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Posted on 04/26/2025 3:22:15 AM PDT by vespa300
Born January 20, 1939 and raised in Rome, a stones-throw from the Vatican wall, Dr. Bacchiocchi became an Italo-American scholar who studied, lived and served in several countries. His college education was gained in England at Newbold College where he earned a B.A. degree in Theology. From England he went to America for his graduate studies, achieving M.A. and B.D. degrees at Andrews University Theological Seminary. After completion of his seminary training in 1964, he served in Ethiopia for five years with his wife Anna, teaching Bible and History.
In 1969 Dr. Bacchiocchi returned to his native city of Rome to study at the prestigious Pontifical Gregorian University, where he was the first non-Catholic to be admitted in over 450 years. At the Gregorian he spent the next five years working toward a Doctoratus in Church History. Attaining the academic distinction of summa cum laude for his class-work and dissertation From Sabbath to Sunday, he was awarded a gold medal by Pope Paul VI for his achievements.
(Excerpt) Read more at biblicalperspectives.com ...
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This cult also has the world's second largest private religious education sytem in the world. AdventHealth is also worldwide with hospitals, doctors and healthcare professionals around the globe.
The late Dr. Bacchiocchi received the Pope's GOLD MEDAL for his thesis on the change of the Sabbath by the Roman Catholic church from Sabbath to Sunday. The Vatican archives were made available to him for his research and thesis. He discovered among other things, the holy weekly day change came about decades after the apostolic church, there was no Sunday worship in Scripture. Sunday worship was a gradual change due to the hostility that arose between early Christians in Rome and Jews. His book "From Sabbath to Sunday" is the best most scholarly book ever written on this subject.
He was no amateur hour Ph’d with silly notions like “What about the 8th day” or what about Passover, or , Jesus is my Sabbath, or we don’t know what day is the seventh day, or the weekly holy day is like circumscision, it’s jewish, or Jesus broke the Sabbath, and all that nonsense.
He was a Protestant. He was deep and scholarly.And the head of the Roman Catholic church awarded him a gold medal for his work on this subject.
From one of his many writings. This one about the ORIGIN of the Sabbath.
Quote:
The Creation-Sabbath in the Old Testament The biblical view of the origin of the Sabbath is unequivocal: the Sabbath, as the seventh day, originated at the completion of the creation week as a result of three divine acts: God “rested,” “blessed,” and “hallowed” the seventh day (Gen 2:2-3). Twice Genesis 2:2-3 states that God “rested” on the seventh day from all His work. The Hebrew verb sabat, translated “rested,” denotes cessation, not relaxation. The latter idea is expressed by the Hebrew verb nuah, used in Exodus 20:11, where the divine rest fulfills an anthropological function as a model for human rest. However, in Genesis 2:2-3 the divine rest has a cosmological function. It serves to explain that God, as Karl Barth puts it, “was content to be the Creator of this particular creation . . . He had no occasion to proceed to further creations. He needed no further creations.”4 To acknowledge this fact, God stopped.
Genesis 2:3 affirms that the Creator “blessed” (barak) the seventh The Sabbath and Creation 15 day just as He had blessed animals and Adam and Eve on the previous day (Gen 1:22, 28). Divine blessings in Scripture are not merely “good wishes”—they are assurance of fruitfulness, prosperity, and a happy and abundant life (Ps 133:3). In terms of the seventh day, it means that God promised to make the Sabbath a beneficial and vitalizing power through which human life is enriched and renewed. In Exodus 20:11, the blessing of the creation seventh day is explicitly linked with the weekly Sabbath.
End quote.
Now that is Bible Scholarship!
How utterly deep as he distinguishes the “rest” in the Sabbath found in Genesis. And the “rest” of the Sabbath found in Exodus.
In Genesis it denotes a “rest” in a COSMOLOGICAL function. Creation! In Exodus the Sabbath “rest” denotes an “Anthropolical” function. Human rest!!
What a scholar! Then he quotes Karl Bath! God was content with his creation. He need not go any further.
In fact the Sabbath made for man in Genesis is the God’s exclamation point on his perfect creation!
Amateur hour here calls it a “ceremonial” law, or even compare it to circumscision and call it Jewish. When we actually read the Bible and Genesis, we it’s COSMOLOGICAL function...the entire universe was created. Perfect. In 6 literal 24 hour periods. And then the 7th day God was content, as Karl Barth puts it. He needed no more creations.
What a difference in Bible scholarship.
Duly recognized as a caucus post. Happy sabbath.
CC
Mentioning another Church/Denomination traditionally breaks Caucus, especially if done by the original poster, and arguably the article.
You could post it as Adventist/Catholic caucus, which would be amusing.
By chance do you have a link to the dissertation?
____Mentioning another Church/Denomination traditionally breaks Caucus, especially if done by the original poster, and arguably the article.
You could post it as Adventist/Catholic caucus, which would be amusing.
By chance do you have a link to the dissertation?____
I don’t mind if anyone posts anything on my caucus. I mean I have already been called everything in the book......from Satan to heretic, to jerk, etc.
I put the caucus there as sort of a courtesy to those who are not interested in anything Adventist, so they can click on by.
Seems if I don’t put caucus they feel they are forced to comment about how much they hate these posts. Weird.
I don’t have the actual dissertation. I met him twice in the late 90s. He was the most humble, kind , and funny man. His writing and scholarship are superb. So deep. So articulate.
One ex Seventh day Adventist attempted to debate him and it was posted on line. He lasted less than a couple of exchanges before he quit. Bacchicchi crushed him.
____Duly recognized as a caucus post. Happy sabbath.
CC____
Thank you sir. Feel free to post. I enjoy the debate. Attack, ridicule, disparage, call me any name, just don’t call me late for dinner. I won’t be a tattle tale or hit abuse. And may God bless you!
By the way, his book “From Sabbath to Sunday” is still available on Amazon I believe. And I believe it includes much of what he wrote in his dissertation. I have read it and his follow up.....”The Sabbath under Crossfire.”
In that book, he talks some on how the church of rome seems to changing her postion on the origin of Sunday worship. For over 1000 years, she acknowledged without question, she alone changed it and there is not a text in the Bible that supports Sunday as being holy.
But in this book “sabbath under crossfire” Dr. Bacchiocchi writes she is now using Bible texts to show the apostolic church was keeping Sunday. A definite and clear change.
And we saw that clearly in Pope John Paul’s apostolic letter in 1998, DIES DOMINI which the subject was solely on the Lord’s day. sunday and the need of the faithful to keep it holy.
And in the catechism reference is made to Bible texts I believe that imply the apostolic church was starting to worship on Sunday.
there is a reason for this I believe, the change on her postion.
Thank you
I don’t know how old Caucus designation is-—I found FR in the waning moments of JPII’s life, so am relatively new, at least in comparison with many who I know—but I suspect that it was proposed by a Catholic (I’m guessing one of the other two posters that I am pinging, who ran the two main Catholic lists when I joined) as a way to allow Catholics to discuss Catholic things among themselves without having the discussion hijacked.
There are rules on how Caucus Threads operate, and those who have been around generally appreciate, or at least know, the rules, and so it does not surprise me that they respect your Caucus designation on threads that are strictly internal SA threads.
When this was explained to me twenty years ago, it was pointed out that the Religion Forum tended to be the least charitable forum, making it helpful for people who like Religion but loathe acrimony to have this option.
I’d be more interested in the dissertation—something that has been through the rigors of an old-time doctoral defense packs a bit more authority—saying that The Greg thought it both good enough to pass and good enough to put up for an award means a particular text has been well-vetted.
What language was it written in? Given the date, Latin isn’t out of the question, and my Latin, while likely outside the top 10% at my institution (possibly outside of the top 20%—and that is including students) can be forced into service in a pinch. Italian would be, from my perspective, unfortunate.
____When this was explained to me twenty years ago, it was pointed out that the Religion Forum tended to be the least charitable forum, making it helpful for people who like Religion but loathe acrimony to have this option.____
Yes. I think I understand what you are saying. The reality is that no religion can be worse then bad religion. Bad religion is intolerance.
The hardest people for Jesus to save....ironically....were Sabbath keepers. They were a people who were blessed with the oracles of God, a chosen nation. And their job was to share this blessing with a heathen pagan world.
But they became proud. And intolerant. And viewed the world as people less than them. God gave them 490 years to get it together and they failed. The last straw was the stoning of Stephen. So Jesus said the Kingdom will be taken from you and given a new nation that will bear fruit.
He never changed the moral law, summarized in the 10 commandments one jot or tittle. The problem was not with the law. It was with the people. In fact, he said I will have a people and I will write MY LAW in their heart.
The chosen people could never get the law in their heart and ironically, how they viewed the blessings of the Seventh day Sabbath, how they turned it from a blessing to a burden is the most striking illustration of their intolerance.
Jesus lifted up the Seventh day Sabbath, he restored it, he went out of his way to do this......performing a third of his miracles on the holy day that was made holy in eden at creation .....and they accused him of breaking the Sabbath which is and still is a sin.
Transgression of the law is a sin. Because God wants us to set apart his holy day for him. He is a jealous God. He desires our communion and a day of rest, his holy day. He gave us the pattern of how to live.....work, rest, work, rest.
HE did not need 6 days to create everything. He could have blinked and the universe and earth could have been created. He is God. Nothing is too hard for him.
But he is so loving, so considerate, knowing exactly what we would want......he creates a 7 day cycle. Ending with a holy day.
But we like TV and ball games and shopping. And money and now look at our society. It’s crumbling because as one great Protestant said...I believe Karl Barth...or maybe Moody.....
When the holy day goes, the church goes, and when the church goes, the family goes, and when the family goes, society goes..and the demons rule.
Today...the demons are ruling. All becaues man and the church has forget......what God said to remember.
I meant to say bad religion can be worse than no religion. I have guys at the gymm who are not Christians and they are nicer than some of the Christians I debate the Sabbath with. And I see it here too.
And the church of the dark ages proves it. They were as bad if not worse than ISIS.
From Wikipedia:
There was some controversy in the 2000s over Bacchiocchi’s claim to have received the awards summa cum laude (Latin for “with highest honors”), the Pope’s gold medal, and an official Roman Catholic imprimatur (Latin for “let it be printed”) for his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University. An official letter claimed Bacchiocchi did not receive these awards.[9] By 2007, both parties agreed he had received a summa cum laude and the Pope’s gold medal, for the Licentia [a phase of the doctoral program]; and only a magna cum laude for the Doctoratus itself. Bacchiocchi defended his actions by claiming the difference between the Licentia and the Doctoratus is small and would not be understood by most English speakers.[10]
So the guy is a liar. Not a surprise.
___By 2007, both parties agreed he had received a summa cum laude and the Pope’s gold medal, for the Licentia [a phase of the doctoral program]; and only a magna cum laude for the Doctoratus itself. Bacchiocchi defended his actions by claiming the difference between the Licentia and the Doctoratus is small and would not be understood by most English speakers___
Yeah, he got a Gold Medal from the Pope as he said, and he was magna cum laude as he said. What a liar.
Re: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/galatians/4-10.htm
Ellicotts commentary on Galatians 4:10 follows:
'As to the bearing of this passage on the general question of the observance of seasons, it is to be noticed that the reference is here to the adoption by the Galatians of the Jewish seasons as a mark of the extent to which they were prepared to take on themselves the burden of the Mosaic law. It does not necessarily follow that the observance of Christian seasons is condemned. At the same time, it is quite clear that St. Paul places all such matters under the head of “elements” or “rudiments.” They belong to the lowest section of Christian practice, and the more advanced a Christian is the less he needs to be bound by them. This, again, is qualified by the consideration that it is dangerous for any one individual to assume his own advanced condition, and to think himself able to dispense with the safeguards which his brother-Christians require. It is safest to follow the general rule of the Church, so long as it is done intelligently—i.e., with a consciousness of the reason and expediency of what is done, and not in a spirit of mere mechanical routine. The comparison between the literal and the spiritual observance of seasons, and the superiority of the latter as the more excellent way, is well brought out by Origen in some comments upon this passage: “If it be objected to us on this subject that we are accustomed to observe certain days—as, for example, the Lord’s Day, the Preparation, the Passover, or Pentecost—I have to answer that, to the perfect Christian—who is ever in his thoughts, words, and deeds serving his natural Lord, God the Word—all his days are the Lord’s, and he is always keeping the Lord’s Day. He, also, who is unceasingly preparing himself for the true life, and abstaining from the pleasures of this life which lead astray so many, such a one is always keeping the Preparation Day. Again, he who considers that ‘Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us,’ and that it is his duty to keep the feast by eating of the flesh of the Word, never ceases to keep the Paschal Feast. And, finally, he who can truly say: ‘We are risen with Christ,’ and ‘He hath exalted us, and made us sit with Him in heavenly places in Christ,’ is always living in the season of Pentecost . . . But the majority of those who are accounted believers are not of this advanced class; but from being either unable or unwilling to keep every day in this manner, they require some sensible memorial to prevent spiritual things from passing away altogether from their minds” (Against Celsus, viii. 22, 23).'
___”(9)...how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? ___
Say uh....how is a day of rest “Bondage” And is telling the truth “bondage” Is not committing adultery bondage to you too? What about stealing things....is that “bondage” to you also?
Bizarre that people turn a “day of rest” into bondage. that’s kinda freaky. I guess Jesus should have said.....he “made bondage for man.”.....instead of what he actally said....the Sabbath was “made for man.”
Weird......some of this is weird.
I believe Paul's repeated teaching contrasting the Law and grace was meant to say (paraphrase), 'If you find your salvation and righteousness on anything other than the blood (sacrifice) of Christ, you remain in your sin."
We know Paul was a practicing Jew. He observed Jewish traditions. Yet, he taught salvation by grace through faith and not the Law. When Paul and the Apostles met in Jerusalem to discuss what was required of gentile Believers, very few things were required. Keeping the Sabbath was not required.
Paul was accused of teaching that we should sin so that grace abounds. What Paul was preaching was that 'nothing' - no sin, no performance, no ritual - was above the grace of God.
Our righteousness is like filthy rags. Our performance is like filth rags. The Lord is not satisfied in our performance. He is satisfied when we are in His Son. Period!
_____I believe Paul’s repeated teaching contrasting the Law and grace was meant to say (paraphrase), ‘If you find your salvation and righteousness on anything other than the blood (sacrifice) of Christ, you remain in your sin.”____
Well yeah, but Seventh day Adventists find no more righteousness in telling the truth on our tax returns, in being faithful to our wife, in not stealing our neighbors newspaper, in not worshipping Buddah, in not killing the guy in front of me at the supermarket with 40 items when it says 15 items.....
We find no more righteousness in obeying those commandments than observing the holy day of rest God gave us which in the heart of the same law.
Why would you presume we find righteousness in that commandment than the others which you keep?
Makes no sense. I’m pretty sure you don’t find any more righteousness in telling the truth on your tax returns.
You seem to be treating of the 10 commandments differently than all of the other 9.
why? ON what basis? Its ok to be honest. I’m not trying to persuade anyone. I just want clarity. And the truth is....the 9 commandments .....most here are not believers in 10 commandments. It’s 9 commandments.
I think we need to be honest. Instead of word games.
Thanks for your post and the caucus.
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