When did 'Christians' adopt Sunday as their weekly Sabbath?

[Jeffry]

Hi. I'm Jeffry. This is my first post here in CC. Been looking for an online Bible Study/Discussion group for some time. I don't know if this is it, or if anyone here is really interested in doing that, but here goes anyway. With full respect to the other members of this group: Where in the NT do we find either Jesus or any of His designated Apostles even suggesting a change to Sunday from God's seventh-day Sabbath? All of them are teaching/keeping God's Sabbath days through the Book of Acts - which records the history of the early church for decades after Christ's death and resurrection.
Has anyone ever wondered why a Roman Emperor and his advisors had Sunday declared the "universal" (catholic) day of weekly 'Christian' observance throughout the entire Roman Empire (i.e. most of the known world at the time)? And why they did so at a Roman political "Council" (Nicea, AD 325-327) almost three hundred years after God had begun His Own church in Jerusalem, on His annual Pentecost Sabbath? Many other churches, so many centuries later, began to leave the Roman one "in protest" - mostly over taxation, money and political power. Why did none of them fail to question the Roman Sunday custom as well? Could it be that 13-1400 years of Roman religious rule had made most Europeans take Sunday for granted? Thanks for listening. jg

 

[Depleted]

It's been so long ago, I don't remember where I learned this, but it was pretty much because they worked on the Sabbath -- going to temple and services to preach the Good News, so they took their Sabbath Rest the next day. Makes sense to me. No purpose on preaching on Sunday if the people going to service go on Saturday.

 

[XpertNovice]

Christians have worshiped on Sunday, the Lord's day, since the dawn of Christianity.

Below are a few of the passages from the New Testament supporting the switch from worship on the Jewish Sabbath to worship on Sunday, the Lord's day:

Acts 20:7 - And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

1 Corinthians 16:2 - Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come

Colossians 2:16-17 - Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Revelation 1:10 - I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet


There is also a great deal of evidence from early Church writings showing that Christians parted from the Jewish Sabbath in favor of worship on the Lord's day. Many of these writings predate some of the books in the New Testament. Below are just a few of these early Church writings (for a more extensive list, go to Seventh-day Adventism | Catholic Answers).

Ignatius of Antioch
"[T]hose who were brought up in the ancient order of things [i.e. Jews] 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" (Letter to the Magnesians 8 [A.D. 110]).

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 [A.D. 229]).

The Letter of Barnabas
"We keep the eighth day [Sunday] with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead" (Letter of Barnabas 15:6–8 [A.D. 74]).

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 [sacrifice of the Mass], because on the first day of the week [i.e., Sunday] 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 [A.D. 225]).

Eusebius of Caesarea
"[T]he 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 [A.D. 319]).

 

[Magenta]

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Welcome to CC!

 

[tanakh]

I think the main problem with this Sunday/ Sabbath debate is that people tend to see Sunday as a replacement for the Sabbath. It is not a replacement because the Sabbath is part of the Jewish law which does not apply to none Jews.
Constantine did not introduce the Sunday rest day specifically for Christians. The clue is in the name. It was connected to the Sun God that he worshipped along with Christ.

 

[Depleted]

I think the main problem with this Sunday/ Sabbath debate is that people tend to see Sunday as a replacement for the Sabbath. It is not a replacement because the Sabbath is part of the Jewish law which does not apply to none Jews.
Constantine did not introduce the Sunday rest day specifically for Christians. The clue is in the name. It was connected to the Sun God that he worshipped along with Christ.

Just in case anyone new to learning about God believes this -- don't. Feel free to check out why yourself.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Welcome to CC

I do not think they changed the sabbath to sunday, They meet at church on Sunday.

Sabbath is a day of rest, I still rest on yesterday

 

[Timeline]

There are only two references, after the gospels (that I am aware of ), to meeting on the first day of the week. These two verses were mentioned above in post #3: Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor. 16:2 (I believe that Revelation 1:10 is referring to a specific day and not to a recurring day in each week).

There are approximately 17 (it's been a while since I counted them) references to meeting DAILY!

I don't believe that it is wrong to meet on Sunday or Saturday, BUT I do believe that we need to be careful not to condemn people for worshipping on a different day than we do. Acts 20:7 says that they had gathered to break bread on the first day of the week, but Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Jesus, as far as I can tell, did not set a required minimum or maximum number times to partake of the "Lord's Supper". I have sat in Bible Classes were the "teacher" proclaimed that we are/were instructed to take Communion every Sunday and only on Sunday, but this is not scriptural.

If anyone wants to be scripturally accurate, they should assemble daily.

FYI: I meet with a group that assembles on Sundays and Wednesdays.

 

[Vdp]

We are not under the Law anymore. Jesus did away with the Law when He died on the Cross for all of our sins.

Does it matter which day we keep Holy?

If you insist it has to be Saturday then you are putting yourself back under the law.

 

[Yet]

They didn't. They met every day of the week. Whatever ever works, when ever two or more could plug in. The Jerusalem Burger King was a hot spot, the power of God binding them together in unity, in a family setting. Smile.

 

[Grandpa]

Do you sometimes just feel sorry for people?

Like an overwhelming sadness?

 

[Magenta]

Do you sometimes just feel sorry for people?
Like an overwhelming sadness?

Yes. People are always in need of love. There was a story on the local radio news one day last week while I was driving home from work, about a very angry man on public transit who was having a very loud and aggressive meltdown... and an elderly woman reached out her hand to him, and just waited... waited for him to respond, by taking her proffered hand, which he eventually did, and that completely defused the situation. Hearing that story in my car moved me to tears. There was something so touching, and humane, in that simple gesture of caring. Sometimes, the smaller the gesture the more profound the effect.

 

[Willie-T]

They didn't. They met every day of the week. Whatever ever works, when ever two or more could plug in. The Jerusalem Burger King was a hot spot, the power of God binding them together in unity, in a family setting. Smile.

This is one of the most logical explanations I have heard.

 

[valiant]

there is nowhere in the New Testament that says that non-Jews observed the Sabbath.

Paul went to the Jews and God-fearers (Gentiles who observed the Sabbath) on the sabbath day because he knew that they would be gathered together to consider the Scriptures. When he left them he left them and preached daily in the school of Tyrranus

The first day of the week was observed in 2nd century ad (and Acts 20.7) by epistle of Barnabas and Justin Martyr among others, it is totally in error to blame Constantine for it

the scripture is quite clear on the fact that we can observe any day to the Lord.

 

[Jeffry]

Dear XpN - Your reply repeats a most basic Roman Catholic error. You quoted: "Below are a few of the passages from the New Testament supporting the switch from worship on the Jewish Sabbath to worship on Sunday, the Lord's day..." You lack study, Xp. God's sabbaths were never "Jewish". First Scriptural mention of the 7th day rest/sabbath is Gen.2:2-3 - millennia before Israel's son "Judah" (the first Jew) was even born. Then notice: "In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt [all 12 tribes, not just the Jews] - on the very day - they came to the desert of Sinai..."(Ex.19:1) (NIV). Note that the the Sabbath Commandment (Ex.20:8-11) - one of the ten - was given to "all Israel" at Mt. Sinai, and that only one of the 12 tribes - the descendants of Israel's son Judah - was ever "Jewish". And so it is today. jg

 

[tourist]

My wife and I adhere to the Saturday Sabbath. The forth commandment says to "Remember the Sabbath". It does not say forget all about it. Of course, there are those that believe the 10 commandments are obsolete. The OT too.

This site is excellent for online bible study / discussion and other pertinent topics as well.

Glad to have you join our community. Welcome to CC.

 

[tourist]

They didn't. They met every day of the week. Whatever ever works, when ever two or more could plug in. The Jerusalem Burger King was a hot spot, the power of God binding them together in unity, in a family setting. Smile.

I prefer Hardy's myself. Good onion rings.

 

[Jeffry]

Dear Vdp-- Which "Law" are you talking about here? God's spiritual law (His Ten Commandments), or the temporary, ritual "Law of Moses" (summed up in Deut. 31:24-26)? Paul often refers to "the works of the law" as being done away. The Greek word translated "works" in these cases is "ergon". It means "physical labor". (Look it up in your concordance). Do you see any physical labor/work in any of the Ten Commandments? I don't. The first four tell us how to love God. The final six show us how to love each other. These ten form God's spiritual law... the attitude of loving God and our neighbors. Using your own logic, if the Ten Commandments are no longer valid then we are now just as free to commit adultery, steal and murder as we are to ignore God's appointed sabbaths.

We are not under the Law anymore. Jesus did away with the Law when He died on the Cross for all of our sins.

Does it matter which day we keep Holy?

If you insist it has to be Saturday then you are putting yourself back under the law.

 

[bikerchaz]

Hi. I'm Jeffry. This is my first post here in CC. Been looking for an online Bible Study/Discussion group for some time. I don't know if this is it, or if anyone here is really interested in doing that, but here goes anyway. With full respect to the other members of this group: Where in the NT do we find either Jesus or any of His designated Apostles even suggesting a change to Sunday from God's seventh-day Sabbath? All of them are teaching/keeping God's Sabbath days through the Book of Acts - which records the history of the early church for decades after Christ's death and resurrection.
Has anyone ever wondered why a Roman Emperor and his advisors had Sunday declared the "universal" (catholic) day of weekly 'Christian' observance throughout the entire Roman Empire (i.e. most of the known world at the time)? And why they did so at a Roman political "Council" (Nicea, AD 325-327) almost three hundred years after God had begun His Own church in Jerusalem, on His annual Pentecost Sabbath? Many other churches, so many centuries later, began to leave the Roman one "in protest" - mostly over taxation, money and political power. Why did none of them fail to question the Roman Sunday custom as well? Could it be that 13-1400 years of Roman religious rule had made most Europeans take Sunday for granted? Thanks for listening. jg

Hi Jeffry, welcome to CC. There are a few good answers on this thread and a reading of the scriptures will confirm most. It would seem to me that the apostles preached the gospel in the synagogues on a Sabbath (Saturday) and then spent time together with other Christians the next day when they could refresh themselves Spiritually. I agree with Paul when he talked about one day being or not being as important as any other. If you want a special day of the week, have one, if you don't then leave it alone. Personally I do not 'esteem' any day more important than any other, ever, and I break bread when I meet anyone who will break bread with me whenever we meet.
The Roman Emperor is a bit of a bug bear for me personally, but you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned "after God had begun His Own church in Jerusalem". I really don't want to sound pedantic about this, but the Church that God started in Jerusalem is alive and well and living in peoples hearts all over the world. It has nothing to do with church buildings except it is where the Church meets as a central point of contact. It is born of the Holy Spirit working through those who will let Him, it is interdenominational because denominations do not exist to Jesus, it is Spirit led and Jesus rules supreme in His Church, bringing its members into the full maturity Paul talked about.
I pray you will find the Spirits leading for your life and the peace that really does pass all understanding.
God bless.

 

[Jeffry]

Thanks, Tourist. Glad to meet you as well. I posted for many years in a WebTV group called "alt.discuss.God-talk.christian". We had a terrific bunch of posters, mixed in w/the subject-changers and jokers that you find in any group. It's all good. Think I may already be hooked on CC. jg​