Dr Stephen Chang of the Andrews Memorial Hospital, in a letter published September 29, has chided the president of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church, Pastor Bignall, for not publicly disassociating himself from a sentence in a statement which was condemning additional gambling opportunities slated for Sundays.

The offending statement which drew the ire of Dr Chang was that Sunday has "traditionally and culturally been treated as a sacred space when many went to church or rested". He implied that the president of the SDA church was unprincipled when he (Chang) said "unfortunately, the president declined my principled request" and he further intimated that the president was not a true Seventh-day Adventist when he (Chang) defined himself "as a true Seventh-day Adventist believer, I categorically state that this particular church does not support Sunday sacredness in any form and holds to the Holy Scriptures, which only support the keeping of the holy Seventh-day Sabbath as a memorial of creation".

However, nowhere in the statement signed by the president does it state that he believes that Sunday was sacred. The statement mentioned that historically and culturally, Sunday was regarded as a day of rest and worship and that is a fact of Jamaican history. Additionally, the historical records of 18th-century Jamaica shows that many Christians used Sabbath and Sunday interchangeably. Dr Chang needs to apologise publicly to Pastor Bignall.

All days are sacred

It would be interesting to learn from Dr Chang's erudite mind, what are the implications of stating that Sunday is not sacred? Is he saying that a day that God created is secular or sinful? According to the creation story, everything that God made was declared good. And whatever God is involved in is a sacred act. Therefore, all the days that God made are sacred. We defile God's days but they are all sacred. So when the Bible said that a day is holy it is not that one day has more moral virtue. The holiness is a ritual holiness, meaning that one day has been set aside for a particular and special use.

But say that Dr Chang was even right; the manner in which he publicly upbraided Bignall was unbecoming. Bignall is a man of integrity. And for all these years of his giving sterling service, I have never heard of or seen Dr Chang writing an article in praise of him. Dr Chang did his duty when he spoke to him personally. And if he were right then the blood would not have been on his shoulder. He should have left it at that. And to show the maturity of the president of the SDA church, even after vilifying him, he, in a Christ-like manner, has not bothered to defend his character.

Dr Chang, you seem zealous but zeal without knowledge is dangerous. You have incorrectly claimed that the Holy Scriptures only support the keeping of the holy seventh-day Sabbath as a memorial to creation but Deuteronomy 5: 12-15, where the Ten Commandments are outlined, states otherwise, "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you ... . Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day."

In fact, the only command for Sabbath keeping is emancipation from Egyptian slavery. Dr Chang, please read the Bible carefully and stop misleading people about the Bible.

And Dr Chang, I hope you handle your patients better that how you handle the president of the SDA church and the word of God.

Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church and author of Rebellion to Riot: The Church in Nation Building. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com