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Sunday
The First Centuries
By Robert Sanders
Seventh-Day Adventists, Seventh-Day Baptists,
Church of God, Church of God 7th Day, and other Sabbatarians claim that
Christians must worship on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. And to worshipping God
on Sunday is honoring the sun god. Some Sabbatarians claim that the early
Christians were following the Roman pagan practice of worshiping on Sunday the
sun god. The fact is that the Romans did not have a weekly day
set aside to worship the sun god.
Jesus choose to rise from the grave on Sunday, the first day of the
week. Of course no one would claim Jesus was honoring the sun god.
THE LORD'S DAY
The Lord's Day is used one time in the Bible.
Rev 1:10
(NIV) 10On
the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I
heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
Sabbatarians twist the Bible by saying that "the
Lord's Day" is the Sabbath because Jesus said, he was Lord of the Sabbath.
Matt 12:7 - Matt 12:8 (NIV)
8For
the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath
Never is the Sabbath called "the Lord's Day" in the
Scriptures. The Sabbath is always called in the Greek Sabbaton or in the Hebrew
Shabbath. Strong's: G4521
σάββατον sabbaton
sab'-bat-on Of
Hebrew origin [H7676];
the Sabbath (that is, Shabbath), or day of weekly repose
from secular avocations (also the observance or institution itself);
The quotations below show that the early Church
Fathers met for worship on Sunday in the first century, long before the
Roman Catholic Church was formed. These early church fathers were closest to the
Apostles. The Apostles wanted to honor their Savior by having a day that Christ
rose from the dead, set aside for worship. They were thrilled that Christ rose
from the grave and their salvation was assured.
1.
The Didache [A.D. 70]
"But every Lord's day . . . gather yourselves together and break bread, and give
thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may
be pure. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with
you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned" (Didache
14 [A.D. 70]).
2.
The Letter of Barnabas [A.D. 74]
"We keep the eighth day [Sunday] with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus
rose again from the dead" (Letter of Barnabas 15:6-8 [A.D. 74]).
3.
Ignatius of Antioch" [A.D. 110]
[T]hose who were brought up in the ancient order of things [i.e. Jews] have
come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the sabbath, but
living in the observance of the Lord's day, on which also our life has sprung up
again by him and by his death" (Letter to the Magnesians 8 [A.D. 110]).
4.
Justin Martyr [A.D. 155]"[W]e too would observe the fleshly
circumcision, and the sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not know
for what reason they were enjoined [on] you--namely, on account of your
transgressions and the hardness of your heart. . . . [H]ow is it, Trypho, that
we would not observe those rites which do not harm us--I speak of fleshly
circumcision and sabbaths and feasts? . . . God enjoined you to keep the
sabbath, and impose on you other precepts for a sign, as I have already said, on
account of your unrighteousness and that of your fathers" (Dialogue with Trypho
the Jew 18, 21 [A.D. 155]).
5.
Tertullian [A.D. 203]
"[L]et him who contends that the sabbath is still to be observed as a balm of
salvation, and circumcision on the eighth day . . . teach us that, for the time
past, righteous men kept the sabbath or practiced circumcision, and were thus
rendered 'friends of God.' For if circumcision purges a man, since God made Adam
uncircumcised, why did he not circumcise him, even after his sinning, if
circumcision purges? . . . Therefore, since God originated Adam uncircumcised
and unobservant of the sabbath, consequently his offspring also, Abel, offering
him sacrifices, uncircumcised and unobservant of the sabbath, was by him [God]
commended [Gen. 4:1-7, Heb. 9:4]. . . . Noah also, uncircumcised--yes, and
unobservant of the sabbath--God freed from the deluge. For Enoch too, most
righteous man, uncircumcised and unobservant of the sabbath, he translated from
this world, who did not first taste death in order that, being a candidate for
eternal life, he might show us that we also may, without the burden of the law
of Moses, please God" (An Answer to the Jews 2 [A.D. 203]).
6.
The Didascalia [A.D. 225]
"The apostles further appointed: On the first day of the week let there be
service, and the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and the oblation, because on
the first day of the week our Lord rose from the place of the dead, and on the
first day of the week he arose upon the world, and on the first day of the week
he ascended up to heaven, and on the first day of the week he will appear at
last with the angels of heaven" (Didascalia 2 [A.D. 225]).
7.
Origen [A.D. 229]
"Hence it is not possible that the [day of] rest after the sabbath
should have come into existence from the
seventh [day] of our God.
On the contrary, it is our Savior who, after the pattern of his own
rest, caused us to be made in the
likeness of his death,
and hence also of his resurrection" (Commentary on John 2:28 [A.D.
229]).
8.
Victorinus [A.D. 300]
"The sixth day [Friday] is called parasceve, that is to say, the preparation of
the kingdom. . . . On this day also, on account of the passion of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we make either a station to God or a fast. On the seventh day he rested
from all his works, and blessed it, and sanctified it. On the former day we are
accustomed to fast rigorously, that on the Lord's day we may go forth to our
bread with giving of thanks. And let the parasceve become a rigorous fast, lest
we should appear to observe any sabbath with the Jews . . . which sabbath he
[Christ] in his body abolished" (The Creation of the World [A.D. 300]).
9.
Eusebius of Caesarea [A.D. 312]
"They [the early saints of the Old Testament] did not care about circumcision of
the body, neither do we [Christians]. They did not care about observing sabbaths,
nor do we. They did not avoid certain kinds of food, neither did they regard the
other distinctions which Moses first delivered to their posterity to be observed
as symbols; nor do Christians of the present day do such things" (Church History
1:4:8 [A.D. 312]).
10. Eusebius of Caesarea [A.D.
319] "[T]he day of his [Christ's] light . . . was the day of his
resurrection from the dead, which they say, as being the one and only truly holy
day and the Lord's day, is better than any number of days as we ordinarily
understand them, and better than the days set apart by the Mosaic Law for
feasts, new moons, and sabbaths, which the Apostle [Paul] teaches are the shadow
of days and not days in reality" (Proof of the Gospel 4:16:186 [A.D. 319]).
11. Athanasius [A.D. 345]
"The sabbath was the end of the first creation, the Lord's day was the
beginning of the second, in which he renewed and restored the old in the same
way as he prescribed that they should formerly observe the sabbath as a memorial
of the end of the first things, so we honor the Lord's day as being the memorial
of the new creation" (On Sabbath and Circumcision 3 [A.D. 345]).
12. Cyril of Jerusalem [A.D.
350] "Fall not away either into the sect of the Samaritans or into Judaism,
for Jesus Christ has henceforth ransomed you. Stand aloof from all observance of
sabbaths and from calling any indifferent meats common or unclean" (Catechetical
Lectures 4:37 [A.D. 350]).
13. Council of Laodicea [A.D.
360]
"Christians should not Judaize and should not be idle on the sabbath,
but should
work on that day; they should, however,
particularly reverence the Lord's day
and, if possible, not work
on it, because they were Christians" (canon 29 [A.D. 360]).
14. John Chrysostom [A.D. 387]
"[W]hen he said, 'You shall not kill' . . . he did not add, 'because murder is a
wicked thing.' The reason
was that conscience had taught this before hand, and
he speaks thus, as to those who know and understand the point.
Wherefore when he
speaks to us of another commandment, not known to us by the dictate of
conscience, he not only prohibits, but adds the reason. When, for
instance, he gave commandment concerning the
sabbath--'On the seventh day you shall do no
work'--he
subjoined also the reason for this cessation. What was this? 'Because
on the seventh day God rested from all his works which he had begun to
make'
[Ex. 20:10]. And again: 'Because you were a servant in the land of
Egypt' [Deut.
21:18]. For what purpose then, I ask, did he add a reason respecting the
sabbath, but did no such thing in regard to murder? Because this
commandment was
not one of the leading ones. It was not one of those which were
accurately
defined of our conscience, but a kind of partial and temporary one, and
for this
reason it was abolished afterward. But those which are necessary and
uphold our
life are the following: 'You shall not kill . . . You shall not commit
adultery
. . . You shall not steal.' On this account he adds no reason in this
case, nor
enters into any instruction on
the matter, but is content with the bare
prohibition" (Homilies on the Statues 12:9 [A.D. 387]).
15. John Chrysostom [A.D. 395]
"You have put on Christ, you have become a member of the Lord and been
enrolled in the heavenly city, and you still grovel in the Law [of Moses]? How
is it possible for you to obtain the kingdom? Listen to Paul's words, that the
observance of the Law overthrows the gospel, and learn, if you will, how this
comes to pass, and tremble, and shun this pitfall. Why do you keep the sabbath
and fast with the Jews?" (Homilies on Galatians 2:17 [A.D. 395]).
16. The Apostolic Constitutions
[A.D. 400]
"And on the day of our Lord's resurrection,
which is the Lord's day, meet more
diligently, sending praise to God that made the universe by Jesus, and
sent him
to us, and condescended to let him
suffer, and raised him from the dead.
Otherwise what apology will he make to God who does not assemble on that
day . . . in which is performed the reading of the prophets, the
preaching of the
gospel, the oblation of the sacrifice, the gift of the holy food"
(Apostolic
Constitutions 2:7:60 [A.D. 400]).
17. John Chrysostom [A.D. 402]
"The rite of circumcision was venerable in the Jews' account, forasmuch
as the
Law itself gave way thereto, and the sabbath was less esteemed than
circumcision. For that circumcision might
be performed, the sabbath was broken;
but that the sabbath might be kept, circumcision was never broken; and
mark, I
pray, the dispensation of God. This is found to be even more solemn that
the
s
abbath, as not being omitted at certain times. When then it is
done away, much
more is the sabbath" (Homilies on Philippians 10 [A.D. 402]).
18. Augustine [A.D. 412]
"Well, now, I should like to be told what there is in these Ten Commandments,
except the observance of the sabbath, which ought not to be kept by a
Christian
. . . Which of these commandments would anyone
say that the Christian ought not
to keep? It is possible to contend
that it is not the Law which was written on
those two tables that the apostle [Paul] describes as
'the letter that kills' [2
Cor. 3:6], but the law of circumcision
and the other sacred rites which are now
abolished" (The Spirit and the Letter 24 [A.D. 412]).
There is no Biblical or historical support that the 7th day Sabbath was changed
to Sunday or that Sunday is a holy day, and that it was changed by the Pope of
Rome or the Catholic Church.
Under the New Covenant there is no command to keep the Sabbath and there are no
weekly holy days.
The Sabbath was never designated as a "day of worship" for Israel but a
day of rest.
Christians are to
find their Sabbath rest in Christ daily and not in a weekly ritual.
Hebrews 4. If a church or denomination chooses to select a day or days of the
week for organized church meetings this is in harmony with the Bible.
For more information on the Sabbath
Renouncing the Sabbath After 47 Years by Robert K. Sanders
Sabbath Not A Law For Christians By Robert K. Sanders
Pope_Did_Not_Change_Sabbath_Sunday.htm
by Robert K. Sanders
Former SDA Pastor Gregg Taylor
explains why the Sabbath is not relevant for Christians.
"Sabbath in Christ" A new book by former SDA
Pastor Dale Ratzlaff, that explains how Sabbath keepers have been misled. Be a
Bible Berean and read this book. Thousands including SDA pastors have left the
SDA Church after getting their eyes opened. Order from:
http://www.ratzlaf.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=009&DEPT=1001714459&BACK=A0001A1
http://www.sabbaths.org/sabbath.html Rob Chaffart
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