Did the early Church move the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? (Ecumenical)

Catholic.com ^ | Peggy Frye

[narses]

Full Question

Until recently, I always thought Catholics worshiped on the Sabbath, and that the early Church moved the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Is this true? Answer

This is a common misunderstanding. Catholics do not worship on the Sabbath, which according to Jewish law is the last day of the week (Saturday), when God rested from all the work he had done in creation (Gen. 2:2-3). Catholics worship on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week (Sunday, the eighth day); the day when God said "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3); the day when Christ rose from the dead; the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles (Day of Pentecost). The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: "The Church celebrates the day of Christ’s Resurrection on the ‘eighth day,’ Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord’s Day" (CCC 2191).

The early Church did not move the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Instead "The Sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday, which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ" (CCC 2190). Sunday is the day Catholics are bound to keep, not Saturday.

We see evidence of this in Scripture:

On the first day of the week when we gathered to break bread, Paul spoke to them because he was going to leave on the next day, and he kept on speaking until midnight (Acts 20:7). On the first day of the week each of you should set aside and save whatever one can afford, so that collections will not be going on when I come (1 Cor. 16:2). Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or Sabbath (Col. 2:16). The Catechism also says:

By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of Christ’s Resurrection, the Church celebrates the Paschal mystery every seventh day, which day is appropriately called the Lord’s Day or Sunday. The day of Christ’s Resurrection is both the first day of the week, the memorial of the first day of creation, and the "eighth day," on which Christ after his "rest" on the great Sabbath inaugurates the "day that the Lord has made," the "day that knows no evening." (CCC 1166)

Other CCC references to the Lord’s Day: 349, 2174, 2175, 2191

Answered by: Peggy Frye

[BipolarBob]

Well, alrighty then.

[Rashputin]

It's always been interesting to me that the 7dth Day folks preach about the AntiChrist all the time but only exist because a woman who, by their own methods, has a name that equals 666 .

White just revived and repackaged Miller's "Great Disappointment" trash she knew sold well and started making money. She's no different than the Rapture crowd who revived a doctrine that had been soundly rebutted by every major denomination in this country and rejected by all but a very few churches, repackaged it, and started making money.

That's how cults work, they scratch itching ears.

[metmom]

Romans 14:1-12 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

John 4:19-24 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Scriptural command is simply to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Mark 2:27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Galatians 5:1-6 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

[BipolarBob]

You feel better, now?

[svcw]

huh?
That is a really weird statement.

[daniel1212]

Acts 17:2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them,and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.

Wrong BipolarBob. That is not an example of a NT church specifically meeting on the 7th day, but evangelizing those who did, and my argument was that you cannot one example of a NT church specifically meeting on the 7th day, while there are many examples of the disciples meeting on the first day.

Nor can you provide one place in which the 4th command is reiterated under the new cov., in conspicuous contrast to the other 9, while by nature the 4th command pertains to class of ceremonial laws regarding ritual observances of "days, and months, and times, and years," (Gal. 4:10) "in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)

This states that And the words "ton sabbaton" or "sabbath days"; are the same words translated "Sabbath day" in Exodus 20:8 in the Septuagint (the Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Greek).

Vines states that in 68 occurrences the plural here is only once used in the New Testament of more than a single day. (Act 17:2).

Another study finds that of all 180 occurrences of sabtt, sabbaton, and sabbata in both Hebrew and Greek, 85% of the time these refer to the weekly sabbath.

Then,

If Col 2:16 refers to the weekly Sabbath, then Sabbatarians are 100% refuted. Herein lies the battle ground. But as you will see, Sabbath keepers have little more than a few lame arguments that are easily falsified. Only the blind and deceived could miss the simple truth in Col 2:16.

A. One of the most stunning and irrefutable proofs that Col 2:16 must be the weekly Sabbath day, is the common "Year, Month, Week" pattern used in Col 2:16.

When God wanted to refer to the whole system of Jewish holy days, rather than name them all, He would refer to the yearly, monthly and weekly as representing the whole system. Sabbatarians argue that the Sabbath Day of Col 2:16 is the years Sabbaths. But yearly Sabbaths were already referred to in Col 2:16 as "festivals". The "Year, Month, Week" pattern is so well established in the Old Testament, that Col 2:16 must refer to the weekly Sabbath. Notice, even Gal 4:10, following this pattern, states the weekly Sabbath is abolished!

Yearly, monthly, weekly pattern proves it is the weekly sabbath
	Yearly	monthly	weekly
1 Chronicles 23:31	fixed festivals	new moons	Sabbaths
2 Chronicles 2:4	appointed feasts	new moons	Sabbaths
2 Chronicles 8:13	annual feasts	new moons	Sabbaths
2 Chronicles 31:3	fixed festivals	new moons	Sabbaths
Nehemiah 10:33	appointed times	new moon	Sabbaths
Isa 1:13-14	Appointed feasts	New moon	Sabbath
Ezekiel 45:17	appointed feasts	new moons	Sabbaths
Ezek 46:1-11	appointed feasts	new moons	Sabbath
Hosea 2:11	festal assemblies	new moons	Sabbaths
Galatians 4:10	years	months	days
Colossians 2:16	festival	new moon	Sabbath day

 

B. All Sabbatarians are taught by their pastors, the false argument that the Plural "sabbaton" in Col 2:16 cannot refer to weekly Sabbath day. But as we can clearly see, there are at least 5 other places where the plural is used of the weekly Sabbath. The deception is even worse, given the fact that while most Seventh-day Adventist pastors know about these other passages, they do not tell their people in the pews!

1. Matthew 28:1, "Now after the Sabbath" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
2. Luke 4:16, "He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
3. Acts 16:13, "And on the Sabbath day" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
4. Exodus 20:8 (in Septuagint) "Remember the Sabbath day" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
5. Leviticus 23:37-38 (in Septuagint) "besides those of the Sabbaths of the Lord" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]

C. Some Sabbatarians will put forth another false argument saying, "The lack of the definite article before the word "Sabbath" in the Greek in Col 2:16 proves it cannot refer to the weekly Sabbath. Of course this argument is no more valid than the one above regarding the plural "sabbaton". The truth is, we find several places where the weekly Sabbath lacks the definite article. An example of a definite article is the word THE in the following sentence: "Only Jews kept THE weekly Sabbath." The same sentence that lacks the definite article would be: "Only Jews kept weekly Sabbath." Or "Only Jews kept a weekly Sabbath."

1. Matthew 28:1, "Now after the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
2. John 5:9, "Now it was the Sabbath on that day" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
3. John 5:10, "It is the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
4. John 5:16, "on the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]

D. A final false objection Sabbath keepers will sometimes raise against Col 2:14-16 referring to the weekly Sabbath, is the fact v14 calls that which was nailed to the cross "hostile to us". Sabbatarians continue to falsely argue: "The weekly Sabbath was not hostile to us!" However, 2 Cor 3:7 calls the entire ten commandment law, a "ministry of death". (http://www.bible.ca/7-Col2-14-16.htm)

[Elsie]

No, The Sabbath is STILL Saturday.

(Spanish speakers KNOW this by looking at their calendar...)

[Shimmer1]

No it’s not. It’s the logical next step. If we don’t have to keep one law of the Ten, not a Commandment written with God’s own finger, then we don’t have to keep any.

[Elsie]

By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?

Well; it's in the BOOK a couple of places...

Romans 14:5 (niv)
One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.

Acts 15
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

[Elsie]

Does Anyone understand what a CONTRACT is?

The Lord GOD had a CONTRACT with Israel. They are His ‘chosen people’. The CONTRACT had a mention about the SABBATH in it.

If you ain’t Jewish, then you have NOT entered into that contract.

Worship GOD in the FREEDOM you have and quit bickering over dinky little points of doctrine.

---

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

[kenavi]

Sow when do you and where do you sacrifice your animals to relive of your sin?

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6)

[Sloth]

seriously? You think the entire population of Earth might have just simultaneously forgotten what day it is?

[Lakeshark]

Hey. It's Sunday. Says right there at the bottom of your post....

:-)

[TexasKamaAina]

I get all that. But it seems like circumcision and the Sabbath are of different orders. After all, keeping the Sabbath is one of the 10 commandments.

[BipolarBob]

However, 2 Cor 3:7 calls the entire ten commandment law, a "ministry of death".

Well, boo hoo. The Ten Commandments condemns. It brings death (upon its transgressors). That's what it does. But it defines sin. Sin is transgression of the Law. People are always looking for ways around the Law. Maybe Bill Clinton can tell us what the definition of "is" is. But Jesus did not come to destroy the Law (Read Matthew 5:17-19) and so it remains. Grace doesn't cover willful sin.

[svcw]

daniel1212
I feel sorry for people tied up in knots over legalism.
Have a nice evening.

[daniel1212]

There are two times where scripture says that they “came together” on the first day, and both of those times were at the end of the sabbath,

Rather, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread." (Act 20:7)

As stated here , Regardless of whether the memorial feast was observed before or after midnight, one can be assured that it took place on Sunday, because it was “on the first day of the week” that the disciples met “to break bread.”

The reason that eating the Lord’s Supper after midnight would have been acceptable conduct for many Christians is because the Jewish method of counting time was still widely acknowledged. The Jews and the Romans used different standards for calculating the hours of the day, and although both systems split the day into two periods of twelve hours, a new day for the Romans began at midnight (cf. Pliny, n.d., 2:79), whereas a new day for the Jews began in the evening at sundown and lasted until sundown the following day. Luke, like Matthew and Mark, used the Jewish method of reckoning time in both his gospel account and in the book of Acts (cf. Luke 23:44; Acts 2:15; 23:23; cf. also John 19:14; 20:1,19).

Thus, Paul’s pre-midnight preaching corresponded to our Saturday evening, but was the beginning of their “first day.” Regardless of whether they observed the Lord’s Supper on the evening of the first day or the morning of the first day, it was observed on the proper day, the day on which Jesus rose from the grave (Luke 24:1)—the first day of the week.

Also they met,

1). To Mary, On the morning of the resurrection - Matthew 28:8-10; Mark 16:9; John 20:11-18

2). To two disciples going to Emmaus - Luke 24:13-33; Mark 16:12-13

3). To Simon (Peter) - Luke 24:31-35.

4). To the eleven disciples on the evening of Resurrection Sunday - Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:36-44; John 20:19-23

5). To the Eleven disciples "Eight days later" - John 20:26-29

Pentecost happened on the first day of the week! The Church was born on the first day of the week! That doesn't make Sunday the Sabbath, it just tells you that after the resurrection of Jesus, the Sabbath is not emphasized.

When a day is mentioned in connection with the appearances of the risen Lord Jesus, it is always the first day of the week. Look at the extremely important events that occurred in the life of the first followers of Christ on the first day of the week.

1). Jesus startled them by appearing to them on the first day (John 20:19).

2). Jesus received worship from Thomas (John 20:27-28).

3). Sunday evening Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to His disciples evidently like He had in instituting the communion meal (Luke 22:19) and their "eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (Luke 24:31).

4). Sunday evening Jesus blessed His disciples twice saying "Peace be with you" (John 20:20; 26).

5). That same Sunday evening Jesus "...breathed on them and said, 'receive the Holy Spirit'" John 20:22.

6). On Sunday evening Jesus gave His disciples the ecclesiastical authority to proclaim forgiveness to those who believe in Him through the Gospel (John 20:23).

[BipolarBob]

I can see all kinds of loopholes I could explore using that logic. Heck (pardon the expression), I may start my own religion.

[BipolarBob]

The Sabbath is a commemoration of the Creation of the Universe. Read Genesis Chapter 2:1-3. It is for all people. All of mankind. To rest and reflect upon our Creator and His goodness. Satan doesn’t want that. Choose wisely.

[ladyL]

Hebrew days started at sundown. Sunday started at sundown on Saturday, the Sabbath. Believers would meet at sundown to celebrate the Havdalla ceremony or saying good bye to the Sabbath. It was then they would have a meal, sing Psalms, have a teaching and go home to get up the next day, which was Sunday to go to work. Jesus followed this every week of his life, the disciples followed this routine every week of their life. EVERYONE WENT TO WORK ON SUNDAY, the first day of the week. The Nicean Council 325AD declared Sunday the Sabbath. GOD NEVER CHANGED THE SABBATH.