AT Jones on the Feasts after the Cross

Did AT Jones endorse the feasts?  I’ve been asked many times why didn’t Jones and Waggoner endorse the feasts?  Well, they did.  If you followAT Jones along you will see that AT Jones was promoting keeping them at the proper times after the cross.  AT Jones form his book “The Two Republics” beginning on page 319 said:

“The Council of Nice in A. D. 325 gave another impetus to the Sunday movement. It decided that the Roman custom of celebrating Easter on Sunday only should be followed throughout the whole empire.”

This would include the Asiatic churches since it is the whole empire, the brethren in the east were keeping the Jewish times notice, continuing the quote from his book The Two Republics:

“The council issued a letter to the churches, in which is the following passage on this subject: -- "We have also gratifying intelligence to communicate to you relative to unity of judgment on the subject of the most holy feast of Easter: for this point also has been happily settled through your prayers; so that all the brethren in the East who have heretofore kept this festival when the Jews did, will henceforth conform to the Romans and to us, and to all who from the earliest time have observed our period of celebrating Easter."

So they are going to force the Christians to keep Easter Sunday by civil power instead of the Passover day.  What were the early Christians doing?  They were keeping the festival when the Jews did including the Passover day.  AT Jones continues and says the early churches were celebrating the Passover on the appropriate day, the fourteenth day of the first month:

“The rule of Rome was that the celebration must always be on a Sunday -- the Sunday nearest to the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year. And if the fourteenth day of that month should of itself be a Sunday, then the celebration was not to be held on that day, but upon the next Sunday. One reason of this was not only  to be as like heathen as possible, but to be as unlike  the Jews as possible: this, in order not only to facilitate the "conversion" of the heathen by conforming to their customs, but also by pandering to  their spirit of contempt and hatred of the Jews. It was upon this point that the bishop of Rome made his first open attempt at absolutism”

Clearly this was not a good thing.  So this is the point upon which Rome made it’s attempt at absolute ruler ship over all the churches.  Many today believe it was Sunday.  Not so.  This was to facilitate, convert and be like the heathen.  Many believe it was Sunday, but in actuality it was the change of the Passover day from the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month.

This next book I want to look at is AT Jones book “Great Empires of Prophecy” Page 314, 315 where AT Jones re-enforces what he has already said about the Passover day of the 14th of Abib being kept by the early Christian Church.  Notice how clear he is in this book: 

“From Rome there came now another addition to the sun-worshiping apostasy. The first Christians being mostly Jews, continued to celebrate the passover in remembrance of the death of Christ, the true passover; and this was continued among those who from among the Gentiles had turned to Christ.”

The first Christians celebrated the true Passover?  Wow...  They didn’t do the sacrifices obviously, but they did keep the day and the Lords Supper in remembrance of his death.  The gentiles who turned to Christ celebrated the Passover in remembrance of his death.   Eat of his body, drink of his blood.   Let no man judge you in eat or drink or in respect to the holy days Paul said to the Colossians.(Col 2:16) What day did these gentiles in the early churches such as the Colossians celebrate on?  AT Jones continues...

Accordingly the celebration was always on the true passover day -- the fourteenth of the first month. Rome, however, and from her all the West, adopted the day of the sun as the day of this celebration.”

Accordingly, the early Christians kept it on the fourteenth day of the first month.  So the early Christians celebrated the Passover in remembrance of the cross.  And as AT Jones said.  “So clearly the early church was keeping feasts at the proper time according to not just AT Jones, but also the council of Nice.   

AT Jones knew this issue very well as can be seen above.  He knew that the Papacy changed the times of the feasts and that the early Christians kept the feasts after the cross, and he knew that the feasts were not what was nailed to the cross. 

We have several options today.  Two include the early church which kept the 14th of Nisan, and the heathen which worshipped the sun and kept Easter, or you can do it your own way and keep nothing.  Will we say “It doesn’t matter which day you exalt”? Or will we go by God’s word as did the early church. 

AT Jones believed the early church was keeping the right times “accordingly”.     

What did Ellen White say about this message given by AT Jones. 

“We know that Brother Jones has been giving the message for this time--meat in due season for the starving flock of God. Those who do not allow prejudice to bar the heart against the heaven-sent message, cannot but feel the spirit and force of the truth. Brother Jones has borne the message from church to church and from State to State; and light and freedom and the outpouring of the Spirit of God have attended the word, as events of a most startling nature in the fulfilment of prophecy show that the great crisis is rapidly approaching. “ {1888 1122.3} 

Many would bar their heart against this heaven-sent message.  What was part of this heaven sent message that they were rejecting. 

“In these last days there is a call from Heaven inviting you to keep the statutes and ordinances of the Lord.”(Ellen White,  Sign of the Times, February 3rd,1888)

Is it possible that part of the message of 1888 that was sent to us from heaven included restoration of the statutes and ordinances such as the feasts?  It is part of the Elijah Message(Mal 4:4-6) to keep the “Law of Moses”, but we have ministers today nailing it to the cross. 

“From the light which God has given me it would be for our advantage to study the directions given to Israel. (Read Malachi 4.) Verse 4 especially has a meaning which all have not comprehended. Let it be carefully considered.” {PH087 8.2}–E. G. White: Pamphlets -PH087 -Special Testimony to Battle Creek Church (1897).

Let’s read more from AT Jones.  See what else was in this heaven sent message. Continuing in his book “Great Empires of Prophecy” he writes:

“Rome, however, and from her all the West, adopted the day of the sun as the day of this celebration. According to the Eastern custom, the celebration, being on the fourteenth day of the month, would of course fall on different days of the week as the years revolved. The rule of Rome was that the celebration must always be on a Sunday -- the Sunday nearest to the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year. And if the fourteenth day of that month should itself be a Sunday, then the celebration was not to be held on that day, but upon the next Sunday.

One reason of this was not only to be as like the heathen as possible, but to be as un like the Jews as possible; this, in order not only to facilitate the "conversion" of the heathen by conforming to their customs, but also by pandering to their spirit of contempt and hatred of the Jews. It was upon this point that the bishop of Rome made his first open attempt at absolutism.”

So the plan was to turn all the Christian churches from keeping the days the bible set as “set times” that the bible taught and to conform them to the heathen ways.   I don’t know if you see the point yet, but certainly AT Jones is saying that this is not a good thing and he is endorsing what the early Christians did in regards to keeping the 14th day of the 1st month.  This is pointing us back to keeping them today at their proper times.  To the faith delivered to the saints.  

AT Jones National Sunday Law Pages 67 and 68

“The arrogant pretensions of the bishop of Rome to secure power over the whole church, was first asserted in behalf of Sunday by Victor, who was bishop of Rome from A. D. 193 to 202.”

How did he do this?  Jones continues…

"He wrote an imperious letter to the Asiatic prelates commanding them to imitate the example of the Western Christians with respect to the time of celebrating the festival of Easter [that is, commanding them to celebrate it on Sunday]. The Asiatics answered this lordly requisition. . . with great spirit and resolution, that they would by no means depart in this manner from the custom handed down to them by their ancestors.”

Do you see what Jones is saying?  These are set times handed down from their ancestors and “with great spirit” they would not depart from these customs.   Question, what spirit?  Great spirit.  The spirit opposing them was the spirit of antichrist.   But yet they were standing fast for customs of the early church including keeping the 14th day of the 1st month handed down by their anscestors such as Peter, Paul, John and James.  AT Jones condoned the early Christians in keeping the proper times and feasts.

Also See:

Remember the Law of Moses Rejected in 1888

Let No Man Judge You

SOP on the Ceremonial Law

New Moon Knowledge

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