In his Book of Mormon, Key to Conversion, Glenn
L. Pearson offers the following mock dialogue between a Latter-day Saint
missionary and a person who believes the Old Testament Sabbath is still binding
after the time of Christ (a position held by some groups such as the Seventh
Day Adventists):
Elder: Let me see if I understand you
correctly. You feel that it is breaking one of the ten commandments to worship
on Sunday instead of Saturday, and that we do know that what we call Saturday
is the seventh day. Is this your position?
Mr. Smith: Yes. And don't tell me about that
Methodist Minister's book in which he claims to show that the Jewish Sabbath
came on different days during the year and from year to year. We have scholars,
too, you know And they have proved that he is wrong.
Elder: No. I had no intention of referring to
Revelation Gamble's book.- 1 But I do wish to ask you another question or two.
Am I correct in assuming that you base this belief on the Bible?
Mr. Smith: Yes. We base all of our beliefs on
the Bible.
Elder: The reason you believe you should
worship on Saturday is because you believe God has commanded it?
Smith: Yes.
Elder: I certainly believe that we should
obey God. Sometimes God changes his commandments because of new circumstances.
For instance, the Law of Moses was done away with in Christ, wasn't it?
Smith: Yes, but worshipping on the seventh
day is mentioned earlier than the Law of Moses. God created the world in six
days and rested on the seventh. And the ten commandments were not done away in
Christ. If God never changed the other nine why should He change the tenth?
Elder: What I was leading up to is this: if
you knew that God had spoken again, and had new apostles and prophets on the
earth, and had revealed that it was in harmony with His will that we should
worship on Sunday, would you then be willing to change your practice to conform
to His will?
Smith: I don't believe any such thing has
occurred.
Elder: I realize that. And I am not going to
pretend that I can or am obligated to prove to you that such a circumstance
exists. But that is our message to the world. God Himself and His Son, Jesus
Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith. Angels were sent. Many new revelations that
pertain to our times and our problems were given. I have found out for myself
that this is true. I can tell you what to do if you wish to investigate our
claims.
I respect your right to worship as you
please. I am sure you are sincere. I have no intention of ridiculing your faith
or arguing with you about it. But I would like to tell you about the new
revelations from God which we have. Would you like to hear more?
Smith: Yes, but I won't guarantee to believe
it.
Elder: I wouldn't want you to make such a
guarantee. Have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon?
[1] Samuel Walter Gamble, Sunday, The True
Sabbath of God, The Methodist Book Concern (New York: 1900), Reissued by
Deseret Book Co. (SLC: 1935).
