Sabbatarianism
Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments.[1]
The observance of
Its historical origins lie in early Christianity, later in the Eastern Church and Irish Church,[13] and then in Puritan Sabbatarianism, which delineated precepts for keeping Sunday, the Lord's Day, holy in observance of Sabbath commandment principles.
Non-Sabbatarianism is the view opposing all Sabbatarianism, declaring Christians to be free of mandates to follow such specific observances. It upholds the principle in Christian church doctrine that the church is not bound by such law or code, but is free to set in place and time such observances as uphold Sabbath principles according to its doctrine: to establish a day of rest, or not, and to establish a day of worship, or not, whether on Saturday or on Sunday or on some other day. It includes some nondenominational churches.
History
Theological background
Most Christian Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, Methodist Churches and Reformed Churches, have traditionally held that
According to the New Testament, after the
The Be not careless of yourselves, neither deprive your Saviour of His own members, neither divide His body nor disperse His members, neither prefer the occasions of this life to the word of God; but assemble yourselves together every day, morning and evening, singing psalms and praying in the Lord’s house: in the morning saying the sixty-second Psalm, and in the evening the hundred and fortieth, but principally on the Sabbath-day. 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 to hear the saving word concerning the resurrection, on which we pray thrice standing in memory of Him who arose in three days, 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?[20]
The Didache commands believers to "Gather together each Sunday, break bread and give thanks, first confessing your sins, that your sacrifice may be pure."[21] Until the
Differences between Jewish and Christian observance
In distinguishing the observances performed on the Christian Sabbath from those performed on the Jewish Sabbath, Jonathan Edwards wrote:[25]
We are taught by Christ, that the doing of alms and showing of mercy are proper works for the Sabbath-day. When the Pharisees found fault with Christ for suffering his disciples to pluck the ears of corn, and eat on the Sabbath, Christ corrects them with that saying, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice;” Mat. 12:7. And Christ teaches that works of mercy are proper to be done on the Sabbath, Luke 13:15, 16, and 14:5.[25]
Views of Church Fathers and Reformation leaders
As early as the second century,
Rejection of Saturday as the Sabbath in Western Christianity
The Western Christian Church came to reject the observance of the Hebrew Sabbath on Saturday, calling its legalisms Judaizing;[28] in the late 4th century, the 29th canon of the Council of Laodicea finally declared that Christians must not rest on the Jewish Sabbath, but must work on that day and if possible rest on the Lord's Day, and that any found to be Judaizers are anathema from Christ.[29]
Observance of Saturday Sabbath and the Lord's Day in Oriental and Seventh-day churches
In
Ethiopian Sabbatarian movement
In the fourteenth century, "the monk Abba Ewostatewos founded a Sabbatarian movement" and fled, with his followers to "isolated parts of northwestern Ethiopia".[31] In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, "the Sabbatarian controversy divided the kingdom during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries."[32] Zara Yaqob, the king, eventually "decreed that the Sabbatarian teaching of the northern monks become the position of the church".[32] Later, the 'seventh-day Sabbatarians' (also known as 'Saturday Sabbatarians') sought to re-establish the Mosaic Law itself, along with Pharisaic interpretations and Hebrew Sabbath practices, including observances running from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Most identify with the early Jewish Christians, and consider early church condemnations of Judaizing to be the marks of a "Great Apostasy" in early Christianity, which they seek to rectify.
Presbyterian Scottish observation of the Sabbath
On the other hand, the Presbyterian
Dominance of Sunday sabbath in Western Christianity
The essence of first-day Sabbatarianism, named for the Sabbath, is that it upholds the idea that Christians are bound to keep a specific code of conduct in relation to the principal day of Christian worship, or a day of rest, or both. The first-day, Puritan Sabbatarians constructed their code from their understanding of moral obligations following from their interpretation of "natural law", first defined in writings of Thomas Aquinas. Not seeking to re-establish Mosaic Law or Hebrew Sabbath practices, their connection to Judaizing was limited to the use of a legal code by which Christians might be judged.
With unwavering support by mainstream Christian denominations, Sabbatarian organizations were formed, such as the
In the present day, 'First-day Sabbatarian' or 'Sunday Sabbatarian' is applied to those, such as the Presbyterian Churches, who teach morning and evening Sunday worship, rest from servile labour, as well as honouring the Lord's Day by refraining from shopping on Sundays, as well as refraining from participating or viewing sporting events held on Sundays, in addition to performing works of mercy on the first day.[6][7][8] Similarly, the common term "Christian Sabbath" is sometimes used to describe the fact that most Christians assemble in worship on Sunday, and may also consider it a day of rest, aligning with the Biblical norms of the Sabbath, and even the Puritans. The Roman Catholic Church, on the other hand, makes a clear distinction or separation between the Sabbath and Sunday,[43][44] arguing that the Christian observance of the Lord's Day respects the moral law of Ten Commandments as it is a fulfillment of the Hebrew Sabbath, with only the ceremonial law changing the weekly day of worship from Saturday to Sunday.[45] In the Catholic Church, the 1917 Code of Canon Law ¶1248 stipulated that "On feast days of precept, Mass is to be heard; there is an abstinence from servile work, legal acts, and likewise, unless there is a special indult or legitimate customs provide otherwise, from public trade, shopping, and other public buying and selling."[46] Examples of servile works forbidden under this injunction include "plowing, sowing, harvesting, sewing, cobbling, tailoring, printing, masonry works" and "all works in mines and factories"; commercial activity, such as "marketing, fairs, buying and selling, public auctions, shopping in stores" is prohibited as well.[46]
Sunday Sabbatarians
First-day Sabbatarian (Sunday Sabbatarian) practices include attending morning and evening church services on Sundays, receiving
Reformed Churches
The
7. As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which, in Scripture, is called the Lord’s day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.
8. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe a holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.
The confession holds that not only is work forbidden in Sunday, but also "works, words, and thoughts" about "worldly employments and recreations." Instead, the whole day should be taken up with "public and private exercises of [one's] worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy."
This statement was adopted by the
Strict Sunday Sabbatarianism is sometimes called "Puritan Sabbath", and may be contrasted with "Continental Sabbath".
The
Methodist Churches
Like the aforementioned Calvinist groups, the early
They believe it to be their duty to keep the first day of the week as a sabbath. This, before Christ, was on the last day of the week; but from the time of his resurrection, was changed into the first day of the week, and is in scripture called, The Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian sabbath. This they believe to be set apart by God, and for his worship by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment. And they think it to be agreeable to the law of nature, as well as divine institution, that a due proportion of time should be set apart for the worship of God. ... This day ought to be kept holy unto the Lord, and men and women ought so to order their affairs, and prepare their hearts, that they may not only have a holy rest on that day, from worldly employments, words, and thoughts, but spend the day in the public and private duties of piety. No part of the day should be employed in any other way, except in works of mercy and necessity. On this day, they believe it to be their duty to worship God, and that not only in form, but at the same time in spirit and in truth. Therefore, they employ themselves in prayer and thanksgiving, in reading and meditating on the scriptures, in hearing the public preaching of God's word, in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, in Christian conversation, and in commemorating the dying love of the Lord Jesus Christ. ... And with them it is a prevailing idea, that God must be worshipped in spirit, daily, in private families, in the closet, and in the public assemblies.[58]
In the past, individuals who engaged in buying and selling (with exception of medicine for the sick and necessaries for funerals) on the Christian Sabbath were to be
Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, a United Methodist elder and theologian, writes that the Sampson Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church made a Sabbatarian resolution that "resounded throughout all spheres of Methodism":[36]
Whereas, we are positively commanded by Almighty God to remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy, Therefore Resolve that we, the members of this Quarterly Conference for the Sampson Circuit do most respectfully and earnestly invite the attention of our people to the absolute necessity of a more constant and prayerful observance of the Holy Sabbath.
Resolved that visiting on this day for the purpose of transacting temporal business is also a violation of the Holy Day.
Resolved that the running of Railroad Trains, Steamboats, Stages, and Etc., on the various lines of travel except in cases of absolute necessity, is a violation of the command of God, and tends to the demoralization of our people as much as it prevents tens of thousands from attendance upon divine worship and the proper influence of the Sabbath.
Resolved, that we call upon Christians and good citizens to speak out earnestly and constantly against all desecration of the day of the Lord and appeal to all who are guilty of this sin to cease this violation.[36]
Similarly in 1921, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South heralded the Sunday Sabbath as a "day of worship, meditation and prayer".[59] It proclaimed that the "tendency to commercialize the sabbath, making it a day of traffic, travel, business and pleasure is wrong and we want to sound a word of alarm and call our people to God's way of observance".[59] As such, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South stated that it "oppose[s] the playing of baseball, golf, and like games on that day".[59] The 2014 Discipline of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches states, with regard to the Lord's Day:[60]
We believe that the Lord’s Day, celebrated on Sunday, the first day of the week, throughout the Christian church, is the Christian sabbath, which we reverently observe as a day of rest and worship and as the continuing memorial of our Savior’s resurrection. For this reason, we abstain from secular work and from all merchandising on this holy day, except that required by mercy or necessity.[60]
Reflecting the traditional Methodist standards regarding first-day Sabbabbatarianism, the 2018 Handbook for the Evangelical Wesleyan Bible Institute (EWBI), a seminary of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church, states:[61]
The Scripture commands, "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." The spirit of Sunday observance prompts worship toward God and rest from the weekly work routine. We encourage those activities which honor the Lord and contribute to the furtherance of the Gospel. Students are not to desecrate the Lord's Day by unnecessary labor, business transactions, holiday diversions, secular pleasure seeking, or patronizing secular papers. (Part 57 paragraph 6, Discipline of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church.)[61]
The Statement of Faith of the Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches teaches:[62]
God has, in His Word, by a positive, moral and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto Him. In this present dispensation the first day of the week is the Lord's Day or Christian Sabbath. It is commemorative of our Lord's resurrection and is an emblem of that rest which remaineth for the people of God. It is to be kept holy unto God by abstaining from all secular labour and recreation and by the proper observance of all the means of grace, both private and public. Only works of necessity, mercy or religion are permitted on the Lord's Day.[62]
Moravian Church
The Moravian Covenant for Christian Living, which is the covenant taken by members of the Moravian Church, teaches:[63]
16. Worship and Sunday Observance — Remembering that worship is one of our proper responses to Almighty God, an experience designed for our benefit, and a part of our Christian witness, we and our children will faithfully attend the worship services of the Church.
17. We, therefore, will be careful to avoid unnecessary labor on Sunday and plan that the recreations in which we engage on that day do not interfere with our own attendance or that of others at divine worship.[63]
Schwarzenau Brethren Churches
The Church Polity of the Dunkard Brethren Church, a Conservative Anabaptist denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition, teaches that "The First Day of the week is the Christian Sabbath and is to be kept as a day of rest and worship. (Matt. 28:1; Acts 20:7; John 20:1; Mark 16:2)"[64]
Baptist Churches
First-day Sabbatarian views are embodied in the confessions of faith held by both
This is one day in seven, which from the creation of the world God has set apart for sacred rest and holy service. Under the former dispensation, the seventh day of the week, as commemorative of the work of creation, was set apart for the Lord's Day. Under the gospel, the first day of the week, in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, and by authority of Christ and the apostles, is observed as the Christian Sabbath. On this day all men are required to refrain from secular labor and devote themselves to the worship and service of God.[65]
Similarly, the Liberty Association Articles of Faith (1824), as well as the General Association Articles of Faith of both 1870 and 1949 all state:[65]
We believe in the Sanctity of the Lords Day, the first day of the week, and that this day ought to be observed by worshipping God, witnessing for Christ, and ministering to the needs of humanity. We believe that secular work on Sunday should be limited to cases of necessity or mercy.[66]
With regard to the
Edward L. Smither explains that first-day Sabbatarianism is the normative view held by Baptists (both General and Reformed):[65]
This Sunday sabbatarian view is also reflected in such key Baptist statements as Jessey's Catechism of 1652, Keach's Catechism of 1677, the Baptist Catechism for Girls and Boys of 1798, the Baptist Catechism of the Charleston Association of 1813, Spurgeon's Catechism of 1855, the Abstract of Principles of 1858, Everts' Catechism of 1866, Boyce's Catechism of 1867, and Broadus' Catechism of 1892. These documents (and the list is by no means exhaustive) exhort the faithful to abstain from all secular labor and amusements, and to reserve Sunday as a day of worship, spiritual endeavor, and rest.[65]
Citing
Holiness Quakerism
The Central Yearly Meeting of Friends in its Manual of Faith and Practice teaches:[69]
Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1). This fact, and the fact that the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost on the first day of the week (Acts 2:1, where the name Pentecost means "fiftieth" and refers to the fiftieth day following the offering of the sheaf of firstfruits in the Feast of Unleavened Bread which was fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ as the firstfruits from among the dead, Lev. 23:15, 16, I Cor. 15:20), set a precedent for beginning to keep the first day in honor of the Lord. ... Love for God should motivate the Christian in his observance of the Christian Sabbath or the Lord's Day. We believe that a careful regard for the Lord's Day is still an appropriate mark of a pious people. It is still appropriate that Christians avoid unnecessary work and focus on their Creator on the Lord's Day. ... Personal recreation or social gatherings that detract from the sacred importance of the Lord's Day or hinder the attendance of church services should be avoided. Children should be taught early to carefully regard the Lord's Day by avoiding their usual loud and boisterous play. A sacred regard for the Sabbath is an integral part of holy living. We believe that such carefulness should mark every earnest child of God.[69]
Saturday and Sunday Sabbatarians
Keith A. Burton stated that "The church in Africa [recognized] that the resurrection of Christ in no way nullified the fact that 'in six days the Lord made heaven and earth.' ...Even though the power of the Western papal legacy has made some indelible indentations on the churches of Africa, to this day they have refused to fully succumb."[70]
Holding the teaching of
Saturday Sabbatarianism
Messianic Judaism
Seventh Day Baptists
The first known Seventh Day Baptist Church was the Mill Yard Church established in London, where the first service took place in 1651,
Embracing education where it had not yet become available to the public, the churches established schools, including three that became colleges in Alfred, New York, Milton, Wisconsin, and Salem, West Virginia. A seminary was added at Alfred University in 1871. Missionary activity in the 19th century led to expansion both in the U.S. and overseas into China, India, the Philippines, Oceania, and Africa. Today, its General Conference offices are located in Janesville, Wisconsin.[73]
United in a literal interpretation of the Sabbath commandment to keep the seventh day holy (in worship) and to rest, Seventh Day Baptists leave other observances largely to its individual members to interpret and follow for themselves. In this way it represents the least uniform and least rigorous type of Sabbatarianism.[76]
Seventh-day Adventism
The
Preble was the first Millerite to promote the sabbath in print form, through the February 28, 1845, issue of the Adventist Hope of Israel in
Bates proposed an 1846 meeting among the believers in New Hampshire and Port Gibson, New York, which took place at Edson's farm, where Edson and other Port Gibson believers readily accepted the sabbath message and forged an alliance with Bates, White, and Harmon. Between April 1848 and December 1850, 22 sabbath conferences in New York and New England allowed White, Bates, Edson, and Stephen Pierce to reach conclusions about doctrinal issues.[80]
Also in 1846, a pamphlet written by Bates created widespread interest in the sabbath. Bates, White, Harmon, Edson, Wheeler, and S. W. Rhodes led the promotion of the sabbath, partly through regular publications.[81] Present Truth magazine was largely devoted to the sabbath at first.[82] J. N. Andrews was the first Adventist to write a book-length defense of the sabbath, first published in 1861. Two of Andrews' books include Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and the First Day[83] and History of the Sabbath.[84]
Traditionally, Seventh-day Adventists teach that the Ten Commandments (including the fourth commandment concerning the sabbath) are part of the
Seventh-day Adventists observe the sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.[86] In places where the sun does not appear or does not set for several months, such as northern Scandinavia, the tendency is to regard an arbitrary time such as 6 p.m. as "sunset". During the sabbath, Adventists avoid secular work and business, although medical relief and humanitarian work is accepted. Though there are cultural variations, most Adventists also avoid activities such as shopping, sport, and certain forms of entertainment. Adventists typically gather for church services on Saturday morning. Some also gather on Friday evening to welcome in the sabbath hours (sometimes called "vespers" or "opening Sabbath"), and some similarly gather at "closing Sabbath".
Eschatology
The pioneers of the church have traditionally taught that the seventh-day Sabbath could be a test, leading to the sealing of God's people during the end times, though there is little consensus about how this will play out. The church has traditionally taught that there could be an international Sunday law enforced by a coalition of religious and secular authorities, and that all who do not observe it will be persecuted, imprisoned or martyred. This is taken from the church's interpretation, following Ellen G. White, of Daniel 7:25, Revelation 13:15, Revelation 7, Ezekiel 20:12–20, and Exodus 31:13. Some early Adventists were indeed jailed for working on Sunday, in violation of various local blue laws that legislated Sunday as a day of rest. It was speculated by Ellen G. White that a universal Sunday law would soon be enforced and would serve as a sign of the end times.
Eastern Orthodoxy
In Eastern Orthodoxy, the Sabbath is still considered to be on Saturday however, the day of worship is on Sunday (the Lord’s Day) which is considered to be a mini-Pascha celebration. Saturday is also considered to be a day of preparation for the Lord’s Day. Sunday worship is not considered to be a direct observance of the Sabbath. Despite that, more emphasis is put on the Lord’s Day.[87]
Modern Seventh-day Sabbatarian groups
- Sabbatarian Baptists
- Sabbatarian Adventists
- Adventist Church of Promise
- Church of God (Seventh Day)
- Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church
- Sabbath Rest Advent Church
- Seventh-day Adventist Church
- Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement
- Shepherd's Rod (Davidian Seventh-day Adventists)
- United Sabbath-Day Adventist Church
- United Seventh-Day Brethren
- Sabbatarian Pentecostalists
- Sabbatarian British Israelites (Armstrongism)
- Church of God International (United States)
- Church of the Great God
- Church of God Preparing for the Kingdom of God
- Global Church of God
- House of Yahweh
- Intercontinental Church of God
- Living Church of God
- Philadelphia Church of God
- Restored Church of God
- United Church of God
- Assemblies of Yahweh
- Black Hebrew Israelites
- African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem
- Church of God and Saints of Christ
- Church of God and Saints of Christ (Orthodox Christianity)
- Commandment Keepers
- Hebrew Roots Movement
- Makuya
- Messianic Judaism, some Messianic Jews observe Shabbat on Saturdays[88]
- Sacred Name Movement
- Yahweh's Assembly in Yahshua
- Subbotniks, the majority belonged to Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism, the minority to Christianity[89]
- millenarianmovement founded in the 1840s
- Others
- The Christ's Assembly
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)
- Jemaat Allah Global Indonesia (JAGI), internationally known as Unitarian Christian Church of Indonesia, headquartered in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia[90]
- Logos Apostolic Church of God, in the UK, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Sudan[91]
- Remnant Fellowship, headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee and founded in 1999 by Gwen Shamblin Lara[92]
- The Seventh-day Remnant Church[93]
- World Mission Society Church of God
See also
References
- ISBN 9781412904094.
Sabbatarianism is the view that insists that one day of each week must be reserved for religious observance as prescribed by the Old Testament Sabbath Law. The sabbatarians' main thesis is simple: The Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments, and the Ten Commandments do not correspond to a temporary ceremonial law but are to be regarded as eternally significant moral law.
- ^ ISBN 9781134415205.
Yet the degree of overlap between the middle class and nonconformity-Baptists, Congregregationalists, Wesleyan Methodists, Quakers, Presbyterians, and Unitarians-was substantial. ... Most nonconformist denominations ...frowned on drink, dancing, and the theater, and they promoted Sabbatarianism (the policy of prohibiting trade and public recreation on Sundays).
- ISBN 9780521317733.
Except for the strong support of Episcopalians in Windsor and Woodstock, the Sabbatarians found their appeal limited almost exclusively to Congregationalists and Presbyterians, some of whom did not fear state action on religious matters of interdenominational concern.
- ^ ISBN 9780873388436.
As predominantly Methodists and other nonconformists, British immigrants were pietists, committed to conversion and the reform of society. They did not separate religion from civil government, bur rather integrated right belief with right behavior. Therefore they embraced reform movements, most notably temperance and abolitionism, as well as Sabbatarian laws.
- ISBN 9781317097099.
Sabbatarianism: For the non-Anglican Protestants of colonial Queensland (Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Baptists), desecration of the Sabbath was one of the great sins of the late nineteenth century.
- ^ a b c Hughes, James R. (2006). "The Sabbath: A Universal and Enduring Ordinance of God" (PDF). Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Why an Evening Worship Service?". Christ United Reformed Church. 8 December 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ a b Jones, M. (12 June 2015). "Organized Sports on Sundays?". Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ISBN 9780198229698.
- ^ ISBN 9781786720375.
The king presided, overruled the bishops who were committed to the more usual position that Sunday only was a holy day, and decreed that the Sabbatarian teaching of the northern monks became the position of the church.
- ^ ISBN 9780852296332. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
Circumcision is almost universally practiced; the Saturday Sabbath (in addition to Sunday) is observed by some devout believers; the ark is an essential item in every church; and rigorous fasting is still practiced.
- ^ ISBN 9781572582620.
- ^ ISBN 9780801020759.
Historically we see a trend toward sabbatarianism in the Eastern Church during the fourth century and the Irish church of the sixth century when, interestingly, a dual recognitition of both sabbath and Sunday was stressed. ... As early as the fourth and fifth centuries theologians in the Eastern church were teaching the practical identity of the Jewish sabbath and the Christian Sunday. Eusebius's interpretation of Psalm 91 (ca. 320) greatly influenced the ultimate transfer of sabbath assertions and prohibitions to the first day of the week.
- ^ a b "God's Law in Old and New Covenants". Orthodox Presbyterian Church. 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ a b Summa Theologica, I-II, q. 100
- ^ Andrews, John Nevins (1862). History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week. Steam Press. p. 60.
- ^ a b c Chrystie, James (1850). "The Lord's Day, the Christian Sabbath". Reformed Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9780825495519.
The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (ca. 380) exhorts Christians to "keep the Sabbath and the Lord's day festival" (7.23)
- ^ "ANF07. Fathers of the Third and Fourth Centuries: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily". SEC. II.—On the Formation of the Character of Believers, and on Giving of Thanks to God. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9780567370501.
- ^ The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles to the Nations, known as The Didache. Legacy Icons. 2016. p. 12.
- ISBN 9780227174456.
- ISBN 9781412904094.
Historically, we see a trend towards sabbatarianism in the Eastern church during the fourth century and the Irish church of the sixth century when, interestingly, a dual recognition of both sabbath and Sunday was stressed.
- ^ a b Journal of Religion in Africa: Religion en Afrique, Volumes 4-6. Brill. 1972. p. 191.
Gregory of Nyssa, who stands in great repute among Ethiopians, argued : "With what eyes do you regard the Lord's Day, you who have desecrated the Sabbath? Do you know that these two days are related, that if you wrong one of them, you will stumble against the other?
- ^ a b c Edwards, Jonathan. "The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath". Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- ISBN 9780830826988.
Significantly, the first Christian writer to suggest that the sabbath had been transferred to Sunday is Eusbius of Caesarea (post 330).
- ^ ISBN 9781576070895.
- ISBN 978-0-7618-3623-0.
As the Oriental Church continued to uphold the Saturday Sabbath it became exposed to the accusation of "Judaizing" by the Western Church.
- ^ Schaff, Philip; Wace, Henry (eds.), "Synod of Laodicea, Canon 29", Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series (NPNF2, Vol 14), retrieved 3 Jul 2015
- ^ "God is Not Mocked". Arkansas Methodist. 36 (29): 1, 3. 19 July 1917.
In so far as the Master has given us an example the Sabbath may be used only for rest and the spiritual activities of worship (including teaching) and deeds of mercy. It is clear that be indulged in no service or pastime which required the labor of others. No one today with any sense of propriety can imagine Jesus going on Sunday excursions, patronizing restaurants and drink and cigar stands, or frequenting Sunday dances or games or shows. To think of Jesus as involved in these things is a practical profanation. The Master, who said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," added, "and ye shall find rest unto your souls." He knew the necessity for physical rest and the proper place for innocent recreation, but he valued soul rest yet more. Reasonable hours of labor and genuinely recuperative relaxation really have never existed apart from the Hebrew and the Christian religion. The rights of labor are not fully recognized where there is no Sabbath. Jesus intended to break the galling bonds with which man had desolated the holy Sabbath, but he proposed to restore it to its original use, not to sanction any sort of diversions which indulgent men might introduce to minister to their own "pleasure."
- ISBN 9781442203020.
- ^ ISBN 9781786720375.
- ^ Roberts, Tom. "A Brief History of Sabbatarian Churches". Retrieved 22 June 2017.
Old Irish documents in the Gaelic language reveal in St. Patrick's commentary on the book of the law and the book of the Gospel that they were a Sabbath keeping and Passover observant people. This tradition from the 330's AD at Lister and Iona would last until the 5th century AD. Remnants of this Celtic theology remain to this day in the tradition of the Scottish Presbyterians and their Sabbath roots given to them by Columba and St. Patrick.
- ISBN 9781317143475.
- ISBN 9781317097099.
Sabbatarianism: For the non-Anglican Protestants of colonial Queensland (Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Baptists), desecration of the Sabbath was one of the great sins of the late nineteenth century.
- ^ ISBN 9780199774159.
- ^ a b "About". The Lord’s Day Alliance of the U.S. 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
- ISBN 9780803296138.
- ISBN 9780821416327.
- ISBN 9781576070895.
However, an amendment was made that left is enforcement to the discretion of the provinces, so that it remained a dead letter in mostly French Quebec. A Catholic Sunday League was formed in 1923 to combat this laxity and promote sabbatarian restrictions in that province--especially against movie theaters.
- ISBN 9780670830015.
In 1922, inspired by a pastoral letter decrying the lax observance of Sunday as a day of rest, the Ligue du Dimanche (Sunday League) was formed. For fourteen years the League agitated for Sabbatarian legislation, particularly against cinemas ...
- ISBN 9780802824165.
- ^ "Sabbath", Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1913
- ^ Canon of Holy Saturday (Orthodox), Kontakion: "Exceeding blessed is this Sabbath, on which Christ has slumbered, to rise on the third day."
- ^ Staples, Tim (1 May 2015). "The Lord's Day Replaced the Sabbath". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
However, the Church distinguishes between the essential and immutable aspect of the third commandment as "the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship" (CCC 2176) and the "ceremonial observance" of that commandment, which would be the day on which that commandment is observed (see CCC 2175). The essence of the moral law cannot change. For example, God could not say, "Starting tomorrow, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' is going to read 'Thou shalt commit adultery!'" However, as Daniel 2:21 says, "[God] changes times and seasons." God can certainly change a ceremonial law or an aspect of a law that is ceremonial. And that he did through the Church. "This practice of the Christian assembly [of the Sunday fulfillment of the essential truth of the third commandment] dates from the beginnings of the apostolic age" (CCC 2178). The apostles established this practice with divine authority.
- ^ a b Plese, Matthew (22 February 2022). "Sunday Activities for Catholics: What Is Sinful and What Is Not?". The Fatima Center. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- ISBN 9783525550755.
- ISBN 9780199774159.
- ^ ISBN 9783525569450.
The seventeenth-century Particular Baptists regarded themselves as being very much an integral part of the wider Reformed community in the British Isles and Ireland. Their substantial employment of the Presbyterian Westminster Confession (1646) and Congregationalist Savoy Declaration (1658) in the writing of their Second London Confession of Faith (1677/1688) is but one indication of the real sense of solidarity they had with other Reformed communities in the British archipelago.
- ^ ISBN 9780227902721.
Many Baptists have insisted upon the observance of Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, as a day of rest from "secular" work. For example, the Lord's Day article from the Westminster Confession (and its insistence upon Sunday rest) was transferred almost word-for-word into the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689.
- ISBN 9780802805393.
- ^ Heidelberg Catechism, Q & A 103.
- Eerdmans. p. 558.
- ^ Bauckham, R. J. (1982). "Sabbath and Sunday in the Protestant Tradition". In Carson, D. A (ed.). From Sabbath to Lord's Day. Zondervan. pp. 311–342.
- ^ Peter Cartwright (1857). Autobiography of Peter Cartwright: The Backwoods Preacher. Carlton & Porter. p. 74.
- ISBN 9780191607431.
- Evangelical Methodist Church Conference. 15 July 2017. pp. 25–26.
- ^ a b c d Crowther, Jonathan (1815). A Portraiture of Methodism: Or, The History of the Wesleyan Methodists. T. Blanshard. pp. 224, 249–250.
- ^ a b c Journal of the North Carolina Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 1921. p. 62.
- ^ a b "Discipline of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches" (PDF). 2014. p. 30. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ^ a b Evangelical Wesleyan Bible Institute Handbook. Cooperstown: LWD Publishing. 2018.
- ^ a b "Statement of Faith". Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches. 31 January 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-01-31. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Moravian Covenant for Christian Living". Moravian Church. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ Dunkard Brethren Church Polity. Dunkard Brethren Church. 1 November 2021. pp. 6–8.
- ^ ISBN 9780227902721.
- ISBN 9780810321328. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
- ^ Rose, Nathan (30 May 2015). "5 Spiritual Dangers of Skipping Church". Midwestern Seminary. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- ^ "Baptist Faith & Message 2000 - the Baptist Faith and Message".
- ^ a b Manual of Faith and Practice of Central Yearly Meeting of Friends. Central Yearly Meeting of Friends. 2018. pp. 52–53.
- ^ Burton, Keith A. "Western European Imperialism and the Literary Suppression of the African Fidelity to the Biblical Sabbath." Sabbath in Africa Project, 1993.
- ISBN 9781861069481. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
The main reason they gave for the two-day Sabbath was that these two days commemorated the Lord's body that rested in the grave, and His resurrection the following day.
- ISBN 1405118644.
- ^ ISBN 0-8054-6055-1.
- ^ a b Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society (1995), Wardin, Albert W. Jr. (ed.), Baptists Around the World, Janesville, WI: Broadman & Holman
- ^ "Obituary of Marie Elizabeth Kachel Bucher". Intelligencer Journal. 2008-07-29. Archived from the original on 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ Seventh Day Baptist Official Website, Statement of Belief, Janesville, WI: Seventh Day Baptist Church, retrieved 7 Jul 2015
- ^ "Seventh-day Adventist Statistical Report, 2017" (PDF).
- ^ "A Sabbath Tract by T.M. Preble". Aloha.net. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ^ Light Bearers to the Remnant
- ^ Neufield, D. (1976). Sabbath Conferences. pp. 1255–6.
- ^ Mead, Frank S.; Hill, Samuel S.; Atwood, Craig D. "Seventh-day Adventists". Handbook of Denominations in the United States (12th ed.). Nashville: Abingdon Press. pp. 270–3.
- ^ "General Conference Archives". Adventistarchives.org. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ^ "Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and the First Day". Giveshare.org. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ^ [1] DjVu, [2] HTML
- ^ "Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs #19".
- ^ "Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs, #20".
- ^ Orthodox Christianity (2016), Whiteford, John (ed.), The Lord's Day
- LCCN 2008026681.
- ISBN 9780814335970.
- ^ Popov, Igor (2017). Buku rujukan semua aliran dan perkumpulan agama di Indonesia [The Reference Book on All Religious Branches and Communities in Indonesia] (in Indonesian). Singaraja: Toko Buku Indra Jaya. pp. 41–42.
- ^ "Logos Apostolic Church Of God". Logosapostolic.org. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
- ^ Remnant Fellowship
- ^ "Seventh-day Remnant". Sdrvoice.org. July 10, 2013. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
External links
- Lord's Day Alliance of the U.S.
- Lord's Day Observance Society
- Keep Sunday Special
- The Sabbath: A Universal and Enduring Ordinance of God by James R. Hughes - Reformed Presbyterian Church
- Remembering the Lord's Day by David J. Engelsma - Protestant Reformed Churches in America
- The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath by Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
- Sundays are for Sabbath Rest: Explication of Westminster Confession of Faith and the LBC1689
- The Christian Week and Sabbath by Methodist theologian, Daniel D. Whedon
- The Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath by James Chrystie - Reformed Presbyterian Church
- From Sunday to Sabbath: The Puritan Origins of Modern Seventh-day Sabbatarianism