A study by
the late Samuele Bacciocchi PhD
(a book no longer published)
Part Four
The question arises, How did the Christian react to these
imperial injunctions which prohibited the practice of Judaism
and in a particular way the observance of the Sabbath? Marcel
writes that "under Hadrian Judaism is the enemy and the
Church could believe for a moment that she would gather the
benefits of that Situation." 89 This being so, it is reasonable
to assume the majority of the Christians might have adopted
Sunday as a day worship, at that time, in order to differentiate
themselves from the Jews in the eyes of the Romans and to prevent
.....
88 The Rosh Hashanah 19a in "The Babylonian Talmud," trans. I.
Epstein. 34 vols. (London: The Soncino Press, 1938), 13:78; "Baba
Nathra" 60b similarly states:
"a Government has come to power which issues cruel decrees
against us and forbids to us the observance of the Torah and the
precepts (Babylonian Talmud, 26:246); sea also "Sanhedrin" 11a,
14a; Aboda Zarah 8b; the anti-Jewish edicts of Hadrian regarding
worship, which are found in the rabbinical sources., have been
brought together by Hamburger, in "Real-Encyclopaedia fur Bibel
and Talmud," 2 ed., s.v. "Hadrianische Verfolgungsodikte"; J.
Derenbourg, who provides a well documented treatmeant of
Hadrian's war and polotics writes: "The government of Rome
prohibited, under penalty of death, circumcision, the observance
of the Sabbath and the study of the law" (Essai cur l'histoire et
la geographie de la Palestine) [Paris: L'Imprimerie Imperial,,
18671, p.430] see especially fn. 2 for additional rabbinical
sources references); refering to Hadrian anti-Jewish edicts, Jean
Juster similarly notes: "Their existence cannot be disputed since
the rabbinic sources are in agreement on the matter ; the deep
hate which is shown toward Hadrian - which is deeper even than
that shown to Titus - all of this shows that Hadrian must have
done very grevious things against the Jews" (Lea Juifs dans
l'empire romain [New Fork: Burt Franklin, reprint 1965], p.226,
fn. 3); in the "Midrash Rab-bah" (ads. H. Freedman, M. Simon,
London: Soncino Press, 1939) also occur frequent references to
Hadrian's decree. In commenting on Exodus 15,7, it states for
instance: "For even if an enemy decrees that they should
desecrate the Sabbath; abolish circumcision or serve idols, they
[i.e., the Jews] suffer martyrdom rather than be assimilated"
(3:170); as a comment to Ecclesiastes 2, 17, it says: "Imikanton
wrote to the emperor Hadrian, saying, 'If it is the circumcision
you hate, there are also the Ismmaelites; if it is the
Sabbath-observer, there am also the Samaritans. Behold, you only
hate this people [Israel]'" (8: 66-67); cf., also Baron,
"History," 2:107.
89 Simon, "Verus Israel," p.130; concerning the "favoritism"
shown by Hadrian to the Christian Church.
.......
their identification with Judaism. Unfortunately we are not
informed as to whether the law was applied with equal severity in
the East as in the West. The profound and general contempt of the
rabbis for Hadrian, who would accompany his name with the
imprecation "may his bones rot," 90 and the immediate revoking
of these measures on the part of Antoninus Pius, leave us to
suppose that the restrictions were applied to all the Jews of the
diaspora, thus creating a general dissatisfaction. 91 If such
were the case, it is possible that in the west and above all in
Rome, where the Jews (due to their recent riots and uprisings in
Libya, Cyrenaics, Cyprus, Alexandria, Mesopotamia and Palestine)
92 were strictly watched and where it was vital for the
Christians not to create suspicion in the imperial authority of
their belonging to Judaism, that here the Chgristians - mostly
gentiles - first introduced Sunday as a new day of worship in the
place of the sabbath.
Bruce Metzger presents this hypothesis as "a reasonable
historical explanation":
The difference between East and West in the observance of
the Sabbath can be accounted for by a reasonable historical
explanation, In the West, particularly after the Jewish
rebellion under Hadrian, it became vitally important for
those who were not Jews to avoid exposing themselves to
suspicion; and the observance of the Sabbath was one of the
most noticeable indications of Judaism. In the East,
however, less opposition was shown to Jewish institutions.
93
This hypothesis of a Roman origin of the observance of
Sunday will acquire even greater credibility after our
examination of anti-Judaism in Rome. 94
(4) In the Year 135, with the prohibition of access to Jerusalem
for the Jews, a radical change took place in the leadership of
the church. "The Bishops were chosen among the Gentiles," as
Bagatti observes, "probably under the pressure of the civil
power." 95
Thus when the city came to be bereft of the nation of the
Jaws and its ancient inhabitants had completely perished, it was
colonized by foreigners. ...The Church, too, in it was com posed
of Gentiles, and after the Jewish bishops the first who wag
appointed to minister to those there was Marcus. 96
.......
90 L. 1. Rabinowitz, "Hadrian," "Encyclopedia Judaica" 1972 ed.,
vol. 7, p.1055, writes: "To the rabbis, Hadrian was a symbol of
wickedness and cruelty. His name is usually accompanied by the
epithet "the wicked" or by the imprecation "may his bones rot" in
Hebrew or Aramaic": see also "Jewish Encyclopedia," 1907 ed.,
a.v. "Hadrian" by S. Krauas.
91 See Bruce, "Spreading Flame," p.271.
92 For a concise account of the Jewish uprising, see Graetz,
"History Jews," 2:385.
93 Bruce M. Metzger, "Studies in Lectionary Text of the Greek
New Testament" (Chicago: The University Press, 1944), Vol.11,
p.12.
94 See below pp. 53f. (53f in Dr Bacchiocchi's original book -
Keith Hunt)
95 Bagatti, "L'Eglise," p.8
96 Lake, "Eusebius History," 4,6,4, p.313
.......
The fact that after the year 135 Gentile bishops replaced
the bishops of the circumision, indicates that a distinction took
place at that time between Gentile-Christians and Judeo-
Christians. We would assume that this distinction was not limited
only to the racial factor - not always perceptible - or solely to
the circumcision, but that it was characterized even by a new
theological orientation, especially towards the law and in
particular towards the Sabbath. Taking into account the existing
restrictions which prophibited every form of Jewish worship -
especially in the city of Aelia capitolina -, it would seem
logical to assume that the Gentile Christians adopted Sunday at
this time as their day of worship to avoid any possible suspicion
of connection with Judaism in the eyes of the Romans. The Judeo-
Christians who, was bagatti notes, "after a temporary absence,
returned to the city very rapidly," 97 probably endeavored to
reintegrate themselves in the church - by now ethnic - adopting
besides the observance of the Sabbath, the celebration of Sunday
as well. This appears
.......
97 Bagatti, "L'Eglise," p.8; the possibility that the
Judeo-Christian, returned to Jerusalem shortly after Hadrian's
expulsion of the Jews, is implied, as we noted earlier (see above
pp.28-30 and below pp.45f.), by Epiphanius' statement that the
controversy over the date of the Peesover arose "after the time
of the exodus [ca. A.D.135] of the bishops of the circumcision"
(PC 42, 355-350). We would assume that it was the opposition to
any innovation on the part of Judeo-Christians that stirred up
the controversy. We also noticed (see above p.32) that when a
council was summoned in Palestine at the request of Pope Victor,
the matter was "treated at length" (Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl., 5,
25), undoubtedly because of ome Judeo-Christian opposition. The
presence of such apposition seems confirmed by the fact that
Alexander, (see Eusebius, "His. Eccl"., 6, 8, 7 ; 0, 11, 1)
bishop of Jerusalem (successor of Narcissus who perticipated at
the above mentioned council), facing opposition at the beginning
of his episcopate, wrote to his teacher Clement of Alexandria who
willingly provided the needed support by writing a work entitled
"Ecclesiastical Canon" or "Against the Judaizers" (PG 9,
1480-1481; cf. Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." 6, 13, 3; NPNF, second
series, 1:259-280, fn. 11).
.......
confirmed by the testimony of Euebius on the Ebionites of the
liberal wing of whom he writes: "Like the former they used to
observe the Sabbath and the rest of the Jewish ceremonial, but on
Sundays celebrated rites like ours in commemoration of the
Saviour's resurrection." 98
It is not easy to establish when this might have happened 99
because Irenaeus, nearer in time to the Ebionites, though
describing in almost identical terms the beliefs and practices of
the Ebionites makes no mention of their observance of Sunday. 100
Besides the testimony of Irenaeus, the very account that
Eusebius provides of both the Ebionites and of the Jerusalem
Church, rather excludes the possibility of any basic change in
the Jewish liturgical calendar before 135. Concerning both the
radical and the liberal wing of the Ebionites, Eusebius states
that "they were equally zealous to insist on the literal
observance of the Law" 101. Similarly, the Jerusalem Church till
the time of Hadrian's War, was composed of and administered by
Christians who, to use Eusebius' words, were "of the
circumcision" or "of the nation of the Jews" 102. In such a
conservative religious climate it is difficult to conceive
of the abandonment f the Sabbath and/or of the quartodeciman
Passover. After the year 135, however, the Ethnic Church that was
established in Jerusalem and Palestine seems to have adopted the
Easter-Sunday custom 103. It is reasonable it suppose that, even
Sunday observance was introduced at that time, since we noticed
that the two festivals were closely related.
This could well be the historical moment when the liberal
wing of the Ebionites, desiring to reintegrate themselves within
the majority, adopted Sunday without forsaking the Sabbath.
.......
98 Lake, "Eusebius History," 3, 26, 5, p.263.
99 H. Domains, "Dim anche," DACL, Vol. IV, Col.893, holds that
the liberal group of the Ebionites adopted Sunday since their
first origins, beside the Sabbath, to commemorate the
resurrection of the Lord. Moans, "Scoria della domenica, p.
54, is practically in agreement. Rordorf, "Sunday," p.217,
similarly holds that these liberal Ebionites represent those
orthodox Judeo-Christians who adopted Sunday beside the Sabbath
since the origin of the Church, while the conservative Ebionites
are those who already before the destruction of Jerusalem,
abandoned the observance of Sunday, returning again to a close
observance of the Sabbath and the practices of the Law. This
thesis seems, rather improbable, considering the Jewish
extraction end orientation of the hierarchy and of the member, of
the Christian community of Jerusalem.
100 See Irenaeus, "Adverus haereses" 1, 26, 2, PG 7, 687.
102 Lake, "Eusebius History" 3, 27, 4, p.263.
102 Ibid., 4, 5, 4, p.311 and 4, 6, 4, p.313.
103 That Easter-Sunday was introduced in Jerusalem (Palestine) by
the Gentile-Christians after 135, is implied in Epiphanies'
statement where he says that "the controversy arose, after the
time of the exodus of the bishops of the circumcision" (PG 42,
355-356); see the analysis of Epiphanius text that follow.
.......
(5) After the vear 135, with the disappearance of the bishops
of the ciecumcision, according to Epiphanius 104 (ca. A.D. 315-
403), the controversy on the date of Passover began. It is worth
pausing here to consider briefly the implications of this
controversy on the origin of the yearly Easter-Sunday as well as
the weekly Sunday.
The bishop of Cyprus, in chapter 70 of his "Adversus
Haereses" deals with the sect of the Audians, 105 followers of
Audius, the schismatic bishop who refused to accept the decree of
the Council of Nicaea on the Paschal reckoning. These in fact
still depended on the Jews to calculate the 14th of Nisan.
Epiphanies endeavors to show to the Audians the necessity of
accepting the decree of Nicaea, reminding them of the anarchy
which existed in the Church on this problem before the decree. We
shall quote at length his statement, since it does offer insights
into the origin and extent of the controversy:
Since long time and from early days to the present, various
controversies and dissections have existed regarding this
solemn [feast], which have provoked much laughter and
ridicule .... If I were to say it in one word, there have
been many and laborious conflicts. Nor is the question
unknown to learned men, since at various times tumults and
controversies have arisen one to different ecclesiastical
rules concerning this famous feast.
Especially at the time of Polycarp and Victor, when the
Easterners separated from the Western ... 105 and in spite
of reciprocal peace letters, nothing was accomplished. The
same thing happened at different times, as in the case of
Alexander, bishop of Alexandria (bishop from A.D.313) and
Crescentius.
They wrote and fought bitterly against one another. The
controversy arose [literally, was stirred up] after the time
of the exodus [ca. A.D.135] of the bishop, of the
circumcision and it has continued till our own time.
Therefore those who came together [at Nicaea], examined the
matter accurately and they established in common accord that
[Passover] should be celebrated according to the same
computation and date. 107
.......
104 Epiphanies, "Adversus haereses" 70, 10, PG 42, 355-356.
105 Concerning the Audians, see "Dictionnaire de theologie
catholique, 1903, s.v. "Andiens" by A. Bareille; "Dictionnnaire
d'histoire et geographie ecclesiastiques," 1937, s.v. "Audee" by
A. Reignier.
106 Epiphanies' differentiation between Easterners and Westerners
on the matter of Easter observance and his reference to the
existence of many conflicts as the one which took place between
Alexander and Crescentine, suggests that the geographical
area of the Quartodecimans extended beyond the "dioceses of Asia"
mentioned by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 5, 23, 1).
.......
In the next paragraph Epiphanius refers to a document called
"The Apostolic Constitutions" in which the Audians justified
their custom. Since the fragments quoted by Epiphanius are not
found in our text of the "Apostolic Constitutions" and since
especially on the Easter question they disagree, the document
cited seems to belong to a different constitution apparently
lost. Epipanius does not argue the orthodoxy of these
Constitutions which state; "You [i.e., Gentile-Christians] ought
to celebrate Easter at the same time as your brethren who have
come out from the circumcision" 108. However, with a rather
strained exegesis, Epiphanius attempts to show to the Audians
that what the apostles meant is that Christians should celebrate
Passover not according to the custom of the Jews, but with the
rest of the faithful. "The Apostolic Constitutions," according to
Epiphanies, had in view the unity and uniformity of the Church to
be achieved under the leadership of the Judeo-Christian bishops,
but since these did not succeed in establishing the unanimity of
the celebration, a decision by the Council of Nicaea became
necessary:
After that constitution there were fifteen bishops of the
circumcision in Jerusalem, whose authority the, Christians
of all the world followed and with them they should have
celebrated Passover, in order to realize a perfect
agreement, only one profession of faith and a sole
celebration of the feast. Since, then, their desire to lead
the souls of men into the unity of the Church, had not been
realized for such a long time, it has come about at the time
of Constantine by the grace of God and by the care and
diligence of those Fathers [i.e., Nicene] who desired
harmony 109.
.......
107 Epiphanies, "Adversus haereses" 70, 10, PG 42, 355-356.
108 Ibid., PG 42, 357-358; in the "Didascalia Aposolorurm,"
similar statement is found: "It behooves you then, our brethren,
in the days of the Pascha to make inquiry with diligence and to
keep your fast with all care. And do you make a beginning when
your brethren who are of the People keep the Passover"
("Didascalia Apostolorum," ed. R. H. Connolly [Oxford Clarendon
Press, 1929], cap. 21, 17, p.187. Hereafter cited as Connolly,
D"idascalia Apostolorum); some scholars due to this similarity
identify the "Apostolic Constitutions" quoted by Epiphanies with
the "Didascalia Apostolorum." The text quoted by Epiphanies,
however, differs substantially with that of the Syriac Version of
the "Didascalia" which has come down to us. For a discussion of
the problem, sea M. Richard, "La question pascale an II siecle,"
L'Orient Syrien 6 (1961): 185-186. (Hereafter cited as Richard,
"Question pascale").
109 Epiphanies, "Adversus Haereses" 70, 10, PG 42, 357-360
.......
Marcel Richard 110, derives from the analysis of these texts
certain conclusions which, even though in some cases they are
hazardous and unacceptable, still are worth considering, inasmuch
as they offer us certain useful hints for reflection on the
origin of both Easter-Sunday and the weekly Sunday. Richard holds
in fact that the text of Epiphanius implies that (1) the
controversy over the date of Passover would have begun after the
disappearance of the Judeo-Christian bishops from Jerusalem
(A.D.135); (2) before these events only one Passover was
celebrated "after the indications of the bishop of Jerusalem,
naturally according to the quartodeciman rite"; 111 (3) only in
the countries influenced by the Judeo-Christians such as
Palestine and Syria, was Passover celebrated. The other Churches
limited themselves to "a strictly weekly liturgy, in which each
Sunday recalled the memory of the resurrection of Christ and
revived the expectation of his coming"; 112 (4) the Greek
bishops, not having celebrated Passover previously, to avoid the
appearance of "Judaizing" to the Roman authorities, adopted the
Sunday which followed Nisan 14 to celebrate Passover; (5) "Egypt
adopted without doubt very quickly the new Palestinian feast.
Other churches followed. That of Rome delayed a little and ...
under Pope Sorer, she finally decided." 113
While the first conclusion, i.e., that the Easter
controversy started after the disappearance of the bishops of the
circumcision, is credible, since the informer, Epiphanius, a
native of Palestine, was interested in the traditions of his
country and possessed documents which have since disappeared, 114
the other implications are not acceptable. It is difficult to
maintain the hypothesis that before then, only the quartodeciman
Passover was celebrated, and that it was the Greek bishops of
Jerusalem who originated the conflict by adopting Sunday for the
Easter celebration. It is
.......
110 Richard, "Question Pascale," pp.187-188.
111 Ibid., p.187.
112 Ibid., p.188.
113 Loc. cit.
114 Epiphanies, "Adversus Haereses" 70, B, PG 42, 358B, mentions,
for instance, the conflict between Alexander of Alexandria and
Crescentius on the problem of the Paasover, which is not reported
by others.
.......
more credible to assume that these bishops, coming from the
Gentiles, had already known and celebrated the Roman Easter
(Easter-Sunday) and that to make evident their separation from
the Jews, they introduced it in Jerusalem as well. The
differentiation from Judaism and the necessity for Christians not
to appear Judaizing, arose, as we have seen and as it will be
further noticed, earlier in Rome than in Palestine. Irenaeus,
in a text quoted by Eusebius, traces back the non-observance of
the Asiatic Passover to Pope Sixtus (ca A.D. 116-125), implying
that he already celebrated the Roman Passover:
Among these too were the presbyters before Soter, who
presided over the church of which you are now the leader, I
mean Anicetus and Pius and Telesphorus and Xystus. They did
not themselves observe it, nor did they enjoin it on these
who followed them, and though they did not keep it, they
were none the less at peace with those from the dioceses in
which it was observed when they came to them, although to
observe it was more objectionable to
those who did not do so. 115
M. Richard holds that the conflict in this text of Irenaeus
as well as in the whole Easter dossier of Eusebius, is not about
two different Easter customs, but between the quartodeciman
celebration of Easter in Asia and its non-celebration of
Easter in Rome prior to Pope Soler. 116
Christine Mohrmamn, 117, in a thorough analysis of the
thesis of Richard, demonstrates exhaustively how some of his
argumentations are based on erroneous grammatical interpretations
and that the terms "observance - non observance" are the two key
words of the conflict, representative of the two Easter
practices: Quartodeciman versus Roman Easter. Considering the
text of Eusebius without seeking mysterious or secret meanings,
it is difficult to maintain that Easter-Sunday originated in
Jerusalem after the year 135 and was introduced to Rome
subsequently under Pope Soler (A.D. 168-176).
Eusebius writes that the churches of Asia allegedly based
themselves on a "more ancient tradition" for holding the date of
Nisan 14. But, on the other hand, even "the Churches throughout
the rest of the world" who celebrated
.......
115 Lake, "Eusebius History" 5, 24, 14, p.511.
116 Richard, "Question pascale," pp.183-207.
117 Christine Mohrmann, "Le ccnflit pascal au He siecle,"
"Vigiliae Christianae" 16 (1962): 154-171; see also P. Nautin,
"Lettres et ecrivans chretiens des 11 et III siecles" (Paris:
Editions du Cerf, 1961), pp,65-104.
.......
Easter on Sunday, also leaned upon an "apostolic tradition"
118. In the following chapter Eusebius reports some excerpts from
the letter of Irenaeus where it says that "the controversy is
not only about the day [implying that the day was being
discussed], but also about the actual character of the fast" and
that "such variation of observance did not begin in our own
time, but much earlier, in the days of our predecessors." 119
Irenaeue then lists the bishops of Rome going back to Pope Sixtus
(116-125 A.D.), who did not observe the quartodeciman Easter but
allowed it to be observed by the Quartodeciman in Rome, implying
that that they on the contrary celebrated Easter on Sunday
Then Eusebius goes on referring to the bishops of Palestine who
gathered at Caesarea (ca. A.D.196) and approved the adoption of
the Easter-Sunday formulating what may be called an ecumenical
letter. The first part of the letter, which unfortunately
Eusebius does not quote but synthesizes, reads: "they treated at
length the tradition concerning the passover which had come down
to them from the succession of the apostles...." 120
One notices in these texts how both Eusebius and Irenaeus rec-
ognize the antiquity of the Roman Easter tradition, 121
but while Eusebius does not hesitate to trace it back, to the
Apostles, Irenaius on his part, a witness of the controversy,
speaks of "earlier times" and mentions specifically Pope Sixtus
(A.D.116-125) as the first non-observer of the quartodeciman
Passover.
The fact that Irenaeus, peace-maker in the controversy and
supporter of the Roman Easter does not refer to Apostles, basis
to "earlier times" mentioning specifically Pope Sixtus as the
first non-observant of quartodeciman Passover, would leave us to
suppose that its origin should be placed toward the beginning of
the second century, and possibly at Rome. This hypothesis would
explain how the introduction of the Roman Easter in Palestine by
the Greek bishops after the disappearance of the bishops of the
circumcision (which became a necessity after the edict of Hadrian
that prohibited the practice of Judaism) would have provoked
conflict with the Judeo-Christians current that (as Bagatti
observes) "after a temporrary withdrawl, returned to the city
very fast" 122
J. B. Lightfoot recognizes that the adoption of the Roman
Passover by the Gentile bishops of Palestine was motivated by
the necessity of avoiding even the appearance of Judaism. He
writes:
In the Pascal controversy of the second century the bishops
of Jerusalem, Caesarea, Tyre and Ptolemais ranged themselves
not with Asia Minor, which regulated the Easter festival by
Jewish passover, but with Rome and Alexandria, thus avoiding
even the semblance of Judaism 123.
It is in this historical moment that the observance of the
weekly Sunday, too, finds its logical origin Palestine, as an
expression of Christianity's official separation from Judaism, a
separation which was encouraged by Hadrian's policy that
prohibited any practice of Judaism. It is then probable that the
Roman Easter-Sunday as well as the weekly keeping of Sunday were
both introduced in Palestine simultanously, prompted by the same
causes - though toth institutions would have risen previously in
in the West, possibly in Rome. This hypothesis of a Roman origin
of both the annual and weekly celebration of the resurrection on
Sunday, will be further verified in the treatment that will
follow of the anti-Judaism in Rome.
The year 135, as we have seen, marks a significant and
decisive break in the relationships between Judaism and
Christianity 124.
The total cessation of the sacrificial and sacerdotal
system, the official repudiation of Christ with the proclamation
of Barkokeba as Messiah, the cruel persecution of the
Judea-Christians on the part of the rebellious Jews in 132-135,
the edict of Hadrian which prohibited the practice of Judaism and
the entrance of the Jews into the new Aelia Capitolina - these
and all factors that must have had decisive weight in creating
the necessity on the part of the Christians to separate and
differentiate themselves from the Jews, thus acquiring an
autonomous physiognomy. The abandoning of the Sabbath and the
adoption of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is probably the
most evident sign of this process.
Is it not even true today that the weekly day of rest
and worship makes the difference between the Moslem, the Jew and
the Christian more noticeable ?
.......
118 Lake, "Eusebius History" 5, 23, 1, p.503.
119 Ibid., 5, 24, 12-13, p.509.
120 Lake, "Eusebius History" 5, 25, 1, p.613.
121 Rordorf, "Zion Ursprung do; Osterfestes am Sonntag"
"Theologiache Zeitachrift" 18, (1962): 167-189, favors the
priority of the Roman Easter (Sunday-Easter) or better, its
apostolic origin. B. J. Van Der Veken, "De primordis liturgiae
paschalis," Sacris Erud. (1962): 500f., holds, on the contrary,
that while the quartodeciman Passover has an effective
apostolicity, less probable is that of the Roman Easter. Kenneth
A. Strand (see "Three Easays en Early Church with Emphasis on the
Roman Province of Asia" [Ann Arbor, Mich: Braun-Brumfield, 1967],
pp.33-45) advances persuasive arguments in support of the thesis
that possibly "Rome and other places where Peter and Paul labored
did indeed receive from these apostles a Sunday-Easter tradition,
whereas Asia received from John a quartodeciman observance" (p.
36). Strand's arguments are basically the following: (1) The
364 days fixed solar "priestly" calendar used by various
sectarian groups like the Qumranites where the day of omer or
first fruit was celebrated always on Sunday, could well have been
adopted by a segment of early Christianity. (2) A Roman
innovation could not have "so successfully and universally
supplanted an apostolic tradition at so early a period,
especially at a time when the flow of Christian tradition was
still definitely from East to west rather than vice versa" (p.
35). (3) Irenaeus, reared in Asia, disciple of John and defender
of the apostolic tradition would hardly have yielded to the
quartodeciman tradition for the Easter-Sunday, if the latter had
no apostolic authority. (4) The geographical distribution of the
two customs given by Eusebius (supposedly only the Asian
Christians observed the quartodeciman Passover) fits with the
geographical sphere of influence traditionally attributed to
Peter and Paul.
While it must be admitted that these arguments have been cogently
formulated, it would seem to us that they do not take into
account the following facts:
(1) Various sources (see above p.32, fn.54) suggest that the
quartodeciman Passover was far more widespread than Eusebius is
willing to admit. In fact, prior to Pope Victor's time, it seems
to have been practiced by some Churches even in Rome (see above
p.31, fn.49). The fact that Irenaeus referred to "the presbyters
before Soter" (Eusebius, Hist Eccl. 5, 24, 14), by-passing the
latter, as examples of bishops who allowed the observance of the
quartodeciman Passover, suggests that the change in the Roman
policy on the Easter question, took place at the time of Soter.
L. Duchesne, a renowned Hellenist, notes in this regard that
"under Soter, successor of Anicetus, the relations seem to have
been m tense" (Histoire ancienne de l'Eglise [Paris: E. Thorin,
1889,] 1 :289). In Gaul, however, the two divergent Easter
celebrations seem to have coexisted, even at the time of
Irenaeus, without causing major problems. In fact Irenaeus
testifies: "We also live in peace with one another and
our disagreement in the fast confirms our agreement in the
faith" (Lake, "Eusebius History" 5, 24, 13, p.611). (2) The
Easter-controversy, as we have noticed (see above pp.29f. and pp.
45-46), according to Epiphanius, "arose after the time of the
exodus of the bishops of the circumcision " (PG 42, 355, 356).
This statement seems to imply that prior to that time,
Easter-Sunday was unknown in Palestine and probably was practiced
only by a few Christians in the rest of the world. If this
were so, then Irenaeus' reference to Sixtus (ca. A.D. 115-125)
as the first non-observer of the quartodeciman Passover
(Eusebius, Hist. Encl. 5, 24, 14), should be regarded not as a
passing or casual example, but rather as accurate historical
information. (3) It is rather inconceivable that a man like
Paul could have been influenced by a sectarian calendar that laid
stress on days, and that, he should have introduced it in the
areas where he labored, since, as P. K. Jewett notes "he is the
only New Testament writer who warns his converts against the
observance of days (Col.2:17; Gal.4:10; Rom.14:6)"
("The Lord's Day" [Grand Rapids, Mich.: 1971], p.56). Furthermore
it should be noticed that Paul respected the normative
Pharisaic-rabbinic calendar as is indicated by the fact that he
was in a hurry to be at Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 20:16;
cf., I Cor.16:8). In fact Paul's public free ministry
ended (ea. A.D. 68-60) at the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of
Pentecost, while undergoing the rite of purification to
demonstrate to the Jewish brethren that he also was living "in
observance of the law" (Acts 21:25). (4) Concerning Irenaeus,
while on the one hand it is true that he had been reared in Asia
and that he was a defender of the apostolic succession, on the
other hand it should be noted (a) that he always advocated peace
and compromise as indicated not only by his letter to Pope Victor
but also by his embassy to Pope Eleutherus, Victors predecessor,
on behalf of the Montanists (see Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 5, 4, 1;
5, 3, 4); (b) that he had studied in Rome and was serving the
Church in the West (bishop of Lyon, from ca. A.D. 177); (c)
that he greatly respected and supported the Church of Rome
founded "by the two most glorious apostles Peter and Paul" and
with which "every church should agree, on account of it.
preeminent authority" ("Against Heresies" 3, 3, 2, ANF, l, 415).
(5) The authority that the Pope of Rome exerted by the end of the
second century should not be underestimated. It is worth noting
that even though Polycates disagreed with Victor on the
observance of the Passover, he complied with the Pope's order to
summon a council. In fact he states: "I could mention the bishops
who are present whom you required me to summon and I did so"
(Lake, "Eusebius History" 5, 24, 8, p.507). Similarly Irenaeus
did not challenge Victor's right to excommunicate the Asian
Christians, but only advised a more magnanimous attitude. (6) The
conflict and tension between Judaism and the Empire, which became
particularly acute under Hadrian, may well have induced bishop
Sixtus to take steps to substitute those distinctive Jewish
festivities as the Passover and the Sabbath with new dates and
theological motivations, in order to avoid any semblance of
Judaism (see discussion below pp. 58f.). The anti-Judaic
motivations for both the Pascal and weekly Sabbath fast would
seem to provide additional support to this hypothesis (see below
pp.61f.). All these indications seem to challenge and discredit
the hypothesis of an apostolic origin of the Roman Easter
tradition.
122 Bagatti, "L'Eglise", p.8; it is also possible that the
controversy may have been provoked by some of the new Gentile
Christian, who were still loyal to the quartodeciman custom.
123 J. B. Lightfoot, "The Apostolic Fathers" 4 vols. (London;
Macmillan Company, 1885), vol.11, part 1, p.88. (Hereafter
cited as Lightfoot, "Aposolic Father",).
124 Graetz, "History Jews," 2:431, comments perspicaciously;
"From this time dates the unity and identity of most of the
Jewish-Christian and heathen-Christian sects. The Jewish
Christians gave up the Jewish laws which they had hitherto kept,
in a greater or less degree, adopting the dogmatic precepts of
Christianity as they had been developed under heathen-Christians
views, and as proof of their sincere convictions, they for the
first time placed an uncircumcised bishop at the head of the
community. From the time of Hadrian all connection between Jews
and Christians ceased, and they no longer occupied the position
of two hostile bodies belonging to the same house, but they
became two entirely distinct bodies."
.................
TO BE CONTINUED
Sunday and Anti-Judaism #5Why Christians began to move away from Jews ANTI-JUDAISM AND THE ORIGIN OF SUNDAY #5
Anti-Judaism in Rome after 70 and the Rise of Sunday
It was noticed previously 226 that at the time of the
Nemnian persecution the Christians in Rome already constituted a
community distinct from the Jews. This differentiation took
place in Rome even earlier than in the East. F.F.Bruce writes:
"By 84, ae we have seen they were clearly differentiated at Rome.
The differentiation took a little longer in Palestine (where
practically all Christians were of Jewish birth). 126
Is it possible, one would ask, that at Rome (where the
differentiation of Christianity from Judaism became necessary and
possibly earlier) there also occurred first of all the abandoning
of the Sabbath and the adoption of Sunday? In order to verify
this hypothesis, we shall now consider the more significant
factors, present especially at Rome, which might have contributed
to the rise of Sunday keeping.
Predominance of Gentile converts in the Church of Rome
Paul's addresses in his epistle to the Romans, particularly
the last chapters, presuppose that the Christians community of
Rome was composed primarily of a Gentile-Christian majority
(chapters 11,13) and a Judea-Christian minority (14 f.). "I am
speaking to you Gentiles" (11:13) the apostle explicitly affirms
and in chapter 18 the majority of the believers he greets carry a
Greek or Roman name. The predominance of Gentile members and
their conflict with the Jews, inside and outside the Church, may
have necessitated a differentiation between the two communities
in Rome even earlier than in the East. Leonard Goppelt, in his
study on the origin of the Church, supports this point when he
writes:
"The Epistle presupposes in Rome, as one would expect, a Church
with a Gentile-Christian majority (11,13) and a Judeo-Christian
minority (14f.). This co-existence of the two parties provoked
some difficulties comparable to those known at Corinth at the
same time....
The situation of the Church of Rome in relationship to Judaism,
as far as the Epistle to the Romans allows us to suspect, is
similar to the one presented us by the post-Pauline texts of
Western Christianity: a chasm between the Church and Synagogue is
found everywhere, one unknown in the Eastern Churches which we
have described above. Judaism does not play any other role than
the one of being the ancestor of Christianity. 127
125 See above pp. 23f.
126 Bruce, "Spreading Flame," p.157.
127 Leoawd Goppelt, "Lea Origines de l'Eglise" (Paris: Payot,
1961), pp. 202-203.
This observation of Goppelt that the Christian community of
Rome, primarily of pagan descent, knew a break from Judaism even
earlier than in the Orient, suggests the possibility that in Rome
itself there took place first of all - in the process of
differentiation from Judaism - the abandoning of the Sabbath and
the adoption of Sunday.
Anti-Judaic feelings and measures
After the death of Nero, the Jews who for a time had
experienced a favorable position, 128 became soon afterwards
unpopular in the empire due primarily to their resurgent
mationalistic feelings which expoloded in violent uprisings
almost everywhere. The period between the first (A.D. 66-70) and
second (A.D. 132-135) major Jewish wars is characterized by
numerous anti-Jewish riots (as in Alexandria, Caesarea and
Antioch) as well as by concerted Jewish revolts which broke out
in places such as Mesopotamia, Cyrenaica, Palestine, Egypt and
Cyprus. 129
"Meanwhile the Jews in the region of Cyrene had put a certain
Andreas at their head, and were destroying both the Romans and
the Greeks. They would eat the flesh of their victims, make
belts for themselves of their entrails, anoint themselves with
their blood and wear their skins for clothing; many they sawed in
two, from the head downwards; others they gave to wild beasts,
and still others they forced to fight as gladiators. In all two
hundred and twenty thousand persons perished. In Egypt, too they
perpetrated many similar outrages, and in Cyprus...." 130
The Romans reacted against these Jewish insurrections rather
ruthlessly. The statistics of the bloodshed that contemporary
historians provide for the two major wars, even allowing for
possible exaggerations, are still a most impressive evidence of
the Roman's
………….
128 See above p.21.
129 For s concise account of the Jewish insurrections and were,
see Giuseppe Ricciotti, "The History of Israel" (Milwaukee,
Wisconsin: The Bruce Publishing Company), 2 : 402-461; Bruce,
"Spreading Flame," pp.270f.; Graetz, "History Jews," 2: 393f.
130 Dio Cassius, "Roman History" 69, trans. by E. Cary, Loeb
Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press,
1961), p.421; cf. the similar account given by Eusebius in "Hist.
Eccl." 4, 2 and in Chron. 2, 164.
……………..
angry vengeance against the Jews. Jossphus (ca. A.D. 37-93)
states that 1,197,000 of Jerusalem's inhabitants were either
killed or captured by Titus. In Tacitus (ca. A.D. 33-120) a
fairly cautious historian, gives for the same war an estimate of
600,000 Jewish fatalities alone. 132 In the Barkokeba war,
according to the Dio Cassius (ca. A.D. 150-235), 580,000
Palestinian Jews were killed in action, in addition to the
numberless who died of hunger, disease or fire. "All of Judea,"
the same historian writes, "became almost a desert." 133
Apart from the staggering losses in lives and property, the
Jews now suffered political reverses. In Rome, particularly, as
Bruce writes:
"the feeling against the Jews was strong enough to make Titus,
when crown prince, give up his plan to marry Berenice, sister of
Herod Agrippa the Younger, although both she and her brother had
shown themselves ardent supporters of the Flavian dynasty in the
recent war and subsequently." 134
Of greater consequences was the introduction by Vespasian,
after the war, of the so-called "fiscus judaicus." This Jewish
"fiscal tax" of half shekel, which had been previously paid to
the Temple of Jerusalem, was now excised for the temple of
Jupiter Capitolinus. The tax was now levied not only from adult
male Jews, but from both men and women from the age of three to
sixty-two, as well as from the slaves of the Jews.
Domition, 135
………….
131 Josephus, "Wars of the Jews" 6, 9, 3; the historian
specifies that 97,000 Jews were taken captives and 1,100,000 were
either killed or perished during the siege.
132 Tacit, "The Histories" 5, 13.Dio points out, however, that
the losses which the Romans suffered were also great. Hadrian, in
fact, in his letter to the Senate omitted the usual opening
expression, "If you and your children are in health, it is well;
I and the legions are in health" (100. cit.),
134 Bruce, "Spreading Flame," p.267; Baron similarly states:
"The anti-Jewish feeling in Rome and Italy also rose to a
considerable height the moment this group of foreigners [i.e.,
the Jews] started to proliferate rapidly. With their special way
of life, they were a strange element, even n the cosmopolitan
capital. The literature of the age reflects the partly
contemptuous and partly inimical attitude prevailing among the
educated classes in the imperial city" ("History" 2:103).
135 J. Zeiller observes concerning Domitian: "His antipathy
towards the Jew, was in harmony with his financial necessities,
for his Treasury was exhausted after the excessive expense, he
had incurred in the embellishment of Rome. Accordingly he caused
to be levied with great strictness the tax of the didrachma"
("Primitive Church," pp.384-385).
……………
in particular, having exhausted the treasury by his extravagant
embellishment of Rome, public spectacles and salary increase to
the army, according to Suetonius (ca. A.D. 70-122) went so far as
to collect the tax even from those "who without publicly
acknowledging that faith yet lived as Jews." 136 Christian
members could easily have been included among them. The historian
relates then how as a youth he had personally witnessed "when the
person of a man ninety years old was examined before the
procurator and a very crowded court, to see whether he was
circumcised." 137
Domitian's successor, Nerve, while maintaining the impost,
as one of the first acts of his administration, condemned the
unscrupulous abuses of tax collectors, undoubtedly affecting
persons of non-Jewish extraction as well. 138 He even
commemorated his action by striking a coin with the legend
"Fisci judaici calumnia sublata - on the removal of the shameful
(extortion) of the Jewish tax."
The sources do not inform us on any specific action taken by
the Christians at this time to avoid the payment of such
discriminatory tax. However we may suspect, as Baron
perspicaciously remarks:
"that undoubtedly, in connection with this redefinition of the
fiscal obligations as resting only upon professing Jews, the
growing Christian community secured from Nerva exemption from the
tax and, indirectly, official recognition of the severance of its
ties with the Jews denomination." 139
………….
136 Suetonius, "The Lives of the Caesars," Domitian 12 trans.
J.C.Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard
University Press, 1939), 2:365; Gractz similarly points out:
"Severe, however, so he was toward the Jews, Damitian was doubly
hard toward the proselytes, and suffered them to feel the full
weight of his tyrannical power" ("History Jews" 2:389); see also
E.M.Smallwood, "Domitian's Attitude toward the Jews and Judaism,"
Classical Philology 51 (1956): 1-14.
137 Suetonius, ibid., p 366.
138 For a brief description of Nerve's policy, see Dio Cassias,
"Roman History" 58, 1-2.
139 Baron, History, 2:106; Baron aptly observes that "unlike the
later period, when capitation taxes became universal, a head tax
at that time had by itself a discriminatory character" (ibid., p.
373, fn. 20.) For special studies on the Roman capitation tax,
see the bibliographical references given by Baron (loc. cit.).
………….
These fiscal measures were perhaps the most visible sign of
the Roman hostility toward the Jews. Another indication of the
Roman contempt for the Jews can be seen in the writing of authors
such as Cicero, Horace, Juvenal and Dio Cassius. 140 Tacitus (ca.
55-120 A.D.), who lived in Rome under nine emperors occupying
prominent political positions, perhaps, best epressed the reasons
for the hatred the Roman nourished for the Jews. He wrote:
"All their customs, which are at once perverse and disgusting,
owe their strength to their very badness. The most degraded out
of other races, scorning their national beliefs, brought to them
their contribution and presents. This augmented the wealth of the
Jews, as also did the fact, that among themselves they are
inflexibly honest and ever ready to shew compassion, though they
regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies. They
sit apart at meals, they sleep apart, and though, as a nation,
they are singularly prone to lust, they abstain from intercourse
with foreign women; among themselves nothing is unlawful." 141
The hatred toward the Jews, felt particularly in Rome at
that time, compelled the Jewish historian Josephus, who was in
the city (from ca. A.D.70 to his death ca. 93) as a pensioner of
the imperial family, to take up his pen to defend his race from
popular calumnies. In his two works, "Against Apion" and "Jewish
Antiquities," he defended his race, showing how the Jews, as far
as antiquity, culture and prowess are concerned, could be
favorably compared to any nation.
…………
140 Tacit, "The Histories" 5, 5, trans. A.J.Church and W.J.
Brodribb. "The Annals and the Histories" by P.C.Tacitus, Great
Bookie of the Western World (Chicago, London, Toronto: William
Benton, 1952), p 295; Tacit's adds: "Those who come over to their
religion adopt the practice [i.e., circumcision], and have this
lesson first instilled into them, to despise gods, to disown
their country, and set at nought parents, children and brethren.
Still they provide for the increase of their numbers" (loc.
sit.).
141 Cicero points out how the Jewish laws and way of life were
incompatible with the Roman (Pro Flacco, 28, 29); Horace shows
contempt for Jewisb superstitions and mention, the case of his
friend Aristius Fuscus who could not discuss some private affairs
with him, because it was "the thirtieth Sabbath (Satires I:
9,67-72); Juvenal points out in a satire written about 125, that
the process of conversion to Judaism was often subtle, lengthy,
but in the end complete (Satires 7 :96-104); Dio Cassius
describes in frightful terms the atrocious manner in which the
Jews massacred both Greeks and Roman, at the time of their
frequent uprising ("Roman History" 69).
…………..
This contempt of the Romans for the Jews, caused by the
latter's constant revolts and exclusive customs is a factor which
played a preponderant role in causingt a social and religious
differentiation of the Christians from the Jews. If we add to
this growing conflict between the Church and the Synagogue and
the Jewish defamatory campaign against the Christians, 142 it is
as to perceive why many Christians did take steps to appear,
especially in the imperial city, clearly distinct from the Jews
in the eyes of the Romans. Under the emperor Hadrian (A.D.
117-138) particularly, a clear diffentiation from the Jews be-
came a more urgent necessity, due to the punitive measures taken
by the emperor againat them. The Jews as a whole were in fact
subjected at this time, according to Appian, a contemporary
historian, to a "poll-tax... heavier than that imposed upon the
surrounding peoples." 143 They were forbidden even to set foot in
"Aelia Capitolina," while the Gentile Christians were allowed to
settle in the city. 144 The emperor prohibited furthermore not
only circumcision - regarded as the trademark of Judaism - but
also, as Baron writes, "according to rabbinic sources, he
prohibited public gatherings for instruction in Jewish law,
forbade the proper observance of the Sabbath and holidays and
outlawed many important rituals." 145
…………..
142 Justin Martyr, "Dialogue with Trypho" 17, 1, laments the fact
that the Jews falsely represent the Christians, accusing them as
traitors and sacrilegious: "The other nations have not treated
Christ and us, His followers, as unjustly as have you Jews, who,
indeed, are the very instigators of that evil opinion they have
of the Just One and of us, His disciples." In chapter 96 of the
same work, Justin adds: "In your synagogues you curse all those
who through Him have become Christians, and the Gentiles put into
effect your curse by killing all those who merely admit that they
are Christians." (Falls, "Justin's Writings," p.173 and p.299);
Tertullian, "Scorpiace" 10, 10, CCL 2, 1089, denominates the
synagogues "Fontes persecutionum," and in "Ad Nationes" 1, 14, 2,
CCL 1, 33, "Seminarium eat infamiae nostrae." Origen, "Contra
Celsum," trans. by H. Chadwick (Cambridge: University Press,
1959), reports at length the associations which Celsus' Jew had
launched against the Christians.
143 "Appian's "Roman History, The Syrian Wars" 50, trans. Horace
White, Loeb Classical Library (New York: The Macmillan Co.,
1932), p.199.
144 On the pathetic attempts of the Jews to visit their ruins,
see Jerome's "Commentary on Zaphanaiah" 1: 15-16, PL 25, 1418f.;
other patristic sources are analyzed by B.Harris, "Hadrian's
Decree of Expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem," Harvard
Theological Review 19 (1926): 199-206; cf. also W.D.Gray,
"Founding of Aelia Capitoline, " American Journal of Semitic
Languages and Literatures 39 (1922-1923): 248-256.
145 Baron, "History," 2: 107 ; for the sources and a discussion
of Hadrian's anti-Jewish policies, ago below pp.40-41.
…………
In this historical moment, as Marcel Simon emphasizes in his
scholarly study:
"the circumstances invited insistence on this point: in a time of
tension between Rome and the Jews, and of the awakening of the
Zealot spirit, it was good to emphasize that the Christians,
liberated from any tie with the religion of Israel and the land
of Palestine, represented for the Empire irreproachable subjects.
It helped even the authorities, as Bouche-Leclereq has said, 'to
distinguish the cosmopolitan Christianity from Judaism and to
make them [i.e., the Romams] aware that a lesser gulf separated
the Christians from the Roman society.'" 146
Considering, furthermore, as the same writer suggests, that
Hadrian possibly : felt himself for a moment attracted with sym-
pathy for Christianity" 147 while "he reserved his severity for
the Jews" 148 it is reasonable to suppose that the majority of
the Gentile-Christians who were living in Rome under the
immediate attention of the emperor, sought to evidence their
distinction from the Jews by substituting for those
characteristic Jewish rites such as the Sabbath and Passover, new
dates and theological meanings. It is worth noticing that it is
at this time that the Christian Apologetic movement really
started, undoubtedly demanded by the circumstances. 149
Eusebius informs us that Quadratus presented
…………..
146 Simon, "Verve Israel," p.128.
147 Hadrian's attitude toward Christianity is revealed primarily
by his "Rescriptus" to Minucius Fundanus written probably about
125-126. The Emperor did not prohibit the prosecution of the
Christians, but he demanded that the accusation be made before a
tribunal in a regular process. Popular protestations against the
Christians were not to be accepted and false accusers were to be
severely punished. (The "Rescriptus" is quoted by Justin,
I "Apologia" 68 and by Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." 4, 9). While
Hadrian's Rescriptus is somewhat ambiguous in his formulation,
perhaps intentionally, basically however the Emperor manifested a
moderate attitude toward Christianity; for some significant
studies on Hadrian's "Rescriptus," see C.Callewaert, "Le rescrit
d'Hadrien a Minucius Fundanus" Reeve d'histoire et de
litte-rature religieuse 8 (1903): 152-189; Marta Sordi, "I
rescritti di Traiano e Adrian, sui cristiani," Rivista di Storm
delta Chiesa in Italia 14 (1960) 359-370; W. Schmid, "The
Christian Reinterpretation of the Rescript of Hadrian," Maya 7
(1953): lff. According to Lampridius, an authority not too
convincing, Hadrian was disposed to offer Christ a place in the
Pantheon (sea Vita Alexandri Severi 43, 6).
148 Simon, "Verus Israel," p.129.
149 Robert M. Grant points out that the apologetic movement
started under Hadrian, prompted by the Hellenizing efforts of the
Emperor and by the effects of the Barkokeba s revolt ("Augustus
to Constantine" [New York; Harper and Row, 1970], pp104-105).
Hereafter cited as Grant," Augustus.")
………….
to Hadrian "a defense for our (Christian) religion because some
wicked men were trying to trouble the Christians. 150 H.Graetz
holds that these "wicked men" were none others than Jews who were
spreading slanderous reports about the Christians. 151 The
necessity for a religious differentiation from Judaism must have
been keenly felt by the Christians. Robert M.Grant aptly observes
that after the Barkokeba revolt:
"Christians turned toward Greek culture and rather rapidly
abandoned the original Jewish context of their religion. Justin's
'Dialogue with Trypho' reflects the Christian effort to
reinterpret the Old Testament for the benefit of Hellenistic Jews
who had fled from Palestine during the war of 132-135. 152
At the time of Hadrian, then, three significant condictions
seem to have existed contemporaneously:
(1) Roman hostility towards the Jews who were regarded as enemies
of the the Empire, due to their constant uprising; (2) relative
imperial favoritism for the Christians, who were protected from
popular calumnies; (3) an acute social and theological conflict
between Jews and Christians. This unique triangular situation
where political, social and theological conflicts and tensions
conditioned, even though in different ways, the relationships
among the Empire, Judaism and Christianity, seems to provide a
most reasonable explanation for the effort of some Christians to
break away from Jewish rites like the Sabbath and Passover, by
introducing new dates and theological motivations.
………….
150 Lake, "Eusebius History" 4, 3, 1, p. 307.
151 See H.Graetz, "Geschichte der Juden," 11 vole., 3 ed.
(Leipzig: 0. Liner, 1897-1911), 4: 169. He also writes: "Both
sects of Christians (Jewish and Gentile) were anxious to be
recognized as a body separate from the Jews, both politically and
religiously, so as to avoid the doom impending over the latter.
Two teacher, of the Church, Quadratus and Aristides, are said to
have handed to Hadrian a petition, in which they demonstrated
that Christianity had no connection with Judaism." Graetz,
"History of the Jews," 2:431; cf. Paul Andriassen, "L'Apologie de
Quadrates conservee sons le titre d'Ep. a Diognete," Recherches
de Theol. Inc. et midievale 1946): 5-39; 125-149; 237.260, holds
that Quadratus is the author of the "Epistle of Diognetus," in
which Jewish institutions such as the Sabbath, new moons,
fasting, and feast day are considered a proof of the foolishness
of the Jew; see "Epistle to Diognetus" 4, 5, ed. and trans. by
H.I.Marron, A "Diognete," Sources Chretiennes 33 his (Paris:
Editions du Cerf,1965), p.61.
152 Grant, "Augastus," p.105.
...............
TO BE CONTINUED
Anti-Judaism and the Origin of Sunday #6The Sabbath Fast - Why and Where!
by the late Samuele Bacchiocchi Ph.D.
In the light of this situation, Irenaeus' mention of Bishop
Sixtus (ca. A.D. 116-125, contemporary of Hadrian--A.1). 117-133)
as the first non-observant of the quartodeciman Passover,
does not seem to have been accidental or by way of example, but
it may well reflect a historical event. The existing social-
theological conflict between Judaism and Christianity, as well as
the necessity to appear clearly distinct from the Jews in the
eyes of the Romans, could well have induced the Bishop of Rome at
that time to take steps to substitute for distinctive Jewish
festivities such as Passover and the Sabbath new dates and
theological motivations. Easter-Sunday and weekly-Sunday could
well have originated in Rome contemporaneously at this time,
since we noticed that these were regarded as basically one feast
that commemorated at different times the same event of the
resurrection. 153 Even though such a conclusion cannot be
substantiated by explicit contemporary historical data, various
indirect and concomitant indications would steem to support it.
We shall notice, for instance, that Rome emerged in the
quartodeciman controvers as the epicenter and champion of the
Easter-Sunday custom. 154 It is also from Rome that there comes
to us, through Justin's "APolopy," the first explicit and
detailed account of Sunday worship in early Christianity. 155
The attitude of the Church of Rome toward the Sabbath seems
to provide additional support to our thesis. To this last
question we shall now turn our attention, endeavoring to
ascertain its possible implications for the origin of Sunday.
Attitude of the Church of Rome toward the Sabbath.
Regan focuses on the difference existing between the East
and the West in regard to their respect for the Sabbath, by
posing a significant question:
"Thus while protecting the practices of the Church from false and
misleadiog influences, nevertheless the Church of the East was
ever solicitous in preserving the special reverence due to both
Saturday (tho Sabbath), and the Lord's Day.How is it then one may
rightly ask, that the day which the Church of the West kept as a
fast day, the Church of the East celebrated as a festival?" 156
.......
153 The relationship between Easter-Sunday and the weekly Sunday
is discussed in Cahpter IV, in connection with the Jubilee
calendar, see also below pp.83-84.
154 See below pp. 85f.
155 Justin's texts and theological interpretation of the
Sabbath-Sunday question are analyzedd below, pp.127-144.
156 Regan, Dies Dominica, p.60; Regan, following the indications
of J.Binglum holds that thn veneratioa of the Sabbath in the East
was due
.......
To say that "the Church of the West kept (the Sabbath) as a fast
day" seems too broad a generalization, in view of the fact that
important Western areas, such as Milan at, the time of Ambroso
(d. A.D.397), find certain churches and regions of North Africa,
did not observe it. 157 Regan himself in fact notes - commenting
on the text of Victorinus of Pettau - that especially "in Rome
the Sabbath day is a day of rigorous fast, lest there be the
slightest suspicion that the Christians might appear to observe
the Sabbath of old which Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath
abolished."158
.......
to both the influence of the new converts from the Synagogue as
well as a reaction against the teaching of Marcion who fasted on
the Sabbath to show his contempt for the God of the Old Testament
whom he considered evil (about Marcion, see. below p.78);
J.Bingham, "The Antiquities of thr Christian Church," 4 vols.
(London: Reeves and Turner, 1878), 3:1139. points out: "The Jews
being generally the first converts to the Christian faith, they
still retained a mighty reverence for the Mosaic institutions,
and especially for the Sabbath, as that which had been appointed
by God Himself, as the memorial of his rest from the work of
creation, settled by their great master, Moses, and celebrated by
their ancestors for so many ages, as the solemn day, of their
public worship, and were therefore very loath it should be wholly
antiquated and laid aside"; Joseph A.Jungmann, "The Mass of the
Roman Rite, Its Origin and Development," trans. lay P.A.Brunner
(New York: Bonziger pros., 1959) 1:246, holds that the respect
for the Sabbath in the East was a means of defence of the
Christian community against the Manichean doctrine, concerning
the wicked nature of created matter; Dugmore believes that
veneration for the Sabbath in the East "was reinforced
continually by converts from Judaism" ("Influence," p.38);
P.Cotton, "From Sabbath to Sunday" (Bothlehem, Pa.: Times
Publishing Company, 1933), p.66 similarly writes: "The East was
more conservative, more closely in touch with Judaism and
Judaistic Christianity." (Hereafter cited as Cotton, "Sabbath.")
157 The fact that in Milan Christians did not fast on the Sabbath
is attested by the advice Ambrose gave to Monica, Augustine's
mother: "When I are here [i.e., in Milan] I do not not fast on
Saturday; but when I am in Rome I do" (Augustine, "Epistle; to
Casulanus" 36, par. 32. NPNF 1st Series, I:270; cf. also
Augustine's "Epistle to Januarius" 54, par. 3 Paulinus, "Vita
Ambrosii, chap. 38; the same difference existed in North Africa
in the time of Augustine. In fact the bishop wrote: "It happens,
especially in Africa, that one church, or the churches within the
same district, may have some members who fast and others who do
not fast on the seventh day" ("Epistle to Casulanus 36, par. 32,
NPNF 1st Series, 1:270); Tertullian, referring to the Montanists,
said that, they did not fast "the Sabbaths and the Dad's days"
("On Fasting" 15, ANF 4:112); Tertullian indicates the existent,
in North Africa of a similar divergence on the matter of kneeling
on the Sabbath - a practice closely allied in meaning to that of
the fast see "On Prayer" 23; for an analysis of the Sabbath fast
in Early Christianity, see. Kenneth A. Strand, "Essays on the
Sabbath in Early Christianity" (Ann Arbor, Mich. :
Braun-Brumfhrld, 1972), pp.9-15, 25-43. (Hereafter cited as
Strand, "Essays on Sabbath").
Before proceeding with our historical investigation into the
practice and motivations for the Sabbath fast in early
Christianity, it is important to notice that, the Jews regarded
the Sabbath as anything but a day of fast and mourning. Even the
strictest Jewish sects objected to fasting on the Sabbath. The
rabbis, though they differed in their views regarding the time
and number of the Sabbath meals, they agreed on the fact that
food on the Sabbath ought to be abundant and good. The following
statement epitomizes perhaps the typical rabbinic view:
"Do you think that I (God) gave you the Sabbath as a burden? I
gave it to you for your benefit." How? Explaincd Rabbi Hiyya bar
Abba, "Keep the Sabbath holy with food, drink and clean garment,
enjoy yourself and I shall reward you." 159
The early Christians recognized that the Sabbath fast was
contrary to the Jewish tradition., Augustine, for example,
clearly implies this in his rhetorical remark, "Did not the
tradition of the elders prohibit fasting on the one hand, and
command rest on the other. 160 Since the transformation of the
Sabbath from a day of feasting and joy to a day of fasting and
mourning could be directly related to the process which led to
the abandonment of the Sabbath and adoption of Sunday observan by
many Christians, we shall briefly inquire into the question of
the place and cause of the origin of the Sabbath fast.
A survey of the main historical references strongly suggest
that Rome is the birthplace of the Sabbath fast and that from
there it spread to the West. Augustine, for instance, who wrote
at length and repeatedly on the subject, describes the pattern of
adherence to the Sabbath fast prevailing in his day, saying the
"Roman Church and some other churches, though few, near to it or
remote
......
158 Regan, "Dies Dominica," p.64; for the text of Victorinus of
Pettau on the Sabbath fast, see below.
159 "Yerushalmi," Shabbat 15:3, quoted by Nathan A. Barack, "A
Histtory of the Sabbath" (Now York: Jonathan David, 1965), p.
182, fn.70; Barack provides additional sources and a good
treatment of the Sabbath meals see ibid., p.100 and 182; cf.
Judith 8:6; Jobilees 50: 10, 12, 1:3; CDC 11 :4, 5.
160 Augustine, "Epistle to Casulanus" 36, par. 6, NPNF let
Sorios, 1:267.
......
from it observe a fast on that day." 161 Pope Innocent I (A.D.
401-417), contemporary of Augustine, in a letter addressed to
Decentius, bishop of Gubbio, emphatically states:
"There is no doubt that they [the Apostles] fasted in these two
days indicated [Friday and Sabbath] as the tradition of the
Church maintains that in these two days one should not absolutely
(penitus) celebrate the sacraments. 162
In the same letter the Pope, "in order to establish an
official policy on the matter," 163 declares: "We do not deny
the fast of the sixth day, but we affirm that it is to be kept
even on the Sabbath." 164 John Cassian (d. ca. A.D. 440) offers
a similar comment on the custom of fasting on the Sabbath
prevailing in the West and particularly in Rome. He writes:
"Some people in some countries of the West, and especially in the
city [i.e.,Rome.] ... think that a dispensation from fasting
ought certainly not to be allowed on the Sabbath, because they
say that on this day the, Apostle Peter fasted before his
encounter with Simon [Magus]." 166
Cassian's own comment is that Peter did not intend to
establish a permanent canonical rule but fasted in view of the
particular emergency of the time. Augustine similarly reports
that though many thought that Peter instituted the Sabbath fast,
yet, he adds, "many Romans maintain that it is false." 166
Concerning the opposition of some Romans to the Sabbath
fast, it would appear that during the pontificate of Siricius
(A.D.384-398) an actual faction arose in the city led by a priest
called Jovinianus, who opposed the practice of fasting and
chastity. Siricius condemned Jovinianus in 390 in a letter where
he says: "he [i.e., Jovinianus)
......
161 Augustine, "Epistle to Casulanus" 36, par. 27, NPNF, 1st
Series, 1 : 268; again in par. 4 of the same letter Augustine
limits the practice of the Sabbath fast to the "Roman Christians,
and hitherto a few of the Western communities."
162 Innocent 1, Epist. 25, 4, 7, Ad Decentium, PL 211, 555.
163 Mario Righetti, "L'Anno liturgico, manuale di storia
liturgica, 4 vols. (Milan : Ancora, 1969), 2:39; Righetti
maintains that Pope Innocent I intended by this decretal to
establish an official policy on the matter. (Hereafter cited as
Righetti, "Storia liturgica.")
164 Innocent I, Epist. 25, 4, 7, Ad Decentium, PL 20, 555.
165 John Cassian, "Institutes" 3, 10, NPNF, 2nd Series, 11:218.
166 Augustine, "Epistle to Casulanus" 36, par. 21, PL 33, 145.
…….
hates the fastings ... saying they are superfluous; he has no
hope in the future." 167
The "Liber Pontiftcalis," a papal register whose composition
started in the sixth century, under the name of Pope Callistus
(A.D. 217-222) records the institution of a seasonal Sabbath fast
as the only act of his pontificate: " e established a Sabbath
fast to be observed three times a year, [at the time of the
harvest] of the wheat, of the grapes and of the oil." 168
Rordorf thinks that this seasonal fast "should be regarded
as the first step toward the regular fast of the Sabbath day,
attested at the end of the third century." 169
L.Duchesne holds, on the contrary, that these seasonal
fasts, (called Ember-day fasts) which were practiced "in those
countries which followed the Roman use ... appear to be none
other than the weekly fast, as observed at the beginning but
made specially severe...." 1760
Duchesne's position that the seasonal fasts were an
outgrowth and intensification of the weekly fasts observed in
Rome since the beginning, seems supported by Hippolytus'
polemical remark against Sabbath fasting. The doctor writes:
"Even today some allow themselves the same audacities they order
fasting on the Sabbath of which Christ has not spoken,
dishonoring even the Gospel of Christ." 171
Hippolytus' statement (Dr Sam B. gives the Greek here -
Keith Hunt) literally "they are ordering the fast on the
Sabbath," can hardly be construed to mean a seasonal fast since
the verb (present indicative) indicates rather a present
continuous practice. Furthermore, the fact that he says: "Even
today - xai yap %uv," presupposes that the custom had already
been known for some time in the past and that it was still being
enforced by some at that time. Since Hippolytus wrote at the
beginning of the third century, 172 it would seem reasonable to
assume that the practice may have originated earlier
......
167 Siricius, "Epist. 7, Adversus Jovinianum" PL 13, 1168.
168 Le Liber Pontifcalis, texts, introdurtion et commentaire, ed.
L. Duchesne (Paris : E. do Boccard, 1955), 1:141.
169 W.Rordorf, "Sabbat et dimanche dans l'Eglise ancienne"
(Texts), (Neuchatel : Delaehaux or Niestle, 1972), p.67.
(Hereafter cited as Rordorf, "Sabbat.")
170 L.Duchesne, "Christian Worship : Its Origin and Evolution"
(London Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1927), p.233.
(Hereafter cited as Duchesne, "Worship.")
171 Hippolytus, "In Danielem commentarius" 4, 20, 3, GCS 1, 234.
172 The data of composition of the "Commentary on Daniel" which
has been suggested by various scholars, ranges from 202 to 234
see Johannes Quaesten, "Patrology" (Utrecht, Antwerp: Spectrum
Publishers, 1953), 2: 171. (Hereafter cited as Quasten,
"Petrology").
......
in the second century, possibly, as we shall see, 173 in
conjunction with the introduction of the annual Pascal Sabbath
fast of the Easter-Sunday celebration.
Hippolytus does not explain who were those who "order
fasting on the Sabbath." However, since a liturgical custom such
as Sabbath fasting could rightfully be prescribed only by the
official ecclesiastical authority and since Pope Callistus,
according to the "Liber Pontificales," did institute at that time
a seasonal fast, it would seem warranted to assume that
Hippolytus was indirectly referring to the very hierarchy of the
Roman Church as responsible for the ordinance. It could be
objected that Hippolytus, by disapproving the custom, weakens the
argument of a widespread Sabbath fast in Rome. The objection
loses its force, however, when we take cognizance, of Hippolytus'
cultural background and of his position in Rome. In fact, even
though he lived in Rome under the pontificate of Zephyrinus
(A.D.199-217), Callistus (A.D. 217-222), Urban (A.D. 222-230) and
Pontianus (A.D. 230-235), he was not a Roman nor a Latin.
Quasten observes that his language, philosophy and theology are
Greek. 174 Furthermore, after he lost the election to the Papal
See (Callistus was elected instead in A.D. 217), he headed a
dissident group and was consecrated antipope. Hippolytus'
condemnation of those who ordered the Sabbath fast could then be
explained in the light of his Eastern origin and orientation
(Sabbath fast was generally condemned in the East due to the
existing veneration for the day) 175 and of his conflicts with
the hierarchy of the Church of Rome. In other words, both
personal and theological reasons could have motivated Hippolytus
to oppose the Sabbath fast which by the decretal of Callistus was
at that time being enjoined particularly as a seasonal fast.
......
173 See below pp. 68f. ; Canon 26 of the Council of Elvira (ca.
A.D. 300-302 - 306-313) established: "It has been decided to
correct the error which consists in observing the fast every
Sabbath." (Mansi 2:10). The Canon presupposes that the custom of
fasting on the Sabbath had been practiced for some time. The
text, however allows two conflicting translations: "Ut omni
sabbato ieiunotur. Errorem placuit corrigi, ut imno sabbati die
superpositiones celebremus." Rordorf holds that the subordinate
"ut" expresses the content of the decision of the Council,
inasmuch as a similar construction appears in Canon 43. K.Roll
advocates the contrary, that is, Elvira would have helped to
spread the custom of Sabbath fasting (" Die Schriften des
Epiphanius gegen die Bilderverehrung," Ges. Aufsatze zur
Kirchengeschichte 2 (1928) : 374f.
171 Quasten, "Patrotogy" 2:163-165.
175 See above p.61, fn. 156.
......
Most scholars would agree, on the basis of the historical
references summarily surveyed above, that Rome appears to be the
place of origin of the Sabbath fast and that from there it spread
in the West. It should be added that Rome maintained such a
custom until the eleventh century, in spite of repeated protests
by the Eastern Church. Righetti, in his scholarly "History of
Liturgy," writes in this regard as follows:
"Rome and not few Gallican churches, in spite of the lively
remonstrances of the Greeks, which were refuted by the polemic
works of Eneas of Paris (d. A.D. 870) and Ratrannus of Corby (d.
A.D. 868), preserved the traditional [Sabbath] fast until beyond
the year A.D.1000." 176
R.L.Odom has persuasively brought out that the Roman
insistence on making the Sabbath a day of fast contributed
significantly to the historic break between the Eastern and
Western Christian Church which occurred in A.D.1054. 177
The fact that the Sabbath fast seemingly originated in Rome
is however of relatively little value to our present research,
unless we are given to understand why such a practice arose in
the first place and what causal relationships exist, if any,
between the introduction of the Sabbath fast and the origin of
Sunday.
The sources unfortunately are not in agreement nor explicit
as to the motives for its origin. We mentioned above that some
attributed the institution of the Sabbath fast to the apostle
Peter, who would have ordained it in order to obtain help from
God before his encounter with Simon Magus. However, both
Augustine and Cassian, who report this opinion, question the
validity of such an explanation. 178
Duchesne believes that the Roman Saturday fast originated as
a prolongation of the weekly Friday fast. 179
He bases his conclusion on the fact that the Sabbath fast is
commonly designated as "the prolongation - superpositio" or by
similar expressions which imply that it was regarded as the
continuation of the Friday fast. 180
The explanation appears reasonable since, especially in the
areas where the Sabbath fast was practiced,
......
176 Righetti, "Storia Liturgica" 2:39.
177 R.L.0dom, "The Sabbath in A.D. 1054," AUSS 1 (1963):74-80.
178 See above p.64; on the history of station-days see J.
Schummer, "Die altchristliche Fastenpraxis,"
"Liturgiegeschichtliche Quellen und Forschungen 27 (1933): 153f.
179 Duchesne, "Worship," p.231.
180 See, Victorinus of Pettau, "De Fabrica mundi" 5, CSEL 49, 5;
Canon 26 of the Council of Elvira (Mansi 2:10); Tertullian, "On
Fasting" 14.
......
it was closely associated with the Friday fast. We need still to
ascertain, however, why Friday and Saturday were chosen as
fasting days in the first place. The sources usually refer to the
historic and dramatic events experienced on those two days by
Christ and His disciples. Pope Innocent I states, for instance,
in a decretal:
"We fast on the sixth day on account of the Passion of the Lord
and on the Sabbath we must not break the fast, because it is
included between the sadness and the gladness of that time. ...
We do not deny the fast of the sixth day, but we affirm that it
is to be done even on the Sabbath because in both days the
Apostles or rather those who followed Christ, experienced
sadness." 181
Augustine similarly associates the fasting of the sixth day
with that of the seventh, regarding both as commemorative "of the
humiliation of the Lord in death." 182 "The sixth day," he says
"is rightly reckoned a day for fasting" by all Christians,
because "the Lord suffered on the sixth day of the week" and
"fasting is symbolical of humiliation." 183
The weekly Sabbath fast, on the contrary, was kept weekly
only by "the Church of Rome and some churches in the West. 184
Augustine points out, however, that "once a year, namely at
Easter, all Christians observed the seventh day of the week by
fasting." 185
The fact that the weekly Sabbath fast, which only Rome and a
few Western Churches kept, is related by Augustine to the annual
one, strongly suggests that the former possibly developed as an
extension of the latter. As Rordorf well observes, since "the
whole of western Christendom by this time [i.e., Tertullian's
time] fasted on Holy Saturday, it would have been easy to have
hit upon the idea of fasting on every Saturday (just as every
Sunday was a little Easter)." 186
This hypothesis finds support in a statement of Tertullian
where as a Montanist he chides those Catholics who fast on the
weekly Sabbath and he reminds them that only at the
......
181 Innocent I, Epist. 25, 4, 7, Ad Decentium, PL 20, 555; the
letter has passed into the Corpus Juris. e. 13, d. 3, de
Consecratione.
182 Augustine, "Epistle to Cansulanus" 36, par.31, NPNF, i1st
series, 1:270
183 Ibid., par. 31, 1:270
184 Loc. cit.
186 Rordorf, "Sunday," p.143; on customary observance of the
Wednesday and Friday fast, see also Clement of Alexandria,
"Stromata" 7, 12, 75, and "Didache" 8, 1.
......
Passover season fasting is permissible on such a day. He writes:
"You sometimes continue your station even over the Sabbath, a day
never to be kept as fast except at the Passover season, acc-
ording to a reason elsewhere given." 187
The reason for continuing the fast on the Sabbath during the
Passover season is twice repeated by Tertullian in the same
treatise "On Fasting." 188
He reports that it was commonly held that "those days were
definitely appointed for fasts in which 'the Bridegroom was taken
away,'" 189 that is, the time in which Jesus was under the
power of death. According to Irenaeus, in fact, some Christians
seem to have extended their Passover fast to forty hours,
seemingly from Friday noon to four o'clock Sunday morning. 190
It is worth noticing that only those Christians who followed
the Easter-Sunday custom observed the Sabbath fast, since their
Easter season always fell on a weekend and it ran from Friday to
Sunday. For the Quartodecimans, on the other hand, the Paschal
fast, which they observed on the night of the fourteenth of
Nisan, could fall on any day of the week, since the time of the
feast was determined by the date rather than by the day. 191
In the light of these considerations three significant
questions arise (1) Is it possible that the weekly Sabbath fast
arose in Rome (a fact hardly disputed) in conjunction with the
introduction of the Easter-Sunday celebration? (2) Was perhaps
the paschal Sabbath fast instituted not only to mourn the death
of Jesus, but also to express the Christian condemnation for the
crime committed by the Jews in causing Christ's death? (3) Was
the extension of the annual paschal Sabbath fast to the weekly
Sabbath also motivated by the same desire to show contempt for
the Jews and to break away from another fundamental Jewish
institution, namely the Sabbath?
......
187 Tertullian. "On Fasting" 14, ANF 4 : 112 ; Rordorf suggestes
that Tertullian's position against the Sabbath fast may well
reflect "Montanist influence" ("Sunday," p.145); Strand by a
chronological and comparative analysis of Tertullian's writings
establishes that Tertullian's attitude toward the Sabbath evolved
from negative initially, to positive in his later Montanist
period ("Essays on Sabbath," pp.25-42); the same prohibition to
fast on the Sabbath with the exception of the annual Paschal
Sabbath fast, is found in the "Apostolic Constitutions" 5, 15 and
20 and in the "Apostolic Canons" 64.
188 See chapters 2 and 13.
l89 Tertullian, "On Fasting" 13, ANF 4, 111.
190 Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.," 5, 24, 12 ; concerning the fast
preceding the paschal supper, see discussion in NPNF 2nd Series,
1:243, fn. 15.
191 See J.Jeremias, "Pascha," TDNT 5:902-903.
..................
TO BE CONTINUED
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment