Transcriber's Note:
Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Hyphenation has beenrationalised.
In Chapter I, Section III (A Sketch Of The History Of The AbyssinianChurch) "Hinglar" and "Kinglar" may refer to the same individual.
A GENERAL HISTORY OF
THE SABBATARIAN CHURCHES:
EMBRACING ACCOUNTS OF THE
ARMENIAN, EAST INDIAN, AND ABYSSINIAN EPISCOPACIES
IN ASIA AND AFRICA,
THE WALDENSES, SEMI-JUDAISERS, AND SABBATARIAN ANABAPTISTS
OF EUROPE;
WITH THE
SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST DENOMINATION
IN THE UNITED STATES.
BY
MRS. TAMAR DAVIS.
"The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with theremnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have thetestimony of Jesus Christ."—Rev. xii. 17.
PHILADELPHIA:
LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON.
1851.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851,
BY LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
C. SHERMAN, PRINTER.
At the present time,when the Sabbath controversy is engaging so much ofthe public attention, and when Sabbath Conventions and Sabbath Unionsare being chronicled almost monthly, I consider it unnecessary to offerany apology for the introduction of the following work to the publicnotice. My reader need not fear a repetition or recapitulation of thearguments generally employed in favour of the sabbatical institution, asit refers either to the first or the last day of the week; neither willhis attention be wearied by prolix and verbose details. It has been myaim to collect, collate, and condense facts, as much as appearedconsistent with perspicuity. I have not taken any new stand with regardto the Sabbath question. The Seventh-day Baptists have, from the first,contended that the Sabbath was changed, not by Christ or his Apostles,but by ecclesiastical synods and councils. This could only be provedconvincingly by reference to the practice of those churches who wereremoved by distance or otherwise beyond the pale of such authority. Thatthe Armenian, East Indian, and Abyssinian Episcopacies were so removed,and that they absolutely refused to succumb to the authority of theLatin or Greek prelates, sustaining in consequence the most cruel anddesolating wars, is an undeniable historical fact; no less so the truththat during all this time they have been living witnesses againstAnti-Christ, as the observers of the ancient Sabbath, which practicethey learned from the Apostles, or their immediate successors.
With respect to the History of the Seventh-day Baptist denomination, Iam not unaware of the imperfections that may be detected in it. But Imust excuse my own defects by a just complaint of the blindness andinsufficiency of my guides; and may also observe that, with reference tonearly every portion of the work, I have been the pioneer in the fieldof research.
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