Replies

I assume this is a joke.

Your previous comment to my saying that the Sabbath is the 7th day was some bizzare comment about creation beginning on Monday (the SECOND day of the week). Do you know what the first day of the week is? Do you know what the 7th day of the week is? Only in modern Europe is Monday considered the first day of the week.

I am assuming you absolutely nothing of the history of the Sabbath in Christianity to be making such odd comments. There is no dispute over which is the first day of the week (common Sunday), and which is the seventh day of the week (common Saturday). I would tell you to go read the decrees of the council Laodicea, the decrees from Constantine following the council of Nicea, Eusebius, but you likely would not know what I am talking about. So give those to you. I assume you have no background in Church history, so I'll start by telling you that the Council of Nicea (where the "Nicean Creed" comes from) was around 321 CE. It was made up of all the Bishops of the church and was presided over by Emperor Constantine. In it, he decreed that the Roman Empire would recognize Sunday as the Sabbath day of rest.

"On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing. in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed."

Bishop Eusebius, was the most notable church historian of the time (he was a supporter of Constantine) recorded this about the establishing of Sunday (1st Day of the Week) as the new Sabbath in the Roman Empire:

"All things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord's Day."

The "Lord's Day" was the ecclesiastical language used by those in the 3rd and 4th Century to refer to "Sunday". beginning in about the 2nd Century, they honored the first day of the week as "The Lord's Day" because of the resurrection - but the phrase "The Lord's Day" is only used once in Scripture in Revelation 1. There is no identification with which day of the week (if any) that refers to - but later in the 2nd Century it became to be a phrase used to decribe the First Day of the Week (if you can't count, that is Sunday).

Constantine's decree did not stick. Rome and Alexandria followed through, but the eastern church still was honoring the 7th Day (Saturday) as Sabbath. The Council of Laodicea met around 364 CE to settle this and other issues they saw as resulting from undue influence by Jews in the church:

"CANON XXIX
CHRISTIANS must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ."

Even a casual church history reader - no matter which persuasion regarding Sabbath - will quickly see that early church history spoke of the Sabbath as DIFFERENT and SEPARATE from the "Lord's Day" - which is quickly seen as the 1st Day of the Week (from the Gospels, the day of the resurrection).

If your education regarding Scripture is also lacking, then you likely do not know that the word SUNDAY is not found in Scripture. References are to the # day of the week. Jesus was resurrected on the First day of the Week.

Matthew 28:1: "Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb."

This is repeated in Mark, Luke, and refered to in John.

Regarding which day the early church met together, there are numerous references to meeting on the Sabbath (the 7th day of the week - see Matthew 28:1). There is also this mention in Acts 20:7:

"Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight."

Most anachronistic readers read this and read their experiences into the First Century. They assume that Luke is referring to Sunday night - and Paul's LONG sermon from Sunday morning (after all, doesn't the sermon start at 11:00AM on Sunday - surely PAUL knew that /sacrasm) - all the way until Midnight. It was not until centuries later that the reckoning of when a day begins fell to midnight - when Luke wrote this they followed the Biblical mandate of when a day begins (Leviticus 16, Genesis 1) - "in the evening" i.e. sundown. A day was from sundown to sundown. It was, and still is tradition for Jewish people to meet at sundown "Saturday" and have a "havdalah" service - a time of "sweet" and breaking of bread to remind themselves how sweet the Sabbath is. Havdalah is to separate the Sabbath from the first day of the week (Sunday). The disciples came together to break bread on Saturday night (after sundown, this was the first day of the week). Paul, being a keeper of Sabbath would not have traveled on the Sabbath, so this was a fairwell for him AFTER the Sabbath was over - and he traveled on SUNDAY - the First Day of the Week. (Acts 17:2; Acts 16:13; Acts 13:42)

I do not know your background, but if you are also Lutheran, then you surely know that the Roman church claimed that Luther was not entirely faithful to Sola Scriptura precisely because of the issue of Sunday being considered the Sabbath by Luther and others. Catholic doctrine holds that the moving of Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday is PROOF that the Roman church holds authority over all "Christendom" - because the Bible does not provide that authority. Hence, in their twisted reasoning the Roman church has more authority than Scripture - and Luther knew this by their reckoning. Even some of their more recent catechisms mock Protestants regarding their treating Sunday (if you can't count, that is the First Day of the Week) as "Sabbath".