Seven Factors that Influenced the Sabbath in the Early Church
(Part 3 of 4)
By Kelly McDonald, Jr.
In the midst of the previous four factors, a fifth significant factor developed: syncretism.
Syncretism occurs when someone takes practices from the Holy Bible and mixes them with practices from other religions.
As some early Christians sought to avoid practices that appeared Jewish, they embraced practices from other religions. Sunday worship was one of them. Another writer of this period was Clement of Alexandria (180s AD). In his writings, we find the first legitimate reference to Sunday being called the Lord's Day. His justification for this view came from Plato and the number eight (Stromata, 5, 14). Plato was a heathen philosopher. Why would anyone use his writings to justify any Christian practice?
As the Old Testament was being devalued as the background source to the New Testament, these Gnostic writers found other sources that they could use as a derivative of Christian practice. Philosophy was one belief system syncretized with the New Testament to fill this void.
The theology of Clement was sometimes confusing and not always consistent. He called Sunday the "Lord's Day", which has no Scriptural evidence. He was an avowed gnostic and claimed that the true gnostic does not honor specific days (ibid, 6:15, 7:7). Among his other questionable statements, he proposed that philosophy was given to the Greeks to guide them towards righteousness (ibid, 1:5). He believed that we should pray with our faces towards the east to face the rising sun (ibid, 7:7). Lastly, he believed that the sun was created as an object of worship. "And he gave the sun, and the moon, and the stars to be worshipped..." (ibid, 6:14).
The second writer we will discuss as it relates to syncretism is Tertullian. He was a writer who lived in Carthage in the late 190s/early 200s AD. He was an avowed enemy of Marcionites, but he still advocated Sunday worship. We have some of his quotes below.
"Others with a greater show of reason take us for worshippers of the sun....This suspicion took its rise from hence, because it was observed that Christians prayed with their faces towards the east [towards the sun] but if we, like them [the pagans], celebrate Sunday as a festival and day of rejoicing, it is for a reason vastly distant from that of worshipping the sun; for we solemnize the day after Saturday in contradistinction to those who call this day their Sabbath, and devote it to ease and eating, deviating from the old Jewish customs, which they are now very ignorant of" (Apology, Chapter 16).
Tertullian admitted that the Sunday celebration was conducted "like them" - meaning like the pagans. He also acknowledged that there were Christians that still called Saturday the Sabbath.
"Others, with greater regard to good manners, it must be confessed, suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians, because it is a well-known fact that we pray towards the east or because we make Sunday a day of festivity. What then? Do you do less than this?...It is you [the pagans], at all events, who have even admitted the sun into the calendar of the week; and you have selected its day, in preference to the preceding day...For the Jewish feasts are the Sabbath and ‘the Purification’…all which institutions and practices are of course foreign from your [pagan] gods" (Against the Nations, 1:13).
In his work, Against the Nations (also called To the Nations), Tertullian addressed pagan worshippers. Once again, he admitted that some Christians made Sunday a festivity in the same way as the pagans. He then confessed that the Sabbath is foreign to other gods. He had to defend the syncretism he practiced.
Tertullian was the first person (to my knowledge) who defended Christianity against accusations of sun worship. In the New Testament, Christians never had to shield themselves against such allegations. Syncretism caused this to change - the outside world was confused by the Sunday festivity. Tertullian also confessed that Sunday worship was a tradition with no Scriptural authority. This is consistent with the Catholic writers we quoted in the introduction.
"We count fasting or kneeling in worship on the Lord's day to be unlawful....If, for these and other such rules, you insist upon having positive Scripture injunction, you will find none. Tradition will be held forth to you as the originator of them" (De Corona, chapters 3 and 4).
As we read these primary source accounts, syncretism had a huge influence on the Sabbath in early Christianity. Some wanted to retain pagan practices, such as adoration of the sun and its rising, but still hold Christian principles. We are instructed in the Bible not to pray to the sun or adore its rising (see Deut. 4:19, Ezekiel 8:14-17). Also, the phrase "Lord's Day" became gradually attached to the first day of the week.
The next factor that influenced the Sabbath was the allegorizing of Scripture.
You may not be familiar with this concept, but allegorizing is a unique method of interpreting the Bible. It does not fully consider the literal meaning of verses. Instead, numbers and details in the Bible are treated as symbols. They are then reapplied in a way that is subjective to the interpreter. As a result, those who use this method usually come to conclusions that negate the literal meaning of the Bible.
Among the first writers to allegorize the Bible was Justin the Martyr. He especially used allegory as it related to the Sabbath and the resurrection. We have two excerpts below:
"For righteous Noah, along with the other mortals at the deluge, i.e., with his own wife, his three sons and their wives, being eight in number, were a symbol of the eighth day, wherein Christ appeared when He rose from the dead, forever the first in power" (Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 138).
"The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true Sabbaths of God..." (ibid, chapter 12).
In the first quote, he allegorized the number eight from the story of Noah and used this number as a reason to transfer the Sabbath to the first day of the week (which he calls the eighth day of the week). In another chapter of the same work, he does the same thing with circumcision (see chapter 41).
His allegorical attack on the Sabbath has obvious problems with the literal meaning of the Scriptures.
First, God never described the week as having eight days.
Secondly, Jesus did not resurrect on Sunday. [A MISTAKE — JESUS WAS RESURRECTED SATURDAY EVENING, SO BEING THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK. ALL PROVED IN STUDIES ON MY WEBSITE - Keith Hunt]
Third, no Bible writer ever connected circumcision or Noah to the Sabbath.
In the second quote above, Justin portrayed a sinless life as the true way to honor the Sabbath. Again, this is a problematic interpretation. The Sabbath is the weekly day of rest - keeping other commandments cannot replace its absolute requirements. If someone abstains from stealing, then they have done well and honored that specific commandment. However, if the same person works on Sabbath then he/she has violated the fourth commandment. If we use Justin's logic, we could justify breaking any commandment we want.
Two other authors that contributed greatly to allegorizing the Scriptures were Clement of Alexandria and his pupil Origen. Clement studied at the Alexandrian school of theology, which taught this method of interpretation. In other places, he and Origen decried honoring any specific day as special.
"Whence not in a specified place, or selected temple, or at certain festivals and on appointed days, but during his whole life, the Gnostic in every place, even if he be alone by himself, and wherever he has any of those who have exercised the like faith, honours God, that is, acknowledges his gratitude for the knowledge of the way to live" (Clement, Stromata, 1, 7).
"If it be objected to us on this subject that we ourselves 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 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 — who is not indulging the lust of the flesh, but keeping under his body, and bringing it into subjection,— such a one is always keeping Preparation day" (Origen, Against Celsus, 8:22)
Origen allegorized away any day with special significance and ranked them all the same. He thus contradicted the examples of Christ and then early Apostles, who clearly made distinctions between days that were holy and those that were not.
Allegorizing Scriptures would contribute to misunderstanding the Sabbath for centuries to come. A substantial number of Christians were influenced by the Alexandrian school of theology. This form of interpreting the Scriptures has existed in some form down to the present.
We will finish this series in the next edition.
Kelly McDonald, Jr.
President, Bible Sabbath Association (BSA) -significance and ranked them all the same. He thus www.biblesabbath.org
(This article was first published in the Nov/Dec 2018 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel magazine. It was reprinted with permission of the BSA)
Seven Factors that Influenced the Sabbath in the Early Church
(Part 4 of 4)
The last factor that influenced the Sabbath was the relationship between the Roman Church and Roman Emperors.
Beginning with the time of Constantine, the Roman Church became intertwined with the Roman Empire. Constantine de facto made the Roman Church an institution of the state. Roman Emperors in turn codified Roman Church practices as law.
In 321 AD, Constantine ruled that people could leave property to the Roman Church upon death (CT: 16.2.4). This allowed the Roman Church to become a large landowner in Italy. In 326 AD, he passed a law that granted the Roman Church special privileges. All other Christian groups were not allowed these privileges and were bound to public service (CT: 16.5.1). He regulated the number of clergy in Christianity (CT: 16.2.6 [326 AD]). Secular judges were even required to enforce the decisions of Christian Bishops (CS: 1 [333 AD]).
In 379. Theodosius became the Eastern Roman Emperor.
After hearing the perspectives of different Christian groups, he sided with the Roman Church. All houses of prayer run were given over to the Roman Church. The next year he passed a law, which forced all peoples under his rule to follow the Roman Catholic religion. We have an excerpt from this decree below:
"To the residents of Constantinople: It is our will that all the peoples whom the government of our clemency rules shall follow that religion which a pious belief from Peter to the present declares the holy Peter delivered to the Romans, and which it is evident the Pontiff Damascus and Peter, bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic sanctity, follow; that is, that according to the apostolic discipline and evangelical doctrine we believe in the deity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of equal majesty in a holy trinity. Those who follow this law we command shall be comprised under the name of Catholic Christians; but others, indeed, we require, as insane and raving, to bear the infamy of heretical teaching; their gatherings shall not receive the name of churches; they are to be smitten first with the divine punishment and after that by the vengeance of our indignation, which has divine approval" (CT: 16.1.2).
His laws relating to religion were sometimes fanatical. People were not allowed to discuss religious matters in public (CT: 16.4.1 [388 AD]). Non-Roman Catholic groups were forbidden from owning churches or meeting together to have services.
The Emperor's relationship with the Roman Church would pave the way for celebrations of the Roman Church, including Sunday, to be enshrined as enforced law. The first Sunday law in history with any mention of the Lord was issued in 386 AD by Theodosius (CT: 2.8.18). From 386 to 469, there were seven laws enacted that specifically regulated some aspect of Sunday rest or worship.
Other Roman celebrations were promoted, such as January New Years, Emperor's birthdays, and even Christmas (for Christmas, see: CT 15.5.5 [425 AD]).
Sunday became cemented as the day of rest in the Roman Empire. This would last for centuries to come and even transfer to other European monarchies that used Roman law (such as the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne).
In conclusion, the Sabbath was attacked and slandered for centuries through these seven factors: 1) Persecution of Christians, 2) Destruction of Jerusalem (twice), 3) Quartodeciman Controversy, 4) Anti-Semitism, 5) Syncretism, 6) Allegorizing Scripture, 7) The relationship between the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church.
As you ponder these details, consider that some of these same factors are used in arguments today to denigrate the seventh-day Sabbath. But now you know their origin. We will give some examples.
Example #1 - The Quartodeciman Controversy still affects the Sabbath. People often use the argument that the resurrection occurred on Sunday morning to justify changing the Sabbath to Sunday. This argument was never used by the first Apostles. It wasn't used by anyone until over 100 years after Christ was on earth.
Example #2 - Anti-Semitism influences people's view of the Sabbath. When you mention the seventh-day Sabbath, many will say "That's just for the Jews"; "You mean the Jewish Sabbath?"; or "We do not live like Jewish people". Yet not a single time in the Bible is the Sabbath ever called Jewish; it is called the Sabbath of the Lord our God (see Exodus 20:8-11 as an example). People who use these arguments may not be anti-Semites; but they are using an anti-Semite argument.
Example #3 - Allegorizing the Scriptures. Some today still allegorize when discussing the Sabbath. For instance, some people say "Jesus is my Sabbath" or "Rest is not a day, it is salvation in Christ" - yet none of these arguments are found in the Bible.
Consider this!
Despite these seven factors, most Christians still honored the Sabbath into the 400s AD. This completely negates the argument that the Sabbath was changed by the early Church!
[YES AS I’VE STATED THE BRITISH CHURCH WAS OBSERVING THE 7TH DAY OF THE WEEK WHEN THE ROMAN CHURCH ENTERED BRITAIN ABOUT 500 A.D. IT IS ALL RECORDED IN CHURCH HISTORY - Keith Hunt]
We will look at one writer who lived in the late 300s/ early 400s AD. His name is Socrates Scholasticus; he wrote a tremendous work on Christian history.
"For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this. The Egyptians in the neighborhood of Alexandria, and the inhabitants of Thebais, hold their religious assemblies on the Sabbath, but do not participate of the mysteries in the manner usual among Christians in general: for after having eaten and satisfied themselves with food of all kinds, in the evening making their offerings..." (ibid, bk 5, ch 22)
Pay close attention to the words of this historian. He recorded that Rome and Alexandria were the two cities that ceased to honor the Sabbath; this means at one time they did honor the Sabbath. He also noted that they did not stop honoring the Sabbath because of any Scripture, but because of a tradition. Jesus warned us about the traditions of man that contradict the commandments of God (Matthew 15:1-20).
Despite these seven factors, most Christians continued to honor the Sabbath. Thank you for reading and I hope you learned something new that will help you defend your faith!
Kelly McDonald, Jr.
President, Bible Sabbath Association (BSA) -
(This article was first published in the Nov/Dec 2018 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel magazine. It was reprinted with permission of the BSA)
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A CHILD WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM IN ACCEPTING THE 7TH DAY AS THE GOD GIVEN WEEKLY SABBATH. A CHILD NOT INFLUENCED BY FANCY THEOLOGY OF FALSE TEACHERS, WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM ACCEPTING THE 7TH DAY SABBATH—— I KNOW—— FOR I WAS ONE OF THOSE CHILDREN!
MY DAD SENT ME TO A CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL WHEN I WAS 6. MOVING UP TO THE NEXT CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL AT AGE 7, I WAS GIVEN ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, A BIBLE. THE LADY TEACHER TOLD US TO OPEN IT AND SHE READ GENESIS 1. IT WAS LIKE A LIGHT SWITCH WENT OFF IN MY HEAD. WOW…. I THOUGHT, IT IS A BEING CALLED GOD, WHO MADE EVERYTHING I SEE AROUND ME IN NATURE! I BELIEVED IN GOD FROM THAT DAY ONWARDS.
I WAS TAUGHT TO MEMORIZE THE 10 COMMANDMENT AS IN EXODUS 20, FULL VERSION, EVERY WORD AS IN THE KJV BIBLE.
I KNEW WHAT THE 4TH COMMANDMENT SAID.
I LEARNT ABOUT JESUS; I READ THE GOSPELS; I SAW JESUS OBSERVED AND TAUGHT SABBATH OBSERVANCE.
NOT ONE PRIEST OR SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER EVER TALKED ABOUT THE SABBATH TO ME.
I SAW ALL CHRISTIANITY AROUND ME OBSERVING SUNDAY. I BELIEVED SUNDAY WAS THE 7TH DAY OF THE WEEK.
I NEVER LOOKED AT A CALENDAR; NO FANCY CALENDARS BACK THEN; WHY SHOULD I LOOK AT A CALENDAR, I KNEW MY WEEKLY SCHEDULE, IT WAS ALL PLANNED OUT WHAT I DID IN SCHOOL AND AFTER SCHOOL.
I WAS 19 YEARS OLD AND HAD BEEN IN CANADA ABOUT ONE YEAR. I WAS ATTENDING MY LANDLORD’S BAPTIST CHURCH. ONE DAY HE ASKED ME WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT SUCH AND SUCH A RADIO PREACHER. I SAID I LIKED LISTENING TO HIM. MY LANDLORD SAID, “HE’S A 7TH DAY KEEPER” AND I REPLIED, “WELL ARE WE NOT ALSO.” THEN HE REPLIED, “NO, SUNDAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.”
I WAS HIT BETWEEN THE EYES, LIKE A 2 X 4 HAD HIT ME.
I WENT TO THE LOCAL LIBRARY AND FOUND THE BOOK “CHRISTIAN FEASTS AND CUSTOMS”—— THE BOOK I’VE UPLOADED ON MY WEBSITE AND THIS BLOG.
I WAS STUNNED! I WAS IN COMPLETE SHOCK!
ALL THE CHRISTIANITY I KNEW FROM AGE 7, WAS FILLED WITH FALSE DOCTRINE, FALSE CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS.
BUT THE TRUTH HAS NEVER BEEN EXTINGUISHED, IT HAS BEEN OUT THERE, DOWN THROUGH THE CENTURIES.
GOD’S TRUE CHILDREN HAVE LIVED AND DIED FOR IT.
THERE IS COMING AT THE END OF THIS AGE, ONE MORE HUGE RESURRECTION OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE; IT WILL RULE THE WESTERN WORLD. IT WILL PERSECUTE THE TRUE PEOPLE OF GOD; THEY WILL HAVE TO FLEE ONCE MORE INTO THE WILDERNESS; SOME WILL HAVE TO STAND UP TALL AND SUFFER MARTYRDOM FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD, AS MANY HAVE DONE IN THE PAST AGES.
THEN JESUS WILL RETURN AND STOP MANKIND FROM BLOWING THEMSELVES OFF THIS BLUE PLANET.
A NEW AGE WILL COME—— AN AGE FORETOLD FOR CENTURIES BY GOD’S CHOSEN PROPHETS AND TEACHERS; AN AGE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH.
IT WILL BE AN AGE THAT WILL HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND HIS WORD OF TRUTH, AS DEEP AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEAS.
ALL THE NATIONS OF EARTH WILL OBSERVE THE 10 COMMANDMENTS, INCLUDING THE ONE THAT IS THE TRUE WEEKLY SABBATH!
Keith Hunt
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