Eric Liddell and the Freedom of the Sabbath

A little more than 100 years ago, a Scotsman by the name of Eric Liddell made a stand for the Lord's Day. It was a very public stand, since he was a member of the British Olympic team sent to the Paris Olympics of 1924, and his decision to honour the Lord's Day entailed not running in one of his chosen races (the 100m)–the heats for which were to be held on a Sunday–and training instead for the 400m (he also ran the 200m).

While Liddell is well-known, the stand he took is one that many evangelicals today would deem unnecessary, even misguided. Many evangelicals do not consider Sundays to be particularly special or 'set-apart'. The observance of the Lord's Day as a special day of rest and worship has fallen on hard times in the churches.

With Liddell's witness in mind, we explore the subject of the Christian Sabbath in this week's episode. Are Christians to observe Sundays as a special day of rest and worship? Are we called to obey the Fourth Commandment, along with the other nine? How does the Christian Lord's Day differ from the Jewish Sabbath? We touch on all these questions this week with contributions from David Campbell, W. J. Grier, and Rebecca VanDoodewaard.

 

Featured Content:

– What Price Honouring God? Article by David Campbell (North Preston Evangelical Church), which was republished on the Banner website in July 2014:

https://banneroftruth.org/uk/resources/articles/2014/price-honouring-god/

– 'The Development of the Lord's Day from the Jewish Sabbath', W. J. Grier, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 517, October 2006.

– 'The Freedom of Sabbath', Rebecca VanDoodewaard, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 687, December 2020.

 

 

 

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