A Plot Hole In The Early Christian Church

2/25/2021 | GardenerForLife

[GardenerForLife]

And the biblical canon was compiled in the 2nd century.

Which was accomplished via popular vote and not divine inspiration through a prophet. From my point of view, all their decisions are suspect. These are the same bunch that eventually tortured people, burned them at the stake, started whole sale war in order to force conversions, and had everyone praying to Mary instead of God the Father like Jesus taught, etc, etc, etc...

That's the point of my OP. They started down the wrong path with Linus and there's no way they could ever get back on the right path. You can trace the growing separation from the actual teachings of Jesus through time. Until now the gulf is so wide... Well I don't need to go any further, there are tons of threads on other people's complaints.

The point is, it's not random because of a single bad person(Ravi Z or the current Pope or whoever), it's a heritage that is repeated through time and can be traced back to it's source.

[GardenerForLife]

Welcome to FR.

Thanks!!

5.56mm

Are you suggesting I should up armor?

[lasereye]

Again the modern trinity theory wasn’t officially recognized as “truth” until over 300 years AFTER the death of Christ.

I guess you’re referring to the Council of Nicaea. That was about the relationship between the Father and Christ. It had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. So by your logic we can’t accept the unity of the Father and Christ.

[DouglasKC]

The JEWISH Christians were to continue to observe feast days, etc. Gentile Christians had only to refrain from things strangled, the eating of blood, food offered to idols, and fornication. See Acts chapter 15. (Of course, the two commandments given by Jesus was to be observed by all).

This argument is another justification by modern Christians to disregard God's wishes. Think about it: Were these THE only things expected of gentiles who became Christians? Were they allowed to:

Rob? Steal? Murder? Covet? Dishonor their mother and father?Worship idols?

None of these things are mentioned in the letter so by the same token it MUST have been okay for them to do this.

Clearly the judgement in Acts 15 wasn't limiting gentile Christians on just those things mentioned in the letter. So what gives?

Well it just so happens that the things listed in the letter were the most common things that pagan gentiles were into. They were being instructed to stop these things immediately because they were the most offensive to Jewish Christians. They were expected to learn the rest EVERY sabbath:

Act 15:20  but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. 
Act 15:21  For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath." 

Notice what's being said here. Paul is saying that they will learn about Moses and what's in the scriptures on every sabbath.

[lasereye]

What is the Holy Spirit to you? Just another name for God?

[DouglasKC]

An early example of Christians meeting together on a Sunday for the purpose of “breaking bread” and preaching is cited in the New Testament book of Acts (Acts 20:7) 7On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight

Except it wasn't Sunday. It was Saturday night.

The word usually translated "First day of the week" supposedly denoting Sunday by modern Christians is a gross mistranslation of the greek. It is literally this:

(LITV)  And on the first of the sabbaths, the disciples having been assembled to break bread, being about to depart on the morrow, Paul reasoned to them. And he continued his speech until midnight.

A proper translation also might be "one of the sabbaths". So the proper way to understand this is that it is one of the sabbaths or perhaps the first of the sabbaths. If "first of the sabbaths" then it's probably denoting the first sabbath that is counted to Pentecost from the days of unleavened bread.

IF it really is the first day of the week then that would have started Saturday after sunset.

Scripture is telling us that one on of the sabbaths (or maybe JUST after the sabbath Saturday night) Paul and the rest of them got together for a meal (breaking bread). They were doing this because Paul was going to leave the next day, Sunday, on a long journey. Paul spoke to almost midnight.

It was either already dark (past sunset on Saturday, or became dark because verse 8 says that the lamps were burning.

After Eutychus falls out of the window and is revived, they break bread (eat) again:

Act 20:11  Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.

  So if the argument is that if this was a Sunday night then then they would have been breaking bread and fellowshipping on the 2nd day of the week...Sunday night after sunset. But scripture doesn't say that. Not even close.

[DouglasKC]

We are made in God’s image. We are a trinity ourselves -— body, soul (the mind and emotions), and spirit (the part of us that is alive unto God).

There are many glimpses of the heavenly realm in the bible...most notably in Daniel 7:

Dan 7:9  "I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;
  Dan 7:10  A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. 
Dan 7:11  "I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 
Dan 7:12  As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 
Dan 7:13  "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 
Dan 7:14  Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. 

Also Revelation:

Rev_22:1  And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Rev_22:3  And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

Who has thrones? The members of the Godhead...God and the lamb. No throne...in other words...no divine presence for anyone else in this vision.

Rev_7:10  and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

Rev_5:13  And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!"

Again this would be a terrible slight to the holy spirit IF it is a divine, 3rd member of the Godhead. But then again scripture is very consistent...Father and son are the members of the Godhead. What trinitarians call "the holy spirit" is their work, or actions, in our reality. They bust through their dimensional space into and what we see and experience in our limited 3d reality is called their holy spirit. It's not a 3rd person, but is their influence in our world.

[Cronos]

From the first century Christians came to understand that Jesus freed us from the literal bondage of the Levitical law, they kept the Sabbath as a day of rest, while observing Sunday, the first day of the week, as the day to meet together in mutual upbuilding of their faith. Their tradition of meeting together on the first day, was apparently in commemoration of the fact that Jesus arose on the first day of the week. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 advises Believers to use the first day of the week, when they were gathered together anyway, to take up a collection to help Christians who were in financial distress. (Collections were not taken up to support a physical building where people met; they met in people’s homes.) Acts 20:7 mentions the Believers, again gathered together on a Sunday

• 90AD DIDACHE: "Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day: 1. But every Lord's day do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. 2. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. 3. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, saith the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations." (Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Chapter XIV)
• 100 AD BARNABAS "We keep the eighth day [Sunday] with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead" (The Epistle of Barnabas, 100 AD 15:6-8).
• 100 AD BARNABAS: Moreover God says to the Jews, 'Your new moons and Sabbaths 1 cannot endure.' You see how he says, 'The present Sabbaths are not acceptable to me, but the Sabbath which I have made in which, when I have rested [heaven: Heb 4] from all things, I will make the beginning of the eighth day which is the beginning of another world.' Wherefore we Christians keep the eighth day for joy, on which also Jesus arose from the dead and when he appeared ascended into heaven. (15:8f, The Epistle of Barnabas, 100 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , vol. 1, pg. 147)
• 110AD Pliny: they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath not to (do) any wicked deeds, never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of good food—but food of an ordinary and innocent kind. (About three years after the death of Ignatius in 250, an important official communication was sent from one Pliny to Trajan the Roman emperor. Pliny, the Roman governor of Bithynia, wrote of the Christians who had been congregating there probably from at least A.D. 62 onwards. In this remarkable it is explicitly stated that these early Christians observed the substance of most of the Ten Commandments, and it is implied that they observed all ten as far as they were able to do so. As far as they were able, for as most of the early Christians were of slave stock or from other lower classes'-, and those who had heathen masters or employers—the vast majority—would be forced to work on their day of rest, which was unfortunately an official working day throughout the empires' until Constantine's "Sabbath" Edict in 321 A.D. gave them some measure of public protection. Hence one reads that after meeting "on a certain fixed day before it was light", the first century Bithynian Christians had "to separate"—many of them having to labour for their masters and/or employers from dawn to dusk—"and then reassemble to partake of . . . food". The "certain fixed day" [stato die"'] on which the Christians met, is regarded by Seventh-day Adventists as Saturday'-. Certainly the expression would seem to indicate a regular day of meeting, probably each week. But Sunday is far more likely to have been the "certain fixed day" than Saturday. For if Pliny had been referring to the old Saturday Sabbath, as a Roman he would doubtless have referred to the "later" meeting first and only then to the morning meeting on the day al ter the "certain fixed day", seeing that the old Saturday Sabbath was demarcated from the evening of one day to the evening of the following day. But Pliny makes no such reference. Instead, he mentions that the pre-dawn meeting took place first—and only afterwards the later meeting; and that both meetings took place on the same "certain fixed day". This rather points to the Roman (and—more importantly!—New Testament) midnight to midnight demarcation of modern Sunday-keepers than to the evening to evening demarcation of the Jews and the Seventh-day Adventists. (The covenantial Sabbath, Francis Nigel Lee, Pg 242)
• 150AD EPISTLE OF THE APOSTLES.- I [Christ] have come into being on the eighth day which is the day of the Lord. (18)
• 150AD JUSTIN: "He then speaks of those Gentiles, namely us, who in every place offer sacrifices to Him, i.e., the bread of the Eucharist, and also the cup of the Eucharist, affirming both that we glorify His name, and that you profane [it]. The command of circumcision, again, bidding [them] always circumcise the children on the eighth day, was a type of the true circumcision, by which we are circumcised from deceit and iniquity through Him who rose from the dead on the first day after the Sabbath, [namely through] our Lord Jesus Christ. For the first day after the Sabbath, remaining the first of all the days, is called, however, the eighth, according to the number of all the days of the cycle, and [yet] remains the first.". (Justin, Dialogue 41:4)
• 150AD JUSTIN: ...those who have persecuted and do persecute Christ, if they do not repent, shall not inherit anything on the holy mountain. But the Gentiles, who have believed on Him, and have repented of the sins which they have committed, they shall receive the inheritance along with the patriarchs and the prophets, and the just men who are descended from Jacob, even although they neither keep the Sabbath, nor are circumcised, nor observe the feasts. Assuredly they shall receive the holy inheritance of God. (Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, 150-165 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , vol. 1, page 207)
• 150AD JUSTIN: But if we do not admit this, we shall be liable to fall into foolish opinion, as if it were not the same God who existed in the times of Enoch and all the rest, who neither were circumcised after the flesh, nor observed Sabbaths, nor any other rites, seeing that Moses enjoined such observances... 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 is there of them 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. (Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, 150-165 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , vol. 1, page 206)
• 150AD JUSTIN: "And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration." (First apology of Justin, Weekly Worship of the Christians, Ch 68)
• 150AD JUSTIN: Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned [after mentioning Adam. Abel, Enoch, Lot, Noah, Melchizedek, and Abraham], though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham with all his descendants until Moses... And you [fleshly Jews] were commanded to keep Sabbaths, that you might retain the memorial of God. For His word makes this announcement, saying, "That you may know that I am God who redeemed you." (Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, 150-165 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , vol. 1, page 204)
• 150AD JUSTIN: There is no other thing for which you blame us, my friends, is there than this? That we do not live according to the Law, nor, are we circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers, nor do we observe the Sabbath as you do. (Dialogue with Trypho 10:1. In verse 3 the Jew Trypho acknowledges that Christians 'do not keep the Sabbath.')
• 150AD JUSTIN: We are always together with one another. And for all the things with which we are supplied we bless the Maker of all through his Son Jesus Christ and through his Holy Spirit. And on the day called Sunday there is a gathering together in the same place of all who live in a city or a rural district. (There follows an account of a Christian worship service, which is quoted in VII.2.) We all make our assembly in common on the day of the Sun, since it is the first day, on which God changed the darkness and matter and made the world, and Jesus Christ our Savior arose from the dead on the same day. For they crucified him on the day before Saturn's day, and on the day after (which is the day of the Sun the appeared to his apostles and taught his disciples these things. (Apology, 1, 67:1-3, 7; First Apology, 145 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , Vol. 1, pg. 186)
• 155 AD Justin Martyr "[W]e too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined [on] you--namely, on account of your transgressions and the hardness of your heart. . . . [H]ow is it, Trypho, that we would not observe those rites which do not harm us--I speak of fleshly circumcision and Sabbaths and feasts? . . . God enjoined you [Jews] to keep the Sabbath, and impose on you other precepts for a sign, as I have already said, on account of your unrighteousness and that of your fathers" (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 18, 21).
• 180AD ACTS OF PETER.- Paul had often contended with the Jewish teachers and had confuted them, saying 'it is Christ on whom your fathers laid hands. He abolished their Sabbath and fasts and festivals and circumcision.' (1: I)-2
• 180AD GOSPEL OF PETER: Early in the morning when (he Sabbath dawned, a multitude from Jerusalem and the surrounding country came to see the scaled sepulchre. In the night in which the Lord's day dawned, while the soldiers in pairs for each watch were keeping guard, a great voice came from heaven. [There follows an account of the resurrection. Early in the morning of the Lord's day Mary Magdalene, a disciple of the Lord .... came to the sepulchre. (9:34f.; 12:50f.)
• 190AD CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: (in commenting on each of the Ten Commandments and their Christian meaning:) The seventh day is proclaimed a day of rest, preparing by abstention from evil for the Primal day, our true rest. (Ibid. VII. xvi. 138.1)
• 190AD CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: He does the commandment according to the Gospel and keeps the Lord's day, whenever he puts away an evil mind . . . glorifying the Lord's resurrection in himself. (Ibid. Vii.xii.76.4)
• 190AD CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Plato prophetically speaks of the Lord's day in the tenth book of the Republic, in these words: 'And when seven days have passed to each of them in the meadow, on the eighth they must go on." (Miscellanies V.xiv.106.2)
• 200AD BARDESANES: Wherever we are, we are all called after the one name of Christ Christians. On one day, the first of the week, we assemble ourselves together (On Fate)
• 200AD TERTULLIAN: "We solemnize the day after Saturday in contradistinction to those who call this day their Sabbath" (Tertullian's Apology, Ch 16)
• 200AD TERTULLIAN: It follows, accordingly, that, in so far as the abolition of carnal circumcision and of the old law is demonstrated as having been consummated at its specific times, so also the observance of the Sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary. (An Answer to the Jews 4:1, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 3, page 155)
• 200AD TERTULLIAN: Let him who contends that the Sabbath is still to be observed a balm of salvation, and circumcision on the eighth day because of threat of death, teach us that in earliest times righteous men kept Sabbath or practiced circumcision, and so were made friends of God. .. ...Therefore, since God originated Adam uncircumcised, and inobservant of the Sabbath, consequently his offspring also, Abel, offering Him sacrifices, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was by Him commended... Noah also, uncircumcised - yes, and inobservant of the Sabbath - God freed from the deluge. For Enoch, too, most righteous man, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, He translated from this world... Melchizedek also, "the priest of most high God," uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was chosen to the priesthood of God. (An Answer to the Jews 2:10; 4:1, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 3, page 153)
• 200AD TERTULLIAN: Others . . . suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians, because it is well-known that we regard Sunday as a day of joy. (To the Nations 1: 133)
• 200AD TERTULLIAN: To us Sabbaths are foreign. (On Idolatry, 14:6)4
• 220AD ORIGEN "On Sunday none of the actions of the world should be done. If then, you abstain from all the works of this world and keep yourselves free for spiritual things, go to church, listen to the readings and divine homilies, meditate on heavenly things. (Homil. 23 in Numeros 4, PG 12:749)
• 220 AD Origen "Hence it is not possible that the [day of] rest after the Sabbath should have come into existence from the seventh [day] of our God. On the contrary, it is our Savior who, after the pattern of his own rest, caused us to be made in the likeness of his death, and hence also of his resurrection" (Commentary on John 2:28).
• 225 AD The Didascalia "The apostles further appointed: On the first day of the week let there be service, and the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and the oblation, because on the first day of the week our Lord rose from the place of the dead, and on the first day of the week he arose upon the world, and on the first day of the week he ascended up to heaven, and on the first day of the week he will appear at last with the angels of heaven" (Didascalia 2).
• 250AD CYPRIAN: The eight day, that is, the first day after the Sabbath, and the Lord's Day." (Epistle 58, Sec 4)
• 250 AD IGNATIUS: "If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death-whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master-how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead. If, then, those who were conversant with the ancient Scriptures came to newness of hope, expecting the coming of Christ, as the Lord teaches us when He says, "If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me; " and again, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad; for before Abraham was, I am; " how shall we be able to live without Him? The prophets were His servants, and foresaw Him by the Spirit, and waited for Him as their Teacher, and expected Him as their Lord and Saviour, saying, "He will come and save us." Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for "he that does not work, let him not eat." For say the [holy] oracles, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread." But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]. Looking forward to this, the prophet declared, "To the end, for the eighth day," on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ, whom the children of perdition, the enemies of the Saviour, deny, "whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things," who are "lovers of pleasure, and not lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." These make merchandise of Christ, corrupting His word, and giving up Jesus to sale: they are corrupters of women, and covetous of other men's possessions, swallowing up wealth insatiably; from whom may ye be delivered by the mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ! (Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, Chapter IX)
• 250AD IGNATIUS: "On the day of the preparation, then, at the third hour, He received the sentence from Pilate, the Father permitting that to happen; at the sixth hour He was crucified; at the ninth hour He gave up the ghost; and before sunset He was buried. During the Sabbath He continued under the earth in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathaea had laid Him. At the dawning of the Lord's day He arose from the dead, according to what was spoken by Himself, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Sabbath embraces the burial; the Lord's Day contains the resurrection." (The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians, chapter 9)
• 250AD IGNATIUS: If any one fasts on the Lord's Day or on the Sabbath, except on the paschal Sabbath only, he is a murderer of Christ. (The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philippians, chapter 8)
• 250AD IGNATIUS: "This [custom], of not bending the knee upon Sunday, is a symbol of the resurrection, through which we have been set free, by the grace of Christ, from sins, and from death, which has been put to death under Him. Now this custom took its rise from apostolic times, as the blessed Irenaeus, the martyr and bishop of Lyons, declares in his treatise On Easter, in which he makes mention of Pentecost also; upon which [feast] we do not bend the knee, because it is of equal significance with the Lord's day, for the reason already alleged concerning it." (Ignatius, Fragments)
• 300 AD Victorinus "The sixth day [Friday] is called parasceve, that is to say, the preparation of the kingdom. . . . On this day also, on account of the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, we make either a station to God or a fast. On the seventh day he rested from all his works, and blessed it, and sanctified it. On the former day we are accustomed to fast rigorously, that on the Lord's day we may go forth to our bread with giving of thanks. And let the parasceve become a rigorous fast, lest we should appear to observe any Sabbath with the Jews . . . which Sabbath he [Christ] in his body abolished" (The Creation of the World).
• 300AD EUSEBIUS: "They did not, therefore, regard circumcision, nor observe the Sabbath neither do we; ... because such things as these do not belong to Christians" (Ecc. Hist., Book 1, Ch. 4)
• 300AD EUSEBIUS: [The Ebionites] were accustomed to observe the Sabbath and other Jewish customs but on the Lord's days to celebrate the same practices as we in remembrance of the resurrection of the Savior. (Church History Ill.xxvii.5)
• 300 AD Eusebius of Caesarea "They [the pre- Mosaic saints of the Old Testament] did not care about circumcision of the body, neither do we [Christians]. They did not care about observing Sabbaths, nor do we. They did not avoid certain kinds of food, neither did they regard the other distinctions which Moses first delivered to their posterity to be observed as symbols; nor do Christians of the present day do such things" (Church History 1:4:8).
• 300 AD Eusebius of Caesarea "The day of his [Christ's] light . . . was the day of his resurrection from the dead, which they say, as being the one and only truly holy day and the Lord's day, is better than any number of days as we ordinarily understand them, and better than the days set apart by the Mosaic Law for feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths, which the Apostle [Paul] teaches are the shadow of days and not days in reality" (Proof of the Gospel 4:16:186).

>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."

Mark 16:2: "Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen."

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."

I Corinthians 16:2: "On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper that there be no collections when I come."

Remember Mark 2:27 says, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." and

"One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God," (Rom. 14:5-6).

and

"Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Col. 2:16-17).

A festival is yearly. A new moon is monthly. A Sabbath is weekly. No one is to act as your judge in regard to this. The Sabbath is defined as the mere shadow of what is to come (Jesus), the reality is Jesus. Jesus is our Sabbath. This is in reference to Isaiah 1:13 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

.

Besides "And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight," (Acts 20:7).
The people of Christ met originally in the evening pf the Roman midnight-to-midnight day of which the time before sundown was still Sabbath. To the Jew, the evening was the beginning of the sundown-to-sundown first day of the week.

"And upon the first dayof the week^{σαββατων (sabbaton)}, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight" (Acts 20:7 AV).

For at least 30 years after the resurrection/ascension of Jesus (Pentecost was on the first day of the week, likewise) the disciples met in the evening of the day of which the daylight was still Jewish Sabbath, thereby not violating Jewish sensitivities.

"Upon the first day of the week^{σαββατων} let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come" (1 Cor. 16:2 AV).

The Corinthians were commanded by Paul to meet on the first of the week and have their tithes ready to be gathered each week.

The whole week is a heptad, a bundle of seven, a week of days, a "sabbath" of days, wherein the last day for Jews was set aside for rest from work. But the evenin of that last day is the first day of a new sabbath of days, hence it is also a (new) sabbath.

If you are a sabbatarian, avvording to the law you must stay at home, go no place, and do no woek. But also if you wish to thus come inder the Law, you must obey the law, all of it, without fail.?

   

[Cronos]

They did have the "old testament" and there's also pretty strong evidence that the books of the new testament were in common use long before the 2nd century. Paul's letters for example were surely being passed around between churches.

True - they did have the Septuagint (which included the Deuterocanonical letters) - but not all the books were accepted by all.

1. Esther: Despite the fine literary characteristics, the vindictive nature of some of the action in the book and, more particularly, the absence of any mention of God have occasionally brought objections regarding its inclusion in Scripture.
2. Ecclesiastes: Due to the pessimistic and hedonistic overtones of Ecclesiastes, church leaders struggled with its place in the canon.
3. Song of Songs: the theme, the topic, and the frank language of the Song have confused, shocked, and embarrassed both Jewish and Christian readers—so much so that for generations the rabbis and early church fathers debated the value of the book and its place in the Old Testament.

Your next statements are also correct -- that MOST of Paul's letters were widely in circulation. There is the notable exception of the letter to the Hebrews that was disputed.

And Revelation was strongly disputed well into the 2nd century.

However my point was that we can't call the first century Christians as "Biblical Christians" as they didn't define the canon and it varied. What they did call themselves was "followers of the way" and they held to the Gospel and what they were taught by designated teachers/bishops/overseers

This is why Paul says "some say they are from Apollo, some from Paul, some from Cephas etc." - meaning if you had two followers of the way disputing then they would try to prove their antecedents from where they learnt/were taught.

[Cronos]

Grace saves us through the sacrifice of our Lord and God, Jesus the Christ.

Neither faith nor works saves us per se, but grace saves us.

Matthew 10.21 the one who stands firm to the end will be saved

Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

1 Peter 3:21
and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Luke 13:3
I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish

John 6:47
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.

John 6:54
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day

Faith, works, repentance, eating of his body, enduring to the end justifies one of the grace that saves one. It’s not either or, itself.

Faith without works is dead, works without faith can’t save you. Pure repentance without belief doesn’t merit you eternal life. Nothing dies except grace.

[Cronos]

“Adam kept szbbath”. What proof do you have of that?

[Cronos]

Christians observe the Lord’s day to keep holy the day our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. For us, this day, Domenica, marks the day of the new creation, when Christ conquered sin, darkness, and death, the day of the new covenant when Christ, the High Priest who had offered Himself as the Unblemished Passover Lamb of Sacrifice on the altar of the cross, gave the promise of everlasting life.

Therefore, Domenica is the fulfillment of the Sabbath of the Old Testament. St. Justin Martyr (d. 165) wrote, “Sunday, indeed, is the day on which we hold our common assembly because it is the first day on which God, transforming the darkness and matter, created the world; and our Savior, Jesus Christ, arose from the dead on the same day.”

Through his death and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and instituted the New Covenant – complete with a new priesthood (himself), a new sacrifice (his death on the cross), a “new” law of Grace , and a new day to worship – the day he completed this New Covenant by rising from the dead – Sunday.

Hebrews 7:11-25 records this covenant change clearly: “When there is a change of priesthood (Old Testament priesthood to Jesus), there is necessarily a change of law as well … a former commandment is annulled … (and) a better hope is introduced.”

in Revelation 1:10, St John is “caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day” to be shown the heavenly worship going on. In Acts 20:7, St. Paul and others gather “On the first day of the week … to break bread,” a term used to signify the celebration of the Eucharist (cf Lk 22:19, Mt 26:26). St Paul also asked for collections to be taken when churches gathered “on the first day of the week” (1 Cor 16:2).

Significantly, Jesus’ Emmaus road appearance also takes place “on the first day of the week,” but his disciples don’t recognize him until the breaking of the bread: “he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that … they recognized him” (Lk 24:13-31).

Jesus’ first resurrection appearances to his disciples are on the “first day of the week.” And the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost? On Domenica

[Cronos]

Firstly, that passage only says that 2 workers were of Jewish ethnicity. No news about the congregation.

Second do remember that Christianity was still a Jewish sect and considered as such right until the Kitos war. The followers of the way met in synagogues.
Jewish people didn’t “leave” anything. It was like different views within a current church. These were Gentile and Jewish followers of the way, not a separate religion until the 2nd century.

Think of it as the methodists leaving the Anglicans. The methodists were still Anglicans meeting in church of England churches until gradually they weren’t.

[BipolarBob]

If you'd stick to the Word of God instead of the word of man (JustinM), you'd have your facts right. Jesus claimed His day of the week to be the Sabbath (Matt12:8). Of course the Disciples met,prayed and collected tithes and did other stuff on the first day of the week. Why shouldn't they? But did they keep that day holy? No.
The New Covenant nullified the Jewish ceremonial laws meant to point to the Messiahs coming. He was there. When He died there was no further use of it. All that remained of the Laws was the Ten Commandments which was for all people.

[Cronos]

Justin was given as a historical fact that Christian’s from the first century worshipped on Domenica, not Sabbath.

>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.”
Mark 16:2: “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.”

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.”

I Corinthians 16:2: “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper that there be no collections when I come.”

Remember Mark 2:27 says, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” and

“One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God,” (Rom. 14:5-6).
and
“Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Col. 2:16-17).

[Cronos]

Jesus said that He was the Lord of the Sabbath and that He fulfilled the Law.

The disciples kept Domenica holy as is very clear in

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 New Testament fulfilled the Law. Love God and your neighbour is reflected in the other commandments.

[Cronos]

The books of the new testament show Jesus as God. It shows the Holy spirit as god.

Yet this is in the judaic monotheistic milieu.

The only reconciliation if you believe both the statements is the Trinity.

[Cronos]

Paul indicates the Holy spirit is God

1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

2 Corinthians 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

[Cronos]

In the Ethiopian Oriental Orthodox church view of the Sabbath is that it should be observed on both Saturday (the Lesser Sabbath) and Sunday (the Great Sabbath): Saturday for the original Sabbath of the Old Testament and Sunday in honour of the resurrection of Christ in the New. He found support for his views in the Ten Commandments and the Canons of the Apostles.

[Cronos]

In Christ’s Passover Domenica fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man’s eternal rest in God. For worship under the Law prepared for the mystery of Christ, and what was done there prefigured some aspects of Christ

The Sabbath was never changed from Saturday to Sunday by Constantine, the Roman Order, or Christians.

Far before Constantine, it was already common Christian practice to come together on Sunday; however, the intent there was never to supplement Sunday for the Sabbath. Early Christians recognized that the Sabbath day along with all OT Law was not applicable to them.

Listen to what I’m saying. The OT Law was never abolished, nor are Christians bound by it. We have something greater than the Law. Christians have what the Law could not achieve.

It wasn’t until the crucifixion that the new covenant took effect. Thus, while Jesus walked this earth the old covenant was still in force.

“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.” (Hebrews 9.13–17)​

Paul very much distinguishes between the “ministry of death, carved in letters on stone,” as that which once had glory, and the “ministry of the Spirit,” which surpasses it in glory (2 Corinthians 3). His point being that while Christians are not bound by the letter of the law, God has written on their hearts. The Spirit will guide, and restrain. They will no longer do what is “required” of them, but will live in accordance with their new nature.