Sadly, The End of the Line

(March 25, 2001)

In spite of attempts to keep the discussion of the Sabbath/Sunday issue with Dr. Richard Bacon going, it appears that he has withdrawn from it. Unfortunately, he has not informed me of his withdrawal, but has simply quit answering my e-mails. When our discussion began, we agreed on ground rules, and also kept a side discussion going regarding the progress of our theological explorations. Dr. Bacon has even stopped responding to e-mails in that thread. This leaves me without particulars, and I must assume that his silence in response to my last post and four side e-mails indicates his intention to leave the forum.

There may be any of several reasons for Dr. Bacon's departure. It is my earnest prayer that he has not actually departed, but is pursuing careful study of the points I have raised. If this is the case, the Holy Spirit will lead him toward the truth of the seventh day Sabbath. Such an End-Times testing truth can use a champion of his stature. Unfortunately, there may be a more mundane reason for Dr. Bacon's departure.

The ground rules upon which the discussion was undertaken included basic tenets of Christian brotherhood and courtesy. To this end, we agreed that neither would call the other by any name other than our titles and Christian names. Disparaging remarks of any sort were to be avoided. Dr. Bacon considered such discourse to be of such offensive nature that he would terminate the exchange if I violated the rules. I agreed by pointing out that "ad hominem attacks are useful only in discrediting the person making them, and I will not intentionally make such attacks."

Along with the various exchanges that were posted were a series of personal side discussions and comments. In them we discussed the course of the exchange and various objections to posts. When I posted my response to Dr. Bacon's comment that "Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath" (in "The Sabbath and the Covenant with the Second Adam") I said, "This thought is presented in many forums, including the Papal Encyclical Dies Domini, but scriptural support has always been lacking."

Dr. Bacon took this statement as bordering on a violation of the agreement not to make ad hominem attacks. He pointed out our agreement, then stated, "I point this out not as a claim that you have violated the agreement. But I think your reference to the Pope's encyclicals came very close to it." I replied that my only intent was to point out that this particular line of argument has been used many times, and was drawing attention to a well-known current example to complete the point. I was not trying to "paint (him) with a papist brush." To this he replied, "I know that you are not personally claiming I am a papist."

When Dr. Bacon posted "we have the example of Christ meeting with his disciples subsequent to his resurrection on the first (eighth) day of the week," (The Weekly Sabbath and Moses) I was stunned . My posted response was direct and to the point, but I believe that it in no way violated our agreement. "I am quite surprised at your inclusion of the language 'the eighth day of the week.' This phrase appears nowhere in scripture, but figures prominently in the Gnostic syncretistic polemics for Sunday observance of the second through fourth centuries. If you truly wish this to be a Biblical exploration, that phrase should be eliminated." A brief re-examination of this issue is appropriate here.

First, the phrase I quoted does not appear in scripture. Second, the phrase "eighth day" does appear twenty-one times, but never in reference to a day of the week. Third, it does appear prominently in Gnostic tainted writings of early church fathers.

Dr. Bacon's posted response (Rebuttal on Rev 1:10) stated, "your ad hominem reference to my argumentation as 'gnostic syncretistic polemics' will follow in subsequent posts." His sidebar e-mail was a bit more explicit. "You have rushed this installment 9 through and have not carefully thought through the ramifications of your name-calling. I will simply remind you that abusive ad hominem is a fallacy and ought not to be considered by one of your obvious intellectual stature. Also, incrimination by association is equally fallacious and you know that you have done that in referring to the "eighth day" language as gnostic…. Referring to biblical language (such as I did) as "gnostic" (by your estimation) is the very name-calling to which I referred."

Dr. Bacon's position seems to be clear. He believes that I called him a Gnostic, either directly or by association. His belief is incorrect. I stated that the "eighth day of the week" argument is Gnostic in origin. My statement was true on its face and in detail, as I demonstrated in considerable detail in my next post (Response on Rev 1:10. The Gnostic Origin of "the Eighth Day"). I cannot change the historical or Biblical facts. There is no Biblical warrant for an "eighth day of the week" argument. It simply is not Biblical. Its origin is strictly Gnostic, and comes from their practice of divination of alleged hidden spiritual significance from numerical and verbal coincidence. (BTW, this discussion will become a technical paper on the subject.) Further, I am puzzled by Dr. Bacon's use of "ad hominem." This term refers to an attack on the person of the contrary discussant while avoiding the subject under discussion or an appeal to feelings and prejudices rather than intellect. Since I discussed the Gnostic origin of the "eighth day of the week" in detail, by definition it is not an ad hominem attack under either definition.

None of this means that Dr. Bacon is Gnostic, or has even thought of being Gnostic. On the contrary, he is a devoted servant of our Lord and Savior, and a student of the truth. Unfortunately, he has come to accept one line of argument that has its origins in paganism. His prior lack of awareness of that origin cannot change the facts. This new revelation has wounded him, for which I am profoundly sorry. And it appears that this wound has led him to leave our discussion.

We must pray that Dr. Bacon has seen a glimmer of the truth of the seventh-day Sabbath through the discussion that has occurred. And we should pray that God would continue to bless his witness. He has shared with me a story from Myanmar that would make most Seventh-day Adventists hide their heads in shame for not sharing the Sabbath as well as he has done (albeit on the wrong day). No one has perfect doctrine, and God works through all of his imperfect vessels. He has a champion in Dr. Bacon, and I pray that he will remain steadfast in the faith delivered to the saints. I will miss his friendship.