Sabbath in Christianity is the inclusion in
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
of a
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
, a day set aside for rest and worship, a practice that was mandated for the
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
in the
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
in line with God's blessing of the seventh day (
Saturday
Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The day ...
) making it
holy
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
, "because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in
creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
* Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
* Creationism, the belief tha ...
". The practice was associated with the assembly of the people to worship in
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s on the day known as Shabbat.
Early Christians
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
, at first mainly
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, observed the seventh-day Sabbath with prayer and rest, but gathered on the seventh day, Saturday, reckoned in Jewish tradition as beginning, like the other days, at sunset on what would now be considered the Friday evening. At the beginning of the second century
Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch (; Greek: Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, ''Ignátios Antiokheías''; died c. 108/140 AD), also known as Ignatius Theophorus (, ''Ignátios ho Theophóros'', lit. "the God-bearing"), was an early Christian writer ...
approved non-observance of the Sabbath.
The now majority practice of
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
is to observe
Sunday
Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week.
For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...
, called the
Lord's Day
The Lord's Day in Christianity is generally Sunday, the principal day of communal worship. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is said in the canonical Gospels to have been witnessed ...
, rather than the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath as a day of rest and worship.
Possibly because of a movement initiated in the early 14th century by
Ewostatewos
Ewostatewos ( gez, ኤዎስጣቴዎስ, or Yostatewos (Ge'ez: ዮስታንቲዎስ), a version of grc, Εὐστάθιος ''Eustathios''; 22 July 1273 – 23 September 1352) was an Ethiopian religious leader of the Orthodox Tewahedo during t ...
, which gained approval under Emperor
Zara Yaqob
Zara Yaqob ( Ge'ez: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ; 1399 – 26 August 1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Kwestantinos I (Ge'ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He is known for t ...
,
Christians in Ethiopia observe a two-day Sabbath covering both Saturday and Sunday.
In line with ideas of the 16th and 17th-century
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
s, the
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
and
Congregationalist, as well as
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
and
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
Churches, enshrined
first-day (Sunday) Sabbatarian views in their confessions of faith, observing the Lord's Day as the Christian Sabbath.
First-day Sabbatarian (Sunday Sabbatarian) practices include attending morning and evening church services on Sundays, receiving
catechesis
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
in
Sunday School
A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West.
Su ...
on the Lord's Day, taking the Lord's Day off from servile labour, not eating at restaurants on Sundays, not
Sunday shopping
Sunday shopping or Sunday trading refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognises as a day of rest. Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the worl ...
, not using public transportation on the Lord's Day, not participating in sporting events that are held on Sundays, as well as not viewing television and the internet on Sundays; Christians who are Sunday Sabbatarians often engage in
works of mercy
Works of mercy (sometimes known as acts of mercy) are practices considered meritorious in Christian ethics.
The practice is popular in the Catholic Church as an act of both penance and charity. In addition, the Methodist church teaches that th ...
on the Lord's Day, such as
evangelism
In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...
, as well as visiting prisoners at jails and the sick at hospitals and nursing homes.
Beginning about the 17th century, a few groups of
Restorationist
Restorationism (or Restitutionism or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer a ...
Christians, mostly
Seventh-day Sabbatarians
The seventh-day Sabbath, observed from Friday evening to Saturday evening, is an important part of the beliefs and practices of seventh-day churches. These churches emphasize biblical references such as the ancient Hebrew practice of beginning a ...
, formed communities that adopted the original interpretation of law, either Christian or Mosaic, reminiscent of the early Christian church.
History
Sabbath timing
The Hebrew
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
, the seventh day of the week, is "Saturday" but in the
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...
a new day begins at sunset or 72 minutes after and not at midnight. The Shabbat therefore coincides with what is now commonly identified as Friday sunset to Saturday night when three stars are visible in the night sky. The Sabbath continued to be observed on the seventh day in the early Christian church. To this day, the liturgical day continues to be observed in line with the Hebrew reckoning in the church calendars in
Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first m ...
and
Oriental Orthodoxy
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent ...
. In the
Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
, "the liturgical day runs from midnight to midnight. However, the celebration of Sundays and of Solemnities begins already on the evening of the previous day".
In non-liturgical matters, the canon law of the Latin Church defines a day as beginning at midnight.
Early Christianity
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus ...
continued to observe Shabbat but met together at the end of the day, on a Saturday evening. In the gospels, the women are described as coming to the empty tomb gr, εις μια των σαββατων, , toward the first
ayof the Sabbath, although it is often translated "on the first day of the week". This is made clear in Acts 20:7 when Paul continued his message "until midnight" and a young man went to sleep and fell out of the window. Christians celebrate on Sunday because it is the day on which Jesus had risen from the dead and on which the
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
had come to the apostles.
["Sabbath." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, p. 1443] Although Christians meeting for worship on the first day of the week (Sunday for Gentiles) dates back to
Acts
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...
and is historically mentioned around 115 AD, Constantine's edict was the start of many more Christians observing only Sunday and not the Sabbath.
Patristic writings
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical pe ...
attest that by the second century, it had become commonplace to celebrate the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
in a corporate day of worship on the first day.
A
Church Father
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
,
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
, who became the bishop of
Caesarea Maritima
Caesarea Maritima (; Greek: ''Parálios Kaisáreia''), formerly Strato's Tower, also known as Caesarea Palestinae, was an ancient city in the Sharon plain on the coast of the Mediterranean, now in ruins and included in an Israeli national park ...
about AD 314, stated that for Christians, "the sabbath had been transferred to Sunday".
According to
Socrates of Constantinople
Socrates of Constantinople ( 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Σωκράτης ὁ Σχολαστικός), was a 5th-century Greek Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Theodoret.
He is the ...
and
Sozomen
Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church.
Family and home
He was born arou ...
, most of the early Church (excluding
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
) observed the seventh day Sabbath in Easter.
Corporate worship
While the
Lord's Day
The Lord's Day in Christianity is generally Sunday, the principal day of communal worship. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is said in the canonical Gospels to have been witnessed ...
observance of the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
was established separately from the Jewish Shabbat, the centrality of the Eucharist itself made it the commonest early observance whenever Christians gathered for worship. In many places and times as late as the 4th century, they did continue to gather weekly on the Sabbath, often in addition to the Lord's Day, celebrating the Eucharist on both days.
No disapproval of Sabbath observance of the Christian festival was expressed at the early church councils that dealt with
Judaizing
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the M ...
. The
Council of Laodicea
The Council of Laodicea was a regional Christian synod of approximately thirty clerics from Asia Minor which assembled about 363–364 in Laodicea, Phrygia Pacatiana.
Historical context
The council took place soon after the conclusion of the w ...
(363-364), for example, mandated only that Sabbath Eucharists must be observed in the same manner as those on the first day.
[ Neander has suggested that Sabbath Eucharists in many places were kept "as a feast in commemoration of the Creation."][
The issues about Hebrew practices that continued into the 2nd century tended to relate mostly to the Sabbath. ]Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher.
Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...
, who attended worship on the first day, wrote about the cessation of Hebrew Sabbath observance and stated that the Sabbath was enjoined as a temporary sign to Israel to teach it of human sinfulness, no longer needed after Christ came without sin. He rejected the need to keep a literal seventh-day Sabbath, arguing instead that "the new law requires you to keep the sabbath constantly." However, Justin Martyr believe the Sabbath has only attributed to Moses and the Israelites. According to J.N Andrews, a historian, and theologian, he mentions, "In his (Justin) estimation, the Sabbath was a Jewish institution, absolutely unknown to good men before the time of Moses, and of no authority whatever since the death of Christ." He identifies this through Justin's writings: "Do you see that the elements are not idle, and keep no Sabbaths? Remain as you were born. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, or of the observance of Sabbaths, of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses; no more need of them is there now, after that, according to the will of God, Jesus Christ the Son of God has been born without sin, of a virgin sprung from the stock of Abraham." With more clarification, Andrews also states: "Not only does he (Justin) declare that the Jews were commanded to keep the sabbath because of their wickedness, but in chapter nineteen he denies that any Sabbath existed before Moses. Thus, after naming Adam, Abel, Enoch, Lot, and Melchizedek, he says: "Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned, though they kept no Sabbaths were pleasing to God." With Christian corporate worship so clearly aligned with the Eucharist and allowed on the seventh day, Hebrew Shabbat practices primarily involved the observance of a day of rest.
Day of rest
A common theme in criticism of Hebrew Shabbat rest was idleness, found not to be in the Christian spirit of rest. Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
(late 2nd century), also citing continuous Sabbath observance, wrote that the Christian "will not be commanded to leave idle one day of rest, who is constantly keeping sabbath", and Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
(early 3rd century) argued "that we still more ought to observe a sabbath from all servile work always, and not only every seventh-day, but through all time". This early metaphorical interpretation of Sabbath applied it to the entire Christian life.
Ignatius Ignatius is a male given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
Religious
* Ignatius of Antioch (35–108), saint and martyr, Apostolic Father, early Christian bishop
* Ignatius of Constantinople (797–877), Cath ...
, cautioning against "Judaizing
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the M ...
" in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians (often abbreviated ''Magnesians'' or Ign. Mag.) is an epistle attributed to Ignatius of Antioch, a second-century bishop of Antioch, and addressed to the church in Magnesia on the Maeander. It was written d ...
, contrasts the Jewish Shabbat practices with the Christian life which includes the Lord's Day:
The 2nd and 3rd centuries solidified the early church's emphasis upon Sunday worship and its rejection of a Jewish (Mosaic Law-based) observation of the Sabbath and manner of rest. Christian practice of following Sabbath after the manner of the Hebrews declined, prompting Tertullian to note "to sSabbaths are strange" and unobserved. Even as late as the 4th century, Judaizing was still sometimes a problem within the Church, but by this time it was repudiated strongly as heresy.
Sunday was another work day in the Roman Empire. On March 7, 321, however, Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a civil decree making Sunday a day of rest from labor, stating:
While established only in civil law rather than religious principle, the Church welcomed the development as a means by which Christians could the more easily attend Sunday worship and observe Christian rest. At Laodicea also, the Church encouraged Christians to make use of the day for Christian rest where possible,[ without ascribing to it any of the regulation of Mosaic Law, and indeed ]anathema
Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
tizing Hebrew observance on the Sabbath. The civil law and its effects made possible a pattern in Church life that has been imitated throughout the centuries in many places and cultures, wherever possible.
From ancient times to Middle Ages
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
followed the early patristic writers in spiritualizing the meaning of the Sabbath commandment, referring it to eschatological rest rather than observance of a literal day. Such writing, however, did serve to deepen the idea of Christian rest on Sunday, and its practice increased in prominence throughout the early Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
.[
]Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...
taught that the Decalogue
The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
is an expression of natural law
Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
which binds all men, and therefore the Sabbath commandment is a moral requirement along with the other nine. Thus in the West, Sunday rest became more closely associated with a Christian application of the Sabbath, a development towards the idea of a "Christian Sabbath" rather than a Hebrew one. Sunday worship and Sunday rest combined powerfully to relate to Sabbath commandment precepts.
Continuations of Hebrew practices
Seventh-day Sabbath was observed at least sporadically by a minority of groups during the Middle Ages.
In the early church in Ireland, there is evidence that a sabbath-rest on Saturday may have been kept along with Mass on Sunday as the Lord's Day. It appears that many of the canon laws in Ireland from that period were derived from parts of the laws of Moses. In Adomnan of Iona's biography of St Columba
Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...
it describes Columba's death by having Columba say on a Saturday, "Today is truly my sabbath, for it is my last day in this wearisome life, when I shall keep the Sabbath after my troublesome labours. At midnight this Sunday, as Scripture saith, 'I shall go the way of my fathers'" and he then dies that night. The identification of this Sabbath day as a Saturday in the narrative is clear in the context, because Columba is recorded as seeing an angel at the Mass on the previous Sunday and the narrative claims he dies in the same week, on the Sabbath day at the end of the week, during the 'Lord's night' (referring to Saturday night-Sunday morning).
An Eastern body of Christian Sabbath-keepers mentioned from the 8th century to the 12th is called Athenians ("touch-not") because they abstained from uncleanness and intoxicating drinks, called Athinginians in Neander: "This sect, which had its principal seat in the city of Armorion, in upper Phrygia, where many Jews resided, sprung out of a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. They united baptism with the observance of all the rites of Judaism, circumcision excepted. We may perhaps recognize a branch of the older Judaizing sects."
Cardinal Hergenrother says that they stood in intimate relation with Emperor Michael II (AD 821-829), and testifies that they observed Sabbath. As late as the 11th century Cardinal Humbert still referred to the Nazarenes as a Sabbath-keeping Christian body existing at that time. But in the 10th and 11th centuries, there was a great extension of sects from the East to the West. Neander states that the corruption of the clergy furnished a most important vantage-ground on which to attack the dominant church. The abstemious life of these Christians, the simplicity and earnestness of their preaching and teaching, had their effect. "Thus we find them emerging at once in the 11th century, in countries the most diverse, and the most remote from each other, in Italy, France, and even in the Harz districts in Germany." Likewise, also, "traces of Sabbath-keepers are found in the times of Gregory I, Gregory VII, and in the 12th century in Lombardy."
Oriental Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Tewahedo {{Short description, Collective term for Oriental Orthodox Churches in Eritrea and Ethiopia
Orthodox Tewahedo refers to two Oriental Orthodox Christian denominations with shared beliefs, liturgy, and history. The Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon is ...
churches celebrate the Sabbath, a practice proselytised in the Oriental Orthodox
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...
church in Ethiopia in the 1300s by Ewostatewos
Ewostatewos ( gez, ኤዎስጣቴዎስ, or Yostatewos (Ge'ez: ዮስታንቲዎስ), a version of grc, Εὐστάθιος ''Eustathios''; 22 July 1273 – 23 September 1352) was an Ethiopian religious leader of the Orthodox Tewahedo during t ...
(, ). In response to colonial pressure by missionaries of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in the 1500s, the emperor Saint Gelawdewos wrote his ''Confession'', an apologia
An apologia (Latin for apology, from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is a formal defense of an opinion, position or action. The term's current use, often in the context of religion, theology and philosophy, derives from Justin Mar ...
of traditional beliefs and practices including observation of the Sabbath and a theological defense of the Miaphysitism
Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the "Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and differs from the Chalcedonian positio ...
of Oriental Orthodoxy
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent ...
.
Protestant Reformation
Protestant reformers, beginning in the 16th century, brought new interpretations of Christian law to the West. The Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, ...
of the Reformed Church
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
es founded by John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
teaches that the moral law as contained in the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
is binding for Christians and that it instructs Christians how to live in service to God in gratitude for His grace shown in redeeming mankind. Likewise, Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
, in his work against the Antinomians, rejected the idea of the abolition of the Ten Commandments. They also viewed Sunday rest as a civic institution established by human authority, which provided an occasion for bodily rest and public worship. Another Protestant, John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
, stated "This 'handwriting of ordinances' our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to His cross. But the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He did not take away. ...The moral law stands on an entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual law. ...Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages."
Sabbatarianism
Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments.
The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...
arose and spread among both the continental and English Protestants during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
of England and Scotland brought a new rigorism into the observance of the Christian Lord's Day in reaction to the customary Sunday observance of the time, which they regarded as lax. They appealed to Sabbath ordinances with the idea that only the Bible can bind men's consciences on whether or how they will take a break from work, or to impose an obligation to meet at a particular time. Their influential reasoning spread to other denominations also, and it is primarily through their influence that "Sabbath" has become the colloquial equivalent of "Lord's Day" or "Sunday". Sunday Sabbatarianism is enshrined in its most mature expression, the ''Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" ...
'' (1646), in the Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
theological tradition. Paragraphs 7 and 8 of Chapter 21 (''Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day'') read:
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 on 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 ne'sworship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy."
Strict Sunday Sabbatarianism is sometimes called "Puritan Sabbath", which may be contrasted with "Continental Sabbath". The latter follows the reformed confessions of faith
Calvinist confessions of faith are the confessions of faith of various Calvinist churches. These documents express consensus on doctrine for the church adopting the confession. A few confessions are shared as subordinate standards (i.e. authorit ...
of Continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
such as the ''Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, ...
'', which emphasize rest and worship on the Lord's Day, but do not explicitly forbid recreational activities. However, in practice, many continental Reformed Christians also abstain from recreation on the Sabbath, following the admonition by the Heidelberg Catechism's author Zacharaias Ursinus that "To keep holy the Sabbath, is not to spend the day in slothfulness and idleness".
Though first-day Sabbatarian practice declined in the 18th century, the First Great Awakening
The First Great Awakening (sometimes Great Awakening) or the Evangelical Revival was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and its thirteen North American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. The revival movement permanently affecte ...
in the 19th century led to a greater concern for strict Sunday observance. The founding of the Day One Christian Ministries
Day One Christian Ministries, formerly known as the Lord's Day Observance Society (LDOS), is a Christian organisation based in the United Kingdom that lobbies for no work on Sunday, the day that many Christians celebrate as the Sabbath, a day of ...
in 1831 was influenced by the teaching of Daniel Wilson.[
]
Common theology
Many Christian theologians believe that Sabbath observance is not binding for Christians today, citing for instance Colossians 2:16-17.
Some Christian non-Sabbatarians advocate physical Sabbath rest on any chosen day of the week, and some advocate Sabbath as a symbolic metaphor for rest in Christ; the concept of Lord's Day is usually treated as synonymous with "Sabbath". This non-Sabbatarian interpretation usually states that Jesus's obedience and the New Covenant
The New Covenant (Hebrew '; Greek ''diatheke kaine'') is a biblical interpretation which was originally derived from a phrase which is contained in the Book of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 31:31-34), in the Hebrew Bible (or the Old Testament of the C ...
fulfilled the laws of Sabbath, the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
, and the Law of Moses
The Law of Moses ( he, תֹּורַת מֹשֶׁה ), also called the Mosaic Law, primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The law revealed to Moses by God.
Terminology
The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebrew ...
, which are thus considered not to be binding moral laws, and sometimes considered abolished or abrogated. While Sunday is often observed as the day of Christian assembly and worship, in accordance with church tradition, Sabbath commandments are dissociated from this practice.
Non-Sabbatarian Christians also cite 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, in which believers are compared to "a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written ... not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts"; this interpretation states that Christians accordingly no longer follow the Ten Commandments with dead orthodoxy ("tablets of stone"), but follow a new law written upon "tablets of human hearts". In 3:7-11 we read that "if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory ..., will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? ...And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!" This is interpreted as teaching that New Covenant
The New Covenant (Hebrew '; Greek ''diatheke kaine'') is a biblical interpretation which was originally derived from a phrase which is contained in the Book of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 31:31-34), in the Hebrew Bible (or the Old Testament of the C ...
Christians are not bound by the Mosaic Law, and that Sabbath-keeping is not required. Further, because "love is the fulfillment of the law," the new-covenant "law" is considered to be based entirely upon love and to rescind Sabbath requirements.
Methodist theologian Joseph D. McPherson criticizes these views, and teaches that the Lord's Day
The Lord's Day in Christianity is generally Sunday, the principal day of communal worship. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is said in the canonical Gospels to have been witnessed ...
as the First-day Christian Sabbath is binding:
Spiritual rest
Non-Sabbatarians who affirm that Sabbath-keeping remains for God's people frequently regard this as present weeklong spiritual rest or future heavenly rest rather than as physical weekly rest. For instance, Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
saw Sabbath rest from secular affairs for one day each week as a sign of the way that Christians were called to permanently devote themselves to God, and an eschatological symbol. One such interpretation of Hebrews states that seventh-day Sabbath is no longer relevant as a regular, literal day of rest, but instead is a symbolic metaphor for the eternal salvation "rest" that Christians enjoy in Christ, which was in turn prefigured by the promised land of Canaan.
Sabbatarian churches
Much of Western Christianity
Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...
came to view Sunday as a transference of Sabbath observance to the first day, identifying Sunday with a first-day "Christian Sabbath". While first-day Sabbatarian practice declined during the 18th century, leaving few modern followers, its concern for stricter Sunday observances did have influence in the West, shaping the origin of the Christian Sabbath. The term no longer applies to a specific set of practices, but tends to be used to describe the general establishment of Sunday worship and rest observances within Christianity. It does not necessarily imply the displacement of the Sabbath itself, which is often recognized as remaining on Saturday. As such, the Christian Sabbath generally represents a reinterpretation of the meaning of the Sabbath in the light of Christian law, emphases of practice, and values.
Roman Catholicism
In the Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
, Sunday is kept in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...
and celebrated with the Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
.[ It is also the day of ]leisure
Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure ...
. The Lord's Day is considered both the first day and the "eighth day" of the week
A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are ofte ...
, symbolizing both first creation and new creation (2174).[U.S. Catholic Conference 1997, pp. 580–6.] Roman Catholics view the first day as a day for assembly for worship[ but consider a day of rigorous rest not obligatory on Christians. Catholic recommendations to rest on Sunday do not hinder participation in "ordinary and innocent occupations". In the spirit of the Sabbath, Catholics ought to observe a day of rest from servile work, which also becomes "a day of protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money." This day is often (traditionally) observed on Sunday in conjunction with the Lord's Day.
Seeking to uphold the ]Lord's Day Act
Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, ...
in French Quebec
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
, the Catholic Sunday League was formed in 1923 to promote First-day Sabbatarian restrictions in the province, especially against movie theaters.
Cardinal James Gibbons
James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth ...
affirmed Sunday observances as one of the examples of the Roman Catholic Church's sufficiency as guide:
In 1998 Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
wrote an apostolic letter
Ecclesiastical letters are publications or announcements of the organs of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authority, e.g. the synods, but more particularly of pope and bishops, addressed to the faithful in the form of letters.
Letters of the pop ...
''Dies Domini'', "on keeping the Lord's day holy". He encouraged Catholics to remember the importance of keeping Sunday holy, urging that it not lose its meaning by being blended with a frivolous " weekend" mentality.
Eastern Orthodoxy
Orthodox Sunday worship is not a direct Sabbath observance. The Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
observes the first day (liturgical Sunday, beginning Saturday evening) as a weekly feast, the remembrance of Christ's resurrection, and a mini-Pascha
Pascha (or other similar spellings) may refer to:
* Passover, the Aramaic spelling of the Hebrew word ''Pesach''
**Pesach seder,_the_festive_meal_beginning_the_14th_and_ending_on_the_15th_of_Nisan
*Easter.html" ;"title="san in the Hebrew c ..., t ...
. As such, it tends to hold the first place within a week's observances, sharing that place only with other major feasts which occur from time to time. The Divine Liturgy is always celebrated, joining the participants on earth with those who offer the worship in God's kingdom, and hence joining the first day to the eighth day, wherein the communion of the whole Church with Christ is fully realized. As such, it is never surpassed as a time for the Orthodox to assemble in worship.
The Church affirms its authority to appoint the time of this feast (and all observances) as deriving from the authority given to the apostles and passed to the bishops through the laying-on of hands
The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism ''semikhah'' ( he, סמיכה, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority.
In Christian churches, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal met ...
, for the sake of the governance of the Church on earth, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It does not treat Sunday worship as a transference of Sabbath worship, but identifies the Sabbath, still on Saturday, as a Biblical "type", a precursor, realized fully only after Christ's fulfillment of the Mosaic Law. Thus, the Sabbath and the Mosaic Law both remain as a teacher, reminding Christians to worship in holiness, but now according to grace, in Christian observations and Sunday worship.
The grace received in baptism binds the Church to Christ, who has given his people the freedom to seek him directly in relationship, not to pursue whatever suits one's fancy. The goal of that freedom is always union with Christ in theosis, and the maintenance of that union all the time, throughout this life and into the next, which is sometimes described as the "sanctification of time". Grace therefore never permits of whatever is sinful or unhelpful to salvation, such as laziness or hedonistic revelry. Rather, it becomes a stricter guide for behavior than any legal code, even the Mosaic, and disciplines the believer in some degree of ascetic endeavor.
Orthodoxy recognizes no mandated time for rest, a day or any other span, but the Church leads the individual to holiness in different ways, and recognizes the need for economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
and for rest. Activities such as sleep, relaxation, and recreation become a matter of balance and proper handling, and acceptance of God's mercy. St. Basil the Great expresses thanks for this in a prayer often said by Orthodox Christians in the morning, after rising: "You do we bless, O Most High God and Lord of mercy, ... Who has given unto us sleep for rest from our infirmity, and for repose of our much-toiling flesh." In recognition of God's gifts, therefore, the Church welcomes and supports civil laws that provide a day away from labor, which then become opportunities for Christians to pray, rest, and engage in acts of mercy. In grace do Christians respond, remembering both the example of the Sabbath rest, and Christ's lordship.
Eastern Christianity and Saturday vs. Sunday observances
Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...
distinguish between the Sabbath (Saturday) and the Lord's Day (Sunday), and both continue to play a special role for the faithful. Many parishes and monasteries will serve the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...
on both Saturday morning and Sunday morning. The church never allows strict fasting on any Saturday (except Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday ( la, Sabbatum Sanctum), also known as Great and Holy Saturday (also Holy and Great Saturday), the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday (in Portugal and Brazil), Saturday of the Glory, Sabado de Gloria, and Black Saturday or Easter ...
) or Sunday, and the fasting rules on those Saturdays and Sundays which fall during one of the fasting seasons (such as Great Lent
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, (Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, meaning "Great 40 Days," and "Great Fast," respectively) is the most important fasting season of the church year within many denominat ...
, Apostles' Fast
The Apostles' Fast, also called the Fast of the Holy Apostles, the Fast of Peter and Paul, or sometimes St. Peter's Fast, is a fast observed by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and Reformed Orthodox Christians. In the Byzan ...
, etc.) are always relaxed to some degree. During Great Lent, when the celebration of the Liturgy is forbidden on weekdays, there is always Liturgy on Saturday as well as Sunday. The church also has a special cycle of Bible readings (Epistle
An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...
and Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
) for Saturdays and Sundays which is different from the cycle of readings allotted to weekdays. However, the Lord's Day, being a celebration of the Resurrection, is clearly given more emphasis. For instance, in the Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
Sunday is always observed with an all-night vigil The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the F ...
on Saturday night, and in all of the Eastern Churches it is amplified with special hymns which are chanted only on Sunday. If a feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
falls on a Sunday it is always combined with the hymns for Sunday (unless it is a Lord's Great Feast). Saturday is celebrated as a sort of afterfeast
An Afterfeast is a period of celebration attached to one of the Great Feasts celebrated by the Orthodox Christian and Eastern Catholic Churches (somewhat analogous to what in the West would be called an Octave).
The celebration of the Great Feast ...
for the previous Sunday, on which several of the hymns from the previous Sunday are repeated.
In part, Eastern Christians continue to celebrate Saturday as Sabbath because of its role in the history of salvation: it was on a Saturday that Jesus "rested" in the cave tomb after the Passion. For this reason also, Saturday is a day for general commemoration of the departed, and special requiem hymns are often chanted on this day. Orthodox Christians make time to help the poor and needy as well on this day.
Lutheranism
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
founder Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
stated "I wonder exceedingly how it came to be imputed to me that I should reject the law of Ten Commandments. ...Whosoever abrogates the law must of necessity abrogate sin also." The Lutheran Augsburg Confession
The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...
, speaking of changes made by Roman Catholic pontiffs, states: "They refer to the Sabbath-day as having been changed into the Lord's Day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it seems. Neither is there any example whereof they make more than concerning the changing of the Sabbath-day. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments!" Lutheran church historian Augustus Neander states "The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance".
Lutheran writer Marva Dawn
Marva J. Dawn (August 20, 1948April 18, 2021) was an American Christian theologian, author, musician and educator, associated with the parachurch organization Christians Equipped for Ministry in Vancouver, Washington. She also served as Teaching ...
keeps a whole day as Sabbath, advocating for rest during any weekly complete 24-hour period and favoring rest from Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset, but regarding corporate worship as "an essential part of God's Sabbath reclamation."
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In 1831, Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
published a revelation commanding his related movement, the formative Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)
The Church of Christ was the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith. Organized informally in 1829 in New York and then formally on April 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in S ...
, to go to the house of prayer, offer up their sacraments, rest from their labors, and pay their devotions on the Lord's day (D&C 59:9–12). Latter Day Saints believe this means performing no labor that would keep them from giving their full attention to spiritual matters (Ex. 20:10). LDS prophets have described this as meaning they should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events, or participate in similar activities on that day. Elder Spencer W. Kimball
Spencer Woolley Kimball (March 28, 1895 – November 5, 1985) was an American business, civic, and religious leader who was the twelfth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The grandson of early Latter-day S ...
wrote in his ''The Miracle of Forgiveness'' that mere idle lounging on the Sabbath does not keep the day holy, and that it calls for constructive thoughts and acts.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encouraged to prepare their meals with "singleness of heart" on the Sabbath and believe the day is only for righteous activities (Is. 58:13). In most areas of the world, Latter-day Saints worship on Sunday.
First-day sabbatarian churches and organizations
The observance of the Lord's Day (Sunday) as the Christian Sabbath is known as first-day Sabbatarianism and this view was historically heralded by Nonconformist (Protestantism), nonconformist denominations, such as Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists, as well as many Episcopalians. First-day sabbatarianism impacted popular Western Christian culture, with influences remaining to the present day, e.g. Sunday laws.
Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Reformed Baptist
The Westminster Confession, historically upheld by Presbyterians, commands the belief of first-day Sabbatarian doctrine:
The Savoy Declaration, upheld by Puritan Congregationalists, as well as the Second London Baptist Confession, upheld by Reformed Baptists, advanced first-day Sabbatarian views identical to those expressed in the Westminster Confession.
General Baptist
General Baptists also advocate last-day Sabbatarian doctrine in their confessions of faith; for example, the Treatise on the Faith and Practice of the Free Will Baptists states:
Methodist
In keeping with historic Methodism, the ''Discipline'' of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches enshrines first-day Sabbatarianism:
Regarded as the "prince of Methodist theologians" William Burt Pope explained that "Its [the Sabbath] original purpose to commemorate the creation and bear witness to the government of the One God was retained, but, as the new creation of mankind in Christ Jesus had more fully revealed the Triune God, the day of the Lord's resurrection, the first day of the week, became the Christian Sabbath, or the Lord's Day". Pope delineated that the Christian Sabbath was "given by Christ Himself, the Lord also of the Sabbath" as with "His resurrection began a formal appointment of the First day, and with the Pentecost He finally ratified it." Methodist systematic theologian Richard Watson (Methodist), Richard Watson delineated that the observance of the Sabbath is part of the unchanging moral law, and "its observance is connected throughout the prophetic age with the highest promises, its violations with the severest maledictions; it was among the Jews in our Lord's time a day of solemn religious assembling, and was so observed by him; when changed to the first day of the week, it was the day on which the Christians assembled; it was called, by way of eminence, 'the Lord's day;' and we have inspired authority to say, that both under the Old and New Testament dispensations, it is used as an expressive type of the heavenly and eternal rest."
Schwarzenau Brethren
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)"
Interdenominational
Organizations that promote Sunday Sabbatarianism include Day One Christian Ministries
Day One Christian Ministries, formerly known as the Lord's Day Observance Society (LDOS), is a Christian organisation based in the United Kingdom that lobbies for no work on Sunday, the day that many Christians celebrate as the Sabbath, a day of ...
(formerly known as the Lord's Day Observance Society) in the UK. With unwavering support by mainstream Christian denominations, Sabbatarian organizations were formed, such as the American Sabbath Union (also known as the Lord's Day Alliance) and the Sunday League of America, following the American Civil War, to preserve the importance of Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. Founded in 1888, the Lord's Day Alliance continues to "encourage all people to recognize and observe a day of Sabbath rest and to worship the risen Lord Jesus Christ, on the Lord’s Day, Sunday". The Board of Managers of the Lord's Day Alliance is composed of clergy and laity from Christian churches, including Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian, Friends, Lutheran, Methodist, Non-Denominationalist, Orthodox, Presbyterian, and Reformed traditions. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union also supports Sabbatarian views and worked to reflect these in the public sphere. In Canada, the Lord's Day Alliance (renamed the People for Sunday Association of Canada) was founded there and it lobbied successfully to pass in 1906 the Lord's Day Act, which was not repealed until 1985. Throughout their history, Sabbatarian organizations, such as the Lord's Day Alliance, have mounted campaigns, with support in both Canada and Britain from labour unions with the goals of preventing secular and commercial interests from hampering freedom of worship and preventing them from exploiting workers.
The founder of the Moody Bible Institute declares, "Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. This fourth commandment begins with the word 'remember,' showing that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote the law on the tables of stone at Sinai. How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding?"
Seventh-day sabbatarian churches
Seventh-day Protestants regard Sabbath as a day of rest for all mankind and not Israel alone, based on Jesus's statement, "the Sabbath was made for man", and on early-church Sabbath meetings. Seventh-day Sabbatarianism has been criticized as an effort to combine Old Testament laws, practiced in Judaism, with Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, or to revive the Judaizers of the Epistle
An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...
s or the Ebionites.
Seventh-day Sabbatarians
The seventh-day Sabbath, observed from Friday evening to Saturday evening, is an important part of the beliefs and practices of seventh-day churches. These churches emphasize biblical references such as the ancient Hebrew practice of beginning a ...
practice a strict seventh-day Sabbath observance, similar to ''Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
'' in Judaism. The beginning took place in London, where the follower of preacher JohnTraske (1586–1636), called Hamlet Jackson, self-taught Bible student, convinced Traske of the observance of the seventh day. Many followers adhered to Sabbath observance after Traske's writings and preaching, including his wife Dorothy Traske.
In 1650, James Ockford published in London the book ''The Doctrine of the Fourth Commandment, Deformed by Popery, Reformed & Restored to its Primitive Purity'', which was the first writings of a Baptists, Baptist defending Sabbath observance. Their ideas gave rise to the Seventh Day Baptists, formed in early 17th-century in England. The establishment of the first Seventh Day Baptist Church was in 1651, is the oldest modern seventh-day Sabbath denomination. The couple Stephen and Anne Mumford were the first Seventh Day Baptists in the Americas, and with five other Baptists who kept the Sabbath, they established in 1672 the first Seventh Day Baptist Church in the Americas, located in Newport, Rhode Island, Newport, expanding into other territories.
Grace Communion International (Armstrongism) taught seventh-day Sabbath observance. The United Church of God also teaches seventh-day Sabbath observance.
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church arose in the mid-19th century in America after Rachel Oakes Preston, Rachel Oakes, a Seventh Day Baptist, gave a tract (literature), tract about the Sabbath to an Adventist Millerism, Millerite, who passed it on to Ellen G. White.
Fundamental Belief # 20 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church states:
Related terms
By synecdoche the term "Sabbath" in the New Testament may also mean simply a "se'nnight"[Strong's Concordance.] or seven-day week
A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are ofte ...
, namely, the interval between two Sabbaths. Jesus's parable of the Pharisee and the Publican describes the Pharisees, Pharisee as fasting "twice a week" (Greek ''dis tou sabbatou'', literally, "twice of the Sabbath").
Seven annual Biblical festivals, called by the name ''miqra'' ("called assembly") in Hebrew and "High Sabbaths, High Sabbath" in English, serve as supplemental testimonies to Sabbath. These are recorded in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and Book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy and do not necessarily occur on the Sabbath. They are observed by Jews and a minority of Christians. Three of them occur in spring: the first and seventh days of Christian observance of Passover, Passover, and Pentecost. Four occur in fall, in the seventh month, and are also called ''Shabbaton'': the Christian observances of Jewish holidays#Feast of Trumpets, Feast of Trumpets; Christian observances of Yom Kippur, Yom Kippur, "Sabbath of Sabbaths"; and the first and eighth days of Christian observances of Jewish holidays#Feast of Tabernacles, Tabernacles.
The year of ''Shmita'' (Hebrew שמיטה, literally, "release"), also called Sabbatical Year, is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel. During ''Shmita'', the land is to be left to lie fallow. A second aspect of ''Shmita'' concerns debts and loans: when the year ends, personal debts are considered nullified and forgiven.
Jewish ''Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
'' is a weekly day of rest cognate to Christian Sabbath, observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night; it is also observed by a minority of Christians. Customarily, ''Shabbat'' is ushered in by lighting candles shortly before sunset, at halakha, halakhicallly calculated times that change from week to week and from place to place.
The new moon, occurring every 29 or 30 days, is an important separately sanctioned occasion in Judaism and some other faiths. It is not widely regarded as Sabbath, but some Hebrew Roots and Pentecostalism, Pentecostal churches, such as the native New Israelites of Peru and the Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church, do keep the day of the new moon as Sabbath or rest day, from evening to evening. New-moon services can last all day.
In South Africa, Christian Boers have celebrated December 16, the Day of the Vow (now called the Day of Reconciliation, as annual Sabbath (holy day of thanksgiving) since 1838, commemorating a famous Boer victory over the Zulu Kingdom.
Many early Christian writers from the 2nd century, such as Epistle of Barnabas, pseudo-Barnabas, Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
, Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher.
Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...
and Hippolytus of Rome followed rabbinic Judaism (the ''Mishna'') in interpreting Sabbath not as a literal day of rest but as a Millennialism, thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, which would follow six millennia of world history.[
Secular use of "Sabbath" for "rest day", while it usually refers to Sunday, is often stated in North America to refer to different purposes for the rest day than those of Christendom. In ''McGowan v. Maryland'' (1961), the Supreme Court of the United States held that contemporary Maryland blue laws (typically, Sunday rest laws) were intended to promote the secular values of "health, safety, recreation, and general well-being" through a common day of rest, and that this day coinciding with majority Christian Sabbath neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days.
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See also
* Gregorian calendar
Notes
References
Citations
Works cited
; First-day
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; Seventh-day
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; Non-Sabbatarian
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; Varying
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Further reading
* Cotton, John Paul. ''From Sabbath to Sunday: a study in early Christianity'' (1933)
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* Land, Gary. ''Historical Dictionary of the Seventh-day Adventists'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)
* Stephen Miller (writer), Miller, Stephen, ''The Peculiar life of Sundays,'' (Harvard University Press, 2008.)
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External links
The Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath by James Chrystie - Reformed Presbyterian Church
The Christian Week and Sabbath by Methodist theologian, Daniel D. Whedon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabbath in Christianity
Sabbath in Christianity,
Christian terminology
Mosaic law in Christian theology
Sabbath, Christianity
Christian Sunday observances