STROM/PUCKETT DEBATE ON SABBATH

 
 


Proposition: 
Resolved, that the keeping of the weekly Sabbath is scripturally binding on 
Christians today.

Affirm: Bob Strom
Deny: James Puckett

Definitions:

I don't have any significant disagreement with your Assumptions (which I take to 
be your definition of terms). I certainly agree that the Bible is the sole authority in 
religion and also that God created the universe and its contents, and not by 
evolution, but by His Word. Heb. 11:3; 2 Pet. 3:5.

Let me offer some definitions of terms:

1. "keeping" means to observe as the Jews were required to observe the weekly 
Sabbath under the Law of Moses.
2. "Sabbath" means the weekly Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week, 
unless specified otherwise.
3. "binding" means that Christians today are obligated to observe or keep the 
Sabbath.

I assume you will have no argument with these definitions.

Arguments:

You have given a history of the Sabbath from creation through the fall of man and 
the Law of Moses to the times of Christ when He was accused of violating the 
Sabbath, whence He said:

(Mark 2:27-28 KJV)  "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, 
and not man for the Sabbath:
{28} Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."

However, in all of this history, I find absolutely nothing to address the 
proposition, that Christians are obligated to keep the Sabbath today. You have 
given me no arguments to deny.

I do have a few comments on your arguments:

You said:
"Ex 20 expands our understanding of what God was doing on that 7th day of 
Creation week. Here in chapter 20 God Himself elects to speak audibly to 
mankind, thundering each of His own 10 commandments down the sides of Mt 
Sinai. God informs us that in adding day 7 - God was creating a memorial in time. 
A memorial to His act of creating both mankind and the planet with all it's living 
creatures."

By your own admission you claim that when God gave the 10 commandments on 
Mt. Sinai, he was creating a memorial of the Sabbath for man.  This means that 
man had not been given the Sabbath as a memorial before this time, or men had 
not kept the Sabbath before this time. It seems to me that this admission is 
damaging to your case, since you would need to show that man has kept the 
Sabbath from creation, in order to be consistent.

I will reserve my main case for the second proposition when I will take the 
Affirmative position. So, that doesn't leave me much to do in this argument.

However, I will ask some questions which you can answer in your second 
Affirmative.

1. Where in the Bible is the first time man is commanded to keep the Sabbath as a 
day of rest?
2. What evidence is there in the Bible that men kept the Sabbath before the 
children of Israel left Egypt?
3. To whom is the Law of Moses addressed?
4. Where in the New Testament is any command given to the church that Jesus 
built that keeping the Sabbath is required? Matt. 16:18
5. Where in the New Testament do we find any example of the church assembling 
on the Sabbath? Note that I am not referring to instances where Paul and others 
went to the synagogue on the Sabbath to teach and preach the gospel. This was 
not the church assembling, but a teaching opportunity.

 This concludes my first negative.

Jim Puckett
Midland, MI