teaching <strong>the</strong>ir flocks; <strong>the</strong> more vain <strong>and</strong> ambitious<br />

occupied <strong>the</strong>ir time in preparing treatises. If all <strong>the</strong><br />

fa<strong>the</strong>rs who signalized <strong>the</strong> age had committed <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

sentiments to writing, we might have had a fair<br />

representation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ology <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> church <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

fa<strong>the</strong>rs; but as only a few have done so (many even<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir writings being mutilated or lost), <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>se<br />

not <strong>the</strong> most devoted <strong>and</strong> spiritually minded, I<br />

contend that it is as unjust to judge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ology<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> early centuries by <strong>the</strong> writings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> few<br />

fa<strong>the</strong>rs who are its only surviving representatives,<br />

as it would be to judge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ology <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

nineteenth century by <strong>the</strong> sermons <strong>of</strong> Mr. Newman,<br />

<strong>the</strong> speeches <strong>of</strong> Dr. C<strong>and</strong>lish, or <strong>the</strong> various<br />

productions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> late Edward Irving."[8]<br />

Dr. Adam Clarke bears <strong>the</strong> following decisive<br />

testimony on <strong>the</strong> same subject:--<br />

"But <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se we may safely state that <strong>the</strong>re is<br />

not a truth in <strong>the</strong> most orthodox creed that cannot<br />

be proved by <strong>the</strong>ir authority; nor a heresy that has<br />

disgraced <strong>the</strong> Romish church, that may not<br />

332

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