Scripture Or Tradition: A Discourse on the Seventh Day Sabbath

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Daoharu Basumatary, Dept. of Economics

 

As humans, we must have relationships with people living around us. Maintaining a cordial relationship with the people living around us eases our survival that is what I would like to generalise. Now how and why we maintain relationships with other people is in itself a very important and rather a very tricky question, trying to answer it will lead us only to partial success, because of the simple fact that humans differ in mentality? However, the way we deal with other people should be made wisely with much respect for the others because dealings (or moves) means and involves interaction. The world of human interaction simply cannot be single way traffic where one can simply make moves without being obstructed or resisted by others. 


Now the existence of inequalities and equalities has been observed amongst people of all walks of life in a given society. Societies are characterised by people who are likely to be equals and non-equals in their strength, wealth and mental capacity. The equals can obstruct each other’s moves depending on the infringement of their interest. However, when it comes to unequal's it is advisable for the weaker section to accept the moves made by the stronger. In this scenario the phrase ‘might is right’ may even fit into our discussion and interestingly the present world has observed these phenomena. Powerful countries bullying weaker countries or even destroying them have been observed in recent times, and the weaker countries have to simply see the actions rendered towards them (by the stronger countries) helplessly. The simple answer to the question as to whether might is right or wrong is subjective, but it cannot be right all the time. Now putting things in a more etiquette manner responsibility of the stronger should not be of dominance over the weaker, rather dealings or moves should be made to benefit all parties concerned, within the possible and available framework. However, having said that most of the time the focal point for the stronger may always be to maximise their gain, which may at times come at the cost of weaker group's interest. 


 Now changing gears, the above-discussed phenomenon could be applied to the present-day context of Nagaland where we are seeing a theological fight between for and against parties; regarding the issue of closure of businesses on Sunday, is rather unfortunate. Now the case here is that the Jews were specifically ordered by Biblical God to observe the day of Sabbath as holy and not to do any work on that day (i.e. on the day of Sabbath). Now the beauty of the matter lies in the fact that Sunday is regarded by most of the Christians as the day of Sabbath. Now a question that crops up is whether Sunday and the day of the Sabbath are the same. The Bible is very clear about the day of Sabbath and it is the seventh day of a week (Exodus 20: 8-11). As we all know that Sunday is the first day of a week, hence Sunday being Sabbath is questionable at the very first place. Some of the Bible verses that specifically mention as to what we are supposed to do on the day of Sabbath are to be found in the Old Testament, in the books of Genesis 2:3, Exodus 20: 8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-14, out of which the ones mentioned in Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-14 sounds most striking and sends really a strong message, to the followers of the Biblical teaching and even fits into the cause for the contenders (for the parties) that supports the closure of business on Sundays. In this context the phrase the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10) should also be brought to light; in this case still more questions arise as to whether the Lord’s Day, the Sabbath and Sunday are the same and the likely answers are that it may or may not be the same but the latter carries more weight.  


Whatever the matter is, having different views are encouraged Biblically speaking, as the Bible itself states that the ‘word of God is like a double-edged sword or rather sharper than a double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).’ And again shifting from the main topic slightly and concentrating on the greatest commandment of Christ we see that, ‘it is love (Mathew 22:36-40)’.  At this juncture with many points to be explored from the Bible sticking to some passages from the Bible to justify a move by a dominant party over the dominated cannot be justified even Biblically.   


With the type of discussion done on the above passages that sounds more or less like ‘beating around the bush,’ coming to a concrete conclusion acceptable to all the parties concerned is rather a non-existent thing. Still more question does arise, like does the Bible permit us to make people stay away from work/business on the day of Sabbath or Sunday?  Here the Bible simply states that no one of us should do any work on the day of Sabbath and to keep that day holy but what we are supposed to do on Sunday is not to be found specifically in the Bible. Interestingly, the Bible is clear that obedience is more pleasing to God than the observance of laws (Jeremiah7:21-23, 1 Samuel: 22-23) but obedience does not imply nor does it permit application of force towards the weaker groups.


Finally concluding in the light of our discussion has become all the more difficult. However, some important observations that are worth stating could be as dominant groups will always try to implement their strategies over the dominated ones and the source of justification may or not be available. People's rationality in dealing with other people can be observed when they don’t oppose the dominant groups’ moves. And also humans' rationality is reflected when it is interested in making moves that are beneficial for themselves.


Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editors are Dr Hewasa Lorin, Dr. Aniruddha Babar, Noyingbeni T. Erui, Meren and Kvulo Lorin. For feedback or comments please email: dot@tetsocollege.org.