by the late Samuele Bacchiocchi PhD
CHAPTER TWO
THE SABBATH CREATIONAL OR CEREMONIAL?
The function of a tool or machine is largely determined by
its original design. An automobile designed for carrying
passengers is soon demolished if used to transport building
materials. What is true for man made tools or machines is also
true for divine institutions. Their functions are determined by
God's original design in instituting them.
To understand the meaning and function of the Lord's Supper,
for example, we go back to the Last Supper and study how Jesus
instituted this ordinance and what function He intended it to
fulfill for the Christian Church. What is true for the Lord's
Supper is also true for the Sabbath. To understand its meaning
and function for the human family, we need to study how and why
God instituted it at the completion of His creation.
Surprisingly, the matter-of-fact creation origin of the
Sabbath, which is repeated several times in the Pentateuch (Gen
2:1-2; Ex 20:11; Ex 31:17) and is acknowledged in the New
Testament (Mark 2:27; Heb 4:4), has often been rejected in Jewish
and Christian history. In recent years, the creation origin of
the Sabbath has been challenged by both critical minded scholars
and conservative Christians.
Critical scholars have conjectured that the Sabbath derives
from factors such as the veneration of the planet Saturn, the
four phases of the moon, the need for a market day to buy or sell
produce, the seven-day periods of ancient Mesopotamia, and the
symbolic importance attached to the number seven by many ancient
Near Eastern people.1
Conservative Christians have attacked the Sabbath by denying
its creation-origin and reducing it to a Mosaic institution given
exclusively to the Jews. Christ allegedly fulfilled the Sabbath
by replacing the literal observance of the day with the offer of
His rest of salvation. By rejecting the creation origin of the
Sabbath these Christians attach a negative, "Jewish" stigma to
seventh-day Sabbathkeeping, identifying it with the Jewish
dispensation allegedly based on salvation through legal
obedience.
Sundaykeeping, on the other hand, has been associated with
the Christian dispensation based on salvation by grace through
faith. Thus, Sabbathkeeping historically has been perceived as a
trademark of Judaism. Within Christianity itself, those
Christians who have retained seventh-day Sabbathkeeping have been
stigmatized as Judaizers, holding onto an outdated Jewish
superstition.
Among the conservative Christians who recently have rejected
the creational and universal function of the Sabbath are several
former sabbatarians churches, local congregations, and pastors.
Their basic argument is that the Sabbath is an Old Covenant
ordinance which was abolished by Christ and, consequently, is no
longer binding upon so-called "New Covenant" Christians.
The leaders of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), who
championed Sabbathkeeping until 1994, have adopted the view that
the Sabbath is not a "creation" ordinance given to mankind, but a
Mosaic institution given to the Israelites together with the Ten
Commandments. They maintain that "two stumbling blocks confuse
Sabbatarians. First is the idea that the Sabbath is a 'creation
ordinance' commanded ever since creation. To understand the
fallacy in this concept, we must note the facts: Although Genesis
says the seventh day was declared holy at creation, there is no
biblical evidence it was a commanded rest until the time of
Moses.... The second stumbling block that confuses Sabbatarians
is the idea that the Sabbath is required because it is part of
the Ten Commandments. Many Christians think of the Ten
Commandments as a permanent law code for all humans for all time.
Nevertheless, the Ten Commandments were given to Israel as the
centerpiece of the Old Covenant, not to the whole world (Ex 20:2;
Lev 27:34)." 2
The same view is passionately defended by Dale Ratzlaff, a
former Seventh-day Adventist Bible teacher and pastor who has
written an influential book "Sabbath in Crisis" (345 pages). This
book is often quoted by the WCG and other Sabbatarians who have
been influenced by its arguments to reject the continuity and
validity of the Sabbath for today. Ratzlaff argues that the
Sabbath is not a creational/moral institution for humans, but a
ceremonial/Old Covenant ordinance given to the Jews. Allegedly,
Christians no longer need to observe the Sabbath because Christ
fulfilled its typological function by becoming our Sabbath rest.
3
Why has the creation origin of the Sabbath come under the
constant crossfire of controversy? The reason is plain. What
Christians believe about the origin of the Sabbath determines
what they believe about its validity and value for today. Those
who believe that the Sabbath was established by God at creation
for the benefit of human beings accept its observance as a
creation ordinance binding upon all, Jews and Christians. On the
other hand, those who hold that the Sabbath originated at the
time of Moses, or after the settlement in Canaan because of
socioeconomic or astrological-astronomic considerations, regard
the Sabbath as a Jewish institution not applicable to Christians.
In view of these implications, it is important to briefly
examine how the question of the origin of the Sabbath has been
debated in Jewish and Christian history.
Objectives of This Chapter.
This chapter has three basic objectives.
The first is to survey the controversy over the origin of
the Sabbath both in Jewish and Christian history. This survey is
designed to provide a historical perspective which is much needed
to understand the recent attacks against the creation origin of
the Sabbath.
The second objective is to examine the specific arguments
recently advanced against the creation origin by former
Sabbatarians. In most cases, their arguments are old, having
already been used in the past by those who have attempted to
negate the continuity and validity of the Sabbath. Yet these
arguments deserve a close examination because they are used today
to mislead many sincere people.
The third objective is to reflect on the human implications
of the creation origin of the Sabbath. Specifically, we consider
the significance of God's act of resting, blessing, and
sanctifying the seventh day for the human family. We shall note
that creation week is in a special sense a human week because all
that God did on that week was designed to have a lasting result
for the human family.
The ultimate objective of this chapter is not to expose the
fallacies of the various arguments raised against the creation
origin and universal function of the Sabbath, but to encourage a
fresh appreciation for the Biblical account of the Sabbath origin
and meaning for today.
PART I
THE CREATION-SABBATH IN JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN HISTORY
The Creation-Sabbath in the Old Testament.
The biblical view of the origin of the Sabbath is
unequivocal: the Sabbath, as the seventh day, originated at the
completion of the creation week as a result of three divine acts:
God "rested," "blessed," and "hallowed" the seventh day (Gen
2:23). Twice Genesis 2:2-3 states that God "rested" on the
seventh day from all His work. The Hebrew verb "sabat,"
translated "rested," denotes cessation, not relaxation. The
latter idea is expressed by the Hebrew verb "nuah," used in
Exodus 20:11, where the divine rest fulfills an anthropological
function as a model for human rest. However, in Genesis 2:2-3 the
divine rest has a cosmological function. It serves to explain
that God, as Karl Barth puts it, "was content to be the Creator
of this particular creation ... He had no occasion to proceed to
further creations. He needed no further creations." 4 To
acknowledge this fact, God stopped.
Genesis 2:3 affirms that the Creator "blessed" (barak) the
seventh day just as He had blessed animals and Adam and Eve on
the previous day (Gen 1:22,28). Divine blessings in Scripture
are not merely "good wishes" - they are assurance of
fruitfulness, prosperity, and a happy and abundant life (Ps
133:3). In terms of the seventh day, it means that God promised
to make the Sabbath a beneficial and vitalizing power through
which human life is enriched and renewed. 5 In Exodus 20:11, the
blessing of the creation seventh day is explicitly linked with
the weekly Sabbath.
Genesis 2:3 also affirms that the Creator "hallowed" (RV,
RSV) the seventh day, "made it holy" (NEB, NAB), or "sanctified
it" (NASB). Both here and in the Sabbath commandment (Ex 20:11),
the Hebrew text uses the verb "qiddes" (piel), from the root
"qds," holy. In Hebrew, the basic meaning of "holy" or "holiness"
is "separation" for holy use. In terms of the Sabbath, its
holiness consists in God's separation of this day from the six
working days. The holiness of the Sabbath stems not from man's
keeping it, but from God's choice of the seventh day to be a
channel through which human beings can experience more freely and
fully the awareness of His sanctifying presence in their lives.
The Importance of the Creation-Sabbath.
The great importance of the creation-Sabbath in the Old
Testament is indicated by the fact that it provides the
theological motivation for the commandment to observe the seventh
day (Ex 20:11) and the theological justification for serving as a
covenant sign between God and Israel (Ex 31:17).
The theological reason given for the command to observe the
seventh day Sabbath "to the Lord your God" (Ex 20:10) is "for in
six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is
in them and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Ex 20:11). The tie between the
creation-Sabbath and the Sabbath commandment is so close that the
former provides the basis for the latter. To keep the Sabbath
holy means (1) to follow the divine example given at creation,
(2) to acknowledge God as Creator, and (3) to participate in
God's rest and blessings for mankind.
The creation-Sabbath serves also as "a sign" ('oth) of the
covenant relationship between God and His people: "It is a sign
for ever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and
was refreshed" (Ex 31:17). The very nature of a sign is to point
to something beyond itself, to mediate an understanding of a
certain reality and/or to motivate a corresponding behavior. 6
As a covenant sign rooted in creation, the Sabbath mediates
an understanding of redemptive history (i.e., covenant history)
by pointing retrospectively and prospectively. Retrospectively,
the Sabbath invites the believer to look back and memorialize God
as the creator of an original, perfect creation (Gen 2:2-3; Ex
20:8,11; 31:17). Prospectively, the Sabbath encourages the
believer to look forward and trust God's promise to fulfill His
"everlasting covenant" (Ex 31:16; Heb 4:9) to restore this
world to its original perfection. Thus, the Sabbath stands as a
sign of an "everlasting covenant" between creation (Gen 2:2-3; Ex
20:11; 31:17) and redemption (Deut 5:15; Is 56:1-4). It directs
us to the past perfect creation and it points constantly to the
future, ultimate restoration.
The Creation-Sabbath in the New Testament.
The New Testament takes for granted the creation origin of
the Sabbath. A clear example is found in Mark 2:27 where Christ
refutes the charge of Sabbath-breaking levelled against the
disciples by referring to the original purpose of the Sabbath:
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Christ's
choice of words is significant. The verb "made - 'ginomai'"
alludes to the original "making" of the Sabbath and the word "man
- anthropos" suggests its human function. Thus to establish the
human and universal value of the Sabbath, Christ reverts to its
very origin right after the creation of man. Why? Because for the
Lord, the law of the beginning stands supreme.
The importance of God's original design is emphasized in
another instance in reporting the corruption of the institution
of marriage, which occurred under the Mosaic code. Christ
reverted to its Edenic origin, saying: "From the beginning it was
not so" (Matt 19:8). Christ then traces both marriage and the
Sabbath to their creation origin in order to clarify their
fundamental value and function for humanity.
Some authors interpret this famous pronouncement of Christ
as meaning the "well-being of man is superior to the Sabbath
rest" and since the Sabbath "no longer spelt blessings but
hardship, it had failed in its divine purpose, and as a
consequence rebellion against it or disregard of it was no sin."
7
The least to be said of this interpretation is that it
attributes to God human short-sightedness for having given a law
that could not accomplish its intended purpose and which
consequently He was forced to abolish. By this reasoning, the
validity of any God-given law is not determined by its intended
purpose, but rather by the way human beings use or abuse it. Such
a conclusion would make human beings, rather than God, the
ultimate arbitrators who determines the validity of any
commandment.
Furthermore, to interpret this saying as meaning that the
"well-being of man is superior to the Sabbath rest" would imply
that the Sabbath rest had been imposed arbitrarily upon humans to
restrict their welfare. But this interpretation runs contrary to
the very words of Christ. "The Sabbath," He said, "was made on
account of (dia) man and not man on account of the Sabbath." This
means that the Sabbath came into being (egeneto) after the
creation of man, not to make him a slave of rules and
regulations, but to ensure his physical and spiritual well-being.
The welfare of man is not restricted, but guaranteed, by the
proper observance of the Sabbath. By this memorable affirmation,
then, Christ does not abrogate the Sabbath commandment but
establishes its permanent validity by appealing to its original
creation when God determined its intended function for the
well-being of humanity.
The Creation-Sabbath in Hebrews.
Another explicit reference to the creation-Sabbath is found
in the book of Hebrews. In the fourth chapter, the author
establishes the universal and spiritual nature of the Sabbath
rest by welding together two Old Testament texts, namely Genesis
2:2 and Psalm 95:11. Through the former, he traces the origin of
the Sabbath rest back to creation when "God rested on the seventh
day from all his works" (Heb 4:3; cf. Gen 2:2-3). By the latter
(Ps 95:11), he explains that the scope of this divine rest
includes the blessings of salvation to be found by entering
personally into God's rest (Heb 4:3,5,10). Our immediate concern
is not to understand the meaning of the rest mentioned in the
passage, 8 but rather to note that the author traces its origin
back to the time of creation when "God rested on the seventh day
from all His works" (Heb 4:4).
The context clearly indicates that the author is thinking of
the "works" of creation since he explains that God's "works were
finished from the foundations of the world" (Heb 4:3). The
probative value of this statement is heightened by the fact that
the author is not arguing for the creation origin of the Sabbath;
rather, he takes it for granted in explaining God's ultimate
purpose for His people. Thus, in Hebrews 4, the creation origin
of the Sabbath is not only asserted but is also presented as the
basis for understanding God's ultimate purpose for His people.
The Creation-Sabbath in Jewish History.
Outside the biblical sources which should settle the matter,
one finds widespread recognition of the creation origin of the
Sabbath in both Jewish and Christian history. The Jews developed
two differing views regarding the origin of the Sabbath. Broadly
speaking, the two views can be distinguished linguistically and
geographically.
Palestinian (Hebrew) Judaism reduced the Sabbath to an
exclusive Jewish ordinance linked to the origin of Israel as a
nation at the time of Moses. As stated in the Book of Jubilees,
"He [God] allowed no other people or peoples to keep the Sabbath
on this day, except Israel only; to it alone he granted to eat
and drink and keep the Sabbath on it" (2:31). 9 If the
patriarchs are sometimes mentioned as keeping the Sabbath, this
is regarded as an exception "before it [the Sabbath] was given"
to Israel. 10
This view represents not an original tradition but a
secondary development which was encouraged by the necessity to
preserve a Jewish identity in the face of Hellenistic pressures
(especially at the time of Antiochus Epiphanes - 175 B.C.) to
abandon the Jewish religion. This is indicated by the fact that
even in Palestinian literature there are references to the
creation origin of the Sabbath. For example, while, on one hand,
the Book of Jubilees (about 140-100 B.C.) says that God allowed
"Israel only" to keep the Sabbath (Jub 2:31), on the other hand,
it holds that God "kept Sabbath on the seventh day and hallowed
it for all ages, and appointed it as a sign for all His works"
(Jub 2:1).
In Hellenistic (Greek) Jewish literature the Sabbath is
unmistakably viewed as a creation ordinance for all mankind.
Philo, for example, not only traces the origin of the Sabbath to
creation but also delights to call it "the birthday of the
world." 11 Referring to the creation story, Philo explains: "We
are told that the world was made in six days and that on the
seventh God ceased from his works and began to contemplate what
had been so well created, and therefore he bade those who should
live as citizens under this world-order to follow God in this as
in other matters." 12 Because the Sabbath exists from creation,
Philo emphasizes that it is "the festival not of a single city or
country but of the universe, and it alone strictly deserves to be
called public, as belonging to all people." 13
The Creation-Sabbath in the Early Church.
The recognition of the creation origin of the Sabbath is
found in several documents of the early Church. For example, in
the "Syriac Didascalia" (about A.D.250), Sunday is erroneously
presented as "greater" than the Sabbath because it preceded the
latter in the creation week. As the first day of creation, Sunday
represents "the beginning of the world." 14
In the treatise "On the Sabbath and Circumcision," found
among the works of Athanasius (about 296-373), the superiority of
Sunday over the Sabbath is argued on the basis of creation versus
re-creation: "The Sabbath was the end of the first creation, the
Lord's day was the beginning of the second in which He renewed
and restored the old." 15 The fact that both Sabbath and Sunday
keepers would defend the legitimacy and superiority of their
respective days by appealing to their roles with reference to
creation shows how important the creation-Sabbath was in their
view.
In the so-called "Constitutions of the Holy Apostles" (about
380), Christians are admonished to "keep the Sabbath and the
Lord's day festival; because the former is the memorial of the
creation, and the latter of the resurrection." 16 Several other
references to the creation Sabbath are found in the same
document. For example, a prayer commemorating Christ's
incarnation begins with the words, "O Lord Almighty, Thou hast
created the world by Christ and hast appointed the Sabbath in
memory thereof, because that on that day Thou hast made us rest
from our works for the meditation upon Thy laws." 17
The theme of the creation Sabbath, as noted by Jean
Danielou, is also "at the center of Augustinian thought." 18 For
Augustine (354-430), the culmination of the creation week in the
Sabbath rest provides the basis to develop two significant
concepts. The first is the notion of the progress of world
history toward a final Sabbath rest and peace with God.
In other words, the realization of the eternal rest
represents for Augustine the fulfillment of "the Sabbath that the
Lord approved at the beginning of creation, where it says, 'God
rested on the seventh day from all his works.'" 19
The second Augustinian interpretation of the creation
Sabbath may be defined as the mystical progress of the human soul
from restlessness into rest in God. A fitting example is found in
one of the most sublime chapters of his "Confessions," where
Augustine prays: "O Lord God, Thou who hast given us all, grant
us Thy peace, the peace of rest, the peace of the Sabbath, the
peace without an 'evening.' 20 For this very beautiful order of
things will pass away when they have accomplished their appointed
purpose. They all were made with a 'morning' and an 'evening.'
But the seventh day is without an 'evening' and it has no
setting, because Thou hast sanctified it so that it may last
eternally. Thy resting on the seventh day after the completion of
Thy works, foretells us through the voice of Thy Book, that we
also after completing our works through Thy generosity, in the
Sabbath of eternal life shall rest in Thee." 21 This mystical
and eschatological interpretation of the creation Sabbath shows
the profound appreciation Augustine had for its significance, in
spite of the fact that he failed to accept the literal observance
of the Fourth Commandment. 22
The Creation-Sabbath in the Middle Ages.
The Augustinian spiritual interpretation of the creation
Sabbath continued to some extent during the Middle Ages. 23 But
a new development occurred following the "Constantinian Sunday
La" of 321. In order to give theological sanction to the imperial
legislation demanding rest from work on Sunday, church leaders
often appealed to the Sabbath commandment, interpreting it as a
creation ordinance applicable to Sunday observance. Chrysostom
(about 347-407) anticipates this development in his exposition of
Genesis 2:2, "God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it." He
asks, "What do the words 'He hallowed it' actually mean? ...
[God] is teaching us that among the days of the week one must be
singled out and wholly devoted to the service of spiritual
things." 24
The reduction of the creation Sabbath from the specific
observance of the seventh day to the principle of resting one day
in seven in order to worship God made it possible to apply the
Sabbath commandment to the observance of Sunday. Peter Comestor,
for example (died about 1179), defends this application, arguing
on the basis of Genesis 2:2 that "the Sabbath has been always
observed by some nations even before the Law." 25 This
recognition of the Sabbath as a creation and thus universal
ordinance was motivated, however, not by the desire to
promote the observance of the seventh day but by the necessity to
sanction and regulate Sunday keeping.
In late medieval theology, the literal application of the
Sabbath commandment to Sundaykeeping was justified on the basis
of a new interpretation which consisted in distinguishing between
a moral and a ceremonial aspect within the Fourth Commandment.
Thomas Aquinas (about 1225-1274) offers the most articulated
exposition of this artificial distinction in his "Summa
Theologica." He argues that "the precept of the Sabbath
observance is moral ... in so far as it commands man to give some
time to the things of God ... but it is a ceremonial precept ...
as to the fixing of the time." 26
Distinction Between Moral and Ceremonial?
How can the Fourth Commandment be ceremonial for specifying
the seventh day but moral for enjoining humans to set apart a day
of rest for worship? Basically because for Aquinas the moral
aspect of the Sabbath is grounded on Natural Law - that is to
say, the principle of a regularly stated time for worship and
rest is in accordance with natural reason. 27 The ceremonial
aspect of the Sabbath, on the other hand, is determined by the
symbolism of the seventh-day commemoration of "Creation" and
prefiguration of the "repose of the mind in God, either in the
present life, by grace, or, in the future life, by glory." 28
One may ask, How can the Sabbath be ceremonial (transitory)
for symbolizing God's perfect creation and the rest to be found
in Him both in the present and future life? Is it not this
reassurance that provides the basis for setting aside any time to
worship God? To reject as ceremonial the original message of the
seventh-day Sabbath, namely that God is the perfect Creator who
offers rest, peace, and fellowship to His creatures, means to
destroy also the very moral basis for devoting any time to the
worshipping of God.
Apparently Aquinas himself recognized the inadequacy of his
reasoning since he makes a distinction between the Sabbath and
other symbolic Old Testament festivals such as Passover, "a sign
of the future Passion of Christ." The latter, Aquinas explains,
were "temporal and transitory ... consequently, the Sabbath
alone, and none of the other solemnities and sacrifices, is
mentioned in the precepts of the Decalogue." 29
Aquinas' uncertainty as to the ceremonial aspect of the
Sabbath is also reflected in his comment that Christ annulled not
the precept of the Sabbath, but "the superstitious interpretation
of the Pharisees, who thought that man ought to abstain from
doing even works of kindness on the Sabbath; which was contrary
to the intention of the Law." 30 Aquinas' uncertainty, however,
was largely forgotten and his moral/ceremonial distinction of the
Sabbath became the standard rationale for defending the Church's
right to introduce and regulate the observance of Sunday and holy
days. This resulted in an elaborate legalistic system of Sunday
keeping akin to that of the rabbinical Sabbath. 31
Lutheranism.
The sixteenth-century reformers reproposed with new
qualifications Aquinas' distinctions between the moral
(creational) and ceremonial (Mosaic) aspects of the Sabbath.
Their position was influenced by their understanding of the
relationship between the Old and New Testaments as well as by
their reaction against the legalistic and superstitious
observance of Sunday and a host of holy days as well.
Luther and some radicals, in their concern to combat
legalistic Sabbatarianism promoted not only by the Catholic
Church but also by leftwing reformers such as Andreas Karlstadt,
32 attacked the Sabbath as a Mosaic institution "specifically
given to the Jewish people." 33 Sunday was retained by Luther,
not as the Christian Sabbath, but as a convenient day "ordained
by the Church for the sake of the imperfect laity and the working
class," 34 who need "at least one day in the week to rest ...
and attend divine service." 35 This position was largely
determined by a radical distinction between the Old and New
Testaments.
In the "Large Catechism" (1529), Luther explains that the
Sabbath "is altogether an external matter, like other ordinances
of the Old Testament, which were attached to particular customs,
persons, and places, and now have been made free through
Christ." 36 This view is stated even more emphatically in
Article 28 of the "Augsburg Confession" (1530): "Scripture has
abrogated the Sabbath-day; for it teaches that, since the Gospel
has been revealed, all the ceremonies of Moses can be omitted."
37
Luther's radical distinction between the Old and New
Testaments and between Law and Gospel was adopted and developed
to extremes by radicals such as Anabaptists, leftist Puritans,
Quakers, Mennonites, Hutterites, and modern antinomian
denominations .38
These have generally claimed that the Sabbath is not a
creation ordinance but a Mosaic institution which Christ
fulfilled and abolished. Consequently, "New Covenant" Christians
are free from the observance of any special day.
Sabbatarians.
Radical reformers promoted two opposing views regarding the
Sabbath. One group, mentioned earlier, pressed to its logical
conclusion the extreme Lutheran distinction between the Old and
New Testaments, rejecting the observance of the Sabbath or of any
day, as part of the Mosaic dispensation which Christ had
fulfilled and replaced with the dispensation of grace.
Another group, however, pursued the logical implications of
the Calvinistic unity between the two Testaments, accepting and
promoting the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath as a creation
ordinance meant for all time and people. We shall call the latter
"Sabbatarians," a name frequently given to them by their
opponents. 39
Recent studies have shown that Sabbatarians constituted a
respectable group at the time of the Reformation, especially in
such places as Moravia, Bohemia, Austria, and Silesia. 40 In
fact, in some Catholic catalogues of sects, they are listed
immediately after the Lutherans and Calvinists. 41 Erasmus
(1466-1536) mentions the existence of Sabbatarians in Bohemia:
"Now I hear that among the Bohemians a new kind of Jews are
springing up, whom they call Sabbatarii, who serve the Sabbath
with great superstition." 42 Similarly, Luther reports on the
existence of Sabbatarian groups in Moravia and Austria. 43 In
fact, in 1538 Luther wrote a "Letter Against the Sabbatarians"
(Briefwider die Sabbathers), arguing from the Bible against their
observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. 44
Oswald Glait, a former Catholic priest who first became a
Lutheran and then an Anabaptist minister, began in 1527 or 1528
successfully to propagate his Sabbatarian views among Anabaptists
in Moravia, Silesia, and Bohemia. 45 He was supported by the
learned Andreas Fisher, also a former priest and Anabaptist. 46
Glait wrote a "Booklet on the Sabbath" (Buchlenn vom Sabbath -
about 1530) which is not extant. From a refutation of Glait's
book by Caspar Schewenckfeld, 47 we learn that Glait maintained
the unity of the Old and New Testaments, accepting the validity
and relevance of the Decalogue for the Christian dispensation.
Glait rejected the contention of his critics that the Sabbath
commandment is a ceremonial law like circumcision. Instead, he
held that the "Sabbath is commanded and kept from the beginning
of creation." 48 God enjoined "Adam in paradise to celebrate the
Sabbath." 49 Therefore "the Sabbath ... is an eternal sign of
hope and a memorial of creation.... an eternal covenant to be
kept as long as the world stands." 50 On account of this
teaching, Glait faced expulsions, persecutions, and, finally,
death by drowning in the Danube (1546). 51
The death of Glait, perhaps the most prominent leader of
Sabbatarian Anabaptists, did not stop the propagation of the
Sabbath doctrine. This is indicated by the existence of
seventh-day Sabbathkeepers at the time of the Reformation in
several European countries such as Poland, Holland, Germany,
France, Hungary, Russia, Turkey, Finland, and Sweden. 52 In the
seventeenth century, the presence of Sabbatarians became
particularly felt in England. This is indicated by the fact that,
as noted by R.J.Bauckham, "An impressive succession of Puritan
and Anglican spokesmen addressed themselves to combating the
seventh-day error: Lancelot Andrews, Bishop Francis White,
Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Edward Stillingfleet, John Owen,
Nathanael Homes, John Wallis. Their efforts are a tacit admission
of the attraction that the doctrine exercised in the seventeenth
century, and seventh-day observers (who then usually also
advocated Sunday work) were harshly treated by Puritan and
Anglican authorities alike." 53
The Seventh Day Baptists became the leading Sabbatarian
church in England. 54 Their first church in America was founded
at Newport, Rhode Island, in December 1671. 55 Seventh-day
Adventists gratefully acknowledge their indebtedness to Seventh
Day Baptists for bringing to them the knowledge of the Sabbath in
1845. 56
Later on, the Sabbath was accepted as a creation ordinance
by the Church of God Seventh Day, the Worldwide Church of God,
and a score of smaller denominations, 57 some of whom have
recently rejected the Sabbath.
Reformed Tradition.
Churches in the Reformed tradition, such as English
Puritans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists,
and Baptists, adopted what might be called a "compromise
position," on one hand, acknowledging the Sabbath as a creation
ordinance while, on the other hand, defending Sunday as a
legitimate substitution of the Sabbath accomplished by the
Church.
They generally distinguished between the temporal and the
spiritual observance of Sunday. Calvin can rightly be regarded as
the pioneer and promoter of this view which exerted far-reaching
influence, especially in Anglo-American Puritan Sabbatarianism.
The basis of Calvin's teaching regarding the Sabbath is to be
found in his rejection of Luther's antithesis between Law and
Gospel. In his effort to maintain the basic unity of the Old and
New Testaments, Calvin christianized the Law, spiritualizing, at
least in part, the Sabbath commandment. 58
Calvin tried to reconcile his acceptance of the Sabbath as a
creation ordinance for humanity with his view that "on the advent
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ceremonial part of the commandment
was abolished" by reproposing a new version of Aquinas'
distinction between the moral and ceremonial aspects of the
Sabbath. He argues that at creation the Sabbath was given as a
perpetual ordinance but "afterwards in the law a new precept
concerning the Sabbath was given, which should be peculiar to the
Jews, and but for a season." 59
What is the difference between the "Jewish" (ceremonial)
seventh-day Sabbath and the "Christian" (moral) first-day
Sabbath? The difference is not easy to detect, especially for
someone not trained to distinguish theological nuances. Calvin
describes the Jewish Sabbath as being "typical" (symbolic), that
is, "a legal ceremony shadowing forth a spiritual rest, the truth
of which was manifested in Christ." 60 The Christian Sabbath
[Sunday], on the other hand, is "without figure." 61 By this he
apparently means that it is more a pragmatic institution designed
to accomplish three basic objectives: first, to allow God to work
in us; second, to provide time for meditation and church
services; and third, to protect dependent workers. 62
An Unresolved Contradiction.
Calvin's attempt to resolve the tension between the
Sunday-Sabbath as a perpetual creation ordinance and the
Saturday-Sabbath as a temporary ceremonial law, cannot be consid-
ered successful. Do not both fulfill the same pragmatic
functions? Moreover, by teaching that for Christians
the Sunday-Sabbath represents "selfrenunciation" and the "true
rest" of the Gospel, 63 did not Calvin also attribute to the day
a "theological-symbolic" significance, much like the type he
assigned to the Jewish Saturday-Sabbath?
This unresolved tension can be followed in the teaching of
Calvin's successors and has been the cause of endless
controversies. For example, Zacharias Ursinus, compiler of that
important Reformed confession known as "Heidelberg Catechism"
(1563), teaches that "the Sabbath of the seventh day was
appointed of God from the very beginning of the world, to declare
that men, after His example, should rest from their labours," and
"although the ceremonial Sabbath has been abolished in the New
Testament, yet the moral still continues and pertains to us as
well as to others." 64 This position was later defended
tenaciously in the monumental work, "The Doctrine of the
Sabbath", written in 1595 by the famous English Puritan Nicolas
Bownde, 65 as well as in other confessional documents such as
the Synod of Dort" of 1619 66 and the "Westminster
Confession of Faith" of 1647. 67
These and similar documents fail to offer a rational
explanation for the artificial and arbitrary distinction between
the so-called moral/ creational (one-day-in-seven) aspect of the
Sunday-Sabbath and the ceremonial/Mosaic (specification of the
seventh day) aspect of the Saturday-Sabbath, supposedly annulled
by Christ.
There is no trace of such an artificial distinction in
Scripture.
If such a distinction existed in the Old Testament, we would
expect the alleged moral aspect of the Sabbath commandment - that
is, the principle of one-day-in-seven-to be applied to such
people as the priests (who had to work on the Sabbath) by
granting them a day off at another time during the week. The
absence of such a provision constitutes a most direct challenge
to those who uphold the one-day-in-seven principle.
Donald Carson acknowledges: "If the Old Testament principle
were really 'one-day-in-seven for worship and rest' instead of
'the seventh day for worship and rest,' we might have expected
Old Testament legislation to prescribe some other day off for the
priests. The lack of such confirms the importance in Old
Testament thought of the seventh day, as opposed to the
one-in-seven principle so greatly relied upon by those who wish
to see in Sunday the precise New Testament equivalent of the Old
Testament Sabbath." 68
To contend that the specification of the seventh day is a
Mosaic-ceremonial element of the Sabbath because it was designed
to aid the Jews in commemorating creation and in experiencing
spiritual rest is to be blind to the fact that Christians need
such an aid just as much as the Jews. It also means leaving
Christians confused as to the reasons for devoting one day to the
worship of God. R.J.Bauckham acknowledges the existence of such
a confusion when he notes that most "Protestants in the
mid-sixteenth century had as imprecise ideas about the basis of
Sunday observance as most Christians at most times have had." 69
Two Conflicting Positions.
The unresolved contradiction between the creational/moral
and Mosaic/ceremonial aspects of the Fourth Commandment has
aroused recurrent controversies over the relationship between
Sunday and the Sabbath commandment. Truly the Sabbath has had no
rest. The creational/moral versus the Mosaic/ceremonial
distinctions regarding the Sabbath have led to two main opposing
views of Sunday. In the Netherlands, for example, the two views
were hotly debated during more than a decade after the Synod of
Dort (1619).
On one side, Dutch theologians such as Willem Teellinck,
William Ames, and Antonius Walaeus wrote major treatises
defending the creation origin of the Sabbath and thus the
legitimate application of the Fourth Commandment to the
observance of Sunday. 70 On the other side, a leading professor,
Franciscus Gomarus, produced a major response entitled "Enquiry
into the Meaning and Origin of the Sabbath and Consideration of
the Institution of the Lord's Day" (1628), in which he argues for
a Mosaic origin of the Sabbath and, consequently, for an
independent ecclesiastical origin of Sunday. 71
The debate over these two conflicting positions has flared
up time and again in different countries, and no reconciliation
appears yet to be in sight. 72 A fitting example is provided by
some of the recent publications. On one side is the symposium
edited by Donald Carson, "From Sabbath to Lord's Day" (1982) and
by Willy Rordorf, "Sunday: The History of the Day of Rest and
Worship in the Earliest Centuries of the Christian Church"
(1968). Both studies espouse the thesis that seventh-day
Sabbathkeeping is not a creation ordinance binding upon
Christians but a Mosaic institution annulled by Christ. 73
Consequently, Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath, but an
exclusive Christian creation introduced to commemorate Christ's
resurrection through the Lord's Supper celebration .74
By severing all ties with the Sabbath commandment, Rordorf
follows the Lutheran tradition in reducing Sunday to an hour of
worship which could be scheduled in accordance with the demand of
modern life.
The practical implications of this position are obvious. If
fully carried out, it could prove to be "the death certificate of
Sunday," 75 since in time, even the hour of worship could
readily be squeezed out of the hectic schedule of modern life.
On the other side is the study of Roger T. Beckwith and
William Stott, "This Is the Day: The Biblical Doctrine of the
Christian Sunday" (1978), which follows the Reformed tradition by
defending the Sabbath as a creation ordinance accepted and
clarified by Christ. The Apostles allegedly used the Sabbath to
frame Sunday as their new day of rest and worship. 76
Consequently, they conclude that "in the light of the New
Testament as a whole, the Lord's Day can be clearly seen to be a
Christian Sabbath - a New Testament fulfillment to which the Old
Testament Sabbath points forward." 77 The practical implication
of their conclusions is that Sunday should be observed, not
merely as an hour of worship, but as "a whole day, set apart to
be a holy festival ... for worship, rest and works of mercy." 78
......................
To be continued
Note:
Interesting the debate over which day is the Christian Sabbath.
For those trying to make it Sunday, they have to explain Romans
14 and Colossians 2:16 as not "doing away with" and not just
picking any day you like, even moving it around to your fancy.
Then for those like the Jehova Witnesses, who claim the NT does
away with ANY day as the Sabbath for Christians, they still have
to somehow take the fourth commandment out of the great Ten
Commandments, answer where in the NT did the apostles have a
Jerusalem conference to abolish the fourth of the Ten
Commandments, but still keep the other nine. Obviously as
Bacchiocchi has shown BOTH SIDES do have their "scholastic
studies" so-called, to uphold their point of view on this
prickely theology issue.
But for the mind of a child, fed with no ideas from adults, it is
all pretty simple theology to figure. See my article on this
blog called "The Sabbath commandment through the eyes of a
child."
Keith Hunt
The Sabbath under Crossfire #6The Sabbath NOT from the Beginning?
by the late Samuele Bacchiocchi PhD
The Sabbath: Creational or Ceremonial?
PART 2 OBJECTIONS TO THE CREATION SABBATH
The preceding survey of the controversy over the creation
versus Mosaic origin of the Sabbath has set the stage for
examining the main objections against the creation origin of the
Sabbath, advanced especially by former Sabbatarians. Their
objections reflect the radical Lutheran distinction between the
Old and New Covenants. On the basis of this distinction, as we
have already seen, the Sabbath is not viewed as a creation
ordinance for humanity but as a Mosaic institution for the Jews
which Christ fulfilled and abolished. Consequently, so-called
"New Covenant" Christians are free from the observance of any
special day.
The four major objections used to negate the creation origin
of the Sabbath are the following:
1) No command to keep the Sabbath is given in Genesis.
2) No example of Sabbathkeeping is recorded in Genesis.
3) No mention is made of the word "Sabbath" in Genesis.
4) No formula of "and there was evening and morning" is used for
the seventh day.
(1) No Command to Keep the Sabbath Is Given in Genesis
Absence of a Command.
The first argument used to negate the creation origin of the
Sabbath is the absence of an explicit command to observe the
seventh day in Genesis 2:2-3. The Worldwide Church of God
formulates this argument by means of six rhetorical statements:
"There are several things that Genesis does not tell us:
1) It does not say that humans rested.
2) It does not say that humans were told to follow God's example.
3) It does not say that humans were told to rest.
4) It does not say that God taught Adam and Eve on the Sabbath.
5) It does not say that God created the Sabbath.
6) It does not say that humans kept the Sabbath. 79
Dale Ratzlaff uses the same argument, saying, "There is no
command for mankind to rest in the Genesis account." 80 "Nothing
is expressly mentioned regarding man in the seventh-day-creation
rest." 81 For him, this fact indicates that the Sabbath is not a
creation ordinance binding upon humanity, but a temporary
institution introduced by Moses for Israel alone.
Reasons for "No Command."
There are several possible reasons for the absence of an
explicit command to keep the Sabbath in Genesis 2:2-3. First of
all, we must remember that Genesis is not a book of commands but
of origins. None of the Ten Commandments are ever mentioned in
Genesis, yet we know that their principles were known because we
are told, for example, "Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my
charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws" (Gen 26:5). It
is evident Abraham knew God's commandments and laws, though no
reference is made to them in the book of Genesis. The reason is
that Genesis is a book of beginnings; it tells us how we get from
the creation of this planet to the creation of God's people in
the book of Exodus.
Another possible reason for the absence of a command to keep
the Sabbath in Genesis is the cosmological function of the
seventh day in the creation story. The divine act of resting on
the seventh day is designed to tell us how God felt about His
creation. It was "very good," and to dramatize this fact, twice
we are told that "He rested" (Gen 2:2-3) - that is, "He stopped."
No finishing touches were to improve His perfect creation.
In the Near Eastern creation myths, the divine rest
(technically called otiositas), which usually implies the
establishment of a secure world order, generally is achieved
either by eliminating noisy, disturbing gods or by creating human
beings. For example, in the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish,
the god Marduk says, "Verily, savage-man I will create. He shall
be charged with the service of the gods, that they might be at
ease ! 83 In the creation Sabbath, however, the divine rest is
secured not by subordinating or destroying competitors, nor by
exploiting the labor of mankind, but by the completion of a
perfect creation. God rested on the seventh day, not to conclude
His work of creation, but rather because His work was "finished
... done" (Gen 2:2-3). As stated by Niels-Erik Andreasen, "It is
not the rest (cessation from work) which concludes creation, but
it is the concluded creation which occasions both rest and the
Sabbath."
The Function of God's Rest.
Any responsible artisan works on a product until it is
brought it up to the ideal; then the work stops. In an infinitely
higher sense, God, having completed the creation of this world
with all its creatures, desisted from creating on the seventh
day. This is essentially the meaning of the Hebrew verb sabat
which is twice translated "rested." Its more accurate rendering
is "to stop, to desist, to cease from doing."
To express the idea of rest from physical exhaustion, the
Hebrew employs a different verb, namely nuah, which is also
generally translated in English "to rest." The latter, in fact,
occurs in Exodus 20:11 where God's pattern of work-rest in
creation is given as the basis for the commandment to work six
days and to rest on the seventh. In Genesis 2, however, the verb
sabat is used because the function of God's rest is different. It
fulfills a cosmological rather than an anthropological function.
It explains to us not why people should rest but rather how God
felt about His creation: He regarded it as complete and perfect;
and to acknowledge it, He stopped.
This function of God's rest has been recognized by numerous
scholars. Karl Barth, for example, remarks: "We read in Genesis
2:2 that on the seventh day God, the Creator, completed His work
by 'resting.' This simply means that He did not go on with the
work of creation as such. He set both Himself and His creation a
limit. He was content to be the Creator of this particular
creation - to glory, as the Creator, in this particular work. He
had no occasion to proceed to further creations. He needed no
further creations. And He had found what he created very good
(Gen. 1:31)." 85 "When creation ended with man, having found its
climax and meaning in the actualization of man, God rested on the
seventh day from all the work that He had done. It was to this
that He looked in the recognition that everything was very good
and therefore did not need to be extended or supplemented. 86
Dietrich Bonhoeffer similarly explains that "in the Bible
'rest' really means more than 'having a rest.' It means rest
after the work is accomplished, it means completion, it means the
perfection and peace in which the world rests." 87 We might say
that by confronting His creation with His cessation-rest, God
proclaimed the Good News that there was no need to put additional
finishing touches on what He had created, since He regarded all
of it "very good" (Gen.1:31). God's cessation from doing
expresses His desire for being with His creation, for giving to
His creatures not only "things" but "Himself."
An Example Rather Than a Command.
The fact that the Sabbath is established in the creation
story by a divine example rather than by a divine commandment
could also reflect what God intended the Sabbath to be in a
sinless world - namely, not an alienating imposition but a free
response to a gracious Creator. By freely choosing to make
themselves available for their Creator on the Sabbath, human
beings were to experience physical, mental, and spiritual renewal
and enrichment. Since these needs have not been eliminated but
heightened by the Fall, the moral, universal, and perpetual
functions of the Sabbath precept were repeated later in the form
of a commandment.
What is it that makes any divine precept moral and
universal? Do we not regard a law moral when it reflects God's
nature? Could God have given any stronger revelation of the moral
nature of the Sabbath than by making it a rule of His divine
conduct? Is a principle established by divine example less
binding than one enunciated by a divine command? Do not actions
speak louder than words?
The argument that the Sabbath originated at Sinai makes
Moses guilty of distorting truth or, at least, the victim of
gross misunderstanding. He would have traced the Sabbath back to
creation in the Sabbath commandment, when in reality it was his
own new creation. Such a charge, if true, would cast serious
doubts on the integrity and/or reliability of anything else Moses
or anyone else wrote in the Bible.
(2) No Example of Sabbathkeeping Is Recorded in Genesis
The oldest and perhaps the strongest argument against the
creation origin of the Sabbath is the absence of an explicit
reference to Sabbathkeeping after Genesis 2 for the whole
patriarchal period up to Exodus 16. For example, in his doctoral
dissertation on "Sabbatic Theology," Roger Congdon writes: "There
is absolutely no mention of the Sabbath before the Lord said to
Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you ... On the
sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice
as much as they gather daily' (Ex 16:4-5). These words indicate
that the event was bound to the Decalogue of Sinai.... The first
mention of the Sabbath in the Bible and the first chronological
use of the word in all history is in Exodus 16:23." 88 In a
similar vein the Worldwide Church of God affirms that Genesis
"does not say that humans kept the Sabbath." 89
Not Observed?
The absence of explicit references to Sabbathkeeping between
Genesis 2 and Exodus 16 does not necessarily mean that the
principle of Sabbathkeeping was unknown. The apparent silence
could mean that between Adam and Moses, the Sabbath, though
known, was not observed. The non-observance of the feast of the
Booths between Joshua and Nehemiah, a period of almost a thousand
years, would provide a parallel situation (Neh 8:17).
Taken for Granted.
A more plausible explanation is that the custom of
Sabbathkeeping is not mentioned simply because it is taken for
granted. A number of reasons support this explanation.
First, we have a similar example of silence regarding the
Sabbath between the books of Deuteronomy and 2 Kings. Such
silence can hardly be interpreted as non-observance of the
Sabbath since, when the first incidental reference occurs in 2
Kings 4:23, it describes the custom of visiting a prophet on the
Sabbath.
Second, Genesis does not contain laws like Exodus but is
rather, a brief sketch of origins. Since no mention is made of
any other commandment, silence regarding the Sabbath is not
exceptional.
Third, throughout the book of Genesis and the early chapters
of Exodus one finds circumstantial evidences for the use of the
seven-day week which would imply the existence of the Sabbath as
well. The period of seven days is mentioned four times in the
account of the Flood (Gen 7:4,10; 8:10,12).
Apparently, the "week" also is used in a technical way to
describe the duration of the nuptial festivities of Jacob (Gen
29:27) as well as the duration of mourning at his death (Gen
50:10). A similar period was observed by the friends of Job to
express their condolences to the patriarch (Job 2:13). Probably
all the mentioned ceremonials were terminated by the arrival of
the Sabbath.
Lastly, the Sabbath is presented in Exodus 16 and 20 as an
already existing institution. The instructions for gathering a
double portion of manna on the sixth day presuppose a knowledge
of the significance of the Sabbath: "On the sixth day, when they
prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they
gather daily" (Ex 16:5). The omission of any explanation for
gathering a double portion on the sixth day would be inexplicable
if the Israelites had no previous knowledge of the Sabbath.
Similarly, in Exodus 20, the Sabbath is presupposed as something
already familiar. The commandment does not say "Know the Sabbath
day" but "Remember the Sabbath day" (Ex 20:8), thus implying that
it was already known. Furthermore, the commandment, by presenting
the Sabbath as rooted in creation (Ex 20:11), hardly allows a
late Exodus introduction of the festival.
To speculate on how the patriarchs kept the Sabbath would be
a fruitless endeavor since it would rest more on imagination than
on available information. Considering, however, that the essence
of Sabbathkeeping is not a place to go to fulfill rituals, but a
set time to be with God, ourselves, and others, it is entirely
possible that the patriarchs spent the Sabbath holy hours within
their households, engaged in some of the acts of worship
described in Genesis such as prayer (Gen 12:8; 26:25), sacrifice
(Gen 12:8; 13:18; 26:25; 33:20), and teaching (Gen 18:19).
(3) No Mention Is Made of the Word "Sabbath" in Genesis
The absence of the term "Sabbath" in Genesis 2:2-3 is seen
by some as an indication that the Sabbath as an institution did
not originate at creation but later at the time of Moses. For
example, Robert Morey emphatically states: "But isn't the Sabbath
creation ordinance found in Genesis 2:1-3? No, the word 'Sabbath'
does not appear in the text." 90 Harold Dressler makes a similar
statement: "Genesis 2 does not mention the word 'Sabbath.' It
speaks about the 'seventh day.' Unless the reader equates
'seventh day' and 'Sabbath,' there is no reference to the Sabbath
here." 91 In a similar vein; Dale Ratzlaff writes: "There is no
mention of the word 'Sabbath' in the Genesis account; nothing is
said about man resting; in fact, man is not even mentioned in
connection with this seventh-day-creation rest." 92
Verbal Form.
It is true that the name "Sabbath" does not occur in the
passage, but the cognate verbal form shabat (to cease, to stop,
to rest) is used and the latter, as noted by Ugo Cassuto,
"contains an allusion to the name 'the Sabbath day.'" 93
Moreover, as Cassuto sagaciously remarks, the use of the
name seventh day rather than Sabbath may well reflect the
writer's concern to underline the perpetual order of the day,
independent and free from any association with astrological
"sabbaths" of the heathen nations.
Perpetual Order.
It is a known fact that the term shabbatu, which is
strikingly similar to the Hebrew word for Sabbath (shabbat),
occurs in the documents of ancient Mesopotamia. The term
apparently designated the fifteenth day of the month, that is,
the day of the full moon. By designating the day by number rather
than by name, Genesis seems to emphasize that God's Sabbath day
is not like that of heathen nations, connected with the phases of
the moon. Rather, it shall be the seventh day in perpetual order,
independent from any association with the cycles of heavenly
bodies.
By pointing to a perpetual order, the seventh day
strengthens the cosmological message of the creation story -
precisely that God is both Creator and constant controller of
this cosmos. In Exodus, however, where the seventh day is given
in the context of the Genesis, not of this cosmos, but of the
nation of Israel, the day is explicitly designated "sabbath,"
apparently to express its new historical and soteriological
function.
(4) No Formula of "and there was evening and morning" Is Used for
the Seventh day
The omission in the creation account of the formula "and
there was evening and morning" in connection with the seventh day
indicates to some that the Sabbath is not a literal 24-hour day
like the preceding six days, but a symbolic time representing
eternal rest. For example, Dale Ratzlaff writes: "The Genesis
account does not mention an end to God's seventh-day rest. Rather
it is presented as an ongoing state by the omission of the
formula 'and there was evening and morning, a seventh day.'" 95
He interprets the absence of this formula as indicating that
"the conditions and characteristics of that first seventh day
were designed by God to continue and would have continued had it
not been for the sin of Adam and Eve." 96
Eternal Rest.
Both Rabbis and Christian writers have interpreted the
absence of any reference to "the evening and morning" in
connection with the seventh day of creation as representing the
future, eternal rest of the redeemed. Augustine offers a most
fitting example of this interpretation in the last page of his
"Confessions," where he offers this exquisite prayer: "O Lord
God, grant Thy peace unto us ... the peace of rest, the peace of
the Sabbath which has no evening. For all this most beautiful
order of things, 'very good' ... is to pass away, for in them
there was morning and evening. But the seventh day is without any
evening, nor hath it any setting, because Thou hast sanctified it
to an everlasting continuance; ... that we also after our works
... may repose in Thee also in the Sabbath of eternal life." 97
This spiritual, eschatological interpretation of the
creation Sabbath has some merits because, as shown in chapter 4,
the vision of the peace, rest, and prosperity of the first
Sabbath inspired the prophetic vision of the peace, delight, and
prosperity of the world-to-come. This interpretation is also
found in Hebrews 4 where believers are urged to strive to enter
into the Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God (Heb
4:9,11).
Literal Day
The symbolic interpretation of creation's seventh day which
has no evening does not negate its literal 24-hour duration for
at least four reasons:
First, the seventh day is enumerated like the preceding six days.
Note that in the Bible whenever "day-yom" is accompanied by a
number it always means a day of 24 hours.
Second, the Decalogue itself clearly states that God, having
worked six days, rested on the seventh day of creation week (Ex
20:11). If the first six days were ordinary earthly days, we must
understand the seventh in the same way.
Third, every passage which mentions creation's seventh day as the
basis of the earthly Sabbath regards it as an ordinary day (Ex
20:11; 31:17; cf. Mark 2:27; Heb 4:4).
Last, the commandment to keep the Sabbath as a memorial day of
the creation-Sabbath (Ex 20:11) implies a literal original
24-hour Sabbath. God could hardly command His creatures to work
six days and rest on the seventh after His own example if the
seventh day were not a literal day. The omission of the formula
"and there was evening and morning, a seventh day" may be due to
the fact that the seventh day is not followed by other creation
days. The formula serves to separate each of the first days of
creation from the following ones. The seventh day, being the last
day of creation, did not need to be separated because there was
no "eighth day" to follow. By marking the termination of the
creation week, the seventh day did not need to be defined in
terms of its termination because there were no further creation
days.
Another suggestion discussed in chapter 4 is the possibility
that the Sabbath was blessed with extraordinary light. For
example, referring to the Messianic age, Zechariah remarks that
"there shall be continuous day ... not day and not night, for at
evening time there shall be light" (Zech 14:7). Here we have a
probable allusion to the seventh day of creation which in Genesis
has no mention of "evening and morning." Such a detail was
interpreted by the rabbis as signifying that the Sabbath was
especially blessed by supernatural, continuous light. To this we
return in chapter 4.
PART 3
THE CREATION WEEK IS A HUMAN WEEK
A fundamental problem with the preceding objections against
the creation origin of the Sabbath is their failure to realize
that the creation week is a human week, established by God for
regulating our human life.
.......................
To be continued
NOTE:
With the above arguments by those who would say there was no
"Sabbath day" command or observance until Moses' day, fall into
the ditch of theological gooby-goo by not reading the entire
Bible. God does not have to say truths over and over or as and
where we may want to find them. The Lord deliberately puts truth
here and there so people will be deceived and fall backwards and
be snared in their own trap of imaginations of falsehoods. This
is not the age where God is trying to save all mankind, most at
this time are blinded and cannot see the light of day. I have
proved this fact and this plan of the Eternal in many other
studies on this blog.
NOW, you need to note and mark a few clear and easy to read
verses in the New Testament, that plainly show that SIN DID EXIST
FROM ADAM TO MOSES, and what God interprets IS sin!!
ROMANS 5:12-14
"Wherefore, as by one man SIN entered into the world, and death
by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that ALL have
SINNED. For until the law (codefied and given by Moses in a
specific form) SIN WAS IN THE WORLD; but sin is not imputed when
their is NO LAW. Nevertheless DEATH reigned from Adam to Moses
..."
1 JOHN 3:4
"Whosoever commits SIN transgresseth also the LAW: for SIN IS the
transgression of the LAW."
ROMANS 7:7
"What shall I say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not
known SIN, but by the LAW: for I had not known lust, except the
LAW had siad, 'Thou shalt not covet.'"
JAMES 2:10-11
"For whosoever shall keep the whole LAW, and yet offend in ONE
POINT, he is guilty of all. For he that said, 'Do not commit
adultery' said also, 'Do not kill.' Now if you commit no
adultery, yet if you kill, you have become a transgressor of the
law."
By putting some easy to read verses together in the New Testament
we should be able to see WHAT law is being spoken about - the TEN
COMMANDMENT LAW! And breaking that law is SIN! And furthermore
SIN existed from Adam to Moses. And in one way or another ALL
have sinned. Death reigned from Adam to Moses because all have
sinned, and sin is the breaking of any one of the Ten
Commandments of God. Sin is not imputed, is not counted, is not
placed upon your bill, where there is no law. But sin has been
placed upon all who have ever lived, including those from Adam to
Moses, because there was a law which defined sin, and there still
is that law which defines sin. That law contains points, which
include "you shall not commit adultery" and "you shall not kill"
and "you shall not covet." Any first grade child reading Exodus
20 and Deuteronomy 5 and the above given Scriptures can easily
see SIN and hence the Ten Commandment LAW was from the beginning,
from the time of Adam and Eve.
IT WAS SIN FROM ADAM TO MOSES TO BREAK ANY ONE OF THE LAWS OF THE
TEN COMMANDMENTS!!
ALL OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WERE IN FORCE FROM ADAM TO MOSES!!
YOU NEED TO STUDY MY STUDY CALLED "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS BEFORE
MOSES" on this blog.
By reading the Bible with eyes, mind, and heart, fully open to
all of its truth and teachings, by NOT reading the Bible with
tunnel vision, we can clearly see that the SABBATH command, the
4th commandment of the great Ten Commandments, was in full effect
from Adam to Moses!
Keith Hunt
The Sabbath under Crossfire #7Final arguments on Ceremonial only
by the late Samuele Bacchiocchi PhD
Continued from previous page:
God did not need six days to create our solar system. He
could have spoken it into existence in a second, since His
creation was accomplished by the spoken word (Ps 33:6). But He
chose to establish a human week of seven days and to use it
Himself in order to give a divine perspective to our six days of
work and to our seventh day of rest.
This means that as we work during the six days and rest on
the seventh day, we are doing in a small scale what God has done
on a much larger scale. God's willingness to enter into the
limitations of human time at creation in order to enable us to
identify with Him is a marvellous revelation of His willingness
to enter into human flesh at the incarnation in order to become
Emmanuel, God with us.
On each of the first six days of creation God did something
that had lasting results for the human family. We would expect
the same to be true for the seventh day. Roy Gane notes: "God set
up cyclical time even before man was created (Gen 1:3-5,14-18).
According to Genesis 1:14, God made heavenly luminaries, chiefly
the sun and the moon (Gen 1:16), to mark earthly time as 'signs,'
'seasons.' i. e., appointed times, days, and years. So when
Genesis 2:3 says that God blessed and hallowed the seventh day,
this blessing and consecration could be on-going in a cyclical
sense, applying to each subsequent seventh day. In fact, the
seventh-day Sabbath provides a plausible explanation for the
origin of the week, which is not defined by the movement of
heavenly bodies." 98
Creation Sabbath and Weekly Sabbath
The emphatic threefold repetition of "the seventh day" with
its four divine acts ("finished," "rested," "blessed," and
"hallowed" - Gen 2:2-3) at the conclusion of creation indicates
that just as man is the crown of creation, so the seventh day,
the Sabbath, is the final goal of creation. Thus, the creation
Sabbath tells us not only how God felt about His creation, but
also what He planned for His creatures. G.H.Watermann makes this
point saying: "It seems clear, therefore, that the divine origin
and institution of the Sabbath took place at the beginning of
human history. At that time God not only provided a divine
example for keeping the seventh day as a day of rest, but also
blessed and set apart the seventh day for the benefit of man." 99
As God created the world in six days and rested on the
seventh day at the completion of His creation, so human beings
are to accomplish their work and purpose in this creation during
the six working days of the week and to follow the example of the
Creator by resting on the seventh day. Sabbathkeepers can find
satisfaction and fulfillment in their work and rest, because the
Sabbath reassures them that they are doing on a small scale what
God has done and is doing on an infinitely larger scale.
Earlier we noted that God "rested" on the seventh day to
express His satisfaction over his complete and perfect creation.
This idea is conveyed by the verb shabat used in Genesis 2:2-3
which means to "cease or stop working." We must not ignore,
however, that in Exodus 31:17 the creation rest of God is
interpreted as a model for human rest. Israel is called to keep
the Sabbath because "in six days the Lord made the heaven and the
earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed" (Ex
31:17). The Hebrew verb used here is "nephesh," which describes
God as being "refreshed" as a result of His rest on the seventh
day of creation.
It is evident God did not need to rest from fatigue because
"He does not faint or grow weary" (Is 40:28), yet the Bible
speaks of God in human terms (anthropomorphically) as being
"refreshed" on the Sabbath in order to set the pattern for the
human Sabbath rest. This is not the only example in the Bible
where God does something to set an example for His creatures to
follow.
Jesus asked John the Baptist to baptize him, not because He
needed to be cleansed from sin (Rom 6:1-5), but to set an example
for His followers (Matt 3:13-14). Both baptism and the Lord's
Supper trace their origin to a divine act and example that
established them. In the same way Scripture traces the origin of
the Sabbath to God's act of resting, blessing, and sanctifying
the seventh day. This is the fundamental problem with Sunday
observance. No divine act established the day as a memorial of
the resurrection. None of the words uttered by Christ on the day
of His resurrection suggest that He intended to make the day a
memorial of His resurrection.
The Blessing of the Seventh Day
The blessing and hallowing of the seventh day at creation
further reveals that God intended the Sabbath to have on-going
benefits for the human family. It would make no sense for God to
bless and sanctify a unit of holy time for Himself. The blessings
of God are outgoing, benefiting His creatures. They represent not
wishful thinking but assurance of fruitfulness, prosperity, and
abundant life. For example, God blessed the first couple saying,
"Be fruitful and multiply" (Gen 1:28; cf. 9:1; 49:22-26).
Similarly, we read in the Aaronic benediction: "The Lord
bless you and keep you" (Num 6:24). The blessing of God results,
then, in the preservation and assurance of abundant life. This
meaning is expressed explicitly by the Psalmist when he writes:
"The Lord has commanded the blessing, life for evermore" (Ps
133:3).
Applied to the Sabbath, this means that God made this day a
channel through which human life can receive His beneficial and
vitalizing power.
It must be said that the meaning of both the blessing and
sanctification of the Sabbath is not spelled out in Genesis 2:3.
This is puzzling because in most instances God's benediction is
accompanied by an explanation of its content. For example, "God
blessed them [animals], saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply and
fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the
earth'" (Gen 1:22). Similarly, God said to Abraham regarding his
wife, Sarah, "I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of
nations; kings of peoples shall come from her" (Gen 17:16; cf.
9:1;17:20). Yet with regard to the blessing of the Sabbath,
nothing is said as to what such a blessing entails.
The mystery of the blessedness and sanctity of the Sabbath
begins to be unveiled in Exodus with the establishment of Israel
as God's covenant people. The day becomes now linked not only to
a finished creation but to the new nation which God has
miraculously brought into existence: "See! The Lord has given you
the Sabbath" (Ex 16:29). From being cosmological, a symbol of a
perfect world, the Sabbath has now become a soteriological-
historical symbol of God's redemptive plan for His people. Thus
the Sabbath becomes now more intimately connected with the ups
and downs of the life of God's people.
The manna story offers a starting point to understand the
nature of the original blessing of the Sabbath. Notice first
certain parallelisms between the creation and the manna
narrative. Both are divine acts accomplished according to the
seven-day structure. Both testify to the perfection of God's
activities: the daily creation was "good" and the daily portion
of the manna was satisfying (Ex 16:18). In both instances, the
creative activity ceases on the Sabbath: creation is "finished"
(Gen 2:2) and the manna ceased to fall (Ex 16:25). In both cases
God's blessings are bestowed upon the Sabbath - by proclamation
at creation (Gen 2:3) and by preservation in the manna (Ex
16:24).
In the context of the aridity of the desert and of the
murmuring of the people caused by their inability to secure food,
the miracle of the preservation of the manna throughout Sabbath
stands as a most con spicuous revelation of the nature of the
Sabbath blessings, namely, God's reassuring gift of physical
nourishment and life. In order to receive the blessings of the
Sabbath, believers need to consecrate the day to God by altering
their behavior, as in the manna experience. As John Skinner puts
it: "The Sabbath is a constant source of well-being to the man
who recognizes its true nature and purpose." 100
The Sanctification of the Sabbath
Genesis 2:3 also affirms that the Creator "hallowed" (RV,
RSV) the seventh day, "made it holy" (NEB, NAB), "declared it
holy" (NKJV), or "sanctified" (NASB). Both here and in the
Sabbath commandment we are told that God made the Sabbath holy.
How did God make the seventh day holy? Since the day is not
a material substance but a unit of time, it cannot be made holy
by applying a holy substance such as annointing oil (Lev
8:10-12). The meaning of the holiness of the Sabbath must be
found in its relation to the people who are affected by its
observance.
Dale Ratzlaff argues that God did not sanctify the seventh
day as such for human beings to observe, but the "conditions of
that day were sanctified and blessed." 101 By "the conditions,"
Ratzlaff means the condition that existed on "the first day after
creation was completed." 102 In other words, the sanctification
of the seventh day refers primarily to the "conditions" of
"fellowship and communion" that existed on creation's seventh day
rather than to God setting aside the seventh day for humanity to
experience in a special way His sanctifying presence.
The problem with this interpretation is that nowhere does
the Bible suggest that the sanctification of the seventh day at
creation refers to the sanctification of the conditions that
existed "the first day after creation was completed." God did not
sanctify "conditions" but the seventh day itself.
The Meaning of Sanctification
The basic meaning of the Hebrew idea of "holy--gadesh" is
"set apart," "separated." Applied to the Sabbath, the divine
sanctification of the day consists in God's setting apart the
seventh day from the rest of the six days. It must be emphasized
that God did the setting apart, not man. The holiness of the
Sabbath stems not from those who keep it, but from the act of
God. Believers experience the holiness of the Sabbath by altering
their behavior on that day. They stop their work to allow God to
enrich their lives with His sanctifying presence.
John Skinner perceptively points out that the Sabbath "is
not an institution which exists or ceases with its observance by
man; the divine rest is a fact as much as the divine working, and
so the sanctity of the day is a fact whether man secures the
benefit or not." 103
The verbal form (Piel) of the Hebrew verb "to sanctify -
yegaddesh," as H.C.Leupold explains, "has both a causative and a
declarative sense. This means that God declared the seventh day
holy and caused it to be a means of holiness for humanity." 104
It is noteworthy that the word "holy" is used for the first time
in the Bible with reference not to an object such as an altar, a
tabernacle, or a person, but with regard to time, the seventh day
(Gen 2:3).
The meaning of the sanctification of the Sabbath becomes
clearer with the unfolding of the history of salvation. In
Exodus, for example, the holiness of the Sabbath is elucidated by
means of its explicit association with the manifestation of God's
glorious presence. From Mount Sinai, which was made holy by the
glorious presence of God, the Sabbath is explicitly proclaimed to
be God's holy day: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy"
(Ex 20:8). The commandment, it should be noted, not only opens
with the invitation to remember and keep holy the Sabbath (cf.
Deut 5:15), but also closes by reiterating that its holiness is
grounded in God's sanctification of the day at creation (Ex
20:11). In Hebrew, the identical verb is used in both instances.
An Experience of God's Presence
The experience of God's glorious presence on Mount Sinai
served to educate the Israelites to acknowledge the holiness of
God manifested in time (the Sabbath) and later in a place of
worship (the Tabernacle). The motif of God's glory is found in
all of these (Sinai, Sabbath, and Tabernacle) and ties them
together. The Israelites were instructed to prepare themselves
for the encounter with God's holy presence (Ex 19:10,11), when
the Lord would "come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all
the people" (Ex 19:11). The preparation included personal
cleansing (Ex 19:10, 14) and the setting of a boundary around the
mountain (Ex 19:12, 23) which was to be invested with God's
glory.
The nexus with the holiness of the Sabbath can hardly be
missed. Indeed, personal preparation and the setting of a
boundary between common and holy time are the basic ingredients
necessary for the sanctification of the Sabbath. Can one enter
into the experience of God's holy presence on the Sabbath without
making necessary preparation? Or is it possible to honor God's
presence on His holy seventh day without setting a boundary in
time that fences off personal profits and pleasures?
The meaning of the holiness of God is further clarified at
Sinai by the invitation God extended to Moses "on the seventh
day" to enter into the cloud and thus experience the intimacy of
His presence. "Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud
covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount
Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day
he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the
appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on
the top of the mountain in the sight of the people. And Moses
entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain" (Ex 24:15-18).
God's invitation to Moses to enter on the seventh day into His
glorious presence unveils the cryptic meaning of God's
sanctification of the Sabbath at creation. The holiness of the
Sabbath is now explained to be not a magic quality infused by God
into this day, but rather His mysterious and majestic presence
manifested on and through the Sabbath in the lives of His people.
This meaning of the holiness of the Sabbath is brought out more
forcefully a few chapters later when, at the end of the
revelation of the tabernacle, God says to the people of Israel,
"You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and
you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the
Lord, sanctify you" (Ex 31:13). The sanctity of the Sabbath is
now clearly equated with the sanctifying presence of God with His
people. The mystery of the sanctification of the creation-Sabbath
is now unveiled. It consists precisely of God's commitment to
manifest His presence in the lives of His people.
For six days God filled this planet with good things and
living beings, but on the seventh He filled it with His presence.
As the symbol and assurance of God's sanctifying presence in this
world and in human lives, the Sabbath represents a most sublime
and permanent expression of God's loving care.
The Permanence of the Sabbath
In the creation account, we learn that God set up the ideal
order of relationship that should govern human life. He
instituted the Sabbath, marriage, and work-three institutions
which embody principles which were later formulated in the Ten
Commandments.
When Adam and Even disobeyed God by eating of the forbidden
fruit (Gen 3:6), their marriage and work suffered as a result of
the curse of sin. But the Sabbath did not. "The Sabbath is not
affected by any curse resulting from the Fall. Unlike the other
two Creation institutions, the Sabbath remains a little piece of
Paradise. As such, its value is enhanced by the deterioration
around it. Now that work is exhausting, ceasing from labor on the
Sabbath provides needed rest. More importantly, now that human
beings are cut off from direct access to God, they need a
reminder of His lordship [and fellowship] even more than they did
before the Fall. 105
The Fall did not eliminate the order that God established at
creation to govern human life and relationship. Marriage and
labor have remained, though they became more difficult. In the
same way, the Sabbath has remained, though its observance is
often made more difficult by working schedules that infringe on
the Sabbath and by many personal tasks that clamor for use of the
Sabbath time.
In the light of the foregoing considerations, we conclude
that God, by resting, blessing, and sanctifying the seventh day,
created a day that would delineate the on-going weekly cycle for
human beings, and invites them to fellowship with Him in a
special way on the Sabbath day. God created the natural world by
speaking, then man by moulding him out of dust and vivifying him
with His life-giving Spirit, and the Sabbath by "sabbatizing"
Himself.
By instituting the Sabbath at creation along with the basic
components of human life such as marriage and labor, long before
Israel existed, God made the day a permanent institution for the
human family (Mark 2:27). The fact that later the Sabbath became
one of the Ten Commandments does not negate its universality, but
rather supports it, since the other nine commandments are
universal principles binding upon the whole human family, not
Israel alone.
Conclusion
Three main conclusions emerge from our study of the biblical
and historical witness to the origin of the Sabbath.
First, there is in Scripture an unmistakable consensus
supporting the creation origin of the Sabbath.
Second, a major and the oldest Jewish tradition traces the
origin of the Sabbath back to the culmination of creation.
Third, we find in the history of Christianity considerable
support for the Edenic origin of the Sabbath, not only among
seventh-day Sabbathkeepers but also among many Sundaykeepers. The
latter have defended the Sabbath as a creation ordinance in order
to justify Sunday as the Christian Sabbath.
The challenge to the creation origin of the Sabbath has come
chiefly from those who have adopted Luther's radical distinction
between the Old and New Testaments and between Law and Gospel.
Some former Sabbatarians have adopted this distinction, thus
arguing that the Sabbath is not a creation ordinance but a Mosaic
institution which Christ fulfilled and abolished. Consequently,
believers in the Christian dispensation are free from the
observance of any special day.
Our examination of the objections to the creation origin of
the Sabbath has shown the arguments to be based on gratuitous
assumptions. The consistent and unanimous testimony of Scripture
is that Sabbath is rooted in the creation event and marks the
inauguration of human history. This means that Sabbathkeeping is
not a temporary Jewish ceremonial law, but a creation ordinance
for the benefit of humanity. It also means, as so well stated by
Elizabeth E. Platt, that "we have our roots in the Sabbath; we
belong in it from Genesis on into Eternity in God's plan." 106
.................
To be continued
AS A CHOLD OF 7, 8, 9, 10 READING THE BIBLE, ATTENDING A CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL [FIRST HALF HOUR OF CLASSES BIBLE READING]; ATTENDING SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR YEARS, HARDLY EVER MISSING. I WAS TAUGHT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, THAT THEY SHOULD BE OBEUED. NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS DID I EVER SEE THEM AS CERIMONIAL. I HAD TO AGREE WITH PAUL THEY WERE HOLY, JUST, AND GOOD; THEY WERE SPIRITUAL. I WAS RAISED IN THE 1940s and 1950s—— PEOPLE BACK THEN [AND WAY BACK BEFORE] BELIEVED THE SABBATH HAD BEEN MOVED TO SUNDAY, AND MOST OF SOCIETY CLOSED DOWN ON SUNDAY. CHURCHES AND SOCIETY IN THE MAIN NEVER THOUGHT OF SINDAY AS CEREMONIAL RITUAL. THEY THOUGHT OF IT AS TIME HOLY TO GOD, AND WE SHOULD KEEP IT HOLY. IF ANYONE WOULD HAVE SAID TO ME BACK THEN, THE SABBATH IS CEREMONIAL AND RITUAL LIKE THE TEMPLE RITUALS, AND IS NOW DONE AWAY WITH UNDER THE NEW TESTAMENT, I WOULD HAVE LITERALLY LAUGHED AT THEM, AND SAID TO THEM, "YOU ARE CRAZY NUTS, YOU ARE SILLY, DAFT, AND INSANE….YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT." Keith Hunt
NOTES TO CHAPTER 2
1. For an analysis of the various theories regarding the origin
of the Sabbath, see, Samuele Bacchiocchi, Divine Rest for Human
Restlessness (Rome, 1980), pp. 1-32.
2. "The Sabbath in Acts and the Epistles," A Bible Study posted
by the Worldwide Church of God in their web page (www.wcg.org,
September 1998), p.4.
3. Dale Ratzlaff, Sabbath in Crisis. Transfer/Modification?
Reformation/Continuation? Fulfillment/Transformation? (Applegate,
California, 1990).
4. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics (Edinburgh, 1956), vol.3, part
two, p.62.
5. See, S.R.Driver, The Book of Genesis (London, 1943), p.18; J.
Skinner, Genesis (Edinburgh, 1930), p.38; A. Simpson, "The Book
of Genesis," The Interpreter's Bible, vol.1, p.490.
6. F.J.Helfneyer, "'oth," Theological Dictionary of the Old
Testament (Grand Rapids, 1982), vol.1, p.171.
7. Willy Rordorf, Sunday: The History of the Day of Rest and
Worship in the Earliest Centuries of the Christian Church
(Philadelphia, 1968), p.63.
8. For my analysis of the meaning of the rest in Hebrews, see
Divine Rest for Human Restlessness (Rome, 1980), pp.137-140. See
also chapter 3 of this book entitled "The Sabbath and the
Covenants."
9. See also Jub. 2:20-22. Such an exclusive interpretation of the
Sabbath led some Rabbis to teach that non-Jews were actually
forbidden to observe the Sabbath. For example, Simeon B. Lagish
said: "A Gentile who keeps the Sabbath deserves death" (Sanhedrin
586). Earlier, "R Jose B. Hanina said: A non-Jew who observes the
Sabbath whilst he is uncircumcised incurs a liability for the
punishment of death. Why? Because non-Jews were not commanded
concerning it" (Deuteronomy Rabbah 1:21).
10. Genesis Rabbah 11:7; 64:4; 79:6.
11. Philo, De Opificio Mundi 89. De Vita Mosis 1, 207; De
Specialibus Legibus 2,59.
12. Philo, De Decaloge 97.
13. Philo, De Opificio Mundi 89.
14. Didascalia Apostolorum. The Syriac Version Translated and
Accompanied by the Verona Latin Fragments, ed. R. Hugh Connolly
(Oxford, 1929), p.233.
15. Athanasius, De sabbatis et circumcisione 4, PG 28, 138 B.C.
For additional examples and discussion, see Samuele Bacchiocchi,
From Sabbath to Sunday (Rome, 1977), pp.273-278.
16. Constitutions of the Holy Apostles VII, 23, Ante-Nicene
Fathers VII, 469.
17. Ibid., VII, 36, p.474; cf. II, 36.
18. Jean Danielou, T the Bible and Liturgy (South Bend, IN,
1966),p. 276.
19. Augustine, The City of God, XXII, 30, trans. Henry Bettenson,
(Oxford, 1972), p.1090.
20. The fact that in the creation story there is no mention of
"evening . . . morning" for the seventh day is interpreted by
Augustine as signifying the eternal nature of the Sabbath rest
both in the mystical and in the eschatological sense.
21. Augustine, Confessions X1II, 35-36. Cf. Sermon 38, PL 270,
1242; De Genesis ad litteram 4, 13, PL 34, 305. The "already" and
the "not yet" dimensions of the Sabbath rest are concisely
presented by Augustine in his Commentary on Psalm 91,2: "One
whose conscience is good, is tranquil, and this peace is the
Sabbath of the heart. For indeed it is directed toward the hope
of Him Who promises, and although one suffers at the present
time, he looks forward toward the hope of him Who is to come, and
then all the clouds of sorrow will be dispersed. This present
joy, in the peace of our hope, is our Sabbath" (PL 27, 1172).
22. In his Epistula 55 ad Ianuarium 22, Augustine explains:
"Therefore of the Ten Commandments the only one we are to observe
spiritually is that of the Sabbath, because we recognize it to be
symbolic and not to be celebrated through physical inactivity"
(CSEL 34, 194). One wonders, How is it possible to retain the
Sabbath as the symbol of mystical and eschatological rest in God,
while denying the basis of such a symbol, namely, its literal
Sabbath-rest experience? For a discussion of this contradiction,
see below.
23. Eugippius (about 455-535), for example, quotes verbatim from
Augustine, Adversus Faustum 16,29 (Thesaurus 66, PL 62, 685). Cf.
Bede (about 673-375), In Genesim 2, 3, CCL 118A, 35; Rabanus
Maurus (about 784-856), Commentaria in Genesim 1,9, PL 107, 465;
Peter Lombard (about 1100-1160), Sententiarum libri quatuor 3,
37, 2, PL 192, 831.
24. Chrysostom, Homilia 10, 7 In Genesim, PG 53, 89. Ephraem
Syrus (about 306-373) appeals to the Sabbath "law" to urge that
"rest be granted to servants and animals" (S. Ephraem Syri hymni
et sermones, ed. T. J. Lamy, I, 1882, p.542). For a brief survey
of the application of the Sabbath law to Sunday observance, see
L. McReavy, "'Servile Work': The Evolution of the Present Sunday
Law," Clergy Review 9 (1935): 273276.
25. Peter Comestor, Historia scholastica: Tiber Genesis 10, PL
198, 1065. On the development of the principle of "one day in
seven," see discussion in Wilhelm Thomas, "Sabbatarianism,"
Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church, 1965, III, p.2090.
26. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part I-II, Q. 100, 3, (New
York, 1947), p.1039.
27. Aquinas subdivided the Mosaic law into moral, ceremonial, and
judicial precepts. The moral precepts of the decalogue are viewed
as precepts also of the Natural Law; that is to say, they are
precepts binding upon all people because they are discoverable by
all through human reason without the aid of special revelation.
Cf. Aquinas (note 26), Part I-II, Q. 100, 1 and Q. 100, 3, pp.
1037, 1039.
28. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part I-II, Q. 100, 5, p.
1042.
29. See note 28. Note also that Aquinas attributes a similar
symbolic function to Sunday: "As to the Sabbath, which was a sign
recalling the first creation, its place is taken by the Lord's
Day, which recalls the beginning of the new creature in the
Resurrection of Christ" (note 26, Part I-II, .Q. 103, 3, p.
1085).
30. Thomas Aquinas (note 26), Part I-II, Q. 107, 3, p.1111.
31. See L. L. McReavy, "'Servile Work': The Evolution of the
Present Sunday Law," Clergy Review 9 (1935), pp.279f. A brief
survey of the development of Sunday laws and casuistry is
provided by Paul K. Jewett, The Lord's Day (Grand Rapids, MI,
1972), pp. 128-169. A good example of the adoption of Aquinas'
moral-ceremonial distinction can be found in the Catechism of the
Council of Trent.
32. Karlstadt's conception of the Sabbath rest contains a strange
combination of mystical and legalistic elements. Basically he
viewed the day as a time to abstain from work in order to be
contrite over one's sins. For a clear analysis of his views, see
Gordon Rupp, Patterns of Reformation, 1969, pp.123-130; idem,
"Andrew Karlstadt and Reformation Puritanism," Journal of
Theological Studies 10 (1959), pp.308-326; cf. Daniel Augsburger,
"Calvin and the Mosaic Law," Doctoral dissertation, Strasbourg
University (1976), pp.248-249; J.N.Andrews and L.R.Conradi,
History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week (Washington, DC,
1912), pp.652-655.
33. Luther, Against the Heavenly Prophets, Luther's Works (St.
Louis, 1958), vol.40, p.93. A valuable study of Luther's views
regarding the Sabbath is to be found in Richard Muller,
Adventisten-Sabbat-Reformation, Studia Theologica Lundensia
(Lund, 1979), pp.32-60.
34. Luther, Treatise on Good Works (1520), Selected Writings of
Martin Luther (Philadelphia, 1957), p.174.
35. Concordia or Book of Concord, The Symbols of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church (St. Louis, 1957), p.1974.
36. Ibid.
37. Augsburg Confession (note 35), p.25; cf. Philip Schaff, The
Creeds of Christendom (New York, 1919), vol.3, p.69.
38. Winton V. Solberg, Redeem the Time (Cambridge, 1977), pp.
15-19; A.G.Dickens, The English Reformation (London, 1964), p.
34; George H. Williams, The Radical Reformation (Leiden, 1962),
pp.38-58, 81-84.
39. See below, note 41.
40. A valuable survey of the ideas and influences of these
Sabbatarians is provided by G. F. Hasel, "Sabbatarian
Anabaptists," Andrews University Seminary Studies 5 (1967), pp.
101-121; 6 (1968):19 28. On the existence of Sabbathkeepers in
various countries, see Andrews and Conradi (note 32), pp.
633-716. Cf. Richard Muller (note 33), pp.110129.
41. In a list of eleven sects by Stredovsky of Bohemia,
"Sabbatarians" are listed in the third place after Lutherans and
Calvinists. The list is reprinted by Josef Beck, ed., Die
Geschichts-Biicher der Widertaufer in Osterreich-Ungarn ("Fontes
Rerum Austriacarum," Wien, 1883), 43:74. For an analysis of this
and three other lists, see Hasel (note 40), pp.101-106, who
concludes: "These early enumerations seem to indicate that
Sabbatarian Anabaptists were considered to be an important and
strong group" (p.106). Cf. Henry A. DeWind, "A Sixteenth Century
Description of Religious Sects in Austerlitz, Moravia," Mennonite
Quarterly Review (1955): 51; George H. Williams (note 38), p.
676, 726, 732, 848, 408-410, 229, 257, 512.
42. Desiderius Erasmus, "Amabili Ecclesiae Concordia," Opera
Omnia V: 505-506; translation by Hasel (note 40), p.107.
43. Luther reports: "In our time there is a foolish group of
people who call themselves Sabbatarians [Sabbather] and say one
should keep the Sabbath according to Jewish manner and custom"
(D.Martin Luthers Werke, Weimer ed. 42:520). In his Lectures on
Genesis (4:46), Luther furnishes similar information: "I hear
that even now in Austria and Moravia certain Judaizers urge both
the Sabbath and circumcision; if they should boldly go on, not
being admonished by the work of God, they certainly might do much
harm" (cited in Andrews and Conradi, History of the Sabbath and
First Day of the Week [Washington, DC, 1912], p.640).
44. J.G.Walch, ed., Dr.Martin Luther sammtliche Schriften
(Berlin, 1910), vol. 20, p.1828ff. Cf. D. Zscharnack,
"Sabbatharier," Die Religion in Geschichte and Gegenwart (1931),
vol.5, p.8.
45. On Oswald Glait, see the study of Richard Muller (note 33),
pp.117-125. Cf. Hasel (note 40), pp.107-121.
46. On Andreas Fisher, see the treatment by Richard Muller (note
33), pp.125-130; Petr Ratkos, "Die Anfange des Wiedertaufertums
in der Slowakei," Aus 500 Jahren deutsch-tschechoslowakischer
Geschichte, Karl Obermann, ed. (1958), pp.41-59. See also the
recent study by Daniel Liechty, Andreas Fischer and the
Sabbatarian Anabaptists (Herald Press, Scottdale, PA, 1988).
47. Caspar Schewenckfeld's refutation of Glait's book is found in
S.D.Hartranft and E.E.Johnson, eds., Corpus Schwenckfeldianorum
(1907), vol.4, pp.451ff.
48. Ibid., p.458. The translation is by Hasel (note 40), p.119.
49. Ibid., p.491.
50. Ibid., p.457-458.
51. An Anabaptist (Hutterian) Chronicle provides this moving
account of Glait's final days: "In 1545 Brother Oswald Glait lay
in prison in Vienna for the sake of his faith.... Two brethren
also came to him, Antoni Keim and Hans Standach, who comforted
him. To them he commended his wife and child in Jamnitz. After he
had been in prison a year and six weeks, they took him out of the
city at midnight, that the people might not see or hear him, and
drowned him in the Danube" (A.J.F.Zieglschmid, ed., Die alteste
Chronik der Hutterischen Bruder [1943], pp.259, 260, 266, trans.
by Hasel [note 40], pp.114-115).
52. A brief historical survey of seventh-day Sabbathkeepers from
the fifteenth to the seventeenth century is found in Andrews and
Conradi (note 32), pp.632-759. A more comprehensive and critical
study of Sabbathkeeping through the ages is the symposium Kenneth
A. Strand, ed., The Sabbath in Scriptures and History
(Washington, DC, 1982). About 20 scholars have contributed
chapters to this study.
53. R.J.Bauckham, "Sabbath and Sunday in the Protestant
Tradition," From Sabbath to Lord's Day: A Biblical, Historical
and Theological Investigation, ed. D.A.Carson (Grand Rapids,
1982), p.333. In 1618, for example, John Traske began preaching
that Christians are bound by the Fourth Commandment to keep
Saturday scrupulously. Under pressure, however, he later recanted
in A Treatise of Liberty from Judaism (1620). Theophilus
Brabourne, also an Anglican minister, published in 1628 A
Discourse upon the Sabbath Day where he defended the observance
of Saturday instead of Sunday. The High Commission induced him to
renounce his views and to conform to the established church. Cf.
Robert Cox, The Literature of the Sabbath Question (London,
1865), vol. 1, pp.157-158.
54. Cf. W.Y.Whitley, A History of British Baptists (London,
1932), pp.83-86; A. C. Underwood. A History of the English
Baptists (London, 1947), chaps.2-5.
55. Seventh Day Baptist General Conference, Seventh Day Baptists
in Europe andAmerica (Plainfield, NJ, 1910), vol.I, pp.
127,133,153. Cf. Winton U. Solberg (note 38), p.278.
56. Raymond F. Cottrell notes: "The extent to which pioneer
Seventh-day Adventists were indebted to Seventh Day Baptists for
their understanding of the Sabbath is reflected in the fact that
throughout the first volume [of Advent Review and Sabbath Herald]
over half of the material was reprinted from Seventh Day Baptist
publications" ("Seventh Day Baptists and Adventists: A Common
Heritage, Spectrum 9 [1977], p.4).
57. The Church of God Seventh Day traces their origin back to the
Millerite movement. Mr.Gilbert Cranmer, a follower of Miller's
views, who for a time associated himself with the Seventh-day
Adventists, in 1860 was elected as the first president of a group
known first as Church of Christ and later Church of God Seventh
Day. Their 1977 report gives an estimated membership of 25,000
persons ("Synopsis of the History of the Church of God Seventh
Day," compiled in manuscript form by their headquarters in
Denver, Colorado). The 1996 Directory of Sabbath-Observing
Groups, published by The Bible Sabbath Association, lists over
300 different denominations or independent groups observing the
seventh-day Sabbath.
58. A comprehensive study of Calvin's understanding of the Fourth
Commandment is provided by Daniel Augsburger (note 32), pp.248,
284.
59. John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses Called
Genesis, trans. John King (Grand Rapids, 1948), p.106.
60. Ibid.
61. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans.
Henry Beveridge (Grand Rapids, 1972), vol.1, p.343.
62. Ibid. Calvin summarizes the distinction between the
ceremonial and moral aspects of the Sabbath, saying: "The whole
may be thus summed up: As the truth was delivered typically to
the Jews, so it is imparted to us without figure; first, that
during our whole lives we may aim at a constant rest from our own
works, in order that the Lord may work in us by his Spirit;
secondly, that every individual, as he has opportunity, may
diligently exercise himself in private, in pious meditation on
the works of God, and at the same time, that all may observe the
legitimate order appointed by the church, for the hearing of the
word, the administration of the sacraments, and public prayer;
and, thirdly, that we may avoid oppressing those who are subject
to us" (ibid.).
63. John Calvin, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses
Arranged in the Form of a Harmony, trans. Charles William Bingham
(Grand Rapids, 1950), pp.435-436.
64. Zacharias Ursinus, The Summe of Christian Religion (Oxford,
1587), p.955.
65. On the enormous influence of Nicolas Bownde's book, The
Doctrine of the Sabbath, see Winton U. Solberg (note 38), pp.
55-58. The book was enlarged and revised in 1606. Bownde insists
that the Sabbath originated in Eden and consequently the Fourth
Commandment is a moral precept binding on both Jews and
Christians. The latter are urged to observe Sunday as carefully
as the Jews did their Sabbath.
66. In the 163rd session of the Synod of Dort (1619), a
commission of Dutch theologians approved a six-point document
where the traditional ceremonial/moral distinctions are made. The
first four points read as follows:
"1. In the Fourth Commandment of the Law of God, there is
something ceremonial and something moral.
2. The resting upon the seventh day after the creation, and the
strict observance of it, which was particularly imposed upon the
Jewish people, was the ceremonial part of that law.
3. But the moral part is, that a certain day be fixed and
appropriated to the service of God, and as much rest as is
necessary to that service and the holy meditation upon Him.
4. The Jewish Sabbath being abolished, Christians are obliged
solemnly to keep holy the Lord's Day" (Gerard Brandt, The History
of the Reformation and Other Ecclesiastical Transactions in and
about the Low Countries [London, 1722], vol.3, 320; cf. pp.
28-29, 289-290).
67. The Westminster Confession, chapter 21, article 7, reads: "As
it is of the law of nature, that in general, a due proportion of
time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a
positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in
all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a
Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of
the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the
week; and, from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the
first day of the week" (Philip Schaff, The Creeds of the
Christendom [London, 1919], vol.3, 648-649).
68. Donald A. Carson, ed., From Sabbath to Lord's Day: A
Biblical, Historical, and Theological Investigation (Grand
Rapids, MI, 1982), pp.66-67.
69. R.J.Bauckham, "Sabbath and Sunday in the Protestant
Tradition," in From Sabbath to Lord's Day (note 53), p.322.
70. Willem Teellinck, De Rusttijdt: Ofte Tractaet van
d'onderhoudinge des Christenlijken Rust Dachs [The Rest Time: Or
a Treatise on the Observance of the Christian Sabbath]
(Rotterdam, 1622). William Ames, Medulla Theologica (Amsterdam,
1623), trans. John D. Eusden, The Marrow of Theology (Grand
Rapids, 1968), pp.287-300, provides a theoretical basis for
Sunday observance.
71. An earlier treatise against Sabbatarianism was produced by
Jacobus Burs, Threnos, or Lamentation Showing the Causes of the
Pitiful Condition of the Country and the Desecration of the
Sabbath (Tholen, 1627). Andreas Rivetus refuted Gomarus'
contention that the Sabbath was a Mosaic ceremony abrogated by
Christ in his Praelectiones [Lectures] (1632). Gomarus replies
with a voluminous Defensio Investigationis Originis Sabbati [A
Defense of the Investigation into the Origin of the Sabbath]
(Gronigen, 1632). To this Rivetus countered with Dissertatio de
Origine Sabbaahi [Dissertation on the Origin of the Sabbath]
(Leyden, 1633).
72. The controversy flared up again in Holland in the 1650s.
Gisbertus Voetius and Johannes Cocceius were the two opposing
leaders in the new round. For a brief account, see Winton U.
Solberg (note 38), p.200. Solberg provides an excellent survey of
the controversy over the Sabbath in seventeenth-century England
(pp.27-85) and especially in the early American colonies (pp.
85-282).
73. Willy Rordorf's book (note 7) was first published in 1962 in
German. Since then it has been translated into French, English
and Spanish. Its influence is evidenced by the many and different
responses it has generated.
74. Rordorf's denial of any connection between Sunday and the
Fourth Commandment can be traced historically in the writings of
numerous anti-Sabbatarian theologians, such as Luther (notes 34,
35); William Tyndale, An Answer to Sir Thomas More's Dialogue
(1531), ed. Henry Walter (Cambridge, 1850), pp.97-98; the
formulary of faith of the Church of England known as The
Institution of A Christian Man (1537); Francis White, A Treatise
of the Sabbath-Day: Concerning a Defence of the Orthodox Doctrine
of the Church of England against Sabbatarian Novelty (London,
1636); James A. Hessey, Sunday: Its Origin, History, and Present
Obligation (London, 1866); Wilhelm Thomas, Der Sonntag im friihen
Mittelalter (Gottingen, 1929); C.S.Mosna, Storia della Domenica
dalle Origini fino agli Inizi del V. Secolo (Rome 1969); D.A.
Carson, ed. (note 68).
75. This concern is expressed, for example, by P.Falsioni, in
Rivista Pastorale Liturgica (1967): 311, 229, 97, 98; (1966):
549-551. Similarly, Roger T.Beckwith and William Stott point out:
"Whether the Christian Sunday could have survived to the present
day if this sort of attitude [Rordorf's view] had prevailed among
Christians in the past is extremely doubtful, and whether it will
survive for future generations if this sort of attitude now
becomes prevalent is equally uncertain" (This is the Day: The
Biblical Doctrine of the Christian Sunday [London, 1978], p.ix).
76. Beckwith points out, for example, that "if Jesus regarded the
Sabbath as purely ceremonial and purely temporary, it is
remarkable that he gives so much attention to it in his teaching,
and also that in all he teaches about it he never mentions its
temporary character. This is even more remarkable when one
remembers that he emphasizes the temporary character of other
parts of the Old Testament ceremonial - the laws of purity in
Mark 7:14-23 and Luke 11:39-41, and the temple (with its
sacrifices) in Mark 13:2 and John 4:21. By contrast, we have
already seen, he seems in Mark 2:27 to speak of the Sabbath as
one of the unchanging ordinances for all mankind" (note 75, p.
26; cf. pp.2-12).
77. Beckwith (note 75), pp.45-46. Beckwith and Stott's view of
the Sabbath as an unchanging creation ordinance upon which the
observance of Sunday rests can be traced historically in the
writings of theologians such as Aquinas (partly-note 28); Calvin
(partly-notes 5962); Richard Hooker, Laws of Ecclesiastical
Polity (Cambridge, MA, 1957), vol.5, p.70,3; Nicholas Bownde
(note 65); William Teellinck, William Ames and Antonius Walaeus
(note 70); formularies of faith such as the Westminster
Confession (note 67) and the Synod of Dort (note 66); E.W.
Hengstenberg, Uber den Tag des Herrn (1852); recently by J.
Francke, Van Sabbat naar Zondag (Amsterdam, 1973); Karl Barth,
Church Dogmatics (Edinburgh, 1956), vol. 3, pp.47-72; Paul K.
Jewett (partly), The Lord's Day: A Theological Guide to the Day
of Worship (Grand Rapids, 1971); Francis Nigel Lee, The
Covenantal Sabbath (London, 1966). Lee's study, though sponsored
by the British Lord's Day Observance Society, can hardly be taken
seriously on account of its eccentric nature. He speculates, for
example, on "The Sabbath and the time of the Fall" (pp.79-81).
78. Beckwith and Stott (note 75), pp.141,143.
79. "What Do the Scriptures Say About the Sabbath? Part 1: The
Books of Moses," Bible Study prepared by the Worldwide Church of
God and posted in their Web page - www.wcg.org, September 1998),
p.1.
80. Dale Ratzlaff (note 3), p. 25. 81. Ibid. p.26.
82. R.Pettazzoni, "Myths of Beginning and Creation-Myths," in
Essays on the History of Religion, trans. H.T.Rose (New York,
1954), pp.24-36. A brief but informative treatment is found in
Niels-Erik A. Andreasen, The Old Testament Sabbath, SBL
Dissertation Series 7 (Missoula, MT, 1972, pp. 174-182. For
examples of texts, see Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts,
1950 (UT krt A 206-211), pp.5,61,69,140.
83. Pritchard (note 82), p.68.
84. Andreasen (note 82), p.189.
85. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, ET (Edinburgh, 1956), vol.3,
part 2, p.51.
86. Ibid., part 1, p.213.
87. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall. A Theological
Interpretation of Genesis 1-3 (New York, 1964), p.40.
88. Roger D. Congdon, "Sabbatic Theology," Th. D. dissertation,
Dallas Theological Seminary (Dallas, 1949), p.122.
89. "What Do the Scriptures Say About the Sabbath? Part 1: The
Books of Moses," (note 79), p.1.
90. Robert A. Morey, "Is Sunday the Christian Sabbath?" Baptist
Reformation Review 8 (1979), p.6.
91. Harold H. P. Dressler, "The Sabbath in the Old Testament," in
From Sabbath to Sunday, A Biblical, Historical, and Theological
Investigation, ed. Donald A. Carson (Grand Rapids, 1982), p.28.
92. Dale Ratzlaff (note 3), p.21.
93. Ugo Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (New York,
1961), p.63.
94. Ibid., p.68.
95. Dale Ratzlaff (note 3), p. 24. 96. Ibid., p.22.
97. Augustine, Confessions 13, 24, 25, Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers of the Christian Church (Grand Rapids, 1979), vol.1, p.
207.
98. Roy Gane, "Sabbath and the New Covenant," Paper presented at
a consultation with the Worldwide Church of God (1997), pp.5-6.
99. G.H.Waterman, "Sabbath," The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia
of the Bible (Grand Rapids, 1975), vol 5. p.183.
100. John Skinner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on
Genesis, The International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh, 1930),
p.38.
101. Dale Ratzlaff (note 3), p.24.
102. Ibid.
103. John Skinner (note 100), p.35.
104. H.C.Leupold, Exposition of Genesis (New York, 1950), p.103.
105. Roy Gane (note 98), p.6.
106. Elizabeth E. Platt, "The Lord Rested, The Lord Blessed the
Sabbath Day," Sunday 66 (1979), p.4.
........................
AS A CHOLD OF 7, 8, 9, 10 READING THE BIBLE, ATTENDING A CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL [FIRST HALF HOUR OF CLASSES BIBLE READING]; ATTENDING SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR YEARS, HARDLY EVER MISSING. I WAS TAUGHT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, THAT THEY SHOULD BE OBEUED. NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS DID I EVER SEE THEM AS CERIMONIAL. I HAD TO AGREE WITH PAUL THEY WERE HOLY, JUST, AND GOOD; THEY WERE SPIRITUAL. I WAS RAISED IN THE 1940s and 1950s—— PEOPLE BACK THEN [AND WAY BACK BEFORE] BELIEVED THE SABBATH HAD BEEN MOVED TO SUNDAY, AND MOST OF SOCIETY CLOSED DOWN ON SUNDAY. CHURCHES AND SOCIETY IN THE MAIN NEVER THOUGHT OF SINDAY AS CEREMONIAL RITUAL. THEY THOUGHT OF IT AS TIME HOLY TO GOD, AND WE SHOULD KEEP IT HOLY. IF ANYONE WOULD HAVE SAID TO ME BACK THEN, THE SABBATH IS CEREMONIAL AND RITUAL LIKE THE TEMPLE RITUALS, AND IS NOW DONE AWAY WITH UNDER THE NEW TESTAMENT, I WOULD HAVE LITERALLY LAUGHED AT THEM, AND SAID TO THEM, "YOU ARE CRAZY NUTS, YOU ARE SILLY, DAFT, AND INSANE….YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT." Keith Hunt
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