Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!seismo!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: James.Quilty@comp.vuw.ac.nz (James William Quilty) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Sabbath change and History (was a question for those in love ...) Message-ID: Date: 30 May 91 04:17:03 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Computer Science, Victoria University, Wellington, NewZealand Lines: 119 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , davidbu@loowit.wr.tek.com (David E. Buxton) writes: > History bears out that the conversion to Sunday came > later during a time when many new innovations came into the church - > many of these rejected by the Protestant Reformation. Here are some historical facts BEFORE the papacy became a power in the Christian church: (from A.A Hoekema's "The Four Major Cults") Rev 1:10 "I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day" (written about A.D. 95, by John. The expression "the Lord's Day" has been understood universally to refer to the Sunday [via standard lexicons and commentators]. To forestall replies based on SDA doctrine on this verse I will treat it here: SDAs contend that the expression "the Lord's Day" refers here to Saturday, saying: "the earliest authentic instance, in the early church writings, of the first day of the week being called 'Lord's Day' was by Clement of Alexandria, near the close of the second century". That this statement is quite contrary to fact will be evident from the following quotations: From the epistle of Ignatius "To the Magnesians", Section 9: "If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newnwess of hope, no longer observing sabbaths, but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through him..." (written about A.D. 107. Text from J.B. Lightfoot's "The Apostolic Fathers", p.71) From the "Didachee", or "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles", Section 14: "And on the Lord's day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks..." (written during the last part of the first century, or the beginning of the second.) (Though the following two quotations do not use the expression, "the Lord's Day," they do give further evidence for the early observance of the first day of the week as the day of worship.) From the "Epistle of Barnabas", Section 15: "Wherefore also we keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which also Jesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested ascended into the heavens" (written some time between 70 and 130 A.D. Text from Lightfoot, op. cit. p.152) From Justin Martyr's First Apology, Chapter 67: "But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead." (written about 155 A.D. Text from "The Ante-Nicene Fathers" I, p.186. SDAs contend that what Justin speaks of here was a "festival of the resurrection" which began to be observed alongside of the seventh-day Sabbath from the middle of the second century (Questions on Doctrine, p.152). This however, seems very unlikely. The service held on this day, as described in the earlier part of the chapter, includes Scripture reading, a brief homily, prayer, thanksgiving, the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and an offering for the needy. This certainly appears to be a description of a regular Sunday worship service. If this were a festival service held alongside of Sabbath worship, one would expect some reference to this fact in the Chapter. No such reference is found, however; instead, Justin says: "Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly..." Further, in the "Dialogue with Trypho", written some time after the "First Apology", Justin clearly affirms that the Gentile Christians of his day did not observe the Sabbath: "But Gentiles, who have believed on Him [Christ] ... they shall receive the inheritance ... even although they neither keep the Sabbath, nor are circumcised, nor observe the feasts" (Chapter 26; text from "The Ante-Nicene Fathers", I, p.207). The statements quoted above, plus the New Testament evidence [omitted here, but still quite relevant !], make it quite evident that the change from the seventh day to the first day was not brought about by "the Papacy," as SDAism contends, but came about long before the Papacy arose as a strong ecclesiastical institution. (For a further treatment of the SDA doctrine on the sabbath, and the sabbath itself, the reader is referred to Bird's "Theology of Seventh-Day Adventism" pp 93-118; Douty's "Another Look at Seventh-Day Adventism," pp 80-91; and Martin's "The Truth About Seventh-Day Adventism," pp. 140-173. Older but very thorough is D.M. Cainright's "The Lord's Day from Neither Catholics Nor Pagans" subtitled "An Answer to Seventh-Day Adventists on this Subject" (New York: Revell, 1915) [Cainright was an SDA who left the group after having extensive experience with the group and their prophet Ellen G. White] ). From G. Lewis's "The Bible, the Christian and Seventh-Day Adventists", p.25: "The change in the day of worship was not made, as Adventists claim, centuries after New Testament times by the Pope. It was already in the New Testament and it was recognized by writers shortly thereafter. References to first-day worship may be found in the writings of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch A.D. 110; Justin Martyr, A.D. 100-165; Barnabas, A.D. 200; Origen, A.D. 225; Cyprian, A.D. 200-258; Peter of Alexandria, A.D. 300; and Eusebius, A.D. 315." > In Luke it is made especially clear that Jesus > "rested" over the Sabbath day, clearly establishing that this be an > established part of the New Covenant. And we see the women waiting > until after the Sabbath before they come to annoint Him with their > potions. Again making clear that nothing has changed with regards to > the Sabbath over the week-end. The New Covenant is established with > the Sabbath intact. Jesus rested on the sabbath because he was bound to under the old laws, at that time. As far as Paul is concerned, he went to Jewish synagogues on the seventh- day because he wished to witness to Jews, whom he could find there on that day. Did the women understand the importance of the resurrection ? Did the women know of the resurrection ? The fact that they went on the Sunday means nothing, what they found means LOTS ! > There are far too many NT examples of Paul worshiping > with the gentiles on the Sabbath, not Sunday, to establish that Paul > was not proposing that anyday, Sabbath vs Sunday, will do. I'd like to have some concrete references, please ! (I've never seen any verses like this, ever !) Jim.