Just want to say first hand, Cynical that this is not the first time you and I have had “discussions” on this forum and each time has been very respectful and interesting. I thank you for that.
You ask a good question as to “which is it” and the answer is very simple. We have been discussing how Catholic doctrine could be supported in Scripture though not specifically spoken of there.
Scripture specifically mentions meeting on Sunday to break bread. In Acts 20 they have met to break bread and Paul is speaking to them. The sermon is lengthy but Paul does not forget to break bread before he finishes. Breaking bread is used many time in Scripture and it refers to the Eucharistic meal. Though the new believers met daily to do this and Sunday is one of those days. Then Paul suggests that collections be taken every Sunday.
Jesus rose on Sunday, and first appeared to the Apostles on that Sunday and the subsequent one.
I did not say that Scripture called Sunday the Lord’s Day, I said that it came to be called that after John’s Revelations. The resurrection and the second coming are bound together and the breaking of the bread or the Mass as it is now called have evolved such that much of the Mass can be traced to Revelations and John’s vision of heavenly worship. Scott Hahn has a great book regarding that topic.
The point for this discussion however, was that Sunday worship is Scriptural. It was the tradition of the early Church that eventually led to Sunday being the day of Christian worship. It is not an establishment of man, but of His Church. It began when Jesus appeared to the Apostles on Sunday and evolved to what we have now. For the reasons I stated, Sunday became known as the Lord’s day and the breaking of the bread, the Eucharistic Mass became known as the Lord’s Supper.
Now as to paganism being the root of these things, in particular what you have said here, what follows is MY opinion regarding it. An opinion that has developed because of similar charges by nonChristians and atheists regarding the very story of Christ and Christianity which I have seen and read before.
As God has created all things, all things belong to Him to use for His will. All things work to the good of those who love Him as Scripture says and I accept that.
I see paganism, as well as other religious practices and other religions as proof that all of God’s creation desires to know Him and worship Him, because He is the one true God.
Throughout the history of man, in every age in every place the people have sought the same thing we seek. That is to know our Creator.
None of us does so perfectly and much of it is wrong, but the desire of our hearts is sincere in its longing.
God has written His law on our hearts and we cannot help but want to know Him, to praise Him and to please Him. As St. Augustine said so well in his Confessions, “You have created us for yourself Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.”
God revealed Himself to the Jews and through them He has given us our Savior. We may know Him because of Jesus and for this, I am grateful.
My love and praise may be imperfect, as I am imperfect, but I am made perfect through Christ whom I believe works in me and in His Church and has made all things new.
As I said, just my own thoughts on it.
I agree. We have had some rather in depth discussion and I have also been impressed with your responses. They are generally well thought out and I can always sense that your heart is right. I do sense that you are truly searching for truth. As long as we remain respectful, which I believe you and I have, it’s a learning experience. I truly feel in my spirit that you have Christ in your heart. Just remember that if we truly seek Him He will reveal to us His will in our lives. I hope we can continue to discuss and debate if necessary in the future.
>>Scripture specifically mentions meeting on Sunday to break bread. In Acts 20 they have met to break bread and Paul is speaking to them.<<
Please understand that it doesn’t matter to me on what day you gather. My contention was with your giving credit to the RCC as the source of setting that day. You illustrated yourself when explaining the reasoning for Sunday worship used the example of the Apostles so with that showed it was a custom well before the official RCC was formed. Remember that at that time there was no organized “church”. The church was and has always remained the number of those individuals who have accepted Jesus as their savior. It is not now nor has it ever been a single organization or gathering of those individuals. There will be those who regardless of what organization they gather with or building they gather in will not be part of the church. There will also be those who don’t belong to any organization and those who no matter what organization they belong to are part of the church. It simply comes down to a personal relationship with Christ.
>>I did not say that Scripture called Sunday the Lord’s Day, I said that it came to be called that after John’s Revelations.<<
The “day of the Lord”, “the Lords day” has a special meaning in scripture. I is what the tribulation is called. If you study all the instances in scripture where that phrase is used you will see that it is a “great and terrible day”. "Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every man's heart will melt, and they will be dismayed. Pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in travail. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and lay low the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make men more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of his fierce anger." (Isaiah 13:6-13)